Rachel writes:<\/p>\n
My due date is January 10th! We are down to the wire but fortunately I found your website…<\/p>\n
Our first is Camille Isadora. We chose the first name as a name we both loved and her middle is for her grandfather who was Isidore. <\/p>\n
Last name is Freedman. We need a sibling name and are 90% we like Simone for a girl. The middle name is not determined but we like something with a vowel and 3 syllables to follow the “formula” of Camille Isadora. I seem to like feminine, French-sounding names that are also the names are famous feminists…<\/p>\n
We are having a much harder time with boy names. I like: Gabriel, Ezra, Benjamin, and Theodor. Husband likes Raphael, Aramis, Lando. He’s not wild about my names and I can’t stand his (except for Raphael). I think “Freedman” is a difficult last name and probably works best with a first name that ends in a vowel although we did not go that route for our first. For a boy, I think Simon (masculine version of our top pick girl name) is okay but not great. I love Marcel and Julian but husband has vetoed. <\/p>\n
I’d appreciate your suggestions!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Simone is wonderful with Camille. Four-syllable middle name possibilities that match Isadora (do you pronounce it with 3 syllables, or is that a typo?):<\/p>\n
Simone Aliberty<\/a>
Simone Angelina<\/a>
Simone Arabella
Simone Araminta
Simone Anastasia
Simone Annabella
Simone Ariadne
Simone Arianna
Simone Artemisia
Simone Aurelia
Simone Azalea
Simone Eleanora
Simone Elisheva
Simone Elisabeth\/Elizabeth
Simone Emilia<\/a>
Simone Evangeline
Simone Iliana
Simone Octavia
Simone Olympia<\/a>
Simone Ophelia
Simone Orianna
Simone Ottilie<\/a><\/p>\nOr, if you don’t mind having three syllables instead of four, you could use one of Simone de Beauvoir<\/a>‘s other names (she had four first names, connected with hyphens—now THERE’S an interesting baby name to discuss!): Ernestine. Simone Ernestine Freedman. Ernestine is not a name currently in style, but it certainly would pay a strong tribute to a famous feminist. In fact, to two famous feminists: Ernestine Rose<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Another 3-syllable candidate: Simone Ursula<\/a>. Or Simone Antoinette<\/a>. (Antoinette would also be a very nice first name: Camille and Antoinette; Antoinette Freedman.)<\/p>\n
If you can waive both the 4-syllable requirement and the vowel requirement, Simone Josefina<\/a> would be so pretty. Or Simone Marguerite<\/a>.<\/p>\n
All right, that’s all the time I want to spend on that (time is ticking away and the baby could be born TODAY), especially since I’m not sure how attached you are to the preferences about syllables and vowels, but anyone who’s interested can keep working their way through the list: List of feminists, on Wikipedia<\/a>. My favorite so far is Simone Antoinette.<\/p>\n
Oh, wait, I’m right back to that list, because I don’t see any reason we wouldn’t continue to work from it for a boy’s name. Heinrich<\/a> might be too hard to work with; I like to use actual namesake names as much as possible, but maybe in this case it would be better to use the U.S. version of the name and go with Henry instead: Henry Freedman. Cornelius<\/a> has possibility. I wish it had a good nickname. Neil? Lee? But by the time we’re working on nicknames for a middle name, I feel like we’ve lost the benefits of a namesake name.<\/p>\n
I really like the name Alan<\/a> (it was on our Top 7 list for our lastborn). Alan Freedman, Camille and Alan. More possibilities:<\/p>\n
Anthony<\/a> Freedman
Becker<\/a> Freedman
Brenner<\/a> Freedman
Carpenter<\/a> Freedman
Charles<\/a> Freedman<\/p>\n…Although, this is making me a little uncomfortable. Something about taking a feminist woman’s surname and making it a boy name…I’m not sure if it’s Very Very Good or if it’s Not Good At All. We could stick to the names of male feminists, but (1) that’s a very short list, and (2) none of the names stand out to me: they’re all Thomas and John and so forth (Frederick is wonderful, but not with Freedman).<\/p>\n