Thara writes:
I am due in April with our second child. We have decided not to find out the gender so it will be a surprise at the birth. This means we have to have names prepared for both a girl and a boy. My husband and I both have unusual names -Dax & Thara (like Sarah with a “Th”) our sons name is Simeon Dax. Surname is German, Reinitz (like “rye” & “knits”)
Here is our problem…we can’t decide on a girls name! The ones we like right now are Jocelyn Lee (after our mothers) but we can’t agree on the spelling. He wants Josalin and I like Jocelyn so we are at an impasse. We also like Felicity Ann and are considering Eleanor. We would really like to use my name since it is a 3rd generation family name but can’t find a suitable middle name that sounds good and that we like enough for her to go by (two Thara’s in one house would be confusing!)
We love the fact that our names are not very common and want to stay away from popular/cutesy names but don’t want something totally off the wall either. What the name means is also a big factor especially if it doesn’t have a significant namesake/meaning for us personally. We also don’t want anything that is widely considered unisex ie Jordan, Madison etc.
If the baby is a boy his name will most likely be George Truman (family names we love!) & go by his middle name but we also like the name Silas so we are considering that one too.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!
When I see the spelling Josalin, my brain links it to Rosa and Rosalind and I want to pronounce it with a long-O and a Z-sound: JOE-zah-lin instead of JOSS-sah-lin. With time and practice I would learn the pronunciation, but I would personally avoid an unnecessarily difficult spelling unless there’s a particular reason to use it (if, for example, that’s the way the honoree’s name is spelled, although even then I might opt to change at this point to a standard spelling)—especially since overall you seem to like traditional spellings.
I like Thara Felicity: the family name, and then a name from your list (with a great meaning) that you like well enough for her to go by. If I were the village namer and you came to me to have your baby assigned a name, that’s probably the one I’d choose. Or would you want to use Thara as the middle name, to avoid confusion? Felicity Thara Reinitz is nice, or Jocelyn Thara Reinitz.
George Truman is great, or I like Truman George if you’re planning to call him Truman either way. Simeon and Silas are quite compatible in style, but both “Silas Reinitz” and “Simeon and Silas” seem very heavy on the S-sound to me.
Name update! Thara writes:
I wrote to you to ask advice about our baby’s name. At the time we didn’t know it was a girl but here she is…Felicity Ann! We love her and her name :)
I agree with Swistle about the spelling of Jocelyn. I also really, really like her suggestion of Thara Felicity or Felicity Thara.
Since George is a family name, I wonder if you’ve considered using Georgia or Georgianna for a girl. Georgia Felicity is very pretty.
I prefer the Jocelyn spelling, but if you can’t get by the impasse, Felicity and Eleanor are great names, too. I particularly like Thara Eleanor or Eleanor Thara. For the boy, I prefer Truman George to George Truman. I like Silas a lot, but not so much as a sibling name with Simeon. The whole first syllable is the same.
Or how about Thara Georgette?
My favorites for you are Jocelyn Thara and Truman George. Good luck!
Ordinarily I would advise against mom and daughter sharing names (my mom and I have the same first name with different spellings and different nicknames, and we have gotten financial and medical records mixed up more than once), but Thara is too wonderful to not pass on in some form. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Thara Felicity or Felicity Thara,
(Hit post too soon), or how about Thara Joyce or Thara Joy to honor Jocelyn? This may not work if you don’t want to call her Thara, which is understandable.
I like the idea of going with frankly traditional and use Thara as a middle name. It’s works well with Jocelyn, Felicity, and Eleanor.
I also like the idea of your combining your mother’s names. Jolie Thara Reinitz is lovely. Simeon and Jolie make for a nice sibling combo.
If you are going to call your son Truman, I recommend you name him Truman George not Truman. The people I know who have gone by their middle names say that is generally a pain in the neck with legal documents! forms, etc. Simeon and Truman also sounding nice together.
Swistle, I love picturing you as the village namer! What a great job that would be. If only our culture supported such a role…you’d be perfect.
But, to the letter writer: Do you pronounce Simeon like SIGH-me-on or SIH (rhymes with list)-me-on? If it’s the first, then I think it is much too close to Silas, and Swistle’s right, too, that independently of that Silas Reinitz is a bit too sibilant. Even though I prefer George as a first name to Truman (I’m not a big fan of surname-names) in the context of your surname I actually think Truman sounds better… and if you’re going to call him by that no matter what, why not put it first on the birth certificate?
Some other thoughts… Silas and Simeon reminded me of:
Jasper
Miles/Milo
Jeremiah
Jethro
Levi
Atticus
Theo
Oscar
Tobiah/Toby or even Tobias, though Tobias Reinitz is a little sing-songy
Truman reminded me of:
Guthrie
Miller
Orson
Thornton
Sawyer
As far as girls names, I think Swistle’s suggestion of Thara Felicity is really nice! It also occurred to me, would you consider using Thara day-to-day for a daughter but as part of a double barrel name, for differentiation? Maybe that would still be too confusing, but I thought of Thara Rose, Thara May, Thara Pearl, Thara Ann, Thara Kate, Thara June…
About Jocelyn-spelled-Josalin: I think everyone would get used to it eventually, but few would say it correctly on the first attempt. None would spell it right the first time. My brain reads Josalin as JOE-za-lin.
It doesn’t make sense to me to have Baby#2 go by a middle name when you didn’t do that for Baby#1.
I would definitely use Truman George.
For the girl names, I don’t think any of them match the unique-ness of the rest of the family. & again I don’t understand why you don’t use Thara as the middle name…
Instead of Eleanor – Lenora or Noreen?
My vote for a girl is Jocelyn Thara. Lots of sweet nickname options, and it passes down Mama’s wonderful name! I would pronounce it correctly regardless of the spelling, but it strikes me as a strange choice.
