I love the name Paloma! I also like Olivia and Amelia, but have no idea about spanish translations. Those are just two names I like! LOL

Congratulations Cran on new grand-twins! Good to see you post.

tina

So many really good names! Thank you! Some of them have been on my list for awhile . . .it is good to take a 2nd look at them. Some of them I'd never heard of, and I really like them!

Names don't have to have any meaning in Spanish, BTW . . . I just tend to look for names that you can pronounce easily in Spanish, if that makes sense.

Congrats to Cran, igloochic, and gin!

johnmari RE: Strange-to-Americans combinations of spelling and pronunciation may not be a deal-breaker for YOU but your child may be cursing your choice 25 years down the road

Nah, I have given up on trying to get a name that Americans won't have an issue with. You mentioned "Janet" as an easy name . . .it's my mom's, and you wouldn't believe how many people misspell/mispronounce her name (most commonly as "Janette") . . .my own name is commonly misspelled/mispronounced as well. I like my name just fine. I just don't think many people have a basic grasp of phonics, either. My DD, "Moira"-- people often ask, "how do you say that?" How else can you say it? MOY-ra. Phonetically, there is no other way. People say "Mara", "Moriah", etc. but that is because they don't bother reading, I guess? Or they have trouble with the "moy" sound. I tell them, "Say, 'toy.' Now say 'moy.'" It's not that hard!

Maybe it's because the US doesn't have the same level of bilingualism as do most other countries in the world? But anyway . . .that's another topic!

Keep the names coming! These are great! I appreciate the thought you are putting into them!!!

Congratulations!
There are so many girl's names that I like, so of course I had a little boy. We didn't decide on a name till we were about to leave the hospital :)
I think these might fit your criteria:
Gabrielle
Annica
Sabrina
Miranda

Where are my manners....I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS!

How old are your other girls? It would be fun to put some names to a vote for their new little Sister. I love stories about how someone gets their name. My father insists he made up my name. Supposedly, my mother claims he saw it on the back of an RV. Lindy RV's is a brand name I guess??? We howl at that story all the time. And by the way, you would think Lindy is pretty straight forward in regards to pronouciation but it rhymes with so many other names that I get "nice to meet you Wendy...or Mindy...or Cindy....or Lindsay" LOL!

Good heavens, so many people even screw up my name, and how difficult can three little letters be? J-e-n. "Oh! Nice to meet you, Jan" (or Jean or Jane or June or any number of other combinations)!

My husband's given name is Rocky. I'm tempted to just start introducing myself as Bullwinkle.

LOL I forgot to say congrats as well :) If I have boys, do you want to trade one of your pack? Preferably of babysitting age LOL

And as to the name and american's issue...I have to add. My name is Dawn...how can you possibly screw it up? And yet, I've had people ask "Is it Daaaaawwwwnnnn or Dawwwwnnnnn?" What the heck? It's Dawn. And it's most commonly pronounced "Donna" Hi my name is Dawn. "Nice to meet you Donna" WHAT????? Very annoying, and yet even so, I do love my name (though did really want my sisters as a child LOL)

Arianna is more common (and yet still beautiful) but Arianne is rarely seen :) I imagine she'll be called Arianna because it's more common LOL But that's just America!

Oh, I forgot to mention that the name Tessa means fourth child, so it would be especially appropriate for a fourth daughter.

How exciting!

I'm a big fan of Paloma.

I also love Bella. Hoping to name one of our future kids that.

Congrats on girl #4!
I have 2 daughters, I always thought I would have 3 daughters, but my third baby (who just arrived 3 weeks ago) was a sweet little boy. He was supposed to be Ella. My first daughter is Nina, I don't think it is too popular but I don't check the baby name site when I look for names. Other names we had in mind were Sienna, Emelia and Noella. I love Paloma, but if your husband doesn't like it, I would try and find something you both agree on.
Best wishes :)

Another one I like is Pilar. I remember that's what the guy who played John Boy Walton named one of his daughters (although I can't recall his name at the moment, and I'm too darn lazy to look it up ;-)).

I forgot one, how about Paulina?

I have a wonderful friend from college named Arianne - we call her Ari.

I love the name Natalya or Natalie. Sofia or Kiera also are pretty names.

Just to give you an idea of impressions names can give, and don't be offended, but Paloma made me immediately think of a horse - so maybe that's good or maybe that would be bad growing up! I know it's Palomino for the horse, but still it came immediately to my mind.

Sheesharee - watchout for the name Bella - while I agree it's a beautiful name - actually means beautiful right? Anyways, it's one of the most common dog names in the US!

