Well. I put this in a new-post window to work on, and then got caught up in unusually spinny Christmas preparations and never actually answered it. We may be much too late, as the due date is tomorrow, but let’s do our festive best:
Much to my surprise, daughter number three is due 12/18 and I’d love to have input from you and your readers. Our daughters are named Iris R@mona and Cleo Ros@lind. Our top two names for this baby are Sybil and Esme (ehz-may pronunciation). I like that Sybil is also of Greek origin because I’m half Greek. I like Esme because it has four letters and I like how it sounds with Iris and Cleo. Friends and family that I’ve asked mostly prefer Esme, but it’s a bit more frilly and less historical than I’d prefer. Also, I’m sure there will be pronunciation issues with Esme. We are struggling with middle names too. I’m not sure if I can use Sybil Esme or Esme Sybil because of the flow even if they are the top two names. Some other names we are considering in the middle spot are Josephine and Annora. What do you think?
Thank you!
Ashley
10000% Esme!
Love Esme with the sibset and as a name on its own! I think Esme Josephine sounds lovely.
Sybil Esme 😍😍
They’re both gorgeous options. Hopefully she’ll give you an indication when you meet her?
I do like the pattern of Esme. Then maybe her middle could be Sibylla to keep the Greek nod and improve flow? Esme Sibylla.
If you choose Sibyl, I’d find an R middle, because that ties it into the set. Sibyl Regina or Sibyl Reverie or Sibyl Rhiannon? (There’s Renesmee but probably not ;-)
I like both names in the sibling group and I think they make fine middles for each other as well, so you really can’t go wrong. I like Josephine than Annora better as a middle for both names. I think Esme Josephine is my favorite of all the possible combinations. Or maybe another R name, as someone suggested: Rachel, Rae, Rebecca, Regina, Rhiannon, Ruth?
Iris R@mona,
Cleo Ros@lind,
AND
Esme Rowena
Congratulations and best wishes!
Sybil Annora. I think it’s clear from your letter that Sybil is your favorite, and I like it because you have Billie as a possible nickname. And Annora just feels like a fun middle…middles should be a little mysterious I think.
Initials would be Sam…which could also be a fun potential nickname?
I was team Esme until I read this reply and now I’m all about Sybil. I love everything Kerry suggested about this name.
I think both are lovely and work really well with Iris and Cleo! I find Sybil a little bit fresher and more underused but Esme is also lovely, although yes you would definitely have to be ready to correct pronunciation. I have a M@rgot and I thought that would be fine but OH DEAR GOD the amount she gets ‘Mar-gott’ from adults astonishes me.
Her middle name happens to be Josephine and I think it’s *such* a good middle with a lovely flow to it, so I’m biased there!
I don’t think Esme is frilly – it feels very similar in tone to Cleo, to me. And I’m honestly not even sure how else you would pronounce it, Ez-mee? I would definitely default to Ez-may.
I do agree with others that Sybil seems to be more meaningful to you, and I think Sybil Esme has a lovely flow (I’ll agree that Esme Sybil doesn’t sound the best). I LOVE Josephine, and I like to pair less common first names with more familiar middles (and vice versa). Also gives you the option of Sybil Jo or even Billie Jo, if you like that (but unexpected enough that no one will default to those if you don’t) – I love double names as pet names, lol. That’s my favorite of your options, but if you like Esme better I really want you to go with that.
I agree with others that an R middle could be fun if you think this is your last baby, but I’m guessing you would have mentioned it if there were any you liked. Sybil Rhiannon is lovely, though, and feels very on point with your other girls’ names..
I love Esme — maybe if you spelled it Esmé or Esmée people might be more inclined to pronounce the second syllable with a long A.
I also like the idea of a middle name that starts with R:
Esme Ruth
Esme Rochelle
Esme Raven
Esme Ravenna
Esme Racquel or Raquel
Esme Rhian
Esme Renata
Esme Roxanne
If you decide to go with an R middle name, what about Rue? Greek, unusual, gorgeous, goes with both Sybil and Esme.
I have a 10-year-old niece named Esme and LOVE her name. Her parents considered using an accent mark over the second “e”, but decided against that. I don’t think pronunciation has been a concern. Some Americans aren’t familiar with the name, but once they know it’s pronounced EZ-may, they have no problem remembering it. As others have said, Esme is a very compatible name with Iris and Cleo.
I would agree with the accent being unnecessary. Realistically, no one outside of the immediate family (and very very close friends, who know how to pronounce her name anyway) is actually going to go to the trouble of typing the accent (and very few will bother writing it). I don’t think accents are a good idea in English unless you’re from the culture and are using them because you know the correct usage well enough that it feels wrong to leave them out. But I would never expect the general population to have a clue what to do with them, and I wouldn’t expect them to get copied correctly on any form ever.
As an example, a friend has an Ñ in his name, and all his college documents had just an N until he went and had it corrected right before graduation so his diploma would be correct – and this after 6 years at this school. I feel like Ñ is much more familiar to Americans than accents are (I honestly have no idea how French accents work), and it still gets lost in the shuffle.
