Lilly writes:

I am 39.5 weeks pregnant with my second child, first boy. I have a very specific question that I hope you and your fabulous readers can help me with. Our 2-year-old daughter is named Violet Clare. We call her Violet (I pronounce it closer to 3 syllables and my husband says it with 2) or Vi. Before we found out she was a girl, we had decided to name her Philo. We both still like the name and may use it with this boy, but I can’t help but stay up at night worrying that the names sound too much alike. Vi-let. Fi-lo. Too much internal rhyme? Will this cause confusion in our house for the rest of our lives?? Am I just overthinking things?

Please help a crazy pregnant woman.

 
Philo is such an unfamiliar name for me, I found the unfamiliarity was interfering with my ability to figure out what I thought about the repeating sounds. So I substituted the name Milo. And when I say “Violet and Milo,” to ME the repeating sound is appealing: they’d make good twin names, because it’s a NOTICEABLE thing that ties them together, but doesn’t strike me as being too matchy.

But the name Philo has one more sound in common with Violet than Milo does: the Ph sound which is so similar to the V sound. Do you think you will nickname him Phi? Vi and Phi does seem like too much: like having an Edie and an Evie, as a commenter mentioned in another post. And yet—that might end up being fun, and you might end up LIKING that.

So. Er, I’m not sure that was…helpful, per se. Let’s see what the commenters think of the situation.

 

 

Name update! Lilly writes:

I was in labor on June 7th when I found out you had posted my question, which thrilled me to no end. My husband read all the responses to me while I was nursing/falling in love with our adorable new baby boy. The responses seemed to us to be pretty evenly split between “yes, do it” and “no, it’s too close” – which you wouldn’t think would be helpful at all, but it really was. Mostly it reinforced to us that the most important thing was what WE thought, because of course everyone will have different opinions on it. And so I was more convinced we shouldn’t name him Philo, and my husband was more convinced we should!

After a day of discussion and trying a few names out on the baby, I didn’t want to go to sleep another night with our baby not having a name. So we looked at each other and I said, “let’s just name him Calvin instead.” And my husband said “Ok. But I’m not ruling out Philo for any future boys.” So Calvin Von (9 lbs, 3 oz) (middle name for my husband’s recently-passed grandfather) was officially welcomed to our family! A big thank you to your and your readers for your help.

Rebecca writes:

My name is Rebecca and my husband and I are expecting our third daughter on the 23rd of June! Our girl’s names are Hadley Kate and Mia Brynn (both middles names are family names), we love both of them so much, and we want to love this babies name just as much. Oh and our last name is Campbell.

We have a long list of names, but I’m not sure that any of them are ‘the name’, probably because I love them all and can’t make a decision. I was hoping that you could either make some suggestions based on our favourites OR maybe you could try convincing us what names work the best!

The names we like are kind of all over the place, some are very feminine, some are unique, some are unisex etc. I think that is our problem!

Anyway here is our list (in no particular order). Her middle name will be Reese – unless it doesn’t flow, then her middle name will be Scarlett.

Scarlett Reese – *Probably* our favourite, both names are family names, I love it but I’m not 100% convinced.

Elise Scarlett – Doesn’t flow very well, but we love Elise.

Sage Scarlett/Reese – Either middle is okay, but I’m not loving the flow of them.

Lane Scarlett – Love Lane/Laney, but not sure it goes well with Hadley and Mia?

Jillian Reese – This is MY favourite, but can’t seem to convince the hubby. Another problem is that I want her to be ‘Jillian’ and not ‘Jill’ or ‘Jilly’.

Reese Scarlett – Also love this one, but not 100% convinced as we know a boy named Rhys.

Eden Reese – I’m not religious, but my hubby’s parents are. They have implied that they don’t like Eden at all.

Jetta Reese – My hubby LOVES Jetta, I like it too, but is it too uncommon when we have a Mia?

Elodie Reese – I think that Hadley and Elodie are too similar sounding…in a way?

Rowan Scarlett – I love Rowan, but is it too masculine?

Savannah Reese – We both like, but don’t really love.

Tatum Reese – Same as above! Also have a bit of trouble saying it with our last name.

Peyton Scarlett – I like it with Scarlett to make it more feminine…is Peyton too masculine?

Wren Scarlett – Too uncommon maybe? Too similar to Brynn (Mia’s middle name)?

Juliette Reese, with the nickname Jette

So we have an overload of names! Thanks heaps :-)

 
I think the main issue is that SOME of the names go well with the sparky and slightly boyish surname-name Hadley, and SOME of the names go well with the sweet and light and totally girlish name Mia—but it’s hard to find a name that goes with BOTH.