I have two friends with Bella dogs! Maybe not an issue to you but it would bug me if I was named Bella and kept coming across people who named their dogs the same name!

Annika, Amelia, Helena, Iliana (okay, four syllables, but it's a short 4).

And I've hear Moira pronounced "more-uh" (or Maura, I guess) more than once, so I think it's an accepted pronunciation, too.

I know you said you didn't want a name with the "sh" sound in it, but I'll go ahead and mention this one anyway. I've always thought it was so pretty - Siobhan, which is pronounced (more or less) "Sha-von'". Very Irish. :-)

Are you looking for Spanish, Irish, "American"? I don't dare offer suggestions, but good luck! We ended up picking a very popular name in the hospital b/c that's what DD looked like. Even though it's common nowadays, a lot of people (young *and* old) mispronounce it. I don't think you can get away from it (Janet, Jen and Dawn are pretty easy to pronounce/remember and *they still got messed up??).

BTW, how do you pronounce Paloma in English vs Spanish or vice versa? I don't know which one I'm thinking of, but I only know one way - PahLOHmah.

Ditto what Johnmarie said.

Congratulations! Our family is Irish and my niece stayed true to our roots in naming her three girls. Their names are Anayis, Aislynn, and Evynhe (pronounced Evinney)

I love Gabrielle or Gabriella.
I've always liked the name Sarah.

I named my daughter Amber Rose - it wasn't popular back then. She's loved it, hated it and loved it again. I've never regretted naming her that.

Can't stand my name Susan - you wouldn't believe the number of people that screw that up.

Sticking to the more Irish names:
* Aislinn/ Aislynn
* Siobhan
* Rhianna
* Regan
* Ilene
My parents named one of my sisters, Ilene Mary after a good friend of my father's family, Mother Ilene (an Irish nun). We mean sibs stuck her with the nickname "Eenie" before she was a week old. We do try to use "Ilene",
though, these days . . . sometimes ;^D

Congratulations!

Melinda
Belinda
Yfandes
Myste
Treesa
Tarma
Kethry
Talia
Solara
Solaris
Keisha
Clothilde
Cymry
Savil
Lissa
Shavri
Jisa
Kerowyn
Zhaneel
Kechara
Judeth
Selenay
Elspeth

Love "Eenie" - too bad (though lucky for you) she wasn't the first, otherwise you might be Meanie, Miney, or Mo!

DS decided to call DD "Sweetie" right away (he was 5, we called him Boo). It kind of stuck, though sometimes DH will call her Boo-ette.

I love Rhiannon - kind of a family tradition to name the girls after songs. But DH didn't like it. We thought of family names, but he has a niece named for his mom, we went to the next generation but his grandma's name was Otilie (Oh-till-ee), my grandma's nickname was Hun. We figured we couldn't name our cute baby girl Otilie (the) Hun.

Sophia is a beautiful name to me.

Oceanna, you don't have to crib from EVERY one of Mercedes Lackey's books...

*cackle*

I'm going to respond to more when I have more time tonight, but I just want to let you know I HAVE been reading and considering all of the wonderful options you have give me! THANK YOU!!!

Congratulations!

My dd's name is Erika, which is common but not overly popular. It is often pronounced with a long "i" sound on the middle with people with French or Spanish accents (the kids are in a French Immersion program at school), which I think sounds pretty as well.

One recommendation - don't choose Bella. I am guessing with the popularity of the Twilight books/movies, that name will bump in popularity.

Carrie

Mari, did I get them all? lol! She asked for unusual, so...

I had similar requirements for names:
clearly male or female
everyone knows how to spell it
everyone knows how to pronounce it
not prone to a shortened nickname
not in the top 100 of the SS list
2-3 syllables

Had either of my sons been a girl, she would have been Matilda.

Congrats!

Congratulations!

Here's a few more to add to your now very long list. :)
Andrea
Cara
Paula
Marika
Allanah
Brianna

Food for thought!

flyingflower, you inadvertently reinforced my point - my name has no E, and yet at least half the forum calls me either Marie or Johnmarie! :-)

IMO... If you're going to Anglicize (or phoneticize) the pronunciation of a name that is distinctly of another language, I strongly believe one should alter the spelling to reflect that since it's essentially been changed into a different name, especially WRT languages that are in danger of fading away in their traditional forms. (Linguistic demographers estimate that 50% of the laguages spoken today will be "dead languages" within 100 years.) For example, Ciara is "kee-ra" not "sierra" or "cha-ra". Don't get me started on Caitlin! I have an acquaintance whose name on the medieval reenactment circuit is the gorgeous Aoife, which is kind of a melding of "Eve" and "Eva" since the second syllable is softly slurred, but the mangling that gets is enough to make one choke - "ay-oy-fee" seems to be the most common one, although she finds "ay-yo-weefa" the funniest. There's a reason why Eithne NBhraonáin performs under the name Enya Brennan in most of the world! However, there are many Gaelic names that do sound like they're spelled and spell like they sound; there's a charming site here where you can hear Frank McCourt (author of "Angela's Ashes", who has a beautiful voice) pronounce various Gaelic names as they ought to be heard.

