Emily writes:
We are due in mid-August with our 2nd daughter (70% chance it’s a girl). We would absolutely love your opinion on our names as we simply can’t decide. Our last name is like BICK – CAR, but with a P instead of a B. We love traditional/biblical names. Our daughters name is Evelyn Grace.
Because my name is Emily we are trying to stay away from names that begin with E (Eloise, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Esme, & Elsa are just a few that we love that we have to rule out). We also love Vivian but we think the “v’s” may be too hard to pronounce with Evelyn. Clara was on the list until we paired it with our last name!
Our list so far is:
Cecelia (so far, our favorite)
Lucille
Margaret (not my husbands favorite)
Anna (too common)
Olivia (my husbands favorite, I think it’s too common)
Audrey
Beatrix (not my husbands favorite)
Josephine
Louisa
Julia (not my husbands favorite)
MariaWe really like names that we can shorten with a cute nickname. If it’s a boy our name list so far is William & Ian.
We would love your opinion and/or any other names that you think we’d like. Thanks!!!
I like Louisa a lot. It’s wonderful with Evelyn, and it makes me think pleasantly of Louisa May Alcott. In fact, May would be a great middle name: Louisa May Bick-car. And cute nicknames: Lou, Lulu, Weezie. There’s also Heloise, although Hints From Heloise makes for me not a negative association but a STRONG one.
If you like Eleanor but want to avoid E names, I suggest Nora. It reminds me a little of Clara, too. Another Eleanor-related possibility is Lena—though maybe it sounds too much like Evelyn. Another is Lenora, which then give you nicknames Nora or Leni. Oooh, or another is HELEN! I love the name Helen and think it’s dramatically underused. Helen Bick-car, Evelyn and Helen—oh, it’s rhymey, isn’t it? Shoot. And no good nicknames, either.
For Elizabeth, other possibilities are Lisette, Lilibet, Lisabet, Lisbeth—though I like Elizabeth so much more, it would be hard for me to choose one of the substitutes.
I like Cecily even better than Cecilia, I think because my parents had a Simon & Garfunkel record (RECORD!!) that makes me immediately go “Ce-CEEEEEEEEEEEL-ya!” every time I see the name. Like how it’s almost impossible not to start singing “Oh my darling…” whenever I see the name Clementine. I also love the name Celeste. Celeste Bick-car, Evelyn and Celeste. No good nickname, though.
Because you like the names Evelyn and Eleanor and Lucille and Maria, I want to suggest the name Marian. I think it’s so beautiful, but it’s lagging behind the other, similar names, so it’s hard to hear it as anything but an old-lady name. MARE-ree-in! So pretty! Makes me think of Maid Marian, and also of Marian the Librarian, romantic lead in the movie The Music Man. Marian Bick-car, Evelyn and Marian.
Another “name I like but it’s lagging so it’s hard to hear it yet” name is Florence. It’s a beautiful place name; it sounds like flowers; it has the sweetest nickname Florrie; it’s wonderful with your surname and with the name Evelyn.
Along similar lines, the name Millicent. Beautiful sound, if we can separate it from the old-lady associations—light and pronounced in the front of the mouth, almost like Olivia. Adorable nickname Milly. This is my favorite choice for you, in fact: Millicent Bick-car, Evelyn and Millicent.
Or there’s Alice: Alice Bick-car, Evelyn and Alice.
Or Frances: Frances Bick-car, Evelyn and Frances. Cute nicknames: Frannie, Frankie, Francie.
Or Sylvia, which I would spell Silvia: Silvia Bick-car, Evelyn and Silvia. Nickname Silvie. This is another one that’s almost like Olivia.
Or Ruth: Ruth Bick-car, Evelyn and Ruth, nickname Ruthie or Ru.
I suppose we should also discuss boy names, since 70% isn’t even halfway between 50-50 and 100%. But I like William and Ian both very much and so feel disinclined to coax you away from them!
Name update! Emily writes:
We named her Cecelia Elizabeth Pickar! I hope you like it!
Louisa is my favourite from your list. I was going to suggest Frances and then saw it on Swistle’s list too! I know a little girl named Frances and it is just adorable!
Wow, all of your choices are great! I do like Cecelia with Evelyn, though she will undoubtedly prompt some parents to sing the S&G song. :)
And Evie and Ceci are adorable together.
Louisa is nice, too – that would be my second choice. I know a little Louisa who answers to Lulu. Very cute.
