Hi Swistle!
I recently came across your site and would love suggestions for naming our second baby, a girl. Her older brother is Dean Matthew.
Our last name is a very long, hard to pronounce name that starts with an I and ends with an A, so we tend to like short, easy to pronounce first names.
My top choices are:
Claire
Sarah
Kate
Emma
Tess
NoraMy husband is set on Tess. I like Tess, but I’m having a really hard time coming up with a middle name. As you can see, I like fairly classic kind of old school English names. We’d love your input!
Thanks!
Rachel
The name Tess is a particularly challenging one to pair with other names. Part of it is that it’s only one syllable, and part of it is the S-ending that can run into and combine with other sounds (Tess Sabrina, Tess Emma, Tess Trudy).
Without a surname to work with, it’s difficult to make any specific middle-name suggestions. But I can tell you some of the methods I use to find candidates.
First, I say the first and last names together again and again, with a pause between them as if muting a middle name, until I get a feeling for what rhythm of middle name might sound nice. For example, if your surname were Winterborough, I would say “Tess…Winterborough” again and again and see what rhythm filled the gap. In that example, I think something with three syllables and the emphasis on the second syllable would sound nice: Tess Naomi Winterborough, Tess Joanna Winterborough, Tess Rebecca Winterborough. I also like two syllables with the emphasis on the first syllable: Tess Rachel Winterborough, Tess Audrey Winterborough. And so on. This is highly subjective, so different people will like the sound of different rhythms.
Second, I look for names that make particularly good middle names even if the rhythm isn’t great (the whole name isn’t said all together very often, so rhythm/sound of the middle/whole name is a lower priority for me than it is for first/last combinations):
1. family/honor names
2. names that you really love but can’t or don’t want to use as the first name for various reasons (too popular, too unusual, too hard to spell/pronounce, too long, not your usual style, not good with the sibling name, friend/relative used it, etc.)
3. names of people you admire (writers, actors, activists, historical figures)
4. names of significant places or concepts (childhood street name, town you married in, virtues)
In your case, because you are looking for simple first names to balance a complicated surname, I would be inclined to use the middle-name position as a spot for one of the more complicated first names you’ve ruled out for being long or difficult. Tess Magnolia, Tess Genevieve, Tess Minerva, Tess Juliette, Tess Anastasia, Tess Philippa, Tess Winifred, Tess Cordelia—names like that.
When the first name is preferred more strongly by one parent than by the other parent, or when the first name comes from one parent’s side of the family, I like to use the middle name to balance things out. In this case, perhaps the middle name could be one of the names you liked best but couldn’t use (either because your husband wasn’t keen on it or for some other reason), or a family name from your side.
I’m loving Tess Genevieve!
I would encourage you to find a middle name that means something to you, as Swistle discusses in her second point.
If that can’t/won’t work for you, I wonder if you’d find it easier to pair Tessa with a middle name? That extra syllable could make a big difference for rhythm and it would avoid the run-on-S situation with just Tess. It’s still short/sweet and appears to meet your criteria.
Another option for middle names would be to take a mix & match approach with the names on your short list. Perhaps something like Tess Nora could work? I think Tess + a one syllable middle sounds rather choppy, but you could use the names on your list for inspiration-as a starting point if you will. Clara instead of Claire, Katherine instead of Kate, Eleanor instead of Nora, etc.
I really like the 3 syllable rhythm swistle highlighted.
Tess Naomi
Tess Caroline
Tess Eloise (Might be mis-heard as Tessa Louise which I love as well!)
Tess Louisa
Tess Emmeline
Tess Madeleine (i’m saying mad-a-LINE but mad-a-LYN would work too)
As a Tessa, I agree that a three syllable middle name feels nicer to say. My name is Tessa, but my close friends call me Tess. As an aside, I adore my name and it’s rarity. Excellent choice. :)
A few of my favorites:
Tess Meredith
Tess Noelle
Tess Matilda
Tess Marguerite
Tess Rosamund
I think a middle name that begins with a consonant may work best.
Marie jumped to mind for me. I love Tess!
I’m loving Swistle’s suggestion of Tess Magnolia. That’s a great rhythm, to my ear anyway. It feels very Boho/Southern.
