My husband and I are expecting a girl soon. It took us years and years of trying, so we’ve had a lot of name conversations over the years, and it’s so weird that it’s finally gotten real! So last night, he brought up a name that we haven’t talked about in a while. His sister [name_f]Heather[/name_f] passed away 5 years ago. He would really like to use her name. As sweet as that is, [name_f]Heather[/name_f] is so not even close to my style. And our last name ends in -er, so I’ve axed other -er names that I like even better for that reason alone. But he was so sincere about it. [name_f]Heather[/name_f] really was a lovely person. I just wish she had a better name! (fyi, her middle name was [name_f]Dawn[/name_f]. That’s a definite no)
Over the years my favorite girl names have changed every few months, but here is my current list. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think any of them sound good with [name_f]Heather[/name_f] as a middle name? Our last name is [name_m]Butler[/name_m].
[name_f]Marin[/name_f] or [name_f]Maren[/name_f]
[name_u]Avery[/name_u]
[name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f] ([name_f]Lucy[/name_f])
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
[name_f]Amelia[/name_f]
I love a good family name and all of those (but [name_f]Claire[/name_f]) are family names, but I’d love to hear any other suggestions that might make [name_f]Heather[/name_f] work.
I think [name_f]Heather[/name_f] works great in the middle spot and honour names don’t have to be your style, that’s why they’re honour names! My favourite combos are [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_f]Heather[/name_f].
I’m bad at suggestions, but how about:
[name_f]Nora[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] (I find it flows better than [name_f]Lucille[/name_f])
[name_f]Violet[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
I think [name_f]Maren[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] & [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] are absolutely gorgeous! [name_u]Avery[/name_u] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] are not really my style, but they work great with [name_f]Heather[/name_f] two. The flows of [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and [name_f]Lucille[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] are not quite as fantastic as the others imo, but if they are the first names you love, I think they are definitely usable.
[name_f]Liana[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] & [name_f]Sabrina[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] also came to mind. Good luck
Honestly, for a family name, I’d probably do it. I don’t think ____ [name_f]Heather[/name_f] [name_m]Butler[/name_m] sounds that bad. Then again, I’ve tried to make [name_f]Eleni[/name_f] [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] and [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_f]Hazel[/name_f] work. Flow doesn’t matter to me quite so much as it does to most Berries?
That being said, if you 100% can’t get behind [name_f]Heather[/name_f] or [name_f]Dawn[/name_f], but you still want to honor your [name_m]SIL[/name_m], why not consider something like [name_u]Hadley[/name_u] (means “heather field”) or [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] (means “dawn”) or [name_f]Ayelet[/name_f] (“dawn”)? I think a lot of those would work just fine with your list of names (at least one of them! I wouldn’t do [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_u]Hadley[/name_u], but I think [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] or [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_f]Ayelet[/name_f] would be nice. Same with [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Ayelet[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_u]Hadley[/name_u], and [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Aurora[/name_f]. :P).
That being said, I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Marin[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] from your list–it’s SO gorgeous, and so meaningful!–and really like [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f], too. I think [name_f]Marin[/name_f] [name_f]Dawn[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Dawn[/name_f] (particularly with a more modern nn, like [name_f]Daisy[/name_f], [name_f]Greta[/name_f], [name_f]Maisie[/name_f], or [name_f]Maggie[/name_f]?), [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Dawn[/name_f], etc., are all really nice, too. Honestly, it sounds like it would mean the world to your husband, so I think I’d do it, personally. And if not [name_f]Heather[/name_f] or [name_f]Dawn[/name_f], find some way together that he feels honors her well that you can both agree to.
Thanks for the suggestions! [name_f]Maren[/name_f] has been at the top of my list for a while now. I suppose [name_f]Maren[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] does sound nice on its own. When I add the [name_m]Butler[/name_m] to it, I have a really hard time getting over the double -er part. I’ll have to keep reminding myself that she’ll very rarely be called all three!
