My husband and I are expecting #2; as with #1 we won’t be finding out the gender and would love input on names for both boys and girls - especially on girls!
Our daughter is [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] Vox [two syllable family name] [last name that sounds kind of like ‘fusion’]. We call her either [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] or [name_u]Lou[/name_u].
We’re looking for first names that meet the following criteria:
not common (below 300 for boys, below 500 for girls, the less common the better [we couldn’t believe [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] wasn’t in the top 1000!])
has history but is underused (not made-up, no funky spellings - something people would recognize)
serious/adult with the option of a fun/youthful nickname (don’t want the name to be ridiculous on a 53-year-old lawyer)
passes the blind date test (gives off an attractive/intelligent/interesting impression - and we know this is totally subjective!)
We’d like to avoid names that start with F, names that rhyme with our daughter’s, and names that have a long ‘oo’ sound on the stressed syllable (my beloved [name_m]Hugo[/name_m] is out). If it makes a difference, the child will also have two middle names that likely fit the same pattern as our daughter’s - not-outlandish word name and family name.
I love love love the name [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]! It’s so beautiful and has special meaning to me, so I have to sing your praises for giving your girl such a great name! Of your boy names, I will throw out a vote for [name_m]Conrad[/name_m]. I have a [name_m]Konrad[/name_m] (german spelling) and if baby#2 is a girl, [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is our front runner. So of course I think they sound great together I also like [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] and [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] from your list.
For girls, I like [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f], but I think it would be hard to get the pronunciation that you like, I’ve only heard it with the “rah” sound at the beginning. I also think [name_f]Adele[/name_f] would be lovely with [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]!
Your daughter’s name is gorgeous. I love [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f] and [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]. I think that is a gorgeous combo. I also love [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_m]Conrad[/name_m] together.
Sorry if some of these are repeats
[name_f]Constance[/name_f]
[name_f]Maisie[/name_f] (could also use as a nn for [name_f]Margaret[/name_f])
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f]
[name_f]Gillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Agatha[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]
[name_f]Betty[/name_f]
[name_f]Blanche[/name_f]
[name_f]Imara[/name_f]
[name_f]Phaedra[/name_f]
[name_f]Flora[/name_f]
[name_f]Gail[/name_f]
[name_f]Gretchen[/name_f]
[name_f]Henrietta[/name_f]
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f]
[name_f]Christine[/name_f]
[name_f]Magdelene[/name_f] (could use [name_f]Maggie[/name_f] as a nn)
[name_f]Maura[/name_f]
[name_f]Annette[/name_f]
[name_f]Prudence[/name_f]
[name_f]Sybil[/name_f]
[name_f]Millicent[/name_f]
[name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is very pretty and elegant.
Perhaps
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f] or [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] ([name_u]Jo[/name_u]-HAH-na)
Both have lots of nickname possibilities ([name_u]Jo[/name_u], [name_u]Josie[/name_u], [name_u]Jojo[/name_u], Sephy, [name_f]Hanna[/name_f]…) and sound effortlessly sophisticated.
Thanks for all the suggestions! And thanks for all the love for our daughter’s name; we obviously love it but it’s nice to know others like it too
@carolinemchd, from your list we like
[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f] - but husband is convinced she’d get some unfavorable nicknames…
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f] - husband is being won over by this, which was on my list
[name_f]Cecily[/name_f] - any nicknames other than [name_f]Cece[/name_f], which we don’t like?
[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] - was our top name for a long time BUT… we only like it when pronounced with three syllables and don’t want to correct people all the time
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
@meyera4, [name_m]Conrad[/name_m] and [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m] were frontrunners if our daughter had been a boy; glad you think they go
@abbynh, I would name a daughter [name_f]Flora[/name_f] in a heartbeat but it sounds like a verb with our last name (florafusion!)
@mulme944, love your suggestions but know too many people with both those names, alas.
Also, I [name_f]ADORE[/name_f] [name_f]Althea[/name_f], and it would be my #1 but for the fact that it rhymes too much with [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and husband’s not a fan.
[name_f]Cecily[/name_f] can go by Cess, Ciss or Cily. In [name_u]Brazil[/name_u], the standard nn for [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f] and its variations is Cissa (CEE-ssa).
I dont think [name_f]Althea[/name_f] and [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] rhyme at all, but maybe its my accent! The same with [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], I’ve only heard it with 3 syl! [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] would be to die for (both are in my own top list, so I’m biased!).
