Due Date Looming--Help!
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| 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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-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
Hi!
Well, you've got some great names to work with in my opinion!
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!
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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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.
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
Carys Ann-Marie
Ashlyn Brielle
Eden Ann-Marie
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
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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