I am due in September with baby #3, surprise gender. We have 2 girls already, Tessa and Valerie, and we nearly needed marriage counseling picking our girl names!
We have had a boy name picked out for years- William, after my father who passed away 20 years ago. This baby is due the day after what would have been his 67th birthday. First, now that I realize this, I feel immense pressure (from myself) to have a boy (which I cannot control) on that exact date (which I also cannot control, apart from induction or c section which I do not want). But also, if this baby is a girl, and born on that date, I think I would want to honour my dad with her naming, if possible. The thing is, we are not really a fan of the obvious female honour names for William - Wilma, Willa, Wilhelmina, Willow, etc - but I also would want the connection to be obvious and not a stretch. Maybe there is something else that could come from his middle name - Graham? We are pretty picky about names and generally prefer classic/traditional names that are very familiar but not currently very common (exception being William, obviously), easy to spell and pronounce. We should have no trouble choosing middle names after the first name is established!
The last thing is, we may have one more after this baby. If we used a William-inspired female name for this baby, and had a boy next time around, would I regret it? Almost certainly! I just don’t know what to do.
Wow, this sounds heavy! It’s beatiful that you want to name your baby after your father.
Have you considered [name_f]Abigail[/name_f]? It translates as “Father’s Joy” / “Father Rejoyces.”
[name_f]Tessa[/name_f], [name_f]Valerie[/name_f] and [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] (or Abby) sound perfect together.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] [name_u]Willow[/name_u] or [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] [name_f]Winnie[/name_f]
[name_u]Or[/name_u], I wonder if using one of the more obvious [name_u]Will[/name_u] names you don’t love in the middle name spot would work for you?
I love [name_f]Willa[/name_f] with your girls, personally!! Perhaps there’s a name with the same meaning as [name_u]William[/name_u] (resolute protector) that would work. This could also allow you to use [name_u]William[/name_u] in the future still, if you wanted to! Here are a few lovely names meaning both resolute and protector (also some that mean strength and might, in a similar vain!) with with [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] and [name_f]Valerie[/name_f] …
[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] / [name_f]Alexa[/name_f]
[name_f]Hilda[/name_f]
[name_u]Kelly[/name_u]
[name_f]Malou[/name_f]
[name_u]Meredith[/name_u]
[name_f]Myla[/name_f]
[name_u]Billie[/name_u]
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f]
[name_u]Sasha[/name_u]
[name_f]Rosetta[/name_f]
[name_f]Christabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_f]Mina[/name_f]
[name_u]Wiley[/name_u]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
Perhaps using the letters of [name_u]William[/name_u] could work in some way too! Here are some ideas based on that…
[name_f]Lila[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillia[/name_f]
[name_f]Mila[/name_f]
[name_f]Millie[/name_f] (with an added e, of course!)
[name_f]Lili[/name_f] (or the [name_f]Lily[/name_f] spelling with an added y!)
[name_f]Mali[/name_f]
[name_f]Ila[/name_f] (or the [name_f]Isla[/name_f] spelling with an added s!)
Some ideas based on [name_m]Graham[/name_m] that come to mind are [name_u]Greer[/name_u], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_u]Gray[/name_u], and [name_f]Aggie[/name_f]. Using the letters of [name_m]Graham[/name_m] could also make [name_f]Hagar[/name_f], if that’s your jam!!
I thought of [name_f]Mina[/name_f] [name_u]Gray[/name_u]. [name_f]Mina[/name_f] is the ending of [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], so it’s not an obvious nod. [name_u]Gray[/name_u] has a similarity to [name_m]Graham[/name_m]. [name_f]Mina[/name_f], [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], and [name_f]Valerie[/name_f] also fit nicely. What do you think?
That’s a beautiful angle on the idea with the name [name_f]Abigail[/name_f]. We’ve seriously considered the name with our first, but not with this in mind. Thank you
I like the idea of using a name for a daughter that honours [name_u]William[/name_u] [name_m]Graham[/name_m], but that doesn’t rule out using [name_u]William[/name_u] for a boy later on. You’ve gotten some great suggestions so far.
The thing that strikes me with your dad’s name is both names end with -am, so maybe that’s something to work with. It could be too much a stretch for you, but maybe a name like [name_f]Amy[/name_f] or [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] could work, or perhaps Anne-Marie or [name_f]Annamarie[/name_f]. [name_u]Or[/name_u] flip it, for [name_f]Malia[/name_f] or [name_f]Mahalia[/name_f] or simply [name_f]Mia[/name_f] or [name_f]Maia[/name_f].
[name_f]Willa[/name_f] would be gorgeous with [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] and [name_f]Valerie[/name_f]! Maybe you could consider [name_u]Billie[/name_u] as an honour name for your father?
Other options - [name_f]Wilma[/name_f], [name_f]Winona[/name_f], [name_u]September[/name_u], [name_f]Sapphire[/name_f] (September birthstone), [name_u]Wilkie[/name_u], [name_u]Grayson[/name_u], [name_u]Grey[/name_u], [name_f]Grace[/name_f].
[name_u]William[/name_u] graham is such a handsome name! [name_m]Graham[/name_m] is absolutely a favorite of mine.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] your other girls have an honor name? Personally I like using exact honor names.
[name_m]Can[/name_m] you use just [name_u]William[/name_u] or [name_m]Graham[/name_m] in the middle name spot?
[name_m]Graham[/name_m] especially feels like a surname to me and fits really well as a middle name for either boy or girl
[name_f]Abigail[/name_f] [name_m]Graham[/name_m] would be lovely
Lillie/Lilia [name_m]Graham[/name_m] would be beautiful and shares some of the same letters in [name_u]William[/name_u].
[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I tired to do this as well. He’s the third [name_u]William[/name_u] and so is my brother! (Luckily my husband goes by his middle name!) So we felt like the [name_m]Williams[/name_m] aligned. The only one we thought would work was [name_f]Winifred[/name_f] but then my brother got a dog and named her [name_f]Winnie[/name_f]! haha
What about naming her after something/place your dad loved? [name_f]My[/name_f] baby girl was due right in between my dad’s birth and death date. Then she ended up being extracted 3 weeks early. But for a boy we thought of [name_u]Roscoe[/name_u] and [name_u]Dillon[/name_u] after cities he loved. [name_u]Or[/name_u] since he was a library nerd we thought of literary names; [name_f]Harriet[/name_f], [name_f]Edna[/name_f], [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].
I sound crazy— but it may be for the best that you and your DH don’t like any of the obvious feminine [name_u]William[/name_u] names- then you can still use [name_u]William[/name_u] if you have a son later on.
There are lovely suggestions here, [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] and [name_f]Lia[/name_f] being my favorites! I also like the idea of giving your daughter the initials WG and/or the middle name [name_m]Graham[/name_m]! If you did choose a more [name_u]William[/name_u] related name for this daughter (i.e. [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_u]Willow[/name_u], etc) would you consider giving a future son the first name [name_m]Graham[/name_m]? I think you could definitely have two children named after Grandpa [name_u]William[/name_u]— so long as they aren’t [name_f]Willa[/name_f] and [name_u]William[/name_u]! Maybe [name_u]Willow[/name_u] and [name_m]Graham[/name_m]? [name_u]Or[/name_u] [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] [name_m]Graham[/name_m] and [name_u]William[/name_u]? [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] [name_m]Graham[/name_m] and [name_f]Wendy[/name_f] [name_m]Graham[/name_m] are lovely also!
