Due Date Looming--Help!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2007
Due Date Looming--Help!
13
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 3:02pm

We are expecting a little girl April 19th and The Great Name Debate continues.

Factors to consider:
-We have a super common last name: As a Jennifer myself, I am commited to unique (but not weird, and not a unique spelling for a popular name), especially paired with LN Anderson!
-We are a Christian family and don't mind names that allude to it, but don't want something that comes off as Bible beaters either.
-Meanings are important to us... (example...I love Gillian but it means "down-bearded youth", and I have a hard time getting excited about that.)
-we are OK with common/family names for middle names, especially to balance a unique first name, but still want middle name to matter (either meaning of name or family connection)
-single-syllable choices are sounding boring to me (maybe because paired w/ 3 syllable very common last name?)... any ideas to jazz them up?
-would like a name that grows with her (little girl, teen, adult)

Family names (relationship to baby)
-Mom Jennifer Ann
-Dad Bradley James
-Aunt Megan Clare
-Aunt Kathryn Patricia
-Grandma Roslyn Mary
-Grandma Jeanne Marie
-Great Grandma Patricia Ann
-Great Grandma Carolyn Ann
-Great Grandma Verna Irene
-Great Grandma Mary Louise

Please give opinions on:

-Eden (delight)

-Carys (love)
we want it pronounced "care-iss", NOT "KA-reece"; maybe spelling Caris better? Would we be constantly repeating her name to be understood? What would you suggest? Which is the intuitive pronounciation?

-Laine (wave)
nn Lainey

-Lainey (bright light, torch)

-Geneveive (woman of the people)
nn Evie; is it too close to Jennifer (I go by Jen), or conceited to have a Geneveive as a Jennifer?

-Eve (life)
nn Evie

-Maren (from the sea)

-Nina (follower of Christ)

-Brie (magnificent)

-Brielle (God is my might)
nn Elly or Brie

-Elena (bright, shining one)
nn Elly or Laney?

-Gemma (jewel)

-Zoe (life)
pronounced Zo-ee

-Ashlyn (dream)

-Paige (page)
wish it had a better meaning

-Gillian (down-bearded youth)
hate this meaning :(

Thanks so much... we are keeping name (or name ideas, for now) a secret from everyone so I don't have any feedback on these yet!

Jen


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 3:20pm

-Eden (delight)
Eh, this is just okay to me. Has always seemed a bit overdone for some reason.

-Carys (love)
Carys IS pronounce care-iss, not sure why you would change the spelling. I love Carys, it is a beautiful name.

-Laine (wave)
The meaning 'wave' isn't really that great, and you mentioned that meanings mean a lot to you. What about Elena or Alaina instead? Oh, or Delaney? nn Lainey

-Lainey (bright light, torch)
too cutesy, only as a nn

-Geneveive (woman of the people)
I LOVE this and don't think its too cutesy since you are Jennifer. In fact, I like the similarity

-Eve (life)
pretty

-Maren (from the sea)
Love the name, the meaning isn't that great

-Nina (follower of Christ)
Gorgeous and classy (and uncommon)

-Brie (magnificent)
seems unfinished

-Brielle (God is my might)
too trendy

-Elena (bright, shining one)
Love it! Definitely nn Lainey, Ellie is too popular

-Gemma (jewel)
very spunky

-Zoe (life)
cute, a bit too cute maybe

-Ashlyn (dream)
eh, just okay

-Paige (page)
eh, just okay

-Gillian (down-bearded youth)
dislike the meaning as well.

HTH, I like Genevieve Roslyn, Nina Roslyn, Carys Megan, and Elena Roslyn a lot.
-Nikki


                             
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2006
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 3:23pm

Hi!


Well, you've got some great names to work with in my opinion!

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-06-2007
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 6:49pm

I like quite a few of your name ideas, and I think, from looking at your family list, some variation of the name Mary would be good for a girl as it would honor several people.

