Are unique names always the best?

Question

I'm pregnant with twins, who are due in just over 2 weeks. They're both girls and we had trouble finding names. We wanted something original, but not tacky. Myself and my husband decided to let our neices Sophia (8 years) and Alyssa (6 years) chose the middle names.

Our girls are now going to be called Rome (Taylor) Portane and Jaida (Miley) Portane. The middle names are in brackets and our surname is Portane.

Do you like our name choices? We did not influence Sophia and Alyssa with their choices at all.

We already have an 11 month old daughter, Grace.

Answer 1

Taylor and Jaida are nice, but I don't like Miley and especially not Rome.

Answer 2

I actually really like Rome, but not so much Jaida.  Jaida seems trashy to me for some reason.  I like the middle names though.  What about Jayla instead of Jaida?  

Answer 3

I think that Rochelle Taylor and Jayla Miley would be much better

Answer 4

those are both cute. There is a difference between unique and well UNIQUE. Yours are great!  

Answer 5

I love your combinations.

Rome Taylor Portane- Very feminine, I love this name

Jaida Miley Portane- I'm not crazy about the spelling of Jaida. With the spelling Jada it seems like almost everybody knows the pronunciation. Example: Jada Pinkett-Smith= Everyone knows her name is Jay-dah. I would just say go for what your heart sets.

I think it is sweet that you let your nieces pick the middle names. I would expect one to pick "Miley" :-)

Good Luck!

Answer 6

I'm not a huge fan. I think Jada is fine as it is, without the extra 'i' in it. I think Rome sounds a bit funny as a given name, but I understand it has meaning to you. I think using the Italian name for Rome, Roma, sounds a lot more feminine and pretty. Roma and Jada sound like sisters to me. It's just a teen y bit of tweaking, but they sound more like successful adults to me.

I hate Miley as a middle name. Is there any way to convince your neices to at least use Hannah instead of Miley? It's just such a tacky name!

Answer 7

i like all but Rome.

Answer 8

Don't really care for the name Rome, doesn't have a very feminine ring to it.

I also think that Miley is fadish and not a long standing name.  I can't imagine your daughter will be overly thrilled at 30yrs with the name Miley based on her cousins musical taste at age 6.

Answer 9

I like them all! I really love unique names. I think it's better if kids have unique names, because then there aren't 5 other kids in their class with the same name. (Which can get confusing.) I think that the names you picked out are beautiful.

Best of luck with your daughters!

Answer 10

I think Rome Portane is perfect, but I don't really care for Jaida Portane.  

Answer 11

11 month old and twins so soon, yikes. Kudos to you. Those will be some long sleepless nights.

I'd change Rome to Roma (also the Italian name of the city). It's more of a name and she won't be laughed at in Geography class. It also flows better with Taylor.

Jaida seems too trendy to go with Grace and Roma. I'd pick something a little more sophisticated.

Miley.......that's what happens when you let children pick names. ;)

Answer 12

i dont think people would mispronounce Jada. i like it spelled better that way. i also like Jayda, not Jaida. that looks like jy-dah. I also think Jaeda is really cute. Jaida would be mispronounced more than Jayda

I love Rome! it's really pretty. Roma Taylor Portane is gorgeous. i also like Taylor Rome Portane. (did your niece choose Taylor after taylor swift by any chance?)

as for Jaida Miley - is also really cute, i like Rome Taylor better though. Miley Jaida also would be lovely. and i'm assuming miley is after miley cyrus.

personally i would go with Rome Taylor & Miley Jada i like Miley a lot as a first name. it flows better this way

* oh ya one last thought, if u love Jade, but want to be unique (jade is already very unique and lovely though) u could spell it Jayde .

good luck and congrats!

Answer 13

Love the middle names not sure about the first! maybe u should let ur nieces choose all the names!lol!

Answer 14

Jaida is okay, but I'm not sure I like Rome. But if you like them then go for it, but think of possibly switching the middle names. Rome Miley and Jaida Taylor. I think it sounds a little better.

Also I think this is cute as well:

Tayla Rome

Jaida Miley

Good Luck with your girls!  

Answer 15

i dont really like rome.. it doesnt seem like a name a little girl would want.  

Answer 16

yes i like it because when they are in school they might not like every body having the same name as them by the way unique names are the best.

Answer 17

AWE, thats adorable and a great idea about letting alyssa and sophia name them, i got to name my brother when i was 10, and i loved having that power! those names are so cute, i love rome and its so cute since the reason for it, :) good luck, have fun!

Answer 18

Rome, Jaida and Grace sound like beautiful sisters. Thanks for showing your last name - that way we can see how the full name will look. All your name choices go nicely with your last name.

"Jada" is in the top 100 baby girl names for 2007. People won't mispronounce Jada since it's so common. The "i" is a little unnecessary, but if you think it looks better then it's fine.

As for your question, "are unique names always better?", I would say absolutely not. Common names are common for a reason - they are widely accepted as beautiful. That's not to say unique names are bad. It would be silly to choose the name "Emily" if your last name is "Smith" - everything from phonebooks to class pictures would get confused. And if a rare name has special meaning to you (ie your Rome) then that transcends anything else. There are benefits to common names and benefits to unique names.

I think you've done just fine with your name selection.

Answer 19

I'm sorry I don't like Rome, Jaida OR Miley. I really don't like Miley at all.

Maybe:

Rowan Taylor Portane & Jade Michele Portane

Ruby Anastasia Portane & Jade Alexandria Portane

Ella Taylor Portane & Alexia Emily Portane

I don't think unique names are always best. Because parents now are trying to be "unique". But when their kids go to school everyone is going to be Ava or Jayden etc. It's not unique because EVERYONE is doing it.

I prefer traditional names. And names that have a meaning to me.

~Julie

Answer 20

when i have children, they will have unique names. a unique name will be a start to creating their own identity.

plus, they'll rarely have to deal w/ having more than one classmate w/ the same name.  

Answer 21

I love your daughter's name, Grace :)  I love simple, short names that can't be made "cute".   I know that when the time comes for me, I will pick a unique name.  I will try to take into consideration that my child will have to go to school, teachers will have to pronounce it, they may get teased if it's "too unique".  Also think about it 20yrs from now on a professional basis.  I have heard some truly unique names in various professions.  Sometimes they help, sometimes they hurt.  It depends.  I like these names becuase they are short.  I especially like Rome. Hope that helps!