Mentioned this thread to a relative. She reminded me about the "back door test". Go open the back door and shout the potential name several times like you're calling in your kid for dinner when she's out playing. Don't be shy, let 'er really rip. (So the neighbors will think you're insane. You're pregnant, you have an excuse!) If the name is not very clear at volume or sounds like a gazillion other common names (especially the currently trendy ones) so the child can't tell if it's her being called or some other kid, cross it off the list.

Oceanna, I think we have everything she's ever written, including the real dreck, so I think you got at least half, and most of the major and semi-major characters in the Valdemar-related seria. We call her "Mercedes Crack-ey" because her books are like crack - we know they're dreadful (and they are, cliched piled on top of stereotypical doused with trite and layered with...) but somehow we just have to read them anyway! LOL (I will, however, give her credit in that as loaded with stereotypes as they may have been, she did have the nerve to put out some of the first really mainstream fantasy novels with gay main characters.) We did, waybackwhen, file away "Kechara" for a potential future critter name since it simply means "beloved", and it does pass the back door test. ;-)

Thank you for the continued help and congrats! IRL, it's been strangers who have congratulated me the most. Sadly, when I told people about my news early on, I got some pathetic jokes about my religion (not even accurate, since I lean towards Buddhism and don't even go to church!), that DH and I should watch TV more, etc. As a result, I stopped telling people for months, and now it's just obvious.

Anyway . . .

jlc: Annika (with the "k") has been one of the names on my list. I love that!

lindy: My other girls are 7, 4, and 2. The 7 y.o. was going through my Celtic name book to try to help me, but along with what Mari has been saying here, exclaimed that names in that book often did not sound as they were spelled (it has a pronunciation guide). She comes up with names that are too common, so her ideas get vetoed, poor girl! I love "Lindy" and can't believe people mess it up! Ugh!

AJ: They mess up "Jen"??? HOW? Geeze! I love the name Siobhan. The "sh" sound would probably work with that because it's at the beginning. Ditto for Sinead but I don't know about the singer connotation. We get a lot of, "Oh, 'Fiona' like from Shrek?" comments. My heart fell the day I saw that movie while pregnant. I had that name picked out for years before, and then that movie came out! I like Pilar, too, but only in Spanish.

seg: Do you live in the US? In the Midwest, there is only one way to pronounce Moira (correctly)because I can't think of one word that has the "oi" and is pronounced with the "a" sound. It's very uncommon around here anyway, so people don't base it on someone they know, from what they have said. Abroad, like in Ireland/Scotland, the "a" sound is there more but that's because that's how you'd pronounce it as part of the accent-- but the "i" is still present, so I have no idea how people are coming up with "Mara."

igloo: "Arianne" is starting to grow on me. I've always liked "Arianna" but it was too long, and like you said, getting popular.

ajasmama: Not looking for anything in particular . . ."Calista" is Greek, so we are open. "Paloma" in Spanish vs. English . . .it's the way the vowels are pronounced. In English it tends to be said "Puh-LO-muh" (and the "o" is different-- a harder sound) vs. "Pah-LO-mah." I love "Rhiannon" but it's my niece's name!

oceanna: What a list! Thank you! Who is that author? Many of those names are on my list as favorites!

newdawn: LOVE "Sophia" but it is so common around here. I love a lot of the really popular names but can't get past that DD would have to use the initial of our last name to differentiate herself. I don't feel that was as much with a boy.

bungalow: You are right, we do have the same ideas about names! You never know . . .you may get to use "Matilda" anyway someday! I never thought we'd have 4!

homemaker: Lovely names!

johnmari: Re: backdoor test . . .I do something similar, which is why I have to pick a name out way in advance. Whenever I am in a situation, I think of how it would sound to call out the name I'm considering, or to have other people say it at the time. I try it out a lot!

