I hope you can help me with my baby name dilemma!<\/p>\n
Baby girl is due in February and, although I know I have a few weeks before she is here, I feel like I have spent an extraordinary amount of time searching for her name – with limited results.
\nI’m feeling the pressure of time!<\/p>\n
I have three children currently.
\nMaxwell nicknamed Max (7yo), Annika nicknamed Annie (5yo), and Theodore nicknamed Theo (just turned 3yo) (but often called Bear – Theodore to Teddy to Teddy Bear to Bear!)
\nIf this baby were a boy, his name would be Oscar William nicknamed Oz.
\nAnd since I had a boy’s name all ready to go, I just knew that kiddo had to be a girl! Ha!<\/p>\n
Our last name is pronounced very similar to Kale (like the vegetable!). It is German in origin, obviously fairly harsh, and one syllable.
\nBecause of the short last name, I think a three to four syllable first name sounds best.
\nBoth my husband and I are English\/German\/Northern European in heritage and would prefer (although it’s not essential) a name that reflects that heritage.
\nStrongly preferred is a longer formal name with a more down-to-earth\/fun nickname.
\nIn our case, because of the short last name and likely longer first name, a good nickname is (almost) as important as the given name.<\/p>\n
This is my last child.
\nI have noticed in my own naming style, I tend to be more conservative in my boy names, while more unusual in my girl names.
\nI also believe that while a stereotypically feminine name is lovely and to be valued, a girl needs a bit of sass, a little spunk in this world!
\nI want a name with spark and verve!<\/p>\n
I love my daughter’s name, Annika.
\nIt is different, but not crazy or made-up.
\nIt is familiar sounding, but not common.
\nIt has a bit of sass with the ‘ka’ ending.
\nIt has a warm and fun nickname with ‘Annie’.
\nIt is German\/Northern European in origin.
\nI question if I’m ever going to find another girl’s name I like as much!<\/p>\n
The leading contender name at this point is Verity nicknamed Vee or Tru (playing on the meaning of the name ‘Truth’).
\nAnd I like the name! I do. And my exceedingly difficult-to-please husband very much likes it.
\nI just question if it is THE name.
\nI think perhaps it is the ‘ee’ ending that is bothering me. Does it sound to much like a nickname i.e.. Katy\/Sandy\/Vicky\/Etc.?
\nDoes Verity nn Tru sound like we’re ‘trying’ too hard?
\nHow does Maxwell, Annika, Theodore, and Verity work as a sibset? How about Max, Annie, Theo, and Tru? Max, Annie, Bear, and Tru?<\/p>\n
Currently, other possible names for this baby girl are (in no particular order) –
\nRebekah nn Beks\/Bekah (a bit common and unsurprising)
\nRosemarie nn Rose\/Rosie (too sweet)
\nOctavia nn Tavi (somewhat heavy)
\nAlethea nn Allie (a touch frilly)<\/p>\n
Names that we’ve seriously considered but since have discarded for various reasons (although several are still floating around in my subconscious) include –
\nSusannah nn Susie
\nKatrina or Katrin nn Katie
\nMarit\/Maret
\nCalliope nn Alli
\nFaith
\nAverill nn Avi
\nGenevieve\/Geneva\/Genevra nn Jenny
\nTalia\/Thalia nn Tali
\nBeatrix nn Bea
\nNorah
\nHonora nn Nora
\nRoxana nn Roxie<\/p>\n
Ah! Names that we have considered and rejected? Just get out a baby name book!
\nI feel like we’ve been through all the lists!
\nElsa, Gretchen, Greta, Ingrid, Sigrid, Selah, Sarah, Caroline, Elizabeth, Eliza, Emily, Astrid, Hazel, Violet, Avril, Katarina, Kristen, Kiersten, Olwen, Johanna, Abigail, Agnes, Allegra, Athena, Aviva, Vivika, Callista, Clarissa, Clara, Tabitha, Leonora, Felicity, Georgia\/Georgiana\/Georgina, Federica\/Fredericka, Winifred, Gwyneth, Gwendolen, Guinevere, Linnea, Margaret, Magnolia, Sonia, Sylvia, Wilhelmina, and so on, and so on….<\/p>\n
The middle name will likely be chosen from a selection of family names including Jane, Sara\/h, Elizabeth, and Katherine.
\nIf we go with Verity, the full name will likely be Verity Sara-Elizabeth.<\/p>\n
I know I’ve written you a book here, but I hope you can help!
\nIf you do choose my question for your blog, please feel free to cut the email as needed.
\nAgain, I do appreciate any help you can give in my baby name quest!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Name update!<\/strong> Kirsten writes:<\/p>\n Hi!<\/p>\n I wanted to give you an update on Baby Girl Kale. I received so much helpful input from you and your readers!\u00a0 Thank you so much for that! Baby Girl Kale was born on 2\/26\/14 at 1522.\u00a0 8lbs 0oz, 20 1\/4in long. My family is now complete. Thank you so very much, once again!!<\/p>\n Kirsten writes: I hope you can help me with my baby name dilemma! Baby girl is due in February and, although I know I have a few weeks before she is here, I feel like I have spent an extraordinary amount of time searching for her name – with limited results. I’m feeling the pressure […]<\/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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-2cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8445","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=8445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8666,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8445\/revisions\/8666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMy naming dilemma was originally posted on 12\/11\/13 as “Baby Girl Kale, Sister to Maxwell (Max), Annika (Annie), and Theodