In this week’s edition of Let Us Name Your [name_f]Baby[/name_f], [name_f]Molly[/name_f] and [name_m]Adam[/name_m] feel like they can’t find a name for their daughter than ticks every box of their criteria
Their Criteria:
Short and easy to spell to balance out their long, double-barrelled surname
No [name_m]New[/name_m] Testament names or names that sound obviously [name_m]Christian[/name_m]
[name_m]Adam[/name_m] wants a name that’s “sleek and professional” - nothing cutesy. He likes [name_f]Anne[/name_f] and [name_f]Leah[/name_f].
[name_f]Molly[/name_f] wants a name that’s less classic, more unique. She likes old-fashioned names like [name_f]Ethel[/name_f] and [name_m]Horatio[/name_m]
They like but can’t use [name_f]Eve[/name_f], Maude/Maud, [name_f]Tess[/name_f], [name_f]Ada[/name_f], [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Leah[/name_f], [name_f]Maya[/name_f], [name_f]Orli[/name_f], [name_f]Edith[/name_f], [name_f]Elle[/name_f], [name_f]Fay[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Ruth[/name_f], and [name_f]Willa[/name_f]
[name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] offered some great suggestions, but now it’s over to you! What would you name their baby?
Well, I’m obviously biased toward [name_f]Leah[/name_f] But since that’s off the table, maybe they would like:
[name_f]Alma[/name_f]
[name_f]Eva[/name_f] (maybe off the table if [name_f]Eve[/name_f] is, though)
[name_f]Fern[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Frida[/name_f]
[name_f]Eden[/name_f]
[name_f]Esther[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Liora[/name_f] / [name_f]Leora[/name_f]
[name_f]Leona[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
[name_f]Opal[/name_f]
[name_f]Gilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f]
[name_f]Sloane[/name_f]
[name_f]Cleo[/name_f]
[name_f]Edna[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruby[/name_f]
[name_f]Mina[/name_f]
For these “let us name your baby” questions, I like to make my list before reading [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and Sophie’s suggestions, so that I’m not influenced by other ideas But I want to second the ideas of [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Etta[/name_f], [name_f]Greta[/name_f], and [name_f]Nina[/name_f]! [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Etta[/name_f] were two of my first thoughts, and I also had [name_f]Greta[/name_f] and [name_f]Nina[/name_f] in my list of suggestions before reading the article.
[name_f]Gwen[/name_f] is name I often suggest to people, can’t understand why it’s never on people lists. But I agree with [name_f]Pamela[/name_f]. I noticed names on their list are also mostly English-Jewish or [name_f]English[/name_f], so they might be less likely go for something exotic like [name_f]Thora[/name_f].
I do like names like [name_f]June[/name_f], [name_m]March[/name_m], [name_f]Enid[/name_f], [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Anya[/name_f] and [name_f]Paige[/name_f] that are suggested
[name_f]My[/name_f] suggestion would be [name_f]Sabine[/name_f], [name_f]Odette[/name_f], [name_f]Cecily[/name_f], [name_f]Heidi[/name_f], [name_f]Juliet[/name_f], Giselle… something that is out of suggestions, and it’s up to them how much they care to following every single rule.
When I first read through my prime candidate was: [name_f]Vera[/name_f]! Feels like a spin-off of [name_f]Eve[/name_f], a little vintage grandma but everyone knows how to spell it.
I really like the suggestions of [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Joan[/name_f], [name_f]Romy[/name_f], and [name_f]Una[/name_f] (I know an [name_f]Una[/name_f] with a complicated double barrelled surname so I consider it doable!) in particular – okay maybe I’m just pulling the suggestions that are also on my list but they work!
I wonder about [name_f]Eva[/name_f] too! The [name_f]Eve[/name_f] issue is “Adam & Eve” – is [name_f]Eva[/name_f] different enough? If yes, then it would be so great!
