{"id":15663,"date":"2021-12-11T15:56:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T19:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=15663"},"modified":"2021-12-11T16:11:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T20:11:58","slug":"15663","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2021\/12\/11\/15663\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Girl Glass-with-a-B, Sister to Jonah, Isaac, and Theodore (Theo)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n

I love your blog & baby names! I feel like I’ve been making lists of my favorite girl names most of my life, but now I finally get to pick MY baby girl’s name (after having 3 boys!) and am having a bit of decision paralysis. I am hoping you and your readers may be able to help, so we can make a final decision and avoid a Dirty Dancing situation where she goes by Baby her entire life.<\/p>\n

We are expecting our first girl in early February. She will be our 4th and last baby and has 3 older brothers: Jonah Patrick, Isaac Stephen, and Theodore (“Theo”) Raymond. Our last name is like “Glass” except with a B. One of us is very picky about boy names, so our 3 boy names were the ones left standing after comparing our lists. My husband’s family is Jewish, so we liked that Jonah and Isaac are Hebrew in origin, although we are not religious. We both really liked Theo and also liked both Theodore and Teddy if he wanted to change the name he goes by in the future. Each of our boys has a family middle name (maternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, and maternal great-grandfather).<\/p>\n

Here are our finalists for girl names:<\/p>\n

Anna or Anne nn Annie<\/p>\n

Eliza<\/p>\n

Penelope nn Poppy or Nell<\/p>\n

Rose nn Rosie<\/p>\n

Other names that almost made it on to this list (and we could be talked into adding): Ada, Charlotte, Claire, Clementine, Cora, Eleanor, Elizabeth nn Libby, Eloise, Georgia, Grace, Ivy, Hazel, Lillian\/ Lily, Lydia, Maeve, Mia, Olive, Ruth, Sadie, Tessa, Violet, and Willa.<\/p>\n

I like vintage and\/or floral names that are recognizable but ideally feel fresh and not overused. I also prefer names with a recognized spelling and \u2018staying power\u2019 so that it fits her as a chubby cheeked toddler, a grown professional, and a sugar-cookie-baking grandma. I also favor names with good (or at least neutral) meanings. If the name has multiple nickname options, then I prefer to commit to one I like ahead of time to avoid an Elizabeth being called a Lizzie her whole life when I much prefer Libby.<\/p>\n

My husband just likes the names he likes and will have final veto power of course (he likes all of the above names with the exception of Clementine and Violet, but I may be able to talk him into them ha). Bonus points if there is a kick a** historical figure with her name that we can share stories with her about (my middle and youngest son LOVE having the same names as Isaac Newton and Theodore Roosevelt and dressed up as them for Halloween this year).<\/p>\n

If at all possible, we\u2019d like to include a family name in her full name in some way. The 2 most obvious options are Elizabeth and Anne or some variation of those names, but we could also consider Lucille, Maeve, Mary, Maureen, or Bentura-with-a-V (my maiden name). I consider Eliza, Anna, and Anne to be family names. Rose is also apparently a family name from way back when (although it may not be as meaningful of a connection as our boys’ middle names).<\/p>\n

Thanks in advance for any help you or your readers provide! It feels extra important to get Baby #4\u2019s name right.<\/p>\n

P.S. My youngest son has been calling her Rose since he first heard he was being ‘promoted’ to middle sibling. For that reason, I’ve always kind of thought of this baby as Rose even though I love the rest of our finalist names just as much if not more (depending on the day).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes a parent is feeling conflicted over a child’s opinion about what the new baby’s name should be, and I reassure them that there is no need to take that into account. My eldest felt VERY STRONGLY that his new baby brother should be named Plum, and there were tears shed, and I was nervous about it even though there was a 0% chance we were naming the baby Plum (though if the baby had been a girl, I might have considered it as a middle name)—and now it’s just a good family story, and my eldest doesn’t remember it at all so I’m glad we didn’t use the name as a middle for a girl, and there are no hard feelings. But in your case, you’ve got something different going on, and I find it compelling: it’s not just that the former-youngest has been referring to the baby that way, it’s also that you’ve started thinking of her that way. AND the name is in your finalist list. So although I still think there is no need to take into account the siblings’ preferences, it DOES cause me to put one completely voluntary tally-mark under the name Rose.<\/p>\n

