Thank goodness we are not planning on more kids beyond a third because naming a tiny person is so stressful.
We are trying to come up with name options for a potential third girl, and would love to get some ideas. My husband and I have pretty different taste in names, and we have a few restrictions.
Our two daughters are [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] and Marliese (pronounced mar-lease), and I would like to avoid anything too similar, but I am okay with the name starting with a C or M.
We are trying to find a name that flows nicely with [name_f]Donna[/name_f] as a middle name, which pretty much rules out any name that ends with an “a”. (I feel like this alone rules out soooo many nice names.)
Since both girls have an “L” in their name, I would love another girl to also have an “L”. Not a deal-breaker.
I prefer names that are not completely unheard of, but not common.
For reference, last name has a similar sound to the word cinnamon.
Names I love that I don’t think I will be able to convince my husband of (though I am still trying):
[name_f]Helene[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilith[/name_f]
[name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] (though this goes against the end in “A” rule, and I don’t think [name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f] will work)
Names that we are both okay with, but not sold on:
[name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] (but it is quite a bit more popular than I am comfortable with)
Thank you for any ideas.
Maybe we will luck out and a third child will turn out to be a boy. We have no problem with boy names… lol.
[name_f]Alice[/name_f] and [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] are the only options you have on your list I would say [name_f]Donna[/name_f] goes well with.
Personally, I love [name_f]Alice[/name_f]. It’s literary, its a classic but fairly underused, it works really well on a woman/girl of any age, and for me, I think it just generally gives a very happy vibe.
But if neither of you love it, these are my suggestions;
[name_f]Amelie[/name_f]
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Camille[/name_f]
[name_f]Ellen[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f]
[name_f]Elaine[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Violet[/name_f]
With [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] and Marliese, I think a third sister could be:
[name_f]Aveline[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Camille[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
Joyelle [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliette[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorraine[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
Rommily [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Violet[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Winslet[/name_f] [name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps!
I think of your options, [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] [name_f]Donna[/name_f] sounds best. [name_f]Alice[/name_f] & [name_f]Claire[/name_f] are a little awkward with [name_f]Donna[/name_f] for me.
Some more options:
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]
[name_f]Alessia[/name_f]
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
[name_f]Colette[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]
[name_u]Eloise[/name_u]
[name_f]Elspeth[/name_f]
@vidri
I do like the literary aspect of [name_f]Alice[/name_f]. I actually fell in love with [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] after reading the play The Importance of Being [name_m]Earnest[/name_m]. Marliese was a choice of my husband’s after I lost the battle… lol.
I will have to bring up [name_f]Camille[/name_f], [name_f]Elaine[/name_f], and [name_f]Lillian[/name_f].
@kristin of kerrytown
You managed to hit my taste pretty well…lol. I’ve brought the following names up.
[name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f] (I forgot that my husband did like that one)
[name_f]Sybil[/name_f] (he shot me down)
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f] (haven’t actually mentioned it, but keep thinking about it)
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] (I have loved this since seeing the play Guys in Dolls back in high school, but again… he shot me down)
[name_f]Lorelei[/name_f] ([name_u]Love[/name_u] it from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes… shot me down the last pregnancy… maybe he has weakened… I’ll have to check)
[name_f]Felicity[/name_f] (love it, but wonder if it sounds to similar to [name_f]Cecily[/name_f])
@violet1296
[name_m]How[/name_m] is [name_f]Aveline[/name_f] pronounced? I do like it visually.
I like [name_f]Elodie[/name_f], but when I mentioned it, my husband said that if we were going with that he would just want [name_f]Melody[/name_f], which I don’t love.
@mamaenzi
I actually think [name_f]Donna[/name_f] as a middle sounds awkward with almost everything… lol. But it is after my husband’s only true female role model in his life, and he has really wanted to use it.
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f] has crossed my mind. I’ll have to give it more thought.
And I love [name_f]Colette[/name_f], and brought it up last pregnancy, but it’s “too [name_m]French[/name_m]” sounding for my husband. :-/
And thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you so far for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate any ideas. It’s so nice to have a fresh perspective.
I actually think [name_f]Donna[/name_f] sounds good with an -a name. It brings out the romantic Italian in [name_f]Donna[/name_f] to me. I like [name_f]Alessia[/name_f] from pp, thought it is maybe a little close to [name_f]Cecily[/name_f].