I also like the idea of pairing Tess, which feels very free-spirit to me, with a bit more down-to-earth middle. For example, Tess Harriet. Oh, I love that together!!
Tess Harriet
I am really loving the soft “s” ending with the hard “t” ending in the middle spot.
Tess Harriet
Tess Violet
Tess Juliet
Tess Olivet
In the end, though, I usually opt for honor middles so I agree with other commenter’s that finding a name that is significant to you is the place to start.
I agree with Swistle that the 3 syllable middle creates a first-middle unit that flows well.
How about:
Tess Alexandra
Tess Emerald
Tess Lavinia
Tess Linnea
Another short and distinct name with a similar sound to Tess is Thais, or Thaissa. Esther is also a cool way to get to nn Tess if you like the nickname route to make the middle name flow more easily.
Tess Amelia
Tess Eliza
Tess Victoria
Tess Lydia
Tess Michelle
Tess Noelle
Tessa Jane
Tessa Rose
Tessa Kate
Tessa Louise
Tessa Marie
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Tess Rachel, I think it goes really well with Dean Matthew.
Good luck!
I’m in the camp that says that the first, middle, last flow isn’t that important. It isn’t that common to say the whole name. Mostly I say my kids first+middle (if I’m using it as an endearment/they are in trouble) or first + last if I’m talking about them officially. Rarely SAY the whole thing out loud, occassionally write the whole thing but then it is usually last, first middle or last, first middle initial only. The beauty of that approach is that you can use whatever you want.
That is pretty controversial though so more traditionally a 1 syllable, 2 syllable, 3+syllable mix always sounds good.
Tess Mary
Tess Ruby
Tess Charlotte
Tess Audrey
Tess Louise
Tess Mary is my favourite, I think it is such a ‘typical’ middle name that the ear hears what you are saying even if you run the words together a bit which I tend to do with Tess (but not with Tessa for some reason).
I agree with the 123 rhythm, which is great bc you love short and sweet names! You have a great collection already.
Tess Sarah
Tess Emma
Tess Nora
Or:
Tessa Claire
Tessa Kate
(I think these two are my favourite)
I agree that Tess Genevieve sounds perfect!
But I also like these combinations:
Tess Elisabeth (with ‘s’ instead of ‘z’)
Tess Marianne
Tess Adrienne
Tess Gabrielle
Tess Veronica
Tess Virginia
Tess Isabelle
Tess Geraldine
Tess Hazel (!)
And I second the thought that using Tessa instead of Tess may be a good option too:
Tessa Leigh
Tessa Alice
Tessa Barbara
Tessa Anne
Tessa Laura
Tessa Miranda
Tessa Lynn(e)
Tessa Isabella
Tessa Zoe (pronounced like ‘Zoey”; I don’t know exactly why, but for me this combo sounds really nice with an older brother called Dean Matthew!)
Tessa May
Tessa Hannah
I quite like Tess Elisabeth ;)
Tess Susannah (an old, old English name)
Tess Angela (Like Angela Bassett)
Tess Matilda (There were -so- many queen consorts named Matilde around the time of the Norman conquest)
Tess Rebecca
Tess Georgina
Tess Deborah
Tess Helena
Apparently I like 1-3 combos.
Tess Aurora! Sounds beautiful and scientific :) I also like repeating sounds in a name. (The ‘a’ ending for both middle and last name).
I really like Tess with a 2 or 3 syllable middle (sort of depending on your last name). I also prefer Tess with a middle name that doesn’t start with a vowel, separating the two words instead of them sounding like one long name (like Tess Elena sounds like Tesselena).
Tess Louise (or Louisa. Or Lucille)
Tess Margaret
Tess Genevieve
Tess Caroline (or Coraline)
Tess Vivian
Tess Alexandra !!!!!!!! Really nice flow
Tess Kathleen -this is nice too
I know you said you wanted a short name, but I think perhaps Theresa/Teresa would provide some good symmetry and have a nice ring to it? Teresa Longoria. Teresa Latvia. (Heh, just thinking of common names that start with L and end in A!). Teresa Lithuania. Tess & Tessa make great nicknames for Teresa :) Plus, it’s an underused classic, and may help with the flow of nicknames! Something like Teresa Kate Longoria is beautiful!