{"id":15548,"date":"2021-08-31T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T22:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=15548"},"modified":"2021-10-17T12:10:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-17T16:10:12","slug":"baby-girl-v_______-sister-to-cor-hzel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2021\/08\/31\/baby-girl-v_______-sister-to-cor-hzel\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Girl V_______, Sister to Cor@ H@zel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Swistle,
\nI\u2019ve been a reader for a long time, and 3ish years ago you had a \u201cquick answers in the comments\u201d post<\/a> that helped us name our daughter (Cor@ H@zel). We are now expecting another daughter (almost certainly our last child) in October, and are really struggling with her name.<\/p>\n

We went into the delivery room with two names when Cora was born, and we still really liked the name we didn\u2019t end up using, which was Margaret. But my husband\u2019s cousin used the name for his daughter about 6 months ago, and we just felt weird about using it.<\/p>\n

(As an aside, not only did they use the first name we had picked out, they also used the dated, relatively obscure middle name that we were going to use\u2026it\u2019s my middle name with some history on my mom\u2019s side, so totally unexpected for my husband\u2019s cousin to use it! We hadn\u2019t shared our name choices with anyone, so we were flabbergasted when they announced her name).<\/p>\n

We brainstormed a new list of names, but we are having a really hard time getting to a consensus. We even put Margaret back on the list (they exclusively call their Margaret by a nickname we would never use, so it feels less weird. We would call her Margaret or maybe Margo, and pick a different middle), but now my husband is having second thoughts about it. He has trouble spelling it (which I argued he would get used to once he wrote her name down a few times while filling out paperwork) and isn\u2019t sure about how the middle syllable gets smooshed. Also I recently found out that was my grandpa\u2019s most hated aunt\u2019s name, which, while that doesn\u2019t really matter, doesn\u2019t give me *good* vibes.<\/p>\n

Our last name is Dutch. It sounds like Anderson but with a \u201cV\u201d stuck on the front, and the emphasis is on the \u201cder\u201d.<\/p>\n

Our \u201cnaming rules\u201d are that it should be pronounceable upon seeing and spell-able upon hearing. We did break that rule with Cora, and it hasn\u2019t been a problem, so I guess that\u2019s more of a naming \u201cguideline\u201d. We tend to like shorter names because our last name is a mouthful, and we don\u2019t like unisex names.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the list we\u2019ve come up with. We both like all of these names enough to use them, theoretically, but disagree on which one would be best. Or second best. Or 3rd best etc.<\/p>\n

Alice (some family baggage, but surmountable if we love it best)<\/p>\n

Margaret (after all the drama it feels a little anticlimactic to go back, but I still love it)<\/p>\n

Willa (husband\u2019s grandma, worried about constantly being mistaken for Willow?)<\/p>\n

Violet (husband doesn\u2019t like how the middle syllable is swallowed up, and I\u2019m not sure how I feel about the alliteration)<\/p>\n

Grace (I think it\u2019s a little boring\/dated)<\/p>\n

Mabel (Mae is a family name for me, it just might be a little too Old Lady Chic? It\u2019s quite a bit less popular than Cora)<\/p>\n

Iris (I love, husband wishy washy. He likes it when he thinks flower, but not eyeball)<\/p>\n

Ada (husband likes, I\u2019m wishy washy)<\/p>\n

Margot (my first choice when Margaret got axed, husband also loves it but he hates the \u201ct\u201d\u2026it makes his brain go Mar-Got, but we think we might be dooming her to a life of constant irritation if we used an alternate spelling, since the t spelling is pretty dominant?)<\/p>\n

Molly (It doesn\u2019t feel substantial enough to me but husband likes it)<\/p>\n

Ivy (we both love but it sounds bad with our last name)<\/p>\n

For middle names our preference is \u201cnames we like with a family connection\u201d, even if that connection is tenuous or only in our heads. Current options include Elise (a mashup of our moms\u2019 middles-Lee and Denise) or Elizabeth (after husband\u2019s grandma Betty). But we aren\u2019t that fussed and will cross that bridge once we pick a first name!<\/p>\n

Help! I don\u2019t know if what we need is a name we haven\u2019t thought of, or for someone in authority to tell us which problems we are wondering about are or are not real. We are in the middle of an international move (Americans moving back from abroad), with a toddler, in a pandemic, so I\u2019m willing to accept that excess stress might be leading me to create problems where none exist!<\/p>\n

