Baby Name Poll

[Epicurean]

We are having a hard time deciding on a name for this baby due in March.

 

Sophia is a name we love, but it was #3 in popularity for girls in 2015 (it's actually even more common than that if you combine spellings), so we hesitate to use it because it's so popular. We deliberately chose a name that was somewhat uncommon (not in the top 200) for our first daughter. However, she won't be going to school, so she won't have to deal with being called Sophia W. or whatever as much as other people. We love Sophia because it's classic, feminine, and means wisdom in Greek. Also, the Hagia Sophia was our favorite place we visited on our European honeymoon. We would call her Sophia (not Sophie, etc.).

 

Adalia is the polar opposite of Sophia, in that it's so obscure it isn't in the top 1000 at all. It's pronounced ah-DAHL-ee-ah (like the dahlia flower but with an a at the front). It means "noble" and was the name of a beloved family member who is no longer with us. DH and I adored this lady, and it would be really special to honor her memory by naming our daughter after her. However, the name is so unusual that I can foresee a lot of people having trouble spelling and pronouncing it correctly.

 

Sylvia is kind of a compromise. It's #484 on the popularity list, and in Latin it means, "from the forest." We both love camping and hiking (we've visited 15 National Parks and hope to see more). I think DH has a stronger attachment to Adalia, and I have a stronger attachment to Sophia, but Sylvia bridges the gap between them as a strong, classic name that we both like.

 

What would you choose, knowing our reasoning for these top three? Any opinions on the super popularity of Sophia or the weirdness of Adalia? Oh, and we don't do nicknames, so none of the names would be shortened. We're not sure about a middle name yet, but the top contender right now is Claire.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Epicurean

[Slache]

I take great joy in my daughter being named after my grandmother. It also makes me think of her more often.

[Ellie]

Adalia. Because it is different but not weird. It is a lovely name.

[Junie]

I would name her Sophia Adalia.

 

You can use the names you like best and have the choice of a common or an unusual name.

[LMD]

I'm about even for Adalia and Sylvia, I can't do super popular even though it's a nice name.

Adalia probably just wins out due to the personal connection.

It's not that weird, and I've never regretted using the weird names that I love.

 

Adalia Sylvie?

Ada Sylvie?

[eternalsummer]

I think Sylvia is lovely, and good for the reasons you mentioned (classic but not super common)

[Ailaena]

 

People are going to consistently say ah-DAY-lee-ah, but who cares since she's named after a lovely, important person? Great name, though, I love it. I also really like Sylvia. I approve of your name choices :p

[Guest]

I kind of hate Sophia - I think Adalia is beautiful!

[Frances]

I love names that start with vowels, but personally would not choose a first name that most people will not know how to pronounce correctly. It is pretty, though.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Though all three are beautiful I would choose Adalia. Adalia Sophia or Adalia Sylvie are nice. My only warning, which isn't really a warning but information, is that others will make her Addie and mispronounce often. I have a (sweet) Adeline that hears Adalynn or strangely Addison or Addie often. Not a huge thing now she speaks up but a minor annoyance when she was a baby/toddler.

[Twolittleboys]

I voted Adalia but really like Sophia too. It doesn't seem so strange that people wouldn't be able to spell/pronounce it at all and I am partial to family names.

[MedicMom]

All three of my kids have top 10 names for the years they were born. They are in school and church and all sorts of things---and no one else in their class shares a name. This is totally opposite of my experience, with a #2 name for the year I was born, and every other girl seemed to share my name.

I've heard that there are so many names being used now that the name charts represent a different percentage. So if in 1981 22% of girls had a name in the top two, now only maybe 5% of girls will have the top one or two name.

 

Also we hadn't ever even heard my youngest's name before when we chose it. And then it turned out to be in the top 10 for boys in 2015. Go figure.

[RootAnn]

I don't care what other people name their kids, so how popular a name is doesn't play into my nan Nguyen decisions. (I have kids with super-popular and also off the list names.)

 

I don't like naming a kid something that will be mispronounced a lot because they will always have to explain how to pronounce their last name. (I grew up with a hard to spell/pronounce last name. Not fun.)

 

We don't do shortened nicknames either, but I am always amazed at people who assume they can call your kid by a shortened version of their name. So, there will always be people who try.

 

Good luck with your naming. Except for #1, I have waited until I got to meet them before choosing a name. Takes us 24 hours or more to decide.

[UCF612]

I have an aunt Dalia. I love it so I voted for Adalia. Sophia is my second pick. I'm not a fan of Sylvia. And Claire is one of my favorite girl names every.

