Back to the drawing board and beginning to panic - sister for sofia

[name]Hi[/name] - i have been posting a lot this week in desperate search for a baby sister to [name]Sofia[/name] - everything has been very helpful, but unfortunately we don’t feel that we have a solution we can agree on. all of the names we really like have an “issue” that has caused us to discard them and nothing else is catching our eye. With [name]Sofia[/name] i knew for years that if we ever had a girl that is what we would name her- i consider the name sofia to be soft yet dignified. by the time we had her it was already very popular but we looked past that and i am very glad we did, the popularity has not bothered me to this point anyway. But now unfortunately there is no name we love for our second. Please help us think of something as our timing is imminent, here are our guidelines/thoughts:

Names we really like with their issues:
[name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Cate[/name] - [name]Catherine[/name] while beautiful is a bit too plain to me next to [name]Sofia[/name] and our last name is 1 syllable so nn flow is not great, this is one of the very few names that i do like the long form and nn though
[name]Charlotte[/name] - don’t like the nicknames and after last night’s posts i think we are better to move past this one
[name]Amelia[/name] - matchy and similar issue with the nicknames - we would like this to be the middle name if possible as it has meaning to us
[name]Lila[/name] - my favorite early on but DH was not very fond
[name]Emma[/name] - I really like this but with [name]Sofia[/name] already so popular it seemed silly to have another uber popular name and in our area [name]Emma[/name] is waning. although as i said the popularity of sofia has not bothered me - should we resurrect?
[name]Julia[/name] - matchy issue
[name]Madeline[/name] - good friend used it and nn issue
[name]Ellery[/name] - i know this doesn’t go with our style but we actually agree on liking this name - but seems too far out there - we are much safer namers

Other names that came up that we like but we don’t really love: emily, ella, lily, eliza, clara, juliet, sara, olivia, eva, ava - i wish i loved some of these more as i feel for the most part they don’t have the issues that the ones i love do

other things to consider - our last name is 1 syllable, we don’t mind popularity and with a sofia i would actually want something fairly common or known so one child doesn’t feel like they got the popular or oddball name, i really dislike nickname prone names unless its just a pet shortening (think em for emma), we would like amelia to be the middle name if the flow works

if you have any ideas please share or if you see something in either list above that you think we should resurrect please let us know. as i said i am starting to panic!

[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Laura[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Annabel[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Lily[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Rachel[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Kate[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Chloe[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Violet[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Emilia[/name] (combines [name]Lila[/name], [name]Amelia[/name], [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Emily[/name])
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Aubrey[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Jasmine[/name]

[name]Julia[/name]- could it become [name]Julianne[/name]? [name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Julianne[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]- I think it could still be OK. I personally know one who is only a [name]Charlotte[/name].
[name]Catherine[/name]- [name]Cathryn[/name], [name]Catrina[/name], [name]Carina[/name], [name]Caitlin[/name]
[name]Ellery[/name]- [name]Mallory[/name]? [name]Ellen[/name]? [name]Helena[/name]?

I would go with [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Amelia[/name]. If you think [name]Catherine[/name] is too “plain”, what about [name]Katherine[/name] or [name]Kathryn[/name]? I think it flows very well and would be fine with a 1 syllable last name. As a nn, you could lengthen [name]Cate[/name] to [name]Catie[/name] to make it flow better with your last name, but nns are often used on their own, without the last name, aren’t they?
[name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] sound very pretty together.

sorry i forgot one other issue with catherine - my first’s middle name is [name]Kaitlin[/name] - so catherine/cate for the first of the second might be odd…

[name]Isabel[/name] [name]Amelia[/name] gets my vote! [name]Isabel[/name] and [name]Sofia[/name] seem of similar style and cadence.

What about [name]Maria[/name]?

What about [name]Ella[/name]?

or

[name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Julia[/name] (I don’t think this is matchy at all)
[name]Ariana[/name]
[name]Lillia[/name]
[name]Vanessa[/name]
[name]Juliana[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]

If you want a popular name, there are only so many. All the names are in the Top 200 for girls. If you want a classic name, you run out of options a lot more quickly.

