Help with Girl Names!!

I think it must be generational (I'll bet I'm a lot older than you), but you and I are very far apart in taste in names. My kids have unusual ethnic/old fashioned names with traditional spellings. One of my kids has a name that is often mispronounced, but only because it is unusual in the US. I can't even pronounce some of the names you have listed because they are bastardized spellings of made up names. The only one you listed that I come close to liking is the first one, although I prefer the traditional Gaelic version of Brynn (I'm a Bryn Mawr alumna, so it's special to me).
Good luck.

Eta - I like Genevieve a lot. Skip the others and go with that!

Wait until she is born and see what she looks like. Please do not saddle her with a name that people will pronounce wrong, spell wrong or is just strange. Remember, she will have to live with it the rest of her life.

If you name her Genevieve you could call her Genna.

Otherwise, I like Bryn. Beautiful name!

Frankly, the other names/spellings seem too contrived. (Hey--you asked! Lol)

Congrats & good luck!

When thinking through names, remember that we all have to spend our whole lives -- every time we meet a new teacher, new friend, new boss or coworker, fill out a form -- spelling and pronouncing and often correcting our names. And a name should work well not just for a child but for an adult years later, so think far, far ahead. Would a name work as well for a professional woman of fifty-five as it does on a cute girl of five? I'm not sure that many on the list, especially Taylee or Tylynn or Aspyn will really sound mature when she's an adult, frankly, especially with the very non-standard spellings.

If you like Aspyn, consider Aspen, which is a lovely tree. If you like Emry, consider Emory, which is the usual spelling of that still somewhat unusual name. (And Emory is how everyone's going to spell Emry, or they'll make it into Emma or Emmy or Emily for her.) Telecia will end up being "corrected" by others who see it written and think the T is supposed to be an F as in "Felicia." Others will "correct" Taylee into Taylor. This is the kind of thing to think through -- what can possibly be done to or misunderstood about each possible choice?

Good ones include Avery, Aspen, Genevieve, Michaela (the traditional spelling of Makayla on your list), maybe Bryce or Brianna or Bryony or Briony since you like some names that start with "Bri" sounds, all would be good, are somewhat "known" names, but not super common. Bryn is good too for the same reasons. Genevieve could be her first name. It is making a bit of a comeback so it's no longer old-fashioned and is elegant; you can call her "Genny" or "Ginny" as a kid but she can use Genevieve as an adult later.

Someone suggested Tesla. My husband would love that as he's a fan of the great Nikola Tesla, but unless you want to name your baby for that scientist or for the "Tesla" car brand, I would not give any girl the first name Tesla!

I love Genevieve
I'm not crazy about any of your other names, especially the spellings

Use a family name of someone you want to honor in the family. My DIL just had a baby and named her Clarice, my mother's name.

Please don't spell it as if you were illiterate. If you want her to have a unique name go to your local library and look in the phone books they have that are at least 50 years old. You will find all kinds of wonderful names.

Good luck to you and yours.

Congratulations on your new addition!!

I'm sorry none of the names work for me but Avery.

I'm NOT a fan of funky spellings.

It's your child...go with the name that works for you...

IF I were to have a daughter again?

Allyson/Allison...Catherine/Katherine
The daughter we lost was Alexis Catherine.

Rachel - love this name
Vivian
Olivia

Good luck!

The names on your list are Brynn, Emery, Avery and possibly Jerilyn. Maybe Aspen. Please don't give her a made up or misspelled name - she will be correcting people her entire life. Genevieve is a very nice name although a bit old fashioned. Avery is extremely popular right now so she would be one of many.

As a test - can you imagine either Dr. Telicia .... or President Tylynn (insert your last name here)? I would not consider a name that would not work well on a professional resume.

Names that are similar to ones you have - Brynn, Lynne or Lynn, Emery, Jeri, Felicia, Leigh or Lee.

Please don't stick your child with a weird name. I grew up with a weird name and it was difficult. Though R. is becoming a popular name now when I was a kid it was a weird name. And this may sound kinda dumb but when you go looking through things with names on them such as notepads, coffee mugs, pins, necklaces and your name isn't there it's depressing. As a kid you want to fit in and not be the weird kid with the weird name or the name that is spelled weird.
I'm not trying to be mean here. But i think you need to come up with a more mainstream name.

