Book Review: “If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio

Hello!

June was a surprisingly good month for my books. I thought I would be about to get through three to four books, but I guess I was reading a lot faster than I originally thought and I managed to finally hit 25 books as we neared the end of it.

When “If We Were Villains” first came out, I was unsure if I’d really be interested in it. I was intrigued by the suspenseful mood but having a big chunk of it built around Shakespeare made me worry since I’ve always had trouble understanding the meaning of what everyone was saying, like most would, but then again, I’m always searching for something like Victoria Helen Stone’s “Jane Doe” and I will admit this book isn’t anywhere near in that direction, but I liked it just as much though.

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Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.

taken from Goodreads.

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As the reader, you get to hear both the events that happened in 1999 to a group of students. Four boys and three girls, as they study theatre in college. Everything starts up like it does every day, but then they get their individual requirements for the Halloween show and something changes within the group itself. One character ends up dead and everyone is trying to go on about life, while in the back of their minds, they try to solve who actually killed their friend.

It was just us—the seven of us and the trees and the sky and the lake and the moon and, of course, Shakespeare.

Honestly, it’s a very cliche of “who done it” style of book but I will say it also had a very unique layout. The fact that the author included many Shakespeare references throughout was interesting to me! I got to see how the characters live and breathed William Shakespeare’s plays on a daily basis. You could see each of them act out various characters – sadly I was more focused on how these people would bring them to life as if I could see the show in front of me, and this was a wonderful display of elements. I still had some issues with the dialogue of that time’s way of speaking. I made it through in one piece, but I doubt I will read anything like that for a while. Thanks to this book, I have put both “Macbeth” and “King Lear” on my TBR list!

My true issue was once you made it passed the events that happen after Halloween, everything became very boring, it didn’t pick back up under the final Act, which for a while I wondered if it was worth finishing because it was that bad for me! As I suffered through this section, I tried to figure out who could play each of the characters…

I started hunting when I first started reading but I was thinking of various other actors, and I went with Jamie Campbell Bower as Alexander, Camila Mendes as Filippa, Emilia Clarke as Wren and Sam Claflin as our main Oliver, although I did end up changing my mind toward the end of the story, but I don’t know who the person I saw at that point. Honestly, this was a difficult thing to do because I rarely see a person’s actual face when creating the character’s features, so I could have all of the descriptions an author can give me, and I could still have problems forming them.

Have you read “If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio yet? If you have, what were your thoughts on it? I’d also like to know who you saw for the important characters down in the comments too.

Blogmas: Festive and Winter-y Baby Names!

Hello!

Last year I did a HUGE thing and made up over 100 name combinations for my second Instagram account. It was kind of hectic but really fun and I was pretty proud of myself afterwards. The page itself is centered around my love of names. I’ve never been interested on how the name(s) mean or sound really, I just share what I think looks cute and different and it allows me to learn more about other cultures too! I am a big learner and obsessed with various holidays and nationalities, and I’ve figured out I can multitask when it comes to creating these posts on my profile.

I had plans to do something similar during the month of October, because I also love fall and Halloween-eques type of names but I wasn’t motivated to do anything, and I was only able to release three girl pairings out of the entire thing. I was so bummed about it, but then I thought about creating a whole post about the names that I feel are perfect for Christmas.

This is one of the largest lists I’ve ever made, and I apologize for its size, but the original list was actually much bigger–I had the hardest time figuring out what to add. (This statement shouldn’t surprise you too much!) What I will do to make this somewhat easier for you is, I will talk about four names from each sex and discuss why I picked them out of the rest in their group, plus give you a fun middle name so it gives you some ideas later on.

Ambrose Gray

One thing you will notice in the list is that I chose some classic names like Ambrose, Benedict, and Emmanuel mainly because they are “warm” names to me. I feel like they are perfect names for boys (or girls) born in the colder months. They are snuggle-y and sophisticated. And despite using the middle as “Gray” I can see a lot of reds, navy blues, and beige colors that could illuminate the essence of the name. Yes, in a way your child will have a grandfather type of name but as they get older, you could adopt a nickname that could work with their full name!

Douglas Wolf

I have seen Douglas making a slow comeback and I seriously am here for it!

