Lorin writes:
My family of five is expecting the arrival of baby #4 in February 2014. She will be our third girl. Our other children are all named after my (or my husband’s) grandparents and unfortunately the names we have left to pick from don’t really go with our other children’s names. Or we just don’t like them :) We’ve been creative in the past, naming both of our girls after grandFATHERS.
My BIG kids are:
Carmen Louise (maternal great grandfather, paternal grandmother)
Francis Palmer AKA “Frankie” (paternal great grandfather, paternal great great grandfather)
Willa Marie (paternal grandfather “William”, maternal great grandmother)so…….
with that said…….
the remaining (great) grandmother names are:
Winona Catherine
Norma Betty
Mildred Carmencita
Lola
Domenica
Barbara (no)the remaining (great) grandfather names are:
Herbert
Robert
George
AdrianOur last name is Titus. My husband and I can’t seem to agree. I prefer Millie, Domenica (“Meni”), Lola, Betty or Georgia while Daddy likes Winnie or Betty (but he wants Elizabeth to give her options). Our daughter, Willa’s name, is giving us the most trouble. The problems are:
Willa/Winnie: too much W???
Willa/Millie: too much double L????
Willa/Betty: too close to WilMA and Betty???Are these crazy concerns or what?
Any advice would be appreciated. Please feel free to hang out in shades of gray. We love the idea of people recognizing our children’s names as, well…names; but, how many Carmen, Frankie, or Willa’s do you actually know?
All three of your concerns seem non-crazy to me: they would bother me, too. With Willa and Winnie, I think I’d keep getting confused and saying Willie and Winna. Same with Willie/Milla. And Willa and Betty did make me think of the Flintstones, though perhaps that wouldn’t cause any trouble. Betty Titus gives me a stuttering T-sound with the T in every single syllable. Carmen and Meni feel very similar to me, too, as do Willa and Lola.
Goodness, I am just crossing out possibilities left and right! So I want to rush to say that in the long run, I don’t think any of these issues are a huge deal: I’d prefer to avoid them, but that doesn’t mean I think they’re deal-breakers. Plenty of families have two children with very similar names, even to the point of confusion, and I doubt it’s something that plagues their every waking moment. So if you find a name you think is The Name, it may very well be worth taking on an element that is Not Quite Ideal.
You may have already considered and rejected it, but I like Nora (from Norma). Carmen, Frankie, Willa, and Nora.
Or perhaps you could get Danica from Domenica. Carmen, Frankie, Willa, and Danica.
I love Georgia—is there any chance your husband would come around to it? I think it’s great with the sibling group. Or Georgianna is pretty, and gives her Annie if she wants it.
I like Adrienne and Adriana, too. Carmen, Frankie, Willa, and Adrienne/Adriana.
With this sibling group I might choose Bettina as the long form for Betty, rather than Elizabeth.
Robin used to be used as a nickname for Robert. Carmen, Frankie, Willa, and Robin.
Name update! Lorin writes:
Sorry for the delay in responding with our child’s name. To be honest, we left the hospital without a name for little “baby girl Titus.” But, on day two of being home my husband and I came to somewhat of an agreement and three months later couldn’t be happier with our name selection:
Betty Wynn Titus
As I mentioned, Betty was my husband’s grandmother and favorite person before her passing in 2011. I discovered the name Wynn when trying to find a variation of Winona (his other grandmother who is still with us).
So, there you go. I loved Georgie and Bertie but could not get my husband on board with either. And as a side note, my three big kids (6,4 & 2) all call her “Bette Bette”, so there’s that—
Adriana Catherine. You could call her Addie, Ada, Ana. I love it. I also admire your dedication to family names. Please don’t forget to return and tell us what you chose!
I agree with Swistle, the issues would bother me too though I don’t think any of the names are not doable.
I love Georgia or Georgianna for you. Robin is also not bad. I like the suggestion of Adriana. For Domenica maybe you could do Nicole or Nicola, called Nica?
The “nor” element of Norma seems like it’d give you a lot to play with, Eleanor, Nora, Lenore, Honora.
The “ona” from Winona could give you a few things too. Ona could be a nickname for Fiona, Iona, Ramona, Mona, Leona.
Winona + Lola made me think of Nola, which was my great-grandmother’s name.
What about doing Nor – Ma by dividing it between the first and middle names? Nora Matilda or something like that?
Roberta nn Birdie?
This is perfect. The name Birdie fits in perfectly with the other girls and it seems like just the right name for a youngest sister.
I also love the name Winona though, I’m concerned it’s a little closed to Willa but that might not be enough to stop me if I was in your shoes.
I went to high school with a girl named Georgina nn Georgie and it was a great name for her although, I wonder if in your sib set Frankie and Georgie together might get mistaken for boys. That wouldn’t be enough to stop me personally either but it might be a consideration to take into account.
Side note: I’m always wary of the name Lola because of the Kinks song. I know it’s really old but it’s also one of those cult classics that gets dragged up on radio stations and around campfires so I don’t see it disappearing as it gets older.
Georgia Catherine would be my pick and sounds great with your sibset.