Peyton, for example, goes wonderfully with Hadley (I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more perfect sister pair), but I feel like then Mia’s name stands out as being too different. And Elise goes wonderfully with Mia, but I feel like then Hadley’s name stands out as being too different.

So my first choice from your list is Scarlett. It’s got sass and spirit, but it’s also got hoop skirts. It’s purely feminine, but with enough backbone to balance Hadley. It adds a completely different sound to the grouping, which helps keep things from feeling like “two of one, one of another.” And then all three girls have a 2-syllable first name and a 1-syllable middle name; that’s not important, but I admit it pleases me when that works out. Hadley Kate, Mia Brynn, and Scarlett Reese.

My second choice from your list is Laney. The name Lane is used more often for boys, which tips the name toward the Hadley end of things—but adding the Y makes it purely feminine and tips it toward Mia too. (I was thinking Delaney might work too, but then Hadley and Delaney would both have surname names and Mia would be left out.)

And my third choice from your list is Wren. Wren isn’t like Hadley and isn’t like Mia, so it gives each girl her own distinctly-styled name. The fact that they are all so different from each other ends up tying them together: the uniting theme ends up being the parents’ tastes. I’ve found this same thing happening with wall art (if I may make a slightly ODD comparison): if I just keep buying what I like without worrying about things going together, it turns out everything DOES go together.

A name that strikes me as hitting that same “three different styles” mark is Piper. Hadley, Mia, and Piper: all very different, so there’s no “2 against 1” problem. And Piper Scarlett is so great I can’t stand it.

[New: poll at right!] [Poll closed; see results below.]

 

 

Name update! Rebecca writes:

My baby girl was born on the 21st of June (sorry for taking so long to let you know), and is doing great. Hadley and Mia couldn’t be more in love with her!

Anyway, my husband and I read the post over and over again (thanks so much to you all), but we could not agree on a name. I found myself favouring Piper Scarlett, and he favoured Scarlett Reese. We ended up deciding to just wait until she was born to see what she looked like. I figured that after she was born my hubby would just give in and she would be Piper Scarlett, so I wasn’t too stressed out about it all.

As soon as I held her, I knew her name was not Piper. The doctor asked if we had a name for her and I immediately replied “Scarlett Reese”. She suits her name to a T and I (and my husband!) couldn’t be happier!

PS. Later on my husband did admit that he was going to give in and say we could name her Piper Scarlett. How funny?!

Carolyn writes:

Dear Swistle geniuses,

I am due with baby #2 on July 24, 2011 and if it is a girl, it is going to be nameless. It is going to be “Baby B Wiebe” and that is not something I would wish on anyone.

So here’s the scoop. Our surname is Wiebe, rhymes exactly with ‘dweeb’ which delights many many people. My children will grow up with ‘dweeb’ all their life and they will survive it but I certainly want to avoid any first names with equal torturing possibilities. On the flip side, Wiebe is a VERY common surname in Mennonite circles (which we are not but obviously, are related to about 7,845 Wiebes) and it is important to me that my children are not pinned with super common first names. For instance, there are a million Sarah Wiebes, I don’t want to add to the number. So for a first name I want something feminine, unusual but not too out there, and something that will not get mispronounced every day of her life.

Our first child is a girl and we named her Evanie Josephine and I love her name. It was the only girl’s name ever in the running during our pregnancy and I was so happy to be able to use it. We don’t know the gender of Baby B- if it’s a boy we’re naming him Rogan Nathanial and again, it is a name I love and can’t wait to use. So to think of having a second girl and just picking a “yeah I kinda like it” name out of a hat is very sad to me. I want to LOVE it. Maybe that’s too much to ask. The middle name of this girl will be Grace and thankfully, every first name seems to go with Grace.

One complicating factor is that we are in a rather large community of young families and the children are about 90% girls. So every lovely girl’s name has been used. (3 born in the last year went nameless for a week and a 4th had her name changed after 9 months….all of us are struggling!) Names I like that have been used are Jade or Jada, Avelyn, and Maci. Sadly those are off the list. Olivia and Vada are two other (pre-used) names I like but might consider because the families live further away and the girls are 4-10 years older than ours will be.

Our two most considered names are:
Lyla Grace …I lean more towards this one and I know there are other spellings of Lyla but I want to avoid any confusion, hubby gives it a 5 out of 10…
Autumn Grace …my husband likes this one but I’m unsure. Is it weird to name a July baby Autumn?

Lyla seems feminine and fairly unusual and I think goes well with Evanie. I don’t see any terrible nicknames coming from it although my husband wonders if she’ll be “Lyla the Liar.” I’m super on the fence about Autumn, I think it’s pretty but it seems older and more serious. I can imagine a grown woman Autumn but not a baby or toddler Autumn.

