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The fact that Shaylee May & Maylee Shay are so interchangable to you, it makes me think that you're not very invested in to the names so much as the sound.

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I find them both to be rather boring. While there may not be a lot of Shaylees or Maylees, there are likely to be a lot of Kaylee, Kylie, Rylie and Mileys in this current generation, so her name isn't really that unique in that since.

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Hayden, also not that unique, there are plenty of young female Haydens (probably in part to Hayden Pantierre), and plenty of male Haydens... not to mention Bradens and Cadens and Jadens...etc.

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However, I love May & Elle, and I love them in the middle name spot.

I don't like any of them. I would much rather be Emily, even if it IS common.

Those names aren't as unusual as you'd think... Nor are they pleasing to my eyes.

I can't get behind any of these, sorry. I have heard of May, of course, and Shay (though it was on a boy, and spelt Shea, in this case). But Shaylee and Maylee sound obviously made up-to the point of ridiculousness. They are also too "cutesy-sounding", IMO. Furthermore, I am sorry, but Hayden is all-boy to me, and even the femininity of Elle, and its meaning in French, cannot make Hayden sound at all feminine to me.

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I know you don't like your name, but if you are looking to change it, please look further, and for a longer period of time. The names you have selected are ones you will regret a few years after a change, IMO. Good luck!

I think Emily is much nicer than the names you listed. True, it isn't all that original, but it has so much more depth and strength than the names you listed.
There's nothing wrong with them, they're just pretty and noting much more, where Emily is pretty as well as having a strong meaning and grounded sound.

Sorry, but Hayden, Shaylee, and Maylee fall into two of the most prevalent, least original trends of today: the "rhymes with Aidan" trend and the trend toward empty, meaningless, doorbell-like names created by combining a random first syllable with a -lyn, -lee, or -la ending. When you tally up the number of kids whose names fall into these two trends, the results are almost unreal. Even at its peak, Emily never came close. Simply put, there's nothing unusual about Hayden, Shaylee, or Maylee. They would blend right in with a hoard of other children who would have extremely similar names.

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FWIW, I think Hayden Elle is a pretty combo. I just don't think it would ever be envied for being unusual.

I'm a very honest person, so please don't take this as an attack or anything :) I think Shaylee May, Maylee Shay, and Hayden Elle are trendy and trashy. They're far from unusual, and will be severely dated in the future. Naming trends are strange - so many parents are attracted to the same sounds at the same time, and that's why we have so many kids with names containing the "ay" and "lee" sounds. Not to mention made-up names are more popular than ever. I thought I had invented "Maylee" in high school. Everyone thinks they are the first to come up with a made-up name, and it's hardly ever the case.

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People hear names with sounds that are pleasing to their ears and change them up a bit. From Kaylee, Hailey, and Bailey come Shaylee, Maylee, Zaylee, Taylee, Jaylee, Daylee, etc. Then there's Kaylynn, Hailyn, Raylynn, Shaylynn, etc. I call it the "syllable kit" - imagine you have a magnetic poetry set with syllables such as ay, jay, kay, lee, lyn, den on them. There are infinite combinations. And there are an infinite number of spellings for all of them!

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Also, I think Hayden is awful on a girl. When I first heard of Hayden Panettiere (sp?) I was like, WTF?? I'd rather see Hailey/Hayley/whatever than Hayden. Elle is fine, though it's also very popular along with Ella and Ellie.

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I'm not going to stop you from liking or using those names, but you should know how big this phenomenon is, because your little Shaylee could have 5 classmates named Shaeleigh, Shailee, Shaylie, Shaylynn, and Shayla. If that doesn't bother you, it's no big deal. I just hate when parents say "I came up with Jayleigh first!!" when they could have done a bit of research to find a name that is actually unusual. :)

I'm sorry but I REALLY dislike them. Ok, Hayden Elle is alright but the others I really can't stand. They sound extremely expected to me - the opposite of unusual. They're so close in sound to other trendy names that they don't stand out at all. Names like this (Bailey, Hayley, Kaylie, Kiley, Miley, etc.) sound infinitely juvenile and ignorant to me - I CANNOT picture a professor/doctor/lawyer/whatever named Shaylee. Also, rhyming combos will ALWAYS sound very "country-bumpkin" to me. Sorry if that came off as harsh but it's only my opinion

Sorry, but Shaylee, Maylee and Hayden all remind me of a trailer park in the midwest.

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I like Elle and Mae.

I know Emily is popular, but I really like it. I think it has a classic feel to it. I do like some more unusual names, but I think unusual can take different forms and Shaylee May and Maylee Shay just feel made up and while they're uncommon they actually fit right in with the popular Haylee, Caylee, and Bailey.

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Hayden Elle I like a little bit better. But Hayden is a masculine name to me.

I prefer Emily, sorry.

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Yes, Emily is popular, especially for your generation. But with Emily I get all sorts of wonderful associations: poet Emily Dickinson, Victorian beauty Lillie Langtry (nee Emilie Charlotte), suffragette Emily Davison, novelist Emily Bronte (Heathcliff! I can save you! Love me, not that stupid Cathy!)

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My mind gets to play around with so many different ideas with a name like Emily. With the others it falls asleep. And may never wake up again. That's the problem with here-today-gone-tomorrow trendies like Shaylee, Maylee and Hayden (which sounds more masculine to me). They have no staying power.

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Everyone goes through a name rut. It wouldn't have mattered if your parents gave you the most unique name in the world. You'd wonder what it would be like not to have to explain it or correct the spelling all the time. My name is Ann which was super popular when I was young. I wished that my parents had at least named me Anna, which would have been unusual. Now I'm glad I'm Ann. Plain, simple Ann. And what do you know? I rarely meet any so it almost feel unique. :-D

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So one day, if you are selecting a name for your dd/ds, you can perhaps look for a name that is classic enough to have meaning / substance, that everyone knows how to spell, but not in the top ten for popularity (or whatever number you're comfortable with). Rediscovering forgotten classics is one of my favorite pursuits.

This message was edited 4/4/2012, 3:21 PM

I think there are plenty of unusual names that aren't made-up. Shaylee May and Maylee Shay both sound cutesy and unintelligent to me, sorry. Hayden Elle is actually kind of neat though. Hayden is totally masculine, but with an unexpected, abrupt feminine middle name like Elle it gives a sort of hip depth to the combo. Not my style, but it's not awful.

Shaylee and Maylee both sound very recently made-up (by you?) and I'm not a fan of made-up names. I prefer a name with some history behind it. Also, even though I've never heard either name before, they both seem to fit into a sound that is trendy these days and I firmly believe in avoiding trends. Caylee, Hayley, Bailey, all popular, and these names sound so similar.

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I understand that you don't like having a name that was extremely popular for your generation, but if you use a made-up name that has a trendy sound, even though the name itself may be very unusual or unique, it's still going to sound dated some day.

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May is nice as a middle name, perhaps a bit fillerish, but I don't like Shay at all.

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You'd be better off finding a name that is established but unusual--not high on the popularity charts, in my opinion.

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I find Hayden Elle unattractive.

Well, Shaylee and Maylee sound very cobbled-together and trendy, like what a fifteen-year-old pretending to be pregnant with twin girls might come up with.

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Hayden is more upscale trendy, but still very trendy.

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I'm not a fan of Emily, but at least it has some substance to it.