Anne writes:
Help! My husband and I are expecting our first child, a baby girl, on December 23rd and she is going to be Baby Girl Alan at the rate we are going. My husband likes very traditional names (which is perfectly fine by me) but we can’t find any name that we are in love with. He thinks with the “L” sound of our surname that we shouldn’t give her a first name that also has an “L” sound in it, however we have found that a lot of first names have an “L” in it. To add to our dilemma, we would really like her middle name to be a family name, and fortunately both our grandmother’s are Blanches so that was an easy decision but it means we are kind of set on having her middle name be Blanche.
We have two names that have remained on our possible list from the beginning, but would really like some other options or suggestions. They are:
Samantha Blanche Alan
Rebecca Blanche AlanNames I like (that he has ex-nayed): Margaret, Madeline, Caitlyn
He hasn’t provided any other suggestions besides Samantha, however he doesn’t really like the nickname of “Sam”.Thanks for the help!
Audrey Blanche Alan
Geneva Blanche Alan
Marissa Blanche Alan
Meredith Blanche Alan
Miranda Blanche Alan
Rosemary Blanche Alan
Sabrina Blanche Alan
Veronica Blanche Alan
Victoria Blanche Alan
One of my favorites from that list is Sabrina: it’s similar to Samantha, but without the nickname.
I disagree with the L in the first name thing.
A name that came to mind when I read the question was Lara Alan. It has a really nice ring to it!
Although Lara Blanche doesn’t sound that good, I really like Lara Elisabeth Alan.
I also like Meredith and Victoria from Swistle’s suggestions.
I disagree with the “l” thing too! But that said, there’s Vivian (or Vivienne, Viviana); Genevieve; Susannah; Sofia; and Sarah.
I really like Rebecca and Samantha too. Good luck!
Grace Alan, if you’re a fan of Gracie Allen?
i really like your choices of Rebecca and Margaret, and Swistle’s Audrey and Victoria.
here are a few traditional names. some of them have Ls; I don’t think it’s a concern. (to me it might more of a concern to have a first name ending in A. but that’s just me.)
Abigail
Beatrice
Charlotte
Elisabeth
Eloise
Grace
Miriam
Sarah
I like Miriam and Eloise. Eloise Alan.
Good luck!
I’d like to suggest a two-syllable first name to go with the one-syllable middle and two-syllable last name. Symmetry, y’know? :)
That said, I also think it’d be fine to have an “L” in the first name, but I can understand the aversion to it.
I think Rebecca Blanche Alan is a really nice name. I’d go with that.
It’s funny how when there’s a sound prohibition your mind goes right there. I keep thinking Alexandra Blanche Alan, Delia Blanche Alan, Elizabeth Blanche Alan, etc. Personally, I don’t mind the repeating Ls (my son’s middle name starts with L and his hyphenated last name has 4, yes, 4 Ls in it). I think the repeating an in Samantha Blanche Alan is more of a problem, though I do like both names separately.
My first thought was Rachel Blanche Alan, as I like the repeating /ch/ sound.
Love Swistle’s list, and totally agree that Sabrina would be an adorable choice.
How about…
Hannah
Susannah/Susanna
Katherine
Joanna/Johanna
I like the suggestion of Susannah (similar to Samantha) or how about Savannah? I think the nickname Savvy is totally cute and kind of French sounding like Blanche. Incidentally, I know a Samantha and she is never called Sam. FWIW.
My favorites from Swistle’s list are Sabrina and Audrey.
Other ideas (I’m trying to stay away from the “L”s but it’s so hard! There’s so many great, classic girl names with “L”s!):
Caroline
Sarah
Madeleine
Amelia
Hannah
Olivia
Sophie
Catherine
I also think the “L” issue is not a problem. There are a few names that won’t work (like Sally, since it has an “al” sound like Alan), but I think it mostly works. I actually think the bigger potential conflict is the ending, so I would avoid names ending with an “n” sound.
I like Rebecca. I also like Elizabeth, Katherine, Kathleen, Susannah, Claire, Virginia (nn. Ginny), Leah, Sarah, and Emily.
