WDYT of sibling names for Cora Josephine?

Name Advice
1

Hello Berries,

[name]Long[/name] time lurker here, but I always love reading all your thoughts and opinions on names! I have squandered more naptimes than I’d like to admit reading these forums!

My husband [name]Mark[/name] and I are starting to think about names for #2 (who am I kidding, we were thinking about names for #2 before I was pregnant with #1!) My daughter’s name is [name]Cora[/name] [name]Josephine[/name], and the comment we get most often on it is that it is “timeless.” Looking for that sort of feel for other names as well. Considering for a second girl:

[name]Nell[/name] [name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Nell[/name] [name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Nell[/name] [name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Nell[/name] [name]Juliette[/name]/[name]Juliet[/name]/[name]Julianne[/name]

Other possibile fns: [name]June[/name], [name]Mabel[/name], [name]Mae[/name] (could be tricky with last initial B- “maybe”? might have to let it go) [name]Elida[/name] (prn like [name]Eliza[/name] with a D).

If it is a boy we will most likely use our original boy pick:

[name]Arlo[/name] [name]James[/name]

My questions for you name-opinionated are thus:
Does the use of [name]Josephine[/name]/[name]James[/name] make any non-J middles seem like the odd man out? (I’d say there’s a fairly good chance of 3 kids in our future, pretty slim chance of more than that, though!)

Suggestions of longer, possibly non-J mns for [name]Arlo[/name]?

Does brother [name]Arlo[/name] fit with timeless sisters [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Nell[/name]?

Is “[name]Cora[/name] and [name]Nell[/name]” too awkward to say? Or worse yet, “[name]Cora[/name], [name]Nell[/name] and …” I almost feel like you’re trying to say “[name]Cornell[/name]” but not quite getting there.

Any other suggestions of sibling names and opinions on our current options?

Some loose info on preferences: obviously I like short fns, prefer somewhat nickname-proof firsts. I am a [name]Sarah[/name] born in the 1980s so staying out to top 100 is a MUST. Gotta be pronounceable/spellable. I used to have a bunch of other “rules” but I’m ruling myself right out of names we can agree on!

Our last name sounds like “Buyer.”

Thanks so much in advance- I’m so looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions!

2

First, I love your daughter’s name! Definitely timeless and beautiful!
I like [name]Nell[/name] [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Nell[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] the best! I like [name]Nell[/name] but more as a nickname for [name]Eleanor[/name] or [name]Penelope[/name] than on its own. I just keep thinking its kinda bland compared to [name]Cora[/name] and there should be more to it. [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Nell[/name] sound fine together, but I can see where people would make the connection to [name]Cornell[/name]. But its not a bad connection so I think its fine.

I think [name]June[/name] and [name]Mabel[/name] go better with [name]Cora[/name]. [name]Both[/name] are vintage classics with a “cute” feel to them. [name]Elida[/name] could be interesting but I think people would pronounce it wrong too much.

Some suggestions:
[name]Ida[/name] - sister of my great-great Aunt [name]Cora[/name] :slight_smile: their other sisters were [name]Evelyn[/name], [name]Sophronia[/name] and [name]Nettie[/name] which I don’t think you’d like!
[name]Ada[/name]
[name]Hazel[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Rose[/name]
[name]Etta[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Faye[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Adele[/name]
[name]Fern[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Vera[/name]
[name]Audra[/name]
[name]Mina[/name]
[name]Olive[/name]
[name]Sibyl[/name]
Louisa

I love [name]Arlo[/name] [name]James[/name] and I think it goes great with [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Nell[/name] since they all have that vintage feel. And no, just because two of your kids have “J” mns doesn’t mean the third has to too. I don’t think its weird at all and chances are they won’t feel like the odd one out just because of a middle initial.
Suggestions for his middle name:
Arlo Everett
Arlo Maxwell
Arlo Theodore
Arlo Benjamin
Arlo Edward
Arlo Nicholas
Arlo Henry
Arlo Frederick
Arlo Nathaniel
Arlo Lucas
Arlo Alexander
Arlo Samuel
Arlo Thomas
Arlo Robert
Arlo Rupert
Arlo Christian

Sorry, I’m super traditional when it comes to boy’s names. Good Luck!

3

[name]Cora[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] is beautiful! Not really fond of just [name]Nell[/name], I much prefer [name]Mabel[/name] (nn [name]Mae[/name] so you get both) with [name]Cora[/name]. [name]Mabel[/name] [name]Juliette[/name] is lovely.

4

Thanks so much for the responses, ladies! Upon further discussion, DH does not really go for [name]Mabel[/name], :frowning: nor does anything in [name]Violet[/name]'s list do it for him. Most of those I had considered at one point or another- but a few are new: [name]Sybil[/name], [name]Etta[/name] and [name]Fern[/name]! Intriguing! ([name]Sybil[/name] the sibling- cheesy but I sort of love cheese sometimes!) I shall have to think on those a bit. I don’t have feeling I did with [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Arlo[/name] right off the bat but maybe this next name will have to grow on me rather than be love at first sight, and maybe he could be brought around later…

I’m thinking we will probably stay with [name]James[/name] for a boy mn. It has family connections on both my parents’ sides and I just haven’t found anything else with such a nice sound. Thanks for the opinions on the middle names, as well! I was probably overthinking it.

5

[name]How[/name] funny! I’m also a [name]Sarah[/name] born in the 80s, and I also have a daughter named [name]Cora[/name]! It’s a great name, isn’t it? I think we have similar taste, especially in girls’ names. I have a two year old named [name]Sybil[/name] (the [name]Sybil[/name]/ sibling thing has never come up, by the way), and [name]June[/name] has been on our list at times. I’m not sure how good I am at offering advice, but I thought I’d share some of the names we’ve considered over the years.

