Jen writes:<\/p>\n
our second daughter, quinn, is scheduled to arrive 7\/7 and we still need a middle name for her. both our girls will have androgynous first names (she’ll be little sister to deven) with more feminine middle names so that, if they end up hating the first, they’ll have an option.<\/p>\n
SO, middle name needs to be stand-alone as a feminine name – and by stand-alone, i mean a less unusual choice…deven’s middle name is elise.<\/p>\n
the other complicating factor is that we have a long last name – something that sounds like micon (hyphen) bonner – and so we think the middle name shouldn’t be more than 3 syllables…but not a monosyllable because it kind of clunks after quinn.<\/p>\n
i could be persuaded to go longer for a name i really love but anything beyond 3 syllables starts sounding very princess-y to me. (alexandria, gabriela, etc)<\/p>\n
lastly, while we love quinn as a first name – and love deven & quinn as sibling names – quinn starts sounding like “queen” when paired with certain middle names, like elizabeth.<\/p>\n
the other officially vetoed names have been sophia, caroline, mirabelle, corinne and madeline.<\/p>\n
we sort of like these names but none sound like The Name…<\/p>\n
gabrielle – too princess?
kathleen – too dated? (plus a friend’s name)
caprice – not stand-alone enough?
therese – too plain to be a first name option?
olivia – too popular? (plus, a family members middle name)<\/p>\n(sidenote: olivia is deven’s middle name suggestion.)<\/p>\n
we also want to stay away from family names since deven doesn’t have one…that rules out:<\/p>\n
alice
danielle
justine
elena
eleanor
margaret
linda
stephanie
pamela
alexis
ariana
carole
elizabeth
jessica
holly
angela
erin
shannon
nora
katherine<\/p>\ngood grief, we’re picky.
help?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSince Deven and Quinn are such perfectly-coordinated sibling names, one exercise we could try is coordinating the middle names just as if they were the first names. That is, we could play the game “Sister Names for Elise,” and see if it yields any names that fit the bill for the actual situation.<\/p>\n