Zoe & Eva or Zara or Other? Help!

We like short and modern-ish girls names but are having a hard time agreeing on a name for our second daughter. Our first is [name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name]. Our top contenders at the moment are [name]Eva[/name] [name]Rose[/name] or [name]Zara[/name] [name]Rose[/name] or [name]Zara[/name] [name]Jean[/name]. We prefer family names for middle names. What do you think?

A bit of background, we are an international family- Dad is from [name]New[/name] Zealand, Im American, [name]Zoe[/name] was born in Australia and this baby will be born in [name]Canada[/name]. I have no idea where we will end up in the future so I need to sort of keep that in consideration. Dad would prefer the name [name]Aoife[/name] (EE-[name]FA[/name]) for this baby, which is essentially the Irish version of [name]Eva[/name], but I think this name would be lost outside of [name]Ireland[/name] (yes, we’ve lived there too).

Anyway any suggestions and opinions are welcome. Thanks!

I love both [name]Zara[/name] [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Zara[/name] [name]Jean[/name]. They each have really distinctive feelings. [name]Zara[/name] [name]Rose[/name] is elegant and soft and [name]Zara[/name] [name]Jean[/name] is spunky. I slightly prefer [name]Zara[/name] [name]Jean[/name], but [name]Jean[/name] is a family name for me too, so Im predisposed to like it!

I’m not fond of siblings having the same fist initial and with the letter Z, you might be hard pressed to find another name you like if you ever have a third. If that’s not an issue for you, never mind!

Also, I’m biased, but I love [name]Aoife[/name]. I think it’s a common enough name in [name]Ireland[/name], that people in the US and [name]Canada[/name] might be familiar with it. I saw a Canadian tv show with a character named [name]Aoife[/name] the other day, anyway.

[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] are adorable together!

I find [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Zara[/name] overly matchy, esp. if you are considering having a third. The letter Z is so rare that having two feels a little…like it’s trying too much? (Like the name though!) I find [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] much more compatible, sharing a fun, zippy, spunky style while being distinctive. I agree that [name]Aoife[/name], lovely as it is, will be a big challenge to most people outside of [name]Ireland[/name]. You might be able to get away with [name]Eabha[/name], another Irish version of [name]Eve[/name] though NB technically lists its pronunciation as more like [name]Ava[/name].

Have you considered:
[name]Isla[/name] or [name]Lila[/name]
[name]Cara[/name]/[name]Kara[/name] or [name]Tara[/name]
[name]Cerys[/name] or [name]Carys[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name] or [name]Piper[/name]
[name]Jessa[/name] or [name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Neve[/name] or [name]Keeva[/name] or [name]Ciara[/name] or [name]Kyra[/name] (phonetic spellings of other Irish names)

I like [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name]. I think [name]Eva[/name] is a very international name, easy to pronounce.
Have you considered [name]Liv[/name] or [name]Enid[/name] (Celtic - means life also)?
Also - [name]Pia[/name] (Pious in Latin, beloved in Sanskrit).

Thanks so much! The things youve mentioned about [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Zara[/name] are the same concerns I have with the name. I love it and we are only planning on having two… but there’s always the what if we ended up with a third? There are no other Z names I would consider! Otherwise I dont mind the matchy bit too much, perhaps because I am from a family of all N’s so it seems normal to me haha. Im loving these suggestions and the feedback, much appreciated.

I love [name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Eva[/name] [name]Rose[/name]!

Other suggestions:

[name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Ava[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Ella[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Lily[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Mia[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] [name]Grace[/name] & [name]Nina[/name] [name]Rose[/name]

[name]Love[/name] [name]Zara[/name]- but with a [name]Zoe[/name] too it kind of makes the "Z"ap of the Z lessen.
[name]Tara[/name] might work better.
I do like [name]Eva[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] though.

[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] are lovely together.

Other possibles are (some combinations work better than others but all are short, modern and culturally transferable:

[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Adia[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Ada[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Ida[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Tess[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Liv[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Wren[/name]

[name]Both[/name] names are pretty but you should think ahead in case you have a third daughter since you are kind of building a theme.

[name]Eva[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] both mean “life” - [name]Zoe[/name] began as the Greek translation of [name]Eve[/name]. The meaning isn’t that obvious, but there are more names that could fit here:

  • [name]Vita[/name] (Latin)
  • [name]Vida[/name]
  • [name]Liv[/name] (Scandinavian)
  • [name]Asha[/name] (Swahili)
  • [name]Enid[/name] (Welsh)
  • [name]Mei[/name] (Japanese)

With [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Zara[/name] you get the initial theme which is much more noticeable. But there aren’t many other Z names in this style - short, sweet, mainstream and popular.

  • [name]Zola[/name]
  • [name]Zita[/name]
  • [name]Zena[/name]
  • [name]Ziva[/name]
  • [name]Zinnia[/name]
  • [name]Zaria[/name]
  • [name]Zelda[/name]

[name]Zara[/name] [name]Rose[/name] is a lovely name, but like everyone has said, I don’t like [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Zara[/name] together. I think [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] are a much nicer fit. Similar but not too matchy. (Also I know a baby named [name]Zara[/name] [name]Rose[/name].)

[name]Eva[/name] [name]Rose[/name] is great.
What about [name]Eva[/name] [name]Jane[/name], [name]Eva[/name] [name]May[/name], or [name]Eva[/name] [name]Fay[/name]? I love single syllable names in the middle spot.

I love Sugarplum’s suggestion of [name]Vita[/name]/[name]Veda[/name] with [name]Zoe[/name]. I find [name]Eva[/name] too demure next to zesty [name]Zoe[/name]. [name]Vita[/name]/[name]Veda[/name] has much more buzzy strength. I personally love your idea of two Zs. It’s not conventional, sure, but how fun would it be to have two little Z-named bumblebees buzzing around? I don’t think you’d necessarily need to adhere to a Z-theme with a third child. You could give them a V, X, or Q. Something like [name]Ajax[/name], [name]Max[/name], [name]Quinn[/name], [name]Vivian[/name]… for a third. If it packs the right kind of punch, it won’t need the Z [name]IMO[/name].
I prefer [name]Zelda[/name], [name]Zora[/name], [name]Zadie[/name], [name]Zinnia[/name], [name]Xenia[/name], and Zhenya (the zh is pronounced like the g in “rouge”) to [name]Zara[/name]. [name]Zara[/name] has a lovely sound, but it makes me think of the clothing store. Probably not an issue for you in [name]Canada[/name] though (I’m in the US.)

I like [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] together. They have nice symmetry.

I also like sugarplumfairy’s suggestion of [name]Liv[/name]!

I wish there was a like button. Thanks again, youve all given me a lot to consider!

I think [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Eva[/name] would make adorble sisters!! :slight_smile: