The other day, a friend of the family who is currently expecting her third daughter asked me about a name she and her husband are considering. Before I tell you the name, I’ll provide some background on [name]Meg[/name] and her husband, [name]Patrick[/name].
[name]Meg[/name] is a trained historian specializing in the early American colonies and the Pilgrims, but she currently works as a librarian. [name]Patrick[/name] is a chiropractor, but that has nothing to do with this. Anyway, [name]Meg[/name]'s specialty has really influenced their naming style; they have two girls, [name]Prudence[/name] [name]Amelia[/name], 9, and [name]Remember[/name] [name]Caroline[/name], 5.
A couple of months ago, [name]Prue[/name] was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, so her and [name]Meg[/name] have been in and out of the hospital. Apparently, [name]Prue[/name] was reading some historical fiction book for kids and a name stood out to her.
The name is…Thankful! [name]Meg[/name] told me they were considering using either Thankful [name]Marianne[/name], for [name]Patrick[/name]'s mom who has been taking care of [name]Remy[/name] while [name]Prue[/name]'s been sick, or Thankful [name]Eleanor[/name], because they have always liked the name [name]Eleanor[/name]. The last name is [name]Doyle[/name].
So, what do you think? I didn’t know what to say at first, so I told [name]Meg[/name] I’d ask the good people on Nameberry for comments and get back to her. I think it is kind of cute, and it works with [name]Prudence[/name] and [name]Remember[/name], but I’m still unsure.
Sorry for the long post here, girls! Thanks for your help!
Firstly, I adore [name]Prudence[/name] and [name]Remember[/name]! Pilgrim names are so interesting. Thankful definitely fits, and is so unusual. [name]Virtue[/name] names such as [name]Grace[/name] are in good use at the moment, so I don’t see that Thankful is really any different. I doubt it would provoke an unusual amount of teasing, and with a ‘normal’ middle to fall back on, I would say your friend should go for it.
Personally, I prefer the flow of Thankful [name]Marianne[/name]
Thanks for commenting, Twinkle! I, too, prefer Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] [name]Doyle[/name] to Thankful [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Doyle[/name]. I’ll let [name]Meg[/name] know she has one “yes” vote!
Any ideas as to what a nickname for Thankful could be? Would it be weird that [name]Prue[/name] and [name]Remy[/name] have nicknames but not baby Thankful?
[name]Rollo[/name] - they already have [name]Remember[/name]… the question is about whether they should name their new daughter Thankful.
I don’t personally like these names, but Thankful (I like [name]Marianne[/name] better for the middle, really cute) does go well with [name]Prudence[/name] and [name]Remember[/name]. For nicknames… [name]Prue[/name], [name]Remy[/name] (cute, by the way!) and… I am blanking, can’t really think of any logical nicknames unfortunately! However, I’m sure that something will pop up, and they should name their daughter this, especially as it is special to [name]Prudence[/name].
Thankful definitely fits in with the Pilgrim theme and would work with that sib set! My husband (descendant of [name]William[/name] [name]Brewster[/name]) has four Thankfuls in his family tree (siblings of his direct ancestors), all born in Massachusetts:
Thankful Pilsbury - born 1662
Thankful Hinckley - born 1671
Thankful [name]Freeman[/name] - born 1693
Thankful [name]Mason[/name] - born 1743
There are a few Prudences and one [name]Remember[/name]. Also, several in that period have the unique name [name]Experience[/name]. I like Thankful best, especially Thankful [name]Marianne[/name]. For a nn… that’s tricky… [name]Thana[/name], [name]Hana[/name], Thanie, [name]Ann[/name]?
I think Thankful fits with your friend’s daughters’ names quite nicely. It’s a bit unusual, yes, but very sweet. What about [name]Thalia[/name], [name]Thalie[/name], or just [name]Thay[/name] for a nn? I think I like [name]Thalie[/name] the best. [name]Pru[/name], [name]Remy[/name] and [name]Thalie[/name] seem to work together.
Wow, thanks for the responses! Most seem to be positive!