[name]Willa[/name] (our 5 year old’s name)
[name]Edith[/name]
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Maude[/name]
[name]Olive[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Agnes[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Daphne[/name]
[name]Hazel[/name]
[name]Helen/name
[name]Louise[/name]/a
[name]Vera[/name]

[name]Hugo[/name] (our choice if this baby is a boy)
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]Dexter[/name]
[name]Frederick[/name]
[name]Homer[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Silas[/name]
[name]Walter[/name]

Good luck!

6

What’s even funnier is that you are the second [name]Sarah[/name] with a daughter [name]Cora[/name] I’ve heard of since our [name]Cora[/name] was born! I agree we have similar (and excellent!) taste in names! I actually had read one of your threads just before you posted here. [name]Love[/name] [name]Hugo[/name], BTW, and also [name]Silas[/name] though he’s sadly getting too popular for me. I think [name]Homer[/name] would be so cute on a little boy, but I probably couldn’t pull the trigger on it due to the Simpsons connection.

I appreciate you sharing your list…

[name]Willa[/name]- I have actually campaigned in the past for [name]Willa[/name] but I don’t see any hope for her. DH is not a fan at all. And I would like to avoid having another name that ends in -a… although for the right name I’ll totally get over it. For me [name]Willa[/name] would be worth it, but it’s a moot point.

[name]Olive[/name]- [name]Love[/name] [name]Olive[/name], but fear she’s getting too popular and might feel like a second choice [name]Olivia[/name].

[name]Phoebe[/name]- I can’t get past the Friends connection and I never even really watched the show. [name]SIL[/name] is a huge fan though.

[name]Agnes[/name] and [name]Alice[/name] - If we have an [name]Arlo[/name] he’ll join cousins [name]Addison[/name] and [name]Aubrey[/name] (sisters) and it could get a bit A heavy up in here. Otherwise [name]Alice[/name] would be on my short list I think.

[name]Daphne[/name], [name]Hazel[/name] and [name]Vera[/name]- Hubby likes these! I must be honest my first thought with [name]Vera[/name] is “wang” which is not the best word association for me, LOL. [name]Daphne[/name] is NMS but we are considering [name]Hazel[/name], he more enthusiastically than I, but it’s something. I am a biologist so I appreciate the nature/tree connection and I think the Z brings a bit of cool to it.

7

Last night I made him come up with some names and he likes [name]Hollis[/name] which to me is just okay, and also [name]Tess[/name]/[name]Tessa[/name] which is a possibility.

I also meant to write in response to [name]Violet[/name] earlier that as far as using [name]Penelope[/name] or [name]Eleanor[/name] and nn [name]Nell[/name] goes, it is first off not really my naming style, but perhaps more practically, our cats are named [name]Norah[/name] and [name]Penny[/name]. Which is actually sort of part of the [name]Nell[/name] appeal for me… when I first searched [name]Nell[/name] on nameberry I received the following related name results:

[name]Cornelia[/name] - Listed [name]Nell[/name] and [name]Cora[/name] as possible nns
[name]Penelope[/name]- [name]Nell[/name] and [name]Penny[/name] as nns
[name]Eleanor[/name]- [name]Nell[/name] and [name]Nora[/name]/h as nns
[name]Nellary[/name]- NMS (Somewhat unrelated- I did at one point briefly have a crush on [name]Ellary[/name]. Couldn’t get over the celery rhyme though.)

Also [name]Nell[/name] as nn for [name]Ellen[/name]- my middle name given to honor my paternal grandmother [name]Gertrude[/name] [name]Ellen[/name]

So I feel like this name is SPEAKING me and related to lots of other names that I love… either that or I have really redundant taste in names. HA!

I’d be very interested to hear others’ opinions on [name]Tess[/name] and also thoughts on [name]Nell[/name] spelled [name]Nelle[/name]- I think I find it prettier on paper but would be worried about pronunciation as [name]Nellie[/name]. I think that last -e might bring DH on board, though, which might make it totally worth it. I also sort of like that it is [name]Ellen[/name] spelled backwards… although it does also strike me as a bit [name]Nevaeh[/name]-ish… :confused:

8

I personally [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Nell[/name] and think it could stand on it’s own especially with the sweet, sleek, vintage [name]Cora[/name]! [name]Nell[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Nell[/name] [name]Juliette[/name] are gorgeous IMHO! [name]Arlo[/name] [name]James[/name] is fantastic, it had been on my favorites list for many, many years, so funny it is becoming ubiquitous in the nameberry world now. Also, has [name]Helena[/name] nn [name]Nell[/name] been suggested? Also, [name]Pernilla[/name] nn [name]Nell[/name]…

9

kashed22- Thanks for your input! I’m definitely leaning toward just plain [name]Nell[/name], either with or without the final e. I think [name]Mark[/name]'s coming around to it as well! I’ve also noticed [name]Arlo[/name] [name]James[/name] as a favorite around here! The funny thing is that we came up with the middles [name]Josephine[/name] and [name]James[/name] first ([name]Josephine[/name] is my mom’s mn and [name]James[/name] appears on both sides of my family tree and is my brother’s mn for that reason). When we first considered [name]Arlo[/name] and loved it we felt like we struck gold with the combo. :slight_smile: I sigh a bit inside every time I hear of another [name]Arlo[/name] but we can take comfort that it’ll be a long while (if ever) before he makes the top 100!

[name]Pernilla[/name] is interesting but too far off the beaten path to get the green light from DH. [name]Helena[/name] or [name]Helen[/name] have both been on and off the list at different times.