RE: Anglicizing names . . .I completely agree that if you are going to change the pronunciation, you should change the spelling. BUT, I disagree that when it comes to using the original pronunciation you change the original spelling, within reason. I actually love "Aoife" and would use that spelling, but the name "Eva" (which is close) is VERY common. "Niahm" I would keep because "Nieve" is "snow" in Spanish and "Neve" is wrong. Longer Celtic names I would change. I have listened to that F. McCourt recording (did you hear he is very ill?) many times since looking for a name for #3 (and now #4.) I'm glad that site exists!

picky: Beautiful names! I loved "Aisling" since reading Maeve Binchy novels when I was in my teens and always wanted to use that. People say it "Az-lin" instead (on purpose), though, and I would like to stick to the Irish pronunciation of it. . .but as it's getting more common I think I'd have a hard time convincing people to use it the Irish way with my DD. Have you found that to be an issue?

rose: Very pretty name! I had a friend named Amber and she was one of the nicest people I ever knew!

lynne: I love those names!

polly: I love "Paulina" and "Paola" (Spanish version) but DH's bro is Paul . . .he loves his brother but doesn't want that name. Again, I get 100% say in this, so maybe.

Carole: "Paloma= Palomino" does not bother me since it's not a bad association like some names. "Keira" is DH's #1 pick but it's getting way too popular for me (probably because of the actress).

terri: Cool about Tessa = 4!

sheesharee: I am glad you like Paloma . . .it is still in the running! Bella is very pretty!

polly: CONGRATS!!!!

Carrie: I have a wonderful friend named Erica (with a "c"). Hmm-- one to consider.

If I missed replying to anyone, I am sorry! Thanks again for the help!

bungalow, I know a 9 month old Matilda, and she is so cute !!
the name grew on me after I first heard it.

I also know of a girl called Océanne, pronounced oh say anne,
which sounds very soft in french, but would be massacred in english.

Johnmarie, I've really enjoyed her books. I just read them to be entertained and they're very entertaining.

Anele, I'm glad you liked them. The author is Mercedes Lackey and those names are from the Valdemar series (not the first two names, obviously). I will give you a link about her in Wiki... and it contains links to her books so you can read the plots. Before you name your baby one of those names you will no doubt want to know about the character, whether a good or bad person, and so on. Then again, those plots are spoilers (spoiler alert!) and you may prefer to just read the books. I have certainly enjoyed them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mercedes Lackey

Congrats! That's such exciting news!!! My two favorite names Bronte (pronounced Bron tee) and Naomi Jane.

Other popular irish names

Kathleen
Maureen
Daidre (Day Dree)
Erin

Congratulations! I would love to have a house full of girls.

My dd was almost Laura. It is not used much with the current generation, yet is not odd or difficult to spell. I just think there is something very romantic about Laura.

Andrea and Francesca were also strong contenders.

Delia and Ophelia end with an -a like your other daughters'names. I have always loved the names Cecily (English, I think) Madelyn, Genevieve (French?), and Morgana.

A friend of my son's named her daughter Ophelia. All I could think of would be the teasing and innuendos that would come from that name.

We named our daughter Eleri Rose.

We had such a hard time finding a Celtic girls name because so many of them are just hard to figure out how to pronounce on sight alone. I just had this vision of the first day of school each year waiting in the auditorium while they called your name out for homeroom assignments. My name is Tiffani and you'd think that even after Breakfast at Tiffany's SOMEBODY would've figure out how to say my name!!!!

Our 1st born son is Lochlainn. To my eyes it's a fairly easy name to figure out how to pronounce (DH insisted on the traditional spelling) but man do people butcher it!!!! I still wouldn't change it though!

I think Paloma is really pretty too!

How about 'Roka'? It means 'white crest of the wave.' It's very different, not popular and ends with an 'a'.

Thank you for the continued suggestions! I spent a long time tonight going over them again!

RE: Ophelia and the connotations, true, but I do like the name! My DH and I like Persephone a lot, but my 7 yo is continually vetoing it because of the mythology behind the name (sad to say, she is far more versed in Greek mythology than I, so she told me the story). She says it would make future DD feel embarrassed (!). If we did pick it, I think "Effie" would be a cute nickname.

RE: Lochlainn= LOCK-lahn? I can't think of another way to say it, and if I'm right, then I agree . . .super easy.

Someone from the dentist's office called today and tried to pronounce "Moira." No, I take that back, she didn't even try . . .they said, "Mmmmm . . .?" Is it REALLY that hard???

Re: Ophelia - do you really want legions of teenage boys telling your darling daughter "Ophelia, I'd love to feel ya"?

Hey, it could be worse, Oceanna. My first married name was 'Cox'. When I was thinking of names for boys, it got crazy. Harry, Richard (Dick for short...)

Trust me, there are worse names. LOL!

