E. writes:
My husband and I both love the name Jane. I not only love that it is elegant and timeless, but that it isn’t so popular that she’ll need to go by Jane R. through school. Our only issue is that it’s such a common middle name. When I was growing up, all the middle names were Ann, Elizabeth and Marie. When a name is used too often, I feel it loses it’s beauty and spark. We are on the fence about whether to give her a first name that people might find too plain and overused. What do you think?
We are looking for some longer middle names to offset the shortness of Jane. We seem to agree on a lot of E names. Some options are Jane Everly, Jane Emilia, Jane Emmeline. Our last name sounds like rustling.
Thank you for your help!
I think that when a name is used very commonly as a middle name, it gets an extra dose of freshness as a first name. Rose, for example, is one of the most common middle names of the current batch of little girls—and yet when Henry had a Rose in his preschool classroom, I was knocked back on my heels by how fresh and wonderful it sounded as a first name.
I think what happens is that when a name becomes extremely common as a middle name, it gets accidentally filed mentally under “Very Common Names”—instead of correctly under “Very Common Middle Names.” Parents pass the name by, thinking it’s overused—and yet when someone DOES use it as a first name, it suddenly appears in a new light. Anne, as a FIRST NAME! Rose, as a FIRST NAME! Jane, as a FIRST NAME! Oh, that’s DIFFERENT!
I do think you’ll keep encountering people who say with pleasure, “Oh, that’s my daughter’s/granddaughter’s/niece’s/sister’s middle name!” Will that weary/annoy you, or will it be pleasing? But almost every name has at least one potentially wearying/annoying element: if it’s not “Oh, yes, we know four girls with that name!,” it’s “Whoa, THAT’S a name you don’t hear often!” or “Wait, how do you spell that?” or “Oh, like the TV show?” Or else you have to keep saying “No, with a K, not a C” or “No, it’s AriAHna” or “It’s a family name.” It’s a matter of deciding which wearying/annoying element is most tolerable.
All of your middle name options seem great. I like the idea of using something frilly in the middle.
My husband and I briefly discussed “Nightingale” as a middle name and I think it could be a potentially awesome frilly middle name. “Put a bird on it” is a common middle name theme in our circle–we know girls with middles of kestrel, sparrow, wren, and dove. We didn’t use it because I didn’t feel a special connection with it but someone should :)
Also, I forgot to say–I love Jane! And I agree that over-used middles feel very fresh as firsts. I know a little Rose and they call her Rosey and it kills me.
I adore the name Jane. I think it’s one of the few splendid names that’s charming on a kid and elegant on a woman.
Jane Emilia is especially marvelous.
Jane is so lovely! There’s a sort of storybook/literary element to it that I find really appealing, and I’ve very rarely encountered it as a first name. I agree with Swistle that it gets passed over undeservedly – in my experience it’s only ever been overused (or approaching overused) as a middle name and thus, people haven’t even heard it very often outside of graduations and weddings. I’d be delighted to meet a little Jane!
A few lengthier middle name suggestions to offset Jane’s brevity, if you’re interested:
Jane Eleanor/Eleanora
Jane Melisande
Jane Matilda
Jane Mariska
Jane Francesca
Jane Cecilia
Jane Gwendolyn/Gwendolen
Jane Adelaide
Jane Veronica
Jane Christina
Jane Arabella
Jane Penelope
We have a a three-year-old Jane in our extended family. Her mom loves the name Jane because it’s an underused classic and for it’s strong simplicity. Jane Catherine was to be her full name, but because of their very common surname, the parents decided to call her Jane Violet. Jane is the mn of one of the mom’s sisters, so her dad suggested Violet, the name of his great-grandmother, for the middle name. Jane’s mom says she’s glad they went with Violet because it adds a less usual name to her daughter’s full name and a contemporary, yet vintage, touch. I LOVE the name Jane, and our little Jane (sometimes Janie) wears it well.
I’m looking forward to hearing what middle name you choose for your little Jane.
I love the name Jane so much! It doesn’t quite work with my last name, but would really enjoy hearing it on another little girl. I like all of your possible middle names, but Jane Emilia is probably my favorite.
I, too, think it’s refreshing to use a name commonly used as a middle for a first. (In fact my daughter’s first name is the middle name of five women in my wife’s family and everyone was so happy about it, it was as if we’d named her after the whole family.)
As for Jane specifically, I like it a lot, and just yesterday I was thinking of middles for it. I came up with Jane Victoria and Jane Charlotte.
Jane is a lovely name! We have a Rose. She’s almost 8. When she was a preschooler and I’d meet new people at library storytime, I would get a lot of “That’s my daughter’s middle name!” or ladies at the store would say “That’s my granddaughter’s middle name!” I didn’t find that annoying though. It was said as a compliment and as a talking point/something in common.
I don’t think common middle names are less special as first names.
The only problem we had was picking a middle name for a short first name – everything sounded ‘backwards’ because you are so used to hearing “So-&-So Rose” rather than “Rose So-&-So”.
My daughter is Jane Meredith. She loves her name and has become penpals with an older lady in our church with the same first name. They like to send each other items that are printed with the name Jane because its so rare! I love all your middle name ideas.
I love Jane and agree that names like Jane & Rose are lovely when used as first names. As middle names, they just seem like “fillers” used because they sound good. As a first name, they really make a statement and seem very classic.
Of your middle name ideas, I adore Jane Emilia.
this is so true. well put.
I love Jane!! Janie/Janey is so cute for a little girl and it’s a classic name to grow on.
My almost 2 year old is Rose/Rosie. The number one comment we get is “oh, that’s my/my daughter’s/my granddaughter’s middle name!” We only know one other kid named Rose, who is a few years older.