Other names that have been ‘chewed on’ are Vienna (which is basically Evanie scrambled), Rylan, and Luci.

So there you have it, top names:
Lyla
Autumn

Possible competitors:
Vada
Olivia
Vienna
Rylan
Luci

Oh, and I love Halle but it gets the big N-O from my husband!:(

I have no problem with you publishing my whole email but seeing as it is about 1000 words, you may not want to!:)

-Carolyn (usually pronounced Caroline) Wiebe (always changed to Dweeb)

and

I’m writing to update on a name that has recently joined the running in our giant name debate for baby Wiebe #2. My husband suggested Marlowe Grace. I think I could really like it but does it work with our first, Evanie Josephine?

and

And it’s me again.
I lay awake at night fretting about names and it doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. Here’s another name with more questions. Is Eden Grace all sorts of wrong with Evanie Josephine as a big sister? Do I pin myself to the dreadful Duggar Syndrome? We would like more children but have no set number of how many, so if we only have 3 and the third one DOESN’T start with an E…is that terrible? Because there is no way I would stick with the “E’s.” I am most firmly against this! Evanie J. also carries 6 syllables while Eden G. has only 3. And the style of the two names is fairly different from each other. ….I don’t see them working together, I just know I actually like the name Eden Grace and I’m getting desperate.
Also, Vada, Rylan, and Lyla from my first email are out.
I think.
Ohmygoodnessshootmenow.

 
I was happy when your first email came in the same day we did Baby Naming Issue: Month/Zodiac/Season Names, because I thought, “Ooo, we’ll be answering her question at the same time!” It looks like the general consensus was that we as a group DON’T think it’s weird to have the name not match up with the season: some of us prefer it to and some of us prefer it not to, but most of us could go either way on it with names that are already widely used as names: that is, we might feel differently if you were considering the name Spring—but Autumn is already established as A Name (just out of curiosity, I looked it up: 11 new baby girls named Spring in 2010) (3,476 new baby girls named Autumn).

On the subject of repeating initials, I think IN GENERAL people can give the first two children the same initial and not the third, without anyone thinking anything of it. I think the third child tips it: if THREE children have the same initial, you’re committed. (I mean, not REALLY. But the PRESSURE builds to a point where it feels like you’re committed.)

I do think Marlowe would work. It’s more of a rich sound to Evanie’s light sound—but I still think it would work. I wonder if Harper would be somewhere in between? Or Piper? Or Marley, I think, would lighten it. Marlie might be even better.

I think Evanie and Lainey would be pretty together—though they duplicate so many letters (as well as the -nee ending), I wonder if they’d be hard to tell apart. Maybe Delaney instead? That gives you an extra syllable, too. Delaney Grace; Evanie and Delaney.

Evanie and Kiley would be pretty too. Kiley Grace.

Or Keelin: Keelin Grace; Evanie and Keelin.

Ooo, Madigan, maybe? It’s lighter than Marlow, and I love it with Evanie: Evanie and Madigan; Madigan Grace. But if you want to use Rogan in the future, you might not want two -gan endings.

Instead of Olivia, would you like Livia? I’m on the fence with this name because it seems like it might be constantly mistaken for Olivia—but if it isn’t, it’s a way to give you a name similar to Olivia without duplicating a friend’s choice. Livia Grace; Evanie and Livia.

Or for something a little longer, Liviana. Liviana Grace; Evanie and Liviana.

Or to widen the gap in the sounds of the names, Lilianna. Lilianna Grace; Evanie and Lilianna.

Or Iliana. Iliana Grace; Evanie and Iliana.

Or Eriana: Eriana Grace; Evanie and Eriana.

Or a little bit like Rylan: Ryanna. Ryanna Grace; Evanie and Ryanna.

Instead of Vada, would you like Vayla? Vayla Grace; Evanie and Vayla.

Erissa would be pretty: Erissa Grace; Evanie and Erissa. (It could be spelled Arissa to avoid the initial E, but I so prefer it with the E.)

If you like Eden, I wonder if you’d like Haven? Haven Grace; Evanie and Haven. The styles are a little different, but the van/ven sounds help tie them together.

Or Emerin? Emerin Grace; Evanie and Emerin.

Out of left field: Flannery. Flannery Grace; Evanie and Flannery.

Hm. I am finding this one difficult to match. Geniuses, over to you.

 

 

Name update! Carolyn writes:

In May I sent you our naming dilemma for baby Wiebe of unknown gender, due July 24.

She arrived July 17 with lightening speed and we named her Marlowe Grace. Though we had finally settled on this name a few weeks before her birth, I still had just a hint of uncertainty. But when we put the name to this tiny little face, it fit and I can’t imagine her by any other.

Thank you for your help.