Middle name to go with unusual Irish first name

[name]Hi[/name] berries,

We are expecting our second child in early [name]August[/name], a brother or sister for [name]Sorcha[/name] [name]Verity[/name]. We have first names set in stone for either gender, and a middle chosen for a boy. [name]Alas[/name], a middle name for a wee girl is eluding us.

I don’t want to post the first name, as it is quite unusual and it may cloud the issue with accusations of “crazy Irish spelling syndrome”. Suffice it to say, it is very similar to [name]Caoimhe[/name] (KEE-vah) in dominant sounds, number of syllables, and “a” ending.

Surname is double-barrelled, similar to [name]Grant[/name]-McKay.

Some of the middles we have been tossing around are:

[name]Reverie[/name] (love the meaning but it seems slightly trendy)

Razzell (my grandmother’s maiden name, rhymes with “gazelle”)

[name]Cecily[/name] (we both love it, but I think the soft C clashes with the hard C of the first name)

As you can see, we have a thing for 3-syllable ends in “ee” sounds, as with [name]Verity[/name]. But we need a bit of inspiration iwth this one. As first name was my choice, hubby has final veto on middle.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

I think razell is really cute, and different. I’d go with that. [name]Reverie[/name] does seem very trendy.

I don’t think [name]Reverie[/name] is trendy as it’s not being used at all. I’d love to know the first name so I can come up with middles that work with it, but since you’re worried about it, I’ll just post names similar to what you have using [name]Caoimhe[/name] as the first.

[name]Reverie[/name] and Razzell both sound pretty cool with [name]Caoimhe[/name].

[name]How[/name] about (all 3 syllable ending in the ee sound):

[name]Amity[/name]
[name]Bellamy[/name]
[name]Bethany[/name]
[name]Clarity[/name]
[name]Clemency[/name]
[name]Destiny[/name]
[name]Melody[/name]
[name]Romilly[/name]
[name]Symphony[/name]
[name]Trinity[/name]
[name]Amelie[/name]
[name]Elodie[/name]
[name]Ottilie[/name]
[name]Rosalie[/name]
[name]Melanie[/name]

I vote Razzell! It has significance for you, looks excellent written with those two Zs and two Ls, and I think it has the best rhythm with the other names.
Next favorite would be [name]Cecily[/name].

I often like repeated sounds, but I dislike the repeated V-sounds in [name]Caoimhe[/name] and [name]Reverie[/name].

I like [name]Caoimhe[/name] [name]Cecily[/name]. I think the two C sounds go nicely!

[name]Caoimhe[/name] Razzell is lovely!

“[name]Caoimhe[/name]” [name]Cecily[/name] and [name]Sorcha[/name] [name]Verity[/name] are mirror-images of each other. If matching up is your main aim, then you can’t do better.

However, I really like the persona significance-- and pretty cool sound/appearance-- of Razzell. It would be my choice. [name]Sorcha[/name] and [name]Caoimhe[/name] are matchy enough already.

I like both [name]Reverie[/name] and Razzell. I think I slightly prefer [name]Caoimhe[/name] Razzell [name]Grant[/name]-McKay. [name]Reverie[/name] is a lovely sounding word, but it’s never made the jump to name for me. Good luck! I’d love to know the name you really chose.

Thanks, everyone, for the opinions and suggestions. Dantea, you put forth many of the names we’ve talked about, but that just weren’t. “it”. [name]Blade[/name], I take the point about matchy-ness: it wasn’t an explicit goal, but we did kind of appreciate that similar middles could be a link between sisters. The pattern is not a must, just seems to be where we gravitate. I’m pleasantly surprised by the love shown for razzell: family members have been trying to dissuade us because it’s "too unusual " or that the full name would have too many “surnames”.

Finally, hubby made some suggestions of his own: [name]Serenity[/name] and… Firefly :slight_smile:

I understand the “too many” surnames issue and it is a little tricky or the string of names can become like the name of a law firm. I prefer [name]Cecily[/name]…it is a little matchy with [name]Verity[/name] but still very sweet and the K and C sounds are different enough to my ear. Second choice would be [name]Serenity[/name], very unexpected but pretty. “[name]Caoimhe[/name] Firefly” sounds a bit like a brand or product rather than a name. Good luck!

While I love [name]Reverie[/name], my vote goes to Razell, it has a pretty sound and meaning for you. And makes for a unique name with history to back it up :slight_smile:

Razzell reminds of Raziel (rah-zee-ell or rah-[name]ZELL[/name] to rhyme with gazelle :)) and [name]Raziela[/name]. Which is an angel name like [name]Gabriel[/name] or [name]Raphael[/name]. That was what I thought of, not a surname-y thing at all. I don’t think slight surname-iness is a problem in a middle name anyway, especially if it’s a family name.

While my mind is on that track, I like [name]Razili[/name] (rah-zee-lee) more than [name]Reverie[/name]. But [name]Reverie[/name] is cute. Maybe too cute?

I wonder if I wouldn’t maybe try to ground a very uncommon Irish name with a more known name, like [name]Rosemary[/name]? I think [name]Cecily[/name] works well in that regard, but the soft-C-hard-C thing is a bit jarring. [name]Coralie[/name] would be better in that sense.

I do like [name]Reverie[/name] and [name]Cecily[/name]'s three-syllables end in -ee. I like many names like that, [name]Verity[/name] was a gorgeous one. Others I haven’t mentioned so far: [name]Naomi[/name], [name]Ione[/name], Betony, Dimity, [name]Bryony[/name], [name]Jessamy[/name], and [name]Amity[/name], the last of which I wouldn’t use with [name]Verity[/name] but I heart both.

peach - the “Firefly” suggestion was my husband’s (tongue-in-cheek) attempt at [name]Joss[/name] Whedon-worship: [name]Serenity[/name] & Firefly… So needless to say that one I vetoed :slight_smile: