Cara writes:
My wife is pregnant with our first child, and we just found out its a girl! She is due in May. We have narrowed down a short list of first names that we like:
Dorothea
Josephine
Rosemarie
Winifred (Winnie)
Sylvia
EvelynI would like to take Evelyn off the list because it’s too high on the popularity list, and I don’t like any of the potential nicknames, but my wife really likes it, so it’s still on there.
For a middle name, we will be using either her father’s name – James, or my father’s name – Thomas. We also like Ross as a middle name – a family name for me and my sister’s middle name.
We’ll be hyphenating her last name, so it will be [snip].
Possible contenders:
Dorothea Thomas
Winifred James
Rosemarie Thomas
Evelyn James
Sylvia RossSince a hyphenated last name is kind of weighty, we’re sort of concerned with finding a first/middle name combo that fits well. I love Winifred/Winnie, which was my grandmother’s name. Is that too much name for a little girl? Also we’re concerned that Josephine paired with a male middle name leans too masculine.
We’d also like something with a cute and easy nickname, like Josie for Josephine, or Rosie for Rosemarie. My wife likes the nickname Dor for Dorothea (a character in Middlemarch which I have never read) but neither of us like the nickname Dora for obvious reasons.
Help? Thoughts?
Thanks!
Winifred jumps out to me from your list. It’s underused; it has great flexible nicknames (Winnie, Freddie); it’s a family name.
My second choice is Sylvia. One upside of the name Sylvia is that it’s lighter in sound than Winifred (though no lighter than Winnie), which may help with the issues you mention of having a masculine middle name and a double surname. And Sylvie and Syl are great nicknames.
My third choice (hot on the heels of the first two) is Rosemarie.
I would have put Josephine somewhere in this list too if it weren’t for the male honor name in the middle. It isn’t that the male honor name makes Josephine seem masculine, but more that it draws my attention to it as a feminized version of a man’s name; suddenly the name starts to feel unfairly tipped toward honoring men (even though you’re not honoring a Joseph), especially if the surnames are also from your fathers. (If those are instead your mothers’ surnames, my feelings shift and it seems fine to keep James or Thomas.) I think if those ARE your fathers’ surnames, I’d be inclined to use Josephine with a middle name honoring a woman in your family. Ross might do it, depending on where in the family that name comes from.
I’d add another possibility: Minerva, nickname Minnie.
And Genevieve, nicknames Gen and Genny and Evie.
And Geneva, nicknames Gen/Genny/Evie or Eva or Neevie.
Or Dorothea makes me think of Theodora, which makes it easier to avoid the Dora nickname. I’d use the nickname Thea, and she’d also have Theo if she wanted it.
Let’s have a poll to see what everyone else likes best!
Name update!
Swistle, thanks so much for answering our question. After much discussion we decided to go in a different direction. We chose two family names. Below is a picture of our baby, Will@ C@therine hyphenated last name.
Sylvia is my favorite of your choices and I like it with any of your three middle name choices. It is feminine, sweet and yet strong.
Most of your choices seem very long and weighty paired with the 15 letter last name. My son has a 10 letter last name and he has mentioned how glad he is that he has a short, easy to write first name when he has to write or sign his full name.
My second choice for you would be Rosa Thomas (leaving off the weighty Marie). Rosa is beautiful and simple while still allowing the nickname Rosie.
Instead of Josephine, I would consider Jolie or Joelle both not only shorter but more feminine than Josephine and would work with any of your middle name choices.
I loooooove Winifred, so underused! If we have another girl, I’m going to bargain hard for Winifred as a little sister to Frances (Frankie and Freddie … I DIE)
Nice list of names. How about Georgia? Georgia Ross would be cute and not quite a mouthful as some of the longer names on your list. Good luck!
My kids also have a long and weighty last name. I struggled with it, but ultimately decided to go with a short, two syllable first name. I wanted their whole first name to fit on drivers lic and paperwork, etc.
so I marked “can’t decide”. I second the suggestion of Rosa. What about Thea? Or Anna / Annie?
All that said, I do find Winifred charming.
Personally I prefer Jacqueline, Jay, Tamsin or Thomasina to James and Thomas for a girl but in the middle you can get away with a lot for the sake of an honour name.
What about Wynn?
Out of your options I like Josephine James the best but agree with the concern that it makes for a very long name.
I would stay away from Evelyn as a first name with a male middle name for a girl since Evelyn is a unisex name.
I would not call the current usage of Evelyn unisex: in 2012, it was given to 12 new baby boys and 6,837 new baby girls. For comparison, in that same year 17 new baby boys were named Sophia and 18 were named Isabella.
Would that be a “boy named sue” situation or would those cases be statistical errors?
Can’t tell from the data base—possibly a combination.
True that it’s no longer a common name for boys, but it appears often enough in fiction to make it read “boy” if you put a boy’s middle name in there. Especially since it doesn’t have a different spelling like Jesse/Jessie does or like Noelle/Noel.
I tried saying your options out loud as would happen in real life (first name+last name), and I agree with Swistle, Winifred and Sylvia have the best flow. Also, Winifred is a wonderful, underused name with a variety of sassy nicknames.
My cousin named his little girl Winifred after his grandmother and I love it. She goes by Winnie and it’s sassy and sweet with a great family connection.
I picked “I can’t decide”, mostly because [snip] is quite a long surname and all of your first name choices are 3+ syllables. My preference would be for a 2 syllable max first name to go with that. This is sad, because long names are great! But with long surnames they can become burdensome.
