My husband and I both love the name [name]Antonia[/name], but are a bit stuck on a middle. Here are the options we’ve (ok, I’ve) come up with that have personal meaning:
[name]Velvet[/name] -I know I previously said that [name]Antonia[/name] was a bit down our list due to middle name issues but since we had that conversation it has moved up. Our previous front runner had been [name]Augusta[/name] (followed by [name]Theodosia[/name] and distantly [name]Phillipa[/name] or [name]Octavia[/name]) but the nicknames don’t work as well for us with [name]Augusta[/name] so [name]Antonia[/name] is our front runner now, too. What are the chances we’d both use it and be due on the same day?? We won’t know whether it is a boy or girl, so it’s only 50/50 for us whether it’ll be our name in [name]November[/name].
Family meaning is everything to me - so I would choose the one that has the most meaning or balances honouring around the family. Your options are all lovely in their own right. It depends on the feeling you are going for and the family name. For us, we need a long, formal name that represents a confluence of interests between my husband’s significant [name]German[/name] heritage and well know family history and titles along with being useable and not too fussy in [name]Canada[/name] with my very English/[name]East[/name] Coast (don’t speak a work of [name]German[/name]) family. That’s why we gravitated to latin names with a pan-European feeling and a short, easy nickname like our daughter, Bened1kte Ev@ Nich0la, called [name]Bea[/name].
What feeling are you trying to evoke? Does [name]Antonia[/name] honour one side, in particular (it is a very heavy honorific on both sides for us). Tell me more!
I agree with kkrvf, I would choose the mn with the most personal/family significance to me (so long as it didn’t create a true issue - e.g. PIG initials or something). You say your top choice is [name]Eloise[/name] - [name]Antonia[/name] [name]Eloise[/name] is lovely.
@kkrvf, that would be amazing if we picked the same name! We aren’t going to find out sex, either, so it’s a waiting game. We also want names with personal meaning, and between us have French, Scottish, Caribbean, South [name]East[/name] [name]Asian[/name], Eastern European, Canadian and English heritage - so we have a lot of options. For some reason I keep coming back to [name]Eloise[/name], because I have a French name and want to keep the tradition going.
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Eloise[/name] and [name]Antonia[/name] [name]Leonie[/name] are both absolutely beautiful - what about something just as simple like [name]Antonia[/name] [name]Jane[/name]? Also loving:
I like [name]Antonia[/name]. I just finished reading a book where that was a character’s name. It’s four syllables so I would stick with a shorter middle even if you have a short last name like me. (I would probably avoid middle’s with more than two syllables.)
My favorites are:
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Maple[/name]
I like [name]Madeline[/name], but [name]Antonia[/name] [name]Madeline[/name] seems long especially if you have a long last name.
I don’t think [name]Eloise[/name] flows well with [name]Antonia[/name]. Too many vowels in both names for my taste and my tongue.
I don’t like [name]Leonie[/name] very much with [name]Antonia[/name]. I like both [name]Leonie[/name] and [name]Eloise[/name] as girl names on their own, and I wouldn’t be judgmental if you decided to use them regardless of flow.
If you’re thinking flow,
I do think some simpler forms of your middles would work:
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Elle[/name]
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Bee[/name] (or [name]Bea[/name] pronounced the same way)
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]June[/name]
I also don’t think of [name]Eloise[/name] as being particularly French.
Since you like French names:
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Esme[/name] (A lot of vowels but this simpler form works better to me.)
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Belle[/name]
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Aimee[/name] (or [name]Amy[/name])
And my favorite French names:
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] ( goes with the nature motif)
[name]Antonia[/name] [name]Margaux[/name] (Being a form of [name]Margaret[/name] of course it means [name]Pearl[/name])
I also like [name]Antonia[/name] [name]Jade[/name].
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The problem with a one syllable middle is that we are going to use my one syllable maiden name as a second middle, and our last name is one syllable, so I think the first middle needs to be either two or three syllables. Oherwise my baby’s name is going to sound like beat poetry.
