What about Raylee May for a girl?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-15-2006
What about Raylee May for a girl?
18
Wed, 08-02-2006 - 10:34am

What about Raylee May for a girl?



  • Yes
  • No


You will not be able to change your vote.


Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2006
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 11:06am

Wow...everyone is pretty tough on this combo, huh?

My hang-up with it is the rhyming sound of Ray and May... As far as Raylee being made up, I've actually known three. NONE of them are children. They are adults, who came along years before the Kailee/Bailey/Haley craze.

The ones I've known were ALL named as a combo of family names
Shelby Rayleigh- mn in combo of her mom & dad's mn
Rae Leigh- a double name- Named for her grandads Ray & Lee
Jennifer Rae-Leigh- Named for her father Raymond Lee
Also, they all live in Deep South like me. Name is pronounced Ray...Lee not running together like Bailey. I actually find the drawn out pronunciation quite appealing. Otherwise, it does appear to be just another Kaylee name...
None of the "Raylees" I know are spelled the way you are spelling it, BUT I did find your spelling listed in two of my twelve baby naming books...

I would really like to know your reasoning behind the fn and mn. If Raylee is a combination of two special people then I think you should use it. I try to put myself in the shoes of the person who will carry the name. I was named Ginger Clare for my grandfather Clarence. The bond it created was undeniable and irreplacable. There may be a better way to combine the names Ray/Lee/May that you are trying to incorporate. However, I don't think Raylee will hate her name or experience any "life issues" because of it. In fact, it will more than likely be a great dose of pride and self-confidence to be named for someone special.

*** The timing is somewhat unfortunate because many people will just assume you looked for a creative way to keep the Kaylee trend going... At the same, the sheer number of names being chosen today that that rhyme with Raylee is a testament that MANY parents do like the "sound" of the name you've selected.

Let us know if you need more help in deriving a way to name your daughter after a person/people you are trying to honor! Keep your head up over this criticism- it's not a horrible name, just not the best fn/mn flow and Raylee is more a victim of timing! Later, Ginger

Ginger

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-15-2006
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 12:28pm

Thank you so much for that, you have no idea how stressed I have been about this situation. This all started before my grandma died, I told her that I would name my next girl after here....from that comes the middle name May. My dad was soo excited about having another grandchild and has been the only one who has really supported the whole situation from the beginning, so I wanted to put Ray in there after him and then lee would be for a friend of mine who died the same day I found out I was having a girl. Didnt even get to tell her what Im having. Seeing all of the negative response has really made me second think the name...everyone says too matchy but in all honesty- who knows your middle name anyway? I bet none of you would have guessed that my name is Lauren Lee....after my grandpas. I have cousins that have matchy names. I guess what that means is that I just have a really matchy family, which in any case is fine by me. I dont mind the honesty about the way people feel about the name but you were the first person to ask why and if there was a specific reason for the name...For that I want to thank you. I am still not set on this name but thanks to your post Im feeling a whole lot better about the choice.

thanks!
Lauren

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2006
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 12:56pm

Having a "story" behind her name will be quite significant. If I could advise/comment about one thing, it might be to consider other parts/variations of your grandmother's name as possibilities for the mn.

I tried to break the sounds up a bit-
Rayanna Maylee
Maya Ray Lee/Raylee
Mayella Raylee
Raylee Maive/Mayve
Rayna Maylee

If you've already toyed with these possibilities and/or using a different part of your grandmother's name, and nothing is working then you should go with Raylee May, knowing that- for many people it's too matchy.
You are right- mn doesn't come into play in real life that much. I've known many people who don't even use their mn at formal times (like graduation/wedding). The most important thing is that you did include grandmother's name... Also, I am ALL for naming your daughter after your father Ray. It was my mother's father I was named for. Daughters named for significant males is an especially special bond!

Keep us posted, Ginger

Ginger

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 12:57pm

Knowing your reasons behind it, I would change my vote to yes. I agree that she won't use her mn much at all, so the matchy part doesn't bother me. To me, the story behind the name trumps the Baylee/Kaylee/Haylee association that made me vote no.






~ Jazz


co-cl

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-30-2004
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 12:14am

I like the sound of Raylee May...but not the spelling...

Raylee
May

looks too "matchy"

What about Raylee Mae instead?

Karen

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 10:25am

I know someone else just pointed this out pretty simply, but besides the whole "trendy" Kaylee/Haylee appearance, the main problem here is just that these two names are really matchy and rhymey back-to-back:

Raylee
May

It just doesn't help that the Ray/May sounds are in the exact same place in the name (or that the open-ended Raylee runs right into the mn, if you KWIM).

I know it's hard because I believe you're trying to honor three different people here, but have you considered simply moving the sounds around a bit so their not quite so obviously rhymey? Rayleen or Rayleena instead of Raylee seems to help a lot (just keeping your spelling here, but Raeleen(a) would still honor both Ray and Lee, since Rae is a feminine form of Ray). Along those lines, you could also use something like:

Rachel/Raychel May-Leeann or Mayleen
Rachelle/Raychelle Leanna-May
Rayleen Maya (pronounced MYE-ah, but the May part is even in the spelling, so a nice option for you!)
Rayleena Mayelle
Rayann Maylee
Raya Kylee-Mae/Carlee-Mae/Cecilee-Mae (I like Raya for you for the same reason ... a simple, feminine version of Ray as a fn, and you can move both Lee and May to the mn spot pretty easily, since so many names end in the -lee sound -- I just used these as examples)

As you noticed, you could also use the Mae spelling -- it's the same name -- to keep the names from becoming too Y-heavy, since you're working with both Ray and May here.

Just some ideas! HTH ;)

~Kelli


Powered by CGISpy.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 1:45pm

<<>>

These are the times that my middle name has been used:

- Graduation from 5th grade
- Jr. High Graduation
- Induction into the National Honors Society
- Induction into Quill and Scroll
- Awards night for HS
- HS Graduation
- Various College Awards
- College Graduation
- My wedding invitations
- My wedding ceremony
- Law School graduation

To me these are all solemn, almost sacred moments that were very ceremonial. They are also times that I've heard people snickering about other people's previously unknown middle names. They were times that I was glad my first and middle names didn't sound funny together. Just something to keep in mind.

I've read your story about how you decided on the name. Maybe you are trying to do too much with one baby's name. I'm Jewish and we name after people who have died. When my first DD was born I had a whole list of people after whom I wanted to name her. We chose my MIL. Sometimes you just have to make a choice. If your choice is already made then I hope you have a safe and healthy pregnancy and a beautiful and healthy baby.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2001
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 2:07pm
Not a big fan of this one. Sounds like a made-up feminization of the name Ray. And "-Lee" is pretty androgynous also... if you want to make something more feminine, I'd probably do it in a different way-- not that I like this one either, but just as an example: Rayla. The "-la" at the end makes the "Ray" more feminine. Then again, if you like the sound of "Ray", you COULD just use "Rae". But also... the "Ray-" and the "Mae" rhyme... even though there is "-lee" in between it- it sounds a little rhyme-y....
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket 

Pages