Even more ridiculously, I frequently have my name misspelled (it’s uncommon, and with a variant spelling, but still in line with normal English phonics – think Kiara) even when people are working from a typed entry. Like… there was absolutely no excuse of not being able to read my handwriting or not hearing the name correctly… the exact right letters were right there in front of them, they could have just used copy-paste, and they still copied it wrong. This happens unreasonably often. I can’t imagine how constant it would be if there were non-standard characters in the mix.
Since it’s the holidays here I’ve polled my family. We vote unanimously for Esme with an R middle.
My sister says Esme Ruth
My daughter Esme Renata
I like Esme Regina
Wildcard Esme Rowena
We used a baby name book published in 1954, which has many grand old names. In it, Esme is listed as both b & g.
A third daughter, how exciting! I love your girls names and I think both Sybil and Esme would go equally nice with them and that their meanings are lovely.
To improve flow, I would consider using Esmeralda as a middle for Sybil. Sybil Esmeralda.
If you go with Esme, maybe variants Sybilla, Sybella, Sybille, Sébire, Sibylle, Sibylla appeal to you ? Esme Sybilla sounds very pleasing. While writing this I found myself confusing the order of Sybil’s Y and I placement. I wonder if that will happen to other people and you might end up having to spell her name often. With Esme, I think having to pronounce it for people is less of a problem.
I personally would go with Esme and as a middle I’d choose a longer name starting with R with greek origins, like Rhea/Rheia/Rheya, Rhanis, Romana, Rhode/Rhoda, Rafailia, Rania, Rhodonice, Romylia, Roulitsa, Rozana, Roxani, Rodothea.
Good luck and I’m sure you will know her name when you meet her. :)
I suggest I Rhea Josephine. Rhea is Greek.
Iris, Cleo and Rhea!
If not, I also love Esme Sybilla.
I much prefer Sybil to Esme, but more importantly, it sounds like you do too from the wording you used. It sounds lovely with your other daughters’ names.
Same as other commenters, I’d love to see an R middle for Sybil to coordinate with her sisters. You’ve gotten some other great suggestions. I did think of Sybil Remy (which kind of sounds a little Esme-ish) as an option.
I love the wildcard of Esme Rowena! Love that it repeats the strong o in Ramona and Rosalind.
If it were me, I would use the accent. You probably can’t 75% of the time in the US or UK anyways, but it makes the preferred pronunciation clear. With the prevalence of Emme/Eme out there and the rise of Mae and Maeve, I think you’ll find the default for Esme will be the ee sound and Esmae or Esmé would get the long ay sound.
But heck, I don’t think there is a soul who hasn’t had their name mispronounced or miswritten before.
Sybil! I think it fits nicely with the other two, is underused, and it sounds like you like it better.
I like Sybil better too. Esme Mellychairek is a bit hard for my stammer (if Melly is the start).
My daughter’s name is Esme Rachel (age 2) and I think it’s a gorgeous name. We pronounce it Ez-may, and haven’t had too many issues yet with pronunciation. Rachel is a family honor name (her paternal great grandmother). I love the meaning of Esme – “beloved, esteemed” so that’s another reason we chose it. Her nickname so far is “May-may” (which Meimei means little sister in Mandarin; our daughter is actually an only child so it wasn’t quite applicable for us but would be for you) – this nickname was used more as a baby and less now as a toddler. Hope these little tidbits help you with picking the best name for your daughter! Congratulations!
Really can’t go wrong either way!
I think Esme Sybil sounds better than Sybil Esme, so if you wanted to use both, that would be my vote.
Otherwise Sybil Annora or Esme Josephine – love the balance of strong and soft sounds in each combination.
Sybil Esme Mellychairek and Esme Sybil Mellychairek are both awesome. You can not go wrong with either of those names in either order. I love them
I love the name Esme, but I agree that the historical usage for Esme has been different than that of Iris or Cleo, so although the sounds match well, the styles are a bit discordant. Also, using the accent aigu for Esmé could help with pronunciation issues but almost assures misspelling in English-speaking settings.
I like the name Vera with your other children’s names. Vera Josephine and Vera Esme are both quite nice. Another one that would work well is Myra. It has the advantages of being Greek, 4 letters, and not frilly (although I guess that’s subjective).
I love the name Esme, it was on my list for a girl! But I actually prefer Sybil for you, mostly because (as others have pointed out) it seems to be your favorite :)
I also really like the idea of using an R middle name to match her sisters.
I can never resist making suggestions, so here’s a few ideas.
Esme Rebecca Mellychairek
Sybil Rosemary Mellychairek (too much with Rosalind?)
Esme Roxanne Mellychairek
Sybil Rhiannon Mellychairek
Esme River Mellychairek
Reading your message, I get the feeling that you might have a preference for Sybil, but the feedback from friends is making you question your preference. If that’s the case, then go forth with Sybil! No, it doesn’t have the same the same number of letter, but those little patterns can be impossible to keep up in sibsets. Sybil goes beautifully with your girls’ names.
Just for good measure, some other Greek names you might like with your set: Rhoda, Rhea, Dora, Daphne, Eleni, Penelope. I also offer up Romilly as another R middle.