To answer some earlier questions, I think it’s fine to go with [name]Jane[/name] even though your neighbors have a baby with this name-- you might not always live near them, etc. While I like some of the [name]Elizabeth[/name] variations that you have, I think these make the name pretty unusual next to [name]Clara[/name], so I probably wouldn’t use them given your other criteria. You could do a more “usual” variation though-- [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Liza[/name], [name]Elise[/name], [name]Elsie[/name], [name]Elsa[/name], etc. but it doesn’t sound like these are up for consideration. What about using [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Ellen[/name], [name]Helen[/name], or [name]Helena[/name] instead? You could still use [name]Ellie[/name], [name]Ella[/name], etc. as nns and these are kind of close to some of the [name]Elizabeth[/name] nns. These all sound good with [name]Clara[/name] too.
From your list, I agree that [name]Charles[/name] and [name]Theodore[/name] and [name]Jane[/name] and [name]Beatrix[/name] are the best fits for the same era as [name]Clara[/name]. [name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Jane[/name] or [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Charles[/name] are lovely names. [name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Marion[/name] is great too.
Some other possibilties:
[name]Clara[/name] and
[name]Alice[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Daphne[/name] [name]Jane[/name]/[name]Marion[/name]
[name]Edith[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Esme[/name] [name]Beatrix[/name]
[name]Esther[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name] ([name]Marie[/name]/[name]Marina[/name])
[name]Frances[/name] [name]Marion[/name] (although there is an American Revolutionary War hero named [name]Francis[/name] [name]Marion[/name])
[name]Irene[/name] [name]Beatrix[/name]
[name]Julia[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Leonie[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Rose[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Sybil[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
[name]Violet[/name] [name]Marion[/name]
For a boys name, I think [name]Lionel[/name] would work better than [name]Linus[/name]. Some other possibilities:
I feel like you already know which names you want to choose: [name]Charles[/name] and [name]Beatrix[/name] I think that [name]Clara[/name] will feel very special if you give your baby the name she likes ([name]Charlie[/name]) and [name]Charles[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] is impeccable. As for [name]Beatrix[/name], I know a name love when I see one! If she’s the one you really want, just go for it, commit to it. You will have no regrets if you choose the name you love most, whereas if you settle for a “safer” choice, you may later wish you hadn’t.
A note on choosing [name]Charles[/name]: if you are planning to have future kids, you may want to consider whether this locks you into a C pattern. If the idea of having to keep or break a C pattern is stressful, consider [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Charles[/name]. [name]Just[/name] as impeccable, and [name]Clara[/name] can still have her [name]Charlie[/name], like her own personal pet name for him.
This is just my personal opinion. But I always find it confusing and unfortunate when siblings have names that are obviously similar or middle names that sound almost the same. To me, it comes across like the parents couldn’t be bothered to get creative. For example, my SILs have “matching” middle names [name]Leanne[/name] and [name]Leona[/name], which privately rubs me the wrong way. [name]Even[/name] more extreme was a sibset mentioned on the forums a while back of [name]McKenna[/name] and [name]MacKenzie[/name] (or however it was spelled). I just personally feel that there are so many thousands of names in the world, why limit yourself to one specific sound or meaning?
My favorites of your list are [name]Charles[/name], [name]Oliver[/name], [name]Theodore[/name], and [name]Julian[/name]. I love [name]Julian[/name]! I think [name]Linus[/name]/[name]Lionel[/name] are both too out there for me. [name]Charles[/name] sounds a little themey with [name]Clara[/name]. So I would pick [name]Oliver[/name], [name]Theodore[/name], or [name]Julian[/name].
I like [name]Katherine[/name] best of the girls. I also like [name]Jane[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you think you will be living in your current house forever? You may not know those neighbors in 5 years. I wouldn’t let it deter me from a name I loved. I also like [name]Vivian[/name]. Not big fan of [name]Beatrix[/name]. A few suggestions if you don’t mind would be [name]Louisa[/name], [name]Patricia[/name], [name]Josephine[/name], [name]Eve[/name], [name]Lillian[/name]/[name]Lily[/name], and [name]Eloise[/name]. Good [name]Luck[/name]!
