Hi Swistle,
I’ve been reading and responding to posts for several years now and am hoping that yourself, and the others, can help me choose a name for Baby Dum0nt #3. We had two, almost devastating, emergency c-sections resulting in concerns whether either child would survive rather than caring about the gender so this go around we have a planned c-section in January and are hoping that we will finally get our happy “SURPRISE, it’s a _____!!!” So, we have decided to keep the gender unknown again.
For some background, our last name is pronounced du-mont, english rather than the french pronunciation. We have a 3 year old girl named Juliet, a 1 year old boy named Oliver, and we hope to have four children altogether. Our naming style is very much classic/traditional names and we prefer names that are either male or female (don’t particularly care for unisex names). Both our kids have family names for their middle name and we plan on continuing this tradition with our remaining children so we don’t have to worry about choosing those. If this baby is a boy, we plan on naming him Charles. It’s finding the perfect girl name that we are struggling with.
The name we currently like best is Rose. We feel that it fits in well with the sibling set and that it has that classic but not overly used (at least for a first name) style that we like but I find myself continuing to search for “THE” name despite liking this one; I feel as though the right name is still out there.
To give you an idea of other names we like, but for one reason or another they just aren’t right:
Ruby – seems like it has almost has fallen out of the old, classic style and into the hipster-ish category. Husband has kinda thrown it out
Lucy – husband not keen. Too short? Doesn’t really fit in with sibling names.
Violet – too similar to Juliet ??
Isabel – I don’t know if I could get around the Izzy nn that is bound to occur
Vivienne – feel like the spelling is too fussy with Juliet and for whatever reason, I don’t like the Vivian spelling. Also, there is a 2 year old that lives right beside us with this name….so that pretty much is off the table.Names we like but cannot use:
Brigette
Emmeline
Madelyn (or its variations such as Adeline, etc)
Henrietta
Etta and Ada we love so much but think they have too many harsh “T” and “D” sounds with our last nameThere aren’t really many names that we dislike in this category/style. Margaret is one name we can’t really get on board with using as a first name but will likely be one of the middle names, after my grandmothers.
Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Kelsey D.
Rose is my favorite from the list, too. My one hesitation is that with Juliet, it immediately makes me think of the rose-by-any-other-name quote. Whenever such a connection occurs to me and leads to a hesitation, I ask myself: “But is this a PROBLEM?” In this case, I think no. There isn’t anything negative about that quote, or anything unpleasant about the connection. It helps even more than there is another sibling between the two names.
I know only a few Isabelles/Isabellas, but so far haven’t heard the nickname Izzy used (though I’m definitely familiar with it as a nickname option). Of the three who come to mind, one goes almost exclusively by Bella (at her request), one periodically goes by Bella but also uses Isabella, and the third goes only by Isabella as far as I know (she was in Elizabeth’s class last year and Elizabeth says no one calls her Bella—but Elizabeth wouldn’t know if the nickname were used outside of school). I can picture this changing, though, as they grow up, so it’s a good issue to be taking into account if you dislike the nickname. I’m remembering the Elizabeths my age who were Beths as children and switched to Liz as adults.
I do think you could use the spelling Vivienne with Juliet if you wanted to. I was about to type that I saw the objection and that it bothered me a little too but I thought that would quickly fade—but then I realized that in the amount of time it had taken me to write the first part of that sentence, it already didn’t bother me anymore. I think I even prefer Vivienne with Juliet: Vivian is more exactly parallel in a letter-by-letter way, but I think the style match is better with Vivienne.
The trouble with trying to answer a question from a fellow name-hobbyist is that it’s hard to imagine suggesting something you haven’t already thought of! I will persevere, however. As we’ve seen here before, sometimes abundant commenter approval leads parents to see a name in a new light.
