How would these Brit names fit in?
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 09-27-2005 - 10:51am |
Hello,
I am expecting my second baby in January/February and we're really struggling to find the perfect name this time.
I am American and my husband is English and we're living in the UK right now but plan to move stateside once this baby arrives. Our daughter is Philippa Violet (Pippa), and we both loved her name and had very little trouble coming up with it (Violet was hubby's grandmother's name). I'd like to stick with names that are distinctly British but won't sound too weird to the American ear (I think I've lived here too long to be objective!). Middle name will almost definitely be Alice for a girl or Dickson for a boy (family names). Here are the current contenders:
Girls:
Imogen
Cecily
Verity
Felicity
Boys:
Miles
Angus (Gus for short)
Finlay
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these or other suggestions! I've been reading your other posts and I trust your judgment already :)
Thanks!


Pages
How pretty is Philippa Violet? I'll be she is a little crackerjack, isn't she? :-) You set yourself up for it giving her that name. So pretty and spunky!
Girls:
Imogen Alice ~ okay is that Im-oh-jin or Im-oh-gene? It's a nice name; are there any nickname possiblities to go w/ Pippa? Genie maybe?
Cecily Alice ~ Cute; my favorite w/ Philippa Violet. Nickname Cecy or Cece? So cute! This one is my # 1 pick from your list - I think it is a perfect match for Pippa.
Verity Alice
I really like Cecily Alice and Miles Dickson. I think either one would go well with your DD's name, which is quite pretty also.
I love your daughter's name! Philippa was on my list for my daughter (who ended up Josephine) and is top of the list for the next (should there be one!) Philippa's Aces!
I quite like Cecily with Philippa, They both have a light feel while being completely grown up sounding. Imogen is familiar here without being really 'out there', and it feels similar to Philippa & Cecily. Verity is gorgeous but I just can't see it as a sister for Philippa. I heartily dislike Felicity due to personal associations but will grant that it's too similar sounding next to Philippa.
First vote goes to Cecily Alice, next to Imogen Alice!
For boys, I adore Miles; my Josephine would have been Miles had she been a boy. It is getting a tad popular here, it's ranked in the high 200's right now and poised for a rise again this year. It might even make the top 100 in the next five years! But I still love it, Miles is simple, classic and jazzily dashing. Miles also balances Dickson easily without teetering into wimpishness to me.
Angus is a type of beef here in the states but I quite like the name anyway. I think Gus is adorable as a nickname! Finlay is going to the girls slowly; sad to say and I'm not fond of the abrupt ending sound especially paired with Dickson. Lay and Dick should not both be ain a name.. I fear the teasing in the 4th or 5th grades (that's about when kids start asking 'what's your middle name?' here).
First vote goes to Miles Dickson, second to Angus Dickson!
You've got great names on your lists, whichever you go with will easily go here in the states. You'd fit right in here in my Boston suburb!
Hi there. Congratulations on #2! I adore your dds' name; too sweet! Pippa as a nn is simply brilliant as well. Here are my thoughts on your list for the next little one-
Girls:
Imogen-This is perfect w/Philippa. My only concern here is people in the States will almost definitly pronounce it wrong.
Cecily-Aww! I like this one even more, & it's so darling next to Pippa. Wonderful choice. I think people in the U.S. could most likely figure it out, LOL.
Verity-I've never cared for this name, sorry. It just have a very "pure" image, but perhaps a bit too pure if that makes any sense?
Felicity-I love it! I like this even more than Cecily, but just a little bit. In any case, it's definilty easier for people to figure out. Philippa & Felicity are a bit of a mouthful together, but since you call her Pippa anyway it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe you could do Felicity nn Fifi? Cute.
Here are a few more girl suggestions:
Alice as a fn
Annabel
Amity
Amelie
Adalaide maybe nn Addie
Bronte
Briar
Celia maybe nn Celie...Pippa & Celie? Aw!
Charlotte maybe nn Lottie
Clementine
Daisy
Emmeline
Emilia maybe nn Millie
Elisabeth maybe nn Bess or Libby or something equally as spunky as Pippa!
Fiona maybe nn Fifi
Francesca maybe nn Francie? Adorable.
Genevieve maybe nn Ginny
Harriet maybe nn Hattie? Perfect.
