shorter list looking for opinions

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2004
shorter list looking for opinions
8
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 4:34pm
We saw the baby at our Dr. appt to confirm the date of our pregnnacy. Everything looked great and seeing the baby has made my husband more willing to talk about names. Our boy list is getting shorter but of course as I told my husband that it'll turn out we're having a girl LOL

I was wondering what you thought of the following names.

****Boy****

Alan

Alden

Calvin

Donovan

Harrison

Henry

Ian

Jonah

Jonas

Louis

Maxwell

Peter

Samuel

Spencer

Sullivan

Spencer is a definite middle name possibility for some of these but not all. Not sure what other middle names we'll consider I guess it depends on the first name. Definitely not the only middle name we will consider though. Our last name is Burke

****Girl****

Adele

Corinne

Delia

Ellen

Genevieve

Helen

Irene

Jane

Janet

Joan

Joanna

Leah

Lena

Maura

Maureen

Meredith

Muriel

Tessa

Thea

Virginia

Yvonne

Do you think Joan or Jane Burke sound funny because of this "rule" we've been reading that a one syllable first and one syllable last name is a no no? We still love both names I am just curious if this rule is a real rule that we should heed or ignore if we love the name?

Thanks again

Lillie and baby 2/7/05

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 4:48pm
I like:

Donovan

Harrison

Ian

Jonah

Jonas

Peter

Samuel

Spencer

Sullivan

Spencer is a definite middle name possibility for some of these but not all. Not sure what other middle names we'll consider I guess it depends on the first name. Definitely not the only middle name we will consider though. Our last name is Burke

****Girl****

Adele

Corinne

Delia

Genevieve

Jane-Love this name, my middle dd's mn is Jayne but w/Burke....?

Leah

Lena

Maura

Maureen

Meredith

Tessa

Thea

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 4:54pm
****Boy****

Alan yes

Alden yes

Calvin yes

Donovan maybe

Harrison yes

Henry no

Ian no

Jonah definately NOT!!!

Jonas definately NOT!!!

Louis maybe as a mn

Maxwell maybe as a mn

Peter yes

Samuel yes

Spencer yes!

Sullivan yes


****Girl****

Adele maybe as a mn

Corinne no

Delia yes

Ellen yes

Genevieve maybe

Helen maybe

Irene maybe

Jane yes

Janet yes

Joan maybe

Joanna maybe

Leah YES!!!

Lena yes

Maura maybe

Maureen no

Meredith no

Muriel no

Tessa no

Thea maybe (only cuz my mn is Thia! sounds the same! Tania Thia. sounds like Tanya)

Virginia no

Yvonne no

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 7:51pm
I absolutely Love a lot of your names. You have great taste!

Alan-- not heard very often, so that's nice, but I'm not into the nn Al, which it may get shortened to.

Alden-- nice, but it reminds me of Elden, the housepainter on "Murphy Brown"

Calvin-- LOVE IT!!

Donovan-- nice

Harrison-- nice

Henry-- LOVE

Ian-- nice, and a good alternative to John

Jonah-- Love it

Jonas-- Ditto

Louis-- nms

Maxwell-- nice, but kinda popular

Peter-- Another one that's not used as often. Great name

Samuel-- Ok

Spencer-- nice as a fn or mn

Sullivan-- ok, It seems more like a ln than a fn, but that is the trend.

Adele-- LOVE IT!! Also love Adelaide.

Corinne-- beautiful

Delia-- Cute

Ellen-- nms

Genevieve-- very nice

Helen-- ok, prefer Helena or Helene

Irene--nms

Jane-- Love as a fn or mn

Janet-- nms

Joan-- like better as a mn

Joanna--nice

Leah-- beautiful and simple

Lena-- reminds me of the great Lena Horne, very classy and strong

Maura-- LOVE IT!!

Maureen-- prefer Maura, but still nice

Meredith-- ok

Muriel-- reminds me of "Muriel's Wedding", but a pretty name

Tessa-- Ok, prefer Tess.

Thea-- Love it if you are pronouncing it Tay-uh, but if you're going with Thee-ah, no.

Virginia-- Nice, and I love the nn Ginny

Yvonne-- Ok, but all I see is this old "Flo" type waitress that I worked with named Lavonne.

I pretty much like them all, but if I were you I would narrow it down to this:

Boys

Calvin

Henry

Ian

Jonah

Peter

Spencer

Girls

Adele

Corinne

Delia

Genevieve

Jane

Leah

Maura

HTH!!

Jorie

Lilypie Baby Birthday
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 8:03pm
First of all, I would not worry about having a Jane or Joan Burke because of the one-syllable/one-syllable "rule." If it really sounded so horrible, I doubt that Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or Faith Hill would have kept or used those names, and it hasn't hurt them one bit. In fact, those names sound short and punchy and roll off of the tongue quite easily! I mean, if it bothers you, don't do it, but I wouldn't throw out a name I loved because of some "rule."

Out of your boys' names, my favorites are Henry, Ian, Samuel, and Spencer. I also like, but to a lesser extent, Calvin and Maxwell. I put those in a second tier b/c I like the nicknames of Cal and Max more than the full names. Ian is my favorite. Ian Spencer Burke sounds fabulous, in my opinion!

For your girls' names, I love Corinne, Genevieve, Joanna (nn Joey is cute!), and Meredith. All of these sound terrific with your last name, and have nn options that I like. I also like Maureen a lot, and to a lesser extent, Maura. Jane and Leah would be in my third tier -- I like them, but I just think you have so many other great options.

Hope this is helpful!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 11:05pm
I think the rule is silly. All 4 of my names have two syllables and they sound fine together.

From your boys list I like Jonah , Jonas, and Maxwell.

From your girls list I like, Adele, Delia, Genevieve, Jane, Meredith, Tessa, Thea

Avatar for alsatia23
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 11:41pm

Boys:







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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2003
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 12:14pm
You have some great choices :) My favorites are:

Alden (I have liked this name for a while and only know one man with the name (which is a good thing to me :)

Ian - a very handsome name too, always towards the top of my list

Jonah - love this, I would use it in a heartbeat if dh liked it too...

It's hard for me to choose from the three, and all sound great with Spencer-I guess I would choose Jonah, but it's a hard choice to make!



Delia-this is nice, I also really like Delilah (just throwing that out there:)

Leah-probably my all-time favorite giril's name...so simple yet feminine, just beatiful

Maura-I like this a lot too, simple yet feminine-like Leah, to mee

Meredith-a great name too...so hard to choose!

I love Corrine as a mn with Leah or Maura, and even Meredith...beautiful :)

By the way, if you love Jane or Joan, I think they sound just fine with Burke, I don't adhere to that rule at all :)

Marguerite

mom to Trevor Mason

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-21-2004
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 12:44pm
Please.... scratch Helen off of your list, or at least only consider it for a middle name. That is my name and my entire childhood was spent with kids calling me names. I hate my name! I realize you can make fun of just about any name, but there seems to be significantly more "material" for "Helen". Helen Keller was the big one. I grew up in NW Montana, so Mt. St. Helens (which erupted when I was in the 2nd grade... kids would say "Why did you get so mad, Helen?????") and Helena (the capital of Montana) was always heard. I was always told "Helen's my grandma's name". Then there was always kids who thought they were hilarious by calling me "Hell" or saying "I'm not allowed to curse, so I can't say your name".

Anysays... my fave's are Spencer and Maureen. Good Luck!