I love [name]Charles[/name], it is my husband’s name. My concern you will then have two C names, if you have another child will you feel obligated to use C again for the first name?
I love the name [name]Beata[/name], but I rarely hear or see it. The most consistent pronounciation is bay-ah-tah. I know this probably doesn’t meet your criteria, but I wanted to share.
I think you could use [name]Elspeth[/name] for a first name even though your daughter’s middle name is [name]Elizabeth[/name]. I prefer [name]Elsie[/name] as a nickname. [name]Elspeth[/name] [name]Jane[/name] is a darling name!
I love [name]Beatrix[/name], but the x seems more trendy than [name]Beatrice[/name]. [name]One[/name] of my favorite names is [name]Beata[/name] (bay-ah-ta) - you might consider that. [name]Clara[/name] is such a beautiful name - I agree, hard to follow!
I love your wildcards! They’re awesome. Most of your names are on my lists, too! I don’t know what house thoughts about middle names are, but I think [name]Katherine[/name] [name]Beatrix[/name] and [name]Linus[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] are pretty cool.
A quick reply to the questions about whether or not I have a concern about a “C” theme if we use [name]Charles[/name]. Honestly, no. Maybe others will notice it, but I doubt everyone will, and it’s not by design that they both have a C. If we have a third I won’t feel any obligation to make that a C name, too. Interesting idea about using [name]Theodore[/name] as a first name but letting [name]Clara[/name] call him [name]Charlie[/name]. Very sweet. She’s rooting really hard for [name]Charlie[/name] right now. We’ll be pretty hard-pressed not to give her this. It’s not like we don’t love the name.
[name]Beata[/name] is interesting. Never heard it before. We love the name [name]Eloise[/name] and it would be on our list, actually, if it wasn’t the name of [name]Clara[/name]'s best friend. Would be too confusing for her, I think. I actually really like the name [name]Evelyn[/name], and the shorter [name]Eve[/name], my struggle with [name]Evelyn[/name] is that it feels like such a grown up name on a baby. Maybe [name]Eve[/name] as the name, full stop. And I like that it would be a variation on the [name]Eva[/name]'s and [name]Ava[/name]'s that are so common today.
My faves on your girls are [name]Vivian[/name] and [name]Katherine[/name]. I REALLY like [name]Vivian[/name] with [name]Clara[/name]. I do think that [name]Vivian[/name] [name]Marion[/name] is definitely too much together, and [name]Katherine[/name] [name]Marion[/name] is borderline too much together. Are there other family names that you guys like and would consider for a mn? Or maybe [name]Vivian[/name] [name]Jane[/name] last name…
[name]Oliver[/name] - I ‘hear’ everybody is using it, but I’ve yet to meet one baby, toddler or kid [name]Oliver[/name]. I would totally use it for my son (due around the same to as you ) if it wasn’t the name of a salad in my husbands native language.
[name]Linus[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name] is all over here I hear them everywhere, so I guess that is my reason for not choosing it
girl
[name]Scarlett[/name] again I don’t know any but what feisty name!
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Katherine[/name] my daughter…so…
[name]Beatrix[/name] hmmm at the cusp of trendiness but not there yet, I would say more people (lay people not berries) would see it as classic
If you love [name]Beatrix[/name] so much, you’ll have regrets if you choose another name over that. And I think [name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Marion[/name] sounds fine together, too. [name]Charles[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] sounds fine, but I think I like the flow of [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Charles[/name] better. And [name]Clara[/name] gets her pick for the mn spot. (I don’t mind all sibling names starting with the same sound, though, either. I just think the flow is better with them reversed. Either way it’s a very handsome name.)