If you are interested in boho or nature, I think Douglas is an underdog to both of these styles. I love trees but I always forget to add them in my ultimate list. Douglas firs (or Evergreen trees) are unbelievably gorgeous! Once you see them out in their habitat, you instantly feel Christmas-y and want to do a full-on Griswold move and watch it explode in your living room with its huge limbs. Oddily enough, newborn babies can have a similar effect, but maybe not break any windows with their incredible wails though, but who knows, maybe they can…

Fairbanks Roland

Back in January, I actually began to collect names that were out of the Scandinavian range as that was one country, I talked about in the previous Christmas name posts on my Instagram. I also adore the Frozen franchise, so it wasn’t really a surprise when I just unleashed every week of different ones. However, I decided to change it up a bit and started searching for interesting names based around Alaska, which is how I found Fairbanks.

Why I thought Fairbanks could be a hit is because of two reasons: 1) it is both a city and word name, and these are really in nowadays! So, if you are tired of hearing about Aspen, Boston, and Denver, this could be your ticket! 2) as far as I can tell, Fairbanks is fairly low on the popularity charts. Technically, this combination is pretty low on their significant lists so you could be safe to having you child use an unique type of name that could rise later on.

Lysander Matthew

Personally, I have always had an uneasy relationship with Lysander. I like it, I think it’s interesting and could work around Halloween and winter, so in a way it’s like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, where it works around both of their celebrations.

I am very impressed with the amount of regal looking the boy names are in the banner. I tend to enjoy hearing bold and masculine names around this time anyways. As I said about “Ambrose” there is something about these classic names that seem to radiant a sense of warmth and wholesome in the next few months. This being said though, I tend to go on a different route with the girls. I like shorter but Christmas like type of styles, thus the many vibes of the festive season.

I paired it with a very beloved name of mine and that’s “Matthew” as I feel like it adds a subtle sweet flair to how sharp Lysander looks and sounds. I don’t usually add other names that could work as possibly sibling sets in these types of posts, but I think Leander and Lior would be cool as they each have a mysterious and regal appeal to them.

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Faith Sydney

As with Lysander above, Faith is another one that hasn’t had an easy time with me. I normally to go back and forth with it, but since so many faiths are celebrated during this month, I thought it could stand to make a comeback amongst the charts again. There is another reason to list it here is because Faith is one syllable. People are really enjoying naming their children with one to three syllables and this was the reason why I included Sydney as the middle as it is kind of easygoing and plays well overall.

Honor Madeleine

Since 2008, I have been a huge fan of Honor, thanks in part to actress Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren’s first daughter being named Honor Marie. It was during that year that my actual love of collecting names officially started; I’d been storing a lot of them throughout my life, but this was the first time where I saw so many good names at once and my mom and I were just having a field day of sharing our thoughts on each one that was announced. This was the same year that Nicole Ritchie and her husband Joel Madden had their daughter Harlow Winter Kate, which is another beloved favorite of mine too! Honor and Harlow could be a great set as well!

Josepha Claire

This one is for those who would like to get out of using Josephine, now there’s nothing wrong with that variation, I’m actually a really big fan of that style, but I thought Josepha or maybe Josephe could be an interesting royal switch up.

Lately I’ve been doing royal family trees in my spear time, and I just finished doing Marie Antoinette’s maternal family line and Josepha is a HUGE name among her family. The majority of her mother, aunts, sisters, and nieces had it in their fairly large names, so if you are a fan of Marie Antoinette in any way, you could use Josepha as a nice way to represent her or the old Asturian-Hungarian royal family.

Neve Alexandra

One name that I just enjoyed last winter was Neve. I had heard about it prior to using it in my theme, but I never knew it meant “snow” in Italian. As much as I like the word “snow” having it as a name for a human, always makes me cringe a little, so whenever I can find names that mean it, I will definitely go with the alternative immediately. I also really enjoyed putting Alexandra with it as the middle since that’s another way I enjoy creating combinations too, starting small and continue with a longer and strong type of name can make it look almost regal.

Okay, well, that is it for this post. I really hope you enjoyed my selection of names, and the few I gave you with some ideas for middle candidates too. Now I would really like for you to comment below with your favorites from the banner or what you like to see throughout the season.

