Wow, thank you, these suggestions are great. Admiranda and Diamanda are absolutely PERFECT for the queen's character. I honestly can't decide which one I like better.
Susanna is a nice suggestion. It has just the right notes of sweetness for my girl. I also think Lilian is a nice fit. I'm also considering Gwendolyn for her, because I love that name. It might be a bit TOO regal for her character, but she is a princess, so we might have to go for it. Susanna though. . .it's just so delightfully sweet and ordinary. Incidentally, she spends most of the book going by an alias, and I chose Daisy for that. What a happy coincidence. I was thinking about changing it to something more humble like Dandelion, but perhaps I'll keep it.
Aristomachus is a total winner too. The other names are great too. Smargdus especially appeals. I might have to use that somewhere else. It's just a lovely construction of a name. I also LOVE Theopylactus for him. It just sounds so uppity, but alas, it's too close to Theodore. Maybe if I change his name. . .
Drat on the news about the bunnies. Do you have any better ideas? I'm not in love with Tularia or anything, it's just a name that works.
And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel like all of these offer just the splash of color that my storyr was lacking.
It really depends on your setting. If we are talking the present day real world, then yeah, a male Winter would throw me off. If it is more speculative fiction, I think it would be fine, especially if it particularly fit his personality.
How about choosing a characteristic that exemplifies your granny and using that as the middle name? Names like grace, hope, faith, joy and charity are all the rage for the middle slot right now anyway, and it would be a really nice way to honor her.
I think you should use it. If it's a name you love AND has the happy bonus of being a family name, you have just lucked out. You can't let your mother's feelings about a name dictate whether or not you will use it. Especially since he doesn't even go by James, it really shouldn't be an issue for her. You might want to talk to her and explain that you just like the name and that is what led you to it first, not that it is your dad's name. Your relationship with your father should not be filtered through your mother. That is not fair to him, or to you. How would your father feel if he knew you wanted to name your baby after him but didn't because you didn't want to hurt your mother's feelings?
Also, I like the name James quite a bit. I think it's a lovely choice. If you plan to call him James you should lead with it too. My spouse goes by his middle name, and it's kind of annoying. He uses his first name professionally, just to ease the confusion, so sometimes I don't even know what name to give for him.
Darn those chipmunks for all having names in that sweet spot of 'real but not overused or icky.' Your naming style sounds very similar to my husband's, and we have discussed all three chipmunk names several times over.
I asked my husband what he would name three boys if he didn't have me to argue with and he said Scott and Cecil (and Simon, which obviously doesn't work for you). I also thought of Edward, Phillip, Patrick and Adam for you, they are all solid names that are not terribly trendy at the moment. Depending on the religiosity in your community, you might consider Peter too. I realize that the whole Simon Peter thing might make it a dealbreaker, but if you don't live among a lot of people that read the Bible heavily it could work.
I vote for Ivy. I like how Ivy and Ogden both start with vowels, so it gives the name a nice bit of style. And I just like the name Ivy. I have a kid named Ivy, and people gush about her name all the time. I think the whole wavy maevy thing is just a bit confusing, and will make people feel like the name is made up. Although you will still have to spell Ivy for people, you will not have to explain as much as you will with Maeve.
I think your list is just lovely. Violet and Rosalie remain some of my all-time favorite girl names. I don't think you need to worry about the Twilight connection at all with Rosalie, the whole franchise is pretty passe already I think. For Violet have you thought about the nickname Lottie? It's a bit of a stretch, but I don't think it would pull any muscles. Etta would also work, and that has the delightful old-fashioned charm that everyone is after.
I really think this depends on what your last name is. I agree with previous posters that Quinn Nolan isn't ideal. However, I ran Quinn with my own last name, which also begins and ends with an N, and it sounds great. . .so you'll really just have to ask people who know your last name. Also something to think about: both of the sample surnames discussed here as well as my own last name can be taken for first names, which is bad with a surname-type first name. Should your name fit that criteria you might want to think about it since interchangable names can be confusing . . .especially if little Quinn is female. Nathan Quinn feels a lot more natural than Quinn Nathan, so little Quinn might find him or herself correcting a lot of people as to the order of the name.