Georgie Catherine and Georgina Kate are similar alternatives.
What about Dominique Winnie, Nora Elizabeth or Adriana Betty?
All the best!
I like Lola or Georgia. Georgia gives you Gigi as a nickname, or Georgie. That’s probably my favorite option.
Adriana is awesome too, and gives you Addie if you want.
I’m not sure Betty fits with your name group that well (not that it ultimately matters), but I really like Bette. You can get it from Elizabeth, if you want. Elizabeth Titus has a nice sound.
I’d be tempted to focus on the grandmother names because so far you’ve skewed a little towards the grandfathers. I didn’t grow up on 80s (70s?) cartoons, so it took me a while to figure out what the problem with Willa and Betty was. If you and your husband both like the name and only disagree on the long form, then I think it has real potential. The Flintstones probably won’t be a huge part of your childrens’ lives, and you have Carmen, Willa, and Betty, not just Willa and Betty. Elizabeth would also give you the potential for Ellie, Lizzie, or Libby, which seem like they could fit in your style.
If you’re ok with some mixing and matching, you could use either Nora or Dora as a combination of Norma or Domenica with Barbara. Or maybe Dara, Lara, or Mara. Or Mildred + Winona could be Mona?
I also think Bea could be a usable modernization for Barbara.
Or, of course, you have Catherine, which is perfectly usable on a modern baby, has lots of nickname options, and would go great with your other children’s names.
I like Adriane or Adriana. Norma is a good match with the names you already have. I love the name Roberta (nn Bobbie).
Bettina is a terrific name, too. Main character in one of my favorite books, “The Shuttle” a book for grown-ups by Frances Hodgson Burnett (who wrote the classic children’s books A Little Princess and The Secret Garden).
Very unique sibset = awesome!
Would you consider Georgia nn Gigi? I’m only thinking that would give the long e sound your husband seems to like.
My other immediate thought was Adriana.. but I’m not sure it’s unique enough compared to your other names.
I like Nora as Swistle said – but again doesn’t match unique wise to me.
Other names I get from your family names that I like: Nona, Dre, Rin, Robi, Nica
Herbie nn B? Hera? Herta?
How about Betsy instead of Betty? I also like the suggestions of Bette, Nora and Adrienne.
Good luck!
What fabulous taste in names you have. We also have used only family names for both first and middle, so I really understand wanting to continue that. My favorites for you are Georgia, Winona (called Nona. Swoon!), or the previous suggestion of Bea for Barbara. Love any if those! But really you couldn’t go wrong with any of your choices in my opinion.
Just wanted to suggest the lovely Adria. I think it would sound great with Titus and with Carmen, Frankie and Willa. Also I wanted to add to the list of Georgia supporters – Georgia Titus sounds fantastic and I think it fits really well with your other children’s names.
Are you super committed to Betty being used as Elizabeth’s nickname? I only ask because Elizabeth offers about a million nickname options and I wonder if it would be a problem for anyone if she ended up using Eliza or Libby or Beth. There’s also Bethany, which has fewer nickname options and can also get you to Betty.
There are several ways to get to the nickname Millie if you don’t want to use Mildred but would rather have a full name that doesn’t sound so similar to Willa – Emilia, Millicent, Matilda, Melisande, Camille (or Camilla but I imagine you don’t want something that rhymes with Willa).
I don’t think Willa & Betty is an issue. The flinstones are not really popular these days. I would not have noticed it.
I like this option of the best you two put out there – Elizabeth nn Betty.
You don’t really say in the post if you plan to have more kids… that would probably impact my decision as well. Is there names amongst the honors you want to make sure to use or ones you want to save for future kids?
I think you have a ton of fabulous options, depending on how creative you want to be and how much you are willing to venture from the original name.
I LOVE Georgia, Georgiana, Georgette, etc. Georgette is my personal favourite. I love being able to use the nn Etta, Etta, Gette. But I also think Georgie and Frankie and SOOOO SWEET together. Like beyond sweet that I would completely stop there. SWOON.
I love the idea of taking “ona” out of Winona (as I agree, Winnie is way too close to Willa) and you could do something like Fiona or Theona with various nn Fia, Ona, Thea, etc. OR you could do Theola, in place of Lola. Thea is a really great nn with your sib set too. Some variation to get Thea would probably be my second favourite option for you.
I really like Nora (Norma) or Nola (Norma + Lola) as others have suggested. I like Adria. What about Adara (Adrian + Barbara). I really like Adara, plus nn Ada or Addy are pretty cute too.
I agree with the Betty and Willa issues, I personally wouldn’t go there but could be a great middle name option.
Good luck and keep us posted! (Go with Georgie!!)
Of your options, I like Winona, Adrienne/Adriana, and Georgia best.
I know a Domenica who goes by Domi. I think that could be a cute addition.
What about Midge? A combination of Mildred + George.
I just love Winona Catherine. What a beautiful name! Could you have the nn Noni?
Others which might be a stretch but have connections to your names:
Milena
Audrey
Andrea
Nicola
Rowena
Lulu
Caitlin
Chloe (Catherine and Lola)
Laura
All the best!
