My husband and I have been looking at family names, mainly for middle name potential, but also as some possible first names. Boy, are there ever some clunkers, mostly from my side of the family – HA! But, there are also some that I really love.
Please let me know your thoughts, especially which ones you think could be used and which should be avoided at all costs!
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Joanna[/name]
[name]Camille[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Grace[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Bernice[/name]
[name]Kathleen[/name]
[name]Huldah[/name]
[name]Bertha[/name] (my great-great-grandmother was [name]Huldah[/name] [name]Bertha[/name] [name]Alice[/name]. :? At least [name]Alice[/name] is lovely.)
[name]Ethel[/name] (my grandmother – even she hated it)
[name]Leta[/name]
[name]Lela[/name] (twin to [name]Leta[/name], naturally)
[name]Veva[/name] (pronounced like [name]Viva[/name]. Fittingly, she lived to 104!)
[name]Clement[/name]
[name]Otto[/name]
[name]Kermit[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Solon[/name]
Pope (only ever used as a MN)
[name]Julien[/name]
[name]Jeanne[/name] (French version of [name]Jean[/name], so it’s pronounced “ZHAHN”)
[name]Eulalie[/name] (euh-lah-[name]LEE[/name])
[name]Marguerite[/name] nn [name]Margo[/name]
[name]Louis[/name] (loo-EE)
[name]Jeannette[/name] (zhahn-NETT)
[name]Pierre[/name]
Huguette (ooh-GETT)
[name]Odette[/name]
[name]Bruno[/name]
[name]Jacqueline[/name] (ZHAK-leen)
[name]Alexandre[/name]
(I’ve of course left off a lot of the more run-of-the-mill names like [name]John[/name], [name]Sarah[/name], [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Daniel[/name], [name]Joseph[/name], etc.)
We also have a couple of wackadoo pioneer names (part of my family came over on the Oregon [name]Trail[/name]) that I kind of love:
Clear [name]Valley[/name]
Oceanis
Pope. Nice. Makes me feel better about the fact that “[name]Doctor[/name]” is a family name for me.
I really like:
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Grace[/name] (yes, it became wildly popular, but it’s still a lovely name)
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Eulalie[/name]
[name]Clement[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Louis[/name]
[name]Kermit[/name] is ok, like it, but probably wouldn’t use it
The names I would personally avoid:
[name]Camille[/name]
[name]Bernice[/name]
Hughette
[name]Odette[/name]
[name]Alexandre[/name] (just not an [name]Alex[/name] fan…)
Pope. Nice. Makes me feel better about the fact that “[name]Doctor[/name]” is a family name for me.