Feature Friday: Kinley

Hey guys! You all know what time it is! It’s Feature Friday time! This week was Kinley! Kinley is also a blog. Her blog is http://notablenames.wordpress.com/. I think you should all go check out her blog and play her name games. You can also find Kinley on formspring (http://www.formspring.me/KyleandArlo) and listography (http://listography.com/kyleandarlo). I had so much fun doing this interview and Kinley’s answers were awesome to read. So let’s get started with the interview. 

Me: How did you get into baby names?

Kinley: For as long as I can remember, I have liked names. I chose my first top names at seven years old.  I didn't really become "obsessed" with names until one day a few years ago when I randomly discovered Stephanie (AnastasiaRuby)'s channel on Youtube.  Ever since then, liking names has become more than just an "Oh, that name's nice," kind of thing.  Now I make name lists, have a baby name blog, and answer Formspring questions about names.  It's become much more a hobby for me now that I know that I'm not the only person interested in names.

Me: Stephanie really got me into obessing over names too! How old were you when you first started liking baby names?

Kinley: I was seven.  The first names I ever chose (back in second grade, because every second grader needs top names LOL) were Katelynn Octavia and Hudson Paul.  I still like both of these, but wouldn't use them (though I would still consider Octavia as a middle name, just not paired with Katelynn).  Some names I also loved around that age were Kyle Juliet and Zoe Genevieve, among many others.

Me: Lol yeah ever second grader just does haha What are your current favorite baby names?

Kinley: My current top names are Arlo (this middle name is my best friend's last name and, for the sake of her privacy, I don't say it online), Porter Evan,  Juliet Alora, and Genevieve Augusta.  These names (especially the boy ones) have been my tops for quite awhile now! :)

Me: I love Arlo and Juliet! If you remember, what were your first favorite baby names?

Kinley: I already said this in one of the questions, but they were Katelynn Octavia and Hudson Paul.

Me: I forgot sorry lol. Why did you decide to start blogging and join formspring?

Kinley: Honestly, it just seemed like such a fun community. I wanted to be able to talk to people about names without them thinking that I wanted to have babies ASAP. Lol

Me: It's a great community. What has been the most fun about blogging and formspring?

Kinley: This is going to sound corny, but I really just love that (at least in my experience) us "namers" can disagree on names/parenting topics/whatever it may be and still get along.  I'm pretty sure that most people think I'm a crazy person for loving Kyle on a girl, but I've never really been made to feel crazy for it (or at least not totally crazy). I also love seeing the ideas that people come up with for my name games.  I always think I am going to be able to predict what the "answers" will be, but so many of them are so creative!

Me: I agree. The whole community of baby namers is so nice. What has been your blog/formspring question (rename, collages, etc.)  you have done?

Kinley: My favourite (a word is missing, I'm assuming it's favourite?)? 
I always like when people ask me to do my "ABC names" lists again. I surprise even myself a lot of the time with what my favourite names for each letter end up being.

Me: Yes I am so sorry about that! I hardly ever do those list because it is so hard for me to pick just on name for each letter. Are you working on any blog post, listography list or formspirng questions/spam?

Kinley: Yes!  I do weekly baby name games, so I will be working on ideas for upcoming ones soon. I also REALLY want to get up my "Formspring Favourites" blog post really, really soon! (I don't know why it's so hard for me to stay on top of blogging, but I never seem to be able to get posts done in a timely manner! Oddly enough, I'm the exact opposite for everything else in my life. lol)  I am also looking to add ideas to my listography list of blog post ideas (hopefully it will inspire me! Maybe?), so if anyone has any ideas, let me know. :)

Me: Sometimes it is so hard for me to blog too! If i think of anything i will let you know. What do you love about baby names?

Kinley: Oh, gosh! That's like the impossible question! Everything!  If I had to pick just one thing, it's that feeling I get when I hear/read/fall in love with a name that's perfect for me or even just one that I love, but don't nescessarily want to use.  Just hearing/seeing my favourite names, or realizing that they are my favourites is awesome.  I also LOVE when people on Formspring occasionally tell me about "girl Kyles" that they know or that they have heard of. It kind of makes my day. :)

Me: I love that feeling! What types of baby names to do like (ex. Trendy, vintage, etc.)?

Kinley: I try to stay away from labelling my naming style if I can.  I just love what I love.  If I HAD to decide on a "type" I'd probably say classic with a bit of a twist.  I have names from all sorts of popularity ranges on my list and it doesn't bother me very much.  I love what I love and I can't help it!  I will say that I'm particually loving "-Ella" names for girls (even though they aren't my tops) and O names for boys (mostly Arlo and Gennaro) right now. I also tend to like "boy" names for girls, which I know is a very heated topic on Formspring. I can't help it, though! 