[name]Anna[/name], [name]Nora[/name], [name]Avery[/name], [name]Sidney[/name], [name]Audrey[/name], [name]Isabella[/name], [name]Rebecca[/name], [name]Maya[/name], [name]Jade[/name], [name]Sadie[/name], [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Lila[/name], [name]Leyla[/name]

[name]Pam[/name], do you ever offer consultations? I would love to consult with you and feel desperate to have a conversation with an expert like yourself. I can be reached on naomivbenson@yahoo.com if this is a possibility at all. [name]Naomi[/name]

[name]Don[/name]'t panic, it’ll be alright, I can almost guarantee that :slight_smile: I like many of [name]Pam[/name]'s suggestions. [name]Ella[/name] and [name]Sofia[/name], or [name]Julia[/name] and [name]Sofia[/name], would be very pretty. [name]How[/name] about [name]Elodie[/name]? I think it complements [name]Sofia[/name] beautifully, both are pretty, feminine and 3 syllables but with the emphasis on different places.

[name]Sofia[/name] & [name]Elodie[/name]

Otherwise, perhaps [name]Elysia[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Lucinda[/name]/[name]Lucy[/name], [name]Isabel[/name], [name]Zinnia[/name] (too matchy?), [name]Adele[/name]/[name]Adelaide[/name]/[name]Adeline[/name], [name]Cynthia[/name], [name]Lovisa[/name], [name]Arabella[/name], or [name]Jocelyn[/name]?

I did reply to [name]Naomi[/name] privately, but just for general information, as some of you now [name]Linda[/name] and I don’t do individual name consultations. But we do support the amazing advice from our wonderful berries and weigh in when we can and where it makes sense!

Thank you for responding so quickly [name]Pam[/name], would you mind offering your thoughts on how prone to nicknames [name]Charlotte[/name] is? We were getting close to using it but after a poll yesterday it seems that the general consensus is that a nickname is fairly likely. I don’t mind pet shortened names at home, i.e. sof for sofia but do mind official/written nicknames like charlie or lottie for [name]Charlotte[/name] - are these nicknames like [name]Maddie[/name]/[name]Maddy[/name] for [name]Madeline[/name]? becoming a set choice? I am unsure whether to move on from [name]Charlotte[/name] for this reason.

What about [name]Lillian[/name]? It flows well with [name]Sofia[/name] and is familiar and beautiful.

And for what it’s worth I have an aunt named [name]Charlotte[/name], and she is known just as [name]Charlotte[/name], no nn, and I am [name]Meagan[/name], and have never gone by [name]Meg[/name]. I think if you call them by their full name most others will follow suit. Some kids at school might give them a nn, but it will never become a replacement for their first name unless you want it to.

thanks for the responses. [name]Julia[/name] was a very early favorite - it gave me the warm and fuzzies - but i got scared off it from the ia ending, but maybe should resurrect it, what do others think? lillian/nn lily was an early contender but honestly i don’t like lillian too much (it still feels star to me) and lily felt a little too cute next to sofia. the f in sofia was not an ethnic choice - we just liked the spelling so isabelle feels more like a good choice for an italin or spanish speaker. i do like the name though but DH has not really liked it so much. I wish i liked [name]Ella[/name] more bc it seems like it could be a great solution, its just not a name that i really felt i loved. i guess htats part of the problem, the ones i like have “issues” and others i am just not loving…

I think you should resurrect [name]Julia[/name]. [name]Julia[/name] and [name]Sofia[/name] will be introduced together for a relatively short period of time throughout their lives (during childhood). After that, [name]Julia[/name] will hopefully eventually be coupled with someone else!

I don’t think anyone would judge you for giving your children names that end the same way – it’s not like the Duggars with all of those J names.

I think that beyond ranking names, you might want to consider ranking “issues.” Which “issues” are most important to you…how the sibling names sound together? Whether or not a potential nickname might be given at some point? That you like the sound of the name? That a name is common and popular? I suspect that you may not find a name without issues, but that you may, with your husband, figure out which factors in a name are most important to you and what you can live with.