You just made me realize both of our girls also have an “s” sound, and I am liking the sound of [name_f]Cecily[/name_f], Marliese, and [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].
Oh I love the name [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] (and [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] The Importance of Being [name_m]Ernest[/name_m]), but my hubby shot that one down. We’re also attempting to name baby #3, who IS a girl- and girl names are so hard!
I typically am not a fan of the name [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] but I think it does go nicely with [name_f]Donna[/name_f] and fits well with the names of your other girls! [name_m]How[/name_m] about:
[name_u]Paisley[/name_u]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f]
[name_f]Adalaide[/name_f]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] (I know it doesn’t have an L but I think it’s a pretty name!)
Or use the name [name_f]Donna[/name_f] (which means “woman”) as an inspiration for your first name choice? See this thread:
My favorite with your girls’ names from the thread:
[name_f]Freya[/name_f] (“Lady”)
Or - a variation on [name_f]Donna[/name_f] for the middle name could open you up to more “a” ending first names. What about [name_f]Dawn[/name_f]? It seems a shame to eliminate good first names just based on the desire for [name_f]Donna[/name_f] as MN:
This works with some of the names ending in “a” you mentioned liking, i.e. [name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] [name_f]Dawn[/name_f].
Would your husband be agreeable to [name_f]Helena[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Helene[/name_f]? For some reason, my hubby likes this more. If you switch up ending of MN it works. For example: [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Dawn[/name_f].
[name_f]Cecily[/name_f] and Marliese are GORGEOUS. I’ve never heard Marliese before – is it a family name?
With [name_f]Donna[/name_f] as a middle, I think -a names are out. From your list, [name_f]Alice[/name_f] and [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] work best and are most consistent with your daughters’ names.
You might also consider:
[name_f]Florence[/name_f]
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]
[name_u]Eloise[/name_u] or [name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] or [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorelei[/name_f] or [name_f]Laura[/name_f]
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_f]Leonie[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_u]Joan[/name_u]
[name_f]Penelope[/name_f]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]
[name_f]Maxine[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f]
[name_f]Marguerite[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]
[name_f]Ivy[/name_f]
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] or [name_f]Francine[/name_f]
[name_f]Anabelle[/name_f] or [name_f]Arabelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Mavis[/name_f]
[name_f]Corinne[/name_f]
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Valerie[/name_f]
[name_f]Clio[/name_f]
Funny you should mention [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]. I fought hard for it to be the name of our second, but lost that battle. It is her middle name: Marliese [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f].
I have tried to talk him into “[name_f]Dawn[/name_f]” or even doing an alternate spelling of “[name_m]Donn[/name_m]” (and I don’t love alternate spellings) for the sake of opening up options and making names flow more nicely, but in his opinion, we either use [name_f]Donna[/name_f] in honor of his grandmother, or we don’t do it at all because it doesn’t have the same meaning to him.
I think we would be more likely to just use an a-ending name with [name_f]Donna[/name_f] if we lived it enough (which would likely make me cringe… lol) than to alter [name_f]Donna[/name_f]. I do appreciate the ideas though.
Thank you very much.
My husband actually went to school with a little girl name Marliese (we actually have no idea how she spelled it). Marlies is a Dutch name, and either right before or during my second pregnancy there was a skier by that name which brought it up again as an option. We really labored over how to spell it, and in the end decided to add an “e” to the end of the Dutch spelling in the hopes that making it look like a name like [name_f]Annaliese[/name_f] would help with pronunciation. I actually now know of two other people (both adults) with the name Marliese (spelled the same way).
Last night I went through all naming suggestions last night with my husband, and this is really making me further realize how incredibly picky we are (as a team)… lol.
We have another restriction that while we hadn’t said it out loud, we have both been keeping in mind. Our children are biracial, and we want to make sure the name seems like it fits a biracial child. I’m sure that sounds weird. And of course it is impossible to pin down, and is more about a feeling than anything else… we sure are pains in the butt.
I think for now our short list (or my short list ) is:
[name_f]Lilith[/name_f]
[name_f]Helene[/name_f]
[name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]/[name_u]Josie[/name_u]
[name_f]Gwen[/name_f]/[name_f]Gwendolen[/name_f]
[name_u]Joyce[/name_u]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Althea[/name_f] (despite the a)
[name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] (despite the a)
Thank you for any and all suggestions. We are definitely still interested in anyone’s ideas.
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