I mention before that I love the name Aelita and I want that name in real life. But would it "work"? Living in the United States, the name is virtually unknown. Plus, my family has no connection to Eastern Europe. Would a name like Aelita actually work?

Aelita dosen't actualy sound that out of the ordinary I don't see any reason for it to draw much negative atention

Thank you Fox. I needed the reassurance. *Hugs* 

I don't see why not. The most important thing is that you like it. When naming a kid, you're supposed to practice yelling that name out the window 100x. Try that.

Aelita actually sounds like something that would have more of an Asian inspiration, but maybe I'm just crazy.

These days you don't have to have a 'connection' with any particular culture in order to use their names.   It's perfectly fine.

Well that seems one way to make sure the whole neighborhood knows your name

It was a 1924 Soviet science fiction movie-- Aelita: Queen of Mars

.

Is that cool or what?

That is cool. I'd heard of the novel, but I didn't know it was made into a silent film. It's a shame I can't tell whats going on in it. I assume that the film had dialogue (I would guess on cards?), but even if I had them, it's not like I actually know any Russian (except for 1, 2, and 3 - totally useless).

I think it's funny how all of the really early science fiction films look. I mean the costume design specifically. They all seem to embody the same sort of rather alien style.

Its not that unheard of in America.  There a french animation/cartoon called Code Lyoko.  It has a character in it name Aelita.

It should be fine, as long as you're O.K with every 5th person you meet saying, "That's a pretty name."   

Jamie - whose birth name is quite unusual, so he speaks from experience.

Aelita Lynn is a very nice name, and if you should choose to shorten it, 'Lita Lynn rolls nicely off the tongue. Sorry, I love alliteratons. I'll hush up now.

Linda "lacey" Larsen

ps. it works

I think it would work for sure. Even if it's on the more unusual side for your area, people get over the initial shock and it becomes normal.

People don't freak out over names as much as we think they do. In my small city, I grew up with kids that had names that might be considered 'odd' to other people apparently.

TSroadmap has a good take on naming yourself. I think it worthwhile to take a look at it. Whether it will work or not untimately lies with whether you can live with it. There are lots of considerations when legally changing your name, ie; whether it is compatible in business situations, is it age appropriate if you want to go stealth in the future.  Having a pretty name is cool, but is it functional?  Hugs

Wendy

A quick follow-up comment - I get the impression that unusual names can be a problem for guys growing up.  But I really think that it is a non-issue for women. In fact, among women, the more unusual the name, the better.  (As long as your name isn't Moon-unit, or something silly like that.)  Women, in general, tend to like unusual names, and often get their way when naming girls, while men, in general, tend to prefer more traditional names, and will likely make more of an issue of it when naming sons. 

As an illustration, take a look at the names in female-centric books (like romance novels) where you find all sorts of exotic names, compared to male-centric books (like adventure novels) where most of the characters have very traditional names.