Ooh, [name_u]Hadley[/name_u] was on my non-family faves list too. I’ll have to mention that! But you’ve made me feel better about [name_f]Heather[/name_f] already too! Thanks!
I think [name_f]Heather[/name_f] sounds fine in the middle with [name_m]Butler[/name_m]. My favorite of those is [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]. [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] works OK too.
[name_f]Marin[/name_f] or [name_f]Maren[/name_f]
[name_u]Avery[/name_u]
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
[name_f]Amelia[/name_f]
The above works great with [name_f]Heather[/name_f]. You could also use a double middle as in [name_f]Maren[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f], [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] [name_f]Janelle[/name_f]. This would make the flow of [name_f]Heather[/name_f] a lot better!
My perspective changed on the name [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and I see it less as a very common 80s baby name and more as a soft & lovely nature name. I can’t help but picture a perfect field of purple heather.
If you just can’t come around to the idea of using [name_f]Heather[/name_f], maybe you could get a little creative and stretch the honour name idea a little. Like maybe if you like [name_m]Heath[/name_m], you could save that for a middle if you ever have a boy. Or for example if [name_f]Heather[/name_f] was born in [name_f]February[/name_f] you could consider [name_f]Violet[/name_f], the birth flower, or for [name_u]July[/name_u] you could name her [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], the birthstone. Or maybe she had a favourite baby name of her own that you would consider using. If you can think of 2 names you like that start with H and D, then your daughter could share her initials. Like:
[name_u]Holland[/name_u] [name_f]Daniela[/name_f]
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f] [name_u]Darcy[/name_u]
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_f]Della[/name_f]
[name_f]Hallie[/name_f] [name_f]Diana[/name_f]
I do think however that it would be easier, and maybe more meaningful to your husband, to give her the middle name [name_f]Heather[/name_f]. I think even if you don’t like it originally, it will grow on you over time and I don’t think you’ll regret giving her the name. Plus really, middle names aren’t used that often.
I think [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] sounds perfect, and the others all work well, except I think [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] sounds a bit choppy somehow. Not unusable by any means though.
Some others ideas:
[name_f]Alice[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Alina[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Liana[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Lydia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_u]Marian[/name_u] [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
Edit: I should have read the other responses before adding mine. Hadley & Aurora are great ideas! I think Hadley Aurora is actually a great combo.
For what it’s worth, I think [name_f]Heather[/name_f]'s lovely (I know it’s considered a 1970’s name but, of the 2 Heathers I know, one was born in the early 1950s and the other in the late 90s so it seems pretty timeless to me). I also think it sounds fine with [name_m]Butler[/name_m] (I suspect we have different accents, but I’ve tried saying it with a few different American accents, and it still sounds fine). [name_f]Heather[/name_f] Wether’s would be a bit much, but [name_m]Butler[/name_m]'s fine.
I think the suggestions of [name_m]Heath[/name_m] or [name_u]Hadley[/name_u] are good too (and [name_m]Heath[/name_m] could work as a girl’s middle too, [name_f]IMO[/name_f] - it’s a pet name for [name_f]Heather[/name_f] as well as a boy’s name).
The [name_f]Heather[/name_f] family of plants (Ericaceae) includes azaleas as well as common heathers ( including erica, calluna and cassiope). So [name_f]Azalea[/name_f], [name_f]Erica[/name_f], Calluna or Cassiope/[name_f]Cassiopeia[/name_f] county potentially honour [name_f]Heather[/name_f]. A bit more of a stretch: the ericaceae (heather) family is part of the Asterids class, so [name_f]Aster[/name_f] (or [name_f]Astrid[/name_f], maybe, to get around the -er ending) might work.
Otherwise, perhaps you could use [name_f]Heather[/name_f]'s favourite flower (or colour, book, film, song etc) as inspiration?
My favourite combos are [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_f]Heather[/name_f].
Flow doesn’t matter to me quite so much as it does to most Berries?