Hi Swistle,
Long time reader here! We are expecting our second (and likely final) child in April. Our son will be 2 when this little girl arrives, and we are very excited. Our last name sounds just like Such-inz, but the first letter is H.
We were all over the place with names for our 1.5 year old son and didn’t end up deciding until day 2 of our (very strange, early Covid days) hospital stay. His first name is R0bert after my husband, and his middle name is a family name, H@ll. In order to keep things less confusing in our household and because we liked doing something a little different, he goes by his middle name. We live in the South, so this is somewhat common. Even so, I somewhat regret not giving him the first name H@ll because we have to clarify/correct/explain at every appointment, and it just feels a bit convoluted. I liked the flow of R0bert H@ll Such-inz more than H@ll R0bert Such-inz, but I don’t know if that was a strong enough reason.
ANYWAY, moving forward, we now have a little girl to name! One of our favorite names is Nell, and my grandmother’s name was Eleanor. It seems like a miss to give a nickname-y name that could correspond with a lovely honor name (we also like the sound of Eleanor) and NOT use the full name, so we are thinking Eleanor, nn Nell, unless we are then approaching a similar, more-complicated-than-it-needs-to-be situation again like with our son.
We also love Clare. It was my given middle name, and I love that it’s simple and feels bright. My spelling didn’t have an “i” in it, and that’s the way I prefer the name, but again…is that an annoying thing for her to have to swim counter-current on forever? It’s also so much more common than H@ll, but perhaps the shortness of both and the fact that at least H@ll is a common word doesn’t make it feel too problematic to me.
Another top family name contender is Grace. Similar to Clare, I like its simplicity and well, grace.
Other names we like are Emma and Eliza.
What do you think? Any suggestions we’re missing? I think we can figure out a middle name fairly easily once we land the first.
THANK YOU!
Heather
I think the baby’s name is Eleanor (Nell) Clare Suchinz, Eleanor after your grandmother and Clare after you. (I SO WISH I had considered giving my daughter one of my names.) H@ll and Nell are similar, but because one is a middle name and the other is a nickname, that doesn’t bother me; and if it turns out to be an issue, Nell can go by Eleanor or Nora or Ellie or Lennie instead. And Eleanor/Nell doesn’t seem anywhere near as complicated a situation as R0bert/H@ll: Nell is an established nickname for Eleanor. And I don’t think she’s going to be much bothered by needing to spell her middle name occasionally. So I think this is a clear winner: a beautiful name packed with family significance.
Name update:
Hi Swistle!
Baby girl arrived right on time and we are over the moon. We appreciated all your thoughts and the commenter thoughts but in the end went a slightly different way- Gr@ce Ele@nOr Suchinz. Will save Clare for a potential future baby! :)
All best,
The Suchinzes
I love Eleanor (Nell) Clare!
To maybe ease your mind a bit, my oldest daughter is Claire (this spelling), and she says she has to tell people to add the ‘i’. I think it might just be one of those names, and I’d use it again given the chance, even these 27 years later!
Congratulations on the new addition!
I think Eleanor Clare Suchinz is a beautiful name.
Clara Eleanor
Lydia Clare
Evie Clare
Stella Clare
Nellie Clare
Nina Clare
Elsie Clare
Vera Clare
Estelle Clare
Elise Clare
Matilda Clare
Casting my vote for Eleanor (Nell) Clare!
Elinor Grace was our chosen girl name we never had the opportunity to use. (We had 3 boys and are done.) So any time I hear/see Eleanor, I love it.
Eleanor (Nell) Clare is a perfect name for your daughter — for all the reasons Swistle immediately saw.
R0bert H@ll (H@ll) and Eleanor Clare (Nell): fine names separately and together!
Love Nell!! I think Swistle’s recommendation of Eleanor ‘Nell’ Clare is perfection. The only pause I might have is whether you’d be okay if she chose a different nickname or to go by Eleanor, when she’s old enough to choose? That’s the only potential downside of Eleanor over Clare or Grace. But I think it’s worth the risk for the honour and using Nell while she’s little.
Another vote for Eleanor Clare!
I’m on the Eleanor Clare bandwagon.
Also, Nell Suchinz has the most beautiful storybook sound.
Ele@nor Cl@re nn N3ll is gorgeous. I’d want this name for myself and it is my top choice for you. That said, I like every one of your options. I don’t think you can go wrong. Best wishes!
Everything Swistle said <3
Eleanor Clare is perfect
I love the name Eleanor! (It was a contender for us, too.) But to not “lose” the nickname Nell (as commenter Renee pointed out is possible), I would be tempted to either name your daughter Nell (and view it as a “nod” to your grandmother instead of an honour name), or work REALLY hard to exclusively use this name.
If you go with Nell as the first it still counts as honoring your grandma!
Yes to Eleanor Clare!
Oh, I love Eleanor Clare too! Besides how often do we have to worry about other people misspelling a middle name?
I love Eleanor Grace even more; might’ve considered that for my own girl if we hadn’t been so set on the 2 honor names we chose. But of course, Clare’s the honor name, not Grace, so that’d have given Clare a strong edge for me, if any of those names were in my family.
We have an Elinor who goes by Nora and yes we often have to explain/clarify her name and nickname. I think it would be a similar experience to your son’s name so if you find it annoying it’s definitely something to consider. Lots of people don’t understand why we don’t just use Ellie/Elle as the nickname but we like that she has a formal name with a less expected nickname.
We also have a niece named Clare and her parents are used to saying “Clare no i” when giving her name out. It doesn’t seem to cause much if an issue, I guess because both spellings are well known.
Eleanor Clare is a beautiful name 😊