ANY names that sound right with our surname?

Girl Names
1

[name]Hi[/name] all,

DH and I have a surname that seems determined to make every name sound terrible.
Well, at least anything that ends in an -a or -y or -ie or -o or that has a certain cadence–everything sounds rhyming and sing-song and runs together.

The name sounds like Own-bee

I think [name]Elizabeth[/name] sounds okay, but not any nn’s

Is this a big deal? Should I purposely eliminate anything that runs together or rhymes or should I just let it go and name a kid [name]Naomi[/name] :slight_smile:

Boys names seem to be a bit easier since they have different endings–I like [name]Bennett[/name] a lot.

Does anybody have advice on working with a truly difficult last name?

2

[name]Delilah[/name]
[name]Bliss[/name]
[name]Blair[/name]
[name]Helen[/name]
[name]Elaine[/name]
[name]Blanche[/name]
[name]Gwendolyn[/name]
[name]Tess[/name]
[name]Joanne[/name]
[name]Rachel[/name]

3

I think you should go in the middle. [name]Naomi[/name] Owmbee is awful. [name]Lucy[/name] Owmbee is great. [name]Even[/name] though they both end in the same sound, [name]Lucy[/name] is a great name and it doesn’t sound too rhymey.

4

I think you can do a lot with names that end in -n, -v(e), -ce, -s, -th, =-tte, -l(le) etc. Nameberry lets you search by these. Avoiding the singsongy thing can work with just avoiding 2 syllable names. With [name]Elizabeth[/name]

[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Grace[/name] Ownbee
[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Eve[/name] Ownbee
[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Quinn[/name] Ownbee
[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Jane[/name] Ownbee
[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]June[/name] Ownbee
[name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Tess[/name] Ownbee

I think a lot of names work with it (including a lot you might be ruling out unnecessarily) but a few more in the [name]Elizabeth[/name] vain to me.

[name]Annabelle[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Gabrielle[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Florence[/name]
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Isabelle[/name]
[name]Jacqueline[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Jessamine[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Madeline[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Scarlett[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]

5

[name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Rachel[/name]
[name]Anabel[/name]
[name]Annabeth[/name]
[name]Annaliese[/name]
[name]Elise[/name]
[name]Elena[/name]
[name]Adalaide[/name]
[name]Barbara[/name]
[name]Bernice[/name]
[name]Bernadette[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Diana[/name]
[name]Gloria[/name]
[name]Isabella[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Jessica[/name]
[name]Jasmine[/name]
[name]Kira[/name]
[name]Karen[/name]
[name]Corinne[/name]
[name]Laura[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Lorraine[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Marietta[/name]
[name]Nancy[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name]
Shoshanna
[name]Silvia[/name]
[name]Serafina[/name]
[name]Theresa[/name]
[name]Tamara[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name]

6

@sweetpeace - I love [name]Gwendolyn[/name]. I thought [name]Gwen[/name] Owmbee sounded too much like a town in [name]Scotland[/name]
@sparrowfinch - I do like [name]Lucy[/name] a lot. I was afraid that the vowels blended–like it was [name]Lucian[/name] [name]Bee[/name]
@jesba - I really love [name]Evelyn[/name] and [name]Beatrice[/name]. With [name]Evelyn[/name] especially I was worried because of the cadence.
@taz - You really think [name]Olivia[/name] Owmbee sounds okay? It’s probably my most favorite name, but I was afraid it was terrible.

7

[name]Hope[/name] it’s OK if I chime in on some others too -

[name]Gwendolyn[/name]: I’m in the US so I can’t weigh in easily on [name]Gwen[/name] Ownbee sounding like a Scottish town, I’m not that familiar with Scottish town names. But that doesn’t seem like the worst thing? And if it is a problem, I’d suspect it’s true for many people named [name]Gwen[/name] too? : D

[name]Lucy[/name]: I think it’s OK. You have to remember people introduce themselves with just their first names in most situations, so while they run together it’s not super intense. She’ll introduce herself as [name]Lucy[/name] most times and if she does use the full name and its sounds like [name]Lucian[/name], it’s easy enough to be clarified.

[name]Evelyn[/name]: I think it sounds fine. I do see how there are 2 n’s in rapid succession but it doesn’t strike me as unpleasant - it’s 3/2 rhythm, the [name]Evelyn[/name] n is at the end and the Ownbee n is in the middle, so to me, it’s fine. [name]Glad[/name] you like [name]Beatrice[/name] : D.

[name]Olivia[/name] - I think it’s fine with your last name. In my US accent at least the two O sounds are really distinct (and I imagine they are in other accents too but I’m not sure), and while the vowels bump a little bit (-a to O), it’s really not horrible. People who have last names starting in vowels do have it a bit rough (for girls’ names), it’s true, but I think a lot of the concern is probably out of proportion. If you loved [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Olivia[/name] equally, I might say [name]Elizabeth[/name] wins some points for the non-vowel ending, but if you love [name]Olivia[/name] more, that’s more important and there’s no reason not to use it. Lots of celebrities have names like this - [name]Christina[/name] Applegate, [name]Cristina[/name] Aguilera, [name]Jessica[/name] [name]Alba[/name], [name]Pamela[/name] [name]Anderson[/name], I could go on, it’s not like those are unpleasant names or names people really struggle to say.

8

I think [name]Olivia[/name] Own-bee is great but in my accent I say Uh-livia not Oh-livia.

9

Our L surname ruled out a few names I loved - most annoying!

I think you still have lots of beautiful options open to you. I am British so I do know what you mean about [name]Gwen[/name] but I don’t think it’s a big enough issue to stop you using it.

[name]Olivia[/name] Ownbee sounds great [name]IMO[/name], it actually has a nice flow and the double O is rather cool.

Other names that could work (with apologies for any double ups from above, it’s hard to scroll on my phone!)

[name]Scarlett[/name] (this has the ett ending you like in [name]Bennett[/name])
[name]Juliet[/name]/[name]Juliette[/name] (as above)
[name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]