Top 40 Halloween Baby Names!

Howdy!

It is finally October, so it is perfectly fine for me to talk about this subject out loud, but let’s be honest, I’ve been talking about fall since the beginning of summer! When it comes to this post in general, I’ve had to keep it hidden so people wouldn’t think I was that kook-y, but my family members knew its appearance was coming soon.

This will be in the same format as my post about the possible names of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could name their little one. Unfortunately, I was somewhat wrong with my picks but I did get one part right, their baby boy is named after Prince Harry, just not with a name that I expected at the time, but now I really like it and everything fits well, as it’s both American and British worthy! Anyways, I will talk about eight different names from both sexes and explain why I believe each one could work for all seasons!

I think I might have went a little overzealous with this picture, but in my defense, I had a lot more names that I could have included but I decided that would be too much for me. A lot of these names are full-on Halloween themed, whereas some are not, and they are very subtle to the point where you can hide the meaning behind it. I wanted to respect everybody’s point of view with the ones I’ve selected.

Now, as I’ve successfully put this banner on here, and considering how careful I was on how everybody was straight from top to bottom, I have already found a mistake. If I hadn’t put four fairly large sections I would actually attempt to fix it, but there’s nothing I can do so if you spot it, please have a little laugh on me!

Here are the 16 names that I thought deserved a little loving, and maybe they’ll be an inspiration to you and your partner to give to your newly witch or goblin.

Abigail Rose – I think the name “Abigail” is a beautiful name. It is a very timeless, but if you are familiar with the account of the Salem Witch Trails in the 1600’s, then you might remember that one of the first people to accuse a person for being a witch was a young girl by the name of Abigail Williams. Whether or not you believe in witchcraft or if she was making it up, the name is a beautiful example of having a spooky disguise as it is still classy and elegant but there’s this little hint of history within it too.

Daphne Grace – You might not think of this as a Halloween-ish type of name, but I do. I grew up watching the Scooby-doo cartoons and out of all of the names featured on the show, this was my only favorite. I have never liked the nickname Freddie for Frederick so that is why I didn’t include it on the boys side either. Since the show was created in the late 1960’s, it still has that hippie flare that some people might enjoy.

Ingrid Alexandra – This one was inspired the character Ingrid from Witches Of East End and yes, that was one of the reasons why I also put Freya on there too, but there was a character on The Originals with that same name, but they were all witches on their shows. The other reason why I chose to use it here was because everytime I think or hear of the name Ingrid, I immediately think of the color green. I would love to read up on auras and what they mean, especially if they can appear on words or baby names, because this happens a lot and I’m always at a loss to explain the reasoning for it.

Marnie Olivia – I actually worked on the banner above back in spring, but I had switch it out purely because I forgot to put “Marnie” on the list! I think it is an important name to this post because nobody would know it was a Halloween inspired name unless they have all of the Halloweentown films growing up! I have added “Agatha” to the girl’s side too, but I think this is a quirky name to give a little girl for the witch-y vibes!

Nercissa Louise – It was so difficult not to include a whole bunch of Harry Potter characters into this post, so I was very proud with the amount that ended up making it! I really love the name Nercissa, but I’m not really sure why though. A part of me thinks it’s because it feels like a classic but has this dark flare about it too.

Prudence Alice – Now when I went to include this one to my list, I figured people would think I put it on there because of my obsession with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but it’s not. I generally loved it as “Prue” on the original Charmed series. I always envied her power on the show too! This is another really old name too, it actually dates back to the 1600’s, around of the time of the Salem Witch Trails!

Selene Brooke – I’ve known about this name for a long time because before my dad brought home Oliver, we had a cat named Selene. She was originally my Aunt Laurie’s but somehow she gave her to us. Selene was mostly an outside cat. She was very shy and very pretty! I remember being bitten a couple of times after trying to get close to her. After a few months, we think she took off because we never saw her again. I think my mom tried to hold off a few days before making that announcement because she really loved her!

It would be a long time before I hear the name again, but for different circumstances; this time it came from the Underworld films! I still love the name as it sounds really dark and mysterious 

Wilhelmina Amalia – Now, you might not associate this one with fall or Halloween at first, but I found out late in 2018 that the name Wilhelmina was one of the characters in a little animation show on Boomerang called “Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz”. She is the Wicked Witch Of The East’s niece that basically wants to finish what her aunt started. The TV show is cute, but I think I loved the name better!

