Help! Can't decide between Holly/Julia or something else!

Girl Names
1

Hello! DH and I have been thinking about names for our baby girl, but we haven’t really come up with anything other than [name]Holly[/name]* or [name]Julia[/name].

[name]Do[/name] you like [name]Holly[/name] or [name]Julia[/name] best? Any other suggestions?

We also considered [name]Lucia[/name], [name]Lainey[/name], and [name]Norah[/name], but have decided against them in favor of [name]Holly[/name] or [name]Julia[/name]. I also like [name]Claire[/name]/[name]Clara[/name], [name]Colleen[/name], and [name]Anna[/name], but DH thinks [name]Colleen[/name] doesn’t work with our last name that beings with an N (it sounds like Nav-a-lynn but actually ends in -line).

We want a somewhat classic name that isn’t in the top 50 right now. We’re not set on any middle name, but some we like are: [name]Kathryn[/name] (after my mom, [name]Catherine[/name] & sister, [name]Katherine[/name]), [name]Marie[/name] or [name]Marin[/name] (variants of [name]Mary[/name], my grandmother’s name), [name]Elise[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Claire[/name], [name]Ann[/name] (my middle name), or [name]Sophia[/name]. Other ideas welcome, especially a name that would go with Holly as a middle name.

*[name]One[/name] of my best friends, [name]Holly[/name], passed away in [name]June[/name] after a long battle with cancer. I’d like to honor my friend by naming my daughter after her, but I’m not sure if I love the name or just the person it reminds me of… My friend was amazing though…smart, kind, loving, loyal, creative, courageous, etc. It’s weird though, everytime I say that name I just picture my friend… I can’t picture our baby. I feel a little more comfortable with [name]Julia[/name], but remember sitting in my friend’s memorial service having a strong feeling that the baby would be a girl and that she should be named [name]Holly[/name] after my amazing friend… I do like that [name]Holly[/name] is a little less common and it sort of fits with her early Dec. due date (though she may be born in Nov).

Thanks in advance!

2

I like both [name]Holly[/name] and [name]Julia[/name], and I do like the idea of honouring your friend, so that makes lean more towards [name]Holly[/name]. [name]June[/name] is not so long ago, so it may take you some time before you stop picturing your friend. I also think that if you had your baby in front of you, named [name]Holly[/name], that it would (obviously) make it a lot easier to see and think of her rather than picturing only your friend. If you want to honour her, but are still uncertain about using the name [name]Holly[/name], is there something else that reminds you of her?

Was her favourite colour red? That could give you [name]Ruby[/name].
When was her birthday? Maybe consider using her birth month flower. For example, [name]Daisy[/name] is the flower for [name]April[/name], so maybe she could be [name]Julia[/name] [name]Daisy[/name].
Did you two take a trip somewhere, or go to a concert together?

There are lots of other ways you might be able to honour your friend, [name]Holly[/name], without using her name directly.

3

I really love [name]Holly[/name], it feels more distinct than [name]Julia[/name] to me.

I am biased though- it’s my best friend’s name…she is [name]Holly[/name] [name]Anne[/name] which sounds good.
[name]Holly[/name] [name]Jane[/name] is really sweet. [name]Holly[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] brings a jul name into the mix.

I think it’s lovely to honor someone but if you think the association is so strongly connected to the feeling of loss or sadness maybe you should consider [name]Hadley[/name], [name]Hailey[/name], [name]Halle[/name], [name]Dolly[/name], [name]Molly[/name], [name]Olivia[/name] nn [name]Olly[/name], [name]Polly[/name], or if [name]Colleen[/name] doesn’t work maybe [name]Colette[/name]?

4

I think that if you are not positive if you love [name]Holly[/name], but you still want to use it, I might suggest putting it in the middle and maybe even using two middle names? I know a lot of people think that two middles are too much - my son has two , I had two names to honor that I really wanted to use, and we have had zero issue with it and all of my step kids have 2 middles as well.

