Wendy writes:
My husband and I are expecting our first child, a girl, in early November. To start out, our Norwegian last name is pronounced ronHAHVdee.
We pretty much had a boy’s name picked out, but I had a long list of girls’ names, some of which my husband vetoed almost immediately (Shea, Eden, Peyton, Leighton). When we started the process, my husband said that I could make the list, and he would pick from it (hence the elimination so quickly). Here is our dilemma…we think we have settled on Camryn (pronounced like Cameron) although I haven’t fully ruled out McKenna. I thought I could sneak in one of my eliminated names for the middle name (Camryn Shea), but no such luck.
My middle name is Lynn and my mother-in-law’s name is Lynne. And every name my mom has suggested has had the middle name Lynn because she likes it so much. So in a way, we’d be honoring me, my mom and mother-in-law with Camryn Lynn, but I never really liked my middle name. I would have much rather had Leigh. So now I’m considering Camryn Leigh, which my husband is fine with (but he also likes Camryn Lynn).
A side note: the one thing about going with Camryn is the thought that I am setting my daughter up for a lifetime of spelling and pronouncing both her first AND last name. Additionally, she will probably never find her name on one of those custom bicycle license plates or cool name pencil for school in a gift shop.
With Camryn Leigh, we aren’t honoring anyone, and we don’t care for any other female family names either. So, back to the grandmothers, my mom is Sally (nickname for Sarah which is a family name) so we could do Sarah Lynn or Sarah Lynne to honor both mothers. I do love the name Sarah, and it is a classic name, but I know so many Sarah’s, and I’m afraid it might sound a little old fashioned as my daughter grows older.
So I’m really torn about using a family name which I don’t care for, so we can honor the grandmothers (and by the way, we know that this is probably going to be our only child). Or honor neither and go with a name we choose because we like it.
Help! And thank you in advance for your consideration!
Two previous posts that might be of use here: Name Advice for First-Time Parents and Choosing Between Two Finalists.
Now I’ll turn to your other concerns, and I hope knock them down like little bowling pins, clonk clonk.
Concern #1: A Camryn won’t be able to find personalized pencils and license plates. For the number of times I’ve heard personalized license plates mentioned, I’d expect to see them on almost every bike in town, with the poor uncommon-named children sitting despondent on the sidewalk, too sad to even ride their plateless bikes—and yet I don’t know the last time I’ve seen a name plate on a bike or even seen them in a store. The store where I last saw a small selection of them was mostly stocked not with actual plates but with order forms. Pencils are the same: there is indeed a small selection of names available in some stores, but it’s easy and cheap to order a set online. The internet may be a mixed bag of pros and cons, but I’d say it’s eliminated the problem of not being able to find personalized products.
Concern #2: A Camryn will have to constantly spell her first and last name. It’s true, she will, but so does everyone else. A favorite anecdote in our family is when a family friend with a very difficult surname was ordering a pizza to pick up on her way home, and she said as she was dialing that she always uses “Smith” because she gets so sick of having to spell her surname. Then we heard her place her order, and then she said “Smith,” and then there was a pause and she said “S…m…i…t…h.” If you choose Sarah, she’ll constantly have to tell people whether it’s Sarah or Sara (or even Sera, Sierra, Cera, etc.). It’s so common now to change spellings, even a Jane Smith has to spell her name. This isn’t to say it’s not a good thing to keep in mind (there’s a huge difference between having to spell Sarah Smith and having to spell Mykinzeigh VonJacht), but Camryn is a widely-accepted spelling.
BUT: Since you love both Camryn and Sarah, I’d cast my vote with Sarah. A modern name could sound time-stamped in another decade, but a name that’s been popular for centuries is unlikely to result in anyone saying anything along the lines of “I have such a SEVENTIES name.” And I love that the name Sarah Lynne would honor both grandmothers, particularly if this will be your only child. And I suspect that Sally is going to become one of the next hip throwback nicknames. And you’d definitely be able to find the pencils and license plates and Christmas ornaments.
But this is strongly influenced by my own preference for the style of Sarah, and also I have a dear friend named Sara, and also I love family names. I can equally well argue against my own points in the previous paragraph (as I already have on the subject of personalized products) by adding that I don’t think time-stamping is something important (or even always possible, or preferable) to avoid. I’m a 1970s Kristen, but I kind of like it that people don’t have to meet me to know basically how old I am: there aren’t many elderly women or small children named Kristen, so I feel like my name makes sense for me—just as a name that currently feels modern will make sense for people born now. (I still vote for Sarah, though.)
About the middle name. If you choose your mother’s name Sarah as the first name, I’d recommend using the Lynne (mother-in-law) spelling for the middle name. If you spell it Lynn, it does increase the fun of matching mother/daughter middle names—but then the name is clearly after you, and only coincidentally happens to be your mother-in-law’s name. If you use Camryn as the first name, I think it’s the same deal (Lynne honors your mother-in-law; Lynn is after you and what a happy coincidence it’s the mother-in-law’s name too), but it’s less politically important which you choose since no one else is being honored.