In addition to [name_f]Vera[/name_f], I would suggest:
[name_f]Adele[/name_f] / [name_f]Adela[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]
[name_f]Alma[/name_f] / [name_f]Alba[/name_f]
[name_f]Blythe[/name_f]
[name_f]Doris[/name_f]
[name_f]Edna[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Etta[/name_f]
[name_f]Flora[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Frida[/name_f] (maybe too many spelling options)
[name_f]Greta[/name_f]
[name_f]Helen[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Joy[/name_f]
[name_f]June[/name_f]
[name_m]Kit[/name_m]
[name_m]Lane[/name_m]
[name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_f]Lyra[/name_f] (very sleek imho)
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Marnie[/name_f]
[name_f]Mina[/name_f]
[name_f]Mira[/name_f]
[name_f]Nell[/name_f]
[name_f]Opal[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
[name_f]Stella[/name_f]
[name_f]Susan[/name_f]
[name_f]Thea[/name_f]
[name_f]Wren[/name_f]
One suggestion I would have is to consider a longer middle name - perhaps in the style of the parent whose style is further away from the first name picked. Like [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Agatha[/name_f] or [name_f]Edna[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f].
Have you considered [name_f]Golda[/name_f]? It has a Jewish feel and feels antique but not classic, plus female leader [name_f]Golda[/name_f] [name_m]Meir[/name_m].
More suggestions:
[name_f]Bess[/name_f] (rhymes with Tess)
[name_f]Cleo[/name_f] (similar to Clara)
[name_f]Enid[/name_f] (similar to Edith)
[name_f]Greta[/name_f]
[name_f]Hilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Ida[/name_f] (similar to Ada)
[name_f]Myra[/name_f] (similar to Maya)
[name_f]Olga[/name_f]
[name_f]Thea[/name_f] (rhymes with Leah)
@EagleEyes [name_f]Alma[/name_f], [name_f]Fern[/name_f], [name_f]Frida[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], [name_f]Cleo[/name_f], [name_f]Sloane[/name_f], and [name_f]Mina[/name_f] are brilliant ideas and [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Etta[/name_f] do feel right for them!
@Sorceress [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] is a lovely name - one of my uni professors had a daughter called [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] but that’s been my only ‘real life’ encounter
[name_f]Heidi[/name_f], [name_f]Sabine[/name_f] and [name_f]Odette[/name_f] are great!
@lateaugust [name_f]Vera[/name_f] is wonderful! It does have that sleek but familiar feel!
I knew sibs [name_m]Adam[/name_m] and [name_f]Evie[/name_f] and no one else even noticed until I pointed it out (later, not to the siblings or their family!)
[name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Alba[/name_f], [name_f]Esme[/name_f], [name_f]Etta[/name_f], [name_f]Joy[/name_f], [name_f]Stella[/name_f], [name_f]Mira[/name_f] and [name_f]Lyra[/name_f] are great!
@Kjh446 wonderful ideas - [name_f]Neta[/name_f], [name_f]Yara[/name_f], [name_f]Esti[/name_f], [name_f]Zelda[/name_f] and [name_f]Opal[/name_f] are lovely!
Thanks for this amazing thorough list! For us, the most fun is making our own lists before looking at each other’s. We’re always surprised that we each find different solutions to the same name problem!
The first name that came to mind was [name_f]Enid[/name_f]. I also liked the suggestion of [name_f]Joan[/name_f]. I think the nn [name_f]Joanie[/name_f] would be sweet. Here are some other names that came to mind:
A wild card: [name_f]Cassandra[/name_f]. It’s long, but it’s still a straightforward name. I think 3-2-2 has a nice flow, and you could call her “Cass” for short.
Another wildcard idea:
If you are already set on hyphenating your last names, then feel free to discard this. But if you are concerned about the length or flow of the last name, you could consider using one of the last names as a middle name. That way she’ll still have both of your last names, but will not write out or say her full name very often. Maybe this would ease some anxiety about needing a one syllable first name?
But I’m sure whatever you pick will be beautiful.
[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I had a hard time naming our daughter. In the end, I had to lower my expectations and loosen my rules a bit about finding the “perfect” name. I think there’s a lot of pressure to choose the perfect name, but it helped me to know I picked a “good enough” name that I really do love.
But since that’s off the table, maybe they would like:
But I want to second the ideas of [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Etta[/name_f], [name_f]Greta[/name_f], and [name_f]Nina[/name_f]! [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Etta[/name_f] were two of my first thoughts, and I also had [name_f]Greta[/name_f] and [name_f]Nina[/name_f] in my list of suggestions before reading the article.