Hello,
We are expecting a baby girl in [name_f]February[/name_f]. We have a son named [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] - [name_u]Alex[/name_u]. When we were thinking of baby names for [name_u]Alex[/name_u], we fell in love with [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] for a girl’s name. We are planning to use it for little sister. Of course, I am now starting to have cold feet so I was hoping for assurances and possibly other options.
More details - we have a common, 3-syllable Hispanic last name beginning with “G.” My husband is Hispanic but I am not. I am of Irish, Italian, and [name_m]French[/name_m] descent, mostly. A few family members of his speak mostly Spanish and would pronounce many names the Spanish way. That ruled out [name_f]Julia[/name_f], a previous favorite of mine because it would be pronounced “Hoolia” by at least some family. My husband likes long and flowery names, like [name_f]Gabriella[/name_f] and [name_f]Alicia[/name_f] (pronounced A-lee-see-a). I like classic, preppy names like [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] and [name_f]Claire[/name_f]. [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] was the middle ground. I think it sounds strong, is classic, is equally appropriate on a child or adult, and it works well across cultures. [name_f]Marie[/name_f] was my middle name, for a beloved aunt, before I gave it up to move my maiden name to the middle. I would like to keep [name_f]Marie[/name_f] in the middle slot.
Another consideration was [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f], after my husband’s grandmother. We also got married at St. [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f]'s church. It’s a bit more flowery than I would like and he doesn’t like the nickname “Ceecee.” I’m also afraid it would be a mouthful with our last name (double “c” sound for first name and double “z” sound in last name).
Am I just having cold feet? I still really like the name and we have not come up with any contenders that come even close.
Any other suggestions based on all of the above? We chose [name_u]Alex[/name_u]'s name a similar way. It was the one name we could agree on that worked well cross-culturally and with our “ethnic” last name.
Thanks!