We just found out we are having a girl, and we have absolutely NO names in mind.
Some notes:
I like the idea of naming her in honour of our parents, but don’t really like any of our parent’s names in their original forms - [name]Barbara[/name] and [name]Cecilia[/name] are the grandmas, and [name]Bobby[/name] and [name]Dennis[/name] are the grandpas. I’m not married to this idea, but thought it might be nice for her name to have some meaning behind it.
we have a son named [name]Mason[/name] [name]Daniel[/name]. It would be nice if the names had the same feeling but weren’t too “matchy”. [name]One[/name] name that we like is [name]Madeleine[/name] but it seems too matchy with [name]Mason[/name].
We want something that will be not too common - I grew up as one of 5 [name]Jennifer[/name]/[name]Jenny[/name]'s in my grade, so I don’t want to do that to her, but I also definitely don’t want a name that is too out there or that will require a lot of spelling/clarification.
To honor [name]Cecelia[/name] did you consider [name]Celina[/name]? It’s less common, and fresher.
What about [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Natalie[/name] or [name]Vivienne[/name] ? I find them similar to [name]Madeline[/name] in flavor. But I like [name]Madeline[/name] and don’t find it too matchy with [name]Mason[/name], if only they share an M.
[name]Barbara[/name], [name]Cecilia[/name], [name]Bobby[/name] and [name]Dennis[/name]. Hmm. Most of the obvious ones ([name]Roberta[/name], [name]Denise[/name], [name]Celia[/name]) all seem dated to me, and don’t work with [name]Mason[/name].
[name]How[/name] about:
[name]Cara[/name] (Cecila and [name]Barb[/name]ara) - or any other -ara name - [name]Lara[/name], [name]Mara[/name], [name]Sara[/name], etc.
[name]Delia[/name] (Dennis and Cecilia)
[name]Robyn[/name] (variant of [name]Robert[/name])
Anything -en sending from Dennis - [name]Lauren[/name], [name]Helen[/name], [name]Ellen[/name], etc.
Anything -lia ending from Cecilia - [name]Amelia[/name], [name]Julia[/name], [name]Olivia[/name], etc.
[name]Poppy[/name] - turn the B’s in [name]Bobby[/name] into P’s.
Maybe you could use inspiration from one of the grandparents on the paternal side and one on the paternal side? Idk which names are paternal/maternal, but here are some ideas for each name.
[name]Cecelia[/name]: [name]Celia[/name], [name]Cecily[/name]
[name]Barbara[/name]: [name]Bee[/name], [name]Bronte[/name] (idk why, it just sounds a little similar)
[name]Bobby[/name]: [name]Roberta[/name], [name]Robin[/name], [name]Bobbi[/name]
[name]Dennis[/name]: [name]Denise[/name]
Also, what about using the name of a grandmother’s favorite flower or drawing inspiration from a favorite childhood memory or activity that your family or your husband’s family participated in?
I hope that helps!
[name]EDIT[/name]: Ooh, some really great ideas from essjay!
I really like the idea of combining the grandparent’s names into something new. [name]Barbara[/name] and [name]Dennis[/name] are paternal grandparents, and [name]Cecilia[/name] and [name]Bobby[/name] are maternal grandparents. Or another way to do it would be to combine the two grandmas and two grandpas into some name. For a boy, we had thought about Denby (combo of [name]Dennis[/name] and [name]Bobby[/name]).
Another thing to think about, she will be half Chinese, so maybe something that honours her asian heritage?
As you can see I’m definitely all over the place with names right now. Keep the suggestions coming!