Damn ambiguous feelings towards a name!

I’ll have final comments on the Name of the Year tournament later, but I am not outraged.

At my kids’ daycare I just noticed that one of the young kids (not in their class, much younger) was a girl named Briar. Never heard that before as a name, and it doesn’t register at all on the top 1000 for any year for either sex. The name causes me great consternation because I have no idea if I like it or hate it!

Seriously, I can see bad things about it (it is already a noun of something, it is named after a sticky plant, it doesn’t sound particularly masculine or feminine, it sounds cutesy and not something that an adult would have), but I can also see good things in it (it sort of sounds like a name, it is somewhat cute for a girl, it isn’t egregiously bad). I’ll be damned if I can explain, but the name sort of grew on me and, despite its negatives, I sort of like it.

The biggest problem with a name like this is that if it is good or bad strongly depends on the middle and (more so) last name it combines with. Since I do not know this kid or her parents, I do not know these names (and if I asked the daycare it would seem creepy and rightfully so), so I can’t say how well it combines. Instead I’ll but it next to each of the top 20 last names (via Wikipedia) in the US and give my opinion:

1) Briar Smith – Ehhh, not so good. Two short names like that don’t work, and it sounds a little masculine for reasons that elude me.
2) Briar Johnson – Again, not liking it.
3) Briar Williams – I do not like this, but I see why! It sort of looks like Brian, so this sort of sounds like Brian Williams the news anchor.
4) Briar Jones – This one isn’t too bad, but I’m not convinced.
5) Briar Brown – Alliterations for names are crap, so this one sucks.
6) Briar Davis – Nah.
7) Briar Miller – Two names ending in an ‘-er’ sound, not good sounding.
8) Briar Wilson – Too much like Brian Wilson.
9) Briar Moore – Don’t hate, but don’t like.
10) Briar Taylor – Again, double ‘-er’ name = not good.
11) Briar Anderson – Nah.
12) Briar Thomas – Don’t hate it, but sort of sounds like Blair Thomas, and we know how he turned out as a running back.
13) Briar Jackson – Sounds like a guy.
14) Briar White – Too short.
15) Briar Harris – Not bad, but not convincing.
16) Briar Martin – See #15.
17) Briar Thompson – See #16
18) Briar Garcia – Actually the best one on here so far is also the least likely. It would probably be pronounced differently though.
19) Briar Martinez – Not as good as Garcia, otherwise see #17.
20) Briar Robinson – It is ok, but this sucks that I can’t find a good fitting last name!

Ok, the common last names didn’t work, and I am NOT going through the whole top 100. But the point stands that the name could be really bad if it is paired with the wrong last name, and there are many unacceptable pairings above.

Now I have to think on this: What would be a good last name that would make Briar an acceptable first name?
-No short last names (it is already a short first one), though this is not necessarily hard and fast
-No alliterative stuff here: no Brown, Bryant, Bower
-No similar sounding stuff like Friar, Ryan, or anything ending in an ‘-er’ sound
-Nothing plant-like: no Green, Lily, Maples, Bush
-Nothing that begins with ‘r’ because it will run together to make one word
-Nothing that begins with a vowel or an ‘h’ for the same reason above

And the middle name HAS to be an obviously feminine name.

If I knew the whole name I could resolve if I hate it or like it. I’m not sure if I like this feeling.