With [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] you could also use the nn [name_f]Thea[/name_f], which is lovely!
@bb, [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] your boys list, particularly [name_m]Edgar[/name_m], [name_m]Desmond[/name_m], [name_m]Gideon[/name_m], and [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m]. Also a fan of [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f], [name_f]Frances[/name_f], and [name_f]Della[/name_f], but hubs dislikes the first, our last name starts with F, and we have a niece named [name_f]Delilah[/name_f].
@carolinemchd, thanks for the ideas! Yes, [name_f]Althea[/name_f] would be pronounced al-THEE-uh, which is a lot like lu-EE-suh to us. Pretty much my only concern with [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] (thee-uh-DOR-uh to me) would be that [name_f]Thea[/name_f] and [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] sound too similar. What do you think? (Also, we’ve been toying with the idea of calling a [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] ‘[name_m]Teddie[/name_m],’ which I also love but which might be a little bit out there).
@justbrowsing, glad you like [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] from our list. And I’m pro- [name_f]Margot[/name_f], but the sentiment is not shared…
[name_m]Hi[/name_m],
Not sure if this would bother you but I tried saying all your options in my head ‘[name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and xxxx’ and all the names starting with A/ending in the a sound seemed really ‘A’ heavy and tongue twisting! Personally I would avoid names starting with A or ending in the A sound (or in the case or [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] or [name_f]Althea[/name_f] - both!).
Having said that I do have a soft spot for [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] and the nn [name_m]Teddie[/name_m] is adorable!
Looking at your general taste/style I would suggest
[name_f]Camille[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] ([name_f]Dot[/name_f], [name_f]Dottie[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f] - not too matchy as a nn with [name_u]Lou[/name_u])
[name_f]Claudette[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f]
[name_m]Gabriel[/name_m]
[name_m]Caleb[/name_m]
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
[name_m]Xander[/name_m]
(sorry for any repeats)
@penguinkin - totally agree about [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Althea[/name_f] - I put [name_f]Althea[/name_f] out there as a name I love but wouldn’t use because it sounds too much like our daughter’s. Maybe it’s just an accent difference, but I don’t have any repeated sounds in [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], so I may be missing something. [name_f]Glad[/name_f] you like [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] - and a question: I too don’t find [name_f]Thea[/name_f] and [name_u]Lou[/name_u] too matchy, but we do call my daughter [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] most of the time… and I’m on the fence about [name_f]Thea[/name_f] and [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] being too matchy. Opinion?
Its not so much that Lousia and [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] sound the same but when I say it aloud in the sing-song voice we often use calling out to children I hear; LouisAAAndaAArthurr - it smooshes together and there’s a lot of a/r sound (especially with [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] starting and ending with a/r sound).
Maybe its just something I tuned into as my surname starts with R so I generally avoid names that end in an ‘a’ sound as they can sound all squished up/unclear.
In terms of matchy-ness [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f], I would look at the names you would most likely use most (fully vs nickname) and compare with what other people might do.
in this case [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] - 3 sounds lou-eee-sa
[name_f]Thea[/name_f] - 2 sounds Thee-ya
distinctive first sound, theoretical reflection of the ‘e’ sound in the middle and matching ‘a’ sound at the end.
Other people might be likely to call them both by fullname, Lousia and [name_f]Dorothea[/name_f]/[name_f]Theodora[/name_f] = not very ‘matchy’ at all, or both by nickname [name_u]Lou[/name_u] and [name_f]Dot[/name_f]/[name_f]Dottie[/name_f]/[name_m]Teddie[/name_m]/[name_f]Thea[/name_f] - again very distinct
I’d say it would totally depend on your accent as to how matched they sound. Personally with my british accent [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f] sound silmiar like e.g. [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] and [name_f]Daniela[/name_f] (n sound in the middle and same a ending) but not rhyming like [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] and [name_f]Emily[/name_f].
[name_m]Just[/name_m] said [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f] out loud again and it sounded like ‘[name_f]Louisa[/name_f] [name_f]Anthea[/name_f]’.
Personally I prefer the other nickname options for [name_f]Dorothea[/name_f]/[name_f]Theodora[/name_f] - [name_f]Dot[/name_f]/[name_f]Dottie[/name_f]/[name_m]Teddie[/name_m] sound much more Vintage chic to me, like [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]/[name_u]Lou[/name_u].
No idea if that helps at all just a lot of thoughts
good luck!
I also like [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] and [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] from your list.