B. writes:<\/p>\n
We’re having our second baby in November, and we are looking for names. Our last names rhymes with Tower, but starts with BR, and our daughter is named Lucia (pronounced Loo-SEE-ah) although we call her Lucy at least half the time. Her middle name is my maiden name, which will probably be the same for the next one. We won’t find out if we’re having a boy or a girl, but we’re making progress on the boy name (prob will be Theodore or Maxwell). The issue right now is with a girl name. We both are leaning toward May or Mae.<\/p>\n
My issue with this name is that I think it might be too short to hold up to Lucia. I know it’s traditionally used as a nickname for Margaret or Mary, but I don’t really like either of those names. But I do really like the idea of having a name that comes with a nickname, so that we can use both names for the child. So I’ve been playing around with other names that we might use for a full name with May as the nickname.<\/p>\n
Some ideas:
\nMaeve
\nThis is a name I would love on someone else’s baby, but I’m just not sure that I love it enough for my own.<\/p>\nMaelys (Maa-ay-lees)
\nI think this is pretty. It’s very popular in France right now, which I think makes an interesting pair with Lucia which is very popular in Spain. But is it too out there for an American baby? I’m ok with a little confusion over a name (such as the Loo-see-ah\/loo-sha questions we get) but is Maelys on a totally level? Also, does Mae even work as a nickname for this?<\/p>\nMaelyn
\nPretty, but I think this is too much like Jalen\/Kaylyn for me. I know a ton of kids with these names . . .<\/p>\nMaisie
\nCute, but it already sounds like a nickname.<\/p>\nMarie
\nI really like this name, but I don’t know that May fits it as a nickname.<\/p>\nWe don’t like Mariam, Marianne, and other similar names that sound like a form of Mary in some way.<\/p>\n
Do you have any other suggestions?<\/p>\n
Thanks!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
At first my response was going to be essentially this: If the only reason you’re looking for a longer form for Mae is that you feel you ought to have more syllables to go with Lucia, and you’ve looked at a whole bunch of possibilities and you don’t like any of them as much as just Mae\/May, then I think at this point you can stop looking. I too find it pleasing to have sibling names similar in length, but not to the point of choosing a name I like less—and Lucia is so short in number of letters, I think it’s just fine to pair it with Mae.<\/p>\n
Then on re-reading, I noticed that it’s also that it appeals to you to have a name\/nickname set, and that Lucia goes by Lucy at least half the time. Okay, then, that sounds like a fun mission instead of an obligation mission! But if we go through and list all the Mae-nickname names we can think of and nothing seems right, then I’ll go back to my original response about it being fine to go with just Mae. I think a nickname will evolve: in my house, I think she’d be Maeberry and Mae-mae and Maybe-baby within the first hour.<\/p>\n