My grandparents are Czech and I LOVE the sound of the Czech name Anezka. (I also like the Polish spelling, Agnieszka.) The name is pronounced ahn-YEZH-kuh, with that wonderful soft Slavic yezh sound. My fear is that she'd go through life being called uh-NEZ-kuh. Most Americans just aren't used to pronouncing the zh sound and I worry that insisting on such a foreign pronunciation might come across as pretentious.
My name is Stacy and, ever since I was a small child, people have called me Tracy (teachers, coaches, etc.). In college, one of my best friends was named Tracy. We both had dark blonde hair and were the only two blind students at our small, liberal arts college, so we got confused for each other A LOT. :)
PS Thanks for everyone's advice in the forum. Anneliese's big sister is going to be Josephine Grace.
The name makes me think of the Deana Carter song "Angels Working Overtime" which is a great song and is all about a girl named Indiana. ("She was born at a rest stop on the Kansas state line in the back of a dodge in the summertime. Her mama named her Indiana like their license plate and with the hum of the tires on the Interstate, she was cryin'.")
My heart goes out to you. Having something happen to my husband has always been one of my greatest fears and I can't imagine it happening while I was pregnant or with small children. I pray that you'll find lots of support to help you through this difficult time.
As for your names, as others have said, you can't go wrong. I asked my own husband what he would want me to do if I was in your situation and he said he'd just want me to do whatever makes me happy and he wouldn't want me to add any stress to what I was already going through by putting any undue pressure on myself. I'm sure your husband would feel the same way. Knowing that you are seeking to honor him would probably be more than enough and all four of your name options (Natalie, Natalia, Stephanie, and Lucy) do just that.
Having said that, I think that Stephanie Natalia sounds very nice. I like both Natalia and Lucy a lot in general and think all of your names are winners.
I actually like both names that you list as so uncommon most Americans have never heard of them. Like Isla, Liev and Torin are easily pronounceable, but have a somewhat exotic flavor to them. Neither Liev or Torin is difficult to spell or to pronunce. (Plus, while most Americans have never heard the name Torin, there are other similar names they probably have heard like Torrance and Darin, so most people probably won't bat an eyelash. Although, I may be biased, because I lived in Minnesota, where Scandinavian names abound (I went to college with several Torils, Marits, Ingrids, Bjorns, and Svens. My freshman year, our class presient was Nils and his running mate was Lars.).
We pronounce Noemi (no-AY-mee) It's funny, because when I first suggested it as a first name, my husband laughed out loud; he thought it was ridiculous, and said we couldn't name our daughter "No Amy." But strangely, when I suggested it as a middle name for Josephine, he lit up and exclaimed, "That's it! That's my favorite!"
Go figure.
One last option we've disucssed is:
Josephine Anastasia (My name is Stacy, which is traditionally a nickname from Anastasia. It's probably the closest I'll come to putting my name in one of our daughter's names. If it's a boy, we plan on going with Leo Gregory, Gregory being my husband's name, so it's appealing to give a daughter a version of my name as well. I like it A LOT, but my husband thinks Josephine Anastasia is a mouthful. I also wonder if it sounds a little pretentious. In our world of Shelbys, Addisons, Tysons, and Adiens, a little girl named after TWO emporesses might come across as having some mighty high-falutin' parents! :)
Thanks, everyone! I think we are going to go with Josephine. Now to decide on a middle name. Our top contenders are (in my personal ranking order):
Josephine Grace (I know that Grace is super-trendy, but I've loved it since I was very young and encountered it on "Little House on the Prairie." When I was little and playing dolls with my sisters, I'd always name my dolls Grace. Now, the name has spiritual significance for us and I still love the simple, pretty sound of it. Plus, like Josephine, it's French.)
Josephine Rae (My husband's sister's middle name; it's nice to have a family connection, though we already have that covered with my Great-Great-Grandma Josephine and mom Becky Jo and cousins Heather Jo and Samantha Jo)
Josephine Noemi (I have no idea why this is on our list, but it's my husband's favorite, which is rather strange, considering that he tends to like the plain, common names. Noemi is the French version of Naomi, which is nice because Josephine is French, so the names don't look awkward together. Also, my grandfather is French-Canadian.)
Josephine Elida (As previously mentioned, Josephine is my great-great-grandma. Elida is my husband's. I don't care for it per se, but my husband does. I do like that she would bare the names of two of her great-great-great grandmothers. I think that's kind of neat and makes both sides of the family happy.)
Theresa Tyson sounds just fine to me (both on paper and out loud). Just don't give her a middle name that starts with T and she'll be fine. My husband's father's name is David DeW--- and his cousin's name is Danielle DeW---, and nobody makes silly comments about their names.
My husband has a grandfather who he was very close to named Theo. I was close to my Grandpa Leo. We've often joked about hoping for twins named Leo and Theo.
Some may disagree, but I don't feel there's anything wrong with naming siblings two distinct forms of the same root name. I've often thought that if I had twin girls, I'd name them Caroline and Charlotte (both feminine forms of Charles). To me, they sound different enough that people aren't going to get them confused (a la Kaylie and Kylie), but they share a similar root- kind of like twins or siblings in general.
