Need some new ideas...
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| Wed, 05-10-2006 - 10:08pm |
DH and I have always struggled with names, and as we get ready to adopt baby #3, I know this will be a challenge as well.
To give some background, DH is Frederick Scott (goes by Scott), and I'm Stephanie Renee. Our last name is 3 syllables, starts with H, and is of German heritage.
Our older DD is Megan Joy, nn Meg. Joy is the name of DH's favorite aunt.
Our younger DD is Julianna May, nn Annie. Juliana was my great-grandmother's mn, and it was the only name we could agree on. We added the 2nd N b/c DH preferred the ann-uh pronunciation. May was my grandmother's mn.
We like names that aren't "trendy" or in the top 10, but aren't terribly uncommon. DH hates last names as first names. Our last name is difficult, so we need a first name that's pretty easy to pronounce and spell. We also like using a family name as a mn and would consider a family first name, but it's not required.
Some other names in our family...
John
Beatrice May
Marilyn Frances
Irma Elizabeth
Charles Wilbur
Paul
Pauline Alice
Gregory Paul
Sandra Jean
Nancy Annette
Does anything come to mind for you? I'm open to all suggestions at this point. :-)
TIA,
Stephanie




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Here are the first ones to spring to mind:
Francesca Alice! I love both of these names individually, and together, I just think they're great. Francesca's not an easy name for nicknames, but there's always Frannie, and I think Chess is pretty cute.
I also like Alessandra (after Sandra), though it's a little fussier than Megan and Julianna.
Given that your other girls' middle names are short and feminine, I'm in favor of the same for this baby. I love Alice as a first name, and I think it goes great with Meg and Annie. Allie would be a great nickname, too. Alice Eliza is VERY pretty and is probably my first choice.
Here are my favorites, in order
Alice Eliza
Francesca Alice
Eliza Beatrice (or Beatrix!)
Paulina Alice
Eliza Pauline
Alessandra Alice
Alessandra Eliza
Without using a family name (or derivative) for the first name, I like Caroline (nn Cara, wink, wink), Clara, Charlotte, Genevieve, and Anastasia.
Like any of these? If not, I can suggest more! :-)
Hello, Stephanie. How exciting to start the process for #3! I know it can be a long & hard wait sometimes, so best of luck to you guys.
Meg & Annie have a very sweet & down earth feel to them. Megan & Julianna (the latter especially) seem to be more fancy full names for those nns. I think I'll try to keep up w/the pattern, but not tied to it. When I say *maybe nn* that means using their full name would also be lovely! Here are some girl suggestions:
Amelia maybe nn Lia; I love Mia, but Lia seems to fit in better w/your crew. Just Amelia on it's own is also sweet.
Alice
Audra
Bridget maybe nn Bridie or Bridgie
Claire
Clara
Caroline
Charlotte maybe nn Lottie, although I fear that this one may become a tad popular soon.
Elizabeth, which has a plethura of nns. Libby & Ellie are my favourites.
Eliza maybe nn Ellie, but just Eliza is great.
Eve maybe nn Evie
Eva maybe nn Evie
Elise
Gabrielle maybe nn Gabby
Genevieve maybe nn Ginny
Ivy
Karina
Kathleen maybe nn Kate
Lucy
Lydia maybe nn Lydie
Laurel
Nora
Phoebe
Polly
Rose maybe nn Rosie
Rosalie maybe nn Rosie
Tessa maybe nn Tess
Boys:
Andrew maybe nn Drew
Alexander maybe nn Alex
Benjamin maybe nn Ben(ny/ji)
Bennett maybe nn Ben(ny)
Beckett maybe nn Beck
Burke
Charles maybe nn Charlie or Chase
Calvin maybe nn Cal
Daniel maybe nn Danny
Elliott
Elias maybe nn Eli
Edward maybe nn Eddie
Grant
Graham
Lucas
Michael maybe nn Mikey or Micky
Nicolas maybe nn Cole
Nathan maybe nn Nate
Patrick maybe nn Patch
Ryan
Samuel maybe nn Sam
Thomas maybe nn Thom
Timothy maybe nn Tim
William maybe nn Will or Billy
Hope this helps!
Possible combos from your list:
Girls:
Francesca Belle
Eliza Jean
Annette Mari
Charlotte Frances
Alicia Joanne
Paula Elizabeth
Jeannette Elise
Elizabeth Anne
Mari Amelia
Marilyn Frances
Alice Paulette
Boys:
Frank Wilbur
Paul Gregory
Albert Paul
John Frances
Andrew Paul
Steven Scott
Erick Steven
Gregory Steven
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Marilyn Jean immediately jumped out at me. It is very pretty, uncommon but non unrecognizable and fits with the JM/MJ initials of your other girls.
I also like Beatrice and Elizabeth from your family list. Other non-family names that might work: Celia, Jillian, Dana, Camille, Noelle, Bianca, Laurel.
For boys I like Paul, Charles, John and Gregory (as a middle name - Greg and Meg wouldn't work.) A few combo ideas:
John Mitchell
Elijah Charles
Sean Paul
Timothy John
Ian Gregory
Bryant Paul
Jeremy Charles
Charles Gregory
Ok, how about:
John Gregory (nice)
Beatrice Annette
Elizabeth Frances (very nice!)