Now that we have the girl side done, we can move on to talk about the boy names that I have picked out for you. I had a lot more word names for this part because I just haven’t been inspired to use them for the girls yet. They all just sound masculine to me, but you could still use them for girls too, so don’t go with what I tell you because these are my opinions too.

Alchemy Paul – The boys were pretty easy as I have always loved adding a more spooky flare to their names compared to the girls. I wasn’t too keen on this one at first, but I think once I figured out it is apart of both the historical and science worlds, it makes me love it a lot more. It even reminds me of my papaw too!

Byron William – If you love Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and John William Polidori’s The Vampyre,you really need to take a closer look on what inspired both of these works. The story goes that Lord Byron brought a big group of novelists to stay in a villa and share stories. He even challenged to create the scariest story they could write and this is the beginning of history. So, if you enjoy the English name Byron but want to give it some spooky flare, here you go!

Harvest Roy – A lot of people are loving this name lately! However, the only way I’ve seen it used as a girl name. I have never loved it for a girl, everything about it makes me think of a guy! It might have something to do with football, tagliatelle parties, beer always coming into my head when I say it out, but I just love it this way. I would also only use it with smaller middle names too! 

Jasper Augustus – Out of all the Twilight names that I had in my original list, this was my ultimate favorite of the bunch! Jasper and Carlyle were my favorites on the movies, but I think Jasper is both classic and cool at the same time! 

Marius Bernhardt – When I went about creating this list, I wanted to make sure I represented all of the Halloween-y movies as I could so that I had a wide array of names to pull from, so thankfully I’ve been trying to watch the ones of Anne Rice’s books. There were plenty to use in this post, but one that I really liked the most was Marius. It is such a mysterious name but you could easily use “Mars” for a nickname though!

Poe Lafayette – There is no chance in hell am I leaving out the King of Halloween literature: Edgar Allen Poe. I thought his first and middle names were too common to be on here, but Poe is a great way to honor him. I would definitely use it as a first name, but I think it could work anywhere you want to put it. 

Wolf Travis – A part of me wanted to use “Wolfgang” for the list, but I thought it would be too much. Personally, I love that way but using “Wolf” as a nickname. I love older names compared some of the popular trends. Whatever way you prefer, I think it is a strong name for this time of the year. 

Viktor Campbell – I wasn’t going to use multiple names for the same book or movie, but the more I started picking out ones I wanted to talk about on this section, I quickly became aware that I wasn’t going to get by with it. This name is featured on the Underworld series with this spelling, but I like it with the original “Victor” for the creator of the monster on Frankenstein. It is a very serious name but I like it that way!

We are finally done with this post. This is my final baby names post for the year, or at least we’ll see! I might find another tag or talk about my favorite names of the year, but we’ll see what happens in the meantime!

How did you like all of the names above? If you were able to use any of them for a baby or maybe a pet, which one(s) would you use?

Baby Name Tag – Round 2!

Howdy!

Today I am doing another baby names tag! I found out that Gabriella had uploaded a second name tag video back in late November, and I started thinking about doing something special. The first part of this are her questions she put in the video, but I’ve also added on my own questions too. I’ve only written out five more at the bottom for your enjoyment!

I also decided how cool it would be, if I did three separate baby name posts to coincide with another tag I’d publish on my blog’s Facebook page from the months April to October. Somehow I came up with it in literally two days! I was somewhat impressed and terrified of myself at the same time! I’ve already published the first post back in late March, just before The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were due to have their first child. If you haven’t seen that post, you can go here. By this time, I will be at the letter “M’ or “O” on the ABC Baby Names Tag on Facebook.  If you want to go back through and check out the names I picked out for the previous letters, you are more than welcome to do that too! The link for that is right here. First though, let’s start this tag while I’ve still got your attention! The final post will be going up either at the end of September or October, so you’ll have to look out for that too!

What is your favorite name from the FRIENDS cast?

I have always loved Phoebe and Rachel. I’m surprised that I’ve never cared for any of the guys’s names, even Joey!

