Back here after you wonderful Berries helped me name my two-year-old, [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] (I love her name every time I say it!) and I’m even more desperate this time!
We are Team [name_u]Green[/name_u] (unlike last time), which is exciting and even more nerve-wracking. Here are a few of my choices, a few of my husband’s choices, and a few of our compromises to give a sense of our style.
I very much love vintage names, but some of them are too “out there” for my husband. A few examples: [name_f]Winnie[/name_f], [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_f]Harriet[/name_f], [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], and [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]. I also love some very Irish names (husband’s family is 100%, has a lot of family living there, grandmother emigrated at 18 years old, etc), but I’m not sure how many pronounciation battles I want to deal with or to have my daughter deal with. Names in this category: [name_f]Mairead[/name_f] ([name_u]LOVE[/name_u] IT, almost named first baby [name_f]Mairead[/name_f], but now I think it’s too close to [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]?), [name_f]Roisin[/name_f], and Saiorse. I also toy with [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] (too popular I think), [name_f]Fiona[/name_f] (same), and [name_u]Rory[/name_u] (prefer for a boy though). Also, I come from an eclectic background (Italian, Irish, Polish, Ashkenazi Jew, to name a few) and I’m not sure I want my children’s names only Irish-derived, if that makes sense.
Our middle names, after our grandmothers, are likely to be either [name_f]Mary[/name_f] or [name_f]Virginia[/name_f]. However, my name ([name_f]Kathryn[/name_f]) seems to be easier to pair, but I’d really prefer to choose a name to honor our grandmothers. Another option: my mother-in-law’s name is [name_f]Rosaleen[/name_f] (Anglicized version of [name_f]Roisin[/name_f]), and I happen to love [name_f]Rosaleen[/name_f], as well as [name_f]Rose[/name_f], but I would only use [name_f]Rose[/name_f] as a first name (way too common for me for a middle).
Last thing-- I am very weird/borderline obsessive about a name’s ranking on SSA. [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] is in the 500’s, which is fine, but anything above that makes me nervous. Yes, I grew up in Catholic schools as one of the 10 [name_f]Kathryn[/name_f]/[name_f]Katherine[/name_f]/[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]/[name_f]Katie[/name_f]'s, so I am overly sensitive to that.
[name_f]MY[/name_f] HUSBAND’S FAVORITES: they’ve been the same since we started dating in 2002! They are [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f], and [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]. That’s it. However, he is trying to branch out for my sake.
THE ONLY NAME WE CURRENTLY AGREE UPON: Merit [name_f]Virginia[/name_f]-- Merit was my choice, and I still like it very much, but I’m not sure that it’s “THE ONE”… ALSO, I worry about the matchy-name thing, especially because our last name begins with an “M”… it might sound too Kardashian! (gross!) PLUS, I don’t like any “M” boy names (unless I were to save Merit for a boy, which I’ve considered as well).
Based on that entirely too long background, does anyone have suggestions, ideas, words of comfort, anything to share? I thank you for reading this far and would appreciate ANY feedback!
xo [name_f]Kathryn[/name_f]
[name_f]Louisa[/name_f] [name_f]Mairead[/name_f] flows nicely, too. [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] [name_f]Mairead[/name_f] is ok too if slightly harsher.