I’m pregnant with a boy, but trying to think of a girl name just in case there was a mistake on the ultrasound. There’s a good chance this will be the name we use in the future if we have a girl.
We want to use family names of relatives that are meaningful to us. First name will likely be [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], after my aunt. The middle name will come from my husband’s side. The front runners are [name_u]Ray[/name_u] or [name_f]Janice[/name_f].
I love [name_u]Ray[/name_u] as a middle for a girl, but I’m not sure how good it sounds with [name_f]Pearl[/name_f]…both monosyllabic. Which do you think works better: [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u] or [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Janice[/name_f]?
Any ideas on variations of these names that could work?
Thanks! We want to avoid two middle names, because our last name is hyphenated and we don’t want too many names. I agree it is unfortunate that our favorite first name and favorite middles don’t seem to flow too well!
Any ideas on derivatives of [name_f]Janice[/name_f]? I’m wondering about [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Jania[/name_f], perhaps?
I actually like [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u]. But I find myself saying it all in one breath–as though it’s all one name. [name_f]Kinda[/name_f] has a country vibe to it in my mind.
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Janette[/name_f]/Jaenette/[name_f]Jannette[/name_f] (thinking the [name_m]French[/name_m] pronunciation)
I know a [name_f]Janice[/name_f] who pronounces it Ja-niece. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about it being monosyllabic.
[name_f]Janice[/name_f] [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] has a ring to it. Have you considered something like that?
I like the suggestion of going with the Ja-niece pronunciation. But in that case, I’d change the spelling of [name_f]Janice[/name_f] to Janese.
I also wonder if instead of [name_u]Ray[/name_u], you’d consider [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]? [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] (nn [name_u]Ray[/name_u]) is lovely and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] sounds better than [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u].
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u] kind of sound like puree.
[name_m]How[/name_m] would you feel about [name_f]Mireille[/name_f]? It’s a french name and is pronounce mee-[name_u]RAY[/name_u]. [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] is also the long form of [name_u]Ray[/name_u]/[name_u]Rae[/name_u].
Copying this entire thing from BehindTheName.
“[name_f]JANICE[/name_f]
GENDER: Feminine
USAGE: English
PRONOUNCED: [name_u]JAN[/name_u]-is [key]
Meaning & [name_m]History[/name_m]
Elaborated form of [name_f]JANE[/name_f], created by [name_m]Paul[/name_m] [name_m]Leicester[/name_m] [name_m]Ford[/name_m] for his novel ‘[name_f]Janice[/name_f] [name_u]Meredith[/name_u]’ (1899).
Related Names
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VARIANTS: [name_f]Janelle[/name_f], [name_f]Janet[/name_f], [name_f]Janey[/name_f], [name_f]Janie[/name_f], [name_f]Jennie[/name_f], [name_f]Jenny[/name_f], [name_f]Janae[/name_f], Janeka, [name_f]Janel[/name_f], Janele, [name_f]Janella[/name_f], [name_f]Janessa[/name_f], [name_f]Janette[/name_f], [name_f]Janis[/name_f], [name_f]Jannette[/name_f], Jayna, [name_f]Jaynie[/name_f], [name_f]Jeni[/name_f], [name_f]Jenna[/name_f], [name_f]Jenni[/name_f]
DIMINUTIVES: [name_u]Jan[/name_u], [name_f]Janna[/name_f], [name_f]Janetta[/name_f], [name_f]Jannah[/name_f]
OTHER LANGUAGES: [name_f]Jeannette[/name_f], [name_f]Jeannine[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanette[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanine[/name_f] ([name_m]French[/name_m]), [name_f]Zsanett[/name_f] (Hungarian), Sinéad (Irish), Zhannochka (Russian), [name_u]Jessie[/name_u], Sìneag, Teasag (Scottish), [name_f]Siana[/name_f], Siani, [name_f]Sioned[/name_f] (Welsh)”
Thanks! I love all of these suggestions. Let me throw out one more idea…what do you all think of [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Maxine[/name_f]? This is another family name on my husband’s side. I am not sure if it overpowers [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] or complements it.
I think other posters covered the [name_u]Ray[/name_u] and [name_f]Janice[/name_f] thing, so I won’t go over them. It might just be me, but I really like [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Maxine[/name_f]. to me, [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] is sweet and demure, so [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] adds some zest to her. My only question is, do you mind only using family names for her? What about future siblings and family names? Would you mind not using family for some children? Things to think about
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
Any of the variant forms of [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], which means “[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]”
[name_f]Greta[/name_f] [name_u]Raye[/name_u]
Thanks! We have some more family names to go around for future children We are getting started with our family on the late side so hopefully will have one more but probably not more than that.
I’m glad you like [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] as a middle. I know my husband is a big fan of that name - it was his grandmother’s!
We are getting started with our family on the late side so hopefully will have one more but probably not more than that.