Hello, I’ve just joined this site as I’ve heard good things about it. (Surprise) baby number 4 is due in 4 weeks and I have a dilemma - I used our female ancestor names for our twins, but there are so many other great names, I am considering using a non-ancestral name if we have another girl.
But our son has family names too. Is it fair to choose something I love rather than stick with our tradition? Has anyone else done the same thing and regretted it?
To give you an idea of my style, our girls are [name]Georgiana[/name] [name]Mirren[/name] [name]Faye[/name] ([name]Georgie[/name]) and [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Paige[/name] [name]Solene[/name] ([name]Vinnie[/name]).
I think it would be best to stick with a first name that fits the tradition but then maybe choose 2 middle names that you just love! If you have used all the female ancestor name what about looking at the male names and seeing if there are female alternatives or names that similar/share same meaning or even the intials?
Thanks for the feedback and to ‘author in writing’ for the compliment on the girls’ names.
I know I need to connect baby bump’s name somehow, but all our other children’s names are ancestor names, not just a play on them, I guess I was looking for a licence to be more creative. Is it wrong to wish for a boy only because I didn’t get to use all the names I liked on my son?!
Firstly your daughters names are stunning, I would love to have a name like theirs! And secondly, I really think you should stick with family names because otherwise she might feel a little left out.
[name]Bree[/name]
Are these living ancestors, whom the children will know? If so, I would give baby #4 at least one name of a living relative so s/he too can feel specially close to someone.
If they’re simply names plucked from a family tree, and their original bearers are long-deceased, then I wouldn’t worry about it. Your children will obviously feel connected to the family simply by being born into it; and they’ll bear a surname from at least one side of the family to boot.
It sounds like you don’t know the gender of the expected baby; what names are you considering? And what family names remain for consideration for both?
All of my siblings are named after family members while I’m not-my name was just a name my parents liked. Sometimes my siblings get on my nerves and say stuff like “you weren’t special enough to be named after family members” and things like that but I don’t really care because I like my name better than any of the family names I would have been named. I think you should just pick a name you like and maybe use a family name for a middle name so they at least have one in their name.
[name]Georgiana[/name] was my husband’s great grandmother
[name]Mirren[/name] is my mother’s maiden name
[name]Faye[/name] is my grandmother
[name]Lavinia[/name] was [name]Georgiana[/name]'s twin (so not a direct ancestor but we loved the idea of honoring these twins with our twins)
[name]Paige[/name] is my maternal grandmother’s maiden name
[name]Solene[/name] is an ancestor of my husband’s from centuries ago - at least that’s what we deciphered her name to be on an ancient marriage record!
While I love these names and had such fun creating them (my husband is into genealogy) I really love the name [name]Seraphina[/name].
Looking at feminizations is a great idea though, thanks for that.
So all six names of your girls are family names, and 3 of the 6 bearers are (possibly) still living? I think you’ll have to include at least one (perhaps your husband’s female relatives-- his mother’s maiden name, something) along with [name]Seraphina[/name].
Thank you for all the lovely comments. My little [name]Ally[/name] boy is [name]Alastair[/name] [name]James[/name] [name]Vaughn[/name].
I love the name [name]Francesca[/name]. The easiest match from family is [name]Isabella[/name], but this is so popular in the UK now I hesitate to use it.
While I think it’s lovely that you’ve been able to honor so many family names with this tradition, I think it’s more important to give your child a name that you love and is the most meaningful to you… not just for the sake of following your own tradition.
By the way, your girls’ names are beautiful but I adore your sons name!
Such a nicely named brood! I actually love [name]Seraphina[/name] with [name]Georgiana[/name], [name]Lavinia[/name], and [name]Alastair[/name]. The names you’ve chosen all have a formality and an old-world elegance. [name]Seraphina[/name] fits right in. It matches your twins syllabically and with the [name]INA[/name] ending. On the other hand, the angelic nature of the name makes it “other-worldly” and your 4th would already have a non-family name distinguishing her… I agree that you should throw two other family names into the mix. Any favorite female family names remaining?
I used family names with my first two daughters and picked names that I liked for my last two daughters.
I don’t have any regrets although my girls are all still too young to express an opinion on this. Their names all have some personal significance to me, so, if they come asking about their names, I can tell them something special about them.
Since your kids exclusively have names of ancestors I would try to stick with that.
(Easy to say considering I don’t know what other names are on the family tree).
Since you really want to take creative licensing and choose something non-family related
I would consider doing it with one of the three names. (Probably a middle name).
Esp if it’s a name with great history and meaning to cancel out the lack of family connection.
But I’m big on family history and genealogy so I’m a little biased.