Argh. I just wrote a long reply and my computer conked out.
[name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] - I don’t like these together, sorry!
[name]Cassandra[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name] still
[name]Keeley[/name] [name]Ryann[/name] & [name]Caoimhe[/name] [name]Cailin[/name] (i’m not sure about [name]Caoimhe[/name], but dh loves irish names) - I had to look up the [name]Caoimhe[/name] (kee-va) prn and I do think it would be difficult to give one twin a name that’s harder to spell and pronounce than the other. I also think [name]Keeley[/name] and [name]Keeva[/name] are quite matchy. I’d consider [name]Caitlin[/name] or [name]Orla[/name], or maybe even [name]Keira[/name]. But I [name]LOVE[/name] the other names.
[name]Odessa[/name] [name]Marie[/name] & [name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] - I think these two go really well together.
[name]Jessa[/name] [name]Raye[/name] & [name]Selena[/name] [name]Lee[/name] - I really like [name]Jessa[/name] and [name]Selena[/name] together, but I wonder what they’d be like with some of your other favourites as mn? [name]Raye[/name] and [name]Lee[/name] just seem a bit plain compared to some of your other lovely choices to me.
[name]Katia[/name] [name]Leigh[/name] & Tesla [name]Faith[/name] (nn:: [name]Katie[/name] & [name]Tess[/name]) - I love [name]Katie[/name] and [name]Tess[/name], and I love how [name]Katia[/name] and Tesla are quite exotic, but I’d probably choose [name]Tessa[/name] over Tesla personally.
[name]Abigail[/name] [name]Faith[/name] & [name]Jocelyn[/name] [name]Grace[/name] - I think these go together beautifully, but some of your other ideas have more of a spark to me.
[name]Charissa[/name] [name]Denae[/name] & [name]Lydia[/name] [name]Dulce[/name] - so sorry, but [name]Charissa[/name] and [name]Lydia[/name] are both not my style.
My favourite is still [name]Cassandra[/name] [name]Grace[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name], but I am also intrigued by your irish names combo, just with a different second first name.
[name]Ah[/name], I am starting to picture these girls already!
[name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] - I like [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] but [name]Rowena[/name] is nms
[name]Cassandra[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] - I like these two together
[name]Keeley[/name] [name]Ryann[/name] & [name]Caoimhe[/name] [name]Cailin[/name] (i’m not sure about [name]Caoimhe[/name], but dh loves irish names) - I agree with pp about the discrepancy between [name]Keeley[/name] and [name]Caoimhe[/name]. [name]Keeley[/name] seems trendy and very accessible while [name]Caoimhe[/name] is unheard-of and extremely hard to pronounce/spell. I don’t think I like them together–they seem opposite extremes where [name]Keeley[/name] is really Americanized and trendy while [name]Caoimhe[/name] is authentic and potentially hard to live with on a day to day basis. I would rather see a pair that are somewhere in the middle.
[name]Odessa[/name] [name]Marie[/name] & [name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] - I do like these together even though [name]Rowena[/name] is not a favorite of mine. Would you have a nn for [name]Rowena[/name]?
[name]Jessa[/name] [name]Raye[/name] & [name]Selena[/name] [name]Lee[/name] - I really like [name]Jessa[/name] and [name]Selena[/name] but would rather more interesting middles (like pp said). [name]Jessa[/name] [name]Faith[/name] and [name]Selena[/name] [name]Grace[/name]; [name]Jessa[/name] [name]Skye[/name] and [name]Selena[/name] [name]Belle[/name]
[name]Katia[/name] [name]Leigh[/name] & Tesla [name]Faith[/name] (nn:: [name]Katie[/name] & [name]Tess[/name]) - not my favorite of your options
[name]Abigail[/name] [name]Faith[/name] & [name]Jocelyn[/name] [name]Grace[/name] - I love [name]Abigail[/name] and [name]Jocelyn[/name] together!
[name]Charissa[/name] [name]Denae[/name] & [name]Lydia[/name] [name]Dulce[/name] - I like [name]Lydia[/name] but the others are nms.
