Hello!
I am having a dilemma. My husband and I have been trying to adopt for a few years now, even before we were married. I can’t have children of my own, and we’ve already had two international adoptions fall through in the last year. My husband wants to let it go for a while, in his words, “let the universe decide” when the time is right for us to have a baby. He doesn’t want to discuss names with me anymore, although we both agree that the names we had chosen for our almost-babies are now unusable. So [name]Louisa[/name], [name]Clara[/name] and [name]Felix[/name] are all out. I have posted on Nameberry before, under a different name, but my husband thinks all this agonising over baby names is just upsetting me more, so I’ve changed my user name so he doesn’t google it! Not to make him sound like a monster, he wouldn’t be angry, just worried, which is worse. But I find it comforting, and I’ve been a name-nerd since I was little, so I was wondering if you lovely berries would tell me what you think of my list, as it stands? For all I know I could be matched with a child tomorrow, but until then it’s nice to dream and plan! Sorry for the saga, here’s the list! Be brutally honest, I’m not delicate! I need to know that these names will work for a child in the real world!
I like old-fashioned names, I suppose, and I love alliteration in middle names, but they all have some significance to me!
Girls:
- [name]Iris[/name] [name]Fiona[/name] [name]Freya[/name] (is a name that means ‘rainbow’ too cheesy for a family that very well might end up being quite multi-cultural? I love it, love the flowers, love the meaning! Fi0na is my husband’s mother’s name, [name]Freya[/name] is my mother’s name, thus sparking my love of alliteration.)
- [name]Iris[/name] [name]Diana[/name] [name]Mae[/name] ([name]Mae[/name] comes from my middle name, [name]Mabel[/name], but the other two I just like, love the goddess [name]Diana[/name], brutal and beautiful!)
- [name]Pearl[/name] [name]Marilla[/name] [name]Maeve[/name] ([name]Marilla[/name] from [name]Anne[/name], of course, pearls are the birthstones of my husband and my mother, wondering if this is still a little dusty?)
- [name]Florence[/name] [name]Juniper[/name] [name]Jane[/name] nn [name]Flora[/name], I think? What would you nickname a [name]Florence[/name]? (We were married last [name]Autumn[/name] in [name]Florence[/name], [name]Juniper[/name] from [name]June[/name], the birth month of my husband and mother, and [name]Jane[/name] for [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] and [name]Jane[/name] Eyre and a very dear and darling friend.)
- [name]Florence[/name] [name]Daisy[/name] [name]Jane[/name] (the daisy is my father’s birth flower)
- [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Alexandra[/name] [name]Anne[/name], nn [name]Bea[/name] (my brother’s name was [name]Alexander[/name], [name]Anne[/name] for [name]Anne[/name] [name]Shirley[/name], and [name]Anne[/name] [name]Elliot[/name], my favourite [name]Austen[/name] heroine, love the meaning of [name]Beatrice[/name]!)
- [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Eliza[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
- [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Rhea[/name] [name]Rose[/name] nn [name]Elsa[/name] (I like [name]Rhea[/name] as a subtle nod to mothers, my mother was such a darling, my stepmother is my closest friend; my best friend’s name is [name]Rose[/name], but it’s also the name of my husband’s ex, which makes me a bit iffy about using it, nice as I’m sure she is. I should probably note that [name]Elizabeth[/name] would be [name]Elsa[/name] 99% of the time, my grandmother [name]Elizabeth[/name] is still alive, but I don’t like nicknames on birth certificates.)
Boys:
- [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Roman[/name] [name]Charles[/name] (Dad’s name is [name]Roman[/name], my husband is [name]Charles[/name], love [name]Theodore[/name] nn [name]Teddy[/name] and [name]Theo[/name])
- [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Robert[/name] [name]Reed[/name] (I realise this combo is a little R heavy for Americans, but I have a NZ/British accent, my husband has an “[name]Eton[/name]” British accent, and we live in NZ, so we don’t pronounce internal r’s that don’t precede vowels. So we would say [name]Arthur[/name] more like “aah-thuh” so [name]Arthur[/name] doesn’t really run into [name]Robert[/name]… do I protest too much? [name]Both[/name] names are family on my husband’s side, [name]Arthur[/name] is Dad’s middle name, I’ve always loved it.)
- [name]Henry[/name] [name]Oliver[/name] [name]Apollo[/name] ([name]Henry[/name] is my husband’s favourite boy name, [name]Oliver[/name] is mine but too popular to put in front, and [name]Apollo[/name] is for my sister, who is a ballet teacher)
- [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Atticus[/name] [name]Charles[/name]
- [name]Atticus[/name] [name]Louis[/name] [name]James[/name] (is [name]Atticus[/name] usable? In a family that manages to give each member a dozen or so nicknames, what could we call [name]Atticus[/name]? I like it as a subtle tribute to my father-in-law, who was born in Athens, although his family were not Greek. [name]Atticus[/name] [name]Finch[/name] is a wonderful namesake, too.)
Right, I’ve babbled on long enough. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Criticisms? Thankyou so much!