(Caroline vs Hannah) 2 weeks to go & need to compromise w/ hubby. HELP!

Girl Names
1

[name]Hi[/name],
I’m due in 2 weeks and it’s stressing my out that my husband and I can’t agree on a name. We’re both OK with some, but I want to love the name, not just be OK w/ it. Our nearly 2 year old son is named [name]Graham[/name], if that helps you get a feel for what we like

I like:
[name]Caroline[/name] (his mom’s name is [name]Carol[/name] and he says he can only hear the [name]Carol[/name] in there)
[name]Madeline[/name] (he likes the name, but thinks that w/ the popularity of [name]Madison[/name], there are too many Maddys out there already)
[name]Adele[/name] (he just doesn’t like the sound of A-dell and thinks everyone will associate it w/ [name]Adele[/name] the singer).
[name]Corrinne[/name] (he’s just not excited about this name)

He likes:
[name]Hannah[/name] (I think it’s too popular right now)
[name]Marissa[/name] (I’m OK with the sound of the name, but just can’t shake a bad association with it)
[name]Kara[/name] (I’m just not excited about this name)

We’ve been talking about [name]Cora[/name] and the name is growing on me. I think I like classic and old fashioned (but not too old). He’s intrigued by British names too.

Can you help please???

2

I’m a [name]Caroline[/name] and I’ve always loved my name, so a bit biased there. :slight_smile:
Would your husband go for [name]Caroline[/name] nn [name]Cara[/name]? [name]Cora[/name] sounds like it might be a nice compromise for you too if the [name]Carol[/name] association is too much. Honestly, so few Carolines today go by [name]Carol[/name] that, weirdly enough, I dont immediately associate it at all. I always went by full name or [name]Cara[/name]. I agree with your husband about the Maddys! [name]Caroline[/name] [name]Hannah[/name] sounds nice if the middle spot is open for compromise…

Couple more ideas:
Adeline
Adelaide
Emmeline
Marilla
Helen/Helena

3

I think a good compromise would be [name]Caraline[/name], or [name]Caralyn[/name].

4

I love [name]Caroline[/name]( maybe with the nn [name]Cara[/name] or even [name]Cora[/name]) and [name]Cora[/name] and I agree that [name]Hannah[/name] and [name]Madeline[/name] are too popular.
Some old fashioned English names:
[name]Emmeline[/name]
[name]Coraline[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name]
[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name]
[name]Natalie[/name]
[name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name]

[name]Just[/name] don’t use a name you aren’t crazy about. Maybe use one of his suggestions as a middle name

5

I think [name]Coraline[/name] could solve your husband’s issue with hearing his mom’s name in [name]Caroline[/name]. It is almost the same and that way, your daughter would have a name all her own but still similar to her grandmother’s. And the nn [name]Cora[/name] is beautiful. It’s a win/win [name]IMO[/name].

6

Instead of [name]Marissa[/name], what about [name]Miranda[/name]?
Instead of [name]Kara[/name], how about [name]Kyra[/name]?

7

[name]Caroline[/name] - [name]Caroline[/name] is very pretty and classic. You cannot go wrong with it, and I love the nickname “[name]Caro[/name]”.
[name]Madeline[/name] - Another lovely one. I don’t really care for [name]Maddie[/name]/[name]Maddy[/name] either, but I think if you really like it you should use it regardless.
[name]Adele[/name] - [name]Love[/name] [name]Adele[/name] (the singer and the name). It is simple and refined yet a little spunky too.
[name]Corrinne[/name] - I like this, though I dislike this spelling. I think [name]Corinna[/name] is the prettier version of this name.
[name]Hannah[/name] - I love [name]Hannah[/name]. I think it is so lovely and sweet. I was friends with a little [name]Hannah[/name] who was very kind, so I always think of her.
[name]Marissa[/name] - My least favorite on the list. I can’t really find anything that I really like about it, besides maybe the nickname “[name]Mari[/name]”.
[name]Kara[/name] - Another one I’m not too fond of. I think that the spelling [name]Cara[/name] is a lot prettier. I agree with the others that [name]Cara[/name] as a nickname for [name]Caroline[/name] might be a nice compromise.
[name]Cora[/name] - Beautiful and simple. I love this one.

Other ideas:
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Calla[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Susannah[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Rosamund[/name]
[name]Pamela[/name]
[name]Thomasina[/name]
[name]Dorothea[/name]/[name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Lucinda[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name]
[name]Rosette[/name]

HTH!

8

Wow! Thanks for the fast feedback. I’m glad to hear all the positive feedback on [name]Cora[/name]. That just might end up being the one that works for us. I’m not totally sold on [name]Coraline[/name] though. To me [name]Cora[/name] sounds like it’s own name, but [name]Coraline[/name] sounds like a funky version of [name]Caroline[/name] (which is what I originally wanted anyways!). I like the [name]Adeline[/name] suggestion too, but he doesn’t seem to care for that one and I have a niece [name]Addison[/name] who goes by [name]Addy[/name], so it seems to similar.

