I am literally losing sleep over the stress of choosing a name for our 4th daughter.
The hardest part is, that being the name fanatic I’ve always been, I spend hours analyzing, studying, and falling in love with a name…only to have my dear husband shoot in down in 1 second flat with a “Na, I don’t like that.”
I envy couples who easily agree and love the same name - does that even happen? I’m not sure. LOL
So, our daughters names are [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Elle[/name_f]), [name_u]Devyn[/name_u] [name_u]Harmony[/name_u] (nn Devy) and [name_f]Selah[/name_f] [name_f]Hope[/name_f]. Their middle names come from a Bible verse I pray over their lives: Romans 15:13 “[name_f]May[/name_f] the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy [name_f]Spirit[/name_f].” With [name_f]Joy[/name_f], [name_u]Harmony[/name_u]/peace, and [name_f]Hope[/name_f] being used up…I guess we go with [name_f]Faith[/name_f] now for baby 4’s middle name? Although our surname is a 1 syllable name starting with F and my husband dislikes alliteration, ha. So…
For first names, I love names with significant meaning, that aren’t too popular and would love to use a 3 syllable name. I’ve always liked names such as [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] (but not [name_f]Lily[/name_f]) and [name_f]Felicity[/name_f] (but it starts with F…), or [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f], [name_f]Jolie[/name_f], even [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f]. My husband likes things such as [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]/[name_u]Charlie[/name_u], [name_u]Rory[/name_u], [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]/[name_u]Alex[/name_u], and well, NONE of these are working. [name_f]Anniston[/name_f] is a maybe on the list right now (but it lacks a strong meaning and not sure about her getting called [name_f]Ann[/name_f]/[name_f]Annie[/name_f])…and finally, the one we almost agreed on was Reilynn because it has family ties and another site said it means “woman of courage” but I can’t find it on nameberry…it feels like a made-up name, and I’ve since met quite a few boys named “[name_u]Rylan/name_u” which sounds way too similar. :-/
Any encouragement, advice, or name suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Congrats on your fourth daughter! This little one will be lucky to grow up with so many sisters.
As for naming, I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling so much with this decision. Your older girls each have very distinctive names, so I can see why number 4 is a challenge.
For the middle, I agree that [name_f]Faith[/name_f] works, although it’s not my favorite. Other suggestions stemming from the keywords “spirit”, “power”, “trust” and “overflow”:
[name_f]Enid[/name_f] - life/spirit
[name_f]Althea[/name_f] - healing power
[name_u]Aza[/name_u] - powerful
[name_f]Irie[/name_f] - positive and powerful
[name_f]Keren[/name_f] - strength/power
Amandla - power
[name_f]Amina[/name_f] - trustworthy/faithful
[name_u]True[/name_u] - word name associated with truth, but also true as in loyalty/trust/a “true blue” friend
[name_f]Rhea[/name_f] - a flowing stream
[name_f]Naia[/name_f] - to flow
[name_u]Jordan[/name_u] - flowing down
Romans - I think this could be cool, right from the root of the verse
I have less ideas on first names, but excited to see what the Berries come up with!
Thirdly I agree about Reilynn sounding made up. Also sometimes other name sites would put fake meanings to make parents feel better. If it’s not on Nameberry or behind the name it’s probably wrong.
Suggestions for names -
Gianna “The lord is gracious”
Ainsley “Ones own meadow”
Heidi “Of noble birth”
Marley “Pleasant seaside meadow”
Maisie “Pearl”
Bellamy “Fine friend”
Bryony “To sprout”
Judy “He will be praised”
Ariel “Lion of god”
Frankie “Free man”
Sasha “Defending men”
Stevie “Crown”
Simone “Hearking” (which means listening apparently)
Frida “Peaceful”
Austen “Venerable” (which is someone who garners a lot of respectful)
Thank you! I knew some berries would help get my mind out of this feeling of stuck/hopeless naming situation. This should be fun, but I have been stressing too much.
[name_f]Faith[/name_f] is also not my favorite and so it is helpful to get ideas outside of that box…loving [name_u]True[/name_u] right now. I also like [name_f]Mercy[/name_f] and [name_f]Grace[/name_f], but they happen to be taken by nieces in some way or another
My favorite on the first name suggestions is [name_f]Gianna[/name_f]. When I see it, I pronounce it “Gi-ON-ah” …but saw [name_m]JAHN[/name_m]-ah as nameberry’s way. Thoughts?