My favorites would be [name]Jessa[/name] [name]Skye[/name] and [name]Selena[/name] [name]Belle[/name] if that was an option. A close second is [name]Abigail[/name] and [name]Jocelyn[/name]!
I like the way [name]Cassandra[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] flow together. They are both sweet sounding feminine names, same theme, but not too cutesy, or too similiar were you would feel like they didn’t have their own identity. I also like [name]Katia[/name] and Tesla, as I love the nicknames [name]Katie[/name] and [name]Tess[/name]. [name]Odessa[/name] and [name]Rowena[/name] is too much of a mouthful for me. I like [name]Abigail[/name] and [name]Jocelyn[/name], but don’t know how I feel about them together. Overall I think [name]Cassandra[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] sound perfect together. Easy for me to say though =)
Thanks for your suggestion… i like [name]Jessa[/name] [name]Skye[/name] too… in fact, i suggested, but dh doesn’t like those names together for whatever reason…
also… there will be no nickname for [name]Rowena[/name]… if we use it, we’ll call her by her middle name… i love [name]Rowena[/name] because it’s fairly unheard of and also because it honors my mother…
with regards to the irish name combo, which i’m loving more and more as time goes by…
I love the idea of honoring dh’s irish heritage by giving our girls traditionally irish names…
if we’re going to change one of the names, though, it would more likely be [name]Keeley[/name] than [name]Caoimhe[/name]… dh adores [name]Caoimhe[/name]… it honors both his grandmother and his sister… so while i have some reservations about it, i still like it… i like that it’s a bit exotic… and i’m not going to ask him to change a name that means so much to him. also, i didn’t realize that [name]Keeley[/name] was that popular… i’ve never met anyone with that name…
let’s work with this combo a little bit… anyone care to offer some other suggestions of irish name combos that include both [name]Caoimhe[/name] and [name]Ryann[/name] but fit a little better together?
Tesla doesn’t seem to fit in with your other choices. Is it an invented name? To me, it sounds a bit like a “name of the future”. Isn’t there a video game with this name (or something similar)?
Tesla is a rock band but also is the last name of [name]Nikola[/name] Tesla (a male) who is considered one of the most important contributors to commercial electricity.
Also it is an “international unit of magnetic flux density”. I knew tesla had to do with electricity but had to look up the facts The band is from my hometown and if it wasn’t for that fact I think that Tesla nn [name]Tess[/name] is actually pretty cool.
[name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] are my favorite of your pairs.
I like a lot of your names but would mix the pairs up a bit.
[name]Lydia[/name] and [name]Abigail[/name]
[name]Keeley[/name] and Tesla
[name]Charissa[/name] and [name]Cassandra[/name] - sort of matchy though.
[name]Odessa[/name] and [name]Viola[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name] and [name]Jocelyn[/name] - is this pronounced joyce-lyn or joz-lyn?
[name]Rowena[/name] and [name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Viola[/name] and [name]Katia[/name]
If you want to keep the similar sound, perhaps [name]Ciara[/name] ([name]Keer[/name]-a), or the more authentic version of [name]Keelin[/name], Caoilinn. For a kind of rhyming pair, [name]Niamh[/name] (NEE_iv), [name]Aoife[/name] (EE-fa), or Siomha (SHE-va) ( a little too cute, but whatever works for your style). To go completely distinctive, perhaps [name]Eimear[/name] (EE-mair), [name]Siobhan[/name], Damhnait (DAV-net) which is starting to be used here in Atlantic [name]Canada[/name] thanks to singer Damhnait [name]Doyle[/name], or Dearbhaile (DER-vla).
That said, [name]Keeva[/name] is seen as an “accepted” anglicization, so it could work with [name]Keely[/name].
[name]Pam[/name] & [name]Linda[/name]'s book “Cool Irish Names for Babies” is fairly comprehensive and accurate, so I recommend.
