10 N Names You Never Thought of Using: Boys

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Noah was the man of the year, taking the title of "most popular name" away from Jacob. He's a very likable name, but not all parents are okay with the idea of using the Number One. That's where I come in. This list has some great N names (some very similar to Noah), that aren't even in the top 500.

Nacio- He's a short form of Ignacio, but sounds modern and fresh on his own.

Ned- Ned is a British nickname that more American parents should embrace. 

Niels- I'm a sucker for Scandinavian names (they're short, but they pack a punch!), and I think Niels is great. He's too close to Nell for me to put him on my list, but I encourage other people to do so.

Nigel- Ned not English enough for you? Try Nigel. He's a smart and quirky name that could potentially catch on with hipsters (I predict).

Nikos- I'm seventeen, and so many of the boys in my grade are named Nick. It has become dated. Nikos is a nice alternative.

Nino- Oh, Nino. Ever since watching Amelie, I've fallen in love with this name. He's so charming, but I'm not sure he would work on an American adult.

Noam- I did promise you names that were similar to Noah. Noam is cool and ages much better than Nino. Plus, you can decorate his nursery with gnomes!

Noble- He's a strong virtue name with tons of potential. Even if you don't love him as a first, imagine how awesome he'd be as a middle.

Noe- You could always just go with the first syllable of Noah. Noe is a very cool name in theory, though I think it could be a little confusing.

Noon- Noon is a spunky word name that would work well if it held significance. Perhaps his parents got engaged at noon, or he was born at 12:00 p.m. Then it would be cute.

On Naming a Dog

Recently, my family got a puppy (that puppy). The number one stress inducer was this guy's name. I know, it shouldn't be so hard. I mean, we have a naming expert in the family! Alas, it was decided that all five of us would agree on the name. That's not what you want to here when your calling out names like Viggo and Fritz, while others are shouting Waffle, Brick, and Oscar. To be clear, the only reason why Oscar was a "no" was because it is in the top 50 for dogs. I would not stand for that. Anyways, as you can see everyone has very different naming styles. Some of us wanted a British name (he is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel after all), and others wanted a very masculine name. The short list ended up being:

Nigel
Chester (called Chet, maybe?)
Woody

This dog was about to be named Woody (which I disliked) when all of a sudden yours truly thought of the perfect name for this nugget. Harvey. Once I suggested Harvey, it was done. Everyone liked it (thank goodness) and we get compliments on his name every day. But you know how it goes, and he has many nicknames. I call him Harv or Harvey-man, and my mom is fond of Stinky, Stinkman, or Little Stink.

Naming a dog is different from naming a human, but still very difficult. Here are some suggestions for naming your puppy (or any animal).
1. Agree. It's best if everybody likes the name, so keep that in mind while choosing.
2. Come up with a lot of names. I must have suggested hundreds.
3. Keep trying. I didn't think of Harvey till the very end, so I'm glad I kept going at it.
4. Don't settle. If I had done that, this dog would have been named Woody.
5. Keep it fun (try). The naming process was one of the least enjoyable for me, which is too bad because it should be the most fun. Naming an animal is stressful, but don't get too upset over it. It's more fun if you keep the conversations light.

Share a Coke Names: Part Two

Might as well go with Nell ;) Make one here.

Okay, back for more. To do this post, I looked at all the names they sold in stores in the UK. Turns out it's a lot more. Like, almost five times as more. It took a long time to get all this data, but I've got some interesting observations for you guys. I'm going to list all 1,146 (!) names after the jump, then we can talk about them.

My hand hurt after writing seven pages of this.