Hi Swistle,
I am a big fan and have been reading your personal site since the twins were babies and your baby naming site since it started.
I am hoping you can help me now. It is very last minute. I am having baby number 4 on Tuesday morning!
It is a girl, our last name is Senepapna – A Sri Lankan name.
My older children are Sydney Sumithra, Andrew Michael (goes by Andy), and Natasha Annushika. We had no problems picking their names and went with names we loved, not focusing on any sort of naming group or pattern.
I want the baby’s name to be common enough that everyone knows how to spell it since the last name, she will have to spell for everyone. My husband wants a name that can be shortened to a nickname like all of the other kids.
Her middle name will most likely be Nilmarnie.
Top contenders for me are:
Ivy
Scarlett (Suggested by my oldest since the baby will be red and screaming when it is born)
Vivienne nn ViviMy husband vetoed Ivy because there is no nickname and does not like the nickname Vivi. I don’t love Scarlett.
If it had been a boy the name would have been Maxwell Patrick or Samuel Patrick.
My husband does not know the sex, so has been focusing more on boy names. The only names he seriously suggested were Elsa or Anna since the older girls like the movie so much. While they are pretty names, I don’t want to use them since it is obvious where the names came from.
I know this is short notice, but if you can help I would really appreciate it!
Sarah
The name Violet would be a sort of combination of those top three names: the long-I, the V, and the botanical theme of Ivy; the -let ending of Scarlett; the strong V-sound of Vivienne. Nicknames could be Vi or Lettie.
Or Eva would have the nickname Evie, which is very close to Ivy.
Or Avery, but I’m not sure if that has enough of a nickname: Avie?
Fiona comes to mind.
Or Miriam.
Or Eliza.
Or Georgia.
Or Sabrina.
Or Noelle.
Or Evelyn: that has some of the sounds of Vivienne; maybe Evvie is different enough from Vivi that your husband will like it. Or she could go by Lynnie.
Or Vienna.
Or Everly, though that’s not as easy to spell as some of the options. On the other hand, I think of most names as needing to be spelled. Vivienne could be spelled Vivian or Vivien; Scarlett could be Scarlet.
Or Lillian: again, similar to Vivienne. The nickname Lily is pretty, and botanical like Ivy.
Or Jillian.
Juliet/Juliette doesn’t have quite the -let ending of Scarlett, but it reminds me of it.
Eve is another short name with a prominent V sound that could stand in for Ivy. Or if it wasn’t the sound so much as the botanical image– maybe Willow or Brooke. I think Brooke goes well with the siblings, which have kind of a 70s/80s vibe for me. I also liked Swistle’s suggestion of Jillian.
How about Megan? Or Jordan or Morgan have the same kind of unisex/leaning girl feel as Sydney.
Instead of Anna, what about Annette or Annika? Instead of Elsa, what about Elissa? Would you consider Ivanna with the nickname Ivy?
Hm, I think Violet was a great suggestion.
l’ll add: Eleanor (you could probably stretch to nn. Elsa if that ended up working out), Felicia, Valerie, Vanessa (V, Ness, Nessie, Nessa).
Valerie immediately came to my mind, too.
I do like Ivy though :) Perhaps Ivelisse with the nickname Ivy?or Ivella?
I agree that Violet is a great suggestion.
I’ll suggest Cassandra, Miranda, Sabrina, Charlotte, Cosette, Audrey & Lucia.
Some more suggestions:
Alexandra (Alex, Ally, Lexie)
Samantha/Samara (Sam)
Susanna (Susie, Anna, Annie, Zanna)
Rosanna (Rosie, Anna, Annie, Zanna)
Danielle (Danni, Ellie)
Nicole (Nicky)
Madison (Maddie)
Eden (Edie)
Emerson (Emmy)
Abigail (Abby)
Good luck!
You could feasibly get Ivy as a nickname from Genevieve or Ivory. I like Eliza with your sibling set.
Would maybe Iris or Irene (Irie or Reenie) work better for your husband than Ivy?
Or do you like Ruby (Rue) better than you like Scarlett?
From your first two daughter’s names, and the fact that he doesn’t like Vivi, it seems like when he says he likes nicknames he might mean that he likes being able to shorten a name to its first syllable…would he like Viv?
I also like Willa (Will) with your other girls’ names.
My friend has a Simone and calls her Mona. If you don’t mind repeating an initial, I think that works nicely with your other children’s names.
Violet is great for the reasons above and because it sounds like the name your older daughter suggested, as does Charlotte, nn Charlie or Lotta/e/ie.
While I agree that Elsa and Anna are strongly associated with the movie right now, that won’t always be the case. I mean, we will all have to stop singing Let it Go at some point right? And they are such classic names that unless you use them both, I don’t think it’s problematic; it isn’t like you already have Aurora, Prince Charming and Belle. I think they are too nice of names not to consider because of the movie. That said, Elisabeth or Elise would be nice ways to get to Elsa, and Anna is actually too close to Andy anyway.
