My daughter, [name]Ellis[/name], is one and a half and I went through a period of time where I felt a great deal of baby name remorse. (My husband LOVED the name.) I thought her name wasn’t feminine enough (It is an unpopular boy’s name, although I have never thought it sounded like one), and that there were too many [name]Ella[/name]'s and [name]Ellie[/name]'s and [name]Bella[/name]'s to add confusion to her name.
As we are considering becoming pregnant again, I am secretly feeling remorse again. As I try to think of other names I like, I feel like I have to work around [name]Ellis[/name] (i.e. We love “[name]Ezra[/name]” for a boy, but it’s too similar. Or “[name]Quincy[/name]” for a boy, but it doesn’t sound masculine enough next to [name]Ellis[/name]. And I love feminine names like “[name]Rosalyn[/name]” or “[name]Felicity[/name]”, but they might not go with the ambisexual “[name]Ellis[/name]”.)
Does anyone else out there have baby name remorse? I absolutely adore my daughter and can’t think of calling her a different name now. I just wish we’d gone with something different to start with. Any sympathizers? Advice?
First, I just wanted to say that I really like the name [name]Ellis[/name]!
However, I feel like I can relate to what you are going through. My 5 1/2 month daughter is named [name]McKee[/name] (family name). While I really like her name and it has special family meaning, it has definitely limited the names that I will be able to use for a second child. If I have a girl, I will need to stick with a unisex name so that it will not make [name]McKee[/name] look like the boy of the two. If I have a boy, I need to make sure it is masculine enough and that it sounds good with [name]McKee[/name].
I wanted to share with you that the other nameberry posters have really helped me in this area. They have already come up with a ton of names that will work! I will copy some of the names that were suggested, but you can read through all of them if you go to page 4 of the What are you thinking about naming your children section of name talk. My post was titled… Would love some suggestions. You can read through those and see all the wonderful names that people were so incredibly helpful with.
I know you said you like feminine sounding names for girls and I found that there are some unisex names that sound feminine (I know that probably does not make a lot of sense, but to me there really were some unisex names on their lists that were definitely more suited for a girl). At the very least, there are a ton of names that you can get a feminine nn out of… kind of like [name]Ellie[/name] out of [name]Ellis[/name] if you really want to.
Here are some that were suggested… but there are a ton of other great suggestions as well on the post.
I would not worry too much, though, because [name]Ellis[/name] really is an awesome name and it has a great nn if needed as well. If you have a girl, maybe you could pick one of your really feminine favorite names for the middle name to get the name that you really like in there.
I think (I hope!) I replied to this in the other section, but I just want to repeat that it will all be okay. I think [name]Ellis[/name] is quite stylish, and when she’s an adult, I picture a gorgous, sophisticated woman in pearls. I’m also reminded of [name]Wallis[/name] [name]Simpson[/name] and the name [name]Hollis[/name].
P.S. [name]Hi[/name] [name]Kelly[/name]! I hope you’re doing well!
It’s hard to say. Honestly, if I felt that strongly about my child’s name (and believe me, I do), I would sooner live with the short-lived awkwardness of changing a toddler’s name than a lifetime of regret about it. And maybe worse, modifying your choice of sibling names to something that you didn’t absolutely adore just to work around the first one. I’d either learn to live with it or change it to the name you feel in your heart and make [name]Ellis[/name] her middle name. I am really drawn towards frilly, feminine names, too. That said, [name]Ellis[/name] is a pretty cool name; she will doubtless grow up happy with whatever your choice!