I didn’t realize the meaning for [name]Caoimhe[/name] for dh and you. Would you consider [name]Rowena[/name] and [name]Caoimhe[/name]? If [name]Rowena[/name] is in honor of your mother and [name]Caoimhe[/name] is in honor of his heritage, maybe they would be a good combo?
For a different Irish pair with [name]Caoimhe[/name], I like:
[name]Caoimhe[/name] with [name]Eimear[/name]
[name]Caoimhe[/name] and Damhnait
[name]Caoimhe[/name] and [name]Siobhan[/name] because their sounds are distinct from each other. I like [name]Aoife[/name] and [name]Niamh[/name] (this is my favorite) but I feel like they sound too similar to [name]Caoimhe[/name].
To “match” [name]Caoimhe[/name]: [name]Clodagh[/name], Cliodhna (or [name]Cliona[/name], pron. “CLEE-a-na”, not rhyming with [name]Fiona[/name]), or [name]Eabha[/name] - newly popular in the [name]RoI[/name], this is a modern translation of [name]Ava[/name] (FWIW, “[name]Eva[/name]” is spelled [name]Aoibhe[/name]. But you probably don’t want to go that far with matchiness!)
Another thought is the welsh [name]Cerys[/name] (or [name]Carys[/name]) - similar style and sound, but distinct in its own right. It means “love” or “beloved”, which I think really complements [name]Caoimhe[/name]'s meaning of “beauty”
To contrast with [name]Caoimhe[/name]: Bronagh (well-used in NI, less common in [name]RoI[/name]), [name]Orlagh[/name] (or [name]Orla[/name]), [name]Grainne[/name].
To be honest, I hadn’t realized that you were initially considering pairing Cailinn as a middle name for [name]Caoimhe[/name] - I do think the alliteration is a bit awkward, and you might do better to use Cailinn as a first name for daughter #2, and play around with middle names from there. Are you intedning this as the Americanized “[name]Kaylynn[/name]”, or as a variation of the Irish “Caillean” ([name]Colleen[/name]), or Caoilinn ([name]Keelin[/name])?
BTW, just noticed: pp and I seem to share the same good taste in Irish names!
this idea is beginning to REALLY appeal to me… if we’re going to do the irish names, i don’t want them to be americanized at all. i’d like for them to be distinct…
i’m not overly concerned about people not being able to spell or pn the names… i know that sounds bad, but i grew up with an unusual name and it hasn’t affected my life that much and now i thank my mother for her creativity as no one i know has the same name as me (Calisse is a nn short for Calissandrina).
as for using [name]Cailin[/name] as a mn, this was dh’s idea… he likes it, but the name isn’t particularly important to either of us… we would like to keep [name]Ryann[/name] as a mn for one of our daughters as it’s another family name and we’ve both agreed that we’d like to use those family names…
There are three suggestions that were made previously that really jumped out at me, i’m going to suggest them to dh tonight::
[name]Caoimhe[/name] and::
Naimh
[name]Aoife[/name]
[name]Eimear[/name]
but i’m still open to suggestions. also need to work on the mns, i suppose… we HAVE to use [name]Ryann[/name] with one of them… but we can change the other if it would work better…
thanks again for all your help… i think we might actually go with this idea which will make dh a VERY happy man!!
I think [name]Caoimhe[/name] sounds lovely with any of the 3 you’ve listed: [name]Niamh[/name], [name]Aoife[/name], or [name]Eimear[/name]. Each pairing repeats the long “ee” sound but isn’t overly matchy, and your girls would have distinct initials as well.
Thoughts on a middle name along with [name]Ryann[/name] - would you prefer to continue the Irish theme with daughter #2’s middle name? In this case, maybe something that is slightly unisex as with [name]Ryann[/name], perhaps a variation of a surname from your family tree to balance hubby’s heritage?
FWIW, I’m expecting a daughter in 6 weeks and we’ve decided on a traditional Irish name as well (ungainly spelling and all!), since my phd is in Irish history. But we’ve chosen a non-Irish name for the middle ([name]Verity[/name]) to offer some diversity and to allow my DH to use something meaningful to him.
