My husband and I are expecting our second child in [name_f]May[/name_f] 2016. If the baby is a girl, we have decided on [name_f]Willa[/name_f] as the first name. Once we announced my pregnancy, I was told my due date is very near my grandmother, [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u]'s birthday. I never had the opportunity to meet her, as she died in a car accident prior to my birth. It would be really nice for my entire extended family to honor her with the middle name of our child.
As much as I would like to do this, I am just not at all excited about either [name_f]Mary[/name_f] or [name_u]Lou[/name_u] as a middle for [name_f]Willa[/name_f]. Any ideas on a fresh, modern honor name that would fit well with the first name [name_f]Willa[/name_f]? I am open to any and all suggestions!
Our first child’s name is [name_f]Layla[/name_f] [name_f]Capri[/name_f], if that helps.
I think honoring your relative this way is a lovely gesture. Here are some suggestions that may work for your taste:
[name_f]Milou[/name_f] (MEE-lu) This is a [name_m]French[/name_m] contraction of [name_f]Marie[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f]
[name_f]Marilyn[/name_f]
[name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]
Lulamae
[name_f]Lumi[/name_f]
I personally am not a fan of [name_f]Willa[/name_f] because I believe that it sounds out of date next to [name_f]Layla[/name_f]. What about Wen [name_f]Mariana[/name_f] if you like the W. Wen, [name_m]Wilson[/name_m], [name_u]Wylie[/name_u], and [name_u]West[/name_u] are all cute and contemporary names that I personally believe suit [name_f]Layla[/name_f] better.
I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] the suggestion above of [name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Milou[/name_f]!!
I think just using the Spanish version would work too… [name_f]Willa[/name_f] Marilu? The pronunciation would be mar-ee-LOO instead of mair-ee-LOO, so I’m not sure if that’s enough of a difference for you, but it definitely looks prettier [name_f]IMO[/name_f]
Wow, thanks everyone for the thoughtful and prompt responses! You all thought of some names I hadn’t even considered!
[name_f]Willa[/name_f] is pretty much set in stone as an honor name for my Dad, [name_m]William[/name_m]. I realize it doesn’t fit the more modern [name_f]Layla[/name_f] perfectly, but I was hoping a more modern middle name would brighten it up a bit.
So far, I’m most excited about:
[name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Milou[/name_f] (I had considered [name_f]Malou[/name_f], but my husband was not a fan, especially with it’s rhyming with [name_f]Balou[/name_f])
[name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f]
Yes, [name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u] is the name of [name_u]Kari[/name_u] [name_m]Russell[/name_m]'s daughter. I was considering this until I saw an article saying that the child is bound to be teased because it sounds like “[name_m]Will[/name_m] you…”. It’s a stretch, but enough that it made me reconsider.
I’m trying to avoid the double ‘ah’ endings with like [name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Malia[/name_f] (though, it’s a beautiful name), to avoid it sounding too rhymey. Especially with us already having a [name_f]Layla[/name_f].
Keep the suggestions coming! I’m looking forward to sharing these with my husband when he gets home!
You could also look for names that honor the meaning of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u].
If you want more outside the box:
I always thought [name_f]Mary[/name_f] meant bitter sea but then recently read that it could also come from the old Egyptian word for love. [name_u]Lou[/name_u] ([name_f]Louise[/name_f]) is mostly going to mean famous. A famous love sounds much nicer than a famous bitter sea… doesn’t it? It made me think of goddess’ of love like Frigg, [name_f]Freya[/name_f], [name_f]Venus[/name_f], Hathor, [name_f]Milda[/name_f], or other love related names like: [name_f]Aimi[/name_f], Manami (which also means beautiful or sea/ocean) or [name_f]Adore[/name_f].
Personally I think [name_f]Willa[/name_f] Manami, or [name_f]Willa[/name_f] Frigg would be pretty cool and fresh.
After discussing with my husband, our new front-runner is [name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Mariel[/name_f]/[name_f]Marielle[/name_f]. I’m leaning slightly toward [name_f]Mariel[/name_f], but would love your feedback on which spelling looks best!
@ernewton, that depends on how you want it pronounced. [name_f]Mariel[/name_f] is generally pronounced [name_f]MAR[/name_f]-ee-ul, while [name_f]Marielle[/name_f] is generally mar-ee-[name_f]ELL[/name_f].
Would you consider [name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Maybeline[/name_f]? ([name_f]MAY[/name_f]-ba-leen)? It has similar sounds to [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u], and a similar rhythm… I really like it
Thank you very much! I was just googling to try to figure the pronunciation out. With that in mind, I think I prefer [name_f]Marielle[/name_f], but we’ll see what my husband thinks and go from there.
It’s a pretty name, but I immediately think of the make-up brand and their commercials…“maybe it’s maybe line”. I don’t think I can get past the reference!
I am due in [name_u]July[/name_u]. We have yet to find out the gender, but if baby is a girl we were wanting to honor my grandmother who is named [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u] as well. My mother’s name is [name_f]Valerie[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u].
A name we have considered is [name_f]Maren[/name_f] or possibly spelling it Maryn
