This forum was so helpful when I was pregnant with DD1 ([name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Paige[/name], called [name]Libby[/name]) so I’m hoping I’ll be just as fortunate this time around because I’m really stuck.
I recently lost an aunt who I was very close to. Her name was [name]Holly[/name] [name]Rae[/name], so we’d love to incorporate that somehow. Right now, I like [name]Laurel[/name] for a girl (another plant name) but am stuck on a boy name. We like classic names and the boy nature names out there just don’t do it for us. Other family inspirations to draw from are [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Phillip[/name], [name]Doreen[/name] and [name]Virginia[/name] (none of which I really like as-is). So, without using these actual names, what can you come up with (boys and girls) from [name]Holly[/name], [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Phillip[/name], [name]Doreen[/name] and [name]Virginia[/name]?
Hollister
[name]Virgil[/name]
[name]Phillipa[/name]
[name]Sam[/name]/uel/son- the last 3 letters of [name]Thomas[/name] spelled backwards is [name]Sam[/name]
[name]Lilli[/name]/y-from [name]Phillip[/name]
[name]Oren[/name]-from [name]Doreen[/name]
Frankly I love [name]Laurel[/name] so I went mostly with boys names as suggestions
A lot of good suggestions have been made. I would add [name]Theodore[/name], [name]Theodora[/name], [name]Dorothy[/name], [name]Dorothea[/name], [name]Isadora[/name] and [name]Dorian[/name] as ways to honor [name]Doreen[/name]. [name]Hollis[/name] could be a substitute for [name]Holly[/name]. Going out on a limb, maybe [name]Ginger[/name] for [name]Virginia[/name]?
DS is [name]George[/name], which means ‘farmer’, could be a nod to [name]Holly[/name]? Otherwise I’d just go with H names to [name]Honor[/name] [name]Holly[/name]. [name]Even[/name] H R initials.
[name]Henry[/name] [name]Robert[/name], [name]Horace[/name] [name]Raymond[/name], [name]Hiram[/name] [name]Richard[/name], [name]Herbert[/name] [name]Royce[/name], [name]Hugh[/name] [name]Ronald[/name]
[name]Holly[/name] [name]Rae[/name] could be [name]Ray[/name] [name]Hollis[/name]?
The two traditional boys nature names that might work for you are [name]Rowan[/name] and [name]Heath[/name]. I probably wouldn’t use both together but [name]Roland[/name] [name]Heath[/name] or [name]Rowan[/name] [name]Hugh[/name] could be good?
[name]Thomas[/name] - [name]Tamsin[/name] for a girl is cute, as is [name]Tamar[/name]/[name]Tamara[/name]. [name]Thomasine[/name]/[name]Thomasina[/name] is kind of wonderful in a very British-esque vintage way. For a boy,
[name]Philip[/name] - [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Phoebe[/name], [name]Philippa[/name], [name]Rosamund[/name]. (Hear me out on [name]Rosamund[/name], [name]Philip[/name] means “horse lover” and one of the translations for [name]Rosamund[/name] is “horse protector”) & [name]Phineas[/name], [name]Finn[/name], [name]Finnegan[/name] for a boy. Or any P name really, depends whether you feel the P initial or the ph/f sound is more important.
[name]Doreen[/name] - Well, I am secretly fond of [name]Kathleen[/name]. [name]Lena[/name], itself, also has some vintage charm. [name]Dot[/name]/[name]Dorothea[/name] could be another option. I liked an earlier suggestion of [name]Isadora[/name]. For a boy, I’d probably just go D- initial, [name]Dashiell[/name] or [name]Declan[/name] are two of my favourites at the moment, I am also the last living person as far as I can tell to still like [name]Duncan[/name].
[name]Virginia[/name]: Was she a [name]Ginny[/name]? Other routes to [name]Ginny[/name] like [name]Ginevra[/name], [name]Imogen[/name] would be my pick. Other V names like [name]Viola[/name] and [name]Vivienne[/name] could also be options. For a boy, I do like [name]Virgil[/name]. I also like [name]Richmond[/name], but that could be seen as trying too hard to be clever.
Thanks, everyone! Lots of unique suggestions, which were fun to read. We’re pretty traditional namers, and I tend to lean towards the more obvious namesakes, so the ones that appealed to me most were [name]Oliver[/name]/[name]Olly[/name], [name]Molly[/name] and the idea of using HR as the initials. Ideally, I would love to honor both [name]Holly[/name] [name]Rae[/name] and [name]Doreen[/name] [name]Virginia[/name] in the name for a girl/[name]Holly[/name] [name]Rae[/name] and [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Phillip[/name] for a boy, so I’ll have to do some thinking still, seeing as I can’t settle on any variations of [name]Doreen[/name] [name]Virginia[/name] or [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Phillip[/name] that I like, but this is a good start!
Here’s an idea for a girl: [name]Rachel[/name] [name]Dorothy[/name] or [name]Rachel[/name] [name]Dorothea[/name].
[name]Rachel[/name] could be an extended form of [name]Rae[/name] - I have a cousin [name]Rachel[/name] who uses [name]Rae[/name] as a nickname. [name]Dorothy[/name]/[name]Dorothea[/name] would be a variation on [name]Doreen[/name].
I think you’ve got some good ideas here. Best wishes.