If your dislike of the name Lynn/Lynne causes you to not want to use it, I wonder if you’d like something in the Lynneleigh/Lynnley/Linley area. It diminishes the honor (especially the further the spelling gets from Lynne), but perhaps at a worth-it cost. Or perhaps at that point it would be better to go with Leigh. Or Camryn Sarahlynne.
Let’s have a poll over to the right for Camryn and Sarah, and I’ll put McKenna in there too since it sounds like it’s still on the finalist list. [Poll closed; see results below.]
Name update! Wendy writes:
Hi Swistle! First, I just want to thank you and all your readers for your help and suggestions on our name dilemma. I loved reading each post and checking in on the voting poll.
I am happy to announce that we welcomed our beautiful baby daughter, Camryn Lynn, on November 16th. It was a tough decision right up until the end, but I have to say that I have received so many compliments on the name, and we were able to honor both grandmothers with the middle name Lynn.
After much discussion after your post, my husband and I eliminated Sarah (too common) and McKenna from the running. However, we did add Riley as a late entry to the list of consideration. I was so torn between the two names right up until one week before she arrived. One day I favored Riley, and the next I favored Camryn and I was driving myself (not to mention my husband) crazy. We were going to go to the hospital with both names and wait to see which name she looked like, but I was afraid to make such a spontaneous decision. So finally, on my actual due date (11/9), I just made an executive decision to go with Camryn Lynn.
So, I feel a little bit guilty that our daughter is going to have to spell her first and last name her entire life (but as you said in your post, who doesn’t?). But I have to say, I do not regret the decision at all. Thank you again for your input and thank you to everyone who weighed in!
As someone who grew up with an always had to spell it last name, I’d suggest using an easy to spell first name. I was grateful growing up that I only had to spell my last name, not my first and last name. So I vote for Sarah. (Plus, I love the name Sarah.)
Congratulations on your baby!
I love the name Sarah, and I’d vote for Sarah Lynne. Like Jen, I grew up with a difficult-to-spell name – my first name. Now that I’m married, I have TWO difficult-to-spell names. I love them, but it’s a PAIN.
I like the idea of Camryn Sarahlynne the best and Sarah Lynne second. I do agree that classic names stick around forever, so that’s why I like Sarah. But I love the uniqueness of the middle name Sarahlynne. If there is a moment to be creative, it’s with the middle names.
I also like McKenna Sarahlynne.
I’m super amused by Swistle’s feedback on the license plate / pencil issue. It was such a point of anguish for me growing up in the ’80s and ’90s with a name that peaked around 1910 that I could never find ANYTHING with my name on it — but of course this was pre-online shopping! I never thought about that before! I’m comforted to know that I no longer have to consider this an issue when naming my future children.
I typically prefer gender neutral names (yes, I KNOW that’s not super popular here), but I prefer Sarah in this case. I might feel a little differently if the other choice was Cameron-without-a-y, but I do like Sarah. Sarah Lynne would make the most people happy IF you can be happy with it. Of course, if you can’t be happy with it, don’t use it.
Call her Sadie if Sarah is too boring. I also like the name Sarah Lindon if you don’t want to use Lynne as is.
If you don’t like Lynn, and it’s your own name, that sounds like absolute trump for skipping it. I like Leigh better with Camryn than the repeating ‘y’ in Lynn anyway.
I do like Sarah, but it feels very much like you’d be choosing it out of a feeling of obligation, which is a silly way to do things.
It’s your baby, it’s your only baby, name it for what you want. The grandparents will get over it.
Sarah is the sort of name that everyone knows; everyone even seems to know one. BUT not a lot of people name their daughter Sarah. It feels popular-ish not because it is actually popular… but because it’s been around SO LONG, and there have been plenty of famous Sarahs.
Happily, there are plenty of nicknames, too! (Some have already been mentioned).
Sadie
Sallie/Sally (like your mom)
Sarita
Sukey
Essa
Sassy/Saucy
SaySay
Amusingly, I hear a lot of people say, “My best friend, Sarah…” I associate ‘Sarah’ as being a ‘best friend’ sort of name.
A dear Sarah I know is often called a nickname based upon her last name. For your daughter, her nickname might be ‘Rhonda’ or ‘Ronnie’ in high school.
Anyway, the name Sarah Lynne is so iconic and confident! Best wishes to you, your husband, and your darling daughter!
I vote for Sarah, and I would like to add that I have a good friend named Sarah, who goes by the nickname “Shay.” It fits perfectly, so you could sneak your “Shea” in even if you name her Sarah!
