Berries, could you give me your opinion on this one… my lastest name crush for a girl is [name]Mirabelle[/name], I just love it in every way- it sounds fantastic with our last name, has great nn potential, is quirky and unusual, works with possible family names in the middle spot. [name]Love[/name] it. But here’s the problem: my little girl is called [name]Juniper[/name], which I think works perfectly with [name]Mirabelle[/name], but apparently [name]Mirabelle[/name] is a type of plum , and since [name]Juniper[/name] is a spice, is it all too foody? I really wanted to avoid another nature name and not get into a theme which I’m not a fan of, and and food stuffs seem a bit of an odd theme!
Have you heard of a [name]Mirabelle[/name] plum? (i hadn’t!) [name]Will[/name] it come up? Does it matter? What else could I use instead?
99% of non name enthusiasts will either not know, or care about this botanical (and food) connection. It’s not obvious like [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Lily[/name] or [name]Cherry[/name] and [name]Ginger[/name]. It’s a conifer and a plum.
I had a vague feeling that [name]Mirabelle[/name] is a plum, but only after you mentioned it having a foodie reference.
I think you’d be fine. A lot of people don’t make a spice connection for [name]Juniper[/name] either, they only think of it as a plant. So really don’t see it being a problem.
Great names - I’m interested to hear what you’d choose as a middle with [name]Mirabelle[/name]
I was completely unaware of the [name]Mirabelle[/name] [name]Plum[/name]. I had to look it up (and I love plums!)
I don’t think it will be an issue. I don’t think many people will know or care about the connection. I love [name]Mirabella[/name] and it does sound good with [name]Juniper[/name]
I don’t think it matters, as I don’t think many people will have heard of a [name]Mirabelle[/name] plum, they tend to just be sold as ‘plums’ rather than ‘[name]Mirabelle[/name] plums’.
I did know about them, but only because my mom did, and my mom knows all kinds of obscure things. And the only reason I know, is I once said to my mom (as I run names I like by my mom), “[name]Mirabelle[/name] [name]Plum[/name] - what do you think?” and that’s when she told me!
I did see the connection but I work at a restaurant to help me get through school and I’m a huge farmers market enthusiast. I think [name]Mirabelle[/name] and [name]Juniper[/name] are great together and I don’t think they are too theme. My reasoning is: [name]One[/name] is a fruit the other a spice. It’s not like you are going for [name]Juniper[/name] and [name]Anise[/name] or [name]Mirabelle[/name] and [name]Apple[/name]. I also think that the average person wouldn’t know that [name]Mirabelle[/name] plums exist or are even certain what [name]Juniper[/name] looks like. In actuality you are more likely to have people equate [name]Juniper[/name] with [name]Gin[/name] than with the plant. I’d go for it (actually I just added [name]Mirabelle[/name] to my favorite list due to your thread. ;)).
I’d never heard of the [name]Mirabelle[/name] plum either until now, and I wouldn’t have thought your names were themey at all, in fact they seem rather different in style to me ([name]Juniper[/name] comes across as modern and tomboyish to me, while [name]Mirabelle[/name] is frilly) Definitely safe to use.
Thanks everyone! Really good to hear that you think it’d be ok, especially since I fell for the name even more when I saw it in print with [name]Juniper[/name] when I posted the thread! They are quite obscure words, but since I’m both a foodie and a name nerd, it does pop out at me. I’m not sure if it will niggle at me a little bit that they are both nature names, I really don’t want it too seem too hippyish. But [name]Mirabelle[/name] will definitely stay on my list.
Bluejuniper, I’m not set on a middle name but I’d love to use a family name like I did with my daughter (her middle name is [name]Elise[/name] to honour my grandmother [name]Elizabeth[/name]). My great-aunt was [name]Susannah[/name], known as [name]Anna[/name] and I like both of those with [name]Mirabelle[/name]. My other great-aunt was [name]May[/name] and [name]Mirabelle[/name] [name]May[/name] is really cute!
[name]Just[/name] looked the name up again and there is also the [name]Mirabel[/name] spelling which takes the plum reference out of the equation. Its not as frilly as the [name]Mirabelle[/name] version, but still pretty. What do you think?
I love them together! If anyone knows, it’s not like it’s a bad association. Once you have a child, all you’ll think about when you hear that name is your child. My brother’s name has a fairly obvious connotation (think [name]Felix[/name] the [name]Cat[/name], or [name]Clifford[/name] the dog-- it’s like that) which I almost never think about and nobody has mentioned to him. I think both names are really sweet, especially together. Good luck!
