I know what you mean about [name]Rita[/name], for sure. It does seem to fit in with a lot of the other vintage names that are getting some recognition. If [name]Ruth[/name], why not [name]Rita[/name]?
Family names? Here’s a sampling, the more stars, the more important the person is to me:
***[name]Katherine[/name] [name]Ann[/name] nn [name]Kitty[/name] - mom
***[name]Ann[/name] [name]Rose[/name] nn [name]May[/name] [name]Ann[/name], birth certificate name [name]Annette[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Rose[/name], baptismal name [name]Anna[/name] [name]Rose[/name]! (She’s got a lot of names!) - my grandma
***[name]Lucretia[/name] [name]Elaine[/name] nn Creety -his mom. Though she hates her first name, and [name]Elaine[/name] has already been used on another granddaughter.
***[name]Ruth[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] - His grandma ([name]Elizabeth[/name] is probably my favorite name of all time)
**Lulette [name]Frost[/name] Jenness - my great-grandma
** [name]Cecilia[/name] - my other great-grandmother
** [name]Mary[/name] [name]Ruth[/name] - his other grandma, his mom’s mom, this might be a way to get around using his mom’s name, but sort of honoring her.
*** [name]Joy[/name] nee [name]Carol[/name] [name]Jean[/name] - my grandma’s baby who died a couple hours after she was born. This is a special one. I’d want to use [name]Joy[/name], because that’s what she’s always been referred to as. Though maybe I’d use something that means [name]Joy[/name], because my grandma is very sensitive about it still and she might not like to have to hear [name]Joy[/name].
[name]Eleanor[/name] - because one of my ancestors is [name]Eleanor[/name] of [name]Aquitaine[/name], who was the first person to have the name. I think that’d be fun.
Jenness- my middle name (a family name). It’s always been my favorite part of my name, so I’d sort of like to pass it along.
[name]Taylor[/name]- my maiden name, but it’s off the table because 1) it doesn’t sound good with my last name, [name]Becker[/name] 2) it’s so trendy and icky anywhere but the last name spot. I’d sort of like to find a nice variation. I kind of like [name]Taye[/name] as a middle for a boy.
More distant, but kind of cool: [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Celestia[/name], [name]Adeline[/name], [name]Sage[/name], [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Merlin[/name] (I like that for a girl!), [name]Constant[/name], Desire, [name]Hope[/name], Argotta, Blithilde, Gisle, Kunza, Williswinde, [name]Mathilde[/name], Tilley**, [name]Bellamy[/name] (oh my, I just found that!), [name]Bliss[/name], [name]Experience[/name], [name]Ziza[/name], Waite, Darling… ok, the list goes on, I’m stopping myself. I like the idea of using one of the more unusual, obscure family name from long ago. Especially in the middle, I think something like [name]Bliss[/name] or Darling could be really sweet in the middle if they found the right combo.
Sheesh, this is just girls! You asked for it, haha!