I can't believe I am writing to you because I feel like this is a problem I really should be able to solve myself (or at least in conjunction with the hubs), but my due date is approaching and no name has been locked in, and I'm starting to FREAK out. Baby girl Campbell is scheduled to be delivered 10/18/2010. She has an older brother Kellen Christopher (soon to be 3). I guess my real problem is that WE LOVE Chloe, but feel that it's much too popular.
Anyway, other front-runners that we agree on are: Kyla/Kyra, Keira, Casey, Claire. I feel like no name from this list is special enough, and I do not like any of these names as much as Chloe. It doesn't help that I told Kellen her name was Chloe early on and he refers to her as such, and just says it sooo damn cutely.
MY other front-running options that he has rejected but that I still hold a shred of hope for are: Ellery, Kenzie, Carley, & Quinn. Ellery is my most recent favorite discovery.
I like alliteration in general, and want her name to coordinate with Kellen. I also want it to be as special/equally unused as his, but my husband really doesn't like names that are "last names" "made-up names" "highly unusual names", although it's worth pointing out HE suggested Kellen, and I had never heard of the name when he did (I guess a few football players have it.) I guess it's also worth noting that we will probably use Jaine as a middle name as it's a nice "mash-up" of our mothers' names - Janice & Lorraine.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks -
I am going to tell you what to do. It's rare that I INSTRUCT rather than SUGGEST, but here I go: use Chloe. You love it. It meets all your requirements. Your son is using it, adorably. USE CHLOE. YES, it is common; I care not, because I think love trumps it: "a name my parents LOVED" is better than "a name my parents settled on because it was less common than the name they loved." Not even 6/10ths of 1 percent of girls were named Chloe in 2009, or not quite 6 Chloes per 1000 baby girls. For comparison, nearly SEVEN TIMES that many girls per thousand were named Jennifer in 1974: over 40 Jennifers per 1000 baby girls. (Source: Social Security Administration.)
USE CHLOE. You know you want to. Doooooooo ittttttt.
Fine, I will list a few names in case you can't bring yourself to use the name Chloe:
Camilla
Carissa
Carys
Clara
Clarissa
Cleo
Cora
Corinna
Kara
Karenna
Kiana
Kiara
Phoebe
Zoe
Cleo may be the best option on the list, since it's the same sounds as Chloe but in a slightly different order---and yet it's not even in the top 1000.
Name update 10-23-2010! Emily writes:
Dearest Swistle, I know I already replied in the comments at how delighted I was that you posted my question and gave me the final push in the right direction, but I thought I'd give you the official word (and include a pic - Is that allowed? I don't recall seeing many people doing it). Anyway, you & all your readers were right, we totally loved & wanted to go with Chloe, and we did, and we are very happy. There were a few duplicates of OTHER names on our short list in the maternity ward while we were at the hospital - and all the nurses said Chloe may be popular nation-wide, or in my state, but that it was not popular AT ALL in my area, so I was even more delighted. I also thought about how that was a research route I never even tried, finding out name popularity by hospital, and thus kids we are likely to encounter at the playground/go to school with etc. Anyway, great advice - THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE =)
