Meaningful middle for Wilhelmina

Girl Names
1

If we have another daughter her name will be [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] “[name_f]Minnie[/name_f]”. If our son had been a girl we had settled on [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]. I still like [name_f]May[/name_f] for a middle but it feels incomplete. “[name_f]May[/name_f]” does have meaning to us, as it is the birth month of my dad and brother. My dad has been honored now as we used his name as our son’s second middle name. If we have a fourth child and it is a boy I will honor my brother by using his first or middle name somewhere, which is [name_m]Clint[/name_m] [name_m]Patrick[/name_m]. If our fourth child is a girl I would still like to honor my late brother (he passed away from cancer when he was a child before I was born).

[name_m]How[/name_m] do you honor a [name_m]Clint[/name_m] and/or [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] in the middle spot for a girl?

[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] ???

I’ve racked my brain to think think of ways to honor my brother and here are some of the middle names I’ve come up with (I know some are a stretch so bear with me!)

[name_m]Clint[/name_m] (Use his actual name. I don’t love this for a girl but it is short to pair with long [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f].)

[name_f]Clover[/name_f] (starts with a C, clover relates to St. [name_m]Patrick[/name_m])

[name_f]Emerald[/name_f] (gemstone of [name_f]May[/name_f])

[name_f]Lily[/name_f] ([name_f]Lily[/name_f] of the [name_f]Valley[/name_f] is the flower of [name_f]May[/name_f])

[name_u]Dale[/name_u] (means [name_f]Valley[/name_f], see above “[name_f]Lily[/name_f] of the [name_f]Valley[/name_f]”. Also the middle name of my Grandmother.)

[name_u]Patrice[/name_u]/[name_f]Patricia[/name_f] (Feminine variants of [name_m]Patrick[/name_m])

[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] (contains “[name_m]Clint[/name_m]” within the spelling and it’s meaning “merciful & mild” describes my brother’s personality)

[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] (Same P. middle initial. I also have a Great Aunt by this name.)

[name_f]Celeste[/name_f] (Starts with a C. I like that it means heavenly, that he is watching over us from heaven.)

[name_f]Alice[/name_f] (means “noble” like [name_m]Patrick[/name_m])

[name_f]Audrey[/name_f] (means “noble strength” similar meaning to [name_m]Patrick[/name_m])

[name_m]Creighton[/name_m] (same meaning as [name_m]Clint[/name_m]/[name_m]Clinton[/name_m] “hilltop town”)

[name_f]Eulalie[/name_f]/[name_f]Eulalia[/name_f] (means “sweet speaking” which describes my brother. And it is the [name_m]Saint[/name_m] [name_u]Day[/name_u] of my husband’s dad’s birthday.)

I never knew my brother and he was only 7 when he passed away but from what I’ve heard he was a sweetheart. He liked to draw and play the drums.

Are there any middles I’ve listed that work well with [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f]? Are there any others you can think of to honor my brother?

Thanks in advance!!

2

My favourites from your list are [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Patricia[/name_f], and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f]. I think they all sound nice next to [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], and they’re not too far of a stretch in terms of honouring your loved one. I like [name_f]Lily[/name_f] because I think it’s a subtle allusion to [name_f]May[/name_f], and it sounds more substantial and less fillery than [name_f]May[/name_f] itself does. [name_f]Patricia[/name_f] is an obvious one since it’s just the feminized version of [name_m]Patrick[/name_m], but I think it sounds nice, not to mention it sounds less clunky than some of your other options. [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] I just thought sounded nice, plus it could honour your great aunt as well, which I assume is positive for you since you mentioned it.

[name_u]Dale[/name_u] is a distant runner up, but I don’t love it next to [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f]. The rest I either think sound too harsh or long next to [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], or the meaning you’ve assigned to them stretches way too far.

If all else fails, I don’t see a problem in using [name_m]Clint[/name_m] as a middle. [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of parents give their daughters their maiden names/masculine honour names in the middle. It’s not a big deal. Best of luck!

3

[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Clover[/name_f] is so sweet! [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] will also honor [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] in the same way as [name_f]Clover[/name_f] since [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] is the [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] [name_f]Isle[/name_f]:slight_smile: [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] is flat out gorgeous! And I do love the nn [name_f]Minnie[/name_f], of course.

I like some of the other names ([name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], and maybe [name_u]Dale[/name_u]), but they don’t seem to flow the best with [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f].

And by the way, I can’t say enough how much I adore your naming style. Your other kids names are so perfect, imo.

4

@vestigesofsummer - Thank you so much for your detailed feedback! I really appreciate it! It is so hard because the more direct honoring names like [name_m]Clint[/name_m] and [name_f]Patricia[/name_f] I just don’t love like some of the more obsurce nature ones, which fit it better with our others kids. I do really like [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] and [name_u]Dale[/name_u] especially since they are family names in their own right. Thanks!

@emmamay - Thank you for the compliments and the feedback! I adore all the names in your signature as well! :). Thanks for the [name_f]Clover[/name_f] and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] love and for pointing out the [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] [name_f]Isle[/name_f] connection! I love that! We are not Irish but I have an Irish name [name_u]Kelly[/name_u] so that connection as well.

One other name combo I forgot to list above is [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Peony[/name_f]. [name_f]Peony[/name_f] shares the P middle initial with [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] and peonies are in bloom around my brother’s birthday. They are my favorite flower and were in my wedding bouquet. [name_m]Just[/name_m] another one to consider! :). Thanks again for the comments so far!

5

@vestigesofsummer - Thank you so much for your detailed feedback! I really appreciate it! It is so hard because the more direct honoring names like [name_m]Clint[/name_m] and [name_f]Patricia[/name_f] I just don’t love like some of the more obscure nature ones, which fit it better with our others kids. I do really like [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] and [name_u]Dale[/name_u] especially since they are family names in their own right. Thanks!

@emmamay - Thank you for the compliments and the feedback! I adore all the names in your signature as well! :). Thanks for the [name_f]Clover[/name_f] and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] love and for pointing out the [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] [name_f]Isle[/name_f] connection! I love that! We are not Irish but I have an Irish name [name_u]Kelly[/name_u] so that is a nice connection as well.

One other name combo I forgot to list above is [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Peony[/name_f]. [name_f]Peony[/name_f] shares the P middle initial with [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] and peonies are in bloom around my brother’s birthday. They are my favorite flower and were in my wedding bouquet. [name_m]Just[/name_m] another one to consider! :). Thanks again for the comments so far!

6

Super love [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] [name_f]Clover[/name_f]!!! I think it’s perfect!!

7

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if [name_f]Clover[/name_f] was too much of a stretch, but I think it is such a sweet name. :slight_smile: