Baby Girl Catrell

My husband and I are struggling to name our first baby, a girl, due on May 1, 2018.

We have three names that we have both liked but are not 100% committed to any of them.

I generally prefer somewhat traditional names with family ties, and my husband likes names that sound a bit more sophisticated than I would choose.

Our last name sounds like Catrell. These are the three names we have both agreed as potential contenders:

Kathryn Mae nn: Kay
My husband’s mother is named Kathryn and we liked the way it sounded with Mae. My grandmother’s name is Kay, which I think is sweet, but my husband can’t picture calling a little girl.

Sally
We both LOVE the name Sally but are struggling to find a middle name that doesn’t sound too southern when paired with Sally. It is also the name of my great aunt.

Lily Ann
I suggested this to my husband, and he didn’t mind it, so we added it to the list.

Some more names I like:
Beatrice
Liv
Holly

Some names my husband likes:
Stella
Maeve
Victoria

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Mairzy

 

I immediately seized upon Sally. I love that name and would love to see it more in use. I think the key to avoiding the southern sound is to pick a serious, longer, non-bouncy middle. Sally Kathryn. Sally Elizabeth. Sally Margaret. Sally Eleanor. Sally Rachel. Sally Veronica. Sally Rebecca. Sally Juliet. Sally Josephine. Some of those would still lend themselves to the southern sound if you/she later wanted it: Sally Kay, Sally Kate, Sally Beth, Sally Jo, etc. Another option would be to put a surname in the middle: your maiden name or another family surname.

But I also love the idea of Kay. In the past few months I’ve gotten to know a woman named Kay, and I can personally attest to the pleasingness of the name: I like to say it, I like to see it, I like to hear it. It’s a name I’d wondered about before, but I’d never encountered a Kay and thought maybe in usage the name would sound like K. or ‘kay, but so far it doesn’t. It sounds sweet but not diminutive. I like the idea of naming her Kay directly (with a different middle name), instead of as a nickname for Kathryn, especially if the child’s surname is your husband’s: using your grandmother’s name instead of your mother-in-law’s name gives the full name a little more family balance.

If you decide to go with Kathryn but your husband isn’t sold on Kay, I suggest the nickname Kit.

I’m reluctant to find you any more ideas, because I am so keen on you using either Sally or Kay—and since I don’t know the family tree, I can’t help you push your case for family names, which is something I would dearly like to do. But I will force myself to come up with some names anyway.

Sally makes me think of Molly and Polly.

Liv and Stella make me think of Sylvia/Silvia/Silvie.

Maeve and Kay make me think of May/Mae. It’s fairly common as a middle name, but fresh and surprising as a first name.

“Fairly common as a middle name, but fresh and surprising as a first name” makes me think of Rose.

Liv and Maeve and Lily and Holly make me think of Ivy. That’s another name I’d really like to see more of.

Lily and Victoria make me think of Lydia.

I wonder if you two would like Josephine/Josie for a nice mix of sophistication and friendliness.

Oh, or would you like Alice? Sound-wise, it’s almost a rearranged Sally.

Or Flora would be pretty and unusual without being difficult to spell or pronounce.

19 thoughts on “Baby Girl Catrell

  1. Christine

    Since you both love Sally – go for it! Why fix what isn’t broken? I like it with a three or four syllable middle name, and especially like it with Elizabeth, but I also like Sally Kay Catrell. I worked for an attorney a zillion years ago who had the middle name Jay and I loved that it was both the name and initial. I googled because “Sally Kay” sounded familiar and it’s ge name of a jewelry line, but that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.

    Reply
  2. Reagan

    We both LOVE the name Sally

    I too would stop right here as it is the one name shared that you both love. I agree that a classic middle name would make it seem less Southern.

    Sally Caroline Catrell
    Sally Alexandra Catrell
    Sally Margaret Catrell
    Sally Annette Catrell (must admit I like Sally Ann as a nn).

