I’m a lifelong name fanatic and I’ve always been picky about first and last name pairings. Now I need some name nerd backup.
I’ve been fixated on the name [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] ever since discovering that my baby (due February) is a girl. A Nameberry favorite, and I’ve decided to overlook the fact it’s rising in the charts. My question deals with the last name: [name_m]Olson[/name_m]. (Common enough that I feel fine about sharing it.) [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_m]Olson[/name_m]. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_m]Olson[/name_m].
I can’t decide if the repeating long ‘o’ ties the names together, or if it makes it difficult to say.
I have a speech therapist friend who informed me that technically the two ‘o’ sounds are slightly different–since the long ‘o’ in ‘[name_m]Olson[/name_m]’ ends up quickly clipped by the ‘l’ sound. But I want opinions. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like how it sounds? [name_f]Do[/name_f] the repeating vowel sounds bug you, or do you like the repetition? [name_f]Do[/name_f] they make it harder for you to say–or easier?
We’d most likely use the nickname [name_u]Josie[/name_u], but I’m looking for opinions on the full name (which I plan on using, too). Other name contenders are [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], [name_f]Therese[/name_f], [name_f]Susannah[/name_f].
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is lovely, and is not difficult to say with your last name. On the other hand, [name_u]Josie[/name_u] is a little more difficult to say, not too bad, just a little harder
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you feel about [name_f]Gloria[/name_f] [name_m]Olson[/name_m]? [name_f]Nova[/name_f] [name_m]Olson[/name_m]? Or [name_f]Rosa[/name_f] Olsa? That’s what I feel towards [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. I like the fact that you chose a 3 syllable first name with your two syllable surname. Hopefully, your middle name is one syllable.
I find the repeating O sounds very obvious to my ear and I don’t care for it, particularly with [name_u]Josie[/name_u] [name_m]Olson[/name_m] but also [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is a lovely name. I just want to be honest about your question. Also consider that at times she might go by her last initial (not just because there is another in her class with the same name), so you’d also possibly have [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] O or [name_u]Josie[/name_u] O. If it’s your absolute favorite, then use it - it’s certainly not a terrible combination (like [name_m]Robert[/name_m] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] or [name_m]Joel[/name_m] [name_m]Cole[/name_m]). But if you have others you like about the same, I would cross off [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. From your list, I love [name_f]Susannah[/name_f]!
Thanks, all. Posting the question has made me realize the repeating sounds do bother me too much to use the name, so I’ll have to go another direction. But I think [name_u]Josie[/name_u] will remain her name while she’s in the womb.
