Bella writes:
HELP!!!!
I need a baby name & I have NO ideas.
We just found out that this kiddo is a (sqeeeeeeeeeee) GIRL! Yeah!
The downside ~ I used my bestest girl name for the first baby girl almost 2 years ago & now the creative well is dry.
The problem is that I want a girly name that has a boy-ish nickname and I would like to make a cute monogram. But I’m not picky at all.
Since I know you won’t post my identity or my blog on your site ~ my daughter’s real name is Samantha Elysabeth (lets say) Hutchins. Her nickname is Sammi & she has sHe for a monogram (very cute on baby bags!) I want something equally cute for my second kiddo (cHa, aHh, aHa … etc) We’re southerners, monograms are put on everything & I love cute ones! I like the boyish nickname theme & that’s the more important of the two to keep.
Elysabeth is 1/2 my middle name (Elyssa) and 1/2 my cousin’s name (Elizabeth). I don’t have any family preferences to use this time, my SIL with 5 kids used all the good ones already!
I have no clue what to use as names & my blog has managed to stay fairly anonymous so far & I would like to keep it that way ~ so I can’t ask for help over there!
Any help is appreciated … we’re tapped out over here!
The first name that pops into my head is Alexandra. It’s a long girly name like Samantha, with a short boyish nickname like Sam (Alex or Al), and it gives you the start of the monogram “aH”, so you can have aHa or aHh if we think of an A/H middle name. I’m finding A-names easier to come up with than H-names: Alexandra Amelia Hutchins. Alexandra Abigail Hutchins. Alexandra Alyssabeth Hutchins.
Another one I like in this category is Cassandra, shortened to Cass. Cass isn’t as boyish as Sam or Alex, but it’s sassy. Samantha and Cassandra are nice together, and so are Sam and Cass, and I think Cassandra Hutchins sounds great. You mention cHa on your list of cute monograms, and so we’d just need an A middle name.
Another C name is Christianna, shortened to Chris. Samantha and Christianna. Sam and Chris. Christianna Hutchins.
Josephine shortened to Jo would probably be my own first choice. Samantha and Josephine. Sam and Jo is DARLING. But—monogram trouble. We’ve got “jH” and that doesn’t go anywhere. Doing a J middle name would look cute, but it wouldn’t spell anything: jHj. An O middle name would give you jHo, which could be pronounced “joe” like her nickname. But…it kind of gives you “Ho,” which we may wish to avoid, and it’s reminiscent of JLo.
Francesca shortened to Frank or Frankie would be cute. Samantha and Francesca. Sam and Frankie. Francesca Hutchins. But again: monogram problems.
Or, perhaps we could do Stephanie shortened to Stevie, with an E middle name to give you the same monogram. Stephanie Elise Hutchins. Samantha and Stephanie. Sam and Stevie.
Let’s take a vote (poll is over to the right) [poll closed; see below], but I’m also hoping the rest of you have more suggestions.
[Poll results (231 votes total):
Alexandra (Al, Alex): 83 votes, roughly 36%
Cassandra (Cass): 49 votes, roughly 21%
Christianna (Chris): 3 votes, roughly 1%
Josephine (Jo): 59 votes, roughly 26%
Francesca (Frank, Frankie): 37 votes, roughly 16%]
What about Charlotte shortened to Chuck (like Pushing daisies!) or Charlie?
I like Charlotte nn Charlie too! I voted for Josephine, I thought the jHj monogram looked nice (I like symmetry).
Josephine Jaime Hutchins
Josephine Jasmine Hutchins
Josephine Jane Hutchins
Josephine Julia Hutchins
Josephine Jolene Hutchins
What about Virginia so you can use Ginny (which sounds close to Jimmy)? If you went with an ‘I’ name for a middle name, you could have gHi as a monogram.
Name Judith, but call her Jude. I love this, and have only seen it in a movie once. I think Jude makes such a nice, spunky girl name! (Kind of like when Julies get called “Jules”)
I was loving Josephine until I saw someone suggest Charlotte nn Charlie. So cute.
Re Cassandra, I have a friend Cassandra who goes by Casey. Might be perceived as a little more boyish than Cass, maybe?
Thomasina or Theodora give you boyish nicknames and the TH_ monogram to work with, although “the” is kind of a boring one!
How about Olivia (Ollie)? Olivia Helen gives you oHh.
I voted for Francesca but I also very much like Charlotte, suggested above.
Before I even saw the comments I thought “Charlotte and Charlie for short!” I LOVE that name. Also love Josephine.
I just love Francesca (Frankie), and I think it would be a shame to pass on such a name just to get a cute monogram. As long as the monogram doesn’t spell something embarrassing, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
I also really love the suggestion of Theodora (Theo). I was also thinking of Wilhelmina (Billie), which might seem bold, and may not complement Samantha as well, but sure stands out. Plus, I think nicknames like Billie are coming back in style, and that Wilhelmina will get more mainstream.
If nothing else, this blog has given you more ideas that fit the long feminine full name with short boyish nickname pattern should you have a third girl!
Oh, I just thought of one more, my MIL: Bernadette (Bernie).
Truthfully, I’m not a fan of Bernie. There’s a furnature store near where I live called Bernie & Phil’s. But that store may not be near you, and you might like it. I do like Bernadette.
And now you probabaly have the opposite problem with too many ideas!
Oh, and Louisa or Louise with the nickname Lou – sorry, I’m on a roll here…
I love and adore beyond all reason: Thomasina, nn Tamsin. It’s not super BOYish, but it’s not girly really either. I guess it’s mostly unheard of in the US still but more known in England? And then you could do an E mn and get tHe which is kinda funny.