Congratulations on choosing such a great name for your little one. My kids love having a Peter in the family because the name shows up so often in movies and literature. Out of your potential middle names I like William, but Alexander is a very close second for me. I would think that Alexander sounds bad since it has the repeating ER ending, but it works nicely. If you went with Alexander his initials would spell Pav too, which as far as I know doesn't mean anything, but pronounceable initials are fun. But Peter William just has a nice timeless feel, so I like it slightly better. It sounds Dutch to me too, since it makes me think of Peter Stuyvesant and William of Orange. All of your choices are nice though.
HA indeed! I was going to suggest Benjamin as well, since I have nephews named Samuel and Benjamin. To the original poster though, I think your proposed name sounds great. Henry is a great name, and I actually like the slight repetition in sounds.
Matilda is SUCH a cute name. It has piles of nicknaming options, and it is great all by itself. And I do think its time is coming, so 40 years down the road people will just think your girl has a sweet, youthful name associated with women ten years her junior. All good things. I could never talk my husband into it though because he associates it with the hippo in the Richard Scarry books. I think it's a lovely name though, and if you can talk your spouse into it you should go for it.
Ha! That's so funny you should say that, because we joked about that very thing with my second baby who was only revealed to be a boy upon his birth. We were kicking around Rose, Violet and Scarlett for him, so we said we'd just name the baby whatever color it was when it came out. Really though, I picture Violet as being a little bit less fair-skinned than Molly probably is. Not that that alone would be a deal breaker, but it just clearly wasn't her name.
I love seeing everybody's associations with this name. That's something I love about the name Peter that I didn't really think of before we named him. There are dozens of different associations, ranging from Pan to Parker to Pevensie, so none of them really define the name. It appears this will be the case with Molly as well.
It's funny, isn't it, how baby names can just SEEM right based on the most miniscule of factors. I just think when you hold a child in your arms you can sort of feel or see certain things about her that make some names more right than others. She was born with perfectly pink skin, so after all that, we didn't even talk about Violet. The only name on our list that we even talked about was Rose. My husband just threw Molly out there, and even though we had never discussed it and it is even MORE popular in this area, we both just felt like it was right. Molly just seems like the sort of girl who will be a peacemaker and be kind and considerate and NICE and Molly is a good name for that. We've never used a name that wasn't even on our list before, I like my names VETTED and my husband has never really been that adamant before either. Molly is just her name.
The only source I can fathom is that we are reading Peter and the Starcatchers as a family right now and the girl in it is named Molly. . .which is utterly silly since we have a son named Peter already. Hopefully those books don't get to be too well-known.
So I don't actually need advice anymore, since she is here and named and what is done is done, but I'm still curious to see what you all think, since it was a name we didn't even consider. We named her Molly Lynne. How did we do? Does it fit with the others?
Thanks for the advice. We DO like to go in with a list rather than a chosen name, because you just never know what name is going to fit the baby. So I very much appreciate the feedback on all of the names we are considering. In fact if we prenamed our children, all three of our kids would have different names.
I'm curious as to why you can't use the name Arthur.
Thanks. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I needed to hear. The popularity does bother me a lot, especially since we have such a common last name, but I like it, so I'll just take it too. Violet has been restored to frontrunner status. Now we'll just have to see who she looks like. If Violet doesn't suit her we'll be in trouble again, but that is a bridge to cross another day.
Oh my gosh, yes! From what I understand schools here can't be named after a city or a person, which basically just leaves a bunch of natural features to choose from. We joke about school namers throwing flora names into one hat and geologic features into another and just putting them together. It makes it very hard to remember which school is which.
I'd like to nominate the name Blue Ivy. I think the wild uniqueness of the name and the efforts to trademark it nicely reflect what names are becoming to society now. Celebrity naming trends seem to be embraced more and more and the name Blue Ivy is a composition that has probably never been applied to a child before reflecting the drive to create a completely unique name for every child.
My first thought when I was reading through your post was Reuben. I actually think it's a little charming that it is another son of Jacob. It gives the name a fun little link with Levi. I also thought of Gideon, which I realize is three syllables, but it's a cute name, so maybe you'll let that slide? Are you open to the New Testament as well, or are you trying to stick to the old? I realize a lot of New Testament names don't quite FEEL as biblical, but if you are willing to consider them, many of the names of the apostles would be a good fit for you.
