Opinions, please (due in April)

General Name Discussion
1

Okay, so we don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy yet, and honestly, I don’t really trust them to figure it out, since I was supposed to be a boy :slight_smile: So we’ve still got two lists, but we’re saving the remainders for future siblings except where they obviously won’t go together. We have:

[name]Adam[/name]
[name]Eric[/name]
[name]Gabriel[/name]
[name]John[/name] [name]Paul[/name]
[name]Luke[/name]
[name]Nathan[/name]
[name]Patrick[/name] (hubby doesn’t like, but I’m not ready to let go yet)
[name]Reuben[/name]
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]Shannon[/name]
[name]Stephen[/name]
[name]Terence[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]

[name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Gwen[/name]
[name]Julie[/name]
[name]Lorraine[/name]
[name]Mary[/name] (nn [name]Molly[/name])
[name]Nadine[/name] (not my favorite, but suggested by DH)
[name]Noreen[/name]
[name]Penny[/name] (my sister who died as an infant, definitely want to use someday)
[name]Rosemarie[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Sara[/name]

We definitely have to name the first son [name]William[/name], but he will go by his middle name, just like his dad, and grandpa, and great-grandpa… And we need some more ideas for girls, maybe something seasonally-themed since he/she’ll be due around [name]Easter[/name].

Thoughts on the names, likelihood of being thought “weird” (by other kids on one end or by their grandparents and great-grandparents, all of whom are forward enough to tell the child their opinion of its name straight out)?

We’re pretty well set on [name]Sara[/name] if it’s a girl, just figuring out a middle name, and we’re less sure for a boy, but [name]Luke[/name], [name]Nathan[/name], and [name]Theodore[/name] are front-runners right now.

When we’ve figured that out, how do you tailor your list to be appropriate for sib-set naming after the first?

2

I’m liking [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Luke[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Penny[/name].

3

I like [name]Sara[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] for a girl and [name]William[/name] [name]Nathan[/name] for a boy.
When you’re expecting your second, take out the names that you don’t love anymore or you don’t like how they sound with your child’s name. That’s what I would do.

4

Oo, thanks girls! [name]Catherine[/name] is my second-favorite out of all of them, after [name]Sara[/name], and you know how sometimes you want to “save” one for a first name? [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Penny[/name] is kind of my “if we ever have another girl” idea. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help with the middle name for this one though.

5

Absoultely love [name]William[/name] [name]Nathan[/name]! [name]How[/name] handsome and regal, and very boyish! [name]Love[/name] the nickname [name]Nate[/name]. Would you ever consider [name]William[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name]? I must admit i like the flow slightly more - but there is absolutely nothing wrong with [name]William[/name] [name]Nathan[/name].

As for the girls, [name]Sara[/name] is a classic - but coming with classic sometime comes boring. You’ll just have to be worried about 10 other girls having the same name as her in school. I wish it weren’t so popular, as it is such a beautiful name! Not sure if that bothers you so much or not. I much prefer other names on your list like [name]Rosemarie[/name] (how adorable is the nick name [name]Romie[/name]?!), and [name]Eleanor[/name] (gotta love the [name]Ellie[/name] nicknames!)! Also, i love the significance behind the name [name]Penny[/name] for you guys. Would you consider it more as a first name, rather then losing it to the middle? If you want less of a nickname first name you could always use [name]Penelope[/name], with the nn [name]Penny[/name].

I liked the idea of sort of tying the girls name into the time of year shes born ([name]Easter[/name]) so how about these names that remind me of spring and that time of year:
[name]Sunday[/name] (nn [name]Sunny[/name] or [name]Daisy[/name])
[name]Flora[/name]
[name]Poppy[/name]
[name]Clementine[/name]
[name]Lily[/name] - flower most commonly associated with easter
[name]Willow[/name]
[name]Palmer[/name] - “Palm” [name]Sunday[/name]
[name]Daisy[/name]
[name]Harriet[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Chloe[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name] - could be an alternative to [name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]

If you want to keep [name]Sara[/name], why not [name]Sara[/name] [name]Daisy[/name], [name]Sara[/name] [name]Laurel[/name], [name]Sara[/name] [name]Juliet[/name], [name]Sara[/name] [name]Lily[/name] OR if you’re open to other names then what about [name]Sunday[/name] [name]Penny[/name], [name]Daisy[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Clara[/name] [name]Rosemarie[/name] and [name]Eloise[/name] [name]Ruth[/name] (by the way must admit how much i love [name]Eloise[/name] [name]Ruth[/name] and [name]William[/name] [name]Nathan[/name] “[name]Nate[/name]” together!)

I really hope this helps! Good luck!

6

Thanks, asophie1! I really like the name [name]Penny[/name], although not [name]Penelope[/name]. We’re just concerned that using it as a first name would be painful for her poor grandma, if that makes sense. Your comments were really helpful.

The reason we chose [name]Sara[/name] is for my husband’s grandmother, who is obviously quite old and in ill health. She is from Hungary, so we wanted to pick a name that works in both Hungarian and would not be too strange for English speakers. We would have simply used her own first name, [name]Eva[/name], except in Hungarian it’s pronounced AY-va, as opposed to EE-va here. And we don’t like the spelling [name]Ava[/name].

7

Yes, i can definitely see what you mean how using [name]Penny[/name] as a first name would be tough…maybe too much like a “replacement”. It’s still a great name for the middle, as thats what i believe middles are for - to honour somebody deeply loved!

As well, now i see why [name]Sara[/name] makes 100% sense for you. I love the name [name]Eva[/name] and could easily pronounce it AY-va or EE-va, but since [name]Ava[/name] is the #1 name right now in popularity it really turns me off the Ay-va pronunciation. [name]Even[/name] though her name would be spelled [name]Eva[/name] she would still be amidst many [name]Ava[/name]'s and wouldn’t be set apart. (Thats why i don’t understand people who say spelling names differently is “unique” when really a [name]Michael[/name] and a Mykael are both still “Michaels” - if that makes sense?)

[name]How[/name] are you pronouncing [name]Sara[/name]? Are you saying it the classic [name]Sarah[/name] (sayr-ah) or Sah-rah? I’ve seen it pronounced both ways…and it factors into which middle names work best!

8

WE are just going to pronounce it plain old Sair-a, the regular way. The Hungarian way is kind of like Shah-raw, but we think [name]Oma[/name] can handle this because she doesn’t have a problem saying the “air” sound in my name. Of course, even if she says it her own way, that will be okay, I think our daughter will realize she doesn’t say any other word like everyone else either, and lapses into Hungarian about two-thirds of the time anyway :wink:

Our other choice was [name]Audrey[/name], actually. Adrienn is a fairly popular women’s name in Hungary, said like [name]Audrienne[/name], and the nickname is Adri (pronounced exactly like [name]Audrey[/name]). Maybe we’ll see her and switch back in the delivery room, you never know.