I hope that helps - as hard as the process is with one, it must be twice as difficult to name 2 babies at once!
it’s just about impossible!!! i love so many names!! dh is stuck on the ones he likes, but every time i hear something pretty or unique, my mind is changed…
i also decided i like a pp’s suggestion of [name]Grainne[/name]… i think i spelled that right.
as for the middle names, if we’re going to go irish, we’re going to go irish all the way.
i love irish history, and dh is irish… and there’s a strong possibility we’ll be moving to ireland sometime in the next few years as dh misses home… so i want to make sure my girls’ names aren’t going to be overly trendy there either… lol… i know nothing of naming trends in ireland… maybe i should look that up…
[name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name] are the best! I think they’re so pretty individually and together its a great set. I also like [name]Odessa[/name] [name]Marie[/name], and I think it fits with either of those names, but not quite as well. Good luck!
[name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] & [name]Viola[/name] [name]Belle[/name]-I especially adore these two together
[name]Katia[/name] [name]Leigh[/name] & Tesla [name]Faith[/name]
I love [name]Caoimhe[/name]! I’m just not loving it with [name]Cailin[/name] or [name]Keeley[/name] [name]Ryann[/name]. I understand the Irish connection with all the names, but [name]Keeley[/name] is hugely overdone for me (I went to school with tons of them) and while [name]Caoimhe[/name] still has its elegant Gaelic spelling, [name]Keeley[/name] has the (trendy-looking) anglicised ‘K’ which doesn’t quite fit imo.
I actually think [name]Caoimhe[/name] and [name]Rowena[/name] go nicely together.
Other Irish names with [name]Caoimhe[/name] (and maybe as a mn for [name]Rowena[/name]):
Cadhla ([name]KYE[/name]-la) ‘beautiful’
[name]Saoirse[/name] (SAIR-sha) ‘freedom’
Liobhan ([name]LEE[/name]-van) ‘beauty of women’
*[name]Niamh[/name] (NEEV) ‘brightness’
Sibeal (shi-bayl) Irish form of [name]Isabel[/name]
*[name]Maeve[/name] (MAYV) ‘intoxicating’
[name]Mairead[/name] (mah-RAYD) Irish form of [name]Margaret[/name]
*Saorla (SAYR-la) ‘noble princess’
*Liadan ([name]LEE[/name]-a-den) ‘grey lady’
Laoise ([name]LEE[/name]-sha) ‘radiant girl’
*[name]Orla[/name] / [name]Orlaith[/name] ‘golden princess’
*[name]Beibhinn[/name] ([name]BAY[/name]-vin) ‘white lady’
[name]Caitriona[/name] Irish form of [name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Toireasa[/name] (tor-[name]RAY[/name]-sha) Irish form of [name]Theresa[/name]
[name]Siobhan[/name] (shiv-awn) Irish form of [name]Jane[/name]
(Meanings come for Donnchadh O’Corrain & Fidelma [name]Maguire[/name]'s Irish Names)
These names all appear as figures in Irish history/legend as well.
Of the other combos I think [name]Odessa[/name] [name]Marie[/name] & [name]Rowena[/name] [name]Skye[/name] and [name]Charissa[/name] [name]Denae[/name] & [name]Lydia[/name] [name]Dulce[/name] work best together
for those of you who asked about Tesla.
it isn’t a “made up” name as some of you suggested, it’s actually of slavic origin and means “from thessaly” which is a reigon in greese. we like Tesla because it’s beauiful and it isn’t too common… and we adore the nickname [name]Tess[/name].
FYI, while Cadhla has a feminine sound to the American ear (as “[name]Ky[/name]-la” or “[name]Kay[/name]-la”), ir is traditionally male - almost unheard of as a female name in [name]Ireland[/name]. Doesn’t necessarily rule it out [name]IMO[/name], but just so you’re aware.
The band is from my hometown and if it wasn’t for that fact I think that Tesla nn [name]Tess[/name] is actually pretty cool.