If you had Triplets and you had to choose 3 winter themed names, what would they be?

I really like Winter a lot, it’s one of my favorite girl names. Since I am a big fan of trees, I think Pine would be a really interesting name to give a little girl. Lastly, I have to say I really like Noel too, but only for a boy. It’s different but gives you that cheery feeling just saying it!

If you had triplets and you had to choose 3 summer themed names, what would they be?

I really adore the name Summer, but I would rather use it for a boy than a girl. I have a really good combination that is neutral and its Summer Brighton. I also love the name Ocean, but honestly the variation: Oceane is better for me. I know it’s not pronounced the same as the original, but I’d rather have this spelling for a girl. And my final (weird) name is Palm, and again, we’re playing into the tree element. I like my trees damn it! I think it could work for both sexes.

What is your favorite typically English baby name?

There are honestly a lot of really pretty names out there, but I have always been interested in both Edgar and Nigel. I don’t really know if they are English at all but I’ve always seen them feature in British films in the past, so that’s how I’ve associated them, please correct me if I’m wrong!

What are some non-negotiable names that you love?

I think I’ve finally decided on three names that I will use on some level, whether it’s my future children or as a character in one of my stories, but they are David, Mason, and Ruth. Both David and Ruth are family names that mean a lot to me and I’ve always said to myself that I would use them as middle names. Mason is a name that I have loved since probably 2005!

If you had to choose names from your favorite movie, what would they be?

I grew up on the Back To The Future franchise so I have a love for the name “Emmett”. I think the main reason why I enjoy it so much is because it reminds me of my sister, since her name is Emily, I feel like it is as close to that as humanly possible. I’ve searched for others that start with “Em” but this is the only one I’ve liked and the fact that it was used in one of my favorites movies, is just an added bonus too!

Another name that I like, is fairly new to me, because I’ve only ever heard it on this movie series. I love the Hotel Transylvania films and from the first time I heard the name “Mavis” I was hooked! Since in those movies, Mavis is the daughter of the character Dracula, I do associate it as a semi-dark and mysteries name, but I also think it’s really playful too. And the fact that it’s a “M” name that makes things better, as I would like to continue the letter for my first born daughter.

If you had to use a name from your phone contacts, what would it be?

The only ones that I really like (name wise) are Christopher, Samantha, and Russell.

I’ve always loved the name Christopher, and whenever I talk about my cousin, I actually call him that rather than Chris like the rest of my family. Speaking of family, our close family friend, who is like my uncle has the name Russell. I like it for it’s 60’s and 70’s vibe. I’m not calling you old by the way if you’re reading this! Kate Hudson has a son with the name Ryder Russell and I’ve always loved those two names together so if I could I would definitively use this combination!

Now with the name Samantha, back in the 90’s it was a very common name for girls. I have known a large amount of girls with it growing up, but I still love it! I don’t know if I found this or came up with it myself, but I really like it with Claire; I think it works as a first and middle name, but my favorite way is Claire Samantha. What do you think?

What double-barreled name would you consider?

Since I found this tag, I’ve actually created a large amount of double-barreled names. The two that are like at the top of my favorites list are Avril-Hayden Morgan and Felix-Henry William.

The first one has been on my list for both b/g since probably 2006. I found inspiration for it by my love of both singer Avril Lavigne and actress Hayden Pentitiare. As for the middle, it was my great-grandmother’s maiden name but it was also used for my papaw’s middle name as well. That’s why I think it could work out both ways! Felix-Henry is fairly recent for me, ever since we named one of our cats Felix I have grown to love it more and you know, with my love for history, I am always looking for create ways to use the name Henry and William, so I decided to put it here.

I thought it would be nice if I shared a couple of ones for girls, so I have made up Daisy-Kate Elizabeth and Sadie-Jordyn Elizabeth. As you can see, I really love my middle name a LOT!  What do you also think of these pairings?

What Disney themed names would you pick for a boy/girl?

Disney names are SO difficult for me! However, I love the name “Ariel” but only for a boy. Apparently it’s an angel based in both Jewish and Christianity traditions. The way that I came across it was because a character in the symphonic metal band Kamelot’s album (that I cannot remember at this moment), the character itself was portrayed as a male so that’s how I ended up loving it.

