{"id":14510,"date":"2020-01-21T09:15:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T13:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=14510"},"modified":"2020-03-16T06:29:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T10:29:28","slug":"baby-girl-carrot-with-an-m-sister-to-avila-and-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2020\/01\/21\/baby-girl-carrot-with-an-m-sister-to-avila-and-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Girl Carrot-with-an-M, Sister to Avila and Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are expecting a third daughter at the end of February (coming up fast!), and since you were so helpful in helping us name our last child<\/a>, I thought I\u2019d ask for help again.<\/p>\n

Our daughters are Avila Marie (sometimes called Avi like Abby) and Rose Therese Eowyn (usually called Rosie). Our last name is Carrot-with-an-M, and we\u2019d like to have more children.<\/p>\n

My husband and I have very different naming styles: his name ideas are often outside the top 1000, while mine tend to be names in the top 100 or just outside of it. (We do have one unifying thread, which is that we pick names of a saint that we really like. But since 95% of people we meet don\u2019t know who St. Teresa of Avila is, this unifying factor is often not noticeable.) You can probably guess that Avila was my husband\u2019s favorite name (my choice would have been Claire.) And Rose was my favorite name.<\/p>\n

Well, here we are with unnamed baby three, and we have narrowed the field down to three names:<\/p>\n

My favorite names are
\nTessa (nn Tess)
\nGenevieve (nn Evie, which is really close to Avi).<\/p>\n

His favorite name is
\nZelie (we’d pronounce it like \u201cjelly.\u201d) From what I understand, it’s a currently popular French name derived from the longer name Azelie, (which means Azalea\u2026a nice floral tie-in with the name Rose.)<\/p>\n

At various moments we have said \u201cyes, let\u2019s do it!\u201d to each of these three names, but then we keep coming back to the table again. I want to pick a name and be done!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my dilemma. My husband has been going through a difficult time the last few months, and it has made it hard for him to be excited about this pregnancy (obviously, it will be easier when she\u2019s here.) This makes me want to say yes to Zelie–just because it means to have him in love with her name. (Also he\u2019s talked about the combo of Zelie Louise, which is fun and zippy to say.)<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I find myself hesitating just when I want to say yes to the name Zelie. My hesitation stems from how long it took me to love the name Avila, even after she was born (though I do love it now.) I still have a momentary flicker of resignation in the doctor\u2019s office\/new neighbor\/party event where the person I\u2019m talking to hesitates and says, \u201cwhat is her name again?\u201d and then proceeds to call her something else unintentionally. Then again, it\u2019s mostly adults on the periphery of our lives who have this problem. Other kids always seem to easily grasp her name.<\/p>\n

If we did go with the name Zelie Louise, here\u2019s what I\u2019d love to know:<\/p>\n

1. Would you guess that you said the name Zelie like \u201cjelly\u201d?<\/p>\n

2. Does it seem too much of a nickname-y name to you? We could name her the full name Azelie, if that was better, and call her Zelie. Or is that just giving her two unpronounceable names to grapple with?<\/p>\n

3. The name we\u2019d probably use if we have a boy in the future is Blaise. Does Avila, Rose, Zelie, and Blaise make the name Rose stand out as an outlier?<\/p>\n

Thanks for your help!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

This seems like a great question for a group answer, since there are so many parts of it that will be completely subjective. I wish the polls still worked. I will put a poll on Twitter, but that’s unsatisfying because of how many people aren’t on Twitter. But it is better than nothing. And in fact, it might be better than a blog poll because it’ll get some votes from people who are not baby-name hobbyists, which may give a more accurate representation of what you’d find in the public at large. Well, on to my subjective answers:<\/p>\n

1. Would I guess that the name Zelie was pronounced to rhyme with jelly? No. With that spelling, similar to Amelia rather than to Ellie, I would first guess ZEE-lee. One could argue that it would be more accurate to say that the spelling is like Amelie, but that requires knowing that the name Zelie is French and also knowing how to pronounce Amelie; I feel like the segment of the U.S. population who would know both of those things is…small. But this is why this is a great question for a group: we may find there are tons of us who would have gone straight to Zelly. Here’s a link to the Twitter poll<\/a>, for those who can use it; I will post the results here when it’s over. [Poll closed; results:]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Of the comments on the 3-tweet series, there were 2 comments saying Zellie, 7 comments saying Zeelie, and 5 comments saying Zaylie, plus several comments expressing uncertainty between two options.]<\/p>\n

