So I’m starting to feel a bit like a broken record but we just can’t quite find “the” middle name for a girl. Nothing jumps out at me!
Here’s our current list of considerations:
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name] - The name [name]Joy[/name] makes me nervous because it is so happy.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Lucia[/name] - “L” heavy
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Dulcinea[/name] (duhl-sih-NAY-ah) - lovely, but it’s a lot of syllables. Would like to know what your last name is.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name] - so different and pretty
[name]Calla[/name] Eilonwy (eye-LAWN-wee) - I like [name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name] more.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] - lovely
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name] - feels awkward
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] - lovely
[name]Feel[/name] free to give comments and/or suggest others!
Thank you all for your patience and help!
P.S. Big brother is [name]Rowan[/name] [name]Scott[/name].
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name]- this works but it’s not my favorite.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Lucia[/name]- Sometimes having both names end in ‘a’ works but in this case, I don’t think it flows all that well.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Dulcinea[/name] (duhl-sih-NAY-ah)- I’m not a big fan of [name]Dulcinea[/name]
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name]- I think this is very pretty… isn’t it from [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings?
[name]Calla[/name] Eilonwy (eye-LAWN-wee)- I think this one is gorgeous as well. Where’s it from?
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name]- I think [name]Genevieve[/name] is gorgeous
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name]- I’m not liking the flow…
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Juliet[/name]- I love [name]Juliet[/name]!
Yes, [name]Eowyn[/name] is from [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings. Our boy’s name is too, actually.
Eilonwy is the name of a princess from another fantasy series written at the same time as LOTR called the Prydain chronicles. We actually love this as a first name but I’m afraid it’s a bit out there… I realize it doesn’t flow well as a mn either, I just wish we could fit it in somewhere!
I know that [name]Genevieve[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name] both flow beautifully but for some reason they aren’t doing it for me. [name]Juliet[/name] was actually our choice for the middle name when we were pregnant with my son but for some reason it doesn’t feel right anymore.
Ugh! Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so picky about names! Maybe it’s just the hormones getting to me!
Thank you for your help!
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name] - I think this is perfect!
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Lucia[/name] - these names run into each other for me, and sound like one long word (rhymes with halelujah)
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Dulcinea[/name] (duhl-sih-NAY-ah) - [name]Dulcinea[/name] is actually very pretty; I think it’s just too much with [name]Calla[/name], though
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name] - I don’t like this
[name]Calla[/name] Eilonwy (eye-LAWN-wee) - Again, too much
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] - This is very pretty
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name] - I love the name [name]Odette[/name]! I don’t think it works with [name]Calla[/name], though. The styles seem too different, and the flow is off.
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] - This is lovely!
My vote is for [name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name]!!!
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Calla[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] would be tied for second place.
Well, if [name]Calla[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Calla[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] are no longer doing it for you, then maybe you should go with one of the more exotic middle names that have strong significance for you but that some of the posters say are “too much.” A middle name is more often written than spoken and it’s the perfect place to use a name like one of the fantasy choices. You may not find popular support for these names because they’re much more individual and you need to listen to that and honor it. To me, [name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name] is just too conventional compared with your other choices. I do like [name]Calla[/name] [name]Lucia[/name] too, but don’t like other two syllable options.
I figured I wouldn’t get a lot of support for some of the less conventional names we are considering but I always appreciate the unbiased feedback I find here at Nameberry! It gives me a good idea of the reaction we will get when the baby is born!
I’m obviously a fan of names from literature ([name]Dulcinea[/name], [name]Juliet[/name], [name]Eowyn[/name], and Eilonwy).
You’re right though, I’m going right now to cross off [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Genevieve[/name] because I just don’t think I’m going to change my mind by the time this baby comes.
[name]Calla[/name] Eilonwy is growing on me. It’s very pretty. I love the Prydain Chronicles, too! [name]Taran[/name] and Eilonwy.
I read a book with a character named Amanthis in it. It’s pronounced ah-[name]MAN[/name]-this. Very unusual. I also really love the name [name]Amandine[/name].
[name]Susan[/name]~
Very pretty names! What books are they found in?
I always thought Amalthea was beautiful too (from The Last Unicorn by [name]Peter[/name] S. Beagle).
Anybody else have any other pretty names from literature?
[name]Hi[/name] [name]Dove[/name]! I love the name [name]Calla[/name]!
More literary middles:
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Briony[/name] (although it’s a botanical theme, and now that I think about it, the combo reminds me a bit of the word “calibrate”)
[name]Calla[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]
It’s not literary, but [name]Calla[/name] [name]Jessamine[/name] also comes to mind.
Amanthis is from a really old book called “The [name]Little[/name] [name]Colonel[/name]”. The [name]Colonel[/name]'s dead wife was named Amanthis.
I heard of [name]Amandine[/name] because that’s what [name]John[/name] Malkovich named his daughter.
Another really pretty name from literature is [name]Lilias[/name], the dead mother of [name]Colin[/name] in “The [name]Secret[/name] Garden”.
I love [name]Princess[/name] [name]Irene[/name] in “The [name]Princess[/name] and the Goblin”.
Update:
Hubs and I talked tonight and his favorite three are [name]Calla[/name] [name]Dulcinea[/name], [name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name] and [name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name]. My favorite three are [name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name], [name]Calla[/name] Eilonwy and [name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name].
We realized that both [name]Dulcinea[/name] and Eilonwy are a bit unwieldy, especially if she were to end up with a longer last name than ours when she gets married. [name]Calla[/name] [name]Joy[/name], as [name]Pam[/name] mentioned, just seems a bit lackluster.
So that leaves us with [name]Calla[/name] [name]Eowyn[/name] and [name]Calla[/name] [name]Odette[/name] as our current top two. I’m still open to new ideas though!
[name]Just[/name] to help guide suggestions a bit, we are not fans of the “old lady” name trend. I’m looking for an uncommon name that is beautiful and feminine without being fussy (a big problem for me! I tend to gravitate towards fussy names).
Thank you again for your help! Not many people understand my endless fascination with names!
You love “The [name]Princess[/name] and the Goblin”? Most people haven’t read it. That’s amazing. I have read a lot of books by [name]George[/name] [name]MacDonald[/name]. [name]Love[/name] him. There is a boy named [name]Colin[/name] in at least one of his books. What do you think of the name Curdie? I think it is so odd. Have you read “The [name]Light[/name] [name]Princess[/name]”? [name]Love[/name] that book.
[name]Susan[/name]~
Yes! [name]George[/name] [name]MacDonald[/name] is wonderful! (and yes, I love the [name]Light[/name] [name]Princess[/name] too!)
I was blessed to have a mother who loves literature and she read the likes of [name]George[/name] [name]MacDonald[/name], C. S. [name]Lewis[/name], [name]Madeleine[/name] L’Engel, and [name]Lloyd[/name] [name]Alexander[/name] to me and my brother for bedtime stories before I could have read them myself!
My favorite childhood memories are those nighttime readings and I still love all the books she read!
It’s fun to find someone else who has actually read some of them too!
I read books by those authors to my son [name]Peter[/name] at bedtime when he was little. We read six pages per night. It’s amazing to see how many books you can read when you only read six pages per night. By the time he was nine or ten, we stopped because he wanted to read by himself.
My daughter [name]Laura[/name] often hated it when I read to her. But I was able to read a few books with her. She hates fantasy books. I read “Chinese [name]Cinderella[/name]” to her, and she loved it. It isn’t fantasy - it’s a true story.
