Name List (not a poem)

I'm a name geek; I don't really like common names, but neither do I go for the names that are:

a.) trendy (see Nevaeh and Declan)
b.) ridiculous spellings of names (see Mykynzy and Desstynee)
c.) things that should never be imposed upon a child (see theme names like Heaven Sent, Shanda Lear, Peter Piper)

http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html
...check that site for a hilarious, scathing commentary on bad, bad baby names.

That being said, here's my list... the #1-2 choices will be used for my future children.

Girls

1.) Aunica Vesper Evolet
2.) Lyra Tinúviel Ayelet
3.) Charlotte Esmé Ophelia
4.) Isla Avalon Juliet
5.) Katya Venice Alix

My full list, uncombined: Alix, Aliyah, Allyn, Allysa, Amalie, Anaïs, Anaiya, Anneli, Angelie, Angelina, Antonia, Ariel, Ashton, Aspen, Astrid, Aunica, Aurelia, Aurora, Ava, Avalon, Avery, Ayah, Ayelet, Briar, Briseis, Bryony, Celeste, Celia, Chandra, Charis, Charlotte, Chloë, Clover, Eden, Elisa, Enya, Ember, Emerson, Esmé, Etolia, Eva, Evelyn, Evolet, Fiona, Gisela, India, Isis, Isla, Ivy, Jane, Jenai, Jewel, Jolie, Juliet, Kaia, Karelia, Kate, Katya, Leah, Leia, Lilith, Lina, Lotus, Lydia, Lyra, Lysandra, Mariah, Marilyn, Mira, Nahla, Namarië, Natalia, Natalie, Nayeli, Norah, Opal, Ophelia, Petal, Phoenix, Renata, Rosalie, Safiya, Scarlett, Sephora, Sonata, Song, Sophia, Star, Starlet, Stella, Thalia, Tia, Tinúviel, Tirzah, Tyra, Usha, Vália, Venice, Veronica, Vesper, Viena, Willow, Xylia, Ysabel, Zara, Zyll

Boys

1.) Audric Bruce Gabriel
2.) Oliver Jonas Avery
3.) Cullen Onyx Sterling
4.) Tristan River Anarias
5.) Everett Nicolai Lórien

My full list, uncombined: Aidan, Ainsley, Alexander, Allen, Anarias, Anatole, Anatolius, Andreas, Asher, Ashford, Audric, August, Aurelian/Aurelién, Auric, Auryn, Austen, Avery, Ayan, Bennet, Bruce, Carlisle, Cartier, Caspar, Cedric, Chandler, Cillian, Cohen, Collier, Connor, Cullen, Dane, Dominic, Elijah, Elisario, Elliot, Ellis, Emeric, Ennis, Ethan, Evan, Everett, Florian, Gabriel, Gordon, Hale, Hollis, Idriys, Indiana, Indigo, Jarvis, Jase, Jasper, Jonah, Jonas, Jonathan, Joshua, Jude, Julian, Keir, Kiarval, Kieran, Kyle, Lachlan, Langley, Lorcán, Lórien, Luca, Lucian, Lydian, Lyndon, Lysander, Madoc, Micah, Milan, Monaco, Morrill, Nico, Nicolas, Noah, Oakley, Oliver, Onyx, Orion, Paris, Parker, Pierce, River, Roman, Sirius, Spencer, Stellan, Stephane, Sterling, Theron, Tristan, Tybalt, Westcott, Will, Zachary, Zephyr

--

Most of these have some sort of personal meaning to me. I can group them in a few categories:

*Family names* 
(I have traced my genealogy back to the days of Cleopatra and beyond... there's a large pool to pick from!)