My faves have already been suggested:
Charlotte = Charlie (or Lottie,though more girly)
Josephine = Jo (or JoJo which I love)
I also like Wilhelmina for Billie or Willie
What about Johanna? nn could be Johnny?
I think Johnny is adorable on a little girl! But gives you the jH problem like Josephine. But I do like how jHj looks.
Madeline or Matilda nn Mattie
Matilda May or Madeline Marie could be MHM (symmetrical at least)
Jacqueline nn Jackie
Danielle or Danica nn Dani
(I personally love the name Danica and know an adorable 3 y.o. with this nickname for it)
Just some thoughts!
Is it common to do the monogram in the first-last-middle style? I’m from Canada, so maybe it’s an American thing, but also maybe I’m just not up on monograms – I’ve only ever seen first-middle-last!
ooh this is one of my favorite styles :) The first name that comes to mind is India – very Southern – with the hip nn Indy. How cute would Sam and Indy be?!?
Combos:
India Rebecca Hutchins IRH/IHR
India Jane Hutchins IJH/IHJ
India Louise Hutchns ILH/IHL
India Mae Hutchins IMH/IHM
India Adelle Hutchins IAH/IHA
Others:
Andrea Pearl, nn Andie, APH/AHP
Adeline Jane, nn AJ AJH/AHJ
Danica Elise, nn Dani, DEH/DHE
Cordelia Violet, nn Cory CVH/CHV
Jocelyn Claire, nn Joey JCH/JHC
Maxine Adelle, nn Max MAH/MHA
Calla Joanne nn Cal or CJ CJH/CHJ
Caroline Jane, nn Cal or CJ CJH/CHJ
Jacqueline Grace, nn Jack JGH/JHG
Good luck!
I thought of two more:
Mattea Suzanne, nn Matt MSH/MHS
Michaela Joy, nn Mickey or MJ MJH/MHJ
Good luck,
Brooke
I absolutely LOVE Charlotte shortened to Charlie. I’ve only met one little girl with this name and it was adorable. I also like Danielle/Danica shortened to Dani.
I love this question – this is a fun one to work on!
My faves so far out of the ones already mentioned are Theodora (several nn possibilities there: Teddie, Theo, the more feminine Thea, Thede / Theda), Matilda nn Mattie, and Andrea nn Andie.
A couple of others (specifically thinking about the monogram, although the nicknames are a bit more feminine) might be:
Olivia (nn Liv or Livvie, feminine but still cute) Isabel/Imogene – oHi
Olivia Madeleine – oHm
Cecelia (nn Cece) Evelyn (cHe)
(or Charlotte nn Charlie Evelyn)
Gabrielle (nn Gabby) Olivia – gHo (but with O middle names we still have the “ho” problem)
Teresa (nn Terrie) Olivia – tHo
Natalie / Natalia (nn Nate) Isabel – nHi
or Nicole / Nicola (Nick / Nicky) also gives you a good boyish nn
Best of luck!
Great suggestions here!!
My favorite monogram suggestions are:
oHi (like, “Oh, hi!”)
aHa
bHd (love the symmetry)
I agree that dHb or bHd would look great in a monogram!
Danica Brooke Hutchins (Dani)
Bailey Danielle Hutchins (Bailey is cute as a unisex name)
I like Charlotte/Charlie best, but Danielle/Dani is cute, too. I voted Josephine/Jo, since I liked it best of Swistle’s options.
My vote is for Charlotte shortened to Charley! It is my favorite!
Natalie with the nn Nate is so cute. And I’ve NEVER heard it.
Fun challenge, the readers of this site are so creative! Well done, guys! I was stumped.
Oh, I voted for Frankie, but then I saw the suggestion for Thomasina.
Thomasin is one of my FAVORITE girl names, ever since reading it in a Thomas Hardy novel in middle school. How cute would it be to have a little girl nn Thommy?
A couple more suggestions:
Ariana nn Ari
Sidney nn Sid
And you know, you could probably also use the nn Tommy for the full name Tamara.
If you could find a good “P” first name, you could try for a number of monograms:
pHo
pHi
pHd
The “P” first names are tough though, as far as finding one with a good boyish nickname.
Petra (Petey?)
Philippa / Philomena (Phil)
Paulina (Paulie?)
Patricia (Pat)
I love the Charlotte/Charlie idea, too!
My husband and I love the name Aurora and it can be shortened to the name Rory (which is boyish).
How about Georgia or Georgianna nn Georgie?
However…no cute monogram comes to mind.
Or Rosemary nn Romy?
Or Matilda nn Matty?
Matilda Mae Hutchins: mHm.
I haven’t read comments yet… I’m sure there are duplicates in my list!
Charlotte – Charlie
Claudia – Claud
Camilla – Cam
Christina – Chris
Clementine – Clem
I like the A middle names for CHA.
Sydney – Syd
Shayla – Shay
Salome – Sal
Shelby – Shel
You could do something like Ysabelle or Yasmin for the middle name… to do SHY.
Here are some other ones that wouldn’t necessary have a good monogram.
Victoria – Vic
Rebecca – Reb
Natalie – Nat
Danica – Danny
I also like Alexandra and Josephine.
Good luck!
I love Matilda nn Matty – and mHm has to be one of the cleverest monograms I’ve heard!
Since you used part of your middle name for you first daughter’s middle name how about part of your first name as part of your second daughter’s middle name – Alexis Annabelle/a or Arabella? AHA!