Wow, thank you, these suggestions are great. Admiranda and Diamanda are absolutely PERFECT for the queen's character. I honestly can't decide which one I like better.
Susanna is a nice suggestion. It has just the right notes of sweetness for my girl. I also think Lilian is a nice fit. I'm also considering Gwendolyn for her, because I love that name. It might be a bit TOO regal for her character, but she is a princess, so we might have to go for it. Susanna though. . .it's just so delightfully sweet and ordinary. Incidentally, she spends most of the book going by an alias, and I chose Daisy for that. What a happy coincidence. I was thinking about changing it to something more humble like Dandelion, but perhaps I'll keep it.
Aristomachus is a total winner too. The other names are great too. Smargdus especially appeals. I might have to use that somewhere else. It's just a lovely construction of a name. I also LOVE Theopylactus for him. It just sounds so uppity, but alas, it's too close to Theodore. Maybe if I change his name. . .
Drat on the news about the bunnies. Do you have any better ideas? I'm not in love with Tularia or anything, it's just a name that works.
And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel like all of these offer just the splash of color that my storyr was lacking.
It really depends on your setting. If we are talking the present day real world, then yeah, a male Winter would throw me off. If it is more speculative fiction, I think it would be fine, especially if it particularly fit his personality.
How about choosing a characteristic that exemplifies your granny and using that as the middle name? Names like grace, hope, faith, joy and charity are all the rage for the middle slot right now anyway, and it would be a really nice way to honor her.
I think you should use it. If it's a name you love AND has the happy bonus of being a family name, you have just lucked out. You can't let your mother's feelings about a name dictate whether or not you will use it. Especially since he doesn't even go by James, it really shouldn't be an issue for her. You might want to talk to her and explain that you just like the name and that is what led you to it first, not that it is your dad's name. Your relationship with your father should not be filtered through your mother. That is not fair to him, or to you. How would your father feel if he knew you wanted to name your baby after him but didn't because you didn't want to hurt your mother's feelings?
Also, I like the name James quite a bit. I think it's a lovely choice. If you plan to call him James you should lead with it too. My spouse goes by his middle name, and it's kind of annoying. He uses his first name professionally, just to ease the confusion, so sometimes I don't even know what name to give for him.
Darn those chipmunks for all having names in that sweet spot of 'real but not overused or icky.' Your naming style sounds very similar to my husband's, and we have discussed all three chipmunk names several times over.
I asked my husband what he would name three boys if he didn't have me to argue with and he said Scott and Cecil (and Simon, which obviously doesn't work for you). I also thought of Edward, Phillip, Patrick and Adam for you, they are all solid names that are not terribly trendy at the moment. Depending on the religiosity in your community, you might consider Peter too. I realize that the whole Simon Peter thing might make it a dealbreaker, but if you don't live among a lot of people that read the Bible heavily it could work.
I vote for Ivy. I like how Ivy and Ogden both start with vowels, so it gives the name a nice bit of style. And I just like the name Ivy. I have a kid named Ivy, and people gush about her name all the time. I think the whole wavy maevy thing is just a bit confusing, and will make people feel like the name is made up. Although you will still have to spell Ivy for people, you will not have to explain as much as you will with Maeve.
I think your list is just lovely. Violet and Rosalie remain some of my all-time favorite girl names. I don't think you need to worry about the Twilight connection at all with Rosalie, the whole franchise is pretty passe already I think. For Violet have you thought about the nickname Lottie? It's a bit of a stretch, but I don't think it would pull any muscles. Etta would also work, and that has the delightful old-fashioned charm that everyone is after.
I really think this depends on what your last name is. I agree with previous posters that Quinn Nolan isn't ideal. However, I ran Quinn with my own last name, which also begins and ends with an N, and it sounds great. . .so you'll really just have to ask people who know your last name. Also something to think about: both of the sample surnames discussed here as well as my own last name can be taken for first names, which is bad with a surname-type first name. Should your name fit that criteria you might want to think about it since interchangable names can be confusing . . .especially if little Quinn is female. Nathan Quinn feels a lot more natural than Quinn Nathan, so little Quinn might find him or herself correcting a lot of people as to the order of the name.