If Rose ends up not being quite right, and Violet is too similar to Juliet, I wonder if other flower/plant names might work. Calla is pretty. Or I love Iris. Lillian with the nickname Lily is similar to Vivienne/Vivian but without the girl-next-door issue; if Oliver goes by Ollie, Ollie and Lily might be too similar. I’m a little nervous about the potential poison-ivy teasing (it was the first thing my kids thought of when I suggested it as a name for Henry before we knew he was a boy), but Ivy is wonderful, and I think the fast connection to poison ivy would diminish if the name would get a little more familiar. Oh, or Laurel! Or would you like Rose better as a short form of Rosemary? or, to add a little Shakespeare theme, Rosalind?
Claudia sprang to my mind. It has some of the sound of Etta or Ada, but with more syllables to downplay the repeating D-sounds. Claudia Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Claudia.
Lydia is similar: it has the D, but I think additional syllables make it even nicely tied in to the surname, rather than harsh. Lydia Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Lydia.
Or Cecily would be pretty. Cecily Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Cecily.
Or Sylvia. Sylvia Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Sylvia.
Or Beatrix. Beatrix Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Beatrix.
Bianca is a name I’d love to used more often. Bianca Dum0nt does gallop together a bit for me, I think because of the second-syllable emphasis: I get Biancadum0nt as if it were all one word. But I think it would take me about two repetitions to get in the habit of a tiny half-pause. Juliet, Oliver, and Bianca.
Sabrina has a similar emphasis, but for some reason doesn’t run together as much. I think it’s the hard-C sound of Bianca that gives me a bit of a galloping feel, and Sabrina’s N doesn’t do the same. Sabrina Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Sabrina. I love that.
Eloise is one of my own favorites. Eloise Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Eloise.
Eloise makes me think of Eliza, another of my own favorites. Eliza Dum0nt; Juliet, Oliver, and Eliza.
Name update!
Hi there!
Thank you again to you and all the other readers that provided insight into our naming dilemma if babe #3 turned out to be a girl; well, two weeks ago, we ended up having a baby girl! After reading all the comments, I was set on using Rosalie however, my husband preferred the simpler Rose. Although I felt like Rosalie was a better match stylistically to our other two kiddos names (Juliet and Oliver) I was happy to use “just” Rose.
So, introducing Rose Margaret Grace!(Also, thanks for the suggestions/encouragement of future names should we have another girl: Lucia, Viola/Violet and Vivienne.)
Thanks!
Kelsey D.
We have simular naming style as i have both your children’s names on my list. Can i suggest Elena? I also love Amelia for you. Or how about the french form, Amelie?
Here are some more that i love…
Arianna
Noelle
Dalilah
Matilda
Eva
Hannah
Orina
Pearl
Magnolia
Nickname: Noli
(Love :)
I like your whole list with the siblings and since you specifically asked about Lucy with the others, I think it has a similar sweet, old-fashioned vibe. If Rose is almost but not quite what you want, how about Rosemary. I like it even better with the siblings.
Or how about Alice, Amelia, Ella, or Mae?
Ha, almost every name Swistle suggested had me thinking Yes! That one!…until I read the next one. So many great names in this post. I love Rose. My two little girls are lobbying to name a future sister Rose. We probably won’t use it, since it is quite different from our naming style.
I like Cecily and Beatrix best from Swistle’s list. Both are so cute, and Cecily especially feels so refreshing to me.
I love the previous suggestion of Rosemary. Using Rose with Juliet would just be too much for me, for the reason that Swistle mentioned?
The suggestion of Elena is also great. Along the same line, I suggest Helena and Augusta.
My favorite name is Rosalie and I think it would go beautifully with your other children’s names, Juliet, Oliver and Rosalie. It’s the name of the wife and oldest daughter on the British series Selfridges. (based on the true story of the first London department store) It takes place at the turn of the 19th century. I think it’s just beautiful but will never get the chance to use it as I’m a Nana.
I second the idea of Rosalie. It’s lovely with the sib set you have established, and it even goes well with Charles. I like how it has three syllables like Violet, and it has a subtle nature connection, too… coordinated, not matchy-matchy.
The name Rose by itself has the Romeo and Juliet connection for me as well. BUT if the name is Rosalie, the connection seems clever, not contrived.
Best wishes as you anticipate a healthy, calm, and planned delivery!
