I’m less than 10 days from my due date with baby #2, sex unknown, and my husband and I haven’t managed to land on any firm name decisions yet. Maybe the hive mind can help. We love classic names, but sometimes the right quirky or unusual name is also appealing. We tend to avoid trendy and modern names and names that are in the top 50 or so. Our first child is [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_f]Elena[/name_f], often called [name_u]Jo[/name_u]. I love that [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is classic, strong, and has an easy nickname. If we have another girl, I would want her name to be strong as well rather than super feminine. Having [name_u]Jo[/name_u]'s name and her sibling’s complement each other is not a deal breaker for me. I would be fine going a different direction for the right name. My name is [name_f]Claire[/name_f] and my husband’s is [name_m]Josh[/name_m]. We’ve thought about another C name to even the score, but again it’s not a deal breaker. Our last name starts wit Q and has a fun ring to it, ending in Y.
For a while we were both really loving the name [name_m]Elvis[/name_m] for a boy - not because we worship the [name_m]King[/name_m], just because it has a nice sound and it would be unique. My husband has gotten cold feet about it, though. He’s worried it’s just too weird. He likes [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] as a compromise, and although it’s a nice name I feel like it lacks the personality I fell in love with for [name_m]Elvis[/name_m]. I love the name [name_u]Max[/name_u] as well - simple, strong, and my grandpa’s name. [name_m]Josh[/name_m] isn’t sold on that either.
For girls, a top runners is [name_f]Colleen[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] - [name_m]Josh[/name_m]'s pick. I love [name_f]Jane[/name_f] (my mom’s name) and feel okay about [name_f]Colleen[/name_f]. [name_f]Jane[/name_f] won’t fly for a first name with [name_m]Josh[/name_m], unfortunately. [name_f]Athena[/name_f] [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] was also tossed around. [name_f]Athena[/name_f] is certainly a strong name, and [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] means “wisdom” which I like. [name_f]Athena[/name_f] can’t really be shortened, however. We both love [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] but it’s too popular right now. I recently started considering [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] (nickname [name_f]Lu[/name_f]), but [name_m]Josh[/name_m] thinks it sounds too old. I’ve thought about trying to dig up some springtime sounding names, because the beautiful weather these days is lifting my spirits in a tough time of pregnancy.
If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them!
I love [name_f]Colleen[/name_f] with [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] but I’d want to call her [name_f]Coco[/name_f] and that doesn’t really work with [name_u]Jo[/name_u]. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have any nicknames lined up for [name_f]Colleen[/name_f]?
What about…
[name_f]Victoria[/name_f] - lots of nicknames here
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] - love the simple [name_f]Eve[/name_f] with this
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Gwendolyn[/name_f] - I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Gwen[/name_f]!
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
[name_f]Cassandra[/name_f] - [name_u]Sandy[/name_u] is so sweet
[name_f]Maxine[/name_f] - this is probably my favorite!!
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] - love [name_u]Frankie[/name_u]
[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’m terrible with boy names so I’ll leave that for another berry.
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f] “[name_u]Jo[/name_u]” is great! I can see why the stakes are high for her sibling.
The first girl name that sprang to mind for me was inspired by your username: [name_f]Ramona[/name_f]. But assuming that’s your actual surname, it’s not going to work!
For a girl:
[name_f]Colette[/name_f] (cooler than [name_f]Colleen[/name_f] to me, and avoids repeating the same ending sound as [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] and [name_f]Jane[/name_f])
[name_f]Anneliese[/name_f]/[name_f]Annalise[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f] (nicknamed [name_u]Max[/name_u]?)
[name_f]Corinne[/name_f]/[name_f]Corinna[/name_f]
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
[name_f]Susannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f]
[name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
[name_f]Florence[/name_f]
[name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]
[name_u]Eloise[/name_u]
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]/[name_f]Cecily[/name_f]
[name_f]Vivienne[/name_f]
[name_f]Claudia[/name_f]
[name_f]Scarlett[/name_f]
What about something offbeat with nn [name_u]Max[/name_u] like [name_m]Maddox[/name_m], [name_m]Mannix[/name_m], or Malix? Or maybe a longer version of [name_u]Max[/name_u]? Like [name_m]Maxwell[/name_m], [name_m]Maxfield[/name_m], [name_m]Maximillian[/name_m] or [name_m]Maximus[/name_m].
In between [name_m]Elvis[/name_m] and [name_u]Ellis[/name_u]:
My favorite if your girls names is [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] nn [name_f]Lu[/name_f].
More ideas:
[name_f]Colette[/name_f]
[name_f]Cassandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Selena[/name_f]
[name_f]Veronica[/name_f]
[name_f]Felicity[/name_f]
[name_f]Georgia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorelei[/name_f]
You’re right - [name_f]Coco[/name_f] and [name_u]Jo[/name_u] doesn’t really work, and I haven’t thought of any other nicknames for [name_f]Colleen[/name_f]. [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] and [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] are both lovely, and I had thought of [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] but got a “no” from the hubs. [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] is another great name with a great meaning.
Haha! I forgot my screen name has my surname in there. So much for anonymity, not that it matters. My husband was actually rooting hard for “[name_f]Ramona[/name_f]” for our first child, but he hasn’t brought it up again with this one.
I love the suggestions of [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] and [name_f]Susannah[/name_f]. I just looked up [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] and it has a great meaning: “she who brings happiness, blessed” according to Nameberry.
[name_m]Raphael[/name_m] is a fun one I hadn’t considered. [name_m]Hugo[/name_m] and [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] are both my favored by my husband. I like them pretty well, but wish [name_m]Hugo[/name_m] wasn’t becoming so popular. (Or maybe that’s just my perception since there’s another at my daughter’s daycare?)
The first name that came to my mind was [name_f]Cressida[/name_f]. [name_f]Cressida[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_f]Cressida[/name_f] [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] would be lovely for [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_f]Elena[/name_f]'s sister! I love [name_f]Athena[/name_f] and [name_u]Max[/name_u]!
I love the combo of [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] is a great name too - short and strong like [name_u]Max[/name_u].
I love [name_f]Luisa[/name_f]. [name_f]Lu[/name_f] or [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] are cute nn!
[name_m]Theodore[/name_m]
[name_m]Abraham[/name_m] ([name_m]Bram[/name_m])
[name_m]Truett[/name_m]
([name_m]Elvis[/name_m] is a big name to fulfill but with the right kiddo it could work…)
[name_m]Eldon[/name_m] is a good alternative option to [name_m]Elvis[/name_m], and goes well with [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. Some girl options that would work well with [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] are [name_f]Penelope[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], or [name_f]Esther[/name_f].
Thank you all for the help! Our baby boy arrived one week early on Mother’s [name_u]Day[/name_u]. It took us a few days, but we’ve settled on [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] [name_m]Maxwell[/name_m]. [name_f]Happy[/name_f] naming to all of you!