[name]Rollo[/name], as someone else pointed out, they do already have [name]Remy[/name] ([name]Remember[/name] [name]Caroline[/name]), so that name is here to stay.
The main issue with Thankful is lack of a nickname, though their three front-runners for that were [name]Hana[/name], [name]Annie[/name] (especially if they go with Thankful [name]Marianne[/name]), or [name]Anka[/name], which I think is kind of weird. I’m pushing for [name]Annie[/name], myself!
Does anybody have other suggestions that they think work better with [name]Prudence[/name] [name]Amelia[/name] - [name]Prue[/name] - and [name]Remember[/name] [name]Caroline[/name] - [name]Remy[/name] - than Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] - likely [name]Annie[/name] - [name]Doyle[/name]?
Oh, should this baby turn out to be a boy, which I guess could happen, they plan to use the boy name they picked out when they were pregnant with [name]Prue[/name] - [name]Bartholomew[/name] [name]Patrick[/name].
Thanks, and I’ll pass this all on to [name]Meg[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name]
I love Thankful, and I love it with their sibset! [name]Annie[/name] is a nice nickname–what do they think of [name]Tallie[/name] though?
I think [name]Bartholomew[/name] [name]Patrick[/name] is nice as well. If they are looking for a nickname for that name, they could use [name]Ollie[/name]–I like that better than the obvious [name]Bart[/name].
I love Thankful, and I love it with their sibset! [name]Annie[/name] is a nice nickname–what do they think of [name]Tallie[/name] though?
I think [name]Bartholomew[/name] [name]Patrick[/name] is nice as well. If they are looking for a nickname for that name, they could use [name]Ollie[/name]–I like that better than the obvious [name]Bart[/name].
Good luck to your friend![/quote]
Thank you, [name]Rose[/name]! [name]Meg[/name] thinks [name]Tallie[/name] is cute, but [name]Patrick[/name] said it reminded him of tally marks. Ha! Yeah, [name]Meg[/name] said she’d work on him about it. I’m really glad that people are liking this name, because I didn’t want to give [name]Meg[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name] bad news
Oh, [name]Ollie[/name] is a cute nickname for [name]Bartholomew[/name]! I’ll pass that along. I’m really doubting baby #3 will be a boy, as the doctor already told them she is pretty sure it is a girl. But, when [name]Remy[/name] was born, the doctor told them she was a boy! Anyway, they’ll find out soon enough - the baby is due in February!
In case anyone was wondering, I asked [name]Meg[/name] what her and [name]Patrick[/name]'s full names are. [name]Meg[/name] is [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Lee[/name] ([name]Benson[/name]) [name]Doyle[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name] is [name]Patrick[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Doyle[/name]. Oh, and before [name]Prue[/name] stumbled on Thankful, they were considering [name]Temperance[/name], but neither of them were in love with it…
Again, thanks. I know [name]Meg[/name] really appreciates it!
I’ve always thought [name]Temple[/name] (nn [name]Tempie[/name]) was a really interesting, strong name for a girl. Oh wait”[name]Remy[/name] and [name]Tempie[/name] don’t work so much! But I still like [name]Temple[/name]…
What lovely unusual names, I not sure about Thankful as a name but I love [name]Prudence[/name] and [name]Remember[/name], Heres a few tht came to mind anyway , good luck
[name]Remember[/name], [name]Prudence[/name] and
[name]Mercy[/name]
[name]Constance[/name] ([name]Connie[/name])
[name]Serenity[/name] ([name]Sera[/name])
Temperence (Tem)
[name]Charity[/name] (love this with the other girls name)
[name]Amity[/name]
[name]Evangeline[/name]
[name]Verity[/name]
I think Thankful would work beautifully with her siblings. I have found both [name]Remember[/name] and [name]Patience[/name] among my own ancestors and I happen to love [name]Virtue[/name] names. In this casse, I think Thankful [name]Marianna[/name] is very pretty! [name]Hana[/name] would be a pretty nn.
[name]Meg[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name], there are no words to describe how much I love your children’s names! It makes me happy just to picture a little [name]Prudence[/name] or [name]Remember[/name], and especially a Thankful.