[name]How[/name] about [name]Juliet[/name] instead of [name]Julia[/name]? [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Amelia[/name].

I love [name]Julia[/name] with [name]Sofia[/name]. I don’t think it’s matchy at all, despite the shared ending. The “ia” carries a different sound, and the emphasis is different. I actually think it’s sort of perfect with [name]Sofia[/name]–classic, soft, familiar yet still a bit unexpected. ([name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Charlotte[/name] would be more expected, if you know what I mean.) And you really seem to love it, which is most important of all.

As for [name]Charlotte[/name], I really don’t think nicknames are so automatic or probable. I do know of one [name]Charlotte[/name] who goes by [name]Charlie[/name], but her parents called her that from birth. The other Charlottes I know (of) are all [name]Charlotte[/name]. [name]Charlie[/name], for me, isn’t exactly instinctive for [name]Charlotte[/name], since the “ch” sounds are different in each name. And [name]Lottie[/name] isn’t instinctive since it comes from the end of the name. I actually think [name]Sofie[/name] is a more instinctive nickname from [name]Sofia[/name], and it sounds like that hasn’t happened with yours. It might depend on where you live and who you know, but in my experience people follow the parents’ lead on these things.

I think it will not be too hard to keep [name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Charlotte[/name], and [name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Amelia[/name] is lovely, and [name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Charlotte[/name] sounds great! However, if it’s a risk you’re just not willing to take at the end of the day, keep looking.

[name]Isabel[/name]/[name]Isabelle[/name]/[name]Isabella[/name] are so very mainstreamed right now, if I met sisters [name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Isabella[/name] I wouldn’t assume at all that they were Spanish and Italian. [name]Just[/name] FYI. [name]Don[/name]'t use them if you don’t like them, but I wouldn’t worry as much about that.

What about [name]Eva[/name] or [name]Ava[/name]?
[name]Olivia[/name]?

I agree [name]Sofia[/name] and [name]Julia[/name] are fine together - [name]Julia[/name] [name]Amelia[/name] is fine, maybe a little sing songy but fine.

I quite like [name]Emma[/name] too.

[name]Fiona[/name], [name]Phoebe[/name], and [name]Josephine[/name] all share some but to me, not excessive sound overlap with [name]Sofia[/name].

I think they’ve been suggested already but [name]Liliana[/name] and [name]Juliana[/name] seem natural ways to use elements of names you like while getting a little further away from [name]Sofia[/name].

Those names make me think of [name]Adriana[/name].

I’m also seeing [name]Helena[/name] or [name]Elena[/name] being very nice with [name]Sofia[/name].

I think one important thing to remember here is it’s possible there just might not be a name with quite as perfect a feeling as [name]Sofia[/name] - that’s normal and OK. When your baby is here with the name you will grow into more love for the name because of how much you love your daughter - this has been the experience of several friends of mine with more than one child. I think it’s pretty widespread, and makes sense - if you only have one favorite name, well of course it goes to the first born! But that doesn’t mean the second baby’s name is unattractive or even unappreciated.

[name]Feel[/name] free to PM me if you want to discuss further.

Good luck!

Agree totally with [name]Hilary[/name] on [name]Charlotte[/name] and the nickname potential. It’s a gorgeous name and don’t think anyone would transform it to such radically different, in feel and sound, nicknames without the parents’ or the [name]Charlotte[/name]'s own permission. I love [name]Julia[/name] for you too.

To me, the [name]Lilly[/name], the [name]Em[/name], and the [name]El[/name] names ([name]Ella[/name], [name]Elena[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name] etc) are much more likely to be shortened casually than [name]Charlotte[/name] or [name]Julia[/name].

[name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Christina[/name] (might sound too similar to [name]Sofia[/name] but the styles work)
[name]Zoe[/name] (I think this goes really nicely with [name]Sofia[/name], has nearly no nickname potential, and would work with the middle name [name]Amelia[/name])
[name]Chelsea[/name]
[name]Rachael[/name]
[name]Natalie[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name] (style matches [name]Sofia[/name] really well)
[name]Lydia[/name]