Lisa writes:
Our second child is set to arrive mid-March. We did not find out the gender the first time around and will not this time either. For our first child we had narrowed down our name choices to Calvin or Miles for a boy and Alice for a girl. We had a boy named Calvin David! Now, as we are narrowing down the choices for our second child, I am not sure whether Calvin and Alice sound awkward together because of the repeition of the “al.” We were SO set on it for a girl the first time around and now we are having major second thoughts when it is paired with Calvin. We are planning to have more children (4 or 5 total, so we could always hold off on Alice if it is a girl and hope to use the name when it won’t be so closely paired with Calvin). Other names we like for girls are : Beatrice, Daphne, Eloise, Greta and Millie. For boys, we like Brooks, Miles and Wesley, which I think all go fine with Calvin!
So, what do you think: Calvin and Alice…yay or nay?
I vote that Calvin and Alice are not too similar. I think this is one of those situations where if I were suggesting the name Alice to you, I’d think it was worth pointing out that the -al- sound repeats so that you could think about it beforehand, but I’d be saying that in my opinion it tied the names together nicely rather than sounding repetitive.
If it continues to bother you, I do like your idea of setting the name aside for a possible future girl: separating the names with another name or two would definitely diminish the similarity. It’s a risk, of course, since you might not have another girl—so it’s a matter of how sad you’d be if you gambled on this plan and then didn’t get to use the name. The best of all would be if you had a boy this time, since that would separate the names automatically, without a gamble!
If you have a girl this time and choose to delay using Alice, we’d want to look at each of the other names on your girl list and see if any of those would rule out using Alice later. Beatrice, for example: would it bother you to repeat the -ice ending? Try it out and see: Calvin, Beatrice, and Alice. Or if you use Eloise, would it bother you to have two girls starting with a vowel-L combination? Calvin, Eloise, and Alice. All of these will be so subjective: if it were me, I’d rather not have two -ice endings in a row (though I wouldn’t mind if they were separated by another child, I don’t think), but I don’t mind the El/Al issue; someone else might be the other way around, or dislike both, or not mind either.
Let’s have a poll over to the right to weigh in on the immediate question, which is whether it’s okay to use Alice this time, if the baby is a girl. [Poll closed; see results below.]
Name update! Lisa writes:
We welcomed a little girl on March 25th. Because we do call our son Cal just as much as we call him Calvin, in the end I shyed from Alice because of my hesitation on having a Cal and Al. We waited to decide until after our daughter was born, but ultimately decided on Eloise Jane. So, we have a Calvin and Eloise or Cal and Ellie. Very unintentionally French, but we are happy with our choice! Thanks for your help!!
I have a JANelle and and ANdrew – definitely don’t think Calvin and Alice are too close since “AL” is not the starting sound for both names. If it were Alvin and Alice I would say it is too close; having that K sound up front makes it usable.
As long as you don’t plan on calling them Cal and Al I don’t think they are too close.
I love Calvin and Alice together. :D.
My initial reaction was that they weren’t too similar and then I saw how similar the middle sounds were and I realized they probably wouldn’t pass the yelling test I like to do. Let me explain: when yelling someone’s name you tend to not hear the name very clearly, so names with similar sounds can get confused. I realized this because I have two sisters with names that seem very different initially, but they share some similar sounds. My mom would be calling for the younger one and the older one would come all the time, and it drove my sister crazy. Because of this, I think it’s helpful to have names that contain very different sounds so there isn’t confusion. If you still love Alice, I don’t think it has to be a deal breaker, but I realize this might become an issue down the road.
I agree that as long you don’t plan on the nicknames Cal & Al (or Cal and Allie) I don’t see a problem with Calvin and Alice.
This doesn’t pertain to your original question, but if you have a boy, both Wesley and Calvin are names of very prominent theologians. (Wesley founded Methodism and Calvin was a founder of the Calvinist/Reformed tradition). Many people may not notice that and it may not bother you (or you very likely may know that already), but it’s something to consider if you haven’t already.
How about Alicia? It has a slightly different sound at the beginning, so you still get the visual tie in without the Al- sound.
I think you’re OK as long as Calvin doesn’t go by Cal.
I think Calvin and Alice are generally fine together. However, I’d note that the letter writer would then have kids with the sames as the foodie essayist Calvin Trillin and his wife Alice!
This may not be a problem if no one you know is very familiar with Trillin – but I can’t look at the names without thinking of Alice, Let’s Eat .
I think they sound great together, and I know a Calvin and an Alice from my son’s preschool (not related), and neither of those kids use nicknames. I don’t think either of those names are ones that people automatically use nicknames for. For future reference, I think Alice and Beatrice sound great together too–something about the way they are stressed makes them not too matchy to me for some reason.
I had to rule out Alice myself, and was so crushed :( My last name begins with an S and it just wasn’t going to fly. I love it though, and Calvin and Alice sound beautifully paired, not matchy to me. If you do end up with a boy though, my vote is for Wesley. Calvin and Wesley are such great sibling names!
I wouldn’t pair Alice with Calvin. Although it sounds like you intend to call them by their full names, when Calvin is older he (or his friends) may chose “Cal”, or teenage Alice may find “Allie” more appealing. Tongue twister names could happen then: Cal and Allie.
Having a Calvin and an Alice would not bother me, but I think having a Beatrice and Alice are too similar…wouldn’t pass the yell test. I really like Millie.
I instantly thought of Calvin Trillin as well. To me, it’s along the lines of a sibset of Romeo and Juliet, but I may be an outlier in my consumption of food writing.
I like the combination! It’s not likely that anyone would call a girl Al anyway.
I think Calvin and Alice are great names together, and not too similar at all. I’d use Alice now. You love the name and you may not have another chance to name a daughter.