I love Jane/Janie as a first name, and it would be high on my list if we were to have another daughter. Our Rose’s middle name is my maiden name, which is 2 syllables. The other Rose we know has Katherine as a middle name, I think.
I like Jane Everly from your list!
good luck!
Perhaps a little Jane would get a kick out of the Dick and Jane books of the fifties! Any of my children love to see their name in print.
Jane is classically nice!
I like it. Marie was one of the most common middle names of my generation, but women my age named Marie still have a fresh and uncommon sound.
I have this concern too – I love the name Rose but it seems like it’s every second person’s middle name… Currently I’m loving Rose Cordelia. I agree that as a first name there’s a lot more punch! Go for it :) I adore Jane Emilia – stunning!!
Our two year old is Jane. We dont get many comments about it being used commonly as a middle name, most comments are about the fact that they havent met a young Jane or that it is a refreshing/classic choice. Our immediate families both thought it was too plain at first, but the simplicity was what we love about it. Overall, we’ve been really happy with our choice. Never had any misgivings about Jane, but we did have a tough time coming up wit girl names that we liked as much as Jane for our subsequent two daughters. Good luck :)
I’d love to hear your other daughters names. We have a Kate Eleanor (that one is on the rise but elicited a lot of shock in 2009, no one could think of a single Eleanor besides Roosevelt and didn’t get it!) and our second daughter is Elizabeth Anne. I would like Jane Alexandra if we have a third girl but always love hearing name ideas from people with similar name preferences.
I’m starting to love some of the more traditional or “plain” names that go way back – Jane, Anne, Ruth (it’s not my personal style, but an old friend named his fourth child “Ruth Anne” and I just about swooned when I heard it). Since a lot of people use single syllable names for middle names, I do think it’s refreshing and different to pick one for a first name.
“But almost every name has at least one potentially wearying/annoying element” – thank you for saying this. I have been feeling guilty for, well, 2 and 3/4 years because we named our daughter Livia. I LOVE her name, wouldn’t change it, and it fits her perfectly, but we are in an area where “Olivia” is very popular (we didn’t realize how popular when we picked our daughter’s name, but we of course know now that it’s a top 10) . About 1 person in 20 hears me correctly when I say her name, and even family members have accidentally slipped the extra syllable in from time to time. Her whole life she’ll be correcting people, and my only consolation is that when people hear what her name actually is, they tend to say, “Oh, that’s so pretty!” Of course, my Second Thoughts always wonder what people were thinking when they believed her name to be “Olivia” – that it’s terrible? boring? that she’s the fifth Olivia they’ve met this week? – but I’ll take the positive secondary reaction.
I have to tell you that I always loved Liv and most people thought it sounded too short even though we still strongly considered it. My mom pushed me to use Livia but I worried about its similarity to Olivia. It has its own spunk and feel though I didn’t want to use it because of the closeness in sounds and for the reasons you mentioned (I have a genetically close though emotionally not -so-close relative Olivia too). I have still never met a Livia and think it is adorable- I would love to meet one! I applaud you for going for it. Us name lovers I think certainly recognize and appreciate the name :)
My older daughter (now 7) is a Jane Elizabeth. I often call her both names when I mean business, and the longer/frillier middle works well with it! She does have one friend with the middle name Jane but for the most part people don’t comment on her name at all. It is often misheard as Jade or Jaden. She loves her name, though, and that makes me happy!
I love the common middles as first names! My daughter ended up with Rose as a middle only because hubby didn’t agree in the first spot (and I knew my whole life Rose, for my grandma would be a daughters middle – or first name). Although DH never liked Rose for a first he loves Jane for a future daughter. I love that Rose is in my daughters name but feel like in the middle position it sounds like a filler name although it is very meaningful to me.
Just another chime in to say that I love Jane as a first name. Very refreshing. Love the idea of a longer/frillier middle name! I like Jane Everly a lot.
Just a few other ideas…
Jane Isabella
Jane Isadora
Jane Lilliana
Jane Emery
Jane Cecily
I actually think common middle names feel even more delightful as first names. in about a zillion years of babysitting i have met 1 Jane and 1 Rose and both times I was BOWLED OVER by how fresh and lovely their names were! I like Jane with a long middle name. Jane Amelia, Jane Eleanor, Jane Elizabeth, Jane Eliza is the right amount of sassy for me personally, Jane Olivia,…
I also love Jane! I have a friend who named her daughter Jane a couple years ago. It sounded so fresh to me then and I only know of two Janes, I believe (in this current generation). Janie is a super cute nickname. I really like Jane Penelope together!
I also wanted to say I don’t know many people with Jane as a middle. It’s not such a filler middle as Ann, Lynn or Rose. My friend just named her baby Sophia Rose. She picked the most popular first AND middle names! I thought to myself, Really?! : )
I love Jane Eleanor! I have a Kate Eleanor and really wanted something smooth and flowy to off set short and sweet Kate. If we have another girl, she’ll be a Jane! Do it! :)
I love the simplicity of Jane, it is a beautiful name. Likewise, Alice is one of my favorite names.
I have a soft spot for the mn Evangeline and Elora, so Jane Evangeline or Jane Elora has my vote :)
Jane is a lovely name and absolutely love it in the first spot. I actually like Jane Everly as something fresh and new :)
I just wanted to follow up on my post. Thank you all for your wonderful feedback. We actually got pregnant on our honeymoon (just after I wrote in)… We went to Portugal, so we’ve decided IF it’s a girl, we will name her Jane Emilia since we’ve learned Emilia is a Portuguese name.
Everly was a frontrunner for my grandmother Beverly, but now with Channing Tatum naming his daughter that, I fear it will be looked at as too trendy.