2. Does it seem like a nickname-y name? I am going back and forth on this, and I think it’s because I’m unfamiliar with the name. A name like Ellie seems too nicknamey to me for a given name, but a name like Julie does not; it’s hard for me to figure out which one Zelie is more like. And again: SO SUBJECTIVE! The next person could say the exact opposite: that Ellie seemed like a given name, but Julie was clearly a nickname. I think if I can’t decide if it’s too nicknamey, that means for me it’s NOT too nicknamey.<\/p>\n

3. Does this sibling group work with a possible future child named Blaise? I’d say yes, except that Rose and Blaise sound similar to me. But perhaps that is the very thing that helps tie the name group together. I do think the name Rose is going to stand out a little no matter what, just because it’s so familiar and the other names are less so.<\/p>\n

4. You didn’t ask this, but I’m adding it: Do I think you should let your husband have his choice for the baby’s name because he’s been having a rough time lately? No. I think you should find other ways to comfort him. Get him a treat the next time you’re at the store, let him choose which TV show to watch, let him choose what you’re having for dinner. Choosing the baby’s name may improve his excitement\/mood in the few weeks between now and the time the baby is born, but the name is forever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’re looking for a compromise that lets your husband choose his favorite name but reduces the things you’ve found a little burdensome about unfamiliar names (the continual repeating\/reminding\/spelling\/etc.), I wonder if it would work to spell it Zellie. Then you could say “Like Ellie, with a Z!” I think it would also significantly reduce mispronunciations: when I see Zellie, I immediately guess it rhymes with Ellie\/jelly.<\/p>\n

If you would like to instead look for a compromise that lets you choose one of your favorite names, I think Zelie makes a delightful middle name choice. Some combinations might need a little work (e.g., Tessa Zelie is not ideal to my ear), but adding another middle name could help with that (e.g., Tessa Claire Zelie).<\/p>\n

You don’t mention Louise as a first-name option, but I love it and the similar name Louisa, which is apparently a saint name. Louisa Zelie? Avila, Rose, and Louisa.<\/p>\n

Another possibility is Lucilla. Saint name, unusual, shares some sounds with Zelie, has the easy nickname Lucy.<\/p>\n

One of my own favorite saint names is Winifred, and I love it so much with your surname, and it gives you the nicknames Winnie and Freddie. Avila, Rose, and Winifred. LOVE THIS.<\/p>\n

I wanted very badly to suggest Josephine: it has some things in common with Genevieve, without the awkward similar-nickname Evie. But then I realized it just swaps the Avi\/Evie issue for a Rosie\/Josie issue.<\/p>\n

Another option might be to name her Azalea and call her Zellie as a nickname. Here is what I like about this option:<\/p>\n

1. It gives your husband a very unusual name, while giving you one that most people know how to pronounce.<\/p>\n

2. It makes a link between the unusual name Avila and the more familiar flower-name Rose.<\/p>\n

3. It gives you a nickname that isn’t too similar to Avi.<\/p>\n

Here is what I don’t like about this option:<\/p>\n

1. Avila and Azalea are more similar in appearance\/letters than I would generally prefer for sibling names. (Though they do sound very different.)<\/p>\n

2. For me, Zellie would not be a natural nickname for Azalea. (But I think it works fine.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

It was great to read all of your thoughts and comments about the name Zelie! I think deep down I worry that when other people hear my baby\u2019s unusual name, the initial response (even if not spoken aloud) is disapproval. So it was affirming to have so many people comment on the name, not one of whom said, \u201cAre you nuts?! Don\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Posting my letter also reopened the naming conversation with my husband, who really wanted to make sure that I was fully on board with whatever name we chose. I thought about ways that might help make the name Zelie Louise feel more like my choice also, and I liked the idea of giving the baby a second middle name in honor of my dad Norman. In the end, we decided to wait until the baby arrived to make a final decision.<\/p>\n

I often find myself talking to the baby during labor, and this time I kept calling her Zelie\u2014and that was pretty much the clincher for me. By the time she arrived I felt good about her name: Zelie Louise Nora. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are expecting a third daughter at the end of February (coming up fast!), and since you were so helpful in helping us name our last child, I thought I\u2019d ask for help again. Our daughters are Avila Marie (sometimes called Avi like Abby) and Rose Therese Eowyn (usually called Rosie). Our last name is […]<\/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":false,"_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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-3M2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14510","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=14510"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14583,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14510\/revisions\/14583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}