(Sorry, this is going to be long! I’ve been working on it for the past week.)
My husband and I are expecting our fourth (and most likely last) child in late [name_f]September[/name_f]. Obviously we don’t know the sex yet, but I thought we had already decided on a girl’s name: [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f], which has been on our list for a long time. Well, it turns out DH is no longer 100% on board with [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] because a coworker of his is expecting a baby girl in [name_f]April[/name_f] and has already announced that her name will be [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] [name_f]Guadalupe[/name_f]. (Fabulous combo, right?) He doesn’t want to look like we’re copying her, and I have to admit that [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] lost a little bit of luster for me, too, when I heard the news. We’re not completely ruling [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] out at this point, but we have agreed to at least look at other options. (Yay, more naming talk!)
[name_m]Even[/name_m] if [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] is out, I would at least like to salvage [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] if we can. The problem is, the majority of my favorite names are loooooong. I’m not opposed to long combos at all, especially with our short one-syllable surname, but with a five-syllable, ten-letter middle name, even I’m hesitant to go too long with the first name. Otherwise, we’d probably just go with [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] and be done with it. (That’s too long, right? But ten syllables altogether doesn’t seem that bad…) Well, anyway, here’s a list of what we’ve come up with so far:
[name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is one of DH’s favorite names. I prefer [name_f]Maria[/name_f] myself, but agree that [name_f]Mary[/name_f] sounds better with [name_f]Theophania[/name_f]. Still, I get hung up on the fact that [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is so short next to our other kids’ formal names. Then again, stylewise, she fits in perfectly well with the sibset, and the others have four-letter long nicknames, so… I don’t know.
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Pretty much the same issues that I have with [name_f]Mary[/name_f]. If I liked [name_f]Lucille[/name_f], that would be perfect, but I just don’t.
[name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Ditto. Too bad [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] is too similar to [name_m]William[/name_m].
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Ditto.
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Hmm, maybe? Somehow five letters seems so much longer than four, but I don’t love [name_f]Grace[/name_f] with our surname. Hubby has really fallen for [name_f]Grace[/name_f], though. If he had full naming rights, he’d probably name her [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]! (Which actually isn’t a bad double-barreled name… [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f]? Eh, probably too much.)
[name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Visual length is great, even though it’s one syllable, but again, not great with the last name. Plus, we would prefer our children to have unique initials, although we could break that rule for the perfect name.
[name_f]Elise[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - [name_m]Way[/name_m] back when I was pregnant with [name_m]William[/name_m] and we first started talking names, we liked the idea of naming a future daughter [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], but that didn’t work with [name_f]Theophania[/name_f], which led us to an [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] variation – [name_f]Isobel[/name_f]. Thus, it seems rather fitting that if we end up replacing [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] that we go with another [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] name. We’re just not that in love with [name_f]Elise[/name_f].
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - My attempt to make [name_f]Mary[/name_f] longer…maybe too long? (Yes, I know I’m being picky!) I don’t mind three syllables, but eight letters is a bit much. I could maybe overlook that if I absolutely loved [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f], but I just like her.
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Again, too short, and I don’t like [name_f]Rose[/name_f] paired with the surname.
[name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - This could work. I like it a lot.
[name_f]Emily[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Another potential contender!
[name_u]Simone[/name_u] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - I like this one, too, but no real nicknames, which is a minus.
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Ditto. I guess Syl could work as a nickname, but I don’t love it.
[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Another possible contender, but my husband prefers the [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] spelling and I really…don’t. I got him on board with [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] over [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], though, so maybe I can sway him to [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f].
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - I really like [name_f]Naomi[/name_f], but not really loving her with our other kids’ names.
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - Same thing as [name_f]Naomi[/name_f].
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - This one is a definite possibility! I’m theoretically put off by the fact that [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] ends with a -t and [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] begins with one, but they make such different sounds that it doesn’t bother me that much. I’m also worried about the fact that we’ve already used [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] as [name_f]Cate[/name_f]'s middle name. [name_f]May[/name_f] be too many Shakespearean tragic heroine names in one sibset?
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - I know, NINE letters. Yet, only three syllables, and I’ve really been crushing on [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] lately. (Plus, cute nicknames!) I may just love [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] enough to ignore the length.
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f] [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] - [name_f]Annabel[/name_f] is actually a pretty great replacement for [name_f]Isobel[/name_f]. It’s even Scottish like [name_f]Isobel[/name_f], which is cool because part of the reason we liked the [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] spelling is because it would honor my Scottish roots. I do kinda prefer the [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] spelling, but I have no problem going with the shorter [name_f]Annabel[/name_f] in this case.
So, basically we’re looking for a two or three syllable classic name that is between 5-7 letters in length (although we might be flexible with a name we love). Thoughts on our list so far? Any favorites? [name_m]New[/name_m] suggestions? Should I just give up on the idea of using [name_f]Theophania[/name_f] altogether and start over fresh? I don’t know…
) Obviously, the cliche advice to just do what you love probably sounds easier said than done in this case, but you still have plenty of time to play around with combos until [name_f]September[/name_f]. Congratulations, by the way!