Middle name tradition problem

What would you do in our predicament:

All of our nieces & nephews, plus our own daughter have family middle names. If this next baby is a girl, we are struggling to find a family name that hasn’t already been used/that we actually like.

My mom is [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]. Mother in law is [name_f]Cynthia[/name_f]. Husbands grandma is [name_f]Alicia[/name_f]. We aren’t crazy over any of these. :confused: For our first daughter, we used [name_f]Joy[/name_f] to honor my grandma [name_u]Joyce[/name_u].

Our ideas so far:
[name_u]June[/name_u] - my moms birth month.
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] - my moms birth month flower & we have great grandma Roses’ in both of our families.
[name_f]Daisy[/name_f]- my [name_f]MIL[/name_f]’s birth month flower & my great great grandmas name.
[name_f]Violet[/name_f]- my birth month flower.

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think using an “honor name” like this would take away from the family name tradition all her cousins & sister would have?

First names were considering are [name_f]Nola[/name_f], [name_u]Scout[/name_u] & [name_f]Isla[/name_f].

Any suggestions are welcome!

Have you considered Nanette? It sounds similar to both Nancy and Nana (like grandmother) and if that’s not a sweet tribute I don’t know what is. I like June and Rose as well. Nancy also means Grace so Hannah or Annelise could work.

I don’t think it would take away from the tradition to use a word name instead. The cousins are named by their parents and your children are named by you and if that’s the way you want to honour them then that’s awesome. It doesn’t make it any less.

For a first name I like Scout best from your list. I would suggest keeping it unisex in order to make it feel like a sister to Piper but I’ve included a few non unisex choices too -

Other options -

Greer Nanette
India Nanette
Mackenzie Hannah
Finley Hannah
Charlie Nanette
Bailey Nanette
Remi Nanette
Dakota Nanette
Journey Hannah
Delaney Hannah
Blakely Nanette
Sage Anneliese
Paisley Nanette
Skyler Nanette
Mckinley Hannah
Leighton Anneliese
Wren Anneliese
Oakley Nanette
Nia Anneliese
Hallie Nanette
Poppy Nanette
Brinley Nanette
Landry Nanette
Frankie Hannah
Andie Nanette
Gwen Hannah
Casey Nanette
Zion Anneliese
Spencer Nanette
Presley Nanette
Brooke Nanette
Alana Nanette
Aubrey Nanette

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f]: any [name_f]Ann[/name_f] variant
[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f]: [name_f]Thea[/name_f]?
[name_f]Alicia[/name_f]: [name_f]Alice[/name_f]?

Personally wouldn’t feel honored by a favorite flower but that’s just me.

My favourite first name for you would be [name_u]Scout[/name_u]! I think it goes best with [name_u]Piper[/name_u].

You could maybe use [name_f]Anne[/name_f] to honour [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]? Although I think [name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Anne[/name_f] would be a little too short for my liking, [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Anne[/name_f] could maybe work. Or [name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Anna[/name_f]?

[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Rosa[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Thea[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Cinda[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]
[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_u]June[/name_u]

I personally wouldn’t consider a birth flower an honour name, but everyone is different.

Would you consider [name_f]Alice[/name_f] or [name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f] as middle names?

Because the name [name_u]Scout[/name_u] can be perceived as a little less versatile than your other two options, if you go with [name_u]Scout[/name_u] as the first name, you might want to choose a middle name that would make you comfortable if your daughter chose to go by it at some point in her life.

[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f]

I also quite like [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]. I think it is has some of the upbeat spunk and cheer of your older daughter’s name and to my ear, [name_f]Isla[/name_f] sounds great with [name_u]Piper[/name_u].

For me personally honor names are about honoring the person you most want to honor. And I think the honor is most obvious if you use the actual name. That’s why my youngest has [name_u]James[/name_u] as a middle, probably the most common boy’s middle name there is… but that is my dad’s name. I could have used [name_u]November[/name_u] (birth month), [name_m]Edward[/name_m] (his middle name) or many other possibilities to make his name more distinct… but they feel more removed to me. And would probably feel more removed to my dad and my son…
It’s personal preference. If a month or flower makes you happiest, go for it. But for me, my preference is to use the honoree’s name, regardless of how it flows or how I feel about the name.

Since you’ve used [name_f]Joy[/name_f] to honour a [name_u]Joyce[/name_u], you have precedent for using similar/related names, rather than the exact name–opens up the options!

[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] - [name_f]Thea[/name_f]; this name is associated with both [name_u]Artemis[/name_u] and [name_f]Selene[/name_f]/[name_f]Selena[/name_f] in Greek mythology (removed, but if you tell people about the connection? Maybe? It would work for me!). I like the [name_f]Selene[/name_f]/a option, since there’s both a mythological connection and a similar sound. [name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Selene[/name_f]?

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f] - any [name_f]Anne[/name_f]-related name; [name_f]Annabel[/name_f], [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f], [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. As previous commenters have said, [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Nancy[/name_f] is lovely–I think the combination brings out the playful side of [name_f]Nancy[/name_f] and goes really well with sister [name_u]Piper[/name_u] [name_f]Joy[/name_f].

[name_f]Anthea[/name_f] is a lovely name in its own right, but could in your case also be used as one of the combination names that honours two people? [name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Anthea[/name_f]?