If your husband loves Olivia, I do think Sylvia/Silvia, nn Sylvie, is a great option. There’s also Lydia, nn Liddy, but that might be too much la-sound with Evelyn and Lydia.
Best wishes!
I’m a Frances who goes by Fran, although there are a few people who call me Frannie and my mom clals me Francie sometimes. My middle name is Rose.
Cecelia is my favorite!
I like your boy names. If you like William and Ian, you might also like Alexander, Graham, Henry, Noah, and Thomas.
You have a fabulous list for a girl! Louisa is my favorite. Evelyn and Louisa just sound like sisters to me. Lucille is lovely too.
Other names that come to mind for you: Claire, Mathilda, Miriam, Simona.
Good luck!
whenever i see folks who love ‘olivia’, i like to suggest ‘alivia’. similar style, but different sound. the spelling change gives in an entirely new feel [in my opinion!].
good luck! :)
*
I like Cecelia best for you. You agree on it and it sounds nice with Evelyn and your last name. Josephine would be my second choice.
For boys, Ian is the less popular choice. I only mention it because you were concerned about the popularity of Anna and Olivia, neither of which are top 10 names and William is. On the other hand, Will is a cute nickname and Ian doesn’t have one. Both names are favorites of mine and were in the running when I was pregnant with what turned to to be my daughter, so I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
I am so wrong. Olivia is a top 10 name.
I really like Cecilia, then Maria, and then Louisa.
Really loving the suggestion of Alice here. Lovely names all around though!
I like Lenora best. I actually LOVE Lenora, it’s beautiful and unusual but not in a hard-to-spell-or-pronounce way. Nora, Nori, Len, Leni – all super cute.
If you like Josephine, would you consider Josefina? I know a 3 year old with that name who goes by Josie and it’s by far my favorite child’s name. With the “a” on the end it’s similar to Louisa (although maybe I’m trying to steer you away from Louisa because it’s the top of our own baby name list – Louisa May).
We have good friends with a daughter named Cecelia. She goes by Cece and it’s about the cutest thing, EVAR.
So I vote Cecelia, with Cece as her nickname. And Cece doesn’t bring to mind The Song.
There is romance, class, and dignity in the name ‘Cecelia’.
Someone already mentioned the nickname ‘Cece’ (which is undeniably cute), but there is also the nickname ‘Leah’, too. Since she’ll be a baby sister to Evelyn, the moniker ‘Sissy’ is about the sweetest thing that can come from her little lips.
As far as the S&G “theme song” for the name, our daughter LOVES that there is a song that has her name as a title. Besides, it makes ‘Cecelia’ familiar without being common.
Kudos on your choices. Best wishes to all of your family!
But I don’t think your daughter is old enough to understand the song that has her name as a title.
To avoid the rhyming Helen and Evelyn problem, how about Helene or Helena.
Otherwise, I really like Cecelia.
Cecily and Louisa are my faves from this list.
Oh wow, Swistle, good suggestions. The hard part for me was that with each suggestion I was totally convinced it was The Name, but then with the next one also being also perfect, so now I’m not sure which one is the best.
I can’t say I’m as crazy about your “Or there’s …” list, though I do think “Silvia” with that spelling would be wonderful. I’m not quite ready for Alice, Frances or Ruth … though I admit Ruth is Just Starting to sound a little fresh, maybe as a middle name. I can just see a little “Ellen Ruth” heading off to kindergarten.
I think what makes this choice difficult is that “Evelyn” is such a gentle, beautiful, classic name that there really are a LOT of wonderful, wonderful gentle, beautiful, classic names that sound perfect with it. (Or perhaps you are genius, Swistle?)
Emily and her husband may need to have SEVERAL more girls.
You have such a lovely list of names. And Swistle’s suggestions are very lovely too.
I absolutely love the whole Cecelia family of names (Cecelia, Celia, Cecily). Like Swistle my favorite is Cecily. I really wanted to name my son Cecily had he been a girl, but my husband hated it. Thank goodness we had a boy because I would have been so bummed not to use Cecily.
The only other suggestions I can think of are Lucinda (my favorite of the Lucy name family), Susanna/h, and Rosemary with the nickname Romy.
BTW I know an Evelyn/Anna/Olivia sister set.
I just came across your post because I have a daughter named Evelyn Elizabeth and was looking for sibling names. When I got to your site I couldn’t believe it because our top choices for baby number two are either Cecelia for a girl or William for a boy! You have good taste! :-)