Anyways, my vote is for Thankful [name]Marianne[/name]. Not only is it a beautiful name, but it has meaning and honors someone who (appears to be) a wonderful woman…and I also think the nickname [name]Annie[/name] goes well with [name]Pru[/name] and [name]Remy[/name].
Congrats to the [name]Doyle[/name] family! [name]Lemon[/name], please let us know when the baby gets here!
Another vote for Thankful [name]Marianne[/name]! (I’m a huge American [name]History[/name] fan, so I was happy to read about Pilgrim names…) The only potential drawback I think of with Thankful, is that when she introduces herself to people, she’ll say, “[name]Hi[/name]. I’m Thankful,” which may be mistaken as a state of being instead of a name. (Not that that would be horrible or anything, but I thought I’d mention it just in case.)
I really love [name]Bartholomew[/name]! I agree that [name]Ollie[/name] would be such a cute nickname, and they may also like [name]Arlo[/name] for short.
You guys are just the sweetest - I can’t wait to fill [name]Meg[/name] in tomorrow!
So, I got it wrong - they weren’t really considering [name]Temperance[/name] because they didn’t like that [name]Temperance[/name] and [name]Prudence[/name] would have the same ending but [name]Remember[/name] was different. The name they were considering was [name]Verity[/name], but [name]Meg[/name] nixed it because she didn’t like the sound of [name]Verity[/name] [name]Doyle[/name].
[name]Jill[/name], your issue about introducing yourself as Thankful is one that I expressed to [name]Meg[/name], and she, too, was a bit concerned. [name]How[/name] big of a deal do we all think this is? Enough to give up the name?
So, from my latest conversation with [name]Meg[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name], the two names they like best are Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] [name]Doyle[/name] and [name]Mercy[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Doyle[/name]. Which is the best sister for [name]Prudence[/name] “[name]Prue[/name]” [name]Amelia[/name] and [name]Remember[/name] “[name]Remy[/name]” [name]Caroline[/name]?
Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] [name]Doyle[/name]!! Absolutely. I love that it was picked by the big sister, and Thankful works better than [name]Mercy[/name] with her sisters’ names in my opinion. [name]Annie[/name] would be an adorable nn.
I guess I’m in the minority, but I really can’t imagine a child named Thankful. I’m familiar with [name]Prudence[/name] and Remembrance as names, and I think [name]Prue[/name] and [name]Remy[/name] are adorable nicknames, but honestly, I would be embarrassed to have to go through life introducing myself as Thankful. It’s completely a word to me. I think [name]Verity[/name] is a lovely name, and the nickname of [name]Vera[/name] would be perfect with [name]Prue[/name] and [name]Remy[/name]. I don’t see a problem with [name]Verity[/name] [name]Doyle[/name], and [name]Verity[/name] [name]Marianne[/name] is beautiful.
[name]Meg[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name] - not to mention [name]Prue[/name] - like Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] better than [name]Mercy[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name]. They still love the idea of [name]Annie[/name] as a nickname, but last night they came up with another: [name]Thandie[/name]. Yes, like [name]Thandie[/name] [name]Newton[/name], the actress. They think it works because Thankful begins with Than- and [name]Doyle[/name] begins with a D. The name is pronounced [name]TAN[/name]-dee.
What do you think?
Again, sisters are [name]Prudence[/name] [name]Amelia[/name] “[name]Prue[/name],” 9, and [name]Remember[/name] [name]Caroline[/name] “[name]Remy[/name],” 5, and mom and dad are [name]Margaret[/name] “[name]Meg[/name]” and [name]Patrick[/name] [name]Doyle[/name].
I think [name]Thandie[/name] could definitely work as a nickname, it’s cute. Also, my vote is for Thankful [name]Marianne[/name] over [name]Mercy[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name], because the former goes much better with the other two daughters. I do love the pp suggestion of [name]Verity[/name] nn [name]Vera[/name] though, but it doesn’t go as well with the sibset as Thankful.