-Eden (delight): this is okay. I probably would never use it myself, but it is pretty.
Eden Clare/Claire; Eden Kate (form of Kathryn); Eden Marie

-Carys (love): I love this name, and I don't ever think of pronouncing KA-rees, always Care-iss.
Carys Marian; Carys Jean

-Laine (wave): this name has always seemed a bit masculine to me for some reason, BUT I do like the nn Lainey
Laine Kathryn

-Lainey (bright light, torch): prefer this much more to Lainey, but don't know how well it ages
Lainey Kathryn, Lainey Carolyn, Lainey Marian, Lainey Maria

-Geneveive (woman of the people): I like this, and love nn Evie, may be a little close to Jennifer
Genevieve Mary; Genevieve Kate

-Eve (life): like this a lot
Eve Kathryn, Eve Anneliese

-Maren (from the sea): favorite from your list
Maren Kate; Maren Eve; Maren Geneveive, Maren Rose

-Nina (follower of Christ): 2nd favorite from your list
Nina Kate, Nina Kathryn, Nina Carolyn, Nina Carly (Carly = nn for Carolyn), Nina Marian

-Brie (magnificent): don't like as a stand alone name

-Brielle (God is my might): dont really care for this
Brielle Marian

-Elena (bright, shining one): Ah-lee-na or Ah-lay-na or Uh-lee-na or Uh-lay-na? it's okay
Elena Marie

-Gemma (jewel): don't care for this

-Zoe (life): it's okay
Zoe Marian, Zoe Kathryn

-Ashlyn (dream): pretty, kind of trendy
Ashlyn Marie, Ashlyn Kate

-Paige (page) : nms

-Gillian (down-bearded youth): love this, but wish it had a better meaning too
Gillian Marie, Gillian Kate, Gillian Carly

Good Luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2005
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 6:53pm
I really like Carys and Brielle! Congrats!

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2007
Tue, 04-03-2007 - 9:59pm

Thank you so much for the help so far! Your comments have been very helpful and insightful.

Feel free to suggest any other names you think fit our ideas. :)

Jen


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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 8:24am

I LOVE the name Laine. It's so sophisticated and lovely!!!!

Laine Anderson sounds like a movie star or a sophisticated lawyer! (I'm not a big fan if cutesie nicknames like Lainey though)

Laine Kathryn is a lovely combo.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2006
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 11:08am

I searched for the meaning of Gillian because its such a nice name, and I came up with the meaning "sweetheart" on this site: http://www.zelo.com/firstnames/findresults.asp?name=gillian

Eden (delight)

I have always loved this name. Its so beautiful.

-Carys

I love this name! its so gorgeous, girly, classy and unpopular.
I wouldnt change the spelling.
-Laine (wave)
nn Lainey

Like it, but not as much as some of the others

-Lainey (bright light, torch)

Too nicknamey

-Geneveive (woman of the people)
nn Evie; is it too close to Jennifer (I go by Jen), or conceited to have a Geneveive as a Jennifer?

I adore this name too! I think its fine to have a Genevieve with a Jennifer because she'll be know as Evie while your known as Jen. Its so beautiful. nice meaning too.

-Eve (life)
nn Evie
I like it. Its nice, simple but classy, grows well and is girly.

-Maren (from the sea)
I like it but the meaning is a little weird.

-Nina (follower of Christ)
Nice!! Good meaning, not very popular, classy and grows well

-Brie (magnificent)
This is a type of cheese. I wouldnt go for it if i were you.

-Brielle (God is my might)
nn Elly or Brie
Better than Brie but not as classy as some of the others.

-Elena (bright, shining one)
nn Elly or Laney?

Lovely! Classy and grows well. Like the nn options too.

-Gemma (jewel)
Not as pretty as some

-Zoe (life)
pronounced Zo-ee
Like it.

-Ashlyn (dream)
Bit too popular and not as pretty as the others.

-Paige (page)
wish it had a better meaning
its ok. i wish it had a better meaning too.

-Gillian (down-bearded youth)

Well I found the meaning to be 'sweetheart' so you might be able to use it :D

HTH xx

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-27-2006
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 12:03pm
Ashlyn Paige
Carys Ann-Marie
Ashlyn Brielle
Eden Ann-Marie
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2003
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 12:29pm

I think you have a pretty nice list - there are a few I don't personally care for, but I think you have a good list. I'll comment on each.

Eden (delight) - this one is one I don't care for - I can't get by how it almost sounds like "eating" when you say it. I don't like it with Anderson - the Ds are both in too prominent of positions to be paired -and both end in the en/on sound on top of that

-Carys (love) - it's OK, I've only ever come across one or two. I like the spelling Karis the best. I think you'd get the right pronunciation from it. Caris would be OK too - I don't like the Y.

