I’m married to someone who often looks askance when I tell him about other unusual names people have used for their children…I can always predict how he’s going to react! He tends not to like the especially trendy ones.

Needless to say, we stuck with fairly straightforward names for our boys: Christopher Hugh, Kieran Robert, and Nicholas Robert. Since I got to use my top boys’ names, I thought I’d focus on girls’ names:

1. Susanna: This was our first-choice girls’ name, which we never got to use because we had all boys! I wanted to use Susanna Hope or Susanna Marie.

2. Michaela: I doubt my hubby would have gone for this one, but I always liked it…and she could have been named after him!

3. Kate: Not sure whether this would have been derivative of a longer name (perhaps Katharine), but I’ve always loved the name Kate.

4. Zora: Ala Zora Neale Hurston…what an unusual, cool name it is…namesake of a real renaissance woman.

5. Kayra: This is the name of one of my son’s friends, and I really like it. It means grace, favor, benevolence, and kindness.

6. Sophia/Sophie: I am very fond of at least two wonderful young women named Sophie!

7. Karen: I have never met a Karen I don’t like. Karen was the name of my favorite teacher (fifth grade) and Chris’ primary nurse in the NICU. Karens are often amazing.

8: Renee/Renay: When I was young, my family had a framed print of the “Girl with a Watering Can” by Renoir hanging up on our living room wall. My dad used to call her Renee, so I wanted to be called Renee. Then both of my older boys had an amazing second grade teacher named Renay, who has become a close friend of mine…now I think I might go with that spelling, since she is so wonderful!

9. Maria: By third grade, I wanted my name to be Maria–and my third grade teacher humored me and called me that name. And then there’s Maria Von Trapp, of course!

10. Eleanor/Rosa/Maya: I could have named a daughter after so many women I admire, but these two names come to mind in particular.

Thanks to Stasha at http://www.northwestmommy.com/ for organizing Monday Listicles. Read about other names (or photos from people’s phones, the other topic) by checking out the other participating bloggers.