Hello!
I’m expecting my third child, a girl, in the spring.
I have a daughter named [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f](born 2011) and a son named [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_u]Michael/name_u. Their middle names are family namesakes. [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] is for my mother and I. Our middle names are both [name_u]Kay[/name_u], and my mom’s first name is [name_f]Karin[/name_f], both of which are derivatives of [name_f]Katherine[/name_f]. [name_u]Michael[/name_u] is my dad’s name.
I’m having another girl and I plan to honor my grandmother with the middle name. Her name is [name_f]Melva[/name_f], and I’d like to use that as the middle name. I’m also considering [name_f]Mae[/name_f] as an alternative.
There’s a funny story about how my grandmother, [name_f]Melva[/name_f], got her name. After she was born, her mom said “Well, what shall we call her?”
Her dad said “I always liked the name [name_f]Melva[/name_f].”
Her mom had never heard of the name, but she said “Okay.” And for the first couple weeks, she kept forgetting her name because it had the same letters as [name_f]Velma[/name_f].
Since this is a name community, I thought some people would enjoy that story. I always thought it was so funny, and loved the way my great grandmother would tell it.
I am a bit of a name enthusiast. I prefer literary names. [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f] is of course from Arthurian legend, and I liked that it is the root of all the “[name_f]Gwen[/name_f]” and “[name_f]Jennifer[/name_f]” names. [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] is named after [name_m]King[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] X in the Chronicles of [name_f]Narnia[/name_f], as well as being the name of a sea.
I had said that my theme was literary kings and queens, but I may have to loosen that a bit. My old favorite second girl name was [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], again after the Chronicles of [name_f]Narnia[/name_f], but it’s shot way, way up in popularity since I last charted it. Plus, then two out of three kids would have [name_f]Narnia[/name_f] names and [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f] would be left out. Plus, people keep naming their dogs [name_f]Lucy[/name_f].
Here is my current “short list”
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] - I was a theatre major, and one of my favorite Shakespearean plays is A Midsummer [name_m]Night[/name_m]'s [name_u]Dream[/name_u]. When I thought of Literary queens, [name_f]Titania[/name_f] came to mind, which made me think of other characters in that play and other Shakespearean names I might consider. I noticed that it is greek for “light”, like [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] is latin for light. I thought it would be problematic with [name_f]Melva[/name_f], since they both end in the “a” sound, but I actually love the sound of [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Melva[/name_f], and I think it’s because of the assonance with the el sound.
[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] - I came upon this one in a name suggestions search. I looked at the names and this one interested me. It means “she who brings happiness” and there’s [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] as a literary connection. My husband is a game developer, and said that there is a [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] in Final [name_f]Fantasy[/name_f] IX, and she even has her own music. A downside would be that her initials would be B.M. with [name_f]Melva[/name_f] or [name_f]Mae[/name_f], which in my mind means Bowel Movement. I also don’t hate nicknames “[name_f]Bea[/name_f]” or “[name_f]Trix[/name_f]/[name_f]Trixie[/name_f]”. I live in fear of nicknames people will use with my kids.
[name_f]Eowyn[/name_f] - a Tolkien name. Fits in with my literary royals theme. A character I love. I think it sounds pretty good with [name_f]Melva[/name_f]. Downside is that I think it would be a little harder for people to say/spell/read.
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f] - I saw this one and immediately thought of the wonderful [name_m]Roald[/name_m] Dahl book, which I loved. It means “battle-mighty” or “powerful in battle”. It would have some alliteration with [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] [name_f]Melva[/name_f] or [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f]. I don’t mind [name_f]Tilly[/name_f] or [name_f]Tilda[/name_f] for nicknames, but would be concerned people would call her [name_u]Mattie[/name_u], very similar to the super common right now “[name_f]Maddy[/name_f]/[name_f]Addy[/name_f]” nicknames.
Galadriel - Another Tolkien name. It means “maiden crowned with a radiant garland”, so another light name, and again goes with the theme of literary royals. Galadriel is so powerful in the books that her name is damaging to enemies! Downsides are that I already have a G name with [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f], and that it’s so long there’s no way someone won’t come up with a nickname that I will probably not like. And that I won’t be able to predict.
Your feedback is appreciated!
On the nicknames - I thought there would be no nicknames for [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], but I have an aunt who keeps calling him “[name_m]Cas[/name_m]”, which I find super annoying.