Rose and Vivienne are my favorites from your list. I agree with Swistle about the spelling being a nonissue, but you may also want to consider the spelling Vivien. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Sylvia (or Sylvie, which is one of my favorites). I really like the Shakespeare feel your names give off. Would you like Viola instead of Violet?
So many pretty options! If Rose seems a little short with Juliet, another option would be Rosalie – it reads as a bit vintage to me, a nice combination of Rose and Amelie, but not quite?
Juliet, Oliver and Rosalie. It also gives all three names three syllables with very different beginning and ending sounds, which isn’t essential, but is definitely fun for us name nerds :)
Charlotte would be a nice addition to the sibset, but if you’re aiming for 4 kiddos and Charles is the boy’s name option, that takes it off the list.
Of the suggested ideas, I love Beatrix, Eloise, Matilda, Lydia and Laurel. Congrats on baby #3 and good wishes for a joyful and peaceful planned C-section!
I love Swistle suggestions of Cicily and Eloise abs think they work nicely with the siblings.
Another vote for Rosalie!
I was going to suggest Rosamund instead of Rose. I also like Swistles Rosalind
I love Irene, Serena, and Miriam for you
Juliet and Oliver are such nice names!
I immediately thought of Susanna or Imogen as a sister for Juliet and Oliver.
Juliet, Oliver and Susanna
Juliet, Oliver and Imogen (particularly love this one!)
Love the suggestion of Rosalie too. Rosanna perhaps?
All the best!
Just wanted to throw Elisa and Lorelei out there!
Rosalind and Lorelei were two that I thought of while reading. I also like the suggestions of Imogen and Cecily. My favorite from your list is Vivienne. I don’t find the spelling too fussy at all. In fact, I think that would be my first choice overall from all the names that have been suggested.
I quite like Rose and think it fits well with the other names. In addition to Swistle’s suggestions, I also thought of Rosalie.
I also like Vivienne, but I can see what you mean about it seeming too much with Juliet. Perhaps Vanessa?
I think Violet and Juliet are fine together, but it probably depends on your accent. For me, Juliet is a full 3 syllables Jule-ee-ett.. Violet is more like 2 syllables Vie-lett, so I really don’t hear the similarity too much. I wonder if you would like Viola?
If Lucy doesn’t seem long enough, perhaps Lucia? Or Louisa?
I know several Isabells/Isabellas and none go by Izzy. They all go by the full name or Bell/Bella.
Instead of Ada & Etta perhaps Ava?
I love Swistle’s suggestions of Iris and Eliza. I’ll also suggest Clara, Hazel, Helen/Helena & Amelia.
I love your kids’ names! I think Cecily is a perfect suggestion. Juliet, Oliver, and Cecily. SWOON.
If you like Lucy and Vivienne, how about Lucienne?
I love the name Rose, and all its variants, especially Rosanna.
I do find Violet too close to Juliet. I think Margot could be a great option, though, because while visually “matching” Juliet, the “t” remains silent.
Yes, your husband I think has a point about Ruby, but then again, used in a family with Juliet and Oliver I think it translates as more classic than hipster. But I’m unsure about repeating the long “U” sound with Juliet. (though Lucy & its variants do this, too, so maybe this consideration is really a trifle).
Isabelle could be perfect if you don’t mind its popularity. I know a 3-yr-old Isabelle who goes by the European nickname of Isa, pronounced Ee’-sa–this could set her apart from all of the Izzy’s and Bellas while remaining elegant.
I think either Cecily or Celia could also fit your style, and also really like Swistle’s suggestions of Eloise and Sylvia. Or the idea of Esther from yesterday’s post.
Good luck, let us know!
Eeee was so excited to open this webpage to check for a new post and saw mine!! Thank you Swistle!!
Thank you for all the great responses thus far. The more I see Rosalie written out, the more I like it!! I do really like Rosalind but have a very close friend of the family with this name that attends functions regularly so don’t think we could do it.
I do really like Vivienne and I’m glad to see so many of you liking it as well; perhaps we can put it back on our list. Our one hesitation still is that we have a 2 year old neighbour named Vivienne. Thoughts?