So here’s where I think we are: I think [name]Charles[/name] is the boy name, with [name]Theodore[/name] as the mn, though they could flip at any time. I love both. My wife’s one hang-up with [name]Theodore[/name] as the first name is that our last name starts with “T” and she’s slightly not into the aliteration of two “T” names. I don’t mind it. So, we’ll see. Might be a gametime decision.
But we’ve re-opened the girl debate a bit wider again because last night my wife confided that she’s not sure she loves [name]Beatrix[/name] as much as I do. It’s still in the running with [name]Vivian[/name], but I won’t force it on her if she’s not completely into it–I know it’s a somewhat different name, and she has to really like it for us to choose it. Jane is probably not going to be the first name choice–maybe a middle name. Katherine and Scarlett are out. So, at the risk of seeming like a tease, I’d be curious about your preferences for the following revised list, which now incorporates a couple of names mentioned previously by some of you, as well as a couple of old favorites that we resurrected from our early lists a few years ago back when first thinking about [name]Clara[/name]'s name (and it already assume [name]Beatrix[/name] and [name]Vivian[/name] are options).
[name]Eve[/name] (possibly [name]Evelyn[/name], with [name]Eve[/name] as nn, but I like [name]Eve[/name] just on it’s own; I know [name]Eva[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] are super trendy right now, but kind of feel like [name]Eve[/name] skirts that the same way [name]Clara[/name] skirted [name]Claire[/name]'s trendiness four years ago–what do you think? This morning my wife said [name]Eve[/name] [name]Marion[/name] might be her choice if the baby came today)
[name]Annie[/name] (maybe [name]Anna[/name] with [name]Annie[/name] as a nn, but I also just love [name]Annie[/name] on it’s own)
[name]Molly[/name] (years ago this was a big favorite of mine, and I still think it would be adorable paired with [name]Clara[/name]; [name]Molly[/name] [name]Jane[/name]?)
[name]Juliet[/name] ([name]Julia[/name] is a family name, but we would want a variation of it)
[name]One[/name] other question: why do you think the name [name]Sally[/name] hasn’t made any kind of a comeback in an era when so many early 20th century names, and cute, simple names, have come on so strong? I was shocked to see that it’s barely in the top 1000, and dropping like a rock.
I love both [name]Charles[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] and [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Charles[/name]!
As for the girls:
[name]Vivian[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - I like [name]Vivian[/name] with [name]Clara[/name], but not so much with the mn [name]Jane[/name]. Could be worse, though.
[name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - [name]Beatrix[/name] is a bit out there for me, but the flow works. Not bad.
[name]Eve[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - I prefer [name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Jane[/name] nn [name]Eve[/name] (I REALLY like [name]Evie[/name], pn like the beginning of [name]Evelyn[/name]). This sounds incomplete to me.
[name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Jane[/name] nn [name]Eve[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name] this one! I prefer it to [name]Eve[/name] [name]Jane[/name] because it sounds more complete.
[name]Annie[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - Better than [name]Anne[/name] [name]Jane[/name], but still too similar. Could work if the mn isn’t used much.
[name]Anne[/name] [name]Jane[/name] nn [name]Annie[/name] - I like [name]Anne[/name], but [name]Anne[/name] and [name]Jane[/name] seem too similar together.
[name]Molly[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name] this!
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - I like some alliterations, but not really this one.
[name]Vivian[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - The endings are too similar for me.
[name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - As I said, I’m not big on [name]Beatrix[/name], but I don’t mind the name overall.
[name]Eve[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - Better than [name]Eve[/name] [name]Jane[/name]. Still sounds a bit odd to me when said together. Not too bad, though.
[name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Marion[/name] nn [name]Eve[/name] - On the fence with this one. Similar endings, I kindof like them together, but don’t at the same time.
[name]Annie[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - [name]Don[/name]'t like them together. But if they aren’t said together often it wouldn’t be bad.
[name]Anne[/name] [name]Marion[/name] nn [name]Annie[/name] - They run together for me. The 2nd syllable in [name]Annie[/name] separates the names a bit more. Prefer [name]Annie[/name] [name]Marion[/name] over this.