Me: I don't really have a naming style either. When did you tell your friends and family about your love to baby names?

Kinley: My best friend has known about my love of names ever since I started watching Stephanie's videos and REALLY fell in love with names. The girl is a saint. She probably could care less, but she tolerates the conversations wonderfully.  LOL I've told a few other friends, and they think I'm insane. My family doesn't know the extent of my love for names, but I think they have some idea. My mom HATES one of my tops (Juliet) so she doesn't get to know the others (especially Arlo!) for some time. Either when she can not make faces at them or when there are grandbabies in her arms and it won't matter anyways. lol Surprisingly, she thinks Kyle (for a girl) is better than Juliet. That blew my mind!!

Me: I can't believe your mom like Kyle for a girl over Juliet. They are both great names but I am a little surprised. How did/do your family and friends react to your love for baby names?

Kinley: They don't really "react." Like I said, my family doesn't really know the extent of my love for names, so there isn't much to react to.  The friends I have that do have just kind of accepted that every now and then I'm going to comment on a name or randomly tell them what it means. lol  One of my friends things I'm stupid whenever my top names change because she honestly believes I don't understand that my kids have to have the same names forever. Clearly, I know this. I also don't have children yet. Therefore, they can change all I want until I have kids and find the perfect names for them. lol Though, I'd use at least my boy names in a heartbeat if I magically had boys tomorrow. :)

Me: Wow you got nice reactions. I can't believe she thinks that! On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your love/addiction/obsession for baby names?

Kinley: Probably about a seven.  It doesn't consume my life or anything (that would be a problem lol), but I often think of my future children (or at least my first boy) by name. I'm guilty of thinking of things I want/want to do for Arlo. ;)  God help me if my future husband hates this name (obviously I WILL compromise. Nobody get on me about this). I'm just so in love with "his" name. Same with Porter, but that's mostly because "his" name honours some very, very special people.

Me: I can't see you without a little Arlo. What is the reason behind your formspring and blog names?

Kinley: My (current) formspring username is KyleandArlo.  Kyle is a name I LOVE, but have decided not to use.  And Arlo is my favourite boy name. :)  As for my blog, I obviously knew I wanted it to be about names but I had no idea what to name it.  My best friend was the one who came up with Notable Names.

Me: I like you names. Do you have a favorite baby namer (YouTube, blog, fornspringer, etc.)?

Kinley: This is going to sound cliche, but honestly, I don't.  Everybody has such different perspectives and I just really enjoy getting so many opinions and ideas when I ask for them.  As for who I'm closest to friend-wise, I'd have to say that Grace (grace63 on Formspring) is awesome. Her and I have had plenty of awesome talks, about names and other things, too.

Me: I love hearing everyone's opinions. Do you have a #1 fan on your blog/listography/formspirng or someone who you talk to a lot because of them?

Kinley: I don't think I really have "fans." That whole concept is just a little crazy to me.  lol I do have a few people who have been playing my names games pretty often for awhile now. They're awesome namers. :)

Me: I don't have fans either. What inspired you to make a blog, formspring, and listography besides baby names?

Kinley: Honestly, I just thought both would be fun!

Me: They are fun! Where do you find your baby names at?

Kinley: In terms of my top names, I have just sort of randomly stumbled upon them and fallen in love with them.  I do look at the SSA charts a lot, though.

Me: I found mine the same way. Do you know anyone in real life that has a formspring/youtube/blog?

Kinely: Not that I know of, and if they did, it would surely not be about baby names. Lol

Me: lol We are down to the last 3 questions!  Random fact about you?

Kinley: Oh gosh, I never know what to say for these types of questions. Okay, I'll choose this (even though some people already know it).  Techincally, by most people's definition, I have never "met" my best friend.  Yet, she is nothing less than a sister to me.  And no, we don't really feel a need to "meet" face to face.  If we do, that would be beyond awesome, but it would change nothing. We'd just be face to face instead of on computers. 

Me: That's so cool! What did you think of this interview?

Kinley: It was a lot of fun!  I'm glad I did it. :)

Me: I'm glad you did too! Is there anything else you would like to add?

Kinley: Not really, other than the fact that I'd like to get to know you better. I'll totally have to start following your blog more closely. :)

Me: I would love to get to know you better too! Thanks so much for doing the interview. I had so much fun.

So that was the interview. I had so much fun talking to Kinley. Thanks Kinley for doing the interview. You all need to go check out her blog and formspring. They are amazing. I hope you all enjoyed this interview and I can’t wait to interview more people. Bye fore now :). 

Photo Credit: http://www.formspring.me/KyleandArlo