I was hoping to get some insight on a name that I keep coming back to. We had a darling baby girl several months ago, who is named [name]Alice[/name] [name]Margaret[/name] (both family names). We are just starting to think about expanding our family, although I’m not pregnant at the moment. It’s important to me to use names with family meaning and I love classic names with long, established histories. When [name]Alice[/name] was born we nearly named her [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name], a name I still love dearly (and which also has family meaning). I hope one day to have another daughter and perhaps use it for her. I was hoping some of you could provide some thoughts on this name - what are your impressions of it? would you like to have it yourself or for your child? Would you end up shortening it to [name]Mary[/name] [name]Lou[/name]? Would you go by simply [name]Mary[/name] or [name]Louise[/name] on their own? Of course since I’m not expecting this issue isn’t pressing…but curious. Please feel free to respond however you wish.
I personally love both names together in combination, as [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name]. But I also love [name]Mary[/name] on its own, and [name]Louise[/name] on its own. I haven’t felt as drawn to the shortened name [name]Mary[/name] [name]Lou[/name], however. I also rather like that [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] is not a terribly common name, although of course [name]Mary[/name] used to be the most common girls name of all. I think for that reason my mother is a little disposed against it, but she’s remembering her girlhood of growing up with hundreds of [name]Marys[/name]! To me it feels like a rare, pretty name that is sweet and old-fashioned, with wonderful history. And I love these two names together. I would welcome your thoughts!
[name]Louise[/name] is a favorite of mine and is my elder daughter’s middle name (in part after her great-grandfather [name]Louis[/name]). I am just not fond of [name]Mary[/name]. I appreciate your description of it as pretty, sweet and old-fashioned - that’s how I see [name]Louise[/name] and [name]Alice[/name] but not [name]Mary[/name]. I went to school with a [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] who went by both names in full or ML for short. I can definitely see [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] or [name]Louise[/name] Something as a sister to [name]Alice[/name] [name]Margaret[/name]. Other names I like with [name]Alice[/name] and with [name]Louise[/name] as a middle: [name]Cora[/name], [name]Clara[/name], [name]Camille[/name] (something about those C’s!), [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Nora[/name], [name]Nina[/name], [name]Ivy[/name], [name]Mina[/name], [name]Julia[/name], [name]Flora[/name]
I like [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] better than [name]Louise[/name] as a first name. [name]Mary[/name] is darling and underused nowadays [name]IMO[/name]. I wouldn’t call her [name]Mary[/name] [name]Lou[/name], especially if I didn’t know her middle name.
[name]Alice[/name] is one of my favorites, and some others I love with it are:
[name]Love[/name] [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] (but not [name]Mary[/name] [name]Lou[/name]). I also love [name]Louisa[/name] [name]Mary[/name]. I love [name]Louisa[/name], but my husband has vetoed it, so I just have to suggest it to everyone else!
I know a teenager named [name]Mary[/name] and it stands out as classic and distinctive among the trendier names of her peers. [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] is a great combination!
[name]Alice[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] are wonderful sister names, and [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] is a very nice first-middle combo. [name]Mary[/name] [name]Lou[/name] is fine by me but I like [name]Mary[/name] better on its own. I like [name]Louisa[/name] better than [name]Louise[/name], like a pp. [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louisa[/name] is wonderful! If you go with the L name over [name]Mary[/name], [name]Alice[/name] and [name]Louisa[/name] is perfection - I like it better than [name]Alice[/name] and [name]Louise[/name] although [name]Alice[/name] and [name]Louise[/name] is perfectly cute and fitting. For [name]Louise[/name] or [name]Louisa[/name] I like the nicknames [name]Lulu[/name], [name]Lula[/name], and maybe [name]Lola[/name].
Thanks very much for these thoughtful comments!! elisabeth rae, your suggested names are all lovely - they made me laugh because several are actually on my list of other names that I love - [name]Susannah[/name], [name]Lucy[/name], [name]Jane[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name] in particular are all in my top favourites I suppose it’s that older, classic naming style that I love.
Several posters have noted their preference for [name]Louisa[/name]. I [name]LOVE[/name] that name too…but when we were discussing names for our current daughter, my husband vetoed it. He seems to prefer “less frilly” names - so he likes [name]Louise[/name] and [name]Diane[/name] more than [name]Louisa[/name] and [name]Diana[/name]. I understand his preference, as I like simple names too…but I still love [name]Louisa[/name] and don’t really see it as “frilly” the way that he does. [name]Ah[/name] well. And really as a combination, I think I do prefer [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] over [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louisa[/name].
Thanks also for the thoughts on the name [name]Mary[/name]. It’s one that tends to be a little divisive, I find. I love it, but I remember disliking it when I was younger. It’s grown on me over time. So I guess I like that a future daughter named [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name] could opt to go by her second name on its own if she really disliked [name]Mary[/name]…
Not my style particularly, but I do like [name]Mary[/name] [name]Louise[/name]. Adding [name]Mary[/name] makes [name]Louise[/name] more interesting and having since met younger [name]Marys[/name], I can see it on a future daughter now. I think it’s rather nice and really nice with [name]Susannah[/name], [name]Lucy[/name], [name]Jane[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name] - like straight out of a [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] novel.
I suppose it’s that older, classic naming style that I love.