[name_f]My[/name_f] youngest is named after my mom in-law and her mom. Youngest is [name_u]Raven[/name_u] [name_f]Azalea[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f], mom in-law is [name_f]Letitia[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] and grandma in-law was [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f]. Her name was originally [name_u]Raven[/name_u] [name_f]Antoinette[/name_f] though and I changed it when she was several months old because I was sad I hadn’t honored my granny with [name_f]Azalea[/name_f] and wanted to include it, but couldn’t remove the honor to my husband’s family, so that’s why she has 2 middles and my other kids don’t.
[name_m]Flash[/name_m] forward to now and my mom has already asked if we’ll be using her middle name if we have a girl. It’s also my sister’s and grandma’s middle name. Mom is [name_u]Sheron[/name_u] [name_u]Kay[/name_u], sister [name_f]Pamela[/name_f] [name_u]Kay[/name_u] and grandma [name_f]Velma[/name_f] [name_u]Kay[/name_u]. Problem is that I don’t really like [name_u]Kay[/name_u]. I told her I’d probably use [name_f]Kate[/name_f] or some other [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] variant because it honors all three of them plus it links me and 2 aunts because we all have variants of [name_f]Katherine[/name_f]. She didn’t poo poo the idea, but I know she’d be way more excited about me using [name_u]Kay[/name_u] and I’m having a hard time loving any of the combos I come up with using [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] variants. I really like [name_f]Acacia[/name_f]. It has the [name_u]Kay[/name_u] sound plus the SH sound like in [name_u]Sheron[/name_u], but it doesn’t look at all like her name. I’ve seen it spelled [name_f]Akaysha[/name_f] or even [name_f]Akacia[/name_f]. Would you change the spelling to make the honor more obvious?
FWIW, I think there’s a difference (often ambiguous, but it exists) between an honor and a nod. [name_u]An[/name_u] honor is going to be the same name or very close to the same name so there’s no ambiguity about “this name is in honor of that person”. A nod is a little more loose - it reminds you of the name but isn’t exactly close and people might not pick up on it unless they know.
In this case, I think [name_f]Acacia[/name_f] is more of a nod than an honor. The “kay” sound is there but… it’s not going to be an obvious “this name is in honor of these people”. [name_f]Akaysha[/name_f] moves the name closer to honor name territory, but the intentional misspelling of word names isn’t usually my thing because, well, they’re already words. Since there’s a meaning behind it, though, I don’t think it’s horrible.
This might not be the most useful input, but I actually quite like [name_u]Kay[/name_u]! It has a certain bright spark to it that I find appealing.
Could you perhaps do another double middle, as with [name_u]Raven[/name_u] [name_f]Azalea[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f]? I think that was a great solution you came up with, to honour more than one relative. [name_u]Kay[/name_u] is nice & short, so it would work well in the same spot as [name_f]Ann[/name_f]: (first name) (middle name) [name_u]Kay[/name_u]
If your mother feels less excited about [name_f]Kate[/name_f] than [name_u]Kay[/name_u], I’m guessing she might not see [name_f]Acacia[/name_f] as being any better, despite the parallel sound (or even if you change the spelling to [name_f]Akaysha[/name_f], which looks a tad awkward). So maybe a double middle could work instead?
1st choice - I would just use [name_u]Kay[/name_u] and have two middle names like your other daughter. I didn’t used to like [name_u]Kay[/name_u] but now with all the hype on one syllable names, I have grown quite fond of it.
2nd choice - use [name_f]Kate[/name_f]
3rd choice - Maybe you will have a boy and not have to stress over it.
I second using [name_u]Kay[/name_u] as a second middle name, but have you considered other names with the [name_u]Kay[/name_u] sound other than [name_f]Kate[/name_f] and [name_f]Acacia[/name_f]? Maybe some that have the [name_u]Kay[/name_u] spelling?
(Also love [name_f]Makeda[/name_f] and [name_f]Acadia[/name_f] for you but they run into the same spelling issue as Acacia)
Personally I think [name_f]Acacia[/name_f] is a perfectly fine honor name as is, because to me honor names are all about intent. You’re choosing the name because it has the KAY sound and you are choosing it to honor those [name_m]Kays[/name_m] in your life. Is it in your face obvious that it’s an honor name? [name_m]Eh[/name_m], maybe not. But I don’t think all honor names need to be. But if it’s important to you to have the [name_u]Kay[/name_u] spelling as well, I hope you’re able to find a [name_u]Kay[/name_u] name that you love! I’m not a huge fan of [name_f]Akaysha[/name_f], it looks off to me, but if you love it then you should go for it.
I have been trying use [name_u]Kay[/name_u] or [name_f]Kate[/name_f] as a second middle name to match [name_u]Raven[/name_u] [name_f]Azalea[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f], but I’m just not coming up with any combinations I absolutely love. I regularly call [name_u]Raven[/name_u] by all 3 of her names and I love doing it. Her name is fun for me to yell through the house. lol I’m looking for the same feeling and not finding it. I do like [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] or [name_f]Mikayla[/name_f], but they’re not my favorite names. Definitely not what I’d pick if I didn’t feel like I should honor these ladies. I mean I want to honor them. They’re all very important to me and my family and all my other kids have honor names. I just wish I liked their name more.
It’s so nice to use an honour name but i think you have to love it too! I think it’s perfectly acceptable to use the alternative forms of [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] if [name_u]Kay[/name_u] isn’t your favourite. I didn’t like my mothers or mother in laws name but I honoured them by using ones nickname the others and middle names as middles for my daughter.
I like this because it was on honour but not super obvious except to the people being honoured. For the record they both loved it! I like the idea you have of finding a name with the [name_u]Kay[/name_u] sound in it. I also wonder if you modernised the spelling if you may prefer it like just the letter K for example it really looks more Individual.
Other ideas: try find a name you do like from the letters in your mum’s names, sometimes there’s a gem in there when you rearrange them.
[name_f]Acacia[/name_f] has the tie to [name_f]Azalea[/name_f], the sounds of [name_u]Kay[/name_u] and [name_u]Sheron[/name_u] - it does sound like a good option - [name_f]Akaysha[/name_f] would make it more obvious, but I’m not sure I like it. I’d say, run it by your mum maybe? see if she likes it - and if so, which spelling?