The middle name you plan to use is gorgeous! Violet Nilmarnie would be my pick.
I don’t think Anna is too associated with Frozen. Other names with nicknames that also only have one main way to spell them (ie, not Catherine/Kathryn/etc.):
Ellen
Margaret
Julia
Emily (maybe too repetitive with Nilmarnie? but how much will you use her middle name?)
Rebecca
Megan
Ruth
Jane
Grace
I’m surprised by how much I love the names Ellen and Rebecca for a baby. They seem fresh and new for this generation. This whole list is great!
I really like the suggestion of Violet as a combo of Ivy, Scarlett, and Vivienne. Vi is a sweet nn too I think.
I love Scarlett, so that would get my vote of the three you mentioned, but Ivy and Vivienne are both great too. Swistle’s suggestion of Juliet is great too, and I think my favorite of all the names suggested — it’s one of my personal favorites.
This is kind of an offbeat suggestion but have you considered Veronica? I recently met a little girl with the name and it was surprisingly fresh. There’s a lot of nick name potential too (V, Vera, Ron, Ronnie, etc.) and it has the “V” initial that you liked with Vivienne.
I also like Elsa and Anna. I don’t think anyone will think of Frozen unless you use both names together. If you like Elsa, what about Isla as an alternative or Elsie? There’s no natural nick names though which is a downside.
Good Luck!
I hope you find something that you like, there are so many good options that others have already suggested.
I particularly love:
Violet – Vi or Viola or Lettie
Eve or Genevieve or Geneva to get nn Evie
Juliet/Juliette – Jules or Ette
Charlotte – Lottie
Brigette – Ette
Lillian – Lily
I love the suggestion Isla instead of Elsa although I do admit I do really like Elsa. If not Elsa what about Esme?
What about doing and Anabel or Annabelle to get the Anna feel from frozen but to give her a more “separate” name.
Anabel makes me think of Isabel/Isabelle/Isabella. You could use Belle or Bella or Izzy.
I second the above suggestion of Veronica. I actually think that it has the same feel as your other two girls and it has a ton of nickname potentials. I heard it recently on a new babe and I was surprised at how much I really liked it. Plus Vera is cute shortened name.
What about Grace nn Gracie?
Good luck!! Let us know what you decide!!
I’m inclined to stick with relatively short names with the longer surname and relatively long middle name. Sydney, Andrew “Andy”, Natasha, and…
Leah
Ruby (similar to the image of Scarlett but sounds totally different)
Maya
Katherine nn Kate or Katie
Claire (love Claire Nilmarnie Senepapna!) or Clara
Lucia or just Lucy
Lily
I love the name Anna, which does not scream Frozen to me the way Elsa does. Do you like Julianna, Jessamine, Meredith, Isobel, Corinne, or Coral (nn Cora)?
I am the letter writer and I want to say thanks to Swistle and all of the commenters for your suggestions. So many awesome names I had not thought of before!
The girl’s middle names are all honor Sri Lankan family names of extended family members.
I will definitely let you know what we decide.
What about Elena? we have an Elena and we call her Nena or Ellie or Nin.
Avalon nn Ava or Avie?
I know a Veronica whose nn is Ivy.
Love the suggestions of violet, Samantha, Eliza, Esme, Juliette, Katherine and Lillian
Would like to suggest names of a feminine vintage feel
Elvira nn Ellie/ Elvie/ Vira
Elizabeth nn Eliza, Betsy etc
Felicity nn Lissy
Persephanie nn Sephie
Stephanie nn Stevie or Steph
Penelope nn Penny
Sapphire nn Saffy
Jasmine nn Jazz/ Jazzy
Esmerelda nn Esme
Evangeline nn Eva
Beatrix nn Bee or Trixie
Lucinda nn Lucie
The next few don’t have obvious nicknames but I think they work well with the siblings names
Estelle
Celeste
Daphne
Good luck for Tuesday
I think people have offered some great suggestions, so can I please take a second to divert the topic and try to understand how you know the sex but your husband does not? I am intrigued! This seems like it would be such a difficult thing to do. I feel like i would slip a million times and accidentally say “She” or “Her”. We never found out until the baby was born with both of our daughters, but I am just amazed by this!!
My sister-in-law and her husband did this with their daughter who was born last year! The husband found out they were having a girl but my SIL didn’t want to know till the birth. He made a point of telling her ahead of time he would interchange the pronouns, sometimes calling it she and sometimes he, in case he ever did slip up so she wouldn’t know. It worked like a charm (and helped on the couple occasions he did mess up!!)
Both your other daughters have names that were some of my absolute favourites when I was younger, so I am going to give you the other names I loved when I was growing up because I think they might really fit your style:
Danielle nn Dani
Rachel
Antonia nn Toni
Katelyn (or maybe a more updated version would be Kailyn?)
Chantal
Rebecca
Kelsey
Chelsea
Jemima
Jessica
Corinne/Corinna
Camille
I wonder if Elise might work as well if your husband likes Elsie & Anna. Or Annalise.