Charles Paul
and my fav:
Alessandra Pauline (combo of Alice and Sandra)
Boy:
Ian Frances (a name i considered for our 2nd boy)
Luke Charles
Jonathon Scott
Nicholas Scott
Girl:
Hailey Jean, Hailey Elizabeth
Ella Jean
Avery Elizabeth
Kyla Jean, Kyla Renee
Marilyn Elizabeth
Melissa
Mom to Scott Nicholas, Wyatt Christopher, and Phoebe Jane
Ooh, some good ones here... let's see...
Francesca and Alessandra are very pretty, but they might be a little fussy for us. We're big nn people, too, so I'd have to really like the nn. And I think that Frannie is a little too close to Annie for my tastes.
Alice was never my favorite name before, but it's really been growing on me lately. With it's lack of nns, I don't know if I could use it as a fn, but I really like it as a mn.
I *love* Eliza and really wanted DH to consider Aliza for DD#2 b/c it means joy, and DD#1's mn is Joy. I tried so hard to convince him, but no luck. :-P I may have to give that one another shot, though, since Irma Elizabeth was his grandmother.
I still like Caroline (nn Cara) a lot ;-).
I think DH already vetoed Clara once before. :-P
Charlotte is beautiful, but it's the name of DH's aunt by marriage, and I don't want her to think we're naming a baby after her.
Genevieve is very pretty and another one that's been growing on me lately. DH's sister is Jennifer, and I have a great-aunt Evelyn, so that might be a nice nod to them as well.
I like Anastasia a lot, too, but it's probably too much with Julianna, nn Annie, don't you think?
Do you have any boy names? This was a great girl list, and I saved them all to run by DH. He's so darn picky!
Thanks again,
Stephanie
We're still just in the research stages of adoption as both of our DDs are biological, but we're very excited. :-) Hopefully, the wait won't be too terribly long.
This is a great list, so I'll just comment on a few of them.
I adore Amelia, nn Mia or Lia, and I was even willing to go with Amy, but DH vetoed it for DD#2. I tried and tried and tried some more... but maybe it's worth giving it another shot. ;-) He kept saying "Amelia Bedelia," and I kept tossing out, "But what about Amelia Earhart?", but he didn't buy it.
Audra is a nice new option -- we haven't talked about that one before, so I'll have to mention it.
Ivy is sweet, but I don't know if we could pull it off. I really do like it, just don't know if I'm brave enough to use it. ;-)
DH would probably like Kathleen since his favorite names last time were Katherine (nn Kate) and Erin. Nothing wrong with them, but I wanted something with a bit more spunk for that baby that was trying to kick her way through my ribs. ;-) Plus, two of our friends who were pg at the same time had Katherine as their first choice, and I was due first (but they would have used the name even if we did). They ended up with boys, but I was still happy we went with Julianna.
I like Nora a lot, too, maybe as a nn for Eleanor?
And Tessa is one that has grown on me a lot lately -- I might have to ask DH what he thinks.
As for boy names, my favorites on your list are Elliott, Graham, Nathan, Patrick, Ryan, Thomas, and Calvin. I also love Alexander, Benjamin, and Samuel, but can't use them b/c we already have close friends or family with those names.
Thanks for the great lists! I really needed a new place to start (even though I know it's very early).
Stephanie
Thanks for the suggestions!
My favorite off your girl list is either Eliza Jean or Alicia Joanne. I also like Marilyn and Amelia a lot, but I'm not sure if I really want to use Marilyn, and DH has already vetoed Amelia before. Not that I won't try again if we have another girl... ;-)
As for boys, I really like Erik, and I hadn't thought about Erick Steven being a combo of our names before. That's not a bad idea. And DH loves John, nn Jack, for a fn -- I like it a lot, too, but I'm worried that it's a little too common. I've considered Gregory Charles as well (our dad's first names), but I think that Greg and Meg might be a little too much.
Thanks again for the ideas!
Stephanie
Thanks for the idea with another MJ name -- I hadn't thought of that one. I'm not set on continuing the pattern b/c I wouldn't know what to do if we decided on a baby #4, but it's a nice suggestion.
I like the suggestion of Celia, or maybe Cecilia? That's not one we've talked about before, and it could be a great choice. Camille is one that we talked about a long time ago, but only in passing -- I like that one, too.
As I mentioned to another poster, DH really likes John, nn Jack, and I like it, too, but I'm worried about popularity. I would love to use Paul as a mn (since DH's grandparents are Paul and Pauline, and my dad's mn is Paul), but John Paul is a little too Catholic for me even though we are Catholic. ;-) Love the suggestion of Sean Paul, though!
I won't use Charles as a fn even though I like it b/c DH's dad and grandpa are both Charles, and our last name is so unusual that we don't need a third Charles H----------. I thought about using Gregory Charles once (our dad's first names), but you're right about Meg and Greg - darn! I like Elijah and Ian on your list, too -- I'll have to run those by DH.
Thanks for your help!
Stephanie
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