Something like [name]Julia[/name] [name]Kathryn[/name] [name]Holly[/name]? [name]Clara[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Holly[/name] / [name]Claire[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Holly[/name]?

Suggestions:

[name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Tessa[/name]
[name]Lilia[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Caitlin[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name]
[name]Edith[/name]
[name]Audra[/name]

5

I think [name]Holly[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] or [name]Julia[/name] [name]Holly[/name] would be beautiful choices.

I also think that [name]Julia[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] is gorgeous!

6

I love the pp’s suggestion of [name]Julia[/name] [name]Kathryn[/name] [name]Holly[/name]. :slight_smile:

7

I adore the name [name]Holly[/name], it’s so fresh and clean sounding, not common, but so familiar.

If youre up for two middles like pp suggested…I think [name]Holly[/name] [name]Katherine[/name] [name]Elise[/name] would be gorgeous.

8

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I will probably use my maiden name as a second middle name, otherwise a like some of the options suggested with [name]Holly[/name] as a second middle…

labmama - I can’t think of anything else that would work to honor her. Her middle name was [name]Martha[/name], after her grandmother, and I’m not a fan… She was born in [name]March[/name] and I’m honestly not sure of her favorite color!

taz - I agree that [name]Holly[/name] is more distinct. I like [name]Holly[/name] [name]Juliet[/name], but I think if we used [name]Holly[/name] as the first name, we’d save [name]Julia[/name] in case we had a second girl in the future. [name]Julia[/name] [name]Holly[/name] is a possibility though, if people think it sounds okay… I love [name]Hailey[/name], but that’s what we named our dog, lol! We are a little concerned that there would be confusion between [name]Holly[/name] and [name]Hailey[/name], but we usually call the dog “Hales” which sounds less similar… I also really like [name]Collette[/name], but my ex-boyfriend (who is still a friend) just named his daughter that and I would feel like a copycat, even though I know that’s silly!

flick - that’s good to know that in your experience two middle names isn’t too much… however, I love my maiden name and would like to use that as a second middle name before anything else.

claireelise - I like both [name]Julia[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Julia[/name] [name]Holly[/name]! [name]Holly[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] is very pretty too, but I would want to save [name]Julia[/name]/[name]Juliet[/name] for the future if we used [name]Holly[/name] as the first name this time around (since we’re planning to have a second).

kyesma - I love that too… I will keep that one in mind if I decide not to include my maiden name. I actually haven’t changed my name to my husband’s yet (been married almost a year) since we’re in the process of buying a house and a bunch of other stuff… eventually my maiden name will be my middle name. At least in the beginning while I have a different last name, it would be nice for baby to have my name somewhere.

lineska - so glad to hear you like the name [name]Holly[/name]. I think [name]Julia[/name] feels like a safer choice to me, but if people like [name]Holly[/name], that might help sway me… esp. because I like the meaning behind it. :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone!

9

I love [name]Holly[/name] and think it would be beautiful to tell your daughter she is named after a person so dear to you.
[name]Holly[/name] [name]Kate[/name] came to mind ([name]Kate[/name] to honor the [name]Katherine[/name]/[name]Catherine[/name]'s in your family). Or if you are into the 2 mn’s, [name]Holly[/name] [name]Kate[/name] [name]Marie[/name] sounds very pretty to me.

10

It’s lovely to want to honor your friend. However, to avoid the possibility of future name regret or misgivings, I would only use [name]Holly[/name] if you are certain that you love it enough on it’s own. (There are other ways of honoring your friend.) Use [name]Holly[/name] if you love it, but please don’t talk yourself into using a name that you are not totally comfortable and confident about using.

Holly is okay, but of all the names you are considering - my favorite is [name]Julia[/name] [name]Catherine[/name]. What a gorgeous, elegant name! [name]Julia Claire[/name] is another one!