[JustEm]

I'd choose Adalia. It is beautiful and unique. I wouldn't worry about other people pronouncing it or spelling it wrong. The important people will learn the correct way. This coming from someone with a Persephone. Few people know how to pronounce it at first but they learn.

[gaillardia]

I chose Adalia, I think I would pronounce it wrong as Add uh lee uh.

We LOVE the name Sophia. I really am 50/50 on Sophia or Adalia. Very elegant sounding names. 

I despise the name Sylvia because I do not care for several people with that name. Isn't that a shame on me? Also, it wouldn't be on my top 10 list.

[barnwife]

I voted for Adalia. 

However, I am seriously pushing for a totally obscure saint name if this one turns out to be a boy. And it's long. I *think* pronouncing it is easy enough from the spelling, but whatever. I like the name and it has meaning for us. It's also a very long name. 

That being said, the middle name would be a much more normal, common name (a family name). 

FWIW, I knew I how to pronounce Adalia. Or at least, I guessed correctly.

[mommyoffive]

I really liked the name Sophia and I wanted to use it, but everywhere we went there was 1 or 2 Sophia in a class.

 

I like Adalia.

[MrsRobinson]

I love Adalia. I heard the correct pronunciation in my head when I first read it. My sister and daughter both have unusual A names that some people mispronounce upon first reading or hearing them. Neither of them mind. They both love their unique names. They both also get a lot of compliments on their names.

[RootAnn]

However, I am seriously pushing for a totally obscure saint name if this one turns out to be a boy. And it's long. I *think* pronouncing it is easy enough from the spelling, but whatever. I like the name and it has meaning for us. It's also a very long name. 

 

:lurk5:  Which obscure saint? (I have a DD that chose Eulalia as her Confirmation name.)

[bolt.]

I'm no help, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those! They are all lovely and meaningful, and the 'flaws' of any of the three are not at all significant.

 

(If you have more kids, you can use them all!)

[Jennay]

I love Adalia.

Sophia is a nice name but too common.

[freesia]

I'm agreeing with the others that popularity isn't quite the same now as in the Jennifer and Michael years where there were 3 of each in my brother Michael's class of 24.

 

My first dd's name was in the top 10 when she was born (around number 6).  We know no other girls her age who have the same name (and only one who is a couple of years older).  If it matters a lot to you, pay more attention to what names are trending where you live.  Where we live now, there are a lot of Avas, Isabelles and Anabelles.  In my dd 7s soccer league, it seems the most popular names we've run into are Ava, Isabella and Kelly.  We've run into no Madison, Madelyn or Emmas her age anywhere we've gone.  They were all in the top 10 the year she was born (Emma was number 3).

 

Oh, and related, my oldest ds has a name that was something like 150 when he was born (maybe even higher).  Now it is in the top 50.  However, it was way more popular in Christian homeschooling circles when he was born and we regularly run into one or more boys around his age with the name.  He has no sense of how unusual his name was at the time.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by freesia

[barnwife]

:lurk5:  Which obscure saint? (I have a DD that chose Eulalia as her Confirmation name.)

Athanasius. Too out there? (Maybe I need to start my own poll.) I am trying to convince myself that the nn Nate would work.

 

Sorry for sidetracking, OP. In reality, all 3 names in this poll are lovely. I still chose Adalia though.

[purpleowl]

I love Adalia. But for context, two of my three kids have names that are not in the top 1000 (for my son, there were only 14 babies given that name in the US the year he was born, IIRC). So clearly I have no problem with uncommon names!

Edited October 11, 2016 by purpleowl

[Just Kate]

I chose Sophia, because I think it is a lovely name and to me, it sounds like that is the name that you really want to choose. I have a dd named Olivia. Of course, this has been a super popular name for many years and I also considered not using it because of its popularity. I loved the name though...and I am so glad we stuck with it. I can't imagine my dd with another name!

 

 

[Scarlett]

Adalia because it is beautiful and I adore using family names.

[Farrar]

I love my unusual family name. Do it. It's lovely.

[Violet Crown]

If you go for Sophia, besides the uber-popularity, I promise you she's going to get called Sophie, and she'll just have to learn to grit her teeth and smile. Trust me. (And it wasn't even in the top 100 back in 1995....)

 

I like Sylvia. It's charming and classic, with resonances of Dante and Virgil. And it's multicultural. Silva vocat!