The other one that I really like is “Elsa.” I am a lover of Scandinavian names here recently, but the reason why I love it the most is because I have a great-great-great aunt that used it as part of her name, her full name was Elsaleah. Unfortunately, Elsa has never be used in the future generations, probably because it is has grown really popular after the success of the movie Frozen, but Leah has shown up with a couple of family members. I would like to use both Elsa or Elsaleah because I think they’re so pretty!

What would you name a brunette, blonde and red haired child?

BRUNETTE: Sienna June. BLONDE: India Catherine. RED-HAIRED: Rowena Carrie.

BRUNETTE: Harvest Roy. BLONDE: Bjorn William. RED–HAIRED: Hamish Michael.

What are your favorite country/city themed names?

I REALLY enjoy city/country names, at times probably a little too much, but that keeps me interesting!

My favorite girl names are Georgia, Israel, Vienna, India, Petra, Adelaide, Victoria, Brisbane, Manhattan, London, Jersey, Alberta, Italia, Savannah, Marseilles, Brittany, Sahara, Essex, & Arizona. Apparently I like a lot of places ending with “ia” and I didn’t even know it!

Boys are always more difficult for me for some reason, but I love Austin, Columbus, Diego, Boston, Bronx, Camden, Charleston, Houston, Orlando, Paris, Richmond, Manchester, Nevada, Rio, Trenton, York.

And just for fun here are some unisex names too! I really love Berlin, Brooklyn, Dallas, Denver, Hamilton, Ireland, Dakota, Jordan, Memphis, Paris, and Kingston.

If you had to pick a Harry Potter themed baby name, which would you pick?

This is a hard one! The first one that comes to my mind is Luna. Luna Lovegood is one of my favorite female characters, but I also love both Minerva and Narcissa. As far as the boy names, Remus was my favorite adult/teacher, but Neville and Seamus are really cute too!  

If you had to use one of your friends’ names, which would it be?

There are only two that I can think of right now, and they are Samantha and Desiree. I kind of explained Samantha above, but I like it for its 70’s vibe and the Southern charm it brings out. However, I think I only love Desiree as it has this French flare to it. 

What are your favorite space themed names for a boy/girl?

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with space themed names, but there is Luna, which means “Moon” in Italian. I  don’t have a favorite boy name at the moment.

Choose a boy and girl name based on Greek Mythology

I think Greek mythology is a little easier compared to other mythologies, than maybe Egyptian mythology but that might be because I have always been obsessed with Ancient Egypt since I was little! Anyways, I love Athena for a girl, it’s one of my favorites ever! Now for boys, it’s a little bit difficult but I’m always pulled to Ares or Jason than any other name. 

What is your favorite name that was popular in a different era?

I have three favorite eras: Tudor, Roaring 20’s, and 1970’s. So I’ll give you 6 names from each time.

Let’s start with Tudor times, we have Henry (of course!), Edmund, Richard, Anne, Bridget, and Lettice on my list. Lettice is pronounced like “lettuce” but I actually prefer “lat-tis” like when you’re making a lattice for a pie. I think that way sounds more feminine compared to the other way. For the Roaring 20’s, there is Bernard, Norman, Sidney, Ada, Gloria, and Olive. And my final six favorites coming out of the 1970’s are Michael, Brian, Scott, Jennifer, Stephanie, and Sarah.

If you had to choose a famous brand to name your child, what would you pick?

Honestly, I think Forbes is really cute. Since it was used as a last name on The Vampire Dairies for the character Caroline, I thought it just flowed so nicely together, but if I actually used it I would put it with a boy name instead. The other one that I really love is Dior. I love this, but I’d also use it in a boy name. I fell in love with Nevada Dior a long time ago, I still think it was my first outlandish name I ever came up with before! 

What is a name that you’d normally pick for your dog or cat, that you’d use for your own child?

The majority of our pets have had people names, so that has been both a blessing and curse at the same time! Especially when my sister was pregnant with my nephew, she really wanted to use Oliver, but my mom threatened to call him “mew-mew” like we did with our family cat Oliver, so that’s the reason why they switched to Nolan.