Also love the suggestion of Viola! I never even thought of that!
Question for everyone: how do you pronounce Beatrix/Beatrice. I love the look of it and the idea of it but never know if it is pronounced with a hard “x” sound or soft “c” at the end. Thanks!!!
Thanks everyone! Love all the suggestions.
I pronounce Beatrix with the x sound (as if it were -tricks) and Beatrice with the soft c sound (as if it were -triss).
Unless you & the neighbors are particularly close friends, I don’t think it should rule Vivienne out. Neighbors sometimes come & go, you likely won’t be neighbors forever.
Ditto on Swistle’s comment regarding the pronunciation of Beatrice/Beatrix.
I love the suggestions of Rosemary or Rosalie. Cora is simple but elegant. If I’m gonna pull out one Downton Abbey suggestion I might as well do another. Mary is so underused in the younger generation. Juliet, Oliver, and Mary? Sybil is probably going a bit too far, but honestly, Downton Abbey has the best names.
I love letters like this one where I feel a kinship to the writer’s naming style =)
Swistle gave many an awesome name as options. I’m partial to Lucy and Rosalie. I do agree that Ruby is falling the way of the hipsters nowadays, so I would take that one out of the running. I would also take Violet out of the running as I find it too similar to Juliet.
Also, I don’t Etta/Ada too harsh when paired with your last name. If that’s your only reason for not using those names, I’d reconsider. I think both are lovely.
I pronounce Beatrix/Beatrice exactly as Swistle described as well. Between the two, I would go with Beatrice. The idea of someone trying to use the nickname Trixie makes me shudder.
I nearly keeled over in laughter reading your post. As much as I love the looks of Beatrix (I realized I’m a very visual person) , I think I prefer Beatrice as my girlfriend had a cat named Trixie and I would die if someone started calling my girl that! Hahaha
Ha! Glad you liked it! Visually, I much prefer Beatrix as well, but I can’t deal with the ending. Beatrice for the win!
I like Beatrix. If you like nicknames, you could use Bea or Bumblebee!
I also love Viola and wanted to also recommend Lucia if Lucy feels too short. A friend of mine has a Lucia and an Oliver and they seem like a good sibset. I think Lucia goes by Lucy sometimes, but is flexible with it. Juliet, Oliver and Lucia sounds nice to me!
My taste in names are similar to yours. Our son was almost Oliver and we do have a Rose – so I do really like that one. :)
Lucy was on our list too – it’s my husband’s favourite. I preferred Lucinda with the nickname of Lucy. I think Lucy or Lucinda does fit with your sibset.
Other suggestions above that I like are Beatrice, Sylvia and Pearl. I know a 9 year old Pearl and that has made me like the name a lot more. Dorothy is another one I like a lot too and a friend just used the name with the nickname Dot. Jane is nice too, but I’m not sure I’d want to repeat an initial with Juliet.
Rose is nice. I like Etta, but I think you have to take it off the table because of Juliet. I also like Swistle’s suggestions of Lydia. I also like the suggestion of Rosalie.
I wonder if you’d like Lorna. Juliet, Oliver, and Lorna.
I also like Sabine. Juliet, Oliver, Sabine.
I love the name Rosalind, but I do think it gives you a definite Shakespearian vibe, even if Oliver doesn’t quite get there. I’d go with Rosamund. Gets you to Rose, but matches the weight of the others, keeps with the slight British feel of the other two.
I wouldn’t go for this particular Shakespearian vibe, if I were you….isn’t there a whole stanza or two about how ugly Rosaline is in comparison to Juliet?
Rosaline, yes, but Rosalind is from As You Like It. She’s brave and witty, an excellent namesake… would’ve been high on my list except my last, dearly beloved, dog was named Rosie.
I like Rose as I first name as well but seems unfinished to me. Have you considered Rosalie? Rosalie Dum()nt is lovely. Juliet, Oliver, and Rosalie are a charming sibset.
I do like soft sounds in names for you with the hard sounds of your surname. I like the suggestions of Eloise and Eliza for you.
