Greer for a middle name?

Girl Names
1

Found out that I’m pregnant a few weeks ago! Now that I’m actually with child, I’m trying to narrow down a name for a possible girl. We have one daughter, [name]Rosamund[/name] [name]Hazel[/name], who goes by [name]Rosie[/name] most of the time. If we have a boy this time around, his name will be [name]Otto[/name] [name]Irwin[/name]. [name]Otto[/name] is a name we’ve had picked out for years, and [name]Irwin[/name] is a family name, so we’re set if it’s a boy. If it’s a girl, my husband and I love the first name [name]Wilhelmina[/name]. We will probably call her [name]Minnie[/name] for a nickname. I have struggled to really fall in love with a middle name though. I’ve considered: [name]Anne[/name], [name]Belle[/name], [name]Fay[/name], [name]Fern[/name], [name]Grace[/name], [name]Kay[/name], [name]June[/name], [name]Lou[/name], [name]Mae[/name]/[name]May[/name], [name]Olive[/name], [name]Pearl[/name], [name]Rose[/name], [name]Violet[/name]… and many more. Most of the names I listed do have family connections. I also love botanical names, but I don’t want to get stuck having a botanical theme for all my girls either. I just want to find a middle name that is short, sounds good with [name]Wilhelmina[/name], and that my husband and I love as much as our other names.

I recently came across the name [name]Greer[/name]. At first, I’ll admit I didn’t like it, but it’s really growing on me. Another factor that is really drawing me to it is that my dad’s name is [name]Greg[/name], so it’d be a great way to honor him. I also love the pretty but strong image of the 1940’s English movie star, [name]Greer[/name] [name]Garson[/name]. I’ve read other threads on the name, and it seems to get mixed reactions, which I totally understand.

What do you think of [name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Greer[/name]?

2

I love the sound of it, it helps to balance a really strong fancy first name. I adore the nickname [name]Minnie[/name] too.

[name]Otto[/name] and [name]Wilhelmina[/name] would make a fabulous sibling set.

3

Thank you for your input! I think [name]Greer[/name] really balances [name]Wilhelmina[/name] as well, I just wasn’t sure they sounded great together.

4

I think it is beautiful. It sounds whimsical and poetic!

5

I really like [name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Greer[/name], it’s a great balance of the frilly and whimsical with a strong no-nonsense poetical name.

6

I like [name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Greer[/name] a lot. I especially love [name]Wilhelmina[/name]. [name]Minnie[/name] is a cute nickname. I also like the nicknames [name]Billie[/name] and [name]Willa[/name].

7

Thank you everyone for all of the positive replies. I’m really falling in love with the combo, hopefully I can convince my husband to love it as well! :wink: Anymore comments would be much appreciated. Thanks!

8

[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Greer[/name] is adorable! The two names really balance each other out well.
I prefer [name]Willamina[/name] just a teensy bit more, though…

good luck!

9

I have such a soft spot for [name]Greer[/name] and find it so elegant. It pairs beautifully with [name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]IMO[/name]. Well done! I prefer your choice of spelling for [name]Wilhelmina[/name] but do really love the nn [name]Willa[/name] or [name]Mina[/name].

10

[name]Willamina[/name] is a more straight forward spelling for pronunciation. Actually, at one point I considered the Dutch spelling, [name]Willemina[/name], but it never felt quite right. My husband and I both have [name]German[/name] ancestry so the more common [name]German[/name] spelling, [name]Wilhelmina[/name], seems to fit our family the best.

As far as nicknames go, [name]Minnie[/name] is a family name from both sides, so I have a soft spot for it. I wouldn’t discount the possibility of other nicknames though as I do like [name]Billie[/name], [name]Willa[/name], and [name]Mina[/name]. I love having options. Thanks again for all the great responses!

11

I’ll be the dissenting voice and say I don’t care for it. [name]Wilhelmina[/name] is a very heavy name, just now starting to have a flicker of life re-breathed into it in hipster havens. In most of the anglophone world, this name is so dated it’s a joke. Which is fine-- you might be just the family to help bring it back, and perhaps you live in one of the aforementioned hipster havens where a little toddler named [name]Wilhelmina[/name] would be accepted.

But it needs to be paired with something light, airy and breezy, and the equally heavy, clipped, gruff Scottish surname [name]Greer[/name] is not it. I agree with your thought of a monosyllabic middle to balance 4-syllable [name]Wilhelmina[/name], but I think you need something much, much softer.

[name]Just[/name] remember-- your daughter will be going to school with Lilianas and [name]Lilas[/name] and Avas, and at some point she’ll be a preteen who wants desperately to have a ‘pretty girl name’ like her friends. The nn [name]Minnie[/name] is not going to cut it, what with the mouse associations. Perhaps [name]Willa[/name] to fall back on instead?