-Laine (wave) - just pronunced like "Lane" - no, too unisex- sounds harsh paired with Anderson.

-Lainey (bright light, torch) - I LOVE Delaney, but then I'm biased, since I have a granddaughter. we do not call her Laney for short. I think Delaney would make for a nicer professional choice later - Delaney means, challenger, from the river.

-Geneveive (woman of the people) - this one's too old-fashioned for my tastes and yes, it's way too close to Jennifer- too many Evie's lately around too - most of them are Evelyn's, which I can't believe came back into style

-Eve (life) - just too plain (I'm not a big one-syllable fan either, regardless of the # of syllables in the surname

-Maren (from the sea) - I haven't liked this since I started hearing it; I don't feel it's very feminine sounding

-Nina (follower of Christ) I like this name, it's never been overly popular

-Brie (magnificent) - as a nn, not as a full name

-Brielle (God is my might) - I like it, it's cute, not overdone - I like nn Brie better - too many Elly's around

-Elena (bright, shining one) - hmmm, it's OK, not great - the A-enders are a little tricky going into Anderson

-Gemma (jewel) - this one reminds me too much of Jemima even though it's not that, and I can't get past the Aunt Jemima thing on that name

-Zoe (life) - I LOVE this one from your list

-Ashlyn (dream) - cute, is a little popular, and Ashley was really popular thru the 90s - not crazy for A names with Anderson

-Paige (page) - I like Paige a lot, one of the few 1-syllables I do like. sounds good with Anderson - I wouldn't be concerned with meaning - or lack-of, there.

-Gillian (down-bearded youth) -I never knew that was the meaning. I like it better spelled Jillian, so that Jill can be the nn - Gillian has potential for people saying it with a hard G - and if you tried Gill, it would be a hard G.

I just found what you see below on IVillage's baby name finder:

Jillian, a 3-syllable girl's name of Latin origin, means: Youthful; girl.
Entertainers with this name include Ann Jilian (Television).

here's what it says on Ivillage for the Gillian spelling:

Gillian, a 3-syllable girl's name of Greek/Latin origin, means: Downy-haired youth.
Gillian's ethnic backgrounds include English/Welsh.

downy-haired youth is certainly more favorably worded that down-bearded youth - downy-haired would just mean soft-haired I think. I don't think this is a bad thing.

if I were choosing based on the above list I would pick Delaney as a nn for Lainey or Zoe.

as for middles, you have to wait till you convincingly decide on a 1st name, then decide which of all your family middles would sound best with it

good luck

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-13-2004
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 12:42pm

You have quite a list!! I hope someof my input helps. Good Luck

-Eden (delight)
~~~One of my favorite names of all time. MN Possibilities
Eden Patrice for GG
Eden Caroline for GG

-Carys (love)
~~~Like the idea, but don't like the flow with your last name, sorry

-Laine (wave)
nn Lainey
~~~Nms

-Lainey (bright light, torch)
~~~SEE above

-Geneveive (woman of the people)
~~Love Geneveive.
could use Patrice or Caroline as MN

-Eve (life)
nn Evie
~~~I prefer Eve over the popular Eva, Ava type
Eve Jeanette
Eve Carys

-Maren (from the sea)
~~~OK I like Maura better

-Nina (follower of Christ)
~~~I like that is a great name and not overly popular
Nina Brielle
Nina Geneveive
Nina Evelyn

-Brie (magnificent)
~~~NMS

-Brielle (God is my might)
nn Elly or Brie
~~~Getting popular, not as good as your others

-Elena (bright, shining one)
nn Elly or Laney?
~~~OK, not my fave of yours

-Gemma (jewel)
~~~Like Jenna, not so in love with Gemma

-Zoe (life)
pronounced Zo-ee
~~~OK, kind of childish sounding

-Ashlyn (dream)
~~~Like it
Ashlyn Geneveive
Ashlyn Irene
Ashlyn Paige
Ashlyn Eve

-Paige (page)
wish it had a better meaning
~~~prefer in MN location

-Gillian (down-bearded youth)
hate this meaning :(
~~~I like Jillian, not Gillian...I think this spelling will lead to Gill, nice Gills are you a fish...call me mean, I just know how terrible kids can be
Jillian Kate
Jillian Patrice
Jillian Eve
Jillian Paige
JIllian Carys

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