I vote for Camryn/McKenna Lynn because Camryn/McKenna are names you really like and you can still honour both sides of the family even if you don’t care for the name Lynn. Middle names aren’t often used anyway.
If you prefer to keep it simple and pick a name completely because you love it than I honestly prefer Leigh as a middle name.
As for Sarah – I got the sense that this name option came from obligation to honour a family member and not necessarily a favourite of yours? I think it is a pretty name and if you truly like it by all means use it! I like the suggestion of Sarahlynn too.
Good luck!
I voted for Sarah. Glad we had the chance to vote. (But, Swistle, the heading of this vote section is a repeat of “Would you notice a pattern of vowel names if it wasn’t pointed out to you?”) Back to Sarah Lynne, I’d probably use your MIL’s spelling of Lynne, for the reasons Swistle gave– and how lucky your middle name is in there too. Sarah Lynne is lovely, classic, enduring, and would surely make both families very happy!
Patricia- The heading of the vote section is “Choose a name for Baby Girl Ronhovdee”. Is your browser just having a little glitch? I sometimes see a piece of the ad displaying instead of the poll, and then I just refresh the screen and everything is back as it should be.
If you go with Sarah, I like Sadie for a nickname!
I think you should go with the name you love, rather than feeling you have to choose a family name.
Sarah Lynn is also the name of one of the Fisher Price Little People.
I don’t like the sound of Camryn Lynn together, but adding Sarah breaks it up and sounds much better. Personally I’d go for Camryn Sarah-Lynne.
Good luck
I agree that the use of a y where it otherwise wouldn’t be – as in Camryn – will likely be VERY dated. It might not bother you at al, especially if that’s your naming style, but it’s something to consider.
Personally, it was very important to me that my children have easy-to-pronounce and easy-to-spell names since the surname I married into is ridiculously hard. No one can spell OR pronounce it.
I voted for Sarah, but wanted to add that I really love the nn Sally. I know of a little girl whose name is Sally Claire, and she goes by the whole thing. If you use Lynn/Lynne, use the Lynne spelling.
What about Sarah/Sally Camryn? Although I prefer the Cameron spelling, I think that’s a cute name!
I don’t usually like gender neutral names, but I actually prefer Cameryn for you. What about Cameryn Linnea? Or the suggestion of Cameryn Sarahlynn sounds very nice!
I like the suggestion of Sarah Camryn, and also thought you might like Sarah Chayse?
My elder daughter has a reasonably popular name (Carla) and my younger daughter has a classic (but uncommon in children) name, Lydie (it’s the French version of Lydia and we live in France). Everywhere we go, there are personalised “things” (bracelets, key chains, pencils, name plates…). Carla is nearly always available, Lydie almost never. And it IS a problem – these are small shops in tourist places and it’s not possible to order different names. Lydie is now 7 and was in tears about this only yesterday (Carla bought herself a key chain with her name on it). For personalised stuff bought on line or made to order, obviously this isn’t a problem. But in tourist sites, most definitely yes. Just my 2 cents.
Personally, I dislike made-up names (or unusual spellings), and I also dislike last names as first names, but if you really like the sound of Camryn I’d go for Cameron as the spelling (even if it sounds masculine to me). But I still prefer Sarah Lynne by a long way. Very pretty, very feminine, very meaningful, and a host of possible nicknames.
Congratulations!
From your post I can’t tell which name you like more: Camryn, McKenna, or Sarah. What feels like the right name for your family?
I think Camryn Lynn is a bit of a mouthful (the repeating ynn sounds), so my preference is Sarah Lynne (I agree you’d have to use that spelling to honor your mil).
I like the suggestion of someone above that you could always use the nn Shay for Sarah. It is such a classic timeless name, and not at all likely to be dated. Camryn and McKenna are more easily identified as 90s – 00s baby names. But again, that shouldn’t stop you if you love the name and want to use it!
You could also use Sadie or Zara to honor Sarah, but have it be slightly different. Sadie Lynne or Zara Lynne are very cute :)
Saralyn could also be a nice middle name, although I still am not a huge fan of the repeating yn sounds with Camryn. I.e. Carys Lynne would eliminate that problem. Caryn Sarah would also be nice. or Camryn Lynea?
Saralyn McKenna also has a nice ring to it.
o, I forgot to add -would it cause any problems if you name your baby after one grandmother but not the other?
Some other ideas:
Katelyn Sarah
Leah Saralyn
Kaley Sarah Lynne
Jocelyn Sarah
Karalynn Sally
Maelynn Sadie
Rosalyn Sarah
What about using Annalynne Sarah or Sarah Annalynne?
Sarah Lynne gets my vote as well. I’m so sorry but I am not keen on the spelling of Camryn. It reminds me of the car Camry.
You can special order almost anything now through the internet.
I changed my regular Melissa spelling legally when I was 11 to Mellissa and I love the slightly different spelling. My name is very common amoung my age group and yet I still love it.