Name Game
I have always felt a little bit awkward about my name. As long as I can remember people have not so subtly told me I have a dudes name.
"Sean? Like the boy's name?" "Isn't Sean a boy's name?" "You spell is S-E-A-N, like a boy?"
And then there's the brutal mispronunciations I've heard:
"Shane" or my favorite, "Seen" are the most common but there is a whole smorgasbord of others.
With time I've become more and more comfortable with my name, though I still get a little annoyed when people question me about it.
When you think about it, names are pretty damn important.
This might sound like a bunch of new agey BS but I think our names build our character and shape our personalities. For instance, I was given a boys name because my parents didn't love me and wanted me to suffer a lifetime of ridicule, therefore I'm a teensy bit cynical.
When I was deciding on a name for my own daughter the decision was hard.
The name I really loved and wanted turned out to be more of a boy's name (which I was okay with) than a unisex one like I thought. My husband wasn't too fond of it so it was off the table and now we had to start from scratch.
I looked through baby books and searched the Internet. I found names I thought were okay and created a short list to be considered. Matt and I couldn't seem to agree on any though and I honestly didn't love any of them.
One day the name Natalie popped into my head. I thought it was really pretty, feminine and sweet. When I envisioned a Natalie, I saw a little girl with brown hair and a sweet smile, who's happy and full of life. I could also imagine a grown woman who's strong willed and independent at the same time.
It seemed like a good candidate. I asked Matt what he thought and he really liked it too. We unofficially agreed on it, but stayed open to the option of changing our minds, though that was unlikely.
By the time I was so far along in my pregnancy we were so attached to the name and knew it was a keeper.
I resisted but finally looked it up online to see how popular it was. I was a little disappointed to see it was ranked pretty high on the list. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad other people love it enough to give to their daughters. I just wanted something a little less common.
I definitely was set on the name though and knew it would be special despite how popular it became.
She's been Natalie for a little over ten months now and I cannot see her having any other name. She fits all the characteristics that I pictured and it suits her quite well.
I'm happy with our choice and look forward to seeing who she will blossom into.
14 Thoughts :
Omg I was thinking how COOL your name was! Guess the grass is always greener on the other side haha. It took us a week to agree on a name after we found out we were having a girl... Our sweet little Mila :)
Now I'm curious about what the other name option was. I really wanted Mya or Mia, but the father hated those. He didn't like Cameron because it was unisex and sounded boyish. He liked Alexis, I didnt. One day I made a list of names I loved/didn't hate. He picked Chloe off the list. I wasn't sold at first, but eventually it just stuck. And now I have a little Chloe. I'm happy with it.
I blogged a bit about it here - http://sarahandderek.blogspot.com/2011/01/whats-in-name.html, but Derek and I always liked the name Andrew for a boy. We tried and tried to find any other name that we liked as much but we just couldn't. It's popular, but I think Andy is more popular than Drew and he will NEVER be Andy! :)
Kayla was suppose to be Allie. All the way until I was 8 months pregnant. Then I was watching Days of our Lives one day and heard Kayla and fell inlove with it. I heard the name Kyleigh and just knew that if I had another girl we would have to name her Kyleigh. It goes so well with Kayla. And I wasn't planning on having another. When I found out #3 was a girl I had to stick with a K name. I didn't want her to feel left out when she was older. My mom's boyfriend actually suggested Kinsley because I couldn't find a K name that didn't sound like Kayla or Kyleigh. I instantly fell inlove with Kinsley. Some people say it's a boys name but to me? I couldn't picture a more perfect name for her, or my other 2. :)
Oh my I LOVE masculine names for chicks. Haha seriously not like Richard or Daniel or anything. But I think it's kinda hot for a girl to have a name like yours :)
I love your name! It's unique and those are the best. I'm pretty happy with mine because it means "follower of Christ" and it's not too common although I am finding more Krista's as I get older. Still like it though :)
Hubsy and I both like Celtic names since we are both of that heritage (Irish for him and Scottish for me) thus our sons were donned with them.
I think Natalie is just a sweet, sweet name :) It fits YOUR Natalie perfectly! I don't know ANYONE (my age, atleast) with a daughter named Natalie. I think it's unique and I can totally picture her with pretty brown hair and a sweet smile!
hmmm...interesting. did you know my real name isn't marjorie? it's margaret. it was a long line family name for the first daughter, but none of them ever went by margaret (like me). i was the first to break with the tradition. seemed like the women in my family just used it for tradition, but didn't like it.
i choose christopher after my hubby, but also because i always loved the name. andrew was traditional and went well with christopher. for evangeline, i wanted something really rare. i think it's one in 900? right after i had her an acquaintance used (stole?) the name. i got SO mad! i knew she never thought of it till she saw me. i never said anything though.
Okay okay - - -
First, I love the name Natalie. And I don't think it's that popular. I think it's perfect. I picked the name Taylor out when I was 8 years old. It wasn't popular then, but now it is. Oh well.
So - we have names picked out if baby #2 ever graces us. And our name for a girl is actually a boys name. So - I'm wondering if the name you mentioned above is the same as ours OR if you think it's a bad idea that we want to do this b/c of all the issues you've had with being named Sean.
So...let me know!!!
(Yeah. I was kinda passionate about this post, eh?)
First off, I absolutely love the name Sean for a girl! That is all sorts of cool! I think Natalie is also the sweetest name and she totally looks like a Natalie:)
I like mine because it wasn't popular back in the days but now there are so many more Melissa's:(
I like different names too- I am all over the map with names:)
Grrrrr, don't know if you got my comment or not. If you didn't then my internet is crap. And I am putting that lightly.
I'll try and put everything I wrote....
Oh yeah you creeped me out because just as I clicked on your blog and just started reading this post, I got an email with your comment on my names post. SPOOOOKY. But yeah, great minds definitely think alike ha! I will try that test thing in a bit :)
I actually think the name Sean is pretty feminine! But I do just presume every Sean to be female now.
& I love Natalie's name! It's so pretty and really does suit her. Always wondered why you picked the name!
& I forgot to put in my post that people always pronounce my name wrong too, always with a Y and not a J! I don't even understand where they get the Y from. Apart from in Sweden, half of them can't seem to pronounce J's there for some reason, so my brother always gets called Yai there hhaha! (His name is Jai, not Jay, but like pie or eye with a J, if that makes sense)
Also my mum and dad couldn't agree on a name for me, so Jasmin came out of fucking nowhere, I don't think either of them were bothered about it. Then they got to have the names they wanted as my middle names (mum picked India, dad Victoria, good God). My name is a joke. People always say it's a strange looking flower (without the E), an Asian country, an ex, dead queen of England and then my surname sounds like a meat. I think the only reason I want to get married is to have some normality, so possible future husband is definitely being picked depending on his surname.
I actually really like Sean for a girl! It's unusual, but not SO unusual, like, IDK John or Fred or something! :P
I don't know why my bio mother named me Holly, she just did, I suppose!
I love little Natalie's name! It's so adorable and timeless in my mind! So cute! :)
We named our son Landon because of my husband! He thought of the name out of the blue and I liked it as well. I got to pick the middle name, which I was super happy about because I have always LOVED the name Chase. If we would've had a girl, we were going to name her Ryann Paige. I love your name, Sean. It's amazing! :)
I love the name Natalie. I think it is so classy. I have an aunt Natalie, and she is probably the neatest woman I've ever met . . . so, yes. Good name.
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