{"id":15314,"date":"2021-03-22T11:32:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T15:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=15314"},"modified":"2021-04-27T19:14:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T23:14:27","slug":"baby-girl-paddle-sister-to-theodosia-teddy-and-philippa-pip-pippa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2021\/03\/22\/baby-girl-paddle-sister-to-theodosia-teddy-and-philippa-pip-pippa\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Girl Paddle, Sister to Theodosia (Teddy) and Philippa (Pip\/Pippa)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I’ve been an avid reader of your blog for years and am so excited to finally be submitting my own question. You and your readers always have great and decisive opinions that seem to make the naming process easier, and I’m hoping you can help with my dilemma.<\/p>\n

I’m pregnant with my third baby, a girl, due in early May. Our last name sounds like Paddle. With all that’s going on now, (work, baby preparations, the virus, having two young children at home all the time,) picking a name for this baby has not been a top priority, until now.<\/p>\n

I have two daughters: Theodosia Marie (Teddy) and Philippa Jean (Pip or Pippa). I love the class and sophistication of both their names, and the adorable nickname that comes with them. They are not made up by any means, just not in the top one thousand, meaning I’ve never met anyone with their names. (Although we run into a boy Teddy every once in a while).<\/p>\n

The name category they fit into is kind of coincidental, I didn’t intend for this specific type of classical name group, but since we already have it going, I figure I’ll just continue it.<\/p>\n

We have a kind of idea of what we like, and it’s between three names, (with the middle name being Rose):<\/p>\n

Wilhelmina- seems to compliment the vibe of Teddy and Pippa’s names, and Willa\/Willie is a darling nickname. I just seem to associate the name with Kaiser Wilhelm and it also feels really hard to spell. This is kind of our compromise name.<\/p>\n

Henrietta- I feel like there’s a great nickname staring me in the face every time I look at this name, but nothing has ‘clicked’ yet (I don’t like Henry or Harry, is Hattie an option?). I really like this name, but I’m not sure this is the ‘one’. (Although this is my husbands favorite)<\/p>\n

Augusta- I think this goes with the girls’ names, and I can’t resist the nickname. Teddy, Pippa and Auggie! I really like this, but my husband does not seem completely sold.<\/p>\n

Other possibilities we considered are
\nTabitha (Tabby) – too similar to Theodosia
\nGeorgina (Georgie or Gina) – couldn’t agree on a nickname, Georgie vs. Gina
\nDorothea (Dot) – too close to Theodosia
\nEugenia (Genie) – Not a fan on the nickname
\nWinifred (Winnie) – LOVE Winnie, but freddy rhymes with Teddy
\nRosamund (Rosie) – Rosie is too common
\nElspeth (Elsie) – my girls think ‘Elsa’ when they hear Elsie<\/p>\n

If I were to rank the top three:
\nAugusta
\nWilhelmina
\nHenrietta<\/p>\n

His rankings:
\nHenrietta
\nWilhelmina
\nAugusta<\/p>\n

Of the extra ones, I like Elspeth and Dorothea the most, but neither will probably work. He favors Eugenia and Winifred.<\/p>\n

I know Wilhelmina is a good compromise, but I don’t want to settle for a name we’re both meh on when we love Theodosia and Philippa so much!<\/p>\n

Any advice Swistle on how to pick a name we both love for our little girl?<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

I love the name Wilhelmina, though I have the Dutch spelling Willemina on my list; does that spelling make it any easier and\/or less Kaiser-Wilhelmy for you? I feel like it’s the -hel- that really takes it over the edge, difficulty-wise. And in addition to the nickname Willa, I like the nickname Mina.<\/p>\n

I also love Augusta, though I would use the nickname Gus\/Gussie; I wonder if your husband would like that any better?<\/p>\n

And I love Henrietta. Hattie is definitely a nickname option, as is Hennie, as is Hettie, as is Etta\/Ettie, as is Ree\/Ria.<\/p>\n

So I am not much help: I love all three names. As you say, Wilhelmina seems like the obvious compromise name; is it definitely accurate to say you’re both “meh” on it? If so, then you each have the other person’s first-choice name as a “worse than meh” name, which I’m afraid means you will need to start over with a new list.<\/p>\n

I wonder if you would like another of my favorites: Millicent. Not in the Top 1000, but familiar and easy to spell. Adorable nickname Milly\/Millie. Theodosia, Philippa, and Millicent; Teddy, Pippa, and Millie.<\/p>\n

I also love Minerva: also not in the Top 1000, yet familiar and easy to spell. (Sometimes people say “It makes me think of Minerva McGonagall!,” and I think, “…Yes? Oh good! She’s a wonderful character!”) Theodosia, Philippa, and Minerva; Teddy, Pippa, and Minnie.<\/p>\n

Florence has been catching my eye recently. Theodosia, Philippa, and Florence; Teddy, Pippa, and Flora.<\/p>\n

Oh! Oh! CORDELIA. Theodosia, Philippa, and Cordelia; Teddy, Pippa, and Delia.<\/p>\n

Or Sophronia, a name made beloved to many of us because of Five Little Peppers<\/a>. Theodosia, Philippa, and Sophronia; Teddy, Pippa, and Phronsie.<\/p>\n

Or Persephone. Theodosia, Philippa, and Persephone; Teddy, Pippa, and Percy\/Persie.<\/p>\n

Magdalena. Theodosia, Philippa, and Magdalena; Teddy, Pippa, and Maggie\/Dolly\/Lena.<\/p>\n

Amaryllis. Theodosia, Philippa, and Amaryllis; Teddy, Pippa, and Rilla\/Lissa.<\/p>\n

Isadora. Theodosia, Philippa, and Isadora; Teddy, Pippa, and Izzy\/Dorrie\/Sadie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’d bring Winifred back into the running: yes, Freddie rhymes with Teddy, but you love Winnie; and if she wants to go by Fred\/Freddie later on, she can decide for herself if it bothers her that it rhymes with her sister’s nickname or if she thinks that’s fun—and by then perhaps Theodosia will be going by Theo or Thea or Theodosia, so it won’t even be an issue. I wouldn’t give two siblings given names that rhymed, but nicknames are a different matter and feel like far less of an issue.<\/p>\n

Rosamund may also warrant another shot. I’d be interested to know if others find the nickname Rosie to be too common. It’s virtually unheard of where I live (though Rose is extremely popular as a middle name), but such things vary so much by area. If you already know a couple little Rosies, that may indeed rule it out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n

Our girl was born on April 24th and she is already consuming the attention of her sisters Teddy and Pippa. We named her Wilhelmina Rose, and for now she goes by Willie. (The girls also call her Mini sometimes because of how small she is :)) After her birth, we realized how much we did love Wilhelmina, and it really is the perfect name for our girlie. Runner up names were Georgina (Gigi), Winifered (Winnie) and Augusta (Auggie, Gussie). I also love Cordelia (Delia), but the husband was not too keen. :) Thank you so much to Swistle and commenters for your help. We now have a Teddy, a Pippa and a Willie, a Theodosia, a Philippa and a Wilhelmina, and we couldn’t be happier. <\/p>\n

Much thanks,
\nThe ‘Paddles’<\/p>\n

P.S. I included a pic of Willie you can share with your readers –<\/p>\n

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

Hi Swistle, I’ve been an avid reader of your blog for years and am so excited to finally be submitting my own question. You and your readers always have great and decisive opinions that seem to make the naming process easier, and I’m hoping you can help with my dilemma. I’m pregnant with my third […]<\/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-15314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-3Z0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15314","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=15314"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15381,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15314\/revisions\/15381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}