Also: This doesn’t really matter, and I know it’s a hot-button issue, but unusual spellings of common names often indicate low- or lower-middle-class upbringing. It’s a sociological phenomenon. Studies show that people with those spellings are more likely to be passed over for educational and job opportunities, beginning in childhood. It can be overcome, of course. But it’s a consideration.
For a boy, I’d definitely vote for Truman George. I find it unnecessarily confusing to go by a middle name. It doesn’t matter too much in grade school–teachers will get used to it–but it complicates things for colleges and workplaces later. My two male friends with this type of name find it continually annoying. Plus, Truman George sounds awesome!
Definitely think if you are going to call him Truman, the name should be Truman George. Truman matches the uniqueness of the names within your family nicely.
As for a girl, LOVE the name Jocelyn Thara or vice versa. Josalin looks made up to me. I worked in executive recruitment before my daughter, and I can’t tell you how much weight just a person’s name/spelling of name carries. Something to consider.
Good luck!
Jocelyn Thara is my favorite. I also liked the suggestion of Jolie Thara.
And another vote for Truman George.
Jadzia Dax. Well, only if you are a Star Trek fan. But I still love the name. It seems like Eleanor would blend with the last name? Like EleanorrrReinitz? Maybe sound like Eleanor Initz. Good luck!
I agree with Swistle and several of the other commenters on a few points.
1. Since your first son you have is Simeon Dax and he goes by Simeon (I’m assuming?) I would keep it consistent and use honour name in the middle and continue to call by first name. So, once again, if you are planning on calling your boy Truman, I would go with Truman George or if you have a girl and don’t want another Thara in the house, then I would go with ______ Thara. On top of just keeping things consistent, I would avoid all the issues of going by a middle name rather than the first name (my mom goes by her middle name of Gail and it is nothing but complications as half of her identification is her legal name (Susan Gail last name) and the other half is in her name she goes by (Gail last name). She had an extremely difficult time getting a passport, has caused problems in medical system (doctor is looking for Gail and blood work comes back for Susan or vice versa) along with many other issues with credit cards, bank statements, etc.)
2. I do like the idea of keeping family names, so if you have a girl, then you should definitely keep Thara since it goes back several generations.
3. I think that if you did decide to go with Josalin, then she will have issues with people always misspelling her name as we are used to the Jocelyn spelling in western world. That being said, Josalin is an ancient german spelling of the name, which fits in with your history so you would be able to explain it that way if you do decide to go with that spelling. I also think that Josalin lends to Josie as a nickname easier (if that is a nn that you like).
Josalin Thara Reinitz is very sweet and I think I actually prefer this spelling as it seems to fit in with the uniqueness of the rest of your family names (Thara, Dax, Simeon (with different spelling vs. Simon). When I see Jocelyn, it is standard and mundane and I don’t really give the name a second thought whereas Josalin, I look at it and it makes me think for a few seconds, it is much more interesting. The more I see it written down with the full name, the more I love it. This would be my vote.
What about using some variation of George if it is a girl, given that it is a family name. You could use Georgia or Georgianna or Georgette. Those lend to cute nn, George, Georgie, Anna, Gia, G, Etta, Ette, etc.
Good luck and keep us posted.
I would go with Truman George if you’re going to call him Truman anyways. I go by my middle as does my father-in-law. We have lots of humorous and annoying stories to share with you if you want many reasons why not to purposefully intend to call your child by his middle name!
I like Jocelyn too – but did you know it’s in the Top 100? At #65 in 2010, #70 in 2011 and #92 in 2012, it does appear to be falling slightly so that may make it more appealing to you.
I have friends whose daughter is Jocelyn. The mom regrets not going with a spelling starting with Joss-, because if the daughter decided to go by the nickname of Joss, it wouldn’t match the Jocelyn spelling. Just a small thing I thought I’d share. I prefer Jossalin or Josselin because then it seems to eliminate the pronunciation issue Swistle mentioned and also gives you Joss built right in.
Good luck!
I love the tie-in of Thara, but when combined with a name that has the soft /s/, Thara gives me the impression of Sarah with a lisp. Now, if Thara is by itself or combined with a name that doesn’t have an /s/ I definitely don’t think that. It’s just that saying “Jocelyn Thara” out loud makes me hear “Jocelyn Sarah” but pronounced incorrectly…if that makes sense?
Eleanor Thara works well to my ear. Other ideas are Jacqueline Thara, or maybe Genevieve Thara
Would you consider the name Josanna? Josanna Lee sounds really nice and the spelling is clear.
I happen to love the name Jocelyn! It’s been a great name for me. I can’t imagine it being spelled the other way. Looks made up. I’ve always gotten a ton of compliments on my name and it’s been great that it is different but not crazy weird. I do have to spell it for people a lot and some people have never been able to pronounce it right, (they’ll say Jozlyn or Joycelyn) don’t know why since it is pretty phonetical, but I still am glad to have it. I like Jocelyn Thara a lot. That way she could still have your name but it’d be less confusing.
I’ve always thought if you know you’re going to call someone by their middle name from the beginning and you have the option of putting that name first, you should. So, for your possible son as well I like Truman George.
I like Felicity Thara!
Josalin looks very trendy and awkward next to biblical/classical Simeon. I don’t like how Jocelyn has so many different spellings, and it doesn’t really have a nice meaning. Ann and Lee, while family names also seem very “filler” as middle names. You could combine them into something like Liana, which has a nice meaning in Hebrew.
I go by my middle name, and I dislike it. I’d use the name you plan to call the child by as their first name.
Great choice in choosing Felicity has a first name.
We named our little girl Felicity Francine :D