My partner and I are both 99% sure belly bub is going to be Mabel. She will be joining big sister Olive Hermione Florence and big brother Theodore Ezra Atticus. I’m now town between which direction to go for middle names. My partner leaves middle names largely up to me. A few thoughts/reasons behind these two options…
Without intent, both Olive and Teddy’s full names have 11 syllables. So now I kind of want this baby to have 11 syllables too. However, the only combination I can come up with that I love and is approved by my partner is Mabel Antigone Ada. I really like it and I feel it fits in with my other children, albeit maybe a bit too “theme-y” given Olive’s full name? I’ve questioned this before and most responses where in favour of it.
Do I ignore the 11 syllables (I am not one to want/plan a theme between siblings names generally) and use Clementine as one of the middle names? Clementine has been a favourite since my first pregnancy and was my top choice for Olive. My partner has never liked it as much as me though and this being our last baby, I don’t want to feel like I missed my chance to use it. Of course I could use Clementine and still end up with 11 syllables, but I’ve been scouring my name lists and nothing is feeling right. My partner does prefer Mabel Clementine Elsie, but I would definitely try to push for Daisy instead if we go down this route.
Thank you all so much for all of your amazing help so far!
I’d say that [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] would be my choice for you. I like the balance it strikes between O & T’s names. I don’t see it as theme-y at all.
Because the syllable count between O & T’s names was unintentional, I’d ignore it. I think it places more pressure on you to make the name “fit” instead of just choosing what you love and suits the baby.
Firstly, your children’s names are gorgeous. The perfect combination of romantic and regal, wearable and grand.
Both [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] and [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] have these qualities. They’re just gorgeous! It’s a tough choice but if I’m ignoring the 11 syllable thing and just going off the names, then I think [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] wins out… just. [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] is also one of my favourite names and I think [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] rounds it off perfectly.
In saying that, I really love [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] as well, and I do like the fact that each child’s name would be 11 syllables. I don’t think it’s too theme-y either. To be honest, I probably love it as much as [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f], in part because I adore [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] and [name_f]Ada[/name_f].
So basically, I can’t really pick which I’d go for!
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] feels grand and operatic and steeped in history whilst [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] feels sweet and quirky and rustic. All of these qualities are appealing and work alongside [name_f]Olive[/name_f] [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_u]Florence[/name_u] and [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_u]Ezra[/name_u] [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], so you can’t go wrong really.
But I think if you feel you’ll regret not using [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], then that’s more important than maintaining the 11 syllable thing.
I feel like [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] sounds more like the one your heart is leaning towards in reading your descriptions - I would use [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] so you still get to use the name that you’ve always loved!
I also find myself tripping a bit over the repeated long A sounds in [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f].
I do think, regardless of syllable count, [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] matches/vibes best with your older children’s full names. It has the same balance to it. However, I do know that you love [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], and you might regret not using it.
It’s more [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] as a double mn that I don’t think has enough balance to it, and [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] isn’t quite strong enough to ground both of them, if that makes any sense. Would you consider combining your two options, like [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f]? [name_m]Just[/name_m] a thought.
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] is so lovely!! I like the sharpness of [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] with [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] and the strength of Ada!!
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] was my vote because [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] just sounded like words rather then a name to me. However the choice, given your reason about [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] would be harder for me to choose if the combo was actually [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] like you had also stated. In fact I’d probably change my vote to the latter.
I prefer [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] to [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] for you, simply because it’s clear how much you love Clementine; however, w/ [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] the combo feels a lot more cutesy to me than your other children’s names, so vibe-wise I prefer MAA.
Fwiw, I think [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] would be really sweet as well and a great mix between the two vibes.
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] got my vote, as [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] just works so well alongside [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] & [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], and therefore, the combo as a whole just seems to fit best. While [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] is lovely, it does feel a little flat and lacklustre alongside her siblings names as it just doesn’t have that same energy and zest.
I don’t think the syllable thing you will even think about again once she’s here and named to be honest, so I do side with ignoring it. In fact, I say ignore it completely and go with [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] because you obviously love [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], so it’d be a shame not to incorporate it somehow. I actually think this combo fits perfectly stylistically with her older siblings full names. I love it.
After reading your post I think go with [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] (the combo [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] is actually on my shortlist!). I think the 11 syllables will wear off after a while. No one’s going to realise and I don’t think it’s as significant as you think.
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] and [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] are two of my favourite names so I think hi for it. I also love [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] so if that’s they only way you can convince your partner I would do that. I think [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] flows better but [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] is just as lovely.
I’d ignore the syllable theme, since it was unintentional in the first place. If you love [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], I say go for it!
I do agree with previous posters that [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] sounds a lot better/stronger than [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f], or even [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] for that matter (If this is even an option?)
But overall, I say go with the names you love and ignore the syllable count! [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] is such a lovely choice
I just thought I’d add to this. [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] dies sound stronger but I quite enjoy the delicacy of [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]
Thank you all so much for your kind words, thoughts, and advice.
I do agree that [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] feels a bit more cutesy than the other two, and had hesitations based on that. However still would rather use [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] over [name_f]Elsie[/name_f].
I have been thinking that we would most likely go for [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f], purely as nothing else was feeling right. However I liked the suggestion of [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] and wasn’t sure why I hadn’t suggested it to my partner before. He surprisingly liked it more than [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] (he prefers shorter names). So that’s definitely an option for us now.
I also liked the suggestion of [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f] which we had considered before but I eliminated it for reasons unknown to me know. I do think it has better balance than [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] and my partner likes this combination best.
I do worry about the syllables not matching, but agree with those who said it won’t be noticed/remembered once baby is here. Especially as it wasn’t an intentional thing to match with [name_f]Olive[/name_f] and [name_u]Teddy[/name_u].
To recap, we are now deciding between [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f], [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], and [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_f]Ada[/name_f]. I doubt we will choose middles before baby is born, but I usually have a few solid options by this stage of pregnancy. Thank you all once again!
