{"id":12266,"date":"2016-08-11T07:51:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T11:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=12266"},"modified":"2017-02-21T09:21:43","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T13:21:43","slug":"middle-name-challenge-vada-______-mimree-with-a-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2016\/08\/11\/middle-name-challenge-vada-______-mimree-with-a-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle Name Challenge: Vada ______ Mimree-with-a-K"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I’m due at the end of October and until just recently thought I had my daughter’s name settled. As a teacher a lot of names got marked off the list quickly for either a) negative associations or b) not wanting to seem like I was naming my child after a particular student. Before I knew I was expecting a girl I had considered August Pierce for a boy’s name (with the nickname of Auggie or calling him Pierce, depending on what felt more suitable). This pregnancy was unexpected and I am going to be a single mom so by the time I had come around to the idea of thinking about names I had only really come up with the one boy option before I found out I would be having a girl. I’ve settled on the first name of Vada (inspired by the spunky little girl in the “My Girl” movies, but loved entirely because it’s unique and highly unlikely that there will be more than one in her classes or any in my future classes; also, my paternal grandmother’s name is Vanetta and I like the connection of the V names between my Memaw and her only-to-date great-granddaughter). The middle name I’m currently thinking of using is James, simply because I like how Vada James sounds and for pretty much no other reason (which I don’t really like; I like having a story behind a name, even if it is just a favorite movie from my childhood).<\/p>\n

My dilemma comes, however, from a recent strong urge to honor my maternal great-grandmother. Her name was Minnie Louise and her nickname was Polly. Depending on who you asked she was either known as Minnie or Polly and the names were fairly interchangeable. Minnie’s descendants are all still fairly close (all six of her children are still alive and there’s a breakfast reunion each month) and while a couple have honored my great-grandfather (Troy Hoover), none have tried to honor Minnie\/Polly. Toward the end of my great-grandmother’s life, after my great-grandfather had passed, my mom and I spent a lot of time helping her and making sure she was taken care of. A lot of Friday nights were spent spending the night at her house with my grandma and mother and they’re some of my favorite memories.<\/p>\n

I’m open to using a middle name that could be nicknamed into Minnie or Polly, something that doesn’t necessarily scream either of those names at first, but I would know the connection and have a story for the use of the name). I had considered Minerva (which I know you’ve suggested in the past with the nickname Minnie), but it doesn’t seem to go with Vada very well. Completely sad, too, because Minerva (aside from the Minerva McGonagall connection, which is awesome) was the original mascot of my college alma mater back when it was an all girls institute. It would be perfect if it just sounded okay with Vada. Vada Minerva…am I crazy not thinking it goes?<\/p>\n

Do you have any other suggestions?<\/p>\n

Other girl names I’ve loved, if it helps:<\/p>\n

Margaret
\nEleanor
\nOlivia
\nClaudia
\nPhoebe
\nPiper
\nElizabeth (which is my middle name and where my nickname of Bess comes from, so I’m okay with using a nickname that comes from a middle name)
\nCharlotte<\/p>\n

My last name rhymes with memory, but starts with a K (assuming you pronounce memory like I do: two syllables, mim-ree–I’m from the south, if that pronunciation sounds odd).<\/p>\n

Thank you so much for any ideas\/help you can give!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is going to be a short answer, because I think Vada Minerva sounds GREAT. My friend Miss Grace<\/a> and I have had multiple conversations about how much we like it when there is a repeated sound within two names: that is, not necessarily alliteration (Veda Victoria, for example), but rather the exact thing you’ve got going on with the repeating V sound of Vada Minerva. I think it makes names fun to say, and also ties them together. So I’m doing double-thumbs-up for the Vada Minerva idea, for the sounds and the associations, and don’t see any reason to look further.<\/p>\n

But “sounds GREAT” is a very subjective thing, and if it doesn’t sound good to you, you may want to continue looking. In that case, I’d next go with Vada Polly. I think that’s super cute. Or Vada Louise: I like that even better for sound, but less well for connection to the original name.<\/p>\n

This is a bit of a reach, but did you by any chance love the Anne McCaffrey books as a child, the ones about a harper and dragon-handler named Menolly? It’s been a long time since I read those, but I used to LOVE them, and I remember Menolly as a good strong character. Also, her name sounds to me like Minnie + Polly. Veda Menolly. (I’d prefer Minerva, though, for the associations and for the more direct reference to the honor name.)<\/p>\n

In your circle, is it common to call a child by first-and-middle? That too would influence my advice. If NOT, then I’d be much less concerned with how it sounds, and much more interested in getting the honor name in there. But if SO, then I’d still be interested in the honor name, but would put much more emphasis on it sounding well together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name update:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I’m sorry for the delayed update. Thank you to you and your readers for your input on my daughter’s name. I ended up going completely out of left field and choose a name that wasn’t suggested or even thought of at all: Siobhan.<\/p>\n

Siobhan first came from an extremely minor character in a novel I teach to my 9th grade English classes each semester. The first year I taught it I couldn’t pronounce the name to save my life. It was the first time I realized I had to be extremely prepared when it came to even the smallest things in education. I was discussing names with my mother and threw Siobhan out almost jokingly. We both ended up loving the sound of Vada Siobhan. A nice bonus is that she shares a middle initial with both my mother and father.<\/p>\n

Here’s newborn and 3 month old Vada.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle, I’m due at the end of October and until just recently thought I had my daughter’s name settled. As a teacher a lot of names got marked off the list quickly for either a) negative associations or b) not wanting to seem like I was naming my child after a particular student. Before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-3bQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12266"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12565,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12266\/revisions\/12565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}