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I'd say anything strongly cultural - Kiume, Sumire, Fumiko, Xiumei, Xiao, Rishi, Ravi.

I love a variety of names but will not be using them for children because I feel it would be appropriating someone else's culture. Japanese names are a huge passion of mine, but I will not be naming my kids Chiharu, Tsubura or Mugi.

Lily/Lilly. All the Lily's I met weren't very nice.

Joseph. It’s gorgeous but I can’t get over Stalin.

John-too many in my family already.

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Stephen-my ex’s other ex.

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Victor-former romantic rival.

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Donald-YOU KNOW WHY.

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Jehoshaphat-Friends would like it but family would give me endless crap.

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Joseph-People would just call him Joe his whole life.

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Arabella-See above. She’d just be called Bella her whole life.

This message was edited 12/31/2023, 3:41 PM

Clara, because my last name starts with Cl-. Although if my future partner and I end up deciding that our children should have my partner's last name, it might be back on the table.

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Tristan, my ex-boyfriend's name.

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Freya, my cousin's name. Might still work as a middle name, though.

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Sophie, because I just know too many of them. It's sadly too popular at the moment. Maybe if there are fewer Sophies around in the future I could use this lovely name.

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Alexander, because it would get shortened to Alex which is too popular and not nearly as handsome. Also, I prefer the British pronunciation but I live in the US now.

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Another thing: I grew up in England and have a British accent, but my family is American and I now live in America. This makes me want to avoid names that are pronounced very differently in the US and the UK; for example, August, Jasper, Eleanor, Audrey, Alexander, Arthur, Darcy. I want my child to have a name that is consistent in both locations.

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There are probably more but I can't think of them right now.

Most of these I can't use due to how similar they are to either my niece's names or other family members. Others are for various other reasons.

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✳️ Mara & Lara
✳️ Alice
✳️ Adrian
✳️ Thomas
✳️ Donovan
✳️ Natalia/Talia/Tali
✳️ Desmond
✳️ Holly
✳️ Charlotte
✳️ Gabrielle
✳️ Sarah
✳️ Savannah
✳️Willa, Wilhelmina (Anything starting with "Wil/Will" really).

This message was edited 12/15/2023, 8:07 PM

Sadie—I once worked with a girl named Sadie and she was a very nasty person. Cute name but a total backstabber and liar.

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Derek—My ex-fiancés name.

I hate denying myself anything, but I might feel "off" using any of these lovely names:

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Leona - ex boss (bad associations)
Dorothy - a friend's mom's name
Clementine - recent former classmate
Amelia - former boss
Barbara - estranged aunt
Deborah - This one isn't so bad, but it was the name of my mom's childhood friend
Toni (Antonia or Antoinette) - Tony is the name of a creepy uncle
Rosa - my mother in law
Martha - estranged grandmother

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Bernard - estranged father
Kelvin - another unpleasant uncle
Gus, Augustus - a weird great uncle

Victoria. I had a nightmare bully of a boss who has forever tainted this beautiful name.

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Amelia. I have an ex-friend with this name. We technically are still friends, but we went from being best friends to barely any contact. So, it'd be uncomfortable to use this name. Thankfully, it was never a top name.

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Felix. My best friend named her son this. So, even though my SO and I both love it, it wouldn't feel right to use it.

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Elliott. My cousin used this for his daughter. So, it'd be super weird of me to use it for a son.

Laura. My daughter is Beatrice, and there'd be too much Italian poetry if I also had a Laura. Alice might be all right, but I couldn't use Alison because my stepmother-in-law had a sister Alison with a mental health problem: she had to live with them, couldn't cope on her own, until finally she had to receive full-time care in a hospital. But while she was still with the family, she developed a crush on my father-in-law, to the extent that she'd follow him round the house and when he went to the loo or had a shower, she'd wait outside the bathroom door until he came out. This, and other memories, make it impossible for my husband to even consider Alison as a name.
I wanted to name our son Ian, after two very good friends, but my sister-in-law had just divorced a very nice Ian, a different man, and married someone that we didn't like as much, though we were careful never to show it. So, using Ian would have been like taking sides. If I'd had another son, I think I'd have succeeded - it wouldn't have been such a recent event. But, no luck!

I have a list of these in my PNL, actually!

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Names of (or very similar to) friends' and acquaintances' kids:

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Amara (the kid is Amira)
Beverly & Everly (the kid is Everly)
Elijah
Luke
Nadine
Naomi
Olivia (also too popular)
Ruby
Vera
Vivienne

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Names in my family / circle of loved ones, both kids and adults (where using the name would be weird):

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Ariella & Arielle
Cassandra
Derek
Devon
Elaine & Elena
Jackson
Maeve
Matthew
Mercedes & Sadie (which I'd use as a nickname for Mercedes)
Noah (also too popular)
Roman

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Names with bad personal associations:

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Connor
Margot
Silas

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Other:

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Ava (just too popular)
Charlotte (see above)
Jasper (I think this is more attractive in a British English accent than an American English one)
Robin (bad association for my parents, so it would be weird for me to use)
Veronica (too similar to my own name)

This message was edited 12/17/2023, 5:58 PM

Felicity and Celine