Names That Could Have Been Contenders

I would like to bring up a few names that I have stumbled upon, and have been talking about, that sound like popular or well-loved names, but are not nearly as popular. They could have been popular or even accepted, but there is something that gets in the way of the name from truly shining.

Lumi: I mentioned that I am loving Lumi in my previous post, but I would like to give away my defense. Luna is gaining admission into the public conciousness as a legitimate name thanks to Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter and people's new found love for using the names of goddesses. Some people say that their problem with Luna is how much the moon plays in imagery of craziness. Lumi is a nice alternative. It may sound more like Loony than Luna, but it also sounds more like Luminescence, which is a very very pretty word. I don't think of crazy or the moon. I simply think of light.

Sybil:If characters can revive old names, why hasn't Downton Abbey done anything to help with Sybil? It's an award-winning show, so there are plenty of people aware of a Sybil existing, and boy howdy is Sybil an awesome character! She is the kind of proto-feminist who paved the way for the modern woman we know of today. Perhaps I need to see the film with the other Sybil to understand the hesitations, but it was quite a while ago when that film came out.

Jezebel: Okay, I'll admit that I would never ever give my child this name. Jezebel has been the name given to a stereotype of African American women who are portrayed as sex-crazy in the media.It is simply too soon. That said, I follow the news blog Jezebel, and it's given another perspective to the name.Jezzie is the affectionate name many of the commenters on Jezebel give to each other, and I think it's a lovely way to bring Jezebel into the real world. The full name Jezebel is also a fun way to get to "bella" in a unique way. I would , however, not recommend the other nickname Jezzies give to each other : Lesbian Shitass. it's a long story how that got to be used, and it's all Scott Baio's fault.

Isadora: I've waxed poetic about the name Isadora, but I'd also like to point out how similar to Isabella this name is. Same syllables, first three words are the same, and both names can be nicknamed Izzy. Isadora is kind of like an alternate-universe version of Isabella. I'm sure in this alternate universe, people are wearing pants on their head and complaining about all the Isadora's on their naming blogs.In this universe, however, Isadora is surprisingly rare for how similar it is to the name given to the most girls.