[Farrar]

You know, something to be aware of for every name... you're not in control of the nicknames. I think... don't ever choose a name where you can't live with the most common nicknames. Obviously you can try to control it, but you're not totally in control. Once she gets out in the world, she could end up Sophie, Addie, or Sylvie or even Soph, Ada, or Vee.

[Janie Grace]

I don't care for Adalia because the way you pronounce it, it sounds like "a dolly (uh)." That's what my ear would hear when you introduce her -- "this is a dolly." I don't care for Sophia because it's overused. I think Sylvia is lovely. 

[Ravin]

Janie, it's "dahl" (a long vowel sound), not "dol" with a short vowel sound. They don't sound the same.

 

I voted for Adalia because 1. I'm all for naming children after people, 2. It's beautiful, 3. It's uncommon. I named my kids after literary characters (both uncommon enough to not even be listed because there were so few that listing the name is considered a privacy issue by SSA), but their middle names were for my and DH's best friends.

[idnib]

I like Adalia best when you explained it, but before I read your explanation, I read it as Ah-day'-lee-ah or maybe Ah-dah-lee'-ah. I think it could cause confusion. I voted for Sophia. One of my children has a hard-to-pronounce name which has meaning for our family, and I somewhat regret not going with something less meaningful but easier for others.

[rebcoola]

Adalia it is beautiful.  I wouldn't worry about spelling people use so many variations anymore that even the people in our family with common names get asked to spell them.  

[luuknam]

Athanasius. Too out there?

 

Probably. Makes me think of euthanasia (sorry).

 

Wrt OP, I'd go with Sophia Adalia, and call her by her middle name (but, I don't like the name Sylvia).

[Guest]

Athanasius. Too out there? (Maybe I need to start my own poll.) I am trying to convince myself that the nn Nate would work.

 

Sorry for sidetracking, OP. In reality, all 3 names in this poll are lovely. I still chose Adalia though.

Athanasius is obscure? I mean sure it's not a popular baby name but to anyone who knows church history it should be instantly recognizable. Or maybe my population sample is just skewed :lol:

[ThursdayNext]

I like Athanasius! I'm familiar with the name from history, & think he is pretty cool. Nate would be a good nickname.

 

But be prepared for the look on some people's faces. I know someone with an Aurelius and an Augustine. They got some looks.

[luuknam]

I like Athanasius! I'm familiar with the name from history, & think he is pretty cool. Nate would be a good nickname.

 

But be prepared for the look on some people's faces. I know someone with an Aurelius and an Augustine. They got some looks.

 

And Athanasius is a lot more obscure than Aurelius and Augustine, imo.

[maize]

Athanasius. Too out there? (Maybe I need to start my own poll.) I am trying to convince myself that the nn Nate would work.

 

Sorry for sidetracking, OP. In reality, all 3 names in this poll are lovely. I still chose Adalia though.

My son's nickname is Thane, that would work for Athanasius.

[barnwife]

I like Athanasius! I'm familiar with the name from history, & think he is pretty cool. Nate would be a good nickname.

 

But be prepared for the look on some people's faces. I know someone with an Aurelius and an Augustine. They got some looks.

 

Ha...one of those is a nephew's name (one that I've considered).

 

And Athanasius is a lot more obscure than Aurelius and Augustine, imo.

Oh, definitely. Which is (kind of?) another problem. If we go with it, our sons' names are getting more obscure. The first one topped the chart of popularity for years (it's a family name). The next one? Not so much, but even it is well-known/recognizable. 

 

When I mentioned Athanasius to my mom, she was horrified. And said, "oh no. He will get teased." My response was along the lines of "if that's the worst thing kids tease him about, he's pretty darn lucky". There was probably some "our kid, our choice" in their too.

[AK_Mom4]

I voted Sylvia because I immediately mispronounced Adahlia in my mind two or three different ways.  Sylvia is such a nice name for both a little girl and an adult.

 

No on Sophia - I like classic names but not super popular 

 

[Janeway]

I voted for Sophia, but with the history for Adalia, I would go with Adalia.

[Splash]

 I like all three names. I would personally go with Sylvia of the three.  I also like nn Sylvie.  I personally wouldn't use Sophia due to its popularity, people will shorten it to Sophie or at least try.  I tried with younger dd to name her Olivia or Sophia but it seemed like in our social circle both names were used a lot 15 years ago and decided it just wasn't going to work.  My older dd has a unique name that people don't get correct on first try and has never been in the top 1000 names but once they've heard it they don't usually have any difficulty with it later.  Spelling is another matter. Her name is Mattea  I was worried people would shorten her name to Mattie, which we didn't want but that never happened.  She does get called Tea a bit.  My other dd has a more common but still not popular and her name is almost always mispronounced and misspelled.  Frustrating for her so she goes by a simple but unrelated nickname of Lily.  All this to say, you can't always predict how it will turn out and you should go with the name you love.  Make sure you like nickname options that are most likely because that can be hard to  stop people.  My younger daughter was supposed to be Eliana but I don't care for Ellie so I decided to move on because every time I'd say the name people would comment that Ellie was a cute name.

