The Name Game

I didn't realize that it was going to be so hard to pick a name for our child. Oh, the pressure! This little girl will be identified by our choice for the rest of her life. A few days ago I ran across a website that will help with name choices, for free, if you allow them to post your email on their site (a private consultation costs $50). So, what the heck, why not just send an email and see if they decide to use it? I decided to do just that. When I told Andrew he said, "Seriously, you're asking a stranger to name our child?" Of course it sounds silly when you put it that way, but I'm having a very hard time deciding which direction to go. Here is my (long winded) email to the baby name site:

Okay, my baby is due in a couple weeks. It's getting down to the wire and we are still having problems finding the right name for our little girl. We've come up with several, only to find that a few weeks later we don't like them as much as we thought. I don't want to have this happen when we finally name our child. I've always liked my name (Willow). It's becoming more popular now, but growing up it was unique. People often remembered my name and told me how much they liked it. I didn't get teased very much. My name was not too different, but just different enough. 

I would love for my daughter to enjoy a unique enough name that she doesn't have to be "Isabella C." or "That Other Sophia" in her class, but not a name that sounds like we were trying too hard to be creative. No weird made up sounding names or kre8tive spellings. I'd love to have a nature inspired name for her, but I feel like most of the nature names used sound like parents are trying to be too bohemian (Sunshine Meadow or Oshen Bleu).  

I'm okay with common or "plain" middle names in order to ground the first, more unique name (like my mother's first name Jane... however my sister-in-law just named her baby Jane, but that doesn't really matter for a middle name). Of course, we're not even sure if we'll give our daughter a middle name. In both of our families there is a tradition of not giving a middle name to the girls so the girl can then choose to take her maiden name as her legal middle name when/if she gets married. Strangely enough I decided to do just that and now my husband and I have the same middle and last name (his middle name is my maiden name and now my legal middle name). 

As far as our background, I'm from Oregon, my husband is from Michigan. I'm of English, Welsh, Irish, Finnish (actually my great grandpa came over to the US from a community of Swedes living in Finland), and some French descent. My husband is mostly of English descent. Don't know if any of that helps with name options... I'm even okay with some of our rejected names being paired with new names we haven't thought of. 

Some examples of names we've liked, but aren't sure about for different reasons (like popularity): Gwendolyn Brooke, Avery Gwendolyn, Charlotte Grace, Avery Elizabeth, Sydney Brooke, Liesel Sage, Marion Rowan, Sorrel Mae or Rowan June. 

Estimated arrival date: February 26th, 2013.
Sex of baby: Girl
Surname: Curtis
Semi-finalist names: Sydney (this is my husband's top pick, we both liked it when we fist got married 6 years ago, but I feel like it's gone through too many popular phases since then, or maybe it was popular then and we didn't know it), Avery (too trendy, but I babysat a little boy named Avery when I was a teenager - he's 19 now, yikes! - and always thought it would make a great girl name), Gwendolen or Gwendolyn (nickname Gwen - I like this one a lot more than my husband).
Names we've considered and rejected: Most of these were names that I suggested and got vetoed by my husband: Rowan (husband said it sounds like rowin' down a river), Piper, Pippa, Lily, Naomi, Vivian, Sage (possible middle name?), Sorrel, Madeleine (we both like it, but my sister just named her baby Madeline), Cora (doesn't sound good with surname), Solene (pronounced So-LEHN, so my husband thought it might require our little girl to correct people too often, plus he didn't like it), Charlotte (too popular), Olivia (nickname Liv or Olive - too popular), Amelie (most likely mispronounced), Wren (maybe a middle name?), June (might be annoying to be named after a month of the year, but maybe a middle name), Teagan or Tegan (husband thinks it sounds more like a boys name), Elsie (my niece is named Elspeth and goes by Elsie), Nora (possible middle name?), Liesel, Mia (too popular), Kenzie (clashes with surname), Emma, Linnea, Marin, Brita (family name, but made my husband think of water filters).
Names we'd use if the baby were a boy: Probably something more traditional like William,or James (my husband's pick, I'm on the fence about it). I really like Remington (Remi when he's little, but my husband is still coming around to it) or Ellis (my father-in-law's middle name, so it might be a middle name idea).
How many children we plan to have: Ideally 3-4, but since this is our first, we're taking it one at a time.  

Sorry about the short deadline, I just came across your site yesterday and couldn't stop thinking about asking for some guidance. I will definitely send you an update when we have our baby! 

Thank you in advance for your help, 

Willow 

P.S. I've gotten so desperate for ideas that I decided to create name clouds using a genealogy fan chart website for inspiration. Not only did I look at clouds using my husband's and my genealogical information, but I also used both his parents' and my parents'... that's six name clouds! I've attached mine and my husband's, but if you would like to see the other four, I will gladly send them to you.

I'm probably never going to hear back. I'm sure they get a ton of emails. And honestly, I don't think I have anything specific enough or different enough in my desires for names that would make my email stand out.

Maybe Andrew is right. I need to just pick a couple names and then see how they sound when she is born. Of course he's been trying to brainwash me for the past few months and will only refer to our child as Sydney. He talks to my belly and has whole conversations with "Sydney", all the while making sure to say her name often... not sure how much of what Andrew says I can trust when it comes to names.