    Reply
  3. TheFirstA

    Sally is traditionally a nickname for Sarah, so you could use Sarah with the nickname Sally. Something like Sarah Kathryn called Sally or even Sally Kay would be sweet-and she’d have other options if she decided Sally/Sally Kay sounded too Southern for her taste.

    Reply
  4. Genevieve

    You could always use your maiden name as a middle name with Sally to stop it sounding so southern?
    Otherwise I agree with the other comments about making it a longer name. One of your choices like Beatrice or Victoria would be a great contrast.

    Reply
    1. Steph Lovelady

      I was going to make this suggestion, too. Sarah might sound better with the middle names, but you could still call her Sally sometimes or all the time, especially since you both like it.

      Reply
  5. Sandra

    My daughter-in-law is Sally-Ann with no middle name and generally called Sally.
    Sally is lovely, familiar and yet relatively uncommon, certainly among young girls at the moment.
    Kay also fits the familiar but not common bracket.
    I say go for one of those 2.

    Reply
  6. Erin Beth

    I also love Sally and Kay:

    Sally Margaret
    Sally Kathryn
    Sarah Kathryn
    Sally Victoria
    Kathryn Mae/Kathryn May

    Reply
  7. Kim C

    Sally is such a great name!

    Sally Elizabeth
    Sally Victoria (Nice!)
    Sally Rebecca (really like this combo!)
    Sally Josephine

    What about Sally Olivia, Sally Eliza or Sally Isabella?

    Good luck!

    Reply
  8. Juniperjones

    Sally Serena
    Sally Fiona

    I like the sound of a 3 syllable name with emphasis on the 2nd and an A ending. There are a bunch more that fit that too…

    Reply
  9. Holly

    I have a Katherine who we do call Katherine but also K. My grandmother was Kathryn/Kay so we are in the same boat as you . My K is 5 years old and I still love her name so much. It’s sophisticated but also serious and I think it really stands out among all the Rileys and Marleys etc. Go with Katherine! I do like Sally and Lily too. Good luck!

    Reply
  10. Christi with an I

    You could always do Sarah Kathryn and she could be Sally or Kay. It uses two of the names you love.

    Reply
  11. Cameron

    Just in case you haven’t thought of it…Kat can be a common nickname for Kathryn so depending on how close your real surname is to “Catrell”, might be something to think about!

    I actually think Kat Catrell has a certain snappy, sassy feel to it like a Peter Parker type vibe, but you might not be into it.

    Reply
  12. Jean C.

    If you both love Sally, to me the real discussion is the middle name.
    If you are intending to have more children, I wouldn’t worry about using up all the honor names at once (unless you want to).
    I like Sally Beatrice, which doesn’t sound southern to me at all (although if you wanted a cute nickname, Sally Bea would fit that bill). Sally Elizabeth is also a beautiful name.
    As another commenter pointed out, your maiden name would be a lovely choice.

    Reply
  13. Stephanie

    I love the idea of Sally Kay, but after years of student loans all my brain hears with that combo is Sallie Mae. Sally Kathryn, however, as the full name, is just lovely. And you could call her both Sally and Kay if you wanted!

    Reply
  14. Jaime

    I am all for Kathryn (love both Kay or Kit but Kay would be my choice to honor your grandmother) or Sally. Both are great, fresh-feeling choices today.

    I have a little Faye and get tons of compliments, if that makes the similar sounding Kay more palatable in any way.

    If you go with Sally, I like the idea of pairing with another family name (Sally Kathryn is lovely or you could even consider your maiden name if the flow works).

    Reply
  15. Marissa

    SALLY! So lovely. I wanted to suggest Sally Noelle, but then realized the rhyme that would make with your last name. So I tried to come up with some other chic middle names to go with Sally. I think the Southern feel is created when Sally is combined with cute names or names that go too well with Sally and make a little sing-song. So to go the other way, what about:
    Sally Maxime Catrell
    Sally Elise Catrell
    Sally Delphine Catrell
    Sally Odette Catrell
    * ok I went all French, so sue me. Ha.

    Reply

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