9

I think in the future [name]Coraline[/name] could well be one of those names that you can pinpoint to one time (the years after the rather creeptastic film). [name]Cora[/name] is lovely as a full name or you might also consider [name]Coralie[/name].

10

What about [name]Clara[/name]? FWIW i like the names you proposed - don’t love [name]Hannah[/name]. [name]Cora[/name] is also pretty.

11

I like [name]Cora[/name], makes me think of the Downton [name]Abbey[/name] show. I love both [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Madeline[/name]. My DD’s name is [name]Madeline[/name], and we had the same [name]Maddie[/name] hang up, but eventually decided to combat ppl’s tendency to want to call her [name]Maddy[/name] and just go with it! I amso glad we did. Most ppl ask if we call her [name]Maddy[/name], and when we say no, we call her [name]Madeline[/name], they make an effort to remember. There is always the chance she may choose to be called [name]Maddy[/name] when she gets older, but at that point it will be out of our control. Anyway, don’t avoid the name if you really love it bc of a potential nn. Good luck!

12

I prefer [name]Hannah[/name] to [name]Caroline[/name] actually.

As for other options, I second [name]Clara[/name]! [name]Lovely[/name] & classic name.

:slight_smile: [name]Cris[/name]

13

I am one of the few people on this site that doesnt love [name]Cora[/name] but I do love [name]Caroline[/name]. I also love [name]Madeline[/name] and as long as you stick with the full name others will too! I also think [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Carol[/name] are worlds apart and only hear [name]Caro[/name] not [name]Carol[/name] when I say it. Good [name]Luck[/name]!

14

[name]Caroline[/name] over [name]Hannah[/name] - definitely. Have you thought about [name]Carolina[/name]? It might give the name it’s own identity away from [name]Carol[/name]. Also, I’m on board with [name]Coraline[/name]. It’s a nice twist on a classic name that isn’t too try-hard.

15

I love [name]Cora[/name] for you! It’s the perfect compromise - you love [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Corrine[/name], and he loves [name]Kara[/name]. What a perfect fit!

16

I love [name]Caroline[/name]! I think it’d be a nice nod to his mother, and you could always call her [name]Cara[/name] or [name]Callie[/name] (or even [name]Ari[/name] or [name]Aro[/name], if you wanted). I know a [name]Carol[/name], and I call her [name]Carolina[/name] and [name]Caroline[/name] half the time, because I love them so much. She plays right along, lol, I think she loves them just as much as I do. :slight_smile:

I love [name]Hannah[/name], too, could you maybe do [name]Hannah[/name] [name]Caroline[/name] or [name]Caroline[/name] [name]Hannah[/name] ([name]Caroline[/name] for his mum)? I think that’d be a lovely compromise, but I actually adore the names together, haha. Is [name]Hannah[/name] that much more popular than [name]Caroline[/name]? I just did the math, there are slightly less than double the number of Hannahs (ranks #25) than there are Carolines (ranks #87) born in the last year–and that averages out to less than 2 Hannahs born in each county, and when you take into account that there are generally about 20 school districts in each county, that averages out to be approximately 1 [name]Hannah[/name] in every 10 grades in each school district (and that’s just public schools, that doesn’t take into consideration all the private (both secular and religious) schools there are out there. Sure, it’s popular, but it’s not terribly popular, imo, and it’s going down in popularity consistently.

I do love some of your other options, as well–[name]Cora[/name] is just so sweet and literary (which is half the appeal for me–the other half is that it’s a family name, but that doesn’t really apply to you, haha) and [name]Adele[/name]. I think the idea of [name]Caroline[/name] [name]Hannah[/name] nn [name]Cara[/name] would be great–it would incorporate his [name]Hannah[/name], his [name]Cara[/name], honor his mom, and yet use your favorite… although, that doesn’t seem entirely fair to you, lol. I really like some of the suggestions you’ve gotten, as well–[name]Adeline[/name], [name]Clara[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Gemma[/name], etc. I can see [name]Isabelle[/name]/[name]Isabel[/name] really fitting in with your favorites, as well, but it seems like it’d likely be too mainstream for you.

What about:

[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Fiona[/name]
[name]Olive[/name]
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Viola[/name]/[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Naomi[/name]
[name]Natalie[/name]/[name]Natalia[/name]
[name]Gwendolyn[/name]/[name]Gwendolen[/name]
[name]Tess[/name]
[name]Vienna[/name]

Good luck!

17

[name]Cora[/name] seems like a great compromise for you guys. I’m still deciding what I think about that name because I’ve only just heard it recently. Obviously, it’s got a great and beautiful sound to it, but I like more formal names and it seems a little like a nickname. It’s gorgeous though. It could also be a nickname for [name]Caroline[/name] if your husband would go for it. I love [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Hannah[/name] almost equally with [name]Caroline[/name] getting the slight edge. I’m not fond of the nn [name]Caro[/name], but I love the possibility of [name]Cora[/name] or [name]Callie[/name] as a nn. I can see, though, where your husband might not like it if it’s close to his mom’s name and the intention isn’t purposely to honor her – it could get confusing.

Sorry for babbling. [name]Cora[/name] gets my ultimate vote. Good luck!