I like Rebecca from your list, Meredith from Swistle’s list and I love Abigail from above. Abigail Blanche Alan sounds great to me. I also like Caroline and Amelia. Apparently I don’t have an issue with the L’s :)
Hey:)
From Swistle’s list I really love Meredith and Audrey for you. Both classic, strong names. And I love that you’re using Blanche as a mn. Other ideas:
Lydia Blanche Alan (I think the L works here)
Ramona Blanche Alan
From your list, I love love love Rebecca. Very classic, but still very modern at the same time.
My favorites from Swistle’s list are Audrey and Meredith.
My suggestions are Kara/Cara, Catherine, Amanda, and Cassandra.
Last, I love Natalie. I know it has an “L”, but I also like that it is a subtle refection of the Christmas-time baby that you are having without being overtly Christmas-y, and it seems like it would fit nicely into your style of names.
I also agree with the previous commenter that said that one syllable first names might seem abrupt in combination with Blanche.
Rebecca Blanche Alan is really nice, of your two choices I like this best.
I love the idea of Cassandra from the previous commenter. Cassandra Blanche Alan flows amazingly! I think Blanche is a bit of a strong sounding middle name (but it’s awesome, so don’t take that to be negative), so a soft, long name like Cassandra suits it beautifully!
The other name I love for you was the suggestion of Rachel. Rachel Blanche Alan is gorgeous, classic, and I too like the repeating “ch” (which again softens Blanche I think, because you’ve already gotten used to the ‘ch’ sound from Rachel before you say Blanche).
Also, I agree that the No L thing doesn’t need to be a factor, however if it does matter to you and your hubby, then by all means follow your idea. Just if you’re looking for other opinions on that, I think names with an L in them still work great with Alan (in particular, Olivia Alan is really pretty, and the above suggestion of Rachel has an L too).
So my favourites are:
Cassandra Blanche Alan
Rebecca Blanche Alan
Rachel Blanche Alan
Olivia Blanche Alan
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I think Swistle and her readers have made some great suggestions. My husband was reading over my shoulder and said that the name needs a CH, maybe between the first and second syllables, to balance the CH in Blanche. He’s so right and a bunch of other commenter have hit it too:
Rachel Blanche Alan FTW!
I really don’t mind the two Ls in Rachel Alan. Rachel, Samantha, and Rebecca could be sisters. Save Samantha and Rebecca for future daughters when there’s a different mn. Although, I don’t love the A at the end of Rebecca and Samantha when it’s followed by Alan.
I checked *ch* on behindthename and got some more in my husband’s pattern. J or soft G, like Geneva, might do the same trick, too:
Chelsea Blanche Alan. Chelsea Alan.
Jacqueline Blanche Alan. Jacqueline Alan.
Imogen Blanche Alan. Imogen Alan.
Charity Blanche Alan. Charity Alan.
Marjorie Blanche Alan. Marjorie Alan.
may i also suggest considering the variants of blanche:
-bianca
-blanca
-bellanca
in essence, you would be honoring both of your grandmothers by using their names, just using a variant (spanish or italian). i understand that this suggestion may be looked upon negatively, as you are not using their “actual name”, but it is just another nice way to pay homage and come up with another name that you both love.
there are so many great suggestions in the list. i would not shy away from “L”s. here are my favorites:
-ainsley blanche alan
-whitney
-josephine
-vivian
-amelia
-leila
best wishes for a smooth delivery and may you find that perfect name! :)
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There are already great suggestions. I like Rachel Blanche Alan the best. From Swistle’s list, I like Meredith, Miranda, Rosemary Sabrina, and Veronica. I actually know someone named Miranda who I think had the last name Allen before she got married and I really like the sound of Miranda Alan.
LOVE Eloise Alan.
Rachel Blanche lovely too.
I thought of another name.
I want to suggest Merris. Its such a unique, spunky name, but it’s also very easy to pronounce, which more unique names usually aren’t, so it’s a win-win.
Merris Blanche Alan sounds really good.
Samantha and Sabrina made me think of Serena. Serena Blanche Alan sounds very nice.