Thoughts on boy & girls' names please! We are stuck! :/

[karlaj]

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] all!

My husband and I are first time parents-to-be and expecting our first in early [name_u]July[/name_u]. We don’t know the gender of the baby, so we need to come up with both girl & boy options.

Our last name is a 2-syllable Irish name that begins with “A.”

• • For a girl’s name, we’re thinking of either:
    [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] ([name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] is a combo of both our mother’s names)
    [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]
    [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
    [name_f]Molly[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]
    [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]
    [name_u]Marlow[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] (too trendy?)
    [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]
• • For a boy’s name, the middle name will be [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (my husband’s name) and we’re considering:
    [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m]
    [name_m]Jake[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (sounds a bit harsh/choppy?)
    [name_u]Mason[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (too popular?)
    [name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (not sure if it goes with our last name)
    [name_u]Everett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (not sure if I love it)
    [name_m]Pierce[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] (not sure if flows well?)
    [name_m]Luke[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m]
    [name_m]Martin[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m]

I’d love any thoughts and fresh eyeballs on this My husband and I are starting to worry we won’t be able to choose, and we’re running low on time. I just wish we loved something, so perhaps some unbiased thoughts will give us a fresh perspective.

Thanks so much in advance!!!

[CarysMarie]

[name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] - I personally think this is a beautiful combo

[name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] - this is also a lovely combo but I feel that [name_f]Julia[/name_f] is too dated.

[name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] - I really dislike [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]. I dont know what it is about it, but it puts me right off.

[name_f]Molly[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] - I prefer [name_f]Molly[/name_f] to [name_f]Grace[/name_f], but I think the [name_f]Grace[/name_f] combo sounds better.

[name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] - I love this! A top contender

[name_u]Marlow[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] - personally, yes, it is too trendy. I prefer [name_f]Harlow[/name_f], but even then when I met one I sort of crinkled up my nose. I love the name, but as a GP only.

[name_f]Caroline[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] - already stated how I feel about [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]!

[name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is my favourite, with [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] in second.

[name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - I adore the name [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] and it goes lovely with [name_m]Mark[/name_m].

[name_m]Jake[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - I prefer [name_m]Jake[/name_m] as a nickname for [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] would be lovely.

[name_u]Mason[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - [name_u]Mason[/name_u] is a lovely name but incredibly popular. Also I’m not a fan of the alliteration, though I imagine his middle name won’t be used that often.

[name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - its okay, [name_m]Henry[/name_m] feels very dated to me though.

[name_u]Everett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - I do really like this, but I think I like [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] just that tad more.

[name_m]Pierce[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - I agree that it doesn’t flow very well. Again, [name_m]Pierce[/name_m] feels outdated.

[name_m]Luke[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - I love the name [name_m]Luke[/name_m], but [name_m]Luke[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] looks as though there’s too many K’s in it. Again though, I imagine it won’t matter as its only a middle after all.

[name_m]Martin[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] - Again with the alliteration. I prefer [name_u]Mason[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] to [name_m]Martin[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] though.

I think [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] ([name_m]Jake[/name_m]) and [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] are my favourites.

Good luck. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] I’ve helped a little!

[SparkleNinja18]

From your girls, I love [name_f]Lily[/name_f] and [name_u]Marlow[/name_u]! If you’re worried about trendiness, [name_u]Marlow[/name_u] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] is gorgeous, and I also prefer [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] over [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] (which sounds a bit bland since both names are rather common). For your boys, I love [name_u]Emmett[/name_u], [name_u]Everett[/name_u], and [name_m]Luke[/name_m] (although not with [name_m]Mark[/name_m]). Since you’re set on [name_m]Mark[/name_m] as a middle name, my top two picks would be [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] and [name_u]Everett[/name_u], both of which are so modern and masculine.

[davisellu]

My favorites from your list are: [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] and [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] for a girl and [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] and [name_m]Pierce[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] for a boy. Anyway you’d consider [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] for a girl-- I think this is a better combination than [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]. [name_f]Molly[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f] are okay, but I do think [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] is trendy-- maybe [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] if you really like it. Your boy names that end in K are too abrupt sounding with [name_m]Mark[/name_m] as a mn and I don’t like the MM combinations either.

Some other possibilities:

[name_m]Bennett[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]David[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_u]Elliot[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Gabriel[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Jasper[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Joseph[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Julian[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_u]Lawrence[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Lucian[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Peter[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Philip[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_u]Rowan[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Silas[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Truman[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…
[name_m]Vincent[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A…

[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Gwendolen[/name_f] [name_u]Romy[/name_u] A…
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Lois[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Maeve[/name_f] [name_f]Roisin[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Muriel[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Roisin[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Rowena[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] A…
[name_f]Sybil[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] A…

[milo2011]

I love [name_u]Marlow[/name_u]

my pics are [name_u]Marlow[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] & [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m]

Best of luck naming a baby is so much fun

[oregano7]

Congratulations!

For a girl name:

[name_f]Julia[/name_f] and [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] are my favourites from your list, but honestly I like all of them and you can’t really go wrong.

In your position I’d be super tempted to use [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] as a middle name no matter what - it’s a perfectly usable name in its own right, and if it honours both of your mothers I’d make that a priority even if the flow of the overall name wasn’t perfect. So I’d use [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f], [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f], maybe even [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] (even though they’re both “word” names). I like [name_u]Marlow[/name_u] but it does feel a bit out of place on your list next to the more classic, clearly feminine names, so I’d lean toward using one of the others.

For a boy name:

[name_u]Emmett[/name_u] is my favourite! [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] works really well. [name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] does, too. Knowing as much as you’ve told us about the surname, nothing feels weird to me about [name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] A____, but say just [name_m]Henry[/name_m] A___ out loud and see how it feels to you. (The middle name doesn’t usually see a lot of use anyway, so it’s important that the first and surnames work together.) [name_u]Mason[/name_u] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] sounds good to me aesthetically but you’re right that [name_u]Mason[/name_u] is quite popular. Whether it’s too popular depends on you and also on whether it’s popular in your region or not - these things can vary a lot from the national rankings.

I do think that [name_m]Jake[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] and [name_m]Luke[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] are too choppy. [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] and [name_m]Lucas[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] sound much better [name_f]IMO[/name_f]. [name_m]Pierce[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] doesn’t flow flawlessly but it’s smoother because they don’t both end in the clipped “k” sound. [name_m]Martin[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] sounds almost a little redundant - if I wanted to honour someone named [name_m]Mark[/name_m] and I liked [name_m]Martin[/name_m] enough to consider it for a first name, I think I’d consider that the honour name since it sounds so similar to [name_m]Mark[/name_m].