I’ve written before but now have a new question for you all.
My 4 yr. old daugher is named [name]Eleanor[/name] F (my last name which i kept) D (husband’s last name). At the time, I really wanted her to maintain a connection to my side of the family since I’ll be the last generation to carry my last name and I thought 2 middle names to be unnecessary. Of course, now 4 years later, I’m all about using as many names as possible.
Now we are expecting twins, a boy and a girl, and for some reason this time around I feel like i want to give them middle names (after my grandparents) but i’d also like to add my last name in there as well. For example, for the twin boy I have [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Micah[/name] F (2 syllables) D(one syllable).
[name]Do[/name] you think it’s awkward that my first, [name]Eleanor[/name], will not have a second middle name? On the other hand, it really gives me a chance to honor more family members. Would love some feedback on this dilemna. I even thought of going back and adding another mn to [name]Eleanor[/name] so that she wouldn’t feel left out.
Also, still have no clue for the girl’s name other than that the middle name would be either [name]Claire[/name] or [name]Clara[/name] after my grandmother. There are only 3 names that my husband and I more or less agree on. Would love your thoughts on these as well. They are:
[name]Gwendolen[/name] [name]Claire[/name] (not sure if too many consonants with our short D last name - concerned that it might be too much of a mouthful)
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Claire[/name] (saw this one on another post - sorry if i’m poaching but i really liked it)
[name]Charlotte[/name] + new middle name (as [name]Charlotte[/name] would stand for the [name]Clara[/name] after my grandmother)
So, it would be [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Nathaniel[/name] and ?
Firstly, I adore [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Micah[/name], [name]Clara[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name].
I think two middle names is just fine, and I understand your wanting to choose middle names other than surnames. My only worry is that [name]Eleanor[/name] may later wish that she had more than one mn, too.
A solution to this, and also perhaps a good way of making her feel less usurped when the twins arrive, could be to give her another mn. It isn’t too difficult to change names, although I don’t know the American system, and your daughter could have some say in what her mn is (although be wary of giving a child too much free rein with their name, of course - she may end up [name]Eleanor[/name] Tinkerbell!).
[name]Gwendolen[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - I absolutely adore this, and the nicknames [name]Gwen[/name] and [name]Wendy[/name], but I fear that with a D surname it may be too much.
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - the consonants jar a little with each other in my mind, but both names are very pretty.
[name]Charlotte[/name] - an absolute classic, this goes excellently with both [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name].
So [name]Charlotte[/name] ___ gets my vote!
Middle name ideas :
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Marie[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name].
I don’t think it’s too much to have your last name and their own middle name. It sounds like neither your maiden nor DH’s last name is too long, so that’s probably good.
I like [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Micah[/name]–what a handsome name!
Would you consider using [name]Clara[/name] for the first name? Then both [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] would have your maiden as their middle, and only the boy would be different with an extra middle? I think [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] sound great as sisters, and [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] are a good twin set as well.
If you don’t like that idea, I love the name [name]Gwendolen[/name] (of course!). I don’t think that the d in [name]Gwendolen[/name] is too much with a last name D; I think it adds to the flow. [name]Gwendolen[/name] [name]Claire[/name] F___ D___ is lovely. My concern would actually be if you intend to call her [name]Gwen[/name]. [name]Gwen[/name] D____ may be too abrupt since last name is also only one syllable and usually in life you just use the first and last name without the middles to break it up. I call my DD [name]Gwendolyn[/name] about 80% of the time, but others usually shorten it to [name]Gwen[/name].
[name]Juliet[/name] is a beautiful name, and again is a great sister to [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name]. I think with [name]Juliet[/name] I prefer [name]Clara[/name]–[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Clara[/name] F___ D___.
[name]Charlotte[/name] is also a favorite of mine. To use this would depend on how directly you wish to honor your grandmother. [name]Charlotte[/name] is not as close of an association. Although [name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is a beautiful combo if you wish to still include your grandma in there. [name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Claire[/name] F____ D___.
So I’m not sure I was any help here. All 3 girls names are beautiful. If you go with a middle plus your maiden, I vote for:
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Clara[/name] F____ D____
If you’re willing to have [name]Nathaniel[/name] be the only one with the extra middle, I’d vote for:
[name]Clara[/name] F____ D____.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving the twins two middles, and as Twinkle said, you can always give [name]Eleanor[/name] another middle. If you were going to give one twin two middles and the other only one, then I’d think it would be a bit unbalanced, but as long as both twins will have two middles, I think it’s fine.
I love the sound of [name]Gwendolyn[/name] [name]Claire[/name], but I think another name would work better with [name]Nathaniel[/name].
I really love [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Claire[/name], as well as [name]Charlotte[/name].
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Frances[/name] (unless your last name has two syllables)
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Hope[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Mirabelle[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Mae[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Rosalie[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is one of my favorite girl names! (in fact, I think that the post you’re referring to is mine in which case, I don’t mind you “poaching” one bit!
I truly don’t believe that excluding [name]Eleanor[/name] from the two middle name thing is something to worry about. I just think it’s really nice that you’re honoring more people. If this is still a big concern to you, you could do what another poster on nameberry did (I think it was dotsmom) which was add another middle name to her two-year old so she would match her twin-sisters-to-be. It’s an excellent way to honor family members.
I don’t think it’s strange for you to want to give your children a ‘standard’ middle name as well as your maiden name – it’s quite a common practice in [name]Britain[/name] to have (first name)(middle name)(maiden name)(surname).
I would however suggest that you also give your daughter a second name as well. I have 2 middle names ([name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Lauren[/name] [name]Margaret[/name] [surname]) as the extra name was in honour of my great-grandmother, whereas my sister only got 1 ([name]Miranda[/name] [name]Helen[/name] [surname]). She gets quite annoyed that she didn’t get two names as well.
I think all the names you are considering are lovely. [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Charlotte[/name] are my favourite. I think [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Clara[/name] looks best for both flow and how it looks/sounds in the sibset.
My sister’s son has 2 middle names, the second of which is a family surname. Initials C.D.R.C. She has encountered on more than one occasion, think the doctors office was the first, where people had filed her son under R, thinking that he had a double barrelled last name with out hyphenation. Confusion aside, I think his names all sound great together and I imagine would give him a great sense of belonging - that someone would want to give him so many names that all have special significance. I’m all for lots of middle names.
My two oldest children have one middle, my youngest two had/have two middles. I lost my third child at birth (that is why I said Had/Have). I don’t see it as a problem. Give your newest children as many middles as pleases you.
Thanks for all the great comments! (Twinke, you’re so right about [name]Eleanor[/name], she’s actually planning on being Tinkerbelle for Halloween so I’m sure if I left it up to her she’d come up with a mn like that or any of the other princesses/fairies)
I feel a lot more reassured about going forward with the 2 mn including my surname as one of them and will figure out what to do with [name]Eleanor[/name] later. My DH thinks it’s a little weird to go back and change her name although I don’t see it as a problem.
Also, thanks lili for letting me “poach” your name of [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Claire[/name]. It’s really growing on me and since my husband hasn’t complained, I’m thinking he really likes it too!