I agree with the posters who are saying you've got a lot of weird spellings (almost made up names?) here. Leigh R has great advice on considering names that are close to what you like, but they're actually names. I like the name Aspen, but I would not spell it Aspyn! Genevieve is a gorgeous name. A friend of mine just had a baby girl and named her Norah. I think that's a beautiful name too.

We named our first daughter Tyler. I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought it was weird and that it was only a boys name (but they kept their opinions to themselves, mostly). I love the name though. It feels strong to me. So maybe something like that instead of Taylee?

Good luck. I know it's hard!

Technically Avery and Emery are boy names. Not that that seems to matter anymore as girls seem to have carte blanche to hijack boy names.

I only really care for Evelyn or Genevieve but like a lot of others I don't care for funky spellings or names which seem to be made up.

For what it is worth we didn't settle on a name until we were in the hospital. It's not the end of the world to have a vague notion but make the final decision when you see your baby. Good luck.

I'm with others, don't give your child a name that they will endlessly have to correct people on.

I like Avery. And I REALLY LIKE Genevieve. That's a BEAUTIFUL name! I would go back in family history and get an older name. There is nothing wrong with having more than one "Genevieve".

If we had had girls? Avery was on our list. Alexandra, Alissa, Rachel, Victoria, Justine.

Have fun selecting a name. Just really keep in mind how they might be addressed as a professional....I have a girlfriend whose parents named her Katie. Not Kathleen but Katie. As a kid, she loved it. As an adult? She despised it and changed it to Kate.

Other than Avery and Jerilynn, and perhaps Makayla spelled as Michaela, the rest sound like you're aiming for your kid to be a contestant on The Bachelorette. Aim high. Think of how her name would sound as a Supreme Court Justice :)

Pick one of these names and then go to a good friend and tell them the name. Ask them to spell it the way they think it'd be spelled. Do this several times and PLEASE choose the most commonly used spelling.

Why? Because EVERY time your daughter tells someone her name, she will have to follow it up with the spelling. As someone with a unique last name, let me tell you, it gets old fast.

Looking at your list, I like (with my variations):

Brienne
Tianna
Tayleigh

Hubby's favorites:
Aspen
Makayla
Talissa
Avery

And a couple additions:

Natasha
Anne

(I love the sound of Anne Genevieve) ;-)

From your list the only ones I don't hate are Emery, Aspen, and Avery (I hate spellings that will just make it to where everyone misspells their names).

For me I just knew it once we said the names aloud, the one we choose just felt right. If nothing has done that so far for you and your husband maybe you could meditate on it and see if anything comes to you.

Names I considered during my pregnancies:
Isis
Marian
Georgia
Charlie
Samantha
London

I do like the name Genevieve, my childhood best friend's name was Genevieve and we always just called her Genny or Gen.

Have you looked at traditional spellings? I'm not sure what any of those names are except Avery. The rest look like just jumbled scrabble letters. Sorry I know people like to have individual names but sticking a kid with a really unusual/weird name can be a stigma.

Ok of my soap box lol. I love the name
Hannah Grace

OOOH I have to agree..Name her Genevieve and call her Genna. I LOVE that name! Very feminine and sweet :)
Genevieve Avery
Genevieve Emry
" " Aspyn

I also agree with nothing to trendy or different!
I like Brynlee though, and calling her Brinn
Congrats!

If you like Evelyn, there's no reason not to use it just because someone else has used it.
We have at least 4 John's in our family and no one is bothered by it.

The only name on your list I really like is Avery.

I'm a big fan of Genevieve nn Evie! Names are cyclical and this one is back in style and it is current for her generation.

Other names that seem to fit your style that I like:
Tinley
Talia nn Talie
Aubrey

Makayla is pretty, yet a bit dated so when she has a resume (or on match.com lol) many will assume her to be older. When she is 25, some may assume the name is a 40 year old (not the end of the world though). Kind of like when you hear Lisa or Heather. A woman in her 40's vs 20's is more likely.

Either way though, as long as you and your husband love it, that is really what matters. Some people like timeless, some like unique, some like trendy and all a great. I lean towards timeless/current.

edit: Avery Genevieve sounds nice. Someone below suggested it.

I like the name Avery. I think it's really cute and it flows well with your middle name that you picked out :)

From that list, I like Avery the best. Actually, Avery is the only one I like at all.