Alix: Alix of France, Countess of Blois, the daughter of Louis VII of France, and my twenty-sixth great-grandmother
Amalie: Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway, and my tenth great-grandmother
Astrid: my great-great-grandmother
Gisela: Sister of Charlemagne; my fortieth great-grandmother
Kaia: My great-grandmother
Sophia: Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway, and my tenth great-grandmother
Tyra: Queen of Denmark and my thirty-eighth great grandmother

Alexander: Alexander the Great; my 38th great grand-uncle
Allen: Middle name of my father
Avery: a form of Alfred. Alfred the Great of England was my forty-second great grandfather and one of the men I admire most.
Bruce: my husband's father. Naming tradition in their family: the newborn son's middle name = the first name of his paternal grandfather. Hence our firstborn son will be Audric Bruce Gabriel (Gabriel at my insistence.)
Carlisle: Family surname.
Dane: Lots of my Viking ancestors had the nickname "the Dane."
Hale: Surname prevalent in the Puritan times in my family tree.
Kiarval: Random Irish ancestor; I just like his name
Morrill: My grandfather
Paris: Paris of Troy, ninety-second great grand-uncle
Zachary: Zachariah, fifth great-grandfather

*Literature/movie/music/mythology names*

Anaïs: after Anaïs Nin
Antonia: from Willa Cather's My Antonia
Ariel: I have loved it since The Little Mermaid.
Ayah: Fell in love with this in the first pages of The Secret Garden.
Briseis: from mythology (see Troy)
Clover: stolen from The Good Shepherd
Daphne: Greek mythology
Enya: yes, after the singer... not as a namesake, but I love her name
Esmé: Admittedly, I was introduced to this through Twilight ... it's such a gorgeous name
Evolet: 10,000 B.C., Camilla Belle-- it's an updated version of Violet, very pretty
Isis: Egyptian mythology
Juliet: Romeo and Juliet, my all-time favorite of Shakespeare's plays
Kate: Taming of the Shrew
Leia: Indeed, from Star Wars
Lilith: the story that Adam's first wife was Lilith
Lyra: The Golden Compass... it's a beautiful name
Lysandra: Greek mythology
Namarië: Sindarin for "farewell" from Lord of the Rings. I would never give this to a real child but I love the idea of it.
Ophelia: Hamlet (yes, I love Shakespeare)
Thalia: Greek mythology; a Muse
Tinúviel: Lord of the Rings (Luthien Tinúviel, Nightingale of Doriath-- she's mentioned in detail in the Silmarillion)
Vália: Norse goddess of vengeance
Vesper: Vesper Lynd of Casino Royale (the husband and I are both Bond fans)
Zyll: Madeleine L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet

Asher: from Lois Lowry's The Giver
Austen: Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors
Bennet: Pride and Prejudice
Cedric: picked up from Harry Potter
Cillian: introduced to me by actor Cillian Murphy... fell in love with it instantly.
Collier: Surname of the family in Megan's Island, a favorite of mine growing up.
Florian: The Eustace Diamonds
Gabriel: Gabriel Martin, The Patriot
Indiana: Jones, of course. I wish I had the balls to name a boy this.
Lórien: Lothlórien, the realm of Galadriel in Lord of the Rings
Lysander: from mythology
Jasper: Twilight. I will say one thing for Stephenie Meyer, she picks exquisite names.
Jonas: picked up on this name from Weezer's song "My Name is Jonas"
Madoc: from Madeleine L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Pierce: heard it on Pierce Brosnan... love it
Sirius: a star name, also nabbed from Harry Potter
Tristan: Tristan and Isolde
Tybalt: Second-best to Juliet in appellation. (Romeo and Juliet, of course.)

*Random associations*

Etolia: reminds me of "L'Etoile du Nord," Star of the North, a soft spot due to Minnesota reasons and other grand, heartstring-pulling allusions to the North Star
Karelia: Viena Karelia, a region in Finland/Russia
Katya: a friend of mine from childhood, whose name I've always loved
Lina: From the classic "Australian shark song." Lina means "clear blue waters."
Mira: Another choir association: "Song for the River Mira."
Viena: Viena Karelia, a region in Finland/Russia

Cullen: To clarify, I liked this name BEFORE the whole Twilight craze; it's actually the last name of a family my family is friends with
Langley: Yup, of CIA fame
Roman: Family-related again; my roots are heavily grounded in Rome


...for anyone interested further in pronunciation, origin, etc... I have all of my names in an Excel spreadsheet with:

Origin
Meaning
Popularity rank in 2007
Nicknames

and I will e-mail it to anyone who asks.