I love Winifred/ Winnie but I’m put off by the rhyme Winnie makes with [snip]. I also found the repeat V in Evelyn and [snip] to be slightly stutter-inducing. I find myself pausing between the first and last names. Sylvia is a little easier. Actually, Sylvia and Dorothea were the ones I found easiest to say with the surname. I think they flow well, considering the combined length. Dorothea has plenty of nice, short nicknames besides Dora– Dot, Dottie, Thea, Teddy, and the one you picked, Dor. Sylvia is lacking in this area…except for Sylvie.
Are there any shorter names that you considered earlier, but axed? Your style seems old-fashioned/unusual and a little 1920s/1930s… Do you like: Rose, Edith, Joan, Blythe, Blanche, Helen/Helena, Alice, Stella, Willa, June, Jane, Gloria, Lucille, Clara, Hazel, Pearl, Cora, Ada, Flora, Lila (popular, unfortunately), Iris, May, Cleo, Hope? I pulled all of those from the Top 500 list for 1925 on the SSA website. It’s a great resource!
My favorites in terms of flowing sound with your surname from that bunch I pulled are:
Rose
Alice
Stella
Clara
Pearl
May (or Mae)
They’re pretty different from your own list though. But maybe something will strike your fancy!
I also totally agree w/ your wife that Dorothea from Middlemarch would make for a great namesake. I remember it slipped onto my list for awhile after reading that book. And I had a professor who did name her daughter Dorothea in honor. Some other sort of feminist icon names I thought of are Simone, Djuna (I have another friend who named her daughter this, it gets great reception), Bell, Zora, Emmeline…
Best of luck! Please do update us!
Dorothea was on my list too. I love that name SO much, but I would use the nn Dot instead of Dor.
I voted for Sylvia, but I’d love Theodora. I think Dor would still be a sweet nickname, and I’m very fond of both Thea and Theo.
I’d also prefer a feminine middle name. Tamsin is sweet; Sylvia Tamsin [snip] sounds wonderful.
For James, James and Jacob have the same root, so Jacoba and Jacqueline are options. Theodora Jacqueline [snip] is definitely a mouthful, but it’s also elegant and charming.
Forgive me if I’m making an assumption, but more than likely, you have already had lengthy discussions about all the reasons, pro and con, for combining your surnames via hyphenation, deciding to go ahead with this plan, and creating in the process a 5-syllable surname. This combined name is already a lot to remember for the average person–teachers, associates, neighbors, etc. My own surname is only two syllables and very similar to [snip], yet people mix it up all the time with others, such as Burnett and Bartlett, and that’s only 2 syllables. Hyphenating your respective surnames is an honorable decision–there have been plenty of Swistle posts discussing just this–but I cannot help but think that this decision does preempt the wisdom of choosing such lengthy first names as you’re suggesting here. (You can probably guess I voted “can’t decide”).
This probably does just come down to taste. My posting name is my actual name and it’s quite short. As an introvert, I’ve always been so appreciative of this. I’ve not once wished for a longer name, or a more complex one, or one with easy nicknames, plus I don’t have to stumble over too many syllables when asked my name. I know there’s no way of knowing in advance how your daughter will feel about this herself, but I do think it may be a good thing to at least consider it.
For these reasons, I think the flow of the first name with the hyphenated surname trumps any first-middle flow here. I’m with the other posters who have suggested Rosa, or Pearl, or Iris, or anything shorter. Also for this reason, I’d go with either James or Ross in the middle–it at least eliminates one of the syllables.
Don’t get me wrong–I like all the names on your list, but I find myself not liking them so very much with your surname.
My aunt uses ‘Thea’ as her name- maybe that would work as a nickname if you went with Dorothea?
I agree that a shorter name would work better with [snip]:
Georgia
Rose (Rosie)
Thea
Iris
Sonia
Roslyn (Roz)
Marie
Laura
Jade
Jane
June
Alice
Would you consider Thea on its own? I love the sound with your surnames, and Thea Spyer was the wife of Edith Windsor (of Windsor v. United States fame) and a brilliant clinical psychologist.
From your list, my favourite would be Dorothea. I love Thea as a shortened name. My second favourite would be Rosemarie. I love being able to use Rose or Rosie as a nickname, plus if she decided to shorten it, Rose goes well with your last name.
I agree with others, that a shorter first name seems to flow better with the longer last name.
Other suggestions:
Rose or Rosa. Could still use nn Rosie. For longer version, I also really like Rosalie.
Thea or Theona or even Theodora. Theodora [snip] sounds really feminine and lovely to my ears. What about Isadora gives you the same flow as Theodora.
I also love the suggestion of Georgia. Same feel as Josephine but is a little more feminine if paired with a masculine middle name.
My other favourites pairing with your last names:
Willa
Ruby
Eve
Giada
Ada or Etta
Good luck and keep us posted!
I love all of these names! Every one is on my own list.
Here in the UK, the nickname for Dorothea (and Dorothy) would usually be Dot or Dotty.
Has the name Vera come up? It seems in the style of your other choices but less of a mouthful than the longer names you have in the running. Plus, the alliteration with the surname is splendid.
Vera (James?) [snip].
I also fall into the party pooper category…
When I hear any of the above names with a masculine middle name and the hyphenated last name, it doesn’t work for me. The masculine name becomes a third last name in my head, because James, Thomas, and Ross can all be stand along last names. And it just feels long and clumsy.
Taking the hyphenated last name as a given, already decided fact, I would max out at three syllables for the first name. I also would prefer a more feminine middle name to break up the “string of last names” feel I get. And I find I prefer a very feminine first name too.
My #1 choice from your first names is therefore Sylvia, but I would pair it with Rose instead of Ross.