Thanks,
\nDavid and Samantha<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I still love Margaret for this baby, and I think it’s lovely with the sibling name and surname. Issues I am declaring Not Real: it was the name of your grandfather’s most hated aunt; your husband currently has trouble spelling it (I have utter faith in his ability to improve with patience and practice!).<\/p>\n

I also love Alice. Cora and Alice! Gorgeous. Is the s-sound in Alice at all odd with the s-sound in the surname, or is it a nice tie-in? I can’t quite tell.<\/p>\n

I think Willa is another great option. I doubt it would be confused with Willow at a level that might rule out using it, though I’d be grateful for input from people who know\/have\/are a Willa. And so many names are briefly\/occasionally confused with other names, and it seems like it’s not a big deal unless it’s a virtually unheard of name that is CONSTANTLY confused with a much more familiar name, which is not the case here. And so I declare that issue Not Real—UNLESS it would make you clench your teeth with intense irritation every time it was confused with Willow, in which case I declare it Real—though, even then, perhaps more an issue of thinking of ways to prevent the confusion, such as exaggerating the articulation the first time, or immediately spelling it, or saying “Willa: like Will but with an A on the end.”<\/p>\n

I am picky about alliteration, and I am in favor of Violet with your surname. I don’t mind the “swallowed middle syllable” issue, though I do see it; this seems like another fairly common name situation. Like, if your husband ONLY likes the name pronounced Vi-o-let, and it will drive him crazy to hear Vi-let, then that is a genuinely good reason not to use it. But if this is more a theoretical thing, where he likes Vi-o-let AND Vi-let but is bothered in principle by the fact that in language we sometimes smooth\/elide, then that seems like another Not Real issue.<\/p>\n

I think Mabel is delightful with Cora. I think this is a good example of a pairing where each name makes me like the other name even more.<\/p>\n

Margo(t) is another good option, and I see no reason at all to use the T version if you’d prefer it without: both spellings are familiar. You are correct that with the T is currently more common, but the one without the T used to be dominant. I think it’s only an issue if it would bug you to sometimes need to correct someone’s spelling. My own name has various spellings, and it doesn’t feel like a big deal to have to either pre-load the correct spelling (“Kristen; that’s K-r-i-s-t-E-n”) or else correct it when necessary (“Oh—it’s Kristen with a K”). It doesn’t feel like being doomed to a lifetime of constant irritation. And TONS of names have alternate spellings, so it feels like another pretty common naming thing.<\/p>\n

I have said it aloud many times and am not confident enough to try to pressure you about it—but actually I REALLY LIKE Ivy with your surname. I think it’s distinctive in a good way. I could see how it might feel like it could run together a little—but I think you’d quickly get used to putting a teensy little pause in there, like “Ivy.V____.” And I adore it with Cora. But of course such things are hugely subjective: if you don’t like the sound of Ivy with your surname, that’s what matters. (I’m hoping other commenters will try it out and then weigh in.) (And side with me.) (Because I love it more and more.)<\/p>\n

More names to consider:<\/p>\n

Beatrice
\nBeatrix
\nEliza
\nFrances
\nGemma
\nGreta (unless this is the nickname for Margaret the cousin is using)
\nHarriet
\nIda
\nIsla
\nLouise
\nLydia
\nJane
\nJean
\nPearl
\nPolly
\nRose
\nStella
\nSylvia<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n

Our daughter arrived last week and was nameless for 2 days. Pre-delivery we had narrowed down our long list to two (Margo Elise or Ivy Elizabeth) and intended to choose one upon meeting her. But when we held her, neither felt right, so we went back to the longer list and decided that her name is Violet Elise!<\/p>\n

Thank you so much for your help and advice. It was really freeing to hear that you liked the way Ivy sounded with our last name\u2026we had taken a lot of names off the list that clashed, but couldn\u2019t ever get rid of Ivy. ( I think part of the reason we didn\u2019t use Ivy is that Violet spent a few days in the NICU and all the talk about her IV subconsciously soured me on it. If we were ever to have another girl we\u2019d definitely put it back on the list).<\/p>\n

Thanks again,
\nSamantha and David<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Swistle, I\u2019ve been a reader for a long time, and 3ish years ago you had a \u201cquick answers in the comments\u201d post that helped us name our daughter (Cor@ H@zel). We are now expecting another daughter (almost certainly our last child) in October, and are really struggling with her name. We went into the […]<\/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-15548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-42M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15548","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=15548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15596,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15548\/revisions\/15596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}