Hello! I'm 30 weeks pregnant with a girl! And I do not have a whole name picked out yet.
I really want a name that is uncommon. I don't have much longer and I wanted her whole name on the baby shower invitations. /:
I have thought of Ariya as the first name but not sure if people can pronounce it.
(ar-eee-uh)
Please help! Thank you (:

I'm all for unique names, but before I give you a list, I have to say, most kids with unique names hate it at one point in their lives. For instance. When all the other kids are walking around with their" totally in" keychains that have their name on it, and you don't have one because the store doesn't have your name keychain, it's hurtful. When every teacher you have from kindergarten through college, mispronounces your name on the first day of school, and gives you a nickname after that because they still don't get it, it hurts. Just saying. That happened to me, and truth told, my name is not all that unique, at least not now. But when I was a kid, it was impossible for anyone to pronounce it right, or for me to even get a mug with my name on it.

Now on to the list.

Sidaly (sid-ah-lee)
Jola (Joe-la)
Letiva (let-eve-ah)

That's really all I have.

I have to admit, I considered Sidaly, but went with Sydney instead for my daughter. She's the only Sydney in her class, one of two in a school of almost 700 kids. But I do occasionally all her Sidaly as a nickname. :)

My name is Joy. My mother always told me I had to live up to my name.
I wanted to change it to something like Salunda or Salinda. Of course people would call me Sally.
I like Ariya. Sounds Hawaiian or African, and flows softly.

Then there's my 2 funny names that flow softly: Uvula and Urethra

Uncommon names do open door to a lot of teasing. I would suggest using any name that will/might be mispronounced as a middle name. You can still pick something uncommon, without her having to explain how to pronounce/spell her name to everyone she meets.

I think a good rule is deciding if a two year old will be able to say it, and be at least mostly understood, and fully understood by school age. Names with few consonant sounds can get muddled by little tongues. As cute as it might be to you, she'll probably get frustrated at being misheard.

Also, I got an interesting piece of advice from someone who's job involved calling hundreds of prospective applicants a year; people cold-calling (as in, calling a name off a list) people will prefer to avoid names they can't be sure of pronouncing correctly. That includes job applications and colleges. Those names often up at the bottom of the list.