I don’t know if you agree with this or not, but I think cats should have a regal sort of name. They carry themselves higher than any other animal, so I think they deserve a sophisticated type of name. Unfortunately, only a handful of our cats have ever had smart names in the past and even the present too! We have had names like Selene, Oliver, Oscar, Otis, Felix, Tavis, and Nelson. 

What is your favorite royalty name(s)?

You can tell I created this question! I think I’ll just give you a great collection of names because what I originally wanted to give you all would make this post super long, so I hope you’ll like this instead.

My favorite royal names are: Elizabeth, George, Henry, Charles, Alexander, Anne, Margaret, Carl, Augusta, Victoria, Alexandra, Louise, Catherine, Antoinette, Xaveria, Claude, Philip, Alice, Mary, Estelle, Gabriel, Henrik, James, Irene, Isabella, Leonore, Nicholas, Oscar, Edmund, Richard Alix, Albert, Irene, Therese, Wilhelmina, Charlotte, Helena, Ernest., Theodora, Marie-Chantal, Arabella, Josephine, Louis, Paul, Maud, Jane, Frederick, Augustus, Mathilde, Maxima, Henrietta, Leopold, Arthur, Michael, Harald, Joan, Thyra, Dagmar, Anastasia, Olga, Blanche, Madeleine, Birgitta, Hedvig, Catharina, Magnus and Friederike.  

What are your Top 10 names that you love but probably will never use?

Alexandrine | Siobhan | Nicah | Salima | Honor | Nevada | Leopold | Thaddeus | Calix | Atlas 

All right I am finally finished with this tag! This actually took me longer to do then I figured it would, it made part of me wish I had worked on it earlier on like I wanted to, but yeah it was really fun like always. If you are interested in baby names, I definitely recommend doing it too! If you do, please let me know I would love to see your answers! 

 

VISIT MY “NAME PAIRINGS” BOARD ON PINTEREST!

Howdy!

It’s been a while! I have not blogged in a month. Well, technically, if I had held off for another week, it really would have been for a month. The last blog post that went up was my annual post of my papaw’s death and the last post I wrote was the one that’s coming tomorrow! I’m hoping to do another “Life Lately” post next week but we’ll see what happens.

This post is about a project I’ve somehow created while I was on hiatus. You all should know by now how much I love baby names. I’ve talked about my favorite styles on here before, but at the end of March I was looking through Pinterest at various boards of other people who make those adorable wood name signs and as I would continue to pin and scroll through the many, many names I kind of found myself somewhat bored with my limited choices so one night I thought, “well I can’t find what I want, I might as well create them!” I have to add I’m not doing wood signs like them, I’m purely using my Paint software on my laptop to make things easier on myself. What I thought would be a cute little board of my favorite name pairings turned into a board full of 400+ names in a matter of a few weeks!

Originally I made the board of names I have always loved and have in my phone’s notes. After that, I found others on a baby names Facebook group I recently joined and anything I enjoy in the local newspaper, on Nameberry’s birth announcements, etc. Finally, after all of those inspirations, I would even literally come up with in the middle of the night, and yes, it happens a lot! I also went back and forth about creating little mini boards for the different sexes, I even have a board of both unisex and unique styles too! Ultimately it just kind of got out of control to the point now my whole lower half of my body hurts after about an hour or so!

Here are some of my recent uploads to the board.

Click here to visit the official board of baby names!

I myself have a wide array of styles, I always tend to stay in between classical and quirky ones. Since doing this, I’ve also realized that I have a LOT of constantly used names, such as “Catherine,” “Rose,” “Alexandra,” and “David.” I tend to overuse several of my family’s names as well. I mainly do that to see what all could fit with each name. It’s one of the most frustrating thing about older names, sometimes you just get stuck and began to experiment with all sort of combinations.

Unfortunately, I don’t really pay that much attention to meanings. It would just depend on the name itself because I have looked up some of them in the past so I have a few stored up in my brain. If you’re interested in a name and have issues what kind of middle name(s) could fit with your chosen favorite, you can always talk to me on my blog’s Facebook page. Send me a message to my inbox and we’ll figure it out together! You could also scroll through the many others in the boards too, and see if you like anything in there too!

What is your favorite of the 6 names posted above? If you’ve visited the Pinterest board already, do you like any in the mini sections? If you want, you could send me requests too!