The Radford Family - 22 Babies, 22 Names!

The [name_m]Radford[/name_m] family from [name_m]Lancashire[/name_m], UK is the largest family in the country, with 22 children. I made this thread because they just had their newest baby, a girl named Heidie [name_f]Rose[/name_f]. Their girls’ names all end in -e, which is why Heidie is spelt with an -e on the end! I’m not a fan of respellings personally, but I think their reasoning here is quite sweet and [name_f]Heidi[/name_f]/Heidie is a nice name.

The parents are called [name_f]Sue[/name_f] and [name_u]Noel[/name_u], and their kids are:

[name_m]Christopher[/name_m]
[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Chloe[/name_f] [name_f]Anne[/name_f]
[name_m]Jack[/name_m] [name_m]Richard[/name_m]
[name_m]Daniel[/name_m] [name_m]Leon[/name_m]
[name_m]Luke[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u]
[name_f]Millie[/name_f] [name_u]Jo[/name_u]
[name_f]Katie[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Edward[/name_m]
[name_f]Ellie[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]
[name_f]Aimee[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_m]Josh[/name_m] [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]
[name_u]Max[/name_u] [name_m]Joseph[/name_m]
[name_f]Tillie[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]
[name_m]Oscar[/name_m] [name_m]Will[/name_m]
[name_m]Casper[/name_m] [name_u]Theo[/name_u]
[name_u]Alfie[/name_u] [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
[name_f]Hallie[/name_f] Alphia [name_u]Beau[/name_u]
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] [name_f]Willow[/name_f]
[name_m]Archie[/name_m] [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]
[name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] [name_u]Rae[/name_u]
Heidie [name_f]Rose[/name_f]

There are also five grandchildren - [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]'s children, [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] and [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Colin[/name_m]; and [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]'s children, [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f], Ayprill [name_f]Louise[/name_f] and [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. Their daughter Millie is expecting a daughter soon also.

I think it’s interesting to see how their naming style changed over the decades, with their eldest children having more 90s-style names and their younger ones having a more vintage style that is currently trendy in the UK. My favourite name of the bunch is probably [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] [name_f]Willow[/name_f] :slight_smile:

I just thought you fellow namenerds might find this interesting (my guilty pleasure pastime is following large families for their naming styles - looking at you, Duggars!) and I couldn’t see many posts mentioning this family. Any thoughts? Which name(s) are your favourite? What would you call their next baby if it were up to you?

I follow this family off and on (when they are adding another addition to their family to find out what name they pick).

I like all of their girl names to some extent, the only one I don’t like is [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] (don’t really have a reason why I don’t like it)

I didn’t know the names of [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]’s children, so thanks for adding that.

Their daughter [name_f]Millie[/name_f] is expecting a baby so I will be following along to see what name she picks.

I discovered this family recently, and loved watching their documentaries. So lovely to see a big family that is not complete utter chaos, and I love how much love they have for their kids.

I don’t particularly like their naming style - a bit simple / common for my taste. However, I really do like [name_f]Hallie[/name_f] Alphia [name_u]Beau[/name_u] - what a gorgeous combination! Alphia really makes it pop!

[name_m]Casper[/name_m] [name_u]Theo[/name_u] and [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] [name_f]Willow[/name_f] are quite darling combinations as well.

Ive followed the family for a few years. The only names I don’t really like from their list of names are Heidie and Bonnie. I love their boys names especially James Edward and Archie Rowan and from the girls names I like Ellie May & Tillie May

Ooh I followed them for a while, but this was back when Archie was born, I believe! I do love a lot of the girls names used - Daisy, Millie, Sophie, Bonnie, Heidi, Tillie, Aimee, Ellie, Katie, Hallie, Chloe, they have good taste! :stuck_out_tongue:

It is interesting how their style shifted, yet all the names still work really well together for siblings.

The next sibling, I would suggest Lottie (my guess for Heidie, actually!) or Freddie.

I wonder if there will be a next…? One can hardly say either way given their love of babies haha! :yum: I agree that Lottie would be totally suited to their style - simple and sweet.

That’s totally true! They’ve said they were done a few children ago so who really knows? :woman_shrugging:
The other girls name I thought they may use a while ago was Darcie!

I first heard about this family when the mother was pregnant with Alfie Thomas. In general, I prefer their boys names (love Casper Theo, Archie Rowan, Daniel Leon, Max Joseph and Oscar Will) but they also have lovely girls names like Phoebe Willow. I don’t like that they repeat several names, like James as middle name for Luke and first name for their 10th kid, or the -llie May for Ellie May and Tillie May (why!!??). Of course I also don’t like Millie, Ellie, Tillie, Hallie being sisters. There are lots of -e names out there to repeat the -llie that often.

For another baby, I can picture them using something like Hugo for a boy and Lottie/Lettie for a girl.

Yeah, I feel this too. But on the other hand, if you have a simplistic naming style and tend to go with “what’s popular” at the time, I can see how you’d end up with repeating sounds or patterns after 22 children! I don’t think I truly love enough names to name 22 human beings haha! :flushed::joy: I did find it a bit funny that one of the children used May/e for their own child even though it had been used twice for their own siblings… but each to their own, I guess. :woman_shrugging:

But, there’s plenty of -e names that are simple: Claire, Adele, Vivienne, Jane, Elaine, Grace, , Camille, Elsie (I can see them using Elsie), Eve, Josie…
On the other hand, I don’t see the point using a pattern when you have so many kids. I agree I don’t love enough names to name 22 kids and if I had to follow a pattern, maybe I’d name the baby something I don’t really like just because their ten sisters have names ending in -e.
I don’t like the spelling of Heidie, and I truly think they don’t like it as much.

That’s very true. I can see the logic both ways, I guess. It does seem that they were going for names with the -ee sound at the end, and not just names that end with the letter e in general. I definitely wouldn’t have changed Heidi given it ends in the -e sound anyway, despite the spelling.

Yes, I was a little surprised to see that they had repeated names/sounds so often. My guess for Heidie was Evie and I could still see them use that. I think Freddie is a good shout for a next boy!

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