Double-Names

[name]How[/name] do you feel about double names?! As I have met more people(mostly women) with two first names I have fallen in love with the trend…some I know:

[name]Mary[/name] [name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Laura[/name] [name]Madeleine[/name] (I really love this one)
[name]Anna[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
[name]Sara[/name] [name]Jane[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] Whitten
[name]Ana[/name] [name]Cristina[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Liz/name
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Kathryn[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Kelly[/name]

[name]Mary[/name] seems to be a popular choice!

Off the top of my head and from my list I would probably pair up the name [name]Georgia[/name].

I’m from the Deep South, so I love double names-- I even have one! But where I live now, it tends to confuse people, so I just go by my first name, whereas at home, I use both. Here’s a list of some folks I know who go by both:

[name]Amy[/name] [name]Lee[/name]
[name]Lily[/name] [name]Anne[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] Chapell
[name]George[/name] [name]Avery[/name]
[name]Helen[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
[name]Ann[/name] [name]Carlton[/name]
[name]John[/name] [name]Parker[/name]
[name]Anne[/name] [name]Louise[/name]
[name]Sarah[/name] [name]Cate[/name]

I’ve learned that even though some of these names seem like a mouthful at the outset, they grow on the little kiddos pretty quickly. And they’re charming!

I think charming is the right word, as long as neither of the names in the pair gets short shrift because it’s half of a set. The French have lots of paired names starting with [name]Marie[/name] – [name]Marie[/name]-[name]Chantal[/name], [name]Marie[/name]-[name]Claude[/name], [name]Marie[/name]-[name]Christine[/name] – that I’ve always thought were wonderful. Definitely very Catholic and old world in the best possible way!

There was a family in my church growing up where all the girls had the first name [name]Mary[/name] ___. ([name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Grace[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Rose[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Therese[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]JoAnn[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Krista[/name].) And they all went by their second name.

There are also a few names I know of that kind of combine two names: [name]Merrilee[/name] (mary-lee), [name]Carilynn[/name] ([name]Cary[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name]), and Donnalee.

A byproduct of quirky French naming laws-- used to be that only saint names were permissible. And it’s true that the French have a lovely flair for the double name as well; I used to teach a handful: [name]Paul[/name]-[name]Emile[/name], [name]Pierre[/name]-Francois, [name]Anne[/name]-[name]Sophie[/name], [name]Aude[/name]-[name]Marie[/name], [name]Marie[/name]-[name]Pierre[/name]. (That last one has always been a favorite of mine, no idea why.)

I kind of like the quaintness of the double names. My name is [name]Kelly[/name] [name]Ann[/name] and I always liked it when my mom used both.
Since [name]Georgia[/name] is on your list, a name I like by the way, here are a few offerings:

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Louise[/name]

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Leanne[/name]

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Mae[/name]

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Renee[/name]

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Breanne[/name] (for a more modern twist)

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Noelle[/name]

[name]Georgia[/name] [name]Leigh[/name]

I have seen the double name done like this: [name]Marybeth[/name], Marykate, Amberlee. [name]Georgia[/name] might be a bit long for a double-name trend, unless you choose a single syllable second name: [name]Georgia[/name]-[name]Paige[/name], [name]Georgia[/name]-[name]Lee[/name], [name]Georgia[/name]-[name]Grace[/name].

I don”t see any problem in double names. My mother, for instance, gave both my sister and I double names. My sister”s is [name]Samantha[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name] and mine is [name]Crysta[/name]-[name]Marie[/name]. So long as one name doesn”t over power the other I see no problem with the method of names like that.