Surprising Name Loves

Sometimes I start loving names that simply surprise me. Names that have nothing to do with my usual loves or style. Many times they are names that are pretty popular and popular names are something I usually hate. The following  names are names I am loving lately and am actually surprised I love them.

James is such a classic and pretty popular name. Within the last few months I have met two James's that are college students and I would say they have helped me love the name but it should really be the opposite. I do not like the nicknames Jim or Jimmy so I would either call him James or even Jam or Jem. Jamie is a nice nickname too. Because I have an older cousin named James I don't think it would be usable. Although he only goes by Jimmy and I have never heard him called James. If I wasn't going to call my baby Jimmy than it could work.

Pip is such a cool nickname for a little boy. It's actually kind of vintage because it's usually used as a nickname for Phillip. I always find nicknames that I love but never full names to go with them. I don't like Phillip so I'm still on the look out for full names.

The very first time I heard the name Nigella I hated it. It was too masculine sounding to me. After doing a name post on Ella names I am now in love with it. It sounds so pretty and even more unique. This name isn't exactly a surprise to me because I like unique names and I also love girl names that end in an A. The surprising part is how I went from hating the name to loving it.

I recently did a post on my name instagram about this name because to was a request from a follower. When I first saw the name I didn't like it at all. Since doing the post I have really started to love the name. Saying it out loud seemed to help a lot. When it comes to names I really like sharp sounds and letters like v, z, x, and k. I also like that it's short and ends with an A. Really it reminds me of the name Ava a lot because they both end in the -av sound and are two syllables.

Top 20 Girl Names

For the first time in almost 2 years I not only have a top 10 list for boys and girls but now its a top 20 list! I spent the past month making this list and revising it. I did so much searching for names that I loved enough to put on my list. I than went the extra mile and added middle names to all of the names. Many of the middle names have meaning to me and I'll tell you the meanings if so. So let's get started on the girl names!

1. Juliette Rosalie "Jette"

I am in love with the name Juliette and I love the nickname Jette even more. Rosalie is to honor St. Therese, who has so much meaning to me.

2. Maven Seraphina

I just love Maven and had a hard time picking between Maven and Mavis. I picked Maven because it just looked a little more girly. Seraphina is after my grandma Sarah.

3. Collins Brigitta

I love the name Collins and Brigitta is because I love the name Bridget but that is one of my best friend's name and it also honors her.

4. Soleil Annora

I liked the name Soleil and I liked the meaning even more. It means sun in French.. Annora honors my grandma Anastasia.

5. Keeva Hartley

Again I love Keeva. I fell in love with the name after Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof named their daughter Keeva Jane in 2012. Keeva is also an Irish name and I am Irish. Hartley is just a name I really like. I think the name Hart is so sweet.

6. Leonor Pippa

I love the names Leonor/Leonore and Eleanor/Eleanora. It was hard picking which name I liked the most but I ultimately picked Leonor because it is more unique and less popular than Eleanor. Pippa is just such a spunky name I like.

7. Audra Simone

I heard the name Audra on a few different babies recently and fell in love. I like it better than Audrey because it is so unexpected.

8. Nicolette Pearl "Nikki" 

I love house gorgeous the name Nicolette sounds. I know a girl through some friends who's name is Nicolette but they call her Nikki. Pearl is after my sorority who's jewel is the pearl. Plus I have always loved the name Pearl.

9. Magnolia Beatrice "Maggie/Nola/Nolie" 

This is a combo that was on my old list and I still love it to this day. Magnolia is a precious flower name and Beatrice means she who brings happiness in Latin. I love good meanings on names.

10. Holland Arabella

Holland Arabells is yet another combo from my old list. Holland is just such a cool spunky name and Arabella is a name that I just love but wouldn't use as a first name.

11. Blair Vienne

Gossip Girl is one of my favorite tv shows but that is not why I have Blair on my list. I just love how spunky and preppy it sounds. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use Vienne or Vienna but Vienne just sounded so much more grand and fancy.

12. Wren Katalina

Now I didn't but the name Wren on my list because my name is Ren. I have it on my list because I like the way it sounds and because I love that it is a bird name. Katalina is to honor my mom, Kathleen.

13. Esme Matilda

Esme is such a pretty name and I have recently been loving E names, especially for girls. Matilda has always been a favorite name of mine but is too popular for me to use as a first name. Matilda is my favorite movie too.

14. Ophelia Maislee 

I have had the name Ophelia on my list before but with a different middle name. I just think Ophelia is both different but also beautiful. Maislee is a name I kind of made up I like Maisie and Paisley but wanted a combination of the two.

15. Oceana Cleo

There's nothing really interesting or important about this combo. I just like both names and think they are cool.

16. Halona Saige

Halona means happy fortune and that is one of the reasons I love it. I also like the way it sounds and how pretty it looks. Saige is a name I find pretty and not super girly.

17. Amia Laurel (uh-mee-uh) 

I met a little girl named Amia at my work and fell in love. Its so fresh sounding to the popular name Amia. Laurel is a ahem I heard on the tv show, Arrow, which is a new favorite of mine.

18. Zenobia Elosie "Obie (nickname is said like the letters o and b together) 

I have Zenobia on my list because I love the nickname Obie. We have a girl in my sorority who goes by the nickname Obe because of her last name. Eloise is the middle name because it is pretty and traditional.

19. Paloma Dove

Paloma is such a pretty, strong name. It does mean dove so the meaning of this name is dove dove. I just can't break the combo because I love it so much.

20. Aidra Juniper (aid-dr-uh) 

Aidra is the name of one of my friend's sister and I fell in love when she said told me. Juniper is a name that was once on my list as a first name but I don't love to as much so I moved it to the middle name.


I know this is such a long list but I couldn't make myself stop at just 10! Let me know what you think of these combos and if you have any suggestions on changes.

xoxo,