From your list?
Jerrilynn (I actually know someone with this same name/spelling, and she is grown... very nice name, and not common) and Avery. I only know one Avery. She is a 10th grader. :)

Yes, that's it. I am not a fan of the weird spellings or names that are conjoined sounding (Telicia, for example, sounds like someone got tongue-tied saying Felicia and something else). And I would add Emry to the list, except I have NEVER seen it spelled that way. It may be phonetically accurate, but it is missing a letter. (Emery or Emory).

I do like Genevieve, and you could always use Ginny as a nickname, or maybe Viv.

I have seen a bazillion Makaylas (or some spelling variation of that), so I would not use that one, unless you are fine with your daughter being one of 7 Makayla's in her graduating class.

Sorry to be so blunt. I hope I haven't hurt your feelings. But you asked what we liked on the list....

Look to others that both of you would like. A few I like are:
Maya
Alexis
Audrey
Teagan

I'm joining the club of people who say: use Genevieve as a first name! It's absolutely beautiful. And you can call her Evie.

Also joining the club of people who say, rather than Brynlee, what about just Bryn or Brynn? My favorite combination would probably be Genevieve Bryn(n).

A few other names you might consider (similar to the ones on your list) are:
Talia (a nickname can be Tali or Talley)
Ava (beautiful, but very popular in this generation of babies)

One of my favorite girl names is Brynn...you have Brynlee, but I just like Brynn. My daughter's best friend has that name and it's so cute, not too common, but not too off the wall. I also like Aspyn and Emry...not the other ones though. But names are a very personal thing, so you have to go with what you all like.

I LOVE the name Genevieve. I think that would be super cute as a first name too.

For what it's worth, all 3 of my kids have a K or C name and we don't get them mixed up. So it's okay to go with a name like that if you want to. I think Cayson and Carter are a little too similar and that's why you get them mixed up...but still.

Congratulations on a new baby!

I know you said no C names but Cheyenne is always my top pick...and it sounds like "Sh" so you are not likely to get it mixed up with Cayson and Carter since they make the "K" sound....so here are my suggestions:

Cheyenne Nicole (Chey could be the less formal "nickname"...sounds like "Shy")
Madison Cheyenne (Madi could be a nickname)
Makenzie
Emma
I also like Kensie but it's definitely a "K" name
Michaela (like Makayla but slightly different...since your hubby likes that)

I love the name Riley (it's my mom's maiden name). My husband liked the name Inara. It's a very pretty name, but I refuse to name my daughter after a prostitute on Firefly/Serenity.

We have two boys and no plans for a third, so it's really a moot point.

I think with girls it's just so much easier to be unique. When people meet a girl with a unique name they tend to think, "Wow! That is such a beautiful name." When a boy has a unique name he tends to be teased. Unless he's a jock, they it can be really cool.

If her middle name is Genevieve (which is beautiful) maybe a shorter first name. How about:
Talia (or spelled Thalia)
Aven
Tesla
Astrid

Avery

Otherwise:
Brenna
Bryn
Tessa

Avery is the only one I like on the list. I don't recognize any of the others.

The weird pronunciations and spellings do make a difference, in agreement with others, don't do it.

Interesting how many favor the name Avery, which until the past 10 years, I had never heard that name for a girl. My Dad's name was Avery, and I grew up knowing several men born in his generation (1912) with the name of Avery, but never a female.

A relative named her daughter Avery Isabella, but they call her Isabella.

I think Erin, (Arynne) Genevieve is a nice combo.

Well, the only names I remotely like from the list are Avery and Brynlee.

What about Emerson or Taryn? Or Audrey? Or Aubrey?

My favorite girl names are Annalise (my daughter's name) and Madeline (the name I would give a second daughter)

Genevieve is a beautiful name. I don't see it as formal; I see it as sweet and old-fashioned. Considering the sweet, old-fashioned names that are now coming back into style after some seven or eight decades, it may be an excellent choice!

Be careful about the name-spelling. Names that are complicated or confusing to spell get misspelled and confuse people. Your daughter may not like that as she grows up.

What do you all think of Alicia instead of Telicia?

Genevieve Avery sounds good, even if your call her as a rule by her middle name instead of her first name.

I like Genevieve . Also, a couple of greek names I like are Amalia (ah-ma-lee-a) and Thalia (means blooming). Goodluck !

The only names I like on your list are Makayla, Jerilynn and Avery. Makayla and Avery are way too popular right now so unless you want your daughter to be one of many at school, you should skip those. The other names sound made up or the spellings look like you didn't know how to spell them correctly so you made up a new spelling.