Ideas for a sophisticated, airier middle:

[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]Neve[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]
[name]Gale[/name]
[name]Joy[/name]
[name]Lise[/name]
[name]Bay[/name]
[name]Vale[/name]
[name]Wynne[/name]

12

Hmmm. [name]Wilhelmina[/name] is, to me, quite intense. Stronger than [name]Ursula[/name], which I put in a similar category. [name]Minnie[/name] is just so diminutive (pun intended) with such a strong name, I have to plug for [name]Willa[/name] or [name]Mina[/name] as a nickname instead. [name]Greer[/name] has yet a different kind of intensity, bringing to mind growl, groan, leer, and jeer, that I find myself desiring something lighter in the name, somewhere. I’m going to have to disagree with most of the commenters and recommend something else in the middle, maybe [name]Blythe[/name]? [name]Even[/name] the sound of [name]Blythe[/name] is perhaps too strong, I’d go with something like [name]Lark[/name] or [name]Wren[/name] in the middle.

13

yes! this! this!

14

[name]Blade[/name] and thuja - Thank you for your constructive criticism! I really appreciate both of your thoughts. I do know that [name]Wilhelmina[/name] would be considered dated to most people. I don’t think the character from Ugly [name]Betty[/name] or [name]Taylor[/name] [name]Hanson[/name]'s new daughter are going to spike [name]Wilhelmina[/name]'s popularity at all. But on the same note, [name]Rosamund[/name] has never been on the U.S. top 1000. When we had our daughter, no one knew the name [name]Rosamund[/name] or even how to pronounce it. In fact one of our relatives was relaying the news that we had a baby, and called her Rosemead! So, when comparing [name]Wilhelmina[/name] to [name]Rosamund[/name], I actually think it will be more familiar to most people, and thus more “accepted”.

I also agree with your opinion on [name]Greer[/name]. I want to love it, but looking at our first daughter’s name, I like that [name]Rosamund[/name] has a lighter, more “popular” middle name ([name]Hazel[/name]), since her first name is equally heavy and different like [name]Wilhelmina[/name].

I still love [name]Minnie[/name] despite the mouse association. I do agree that it possibly wouldn’t be the best nickname for a teenager but she won’t be a teen forever. The family member that was named [name]Wilhelmine[/name] went by [name]Minnie[/name] her entire life, and I think it aged well on her. She can always choose another nickname if she wants to, which would be fine.

As far as other suggestions for a middle name… Honestly, I could be happy with many different names, but my husband is harder to please. [name]Even[/name] if I suggest a family name, his response is always “it’s alright”. I don’t want an “alright” middle name. I want something we can both love. The names he likes for a middle are:

[name]Briar[/name]
[name]Delphine[/name]
[name]Noel[/name]/[name]Noelle[/name]

All are 2-syllable names which I would prefer a 1-syllable, but I can’t argue that they don’t sound good with the name, since most do. Especially [name]Noel[/name], because our last name begins with an “N” sound. I think the alliteration sounds good, but I don’t love the idea of using [name]Noel[/name] for a baby born in summer. [name]Delphine[/name] is airy and feminine I think, which helps balance clunky [name]Wilhelmina[/name], but doesn’t really have meaning to me. [name]Briar[/name], I really dislike actually. I think it sounds like [name]Brian[/name], which is a total male name. I think the only reason my husband likes it so much is because he smokes a pipe which are traditionally made of [name]Briar[/name] wood. I might as well name her [name]Piper[/name]! :slight_smile:

Any more suggestions for a middle name based on my husbands list?

15

@kelchristmas-- happy to have helped!

I think [name]Rosamund[/name] is easier because a) it starts with the ever-popular [name]Rose[/name] (even if pronounced differently); b) it’s a bit shorter; c) it’s not quite as Germanic. For obvious political reasons Germanic names have not been popular in the anglophone world since WW1, so names like [name]Bertha[/name], [name]Gustav[/name], and Wilhelmnia have a century-old feel to them.

[name]Briar[/name] is phonetically identical to [name]Greer[/name], and adds a syllable. It’s a very heavy choice. [name]Delphine[/name] would be perfect (it’s smooth and elegant), but is copies the ‘een’ sound in [name]Wilhelmina[/name].

I think it’s best paired with a name like [name]Delphine[/name] which places the stress on the second syllable. Some thoughts:

[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Celeste[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Adair[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Cecile[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Annelle[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] Aumaine
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Camille[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Caprice[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Delaine[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Elaine[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Gisele[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Helene[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Joelle[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Josette[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Lenore[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Lorraine[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Lucille[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Maelle[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Margot[/name] / [name]Margaux[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Marin[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Mireille[/name] (favorite-- sound is so light, looks very sophisticated)
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Renee[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Simone[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Solenne[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name] [name]Yvonne[/name]

16

A handful of lesser-used one-syllable middles:

Swan
[name]Snow[/name]
[name]Bliss[/name]
[name]Plum[/name]
[name]Bright[/name]

17

Thanks [name]Blade[/name] and thuja! I’ll run your suggestions by my husband :slight_smile: