I am due October 1st with a girl. We already have a son, Clay. Our last name begins with M and is common enough that we don't have to worry about anything clashing with it. however, we would like to avoid names that begin w C, K or M. (We're not fans of alliteration. clay and chloe. clay and kristen. Meredith M_______.) The middle name will most likely be Brooks (family name.) so we want a first name that is more than one syllable.
However, my husband and I have completely different ideas about what the name should be. He likes very popular names (Abigail, Charlotte, Sophia, etc.) I really don't want a name that is too popular or too common. I like unisex names that still can be girly. There are only a few names that are on the "possible" list and we're not sure if we love any of them.
Avery (too popular?)
Lainey (nickname but we can't figure out what the "official" name would be)
Hadley
Harper (but way too popular)
Quinn (but only one syllable)
Skyler
Help!
Thanks!
If Harper is way too popular at #174, then yes, Avery is too popular: Avery is #32. And Skyler might be too popular for you, too: that spelling is at #419, but the spelling Skylar is #185; if we combine the 755 girls named Skyler in 2009 with the 1,749 girls named Skylar in 2009, the rank of the two names together is #129---also more popular than Harper. (Source: Social Security Administration.)
I love Lainey. I would use Elaine as the full name, but Delaney is another possibility. Or plain Laine, if you changed your mind about Brooks. Or Helene or Helena (though it will sometimes be pronounced heh-LEEN/heh-LEEN-ah, so it depends on your tolerance for gentle correcting). The sounds of cLAY and LAIney are very similar; I'm not sure if it's too similar or if it ties the names together perfectly.
More possibilities (taken largely from the "Last Names First" section of The Baby Name Wizard):
Brinley
Ellison
Elodie
Emery
Everly
Flannery
Garland
Jensen
Landry
Larkin
Lorelei
Thalia
Waverly
Yeardley
