[name]Hi[/name]! My name is [name]Whitney[/name]. I am looking for some feminine equivalents of the names [name]Kristopher[/name] ([name]Kris[/name]), [name]Alexander[/name] ([name]Alex[/name]), and [name]Michael[/name] ([name]Mike[/name]) for my hubby and I’s baby girl. They are, respectively, the names of my husband’s best friends, who got him through some very hard times as a child and adolescent. I firmly believe I owe his life to them – without them, we probably never would have met, because I don’t think he would still be here. Honoring them by naming our baby after them is the least I feel I can do.
I am working on compiling a list of girls’ names that would honor them, and I was just wondering if I had missed any. Here is what I have so far, with asterisks next to our favorites:
[name]Kristopher[/name]:
[name]Kester[/name]*
[name]Kristen[/name]* (this is also my middle name, but I like [name]Kester[/name] more)
[name]Christina[/name]
Also for [name]Kristopher[/name]:
[name]Kiersten[/name]
[name]Kirsten[/name]/[name]Kirstin[/name]
[name]Kristen[/name]/[name]Kristin[/name]
[name]Christine[/name]
nicknames [name]Christy[/name]/[name]Kristy[/name]/[name]Christie[/name]/[name]Kristie[/name] or [name]Kirsty[/name]/ie or [name]Chrissy[/name]/[name]Krissy[/name]
I think my favourites are [name]Alexandra[/name], [name]Michaela[/name], and [name]Christina[/name].
(Because you said you’re looking for female variants, I thought I’d mention that [name]Kester[/name] is a male name–the Scottish form of [name]Christopher[/name].)
Oh, thank you all so much for the input And is [name]Kester[/name] really a boys’ name? Oops, I feel really dumb! I could have sworn I saw it listed somewhere as a girls’ name similar to [name]Hester[/name] or [name]Hestia[/name]. Thank you so much for letting me know, I feel like a goof!
So far, I really like [name]Micheline[/name], [name]Christabel[/name], [name]Alessia[/name] and [name]Aminta[/name] in addition to the names already on our list Thank you all! Now, the question is how will I ever decide which one to go with…
[name]Hi[/name]! [name]Don[/name]‘t feel dumb! I only knew that [name]Kester[/name] was the Scottish version of [name]Christopher[/name] because I recently read it in [name]Pam[/name] (or [name]Linda[/name]‘s) recent blog. I’d honestly never heard it before, and had I not read the blog, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. I can see how it sounds like a girls’ name, along the lines of [name]Hester[/name]. (Update: I checked again, just to make sure, and it’s a boys’ name. )
I think it’s so sweet that you’re honoring [name]Kristopher[/name], [name]Michael[/name], and [name]Alexander[/name]! There are so many beautiful variants, and I love the four names you listed!
[name]Aminta[/name] was such a great suggestion! You may also like the longer form of [name]Aminta[/name], [name]Araminta[/name]. ([name]Edit[/name]: The [name]Aminta[/name] post says it’s a shortened version of [name]Araminta[/name], but the [name]Araminta[/name] post says it’s a combo of [name]Arabella[/name] and [name]Aminta[/name]. So, it seems like [name]Aminta[/name] in the only version that shares [name]Alexander[/name]'s meaning. Sorry about that!)
[name]Hi[/name] again, [name]Jill[/name] Thank you so much for your beautiful words! I feel like even this gesture can never amount to what the guys did for my husband (and subsequently for me), but I figure it is a start!
I really like [name]Araminta[/name] as well; [name]Arabella[/name] has always been a favorite name of mine I think [name]Aminta[/name] slightly edges it out, if only for the meaning!
For some reason, [name]Michaela[/name] keeps really sticking out to me… [name]Michaela[/name], [name]Michaela[/name], there is something so angelic-sounding about it and I love the way it sounds with our last name! My only concern is I know its many variants ([name]Makayla[/name], [name]McKayla[/name], or however else it is being spelled nowadays…) are beginning to run rampant and I don’t want her to have an incredibly popular name.
No problem! Honestly, don’t think twice about the [name]Kester[/name] thing!
I remember hearing [name]Michaela[/name] on Dr. [name]Quinn[/name], and I thought it was gorgeous. Sadly, the yooneek spellings are more popular than the [name]Michaela[/name] spelling now. [name]Michaela[/name] is #357, [name]Mikayla[/name] is #170, [name]Makayla[/name] is #37 (Yikes!!!), etc. The spelling variations seem endless!
When you put the spellings together, the name is beyond popular… I think the meaning of the name is what’s most important, but if trendiness is at all an issue for you, you may want to go with one of the other names.
[name]Will[/name] you be honoring all three men at once? (A first name and two middles?)
My goodness, I knew they were popular, but not to that extent! That’s downright disheartening I’m not a huge fan of my own name, but the one thing I always appreciated about it was that even though my name was established, I was always the only [name]Whitney[/name] around. I would hate dooming our little girl to a lifetime of saying “It’s [name]Michaela[/name]. Spelled M-i-c-h…” all the time. I love the name so much, though! I’m torn
I would [name]LOVE[/name] to honor all three of the guys in one shot. If for whatever reason it isn’t feasible, then I will probably just stick to using one of their names now and save the other two for (hopefully!) future children. Double middle names are actually a longtime tradition in my hubby’s family, beginning in the 1890’s and ending only recently, with him and his brothers. I’m not sure why his parents broke the trend, but I wouldn’t mind starting it again!
I know…it’s so sad what happened to [name]Michaela[/name]. If you’re uncomfortable using it as a first name, you could always use it in the middle.