Have you considered Nola as a variation on Norma and Lola? Also to use Barbara and get to the nickname Betty, have you considered Babette? You could also go with with Roberta and either use the nickname Berty or Betty.
In your shoes, I would probably go with Adriana Catherine.
The suggestion of Georgette is awesome! Fabulous name but that little bit different like your other children’s names.
Carmen, Francis, Willa and Georgette. So good!
Elizabeth Lola nn Betty is cute too!
First, kudos for your naming style and how you’ve arrived at it–the constraint of using only family names, with a little gender bending. I see that you’ve been flexible in accommodating male names–I’m guessing that Louise was a Louis?–because Carmen seems directly derived from Carmencita, but it isn’t entirely clear to me from what you’ve written and I could well be mistaken; yet it doesn’t seem that you’ve veered too far from the family names by, say, recombining syllables or using foreign variants. And I can really appreciate the variety that’s resulted from your approach. I would recommend that you find a way to follow suit with this baby, using a nickname to “freshen” it as you did with Frankie.
With the exception of Catherine, and possibly Winona, Lola, Georgia, Betty, and Adrienne & variants (Adriana etc.), I see that you’re left with a roster of names that might very well be trendy when your baby is a teenager but whose time is not yet quite come. In terms of simply rounding out the names of your other kids stylistically I’d recommend Betty–were it not for Swistle’s noting how tongue-tripping Betty Titus might be. (But doesn’t this follow the “rule” of the previous post regarding the beginning consonant of the 2nd syllable of the first name ushering in the beginning consonant of the surname?)
I see that other posters have recommended the nickname Addie or Ada should you go the route of accommodating Adrian, but I feel this nickname is way too popular to be a good fit. The same would be true if you used Catherine. I think either Winona or Lola could be used as a middle name, but would otherwise compete with Willa sound-wise. So we’re back to Betty. Or using a name whose time has not yet come.
If you go with Betty, I wouldn’t jump to Elizabeth because it breaks the pattern up. I’d simply use Betty but with a more traditional middle name. Betty Catherine, or Betty Georgia, or Betty Winona. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Bettina. Or maybe Lisbet, but this might be too big a deviation from your established naming style.
Of the other posters’ suggestions, my favorite is probably Roberta, nicknamed Birdie. Very cool, very unexpected. My next favorite would be Georgia, but I’m not a big fan of Gigi. Just me. Too poodle or something.
My out-on-a-limb suggestion would be to consider Norma, using a middle name not also ending in “a”, nicknamed Nori. I think jumping to Nora to make Norma more palatable deviates too far from your naming pattern. I can also see that by the time your daughter is a young woman, Norma might be very trendy indeed–she’d be a front-runner. (Same is true of Roberta & Barbara).
If it weren’t for the fact that all your kids’ names have only 2-syllables, I’d recommend considering Hermione (for Herbert), but it’s 4-syllables and I’m not sure if there are any likable standard nicknames for Hermione. But Hermione could be an awesome middle name.
Good luck, please let us know what you go with!
I don’t like Betty at all. It still feels way too dated to give to a baby. Midge is even worse.
I agree with you on the issues with Millie and Winnie.
I love Adrienne/Adrianne for a girl.
Or what about Dominique?
I love your children’s names and your naming methodology.
It seems to me that Elizabeth (10) is just too popular to fit in with the sibling group of Carmen (331), Francis (593), and Willa (723). You both like the concept of using some name that honors Betty. I wonder if you would like the name Tabitha (771). Tabitha Titus. I like the alliteration, but it is not for everyone. Betty is a very plausible nickname for Tabitha. Carmen, Francis, Willa, and Tabitha. I especially like Tabitha Kate (derived from Betty/Catherine).
I notice that neither your name nor your husband’s name are contenders and this seems to be by design, however, the name Lorin reminds me of Lorna, which seems like it would fit very well with the sibling set. Carmen, Francis, Willa, and Lorna.
I also really like Georgia and hope your hubs grows to like it. I especially like it paired as Georgia Adrienne. Carmen, Francis, Willa, and Georgia work well together.
Can’t wait for the update!
Love that all your children are so connected to family through their names.
I really like Lola, I think it fits so well with your sibset. I wouldn’t worry too much about the Willa / Lola “L” sound. My vote is for Lola. I do also like Millie but I think it sounds much closer to Willa than Lola. I think Betty could be cute and endearing but like the suggestion of Betsy even more.
Did you consider Cattherine or Cate at all? I think Cate would work really nicely.
Seeing as your other daughters are named after males may I suggest Bobbie. You could call her Roberta with nn Bobbie but just Bobbie sounds better to me. Bobbie – cute for a baby and spunky as an teen/adult.
I also like Georgia it is such a lovely name. Love the nn Georgie sounds sweet, caring and fun to me.
You have so many great options good luck!
I think Carmen, Francis, Willa and Dominica (Dommi) are a great combination of names. My next pick would be Miri. But of course, that’s not one of the choices. And are you kidding? Mildred Carmencita!!! ?Holy Moly, go with that one.