Lori writes:<\/p>\n
I have a 2 year-old daughter Piper Lynn (my maiden name) Davis. \u00a0We wanted something perky, upbeat and a little tomboyish yet unique enough to go with (the-incredibly-common) “Davis” – I think we got what we wanted.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\nI am now due with our second (and last) child who is a girl, due May 13, 2013 and would like a name to compliment Piper. Middle name will probably be Anne (it would be a 4th generation middle name). \u00a0Obviously longer and traditional names are out. \u00a0I also want to avoid anything too trendy or popular. \u00a0Letters to avoid: \u00a0“D”, “K”, “P” (but not absolutely). \u00a0I want to avoid anything like Kaylie, Kayden, Peyton, etc.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI’m not a huge believer in astrology but she will be a Taurus and potentially be born on my mother’s birthday (with whom I had a very rocky relationship growing up), so a name that could “counteract” those qualities would be appreciated. \u00a0We had thought of Skylar, since sky is the opposite of earth (Taurus is an earth sign) but it seems a little heavy-handed to me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI thought Tatum would fit perfectly with Piper but no one can seem to get Tatum O’Neal and her monstrous history out of their heads. We have also considered: Margo, Marlowe, Sloane, Willa. I love the name Wesley but it, of course, is a strictly boy name. I can’t quite figure out what in the sound fascinates me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The name Wesley is very occasionally used for girls (in 2011, the Social Security Administration reports 2450 new baby boys and 33 new baby girls named Wesley), but with Piper I think it reads boy.<\/p>\n
The first alternate suggestion that comes to mind is Lesley: it’s different from Wesley by only one letter, and currently used mostly for girls. I’m not sure Lesley is a good fit with Piper, though.<\/p>\n
Presley is another rhyming option. In 2011, there were 1384 new baby girls and 123 new baby boys named Presley. Presley Davis; Piper and Presley. Starts with a P, but I’d still consider it.<\/p>\n
Next I think of Waverly. I’m not sure about the repeating -av- with the surname, though, and the initials WAD would bother me.<\/p>\n
Next: Paisley. I think this one has a lot of possibility. It’s very similar in sound to Wesley, but it’s used mostly for girls. I think it shares the perky, upbeat, tomboyish sound of Piper. Unfortunately it starts with P, which you’d prefer to avoid, but I still think it’s a good option. If you were planning on more children, I might worry that it would be hard to find a third name to go as well with those two names as they go with each other, but since you’re not, I think they make a very appealing pair. Paisley Davis; Piper and Paisley.<\/p>\n
Or there’s Ainsley or Kinsley, though Kinsley starts with K and Ainsley might not work with Anne.<\/p>\n
I don’t know enough about astrology to give specific advice, but I think if I were looking for a symbolic name in this situation, I would look for something from a sign compatible with Taurus rather than opposed to it. Using a name opposite to Taurus seems like it symbolizes an urge to cancel out something that she is, or else to symbolically put her in conflict with herself or with her grandmother. I think I might instead look for a name that represents your own astrological sign (to symbolize your hope that your relationship with your daughter will be more compatible than the one you had with your mother), or represents one of the positive qualities of the Taurus sign. Though actually, I think I would abandon this idea entirely: I think a name of this sort might cause you to reflect on your rocky relationship with your mother every time you think of your daughter’s name.<\/p>\n
Tamsin shares sounds but not reputation with Tatum. Tamsin Davis; Piper and Tamsin. I’m not sure I like it with Anne, though.<\/p>\n
Or Gemma would work well, I think. Gemma Davis; Piper and Gemma.<\/p>\n
Or Romy, or Rory. Romy Davis; Piper and Romy. Rory Davis; Piper and Rory. I particularly like Rory, if the initials RAD don’t bother you.<\/p>\n
Quinn may be more unisex than you’d prefer (in 2011, there were 1117 new baby boys and 1680 new baby girls named Quinn), but with Piper I’d be more likely to think girl. Quinn Davis; Piper and Quinn. Maybe not with Anne.<\/p>\n
I think Cleo would be great. Cleo Davis; Piper and Cleo. The initials would be CAD.<\/p>\n
Or Merrin. Merrin Davis; Piper and Merrin. Initials MAD.<\/p>\n
Or Brin. Brin Davis; Piper and Brin. Initials BAD. Goodness, the __AD is a little tricky to work with!<\/p>\n
I wonder if the movie has been gone long enough for us to use Juno? Juno Davis; Piper and Juno.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lori writes: I have a 2 year-old daughter Piper Lynn (my maiden name) Davis. \u00a0We wanted something perky, upbeat and a little tomboyish yet unique enough to go with (the-incredibly-common) “Davis” – I think we got what we wanted. I am now due with our second (and last) child who is a girl, due May […]<\/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-5957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-1y5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957","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=5957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10582,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957\/revisions\/10582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}