Jenna writes:<\/p>\n
We are adopting a baby, but we don\u2019t have a due date\u2026 yet. It could be anywhere from next week to February. Not so helpful, huh?
\nOur last name rhymes with \u201cfire\u201d.
\nWe have a daughter whose name is \u2018Holiday Phoenix\u2019 (most people call her \u2018Holly\u2019, but she is wildly proud of all her name). To us, it is the perfect girl name\u2026 unusual, happy, and has a nature-y (and tame) nickname.
\nFor boys, we like \u2018Daryle\u2019, \u2018Gus\u2019, \u2018Samuel\u2019 (the only case of an open adoption in the Bible except for Moses, and \u2018Moses\u2019 isn\u2019t an option), and \u2018Oscar\u2019 (not a possibility, though, with the whole \u2018Fire\u2019 aspect). For the most part, my husband likes men\u2019s names that don\u2019t have nicknames (\u2018Sam\u2019 is the obvious exception). The only two boy middle names we\u2019ll consider are \u2018Holmes\u2019 (family name) and \u2018Dean\u2019 (family name). And we aren\u2019t fans of boy names that begin with the letter \u2018B\u2019. (We don\u2019t want \u2018Dean\u2019 for a first name because we\u2019ve recently known it as a girl\u2019s name).
\nFor girls, we like the name \u2018Serenity\u2019 (\u2018Wren\u2019 for a nickname). We\u2019ve recently discarded \u2018Liberty\u2019 (\u2018Libby\u2019 for short) because we found out that there\u2019s already one at our daughter\u2019s school\u2014and my father-in-law had a very difficult time with a Libby. A good friend just had a baby girl named \u2018Story\u2019 (which we both adore\u2026 especially with the nickname \u2018Rhee\u2019). Middle names for a girl are \u2018Valentine\u2019 and \u2018June\u2019 (both have a sweet tale behind them). For a long time, \u2018Valentine\u2019 was a nice first name choice (with \u2018Valley\u2019 for a short name), but \u2018Val\u2019 is unappealing to us. We\u2019re all about the full name\/nickname combo with a girl.
\nThank you SO MUCH for your help.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n