Congratulations on choosing such a great name for your little one. My kids love having a Peter in the family because the name shows up so often in movies and literature. Out of your potential middle names I like William, but Alexander is a very close second for me. I would think that Alexander sounds bad since it has the repeating ER ending, but it works nicely. If you went with Alexander his initials would spell Pav too, which as far as I know doesn't mean anything, but pronounceable initials are fun. But Peter William just has a nice timeless feel, so I like it slightly better. It sounds Dutch to me too, since it makes me think of Peter Stuyvesant and William of Orange. All of your choices are nice though.
HA indeed! I was going to suggest Benjamin as well, since I have nephews named Samuel and Benjamin. To the original poster though, I think your proposed name sounds great. Henry is a great name, and I actually like the slight repetition in sounds.
Matilda is SUCH a cute name. It has piles of nicknaming options, and it is great all by itself. And I do think its time is coming, so 40 years down the road people will just think your girl has a sweet, youthful name associated with women ten years her junior. All good things. I could never talk my husband into it though because he associates it with the hippo in the Richard Scarry books. I think it's a lovely name though, and if you can talk your spouse into it you should go for it.
Constance. The other two are just too much for my English-speaking self, while constance is a timeless name that few would find fault with.
Ha! That's so funny you should say that, because we joked about that very thing with my second baby who was only revealed to be a boy upon his birth. We were kicking around Rose, Violet and Scarlett for him, so we said we'd just name the baby whatever color it was when it came out. Really though, I picture Violet as being a little bit less fair-skinned than Molly probably is. Not that that alone would be a deal breaker, but it just clearly wasn't her name.
I love seeing everybody's associations with this name. That's something I love about the name Peter that I didn't really think of before we named him. There are dozens of different associations, ranging from Pan to Parker to Pevensie, so none of them really define the name. It appears this will be the case with Molly as well.
It's funny, isn't it, how baby names can just SEEM right based on the most miniscule of factors. I just think when you hold a child in your arms you can sort of feel or see certain things about her that make some names more right than others. She was born with perfectly pink skin, so after all that, we didn't even talk about Violet. The only name on our list that we even talked about was Rose. My husband just threw Molly out there, and even though we had never discussed it and it is even MORE popular in this area, we both just felt like it was right. Molly just seems like the sort of girl who will be a peacemaker and be kind and considerate and NICE and Molly is a good name for that. We've never used a name that wasn't even on our list before, I like my names VETTED and my husband has never really been that adamant before either. Molly is just her name.
The only source I can fathom is that we are reading Peter and the Starcatchers as a family right now and the girl in it is named Molly. . .which is utterly silly since we have a son named Peter already. Hopefully those books don't get to be too well-known.
So I don't actually need advice anymore, since she is here and named and what is done is done, but I'm still curious to see what you all think, since it was a name we didn't even consider. We named her Molly Lynne. How did we do? Does it fit with the others?
Thanks for the advice. We DO like to go in with a list rather than a chosen name, because you just never know what name is going to fit the baby. So I very much appreciate the feedback on all of the names we are considering. In fact if we prenamed our children, all three of our kids would have different names.
I'm curious as to why you can't use the name Arthur.
Thanks. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I needed to hear. The popularity does bother me a lot, especially since we have such a common last name, but I like it, so I'll just take it too. Violet has been restored to frontrunner status. Now we'll just have to see who she looks like. If Violet doesn't suit her we'll be in trouble again, but that is a bridge to cross another day.
Oh my gosh, yes! From what I understand schools here can't be named after a city or a person, which basically just leaves a bunch of natural features to choose from. We joke about school namers throwing flora names into one hat and geologic features into another and just putting them together. It makes it very hard to remember which school is which.
I'd like to nominate the name Blue Ivy. I think the wild uniqueness of the name and the efforts to trademark it nicely reflect what names are becoming to society now. Celebrity naming trends seem to be embraced more and more and the name Blue Ivy is a composition that has probably never been applied to a child before reflecting the drive to create a completely unique name for every child.
My first thought when I was reading through your post was Reuben. I actually think it's a little charming that it is another son of Jacob. It gives the name a fun little link with Levi. I also thought of Gideon, which I realize is three syllables, but it's a cute name, so maybe you'll let that slide? Are you open to the New Testament as well, or are you trying to stick to the old? I realize a lot of New Testament names don't quite FEEL as biblical, but if you are willing to consider them, many of the names of the apostles would be a good fit for you.