 

Kimberly who doesn't go by Kim or Kimmie

[luuknam]

When I mentioned Athanasius to my mom, she was horrified. And said, "oh no. He will get teased."

 

If he introduces himself as Nate, no-one will even know he's got a teasable name (of course, I'm sure kids could come up with some mean rhymes for Nate, as for most names). My oldest hasn't gotten teased about his not-in-top-1000-ever name, and he was in PS for 5 years - everybody (including the teachers) called him by his nickname.

[hopskipjump]

Adalia is such a beautiful name (AND has the family tie-in) that it would be worth all the times you'd have to pronounce it for people. FWIW, when I read it, I pronounced it correctly the first time in my head. :)

 

Second choice is Sylvia - also a beautiful name.

 

Sophia, while very pretty, is so, so, so, so common right now. If you prefer uncommon names, I think it would become exponentially more annoying to have your dd be one of five Sophias in a playgroup or t-ball team, etc.

[Epicurean]

Thank you for all the feedback! This has been really interesting...and surprising, really. I know that the sample size is a little biased (is it a coincidence that "weird" homeschoolers would like the weird name? ha), but it makes me a feel a lot better about how people might react to Adalia. We haven't chosen one name for sure yet, but this definitely tips the scales.

[Zebra]

I have an Emily Sophia, and strangely, she rarely meets other Emily's (also top ten name) or other Sophia's. 

 

But I really think you should go with Sylvia. 

 

Mostly on these polls I don't have a strong opinion, but I really feel like Sylvia is right!

 

 

This.  My daughter has a very popular name, and I have been shocked how rarely we run into other ones.   There are so many names in circulation now, and particularly girls name, that IMHO you shouldn't worry about it being too popular.   Pick the name you like the most.

[RoughCollie]

I voted for Adalia because it is both pretty and unusual. I have always thought that homeschooling encourages children to be themselves instead of becoming part of the herd - and having a pretty and unusual name fits that belief.

 

We named our daughter a name in the top 3 (by accident - I thought it was unusual). There are too many people with her name, including her friends and dogs we know. Our dog, Aidan, has a popular boy's name. That is not my fault -- I voted for Jetson. Everywhere I go, someone is named Aidan -- and when his mother calls his name, I have a little one second prick of panic that my dog is wherever I am and running loose.

 

I wanted to name my daughter Octavia. Everyone hated it except for me. For years, she has said she wishes I'd named her Octavia because she doesn't like having such a popular name - there must be 3 people with her name in every class she has except for math (in which she is often the only female). I offered to pay to have her name changed, but she hasn't taken me up on it. The reason I didn't name her that had to do with the fact that October was the 8th month on the oldest Roman calendar and she was born in the 10th month of our calendar. Pregnancy hormones must have messed with my brain!

[RioSamba]

I voted for Adalia because I think it's gorgeous and I love family names. I think it would be very lovely combined with Sophia. Sophia is a family name for us and was high on our girl list when I was pregnant with DS2. Several posters have remarked that a #1 name just isn't the same today as it once was, and they're right. Here are the numbers:

 

Year #1 name # of babies with name

1976. Jennifer. 59,478

1986. Jessica. 52,667

1996. Emily. 25,150

2006. Emily. 21,393

2015. Emma. 20,355

[JustEm]

Thank you for all the feedback! This has been really interesting...and surprising, really. I know that the sample size is a little biased (is it a coincidence that "weird" homeschoolers would like the weird name? ha), but it makes me a feel a lot better about how people might react to Adalia. We haven't chosen one name for sure yet, but this definitely tips the scales.

Well I imagine people reacting slightly negatively at first. I've gotten it with my Rosalyn, my Percival, and my Persephone. But now those are simply their names and no one says anything about it. They also don't have any nicknames. Well Percival had one but asked that we start calling him Percival so we do.

 

I imagine we'll get some crap from a few people if we name this next baby Cillian, which is our top choice at the moment. Or Sebastian, which is my top choice but dh isn't on board.