Celia is another another name that strikes me as sounding great with surname and other kids names. Another that struck my fancy for you is Martha.
Rose and Juliet were both on our short list so I think Rose is perfect of course. The other names on the short list were: Genevieve, Imogen and Helena. Middle names we considered were Madeleine (on your reject list), Vivienne (on your maybe list), and Victoria. Especially loved Rose Victoria. We had three boys!
Good luck.
If you like Ruby, what about a name like Pearl or Hazel? I really like Hazel for your sib set. Juliet, Oliver and Hazel.
Or instead of Rose, what about Daisy? Or the simplicity of Grace? Or Jane? Though, you would have a double J starter. Or Alice? Maybe Alice is too hipster right now, too?
Ivy?
Eleanor? I love Juliet, Oliver and Eleanor together.
Charlotte? Too popular again?
Matilda?
Genevieve?
Viola, Miranda, Rosalind, Elizabeth.
I do know an Izzy from Isabella, but what about Annabelle? Or Mirabel?
Margaret?
I love Swistle’s suggestion of Laurel! Or Ivy. There are some really great names in this post.
What about Annelise, Alexa or Nicola?
Elise would be nice too. Juliet, Oliver and Elise.
Oh, and Saffron! Juliet, Oliver and Saffron. Love it!
I have an Isabel who started going by Izzy (with friends) around 8th grade. I thought I’d hate it, but I don’t. Family still calls her Isabel, Izzy actually suits her well, and she likes the duality.
I love this post. I have two boys (one here and one on the way) but if they were two girls, they would be named Rose and Juliet! For us, Rose is a family name and I think that it’s so beautiful just the way it is. However, Rosalie is a lovely longer version if you go that route. I’d say you’ve got the best option already but for the sake of other suggestions, we also considered Bianna, Meredith, Marianna, Catherine, Catherina, Helena, Lucia, Carolina and Genevieve. I can’t wait to hear what you choose!
You have gotten some GREAT suggestions on this post! I loooove Rosalie, but had a thought. If you have a Charles, will you call him Charlie or just Charles. Just my personal opinion, but I don’t love Rosalie and Charlie back to back. I think Rosemary is super sweet as well and better with Charles (poss Charlie). Bianca, Viola, and Lucia are all great suggestions too.
Oh! And I meant to say, I love simply Rose as well. I think it is a beautifully underused first name. :)
My daughter’s name is Rose, so I am biased, but we always get comments on her name. Usually it is people saying that it’s their daughter’s middle name. :) But we do get lots of compliments as well. We almost exclusively call her Rosie.
I like Rosalie a lot, too, and Rosemary which also has the cute nickname of Romy.
Good luck!
I really like the sound of Juliet, Oliver and Viola
What do you think of Felicity? Juliet, Oliver and Felicity… cute!
I personally wouldn’t be able to name my daughter/son knowing my neighbours had a young child with that name.
I love Rose! I have it tagged as a favorite myself. I think Rose Margaret sounds lovely: a little more substance for the middle name as her first name is so short and sweet. Rosalie seems like a nice tangent. Rosalie Margaret: so pretty and timeless.
I’m probably a wrung closer to traditional than you are on the naming ladder, but I found Swistle’s suggestion of Cecily to really work, especially with your other kiddos’ names. That one keeps jumping off the page.
Finally, I’m echoing someone else’s suggestion of Cora. Cora Margaret? Divine!
My vote is for Sabine, but I think these others sound good too:
Matilda nn Tilly
Imogen
I wanted to add Cecilia, nickname Ceci! Cecilia Dum0nt. Strong, yet feminine. My friend has this name and it is great. I think Juliet, Oliver, and Cecilia are wonderful together.
Great to hear that you used Rose. :D Congratulations.
Gorgeous (and gorgeously named) baby! Congrats!
I just wanted to say that this post has the most lovely collection of girls’ names–between the OP’s daughters, shortlisted names, and Swistle’s suggestions, they’re all just beautiful. I wish I could make this required reading for anyone expecting a girl.