With your help, I have come up with a list of favorites using the initials TAM to honor my mother-in-law and her side of the family.
I limited myself to a maximum of three names per each T on my top 10, which I could ultimately do for all but [name_f]Twila[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] goal with this exercise hasn’t been to find THE name (after all I’m not even pregnant yet so I have exactly zero sense of who this baby would be), but to discover plenty of options I truly love that I’ll hopefully be able to sit with for the next 12-18 months before a final baby will hopefully join our family. The idea of using a [name_m]Tam[/name_m]-based name really appeals to my husband, so I can definitely imagine limiting myself to one of the [name_m]Tam[/name_m] options (whether by initials here or the other options I have been/am exploring). I’ll keep working and reworking these options but I won’t be taking up so much forum-space with it in the immediate future. I definitely found some worthy options here, so my goal was met for now.
I’d love as much in-depth feedback as you’re willing to offer me. Which of these are your favorites (or else which of the longlist that didn’t make the cut do you think I must reconsider)? What do you love about them? What vibes do they give you? Which do you think work best with her siblings’ names? Etc.
Thanks, Berries. You give such unparalleled and invaluable naming advice. You’re the best! Thanks for hanging out with me during this epic series to find these names!
[name_f]Thilda[/name_f] [name_f]Audre[/name_f] [name_f]Minerva[/name_f], “[name_f]Hildie[/name_f]”
**
The “hild” in [name_f]Thilda[/name_f] would be for my 2nd great-grandmother [name_f]Hildred[/name_f], hence why I like the h, however superfluous. [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] would be the hardest single name for me to forgo if we don’t use it.
[name_f]Thilda[/name_f] Anaïs Menodora, “[name_f]Hildie[/name_f]”
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It is very likely I will want a “moon” related name with our third. Menodora, “gift of the moon,” is absolute perfection. I love the old-world, continental feel of [name_f]Thilda[/name_f] Anaïs.
[name_u]Tempest[/name_u] Anaïs Menodora, “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]”
**
[name_u]Tempest[/name_u] is right now absolute top name for my husband, I think. This combo is so enchanting.
[name_u]Tempest[/name_u] [name_f]Aisling[/name_f] [name_f]Muse[/name_f], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]”
**
I’m not confident I’d be able to win my husband over to the middle name combination here, but I love the fancy and wonder of this combo.
[name_u]Tempest[/name_u] Arsinoë [name_f]Meg[/name_f], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]”
**
[name_f]Meg[/name_f] is one of my best friends and was my maid of honor. It would be an easy way to also nod to my grandma [name_f]Margot[/name_f]. I love Arsinoë for the powerful women in history association and the "intellectual meaning. Taken together, I see the ocean tossing in the storm, forming beautiful pearls of intelligent thought and wisdom.
[name_f]Thisbe[/name_f] [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f]
**
The most sunny of all the names here, I think. I love how bright and carefree she sounds. [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] would honor the 12+ Pauls/Paulines in my family, beginning with my [name_u]Saxon[/name_u]-immigrant-4th-great “Granny [name_f]Pauline[/name_f].” [name_f]Marigold[/name_f] is for my two grandmothers [name_u]Marie[/name_u] and [name_f]Margot[/name_f]. I love that the soft th would complete the “variations on T” in the sibset. We have the sh sound in H0rat1o, the hard usual ta in [name_f]Ana[/name_f]$ta$io, and then we would have the soft th here.
[name_f]Thisbe[/name_f] [name_f]Arianell[/name_f] [name_f]Margrid[/name_f]
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“[name_u]Silver[/name_u] pearl” together gives me chills. I love how they soften the brightness of [name_f]Thisbe[/name_f]. Together they give me a shimmery mauve color (I’m not a synesthesiac, though). [name_f]Margrid[/name_f] is for my grandma [name_f]Margot[/name_f].