Your finalist list is very much in line with my own personal taste, which makes it even more difficult to vote. I am going to do what I do with my own name lists, which is to start nitpicking in the hopes of helping one name rise to the top.<\/p>\n

Two nitpicks for Rose. One is that I don’t love the sound of it with your surname. The second nitpick is also subjective, and it’s the sort of thing where a downside for me could be an upside for someone else: it would give you a third long-O sound in the sibling group, or at least it does when Theodore goes by Theo. It’s not a matter of anyone being left out (I don’t think most people care about such minor issues, and in any case Isaac and Rose share an S-pronounced-Z sound), but more a matter of preferring variety of sound. But I wouldn’t let it stop me if Rose were my top favorite name: it’s the sort of thing I only noticed when I started being picky on purpose.<\/p>\n

A similar nitpick for Eliza: it’s so similar in sound to Isaac, in addition to repeating the ending of Jonah. But if I say “Jonah, Isaac, Theo, and Eliza,” my ear catches nothing out of place. Still, for my own preferences, I would probably avoid having an Isaac and an Eliza in the same sibling group.<\/p>\n

Same with Jonah and Anna. They’re separated by two siblings so it’s less of an issue, but the names still strike me as more similar than I’d prefer. But Anne\/Annie seems great. Jonah, Isaac, Theo, and Anne. I’m not super keen on Anne with the surname, but that’s a difficult surname to work with.<\/p>\n

I have no nitpicks at the moment for Penelope. It doesn’t repeat too many sounds; it seems fine with the surname. I don’t know if it’s more common than you would like: it was #25 last year, according to the Social Security Administration<\/a>, while the others on the finalist list were less common: Anne was #625, Anna was #68, Eliza was #115, Rose was #113.<\/p>\n

From your near-miss list, I’d like to pull Eloise back into the running. It’s up there with Eliza as one of my favorite names, and it avoids the sound-sharing issues of Eliza: Eloise doesn’t sound too much like Isaac, nor does it repeat the ending of any sibling names. Jonah, Isaac, Theo, and Eloise. (It does bring back the long-O nitpick but that feels like less and less of an issue the more I think about it, especially since Theo is a nickname and I don’t care anywhere near as much about nickname issues.)<\/p>\n

So, let’s see. Middle names. If you choose the name Anne\/Anna, then she already has a family name, and the middle might be a good spot for one of the other names you don’t use, or for a kickass namesake, or one of the names your husband didn’t like as a first name.<\/p>\n

Same with Eliza: if you choose that, you’ve got the family name already and can move on to other preferences for the middle. I would pick Ruth for its kickass namesake Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Eliza Ruth! Or for a February baby, perhaps Valentine. Eliza Valentine! swoon<\/em><\/p>\n

But Penelope would need a family middle name. I like so many of the options. Penelope Elizabeth is terrific (though my Elizabeth reports that a large percentage of her female classmates have Elizabeth as their middle name). Penelope Anne has a bit more hop to it: Anne was a pretty common middle name for girls in my era, but less so now. I also like the idea of using your family surname. Or would you want to consider giving her your first name as a middle? I so wish I’d given that idea even a passing consideration when naming my own daughter. I also love Penelope Lucille: it can lead to fun extended nicknames such as Nellie Lou. My own top favorite is Penelope with your first name; second choice is a tie between your family surname and Anne.<\/p>\n

I think Rose would need a family middle name as well. Elizabeth works again: Rose Elizabeth. I also like Rose Eliza. I probably would not choose Anne or Anna. I like Rose with your family surname. I also like it with your first name. And I love it with Lucille: Rose Lucille! Rosie Lou! My own top favorite is Rose Eliza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle! I love your blog & baby names! I feel like I’ve been making lists of my favorite girl names most of my life, but now I finally get to pick MY baby girl’s name (after having 3 boys!) and am having a bit of decision paralysis. I am hoping you and your readers […]<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3iyiG-15663","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15663","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=15663"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15671,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15663\/revisions\/15671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}