[name_f]Alicia[/name_f] - as an [name_f]Alice[/name_f] variant, there are so many related names that have a fairly direct connection to this one! [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], [name_f]Alida[/name_f], [name_u]Alix[/name_u], [name_f]Alison[/name_f], [name_f]Heidi[/name_f], [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Adaline[/name_f], [name_f]Ada[/name_f]? [name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Adaline[/name_f], [name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]?

[name_f]Do[/name_f] the women in your family who you want to honour have particular hobbies or interests that could be used as a more personal honour name? A favourite flower, a favourite character, a favourite locale–any of these could work, and many others. In my family, my mother has a passion for irises (the flower), which has been established her whole adult life. I’ve seriously considered using [name_f]Iris[/name_f] as an honour name for her, since my family also has about three names shared between all of the women and could do with some new ones :slight_smile:

I agree that since you’ve already [name_f]Joy[/name_f] to honor [name_u]Joyce[/name_u], using another variant of a relative’s name is a good way to go. And there are plenty of options!

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f] is a diminutive of [name_f]Ann[/name_f], so a different variant would make a nice substitute - [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Annette[/name_f], [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f], [name_f]Annika[/name_f], [name_f]Anais[/name_f], [name_f]Anouk[/name_f], [name_f]Anya[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], or [name_f]Nina[/name_f].

[name_f]Alicia[/name_f] is a variant of [name_f]Alice[/name_f], so along those same lines - [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Alyssa[/name_f], [name_u]Allison[/name_u], [name_f]Ailis[/name_f], or [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f].

[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] proves more difficult than the others since it has a very different origin, but it does have the short form [name_f]Cindy[/name_f], which could be transposed into [name_f]Cydney[/name_f]/[name_u]Sydney[/name_u]. The suggestions [name_f]Thea[/name_f], [name_f]Anthea[/name_f], and [name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f] also have enough sounds in common to work.

[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Anouk[/name_f]
[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_u]Allison[/name_u]
[name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Alyssa[/name_f]
[name_u]Scout[/name_u] [name_f]Anthea[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Annette[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Cydney[/name_f]

Since [name_u]Joyce[/name_u] was shortened to [name_f]Joy[/name_f], I see no reason why [name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] can’t be shortened to [name_f]Cynda[/name_f].

I agree w/pps who have said that a variant of the name to be honored works well, & if someone wanted to use my birth month, flower, birth stone, favorite flower, etc., as a way to honor me I’d be fine w/that too.

Also, my brother & his wife used the name Christina as their first daughter’s middle name to honor our maternal grandmother…whose name was actually Mathilde (although she had been Tekla until the nuns told her that Tekla was a heathen name & henceforth her name would be Mathilde…guess they didn’t know about St. Tekla). Nana never like Mathilde, or Tilly (what my grandfather called her), & at her first singles meeting a year or so after Pop-Pop died, she stood up to introduce herself & what came out of her mouth was “Hi, I’m Tina.” :slight_smile:

[name_u]Piper[/name_u] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] and [name_f]Nola[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] will be my choice - I kinda like [name_u]Scout[/name_u] too but I can’t combine [name_u]Scout[/name_u] with the mns you listed - some ideas from me

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f] - [name_f]Annis[/name_f], [name_f]Ana[/name_f]ïs, [name_f]Agnesa[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], [name_f]Ines[/name_f], [name_f]Anouk[/name_f], [name_f]Ani[/name_f] and [name_f]Anoushka[/name_f]

[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] - [name_u]Artemis[/name_u], Artemisia or [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] since famous Greek twins were from Kynthos

[name_f]Alicia[/name_f] - [name_f]Alesia[/name_f], [name_f]Alessia[/name_f], [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Alisha[/name_f], [name_f]Alissa[/name_f], [name_f]Alyssa[/name_f], [name_f]Alison[/name_f], [name_f]Lyssa[/name_f], [name_u]Ali[/name_u], [name_f]Adelais[/name_f], Aleida, [name_u]Alix[/name_u], [name_f]Elke[/name_f] and [name_f]Ada[/name_f]

Rose - Rosa, Rosabelle, Rosalie, Roza, Rosalia, Rosetta, Rosina, Roselle, Roslyn, Roisin

Violet - Viola, Violette, Violetta

June flowers - Peony, Belemir (cornflower), Alchemilla, Nigella

February flowers - Calla, Amaryllis, Zinnia, Nerines (Nerissa/Naerys), Iris

April flowers - Freesia, Forsythia

Amethyst or Ametist
Diamond or Diamas, Almas, Elmas
Pearl or Perla, Perlita or ↓
Margaret - Margery, Marjorie, Margoux, Margot, Margo

My favorite from your list is [name_u]June[/name_u]. Maybe consider using [name_f]Alice[/name_f] or another [name_m]Al[/name_m]- name to honor [name_f]Alicia[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f]/[name_f]Theodora[/name_f] to honor [name_f]Cynthia[/name_f], or [name_f]Anne[/name_f]/[name_f]Anna[/name_f] to honor [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]? (Also, if you repeat a middle name within a family, not the end of the world. I know a family with four kids who all have the same middle name, which happens to be the last name of all the cousins on their mom’s side.)