Ivy
Josephine maybe nn Josie or Fifi
Johanna maybe nn Josie
Lousia maybe nn Lulu
Lucy
Lucille nn Lucie or Lulu
Melinda maybe nn Millie
Matilda maybe nn Tillie
Rosalie maybe nn Rosie
Rosaline maybe nn Rosie
Rosanlind maybe nn Rosie
Theadora maybe nn Dora
Willa
Boys:
Miles-Oh, that's wonderful. I really like this name, & it's rather well procieved in the U.S. as well.
Angus (Gus for short)-Angus is nms, although I think Gus is cute. I'm not sure how well Angus would go over in the U.S. w/it being a beef & all.
Finlay-I love this one! It's one of my favourites, & Finn or Finney are darling nns.
Here are some boy suggestions:
August maybe nn Gus
Augustus maybe nn Gus
Arthur maybe nn Artie
Archer maybe nn Archie
Chalres maybe nn Charlie
Capser maybe nn Cas
Calvin maybe nn Cal
Courtland maybe nn Court
Dexter maybe nn Dex
Darby
Elliott
Ellis
Francis maybe nn Frank
Harrison maybe nn Harry
Henry maybe nn Harry or Hank?
Hugh maybe nn Hughie
Isaac
Ira-I'm loving this lately for some reason.
Julius
James maybe nn Jesse or Jass or Jem
Jasper maybe nn Jass or Jesse
Maximilian maybe nn Max
Nicolas maybe nn Nico
Oliver maybe nn Ollie
Oscar maybe nn Oz
Phineas maybe nn Finn or Finney
Percival maybe nn Percy-Okay, this may be too much for most Americans, but I think it's jaunty. ;)
Peter
Patrick maybe nn Patch
Remington maybe nn Remy
Sebastian maybe nn Satch
Simon maybe called Si
Stewart maybe nn Stew(ie)
Theodore
Thomas maybe called Thom
Vincent maybe nn Vince
Hope this helps, & keep us posted!
Wow!
Thanks so much for your replies and all the thought that went into them! You've gone a long way to convincing my dh that Cecily is pretty great, which I've been saying all along! I do worry I might end up calling her Silly or Sissy or whatever happens to come out since there isn't really a ready-made nn...
We had thought that Philippa and Felicity might be too close (unless we planned on naming subsequent daughters Philomena and Felicia!), but thought if it was always Pippa and Felicity (possible nn Flick or Fliss) we could get around it. Good to know it jumped out at people though :)
We also knew about the beef association of Angus, but again, weren't too worried about it because he would be Gus the vast majority of the time.
Out of your list of suggestions, I LOVE Clementine, Francesca, Matilda, Rosalie, Theadora, and Willa and from the boys Arthur, Charles, Simon... but alas, they've all been vetoed for one reason or another.
Anyway, I'll let you know if there are any developments or final decisions, and probably ask for more help as the big event gets closer!
Thanks again,
Jodi
I live in the Boston area. My impressions: Cecily would be my first choice. Imogen would be a tough one. Verity sounds a bit like a bank or financial services company. Felicity was recently a TV show, but it's off the air now. That one is OK, too.
Miles is actually getting pretty mainstream here, and Angus/Gus should be fine, too. I'm afraid I've heard of Finlay for a girl. It's one of those last names as first names for girls that are so popular here.
I really like Felicity.
~Kelly
married to Len
Mama to Nicholas Lane, May 2006
expecting baby number two November, 2008!!
For sure ditch the Imogen and the Verity...they just won't work around here!
I like Cecily Alice and Miles Dickson.
Hi, my daughter's name is Imogene and everyone we meet loves the name. It really is not common here at all an some do mispronounce it. We almost names her Imogen but I liked the e on the end. Good Luck!
-Kelly
P.S I am expecting a son and would love to hear your input on a boys name that might go well with Imogene.
Hi Kelly,
Hmmm... boys names to go with Imogene (which is so cute, by the way!)... Here are some of my favorite slightly clunky boy names (some are on our list, too):
Arthur
Barnaby/Barnabas
George
Gus
Henry/Harry
Silas
Simon
Thaddeus
Theodore
I'd love to hear what you go with in the end :)
Jodi
Pages