[name]Molly[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - Prefer [name]Molly[/name] [name]Jane[/name]. Not a fan of this alliteration.
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Marion[/name] - Not bad. I think of [name]Romeo[/name] & [name]Juliet[/name] for [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Robin[/name] Hood for [name]Marion[/name]. For some reason this is a bit of a put off off for me with them together. I think I prefer [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Jane[/name] over this.
[name]Pippi[/name], what’s your favorite first name (putting aside mn combos)?
Does anyone have suggestions for a good mn for [name]Eve[/name] and for [name]Annie[/name]? [name]Annie[/name] is so informal, that more formal middle names have trouble fitting?
With [name]Clara[/name], I have a 3 way tie between [name]Vivian[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name] and [name]Molly[/name]. [name]Molly[/name] is underused, but I love the sweetness of it. I don’t usually like [name]Vivian[/name], but it has grown on me lately and I really like it with [name]Clara[/name]. [name]Love[/name] [name]Evelyn[/name] and you can still get the nn [name]Eve[/name].
So just FYI to those who helped with this (and anyone else who was curious), I think this is where we’ve ended up.
Boy: [name]Charles[/name] [name]Albert[/name]. [name]Albert[/name] is my dad’s name, and as much as I love [name]Theodore[/name] or [name]Oliver[/name], and they are “cooler” names than [name]Albert[/name], and I’d never previously proposed [name]Albert[/name], I’m leaning strongly now to honoring my dad. He’ll be floored, which feels like enough to make it worth using an unpopular middle name.
Girl: [name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Jane[/name]. [name]Evelyn[/name] is a bit more popular today than I ever thought we’d get, but I still don’t feel like I ever meet an [name]Evelyn[/name] who’s a child and we really love the pure simplicity of [name]Eve[/name], which is what she’ll be called. [name]Evelyn[/name]'s just to give her the more formal name if she ever wants to use it, and because we also love the name [name]Jane[/name].
So what do you think? He/she arrives bright and early tomorrow morning so I think this is it.
[name]Love[/name] the names! It’s great that you want to use [name]Albert[/name] to honor your father. He’ll love it! [name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Jane[/name] is a stunning name, as well. Can’t wait to hear which name you get to use!
From your first post in this thread, I’ve been leaning towards [name]Charles[/name]. The choice of [name]Charles[/name] [name]Albert[/name] is so perfect! Very handsome and meaningful! [name]Eve[/name] is one of my all-time favorite names [name]Clara[/name] and [name]Eve[/name] would be amazing names for sisters! While reading through the thread, I thought [name]Eve[/name] [name]Marian[/name] was totally lovely. I see that you’re leaning towards [name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Jane[/name] - which is indeed another gorgeous, classic option.
[name]Clara[/name] is a winner, and – with your great taste in names – I look forward to hearing the name of her little brother or sister. Congratulations!
[name]Hi[/name] all, signing off this thread with this one final post: it’s a boy! [name]Charles[/name] [name]Albert[/name] was born Friday morning, he and his amazing mom (and super proud big sister) are doing great. And his middle name namesake, his grandfather, is elated beyond words at the honor of us using [name]Albert[/name]. Whether a little dated and out of fashion or not, [name]Albert[/name] was the right choice.
I know this isn’t the birth announcement forum, but I figured this was the appropriate way to close this out. Thanks for your advice and interest. All the best in your own baby naming exploits.
Congratulations!! [name]Charles[/name] [name]Albert[/name] is a very handsome name, and it’s so sweet that you were able to honor your father. What a wonderful surprise for him
I think that [name]Clara[/name] will feel very special if you give your baby the name she likes ([name]Charlie[/name]) and [name]Charles[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] is impeccable. As for [name]Beatrix[/name], I know a name love when I see one! If she’s the one you really want, just go for it, commit to it. You will have no regrets if you choose the name you love most, whereas if you settle for a “safer” choice, you may later wish you hadn’t.
) if it wasn’t the name of a salad in my husbands native language.