My Guilty Pleasure Names

Guilty pleasure names. I’m not sure if other baby namers agree with me, but guilty pleasure names rank right up there with cats and Starbucks on my personal list of favorite things. There’s something so fun about thinking of outlandish names and becoming famous enough to use them. To me, guilty pleasure encompasses everything from made up to blatant wrong genders to, to loaded associations to just plain odd. A lot of my favorite guilty pleasure names come from books as well. So, without further ado, here are my top five guilty pleasures on either gender :)

Girls

Arcadia

            Arcadia was a name for a region in ancient Greece derived from the word for bear. I’m sure the first place I heard Arcadia was on formspring, but I can’t for the life of me remember from whom. For someone with a more adventurous style, Arcadia is completely usable, but it’s a little much for this more timid namer. It was an instant guilty pleasure love though!

Calico

            I first heard this one in a celeb magazine; I want to say Star. Rocker Alice Cooper has a daughter named Calico Dashiell Cooper. While both Dashiell and the alliteration of Calico Cooper make me cringe, I adore the name. I think it’s so light and pretty and evokes images of floral fabric and autumn colored kitties. It’s been on my guilty pleasure list the longest.

November

            November comes from the Latin word novem, which means 9. Although November is now the 11^th month of the year, it was the 9^th in the Roman calendar. My birthday is in November and I’d always thought it was a gorgeous word. Considering 9 has been my lucky number my whole life, the meaning just makes it better!

Shay

            Shay is an Anglicization of an Irish boys name, Séaghdha, meaning admirable. I’ve heard Shay equally on boys and girls and although I love the name, I can’t handle the ambiguity of it. Although I do like it on both genders, I think it’s super spunky and cute for a girl.

Victoriana

            Victoriana is an elaboration of Victoria. I first heard this name on a Butter London nail polish shade. First of all, I’d recommend everyone run to your nearest The Bay (or Ulta if you’re American) because it’s seriously one of the most gorgeous nail polishes I’ve ever owned. Second of all, I think its name is as gorgeous as the color; which is a huge compliment believe me.

Boy

Colt

            Here I have a semi embarrassing confession. I HATE horses. Like seriously. I can’t stand them. That said, even though a colt is literally a baby horse, I think it’s a precious name. I think a Colt would be super energetic and fun to be around. What makes this a gp for me, aside from the horse association, is the handgun association. I would use it as an occasional nickname for Colton though.

Maverick

            Maverick is an English name derived from a word meaning independent. As a moderate Toronto Raptors fan, the first place I heard the name Maverick was in relation to the Dallas Mavericks. My family is far too into sports for this name to be usable for me, but for an adventurous, non sporty namer, I think Maverick is a pretty badass choice.

Romeo

            I’m sure you can all guess where I first heard this one. Romeo and Juliet is not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but Romeo is one of my favorite Shakespearean boy’s names. I love the sound and the o ending. I just don’t want to saddle some poor kid with spending his life being asked where his Juliet is.

Sapphire

            Sapphire is an English gemstone name more commonly used on girls. Whilst you’re out picking up Victoriana nail polish, I suggest you pick up the Graceling Trilogy by Kristen Cashore. If you’re a purist about these kinds of things, read book one and two first, if not, skip right to three. They’re all companion books, so don’t technically have to be read in order. A main character in three is a thief named Sapphire nn Saf who is definitely in my top five book boy crushes and made me absolutely adore his name. I also think Saf as a nickname is great.

Sedge

            I promise this is the last thing I will suggest you buy, but after purchasing Victoriana and the Graceling trilogy, pick up the first two books in the Pure trilogy by Julianna Baggott. This book is full of super interesting names, including the two main characters Pressia and Partridge. Sedge is the name of Partridge’s older brother. Sedge is a type of grass that grows in wetlands. Although I guess it could be usable for a big nature name enthusiast, I consider it one of my more out there gp names.

Disclaimer: You don’t actually have to go buy the things I told you to (but for reals, if you bought Victoriana you wouldn’t regret it). As a reader, I also drift towards fantasies and dystopias, so although I adored Pure (haven’t read Fuse yet) and the Graceling trilogy, others might not. Anyway, if you have an thoughts on my gps or gps of your own, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts!

Hayl