S. writes:
We are expecting a girl this November. If this baby was a boy we had 3 names we easily agreed on. Leo, Arlo and Eli. Eli was the name I wanted with our 3 yr old son. I agreed to let m DH make the final decision and our son’s name is Owen.:) Which was on our top 5 list. We seem to be having a harder time agreeing on girl names. It’s agreed that I get the final say this time but we need to agree on a top 5. We won’t pick a name before she arrives as we both believe we need to meet her first. DH has a #1 name that we loves and wants and some he is ok with.
I seem to like a lot of names but seem to fall out of love with names quickly. Especially since most of names get vetoed by my husband.:( My list changes often but these names are ones that I seem to go back to. Our last name is Sharp.
My list
Fiona
Freya
Eva
Lola
Ivy
Amelia
Eloise
Isla
DH dislikes all these names except Lola and is Ok with Fiona.
DH list
Marla (this is the name he wants)
Quinn
Josephine (I like this for a mn and like Josie for a nn)
Elsie
Clara/Claire
Isabel
Mia
Tessa (which we both don’t like with our LN. Too “s” heavy)
Stella
Eliza
I do like some of his names. I really want our top 5 list to be fair as I will most likely be the one to sacrifice. With your help I was hoping to eliminate a few, get new name options, and to get some honest opinions on our lists. We have 2 months to go so there is still plenty of time for us to get serious.:)
Thanks Swistle and followers. I hope to receive some great advice and hopefully some new names.
I think I’d start by going down each list name by name and brainstorming names that seem similar to you in sound or style—the goal being to see if names that appeal to one of you result in similar names that appeal to both of you.
Here’s how my list would look after brainstorming your lists:
Bianca
Finola
Philippa
Catriona
Imogen
Maya
Evalina
Emlyn
Nola
Nora
Viola
Penelope
Felicity
Iris
Louisa
Carly
Marlo
Maura
Laura
Lorelei
Brin
Brynna
Brenna
Genevieve
Elspeth
Elizabeth
Cora
Annabel
Isadora
Jocelyn
Julia
Meredith
Calla
Eloise and Eliza and Elsie seem so close, I feel like working more in that area. Elena. Louisa. Elodie. Elsa. Leslie. Lindsay. Elise. Eleanor. Esmé. Lydia. Elspeth. Hazel.
And you’ve got Amelia, and he’s got Mia—often used as a nickname for Amelia. It seems like you guys are so close to agreeing!
Name update! S. writes:
Our little girl arrived Nov 21, 2011
Our top 6 ended up being Clara Josephine, Stella June, Ivy Sophia, Isabel Quinn, Maggie Elizabeth and Eliza Quinn.
After we met her we knew she was either a Clara Josephine or Eliza Quinn and it took us almost a week to decide. But we decided on Clara Josephine.
Thank You for your help everyone!
Eliza! That gets my vote.
I think your husband’s list has some nickname potential to them… as in, Amelia = Mia and Eloise and Elsie.
Perhaps you could think about that when you choose the list… the name he could use to call his daughter and the actual name on the birth certificate.
Marlo was my first thought – Marla plus Arlo!
Another possibility could be Eloise with the nn Lola.
Or maybe Zora?
I’d definitely go with Eloise, nickname Lola. That way, you are keeping your husband happy and still giving your daughter a name on YOUR favorites list. I do think you should have the final say with this one.
I think Amelia, nn Mia, is a great idea. And since he prefers Mia and you prefer Amelia, it could be his special nn for her.
I also like Margaret, nn Maggie for you. Owen & Maggie. Margaret Josephine Sharp. Maggie Sharp.
I think Amelia is a great option for you guys since you would get the name you like and he would get the nickname of Mia – AND it sounds great with your last name.
I also thought maybe Marlowe would be a compromise name for you – he can call her Marla and you can call her Lola.
I think Eloise also has so much potential for compromise – again, you would get one of your favorites and he could absolutely call her Elsie.
As Swistle said, you guys seem so close to agreeing – I’m sure you’ll reach a happy medium.
I think Amelia nn Mia is an awesome choice! If you want, you could call Amelia, Mia, and your husband could still call her Amelia if he wanted to.
Also, Eloise and Elsie are very simalar, so maybe one of you may be happy with the other? Or I would suggesst Elise.
I was going to suggest Amelia/Mia as well but then realized that you wrote that DH dislikes all names except Lola & Fiona. In that case, perhaps Marlo, nn Lola, could be a great combo of your two tastes. Would he go for Marlo over Marla? Do you like it? (I like the name so much more than Marla!) Also, Isla sounds so similar to Marla (but so much better!) – could DH be swayed?
If I were to narrow down your list, my version would be: Fiona, Amelia, Isla, Josephine, and Stella, with Marlo thrown in there as an alternate. You’ve got such a great last name &, of those names, Stella Sharp stands out as so strong & lovely.
A final note: our daughter’s middle name is Josephine & it’s a great mn. You can add “Jo” to her name – e.g. Isla Jo, Stella Jo, etc – & how sweet is that!
I really like your son’s name, Owen. I used to think Owen would go really well with Fiona, which is my daughter’s name, but then I began to rethink the repeating long O sounds in both names. Some people may like the repetition, but personally I don’t. Try saying Owen and Fiona ten times fast. Actually, putting Owen first, it’s not so bad. My husband vetoed Owen for my son anyway, but my concern about Owen, since my daughter was born first, was saying Fiona and Owen together. I seemed to stumble.
I like most of the names on Swistle’s list. I think my favorite for you is Louisa.
Amelia with the nickname Mia!! You both get what you want and it’s such a pretty name!
Thank You Swistle and everyone! We have added Penelope and Elsa to our list. Add Violet. So our list is still long but at least we agree that we like all the names.:)
Our agreed list is:
Fiona
Lola
Eloise
Isla
Amelia
Quinn
Josephine
Claire
Isabel
Stella
Eliza
Penelope
Elsa
Violet
**Ivy is my top name tha DH doesn’t like.
**Marla is DH top name that I”m ‘ok’ with. He’s still thinking about Marlo.
So we might veto each of ours favorite names and focus on the agreed list.
Thanks! Any thoughts on our agreed list is much appreciated!
Amelia and Eloise are probably the best compromise. But, I really like Marla and Ivy. Since it seems you’re ok with Marla, I think your husband should try to like Ivy too.
To help narrow down your list I’d remove these names:
Lola-This can be a nn for Eloise, Penelope or Marlo?
Quinn- Not the greatest with your LN. Maybe a MN?
Claire-seems too plain compared to the other names.
Eliza-I like Eloise much more. Eliza Sharp is eh…
Elsa-a better nn for option for Eloise. I do like it.
Isabel- Is really popular.
I second everything Mrs S wrote above!
I too love the name Ivy but your DH might be on to something – Ivy Sharp is a very, well, “sharp” name & it might be a bit much. I’m all for strong female names but this one might be a bit too pointy for me!
Reading your most recent list, the name Scarlett also came to mind. It has some resonant sounds with names like Marla and Stella and Violet. However, I think I like a name that ends with a softer sound, with your last name and, of these, the ones that end with “a” are probably my favourites: Amelia Sharp, Isla Sharp, Stella Sharp — all great!
How is Mia a nn for Amelia. Isn’t that a bit of a strretch???
Owen is a great name. I think it pairs best with Quinn, Claire, and Violet. What about Nora or Avery???? I think those are two other good fits for you