My grandparents are Czech and I LOVE the sound of the Czech name Anezka. (I also like the Polish spelling, Agnieszka.) The name is pronounced ahn-YEZH-kuh, with that wonderful soft Slavic yezh sound. My fear is that she'd go through life being called uh-NEZ-kuh. Most Americans just aren't used to pronouncing the zh sound and I worry that insisting on such a foreign pronunciation might come across as pretentious.
My name is Stacy and, ever since I was a small child, people have called me Tracy (teachers, coaches, etc.). In college, one of my best friends was named Tracy. We both had dark blonde hair and were the only two blind students at our small, liberal arts college, so we got confused for each other A LOT. :)
PS Thanks for everyone's advice in the forum. Anneliese's big sister is going to be Josephine Grace.
The name makes me think of the Deana Carter song "Angels Working Overtime" which is a great song and is all about a girl named Indiana. ("She was born at a rest stop on the Kansas state line in the back of a dodge in the summertime. Her mama named her Indiana like their license plate and with the hum of the tires on the Interstate, she was cryin'.")
My heart goes out to you. Having something happen to my husband has always been one of my greatest fears and I can't imagine it happening while I was pregnant or with small children. I pray that you'll find lots of support to help you through this difficult time.
As for your names, as others have said, you can't go wrong. I asked my own husband what he would want me to do if I was in your situation and he said he'd just want me to do whatever makes me happy and he wouldn't want me to add any stress to what I was already going through by putting any undue pressure on myself. I'm sure your husband would feel the same way. Knowing that you are seeking to honor him would probably be more than enough and all four of your name options (Natalie, Natalia, Stephanie, and Lucy) do just that.
Having said that, I think that Stephanie Natalia sounds very nice. I like both Natalia and Lucy a lot in general and think all of your names are winners.
Melissa,
I actually like both names that you list as so uncommon most Americans have never heard of them. Like Isla, Liev and Torin are easily pronounceable, but have a somewhat exotic flavor to them. Neither Liev or Torin is difficult to spell or to pronunce. (Plus, while most Americans have never heard the name Torin, there are other similar names they probably have heard like Torrance and Darin, so most people probably won't bat an eyelash. Although, I may be biased, because I lived in Minnesota, where Scandinavian names abound (I went to college with several Torils, Marits, Ingrids, Bjorns, and Svens. My freshman year, our class presient was Nils and his running mate was Lars.).
Thank you! :)
Karyn,
We pronounce Noemi (no-AY-mee) It's funny, because when I first suggested it as a first name, my husband laughed out loud; he thought it was ridiculous, and said we couldn't name our daughter "No Amy." But strangely, when I suggested it as a middle name for Josephine, he lit up and exclaimed, "That's it! That's my favorite!"
Go figure.
One last option we've disucssed is:
Josephine Anastasia (My name is Stacy, which is traditionally a nickname from Anastasia. It's probably the closest I'll come to putting my name in one of our daughter's names. If it's a boy, we plan on going with Leo Gregory, Gregory being my husband's name, so it's appealing to give a daughter a version of my name as well. I like it A LOT, but my husband thinks Josephine Anastasia is a mouthful. I also wonder if it sounds a little pretentious. In our world of Shelbys, Addisons, Tysons, and Adiens, a little girl named after TWO emporesses might come across as having some mighty high-falutin' parents! :)
Thanks, everyone! I think we are going to go with Josephine. Now to decide on a middle name. Our top contenders are (in my personal ranking order):
Josephine Grace (I know that Grace is super-trendy, but I've loved it since I was very young and encountered it on "Little House on the Prairie." When I was little and playing dolls with my sisters, I'd always name my dolls Grace. Now, the name has spiritual significance for us and I still love the simple, pretty sound of it. Plus, like Josephine, it's French.)
Josephine Rae (My husband's sister's middle name; it's nice to have a family connection, though we already have that covered with my Great-Great-Grandma Josephine and mom Becky Jo and cousins Heather Jo and Samantha Jo)
Josephine Noemi (I have no idea why this is on our list, but it's my husband's favorite, which is rather strange, considering that he tends to like the plain, common names. Noemi is the French version of Naomi, which is nice because Josephine is French, so the names don't look awkward together. Also, my grandfather is French-Canadian.)
Josephine Elida (As previously mentioned, Josephine is my great-great-grandma. Elida is my husband's. I don't care for it per se, but my husband does. I do like that she would bare the names of two of her great-great-great grandmothers. I think that's kind of neat and makes both sides of the family happy.)
Theresa Tyson sounds just fine to me (both on paper and out loud). Just don't give her a middle name that starts with T and she'll be fine. My husband's father's name is David DeW--- and his cousin's name is Danielle DeW---, and nobody makes silly comments about their names.
My husband has a grandfather who he was very close to named Theo. I was close to my Grandpa Leo. We've often joked about hoping for twins named Leo and Theo.
Some may disagree, but I don't feel there's anything wrong with naming siblings two distinct forms of the same root name. I've often thought that if I had twin girls, I'd name them Caroline and Charlotte (both feminine forms of Charles). To me, they sound different enough that people aren't going to get them confused (a la Kaylie and Kylie), but they share a similar root- kind of like twins or siblings in general.