Golddust, you almost made me pee my pants, that is just too funny!

I always loved the names Arwen (from Tolkien), Miriam, and Hannah. Alas, of my 4, only one was a girl. I knew we had the right name for her (Deborah) when the nurse looked at her and said such an important name for such a little girl. We were going to go with the Hebrew pronunciation (deBORah) but we gave up on it.

I'm a dork. For a moment I couldn't figure out what was so funny about Cox. Why did tishtoshnm get it and I didn't? Ooooohhhhhh. Got it :)!

I had suggested the name Arwen and DH said no. He's a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan since childhood. Such a pretty name.

Bronwyn (fair breast and dark hair) was a name that came up regularly as she was a character in a book that DH read as a kid. Just weren't sold on it though. We were literally still deciding up until I was wheeled in for my C-section. We said 'No - it's going to be Eleri - we've thought about it too long'. When she came out DH said 'Honey - she has fair skin and dark hair'. I wanted to strangle him.

Anele - you got it! The kid is 5 and one of our friends still calls him Glocklin. 'He's not a gun' we keep teling her. He was on meds when he was a baby and CVS was HORRIBLE at getting his name right on the script. Our last name is Todd so guess where it always ended up? I finally gave up on them because I was tired of telling them over and over that Todd is his LAST name not his first and to fix it.

I love all your girls names. If they are in birth order, and DH picked #2, sorry - Moira is my fav!

Anyway, your girls names are so unique, I'd avoid the top 50 like the plague. I can tell you want unique and elegant without being "weird". Of course, I chose Charlotte for my daughter, which at the time wasn't even on the top 100 and is now 16. figures. Hey, I'm a trendsetter! LOL

How about:

Allegra
Eden
Calliope
Marlow
Wren

terriks: Nooooo! See, that's why I am glad I ask opinions!!

golddust: Ha, ha!!!!

Tish: Those ARE pretty. I would really, really consider Hannah if it weren't so extremely popular because I love it!

ttodd: Geeze, I don't get it! To me, again, if one can READ, it is completely straightforward. And, I love the name! Eleri is so pretty, too . . .our Calista is Calista Rose (Rose after an aunt) so I am partial to the name Rose, too!

sister zen: Have you been peeking at my name list? DH and I like Calliope a lot (we actually AGREE) but think it sounds too close to Calista. Eden was on my list for years, as has Wren been. Marlow is another favorite!

OK, if anyone wants to give me input on this, how about Carys? (CARE-iss) It means "love" in Welsh (we have some Welsh background, though I don't know the name that way).

Anita-Spanish
Tara-Very Celtic name, and coincidentally, the name of a female Buddha.
Dayna
Elaina-also Spanish origins.

These are mine, DD1, DD2 and my sister. Each of us has troubles with people pronouncing/spelling our names, but none of us ever got teased for our names.

We had a dog named Calliope. Of course we have a son named 'Max', a classic pet name.

I like the name Calliope but be ready for people not knowing how to pronounce or spell it. I think calliope has something to do with an oil derrick. We now have a son named Derek and a grand daughter named 'Callie'. LOL!

golddust - LOL. Well, I have a dog named Max!

anele - I know what you mean about names being on your list for years. I had 4 boys before my little girl. Each time I was preggo, I had a girl named picked. But, ultimately, her name was not any of them.

Now, since I'm on a roll....how about:

Francesca (I love this one, btw, but DH vetoed)
Greta
Harper
Penelope
Nora
Piper
Lucy

I'll keep thinking. I miss thinking of names! not worth having #6 though.

How about 'Roka'? It means 'white crest of the wave.' It's very different, not popular and ends with an 'a'.

Almond Roca?

OK, if anyone wants to give me input on this, how about Carys? (CARE-iss) It means "love" in Welsh (we have some Welsh background, though I don't know the name that way).

I wouldn't name a child anything she had to spend her whole life spelling and pronouncing, and putting up with butchery of same... or any name that could easily be made fun of in a gross way. If my parents did that to me I would have been very unhappy with them about it. If you like a name people aren't going to know how to pronounce, I'd look for an alternate spelling that made it obvious. If I couldn't find it, I'd go on to the next name. But maybe that's just me.

LOL! Oceanna. My oldest sister's daughter named her daughter 'Roka'.

My nephew and his wife were expecting a son shortly after 'Roka' was born. I called him and told him he needed to name his son 'Almond', so we could have an 'Almond' and a 'Roka'. He wouldn't go for it but that is exactly what came to my mind too. :+)

It *is* different. It *is* unpopular. It *does* end with an a... It's a name I had never even heard of, other than the candy.