My youngest is Taryn. My mom who had dementia when my youngest was born kept calling her Tylynn which I thought my mom made up. I was surprised a few years later when I heard someone was actually named that. It sounds like a made up name to me still and I don't like it at all. Taryn, on the other hand, is not an unusual name but is not very common. I have had a lot of compliments on my daughter's name.

If you like the name Genevieve, you should use it as a first name. It is a very pretty name. If you think it is too much for a little girl, you can always catalog her Genna, Gen or Genny until she is older.

I don't like creative spellings and I like more traditional names so my favorite is actually your middle name choice--Genevieve. I have a friend with a daughter named Genevieve and they call her Genna. I also took care of a girl in our church nursery who always went by her full name, Genevieve. Amelia or Amalia might be other choices that seem similar to some on your list.

I have a one-year-old niece named Avery. As others have said, it is historically a male name, although has been used for girls since the 1980s (I once heard because of the Murphy Brown TV show). One thing you should know about Avery is that it is very popular/trendy right now. We just came back from Disneyland and randomly saw at least two girls named Avery so there must have been many more of them. At one street corner I was talking about my niece and one girl turned to look at us and I later heard her mom call her Avery. I also saw the name on girls' backpacks. There's nothing wrong with trendy/popular, as long as you know that going into it.

FYI, I personally would pair Avery with a feminine-sounding middle name, which Genevieve is, because older generations still think of Avery as primarily male.

Congrats on the new baby. You can always wait until you meet her to choose a name. That is what we did with our oldest.

I like the following names:

Bridgette
Brianna
Brielle

Carissa (It is a C)

My favorites are : Kristina, Carissa and Britley//Britlee

I am not crazy about Aspyn---I do not like the nickname if you say it in 2 syllables.

My vote is for no weird spellings....

Hello,
One of my favorties (one I would have used, if I would have had another daughter), is Mariah (spelling not sure) name of a song on the movie Paint Your Wagon. They called the wind Mariah.

I like unusual names, mine was unusual & not very common for a long while (C.). So I wanted unusual for my kids. But, we went with using both my (now x's) & my middle name for our daughter & then with our first names for our son. Leslie Ann & James Cassidy (male version of C.). But see, my 3rd child, if there had been one & if it was a girl, was going to be Mariah Lynn.

Congrats on the baby & best of luck on a name.
C.

I really like:
Teanne
Brilla
Delisha
Cralynn
Jane
Jane is pretty but plain, and I really want my girls to constantly have to spell and repeat/explain their names for the rest of their lives, you know? Cause they're special!

I like Geneveive but call her that. I hate when people shorten names. If you want to shorten a name then name her the shorten name. I also like Taylynn. I had thought about Tayla for my daughter but went with another name. I don't like Avery. It is a popular name and all of the Avery's I know are not that nice. As it goes this is your baby and your choice so you should choose what ever name you want and the spelling you want. Good luck choosing!!!

Of the ones you listed, Avery is definitely my favorite, followed by McKayla. From your list, I might be ok with a couple if you spell them differently. I know an Emery (who usually goes by Emmie) and I think it's kind of cute.

I know you said the spellings are common where you're from, but I think that if your daughter grows up and moves somewhere else, she's going to have a really hard time explaining a name like Taylynn Tylynn. It looks really weird to see it written, plus most people won't have ever heard of it and will always ask her to repeat it, then to spell it.

If you want to go with a less common name, that's fine, but give it a normal spelling so she doesn't have to go through her entire life trying to get people to understand her name.

I like
Brynlee
Emry
Aspyn &
Avery the best.

I really like Brenya, Brielle, and Adelynne. :)

Pick a name you have liked for awhile, not just one that sounds good today.

Don't tell people what you decide until the baby arrives or everyone will tell you their opinion, positive and negative.

Remember she has to live with it.

I like Genevieve, but I also really like Geneva. I have a friend named Geneva who goes by Gigi. Her mom wanted her to be an Eva (as in the Wall-E movie), but she just IS a Gigi! I actually love both nicknames. I like Brynn or Brynna.

Just remember, your daughter is going to spend most of her life as an adult woman. So the true test of a name is if it fits a Woman, and not just a little girl. For example, I have a hard time picturing a supreme court judge named "Taylee".