[name_f]Thisbe[/name_f] [name_f]Acantha[/name_f] Mimose
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One of the other features I love about the name [name_f]Thisbe[/name_f] is the softness paired with the thistley-ness. The sounds are so contradictory in a way I absolutely love. This combo highlights that contradiction by including [name_f]Acantha[/name_f] (“briar, thorn”) paired with [name_f]Mimosa[/name_f] (with ties to the meaning “cuddle” as well as to the “sensitive plant,” which retracts at touch). I also love the yellow-flowered acacia called silver wattle or “mimose” that I first encountered as an au pair in Toulon on the Mediterranean. I have several picture books for my kids in [name_u]French[/name_u] that feature the tree. Lastly one of the apartment buildings where my husband and I shared a studio apartment years ago was a building called “The [name_f]Mimosa[/name_f].” We saw a [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] meme while we were living there: “It’s [name_f]Mim[/name_f]-OH-sa; not [name_f]Mim[/name_f]-o-SAH!” that has remained an inside joke in our family, even though neither of us drink (I have never had a mimosa drink).
[name_f]Thessaly[/name_f] [name_f]Alcione[/name_f] [name_u]Meredith[/name_u], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]”
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This is a winter baby name. [name_f]Alcione[/name_f] [name_u]Meredith[/name_u] is about the calming of water. The [name_u]Halcyon[/name_u] bird was a mythical bird who nested during the weeks around the winter solstice, creating calm and peaceful waters for that period of time, the halcyon days. I love this peaceful imagery. [name_f]Alcyone[/name_f] is also connected to [name_f]Thessaly[/name_f]. [name_f]Alcyone[/name_f] was the daughter of Aeolus (Ancient [name_f]Thessaly[/name_f] was called Aeolia) the wind god and she became a queen of [name_f]Thessaly[/name_f]. I enjoy the less-common interpretation of [name_u]Meredith[/name_u] as meaning “protector of the sea.” I love the soft th again completing the “variations on T” theme between the three babes, but I also love the io in [name_f]Alcione[/name_f] as a subtle nod to the io ending her brothers’ names.
[name_f]Thallo[/name_f] Anaïs [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], “[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]” or “[name_f]Tillie[/name_f]”
**
Again with the soft th completing “variations of T,” plus the final O likewise tying her name to her brothers’.
[name_f]Thallo[/name_f] [name_f]Anora[/name_f] [name_f]Mathilde[/name_f], “[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]” or “[name_f]Tillie[/name_f]”
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This one reminds me of Miss Rumphius by [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] Cooney. In the children’s picture book Miss Rumphius, Miss Rumphius is charged with finding a way to make the world a more beautiful place (she does so by planting lupines all across the [name_u]Maine[/name_u] landscape). From the meaning here, I see someone primed to use their battle-readiness and sense of honor to bring metaphorical blossoms to the world.
[name_f]Thallo[/name_f] [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], “[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]” or “[name_f]Tillie[/name_f]”
**
“Marvellous, most holy bringer of flowers” - 'nough said.
[name_f]Twila[/name_f] [name_f]Aisling[/name_f] Menodora
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The “star/twilight, dream, gift of the moon” meanings here could not get any more dreamy and celestial. There is so much beautiful imagery in my head.
[name_f]Twila[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]
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This one is the most likely to win my husband to the [name_f]Twila[/name_f] cause. He absolutely loves [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] and [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]. I waxed poetic about [name_f]Twila[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] in the separate post, but she is easily my favorite [name_f]Twila[/name_f] combo.
[name_f]Twila[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Minerva[/name_f]
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I love the “double woven” meaning of [name_f]Twila[/name_f] with [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] as the goddess of weaving.
[name_f]Twila[/name_f] [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] [name_f]Maxima[/name_f]
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“Most holy ultimate twilight” emphasizes this baby’s role as the final baby in our family. I like [name_f]Maxima[/name_f] as the final word of our sibset, as the “maximum” we have set ourselves (nevermind that we plan to adopt a teen when our cohort become teens) for babies, with twilight being the twilight of the baby years for us. And as @TeaJay pointed out, it’s just such a lumos maxima name, a positive spell spoken to our child.
[name_f]Teresa[/name_f] [name_u]Artemis[/name_u] [name_f]Melody[/name_f], “[name_f]Tressie[/name_f]”
**
[name_f]Teresa[/name_f] shares many of the same letters with her brothers and I feel like it goes so well with them, while grounding (in normalcy) the sibset. I love the “harvest moon” imagery here. I also love the interlacing of the letters, with [name_f]Teresa[/name_f] sharing so many letters with [name_u]Artemis[/name_u], and [name_u]Artemis[/name_u] in turn sharing sounds with [name_f]Melody[/name_f].
