I had gotten some helpful advice lately that if you pick an EE or A ending name in the first spot, you should choose a consonant ending rather than a vowel ending in the second spot to make it sound best. I was wondering if, evading this rule, either of these names would work:
Lucy Columba
Ruby Columba
Both are very popular here, I know…I tend to like more popular names and these are ones that have been on my list since I was quite literally seven years old.
Within the rule stated above, do you think these work better?
Lucy Colombe
Ruby Colombe
Ramona Colombe
Ivy Colombe (this sounds so much like an Ivy League college to me – I don’t know why, it feels very university-esque)
Gemma Colombe
[name]Lucy[/name] [name]Columba[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name] [name]Columba[/name] are fine and they do follow the rules (consonant in the middle). They sound better than the other combos because they have a 2-3 syllable count.
FYI - There’s a [name]Columbia[/name] University so that’s probably why [name]Ivy[/name] [name]Colombe[/name] sounds like a college to you!
[name]Mischa[/name] – sorry, I really haven’t been making myself very clear lately. By consonant I meant ending in a consonant! I apologize but I’m glad you like [name]Ruby[/name] [name]Columba[/name] and [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Columba[/name].
[name]Columbia[/name] University…I have actually never heard of it, but it is a very university-appropriate name, which is probably why [name]Ivy[/name] [name]Colombe[/name] makes me think of that!
These are some of the “rules” I like to follow to have the best flow…
If the fn ends in an “a” or “y/ee” sound: it’s best to use a mn beginning with a consonant and avoid a mn with the same letter or sound at the end.
If the fn is two syllables, choose a mn with one or three syllables.
Example: [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Columba[/name] flows better than something like [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Alice[/name] for two reasons: the different syllable count and the fact that [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Alice[/name] blends together and sounds like one long name instead of two separate names (Lucyalice). Likewise, it’s best to avoid fn and mn ending in the same sound (eg. [name]Piper[/name] [name]Harper[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] [name]Sophie[/name]).
[name]Anna[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] flows better than [name]Anna[/name] [name]Elise[/name] for the same reason (syllable count and the blending of back-to-back vowels which makes [name]Anna[/name] [name]Elise[/name] sound more like [name]Anneliese[/name]).
You have to be careful with fn’s ending with certain consonants like “n” and “l” too. These letters have a tendency to run into mn’s beginning with vowels ([name]Annabel[/name] [name]Eve[/name] smooshes to Annabeleve and [name]Nathan[/name] [name]Isaac[/name] becomes Nathanisaac).
Honestly, I think these kinds of “rules” are made to be broken.
My surname begins with a vowel which would drastically deplete my number of usable names if I this kind of thing bother me.
I have learned to love some of the ‘run together’ names and combinations that have a rhyme or rhythm to them.
I think [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Columba[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name] [name]Columba[/name] are lovely combinations!
My last name sounds very much like Owenfee. So by the ‘rules’ my favorite names would all be out of commission:
[name]Coralie[/name] [name]Nova[/name] Owenfee
[name]Lucy[/name] [name]Geneva[/name] Owenfee
[name]Amelia[/name] Revily Owenfee
[name]Livia[/name] [name]Amory[/name] Owenfee
[name]Eve[/name] [name]Isadora[/name] Owenfee
[name]Molly[/name] [name]Zara[/name] Owenfee lol
[name]Columbia[/name] University (my alma mater, hooray) is an [name]Ivy[/name] League college, hence the subconscious connection. [name]Ivy[/name] [name]Columba[/name] would be even more overt.
I think the -ee ending of [name]Lucy[/name] & [name]Ruby[/name] are sufficiently different from the -a ending in [name]Columba[/name] to make the combination work, should you wish to break the ‘rule.’
As long as one’s an ends-in-ee and the other ends-in-a I don’t see a problem. As long as the middle doesn’t also start with a vowel.
I agree with [name]Mischa[/name]. Your two names have different ending sounds, and different syllable counts, and the middle starts with a nice distinctive consonant so they don’t run together. They’re fine together.
[name]Ruby[/name] and [name]Lucy[/name] do fight names that end in -y. Much to my sadness - my last name ends in y. This clashes with so many names I really love. But names that end in a (which, unfortunately, I like fewer of) don’t fight it at all.
Columbe/[name]Colombia[/name] has such a nice meaning. It’s on my own list, in various forms. But [name]Ruby[/name] [name]Dove[/name] would have other issues, like it would sound like a particular species of dove. And [name]Yonina[/name] or [name]Paloma[/name] share the -a ending.
lol