The only pronounciation I’ve heard is Jee-ah-nah and I looked it up it and most sources agree with me so I’d probably go for that pronounciation. [name_f]Gianna[/name_f] [name_u]True[/name_u] would be beautiful!
I actually was going to suggest [name_u]Arden[/name_u] but I didn’t know if “[name_f]Valley[/name_f] of the eagle” was a good meaning or not so I left it off.
The first name I thought of was [name_f]Olivet[/name_f]. There was a sweet baby at our former church named [name_f]Olivet[/name_f] [name_u]Oak[/name_u] and I loved how meaningful her name was.
I love your naming process, and Romans is such a good book to reference! I actually like [name_m]Roman[/name_m] as a name itself and I know a girl with that name and it suits her perfectly!
[name_u]Arden[/name_u] fits with the other names, but I’d also suggest:
[name_u]Shiloh[/name_u]
[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Magdalene[/name_f] ([name_f]Maggie[/name_f])
My husband’s favorites are [name_f]Anniston[/name_f] or [name_u]Arden[/name_u] currently…
I prefer [name_u]Arden[/name_u] and though its literal meaning isn’t my favorite, I like the connection/meaning it has for me as a [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] fan. In As You Like It, the [name_m]Forest[/name_m] of [name_u]Arden[/name_u] was a beautiful, peaceful place representative of an escape from the corrupt city.
I’ve never met an [name_u]Arden[/name_u] though and get mixed reviews when I’ve mentioned it to a few people here and there. (this is when my husband lectures me that I care too much about others’ opinions…)
I’m also told its a masculine name…but is it really? I did name my first daughter [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] after all. But I find [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] to be a pretty name and it honored my grandfather. It was either [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u] or [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] - and she loves her name even now that she’s older
[name_u]Arden[/name_u] works well with your girls’ names if you don’t mind the ending’s similarity to [name_u]Devyn[/name_u]'s name.
It also made me think of Ardent (fervent/enthusiastic/passionate; burning/ shining/glowing). I think it could work as a virtue middle name - ‘overflowing with hope’ seems pretty close to burning/shining fervently to me.
‘Ardent’ turns up in many biblical verses too (depending on which translation), e.g:
" Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. [name_f]Do[/name_f] not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the [name_m]Lord[/name_m]. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. " (Romans 12:9-12. ‘Ardent’ is in
12:11)
What about [name_f]Spirit[/name_f] for a middle name? Or Spirita? or Espirita? Or Mieli (Finnish word that can be translated as spirit)? Or [name_f]Anda[/name_f] (“and” is the Danish word for spirit).
I like [name_f]Zoya[/name_f] Spirita. It’s super unique and [name_f]Zoya[/name_f] means “life.” Life + spirit are fantastic things to wish on someone.
I like [name_u]True[/name_u] as a middle for you, I also like the suggestion of [name_u]Dove[/name_u] and maybe if you want something a little softer you might consider [name_u]Love[/name_u]? Though that might be too much.
I also wanted to suggest [name_f]Afton[/name_f]/[name_f]Aften[/name_f]
[name_u]Arden[/name_u] [name_u]True[/name_u] or [name_u]Arden[/name_u] [name_u]Dove[/name_u] would be precious. My vote definitely goes to one of those choices.
Personally i think [name_f]Spirit[/name_f] would make a great middle. l also like the suggestion of [name_u]True[/name_u], although I prefer [name_f]Verity[/name_f].
[name_u]Arden[/name_u] [name_u]True[/name_u] and [name_u]Arden[/name_u] [name_f]Spirit[/name_f] are very pretty and I do like [name_u]Arden[/name_u] with your sibset.
[name_u]Elliot[/name_u], [name_u]Devyn[/name_u], [name_f]Selah[/name_f] and
[name_u]Bellamy[/name_u] nn [name_f]Bella[/name_f]
[name_u]Rowan[/name_u] nn [name_f]Ro[/name_f]
[name_f]Tamsin[/name_f] nn [name_f]Tammy[/name_f]
[name_f]Mavis[/name_f]
[name_u]Aspen[/name_u]
[name_u]Ainsley[/name_u]