[name_f]Teresa[/name_f] [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] [name_f]Minerva[/name_f], “[name_f]Tressie[/name_f]”
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[name_f]Apolline[/name_f] brings out the yellows in [name_f]Teresa[/name_f]'s nutty browns. [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] is such a winning combo for me and for my husband alike. Again, [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] honors the Pauls and Paulines in my tree.
[name_f]Teresa[/name_f] [name_f]Agate[/name_f] Menodora, “[name_f]Tressie[/name_f]”
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This one is most clearly an honor name for my mom’s friend [name_f]Teresa[/name_f], who took me to beaches to “hunt” for agates, these beautiful irridescent stones that wash up on the beaches where I grew up. I also love the idea of [name_f]Agate[/name_f] with Menodora as “gift if the moon,” when the agates are reliant on the tides to uncover them or tumble them in the waves to wash ashore.
[name_f]Titania[/name_f] [name_f]Audre[/name_f] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f], “[name_m]Ty[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Anne[/name_u]”
**
This one is such a delightful mix of the titan strength (emphasized by [name_f]Audre[/name_f] for [name_f]Audre[/name_f] Lorde) and the magical fairy queen (brought out by [name_f]Marigold[/name_f]).
[name_f]Titania[/name_f] [name_f]Alcie[/name_f] Menodora, “[name_m]Ty[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Anne[/name_u]”
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I went by [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] as a child for my initials LC. I like that [name_f]Alcie[/name_f] is a sort of variation on that. I also like the “strong-willed” meaning with the “titan” connection.
[name_f]Titania[/name_f] Anaïs [name_f]Maeve[/name_f], “[name_m]Ty[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Anne[/name_u]”
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This one is just so powerful and magical. I couldn’t think of a more powerhouse fairy name. I think [name_f]Titania[/name_f] itself might be the most perfect “fit” for the sibset.
[name_f]Tisiphone[/name_f] [name_f]Alcie[/name_f] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]” or “Iphy”
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[name_f]Tisiphone[/name_f] could easily be a two-in-one honor name for my mom’s two best friends growing up (see [name_f]Teresa[/name_f]), [name_f]Teresa[/name_f] and [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f]. [name_f]Alcie[/name_f] for myself (see above), [name_f]Marigold[/name_f] for my two grandmas, [name_u]Marie[/name_u] and [name_f]Margot[/name_f].
[name_f]Tisiphone[/name_f] [name_f]Audre[/name_f] [name_f]Mathilda[/name_f], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]” or “Iphy”
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“Battle-mighty, noble strength of vengeance.” Someone who will fight to bring hard justices to the world.
[name_f]Tisiphone[/name_f] [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] [name_f]Macy[/name_f], “[name_f]Tess[/name_f]” or “Iphy”
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[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] for [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] Spyri’s [name_f]Heidi[/name_f], bringing some bouncing levity and commonplaceness to [name_f]Tisiphone[/name_f]. I’ve loved [name_f]Macy[/name_f] since childhood listening to [name_f]Macy[/name_f] [name_u]Gray[/name_u].
[name_u]Truth[/name_u] [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] Melpomène, “[name_f]Ruthie[/name_f]”
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“Celebrating a most holy truth with song” is such powerful meaning. I went into this a lot more in the Truth post, but “[name_u]Truth[/name_u], even unto its innermost parts” is the motto of my alma mater and an important guiding mantra for me. [name_u]Truth[/name_u] also has the added benefit of the soft th for the “variations on T” thing within the sibset.
[name_u]Truth[/name_u] [name_f]Audre[/name_f] [name_u]Meridian[/name_u], “[name_f]Ruthie[/name_f]”
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For Soujourner [name_u]Truth[/name_u], [name_f]Audre[/name_f] Lorde, and [name_u]Meridian[/name_u] of [name_f]Alice[/name_f] [name_u]Walker[/name_u]'s eponymous novel, plus [name_f]Ruthie[/name_f] for RBG. The most intersectional and badass feminist name I could possibly think of.
Part 1: Tempest
Part 2: Tisiphone
Part 3: Menodora
Part 4: Truth
Part 5: Thessaly
Part 6: Titania
Part 7: Thallo
Part 8: Thilda
Part 9: Teresa
Part 10: Thisbe
Part 11: Twila
Part 12
Part 13
! I really liked [name_u]Tempest[/name_u] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f] from your longer list, too!
) Would be soooo beautiful!
[name_f]Glad[/name_f] you pointed it out, though.