I know it’s not the same as using variants of the mens’ names, but you could also give a daughter AMC/AMK/MAK/[name]CAM[/name]/[name]KAM[/name]/MCA, etc. initials in their honor.
I think that, at the very least, [name]Michaela[/name] will still have a place somewhere in the middle, if not for this child then perhaps for a future one. I love it to pieces. It saddens me that so many of the little girls lucky enough to have this gorgeous name are stuck with misspelled variants, ugh I’m really afraid the popularity will kill it for us, though. I’m heartbroken!
Oh, I love the initial idea; that’s so neat! I will probably keep that in mind… even if we don’t use all three of the guys’ names, it would still be neat to have that in there, as well! It’d be like a tribute-within-a-tribute type of thing I love it, thank you [name]Jill[/name]! You have been beyond helpful.
But they are great, great men, and I am super excited to finally honor them in some way They have no idea my hubby and I are planning this!
You’re welcome! I agree with what you wrote about misspellings of a beautiful name. ([name]Don[/name]'t even get me started…)
They don’t know you’ll be honoring them? What a great surprise! It would be like a Hallmark commerical (you know, the emtional ones they air during Hallmark [name]Hall[/name] of Fame movies) if you told them all together as you introduced them to the baby.
Whatever you choose, I hope you find a name you love!
Aww, that would be like a real-life Hallmark commercial! Haha I have no doubt in my mind that they second she is born, the guys will be gathered around to see her.
Thank you, [name]Jill[/name], you have been so kind to me! I really appreciate it
As usual, [name]Jill[/name] has made some beautiful suggestions
I think it is a wonderful idea to honour your husbands friends. Of the suggestions so far, I think [name]Aminta[/name] and [name]Christabel[/name] are just stunning. I also like [name]Alexandra[/name] and I quite like [name]Michaela[/name], too - I find it satisfying to say …
[name]Michael[/name] was an archangel, so would you consider another feminised archangel name? There’s the popular [name]Gabriella[/name], but also the (in my opinion) stunning [name]Rafaella[/name]. Then again, I am biased - one of my DSs’ names is [name]Raphael[/name]!
The other archangels were :
Jeremiel
Raguel
Remiel
[name]Uriel[/name]
Zerachiel. I don’t think that any of them feminise quite as nicely, though …
Some other angel names :
[name]Angelina[/name]
[name]Angelica[/name]
[name]Evangeline[/name]/a
[name]Seraphine[/name]/a.
Oh, I love your suggestion of using an angel, Twinkle! I love not only the [name]Michael[/name] connection itself, but the fact that the guys were pretty much my hubby’s guardian angels, too [name]Gabriella[/name] is beautiful but fairly close to my best friend’s little boy, Gabrian. [name]Rafaella[/name] is gorgeous - as is [name]Raphael[/name]! You must have wonderful taste!
I love [name]Evangeline[/name], as well as [name]Angeline[/name]. My hubby is of Romanian descent, and there is a variant of [name]Seraphina[/name] way back on his family tree, [name]Serafina[/name], that I have always found beautiful. At the very least, some of these would make utterly stunning middle names Thank you! I’m really itching to work on some combos now… I might just do it!
Not many people know this, but I’d thought I’d share because you’d find it interesting. [name]Araminta[/name] was actually [name]Harriet[/name] Tubman’s birthname
Well, hubby and I sat down for a good couple of hours this afternoon and did some major baby name brainstorming He puts just as much thought into the names as I do, which is both a blessing and a curse… we have so many to choose from now!
Names to honor the guys:
[name]Alexandra[/name]
[name]Aminta[/name]
[name]Araminta[/name]
[name]Christabel[/name]
[name]Lux[/name] (This would be for the middle and for the middle only, but hubby likes it and its similarity to [name]Alex[/name])
[name]Michaela[/name] (I just can’t bear to let go of it, yet! I’ll live in fantasy world a little longer, where this is a sorely underused name and the legions of Mikaylas, McKaylas, and so-on are all named… oh, I don’t know, M’[name]Kenzee[/name] :))
[name]Micheline[/name]
[name]Topaz[/name] (Another one of hubby’s cute middle name ideas, for the ‘top’ in [name]Kristopher[/name])
Names related to angels:
[name]Angelica[/name]
[name]Angeline[/name]
[name]Angelique[/name]
[name]Evangeline[/name]
[name]Rafaella[/name]
[name]Serafina[/name]
Other names:
[name]Allegra[/name]
[name]Beatrix[/name]
[name]Bellatrix[/name] (Hubby loves this name and the nicknames [name]Bella[/name] and [name]Trixie[/name]; I love it, too, but I’m afraid it might be forever associated with the [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] villain)
[name]Eleanor[/name] (One of my all-time favorite names)
[name]Estelle[/name]
[name]Eudora[/name]
[name]Honor[/name] (We think it would be sweet to use this somewhere… we are honoring the guys, after all :))
[name]Odelia[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]/[name]Ophelie[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Ravenna[/name] ([name]Kris[/name]’ wife and baby’s probable godmommy is named [name]Raven[/name])
[name]Rosalia[/name]
We’re both lost as far as combinations go, but I think we’ll try to work on some tonight If anyone wants to take a stab at it, please, go ahead!
I’m not a huge fan of my own name, but the one thing I always appreciated about it was that even though my name was established, I was always the only [name]Whitney[/name] around. I would hate dooming our little girl to a lifetime of saying “It’s [name]Michaela[/name]. Spelled M-i-c-h…” all the time. I love the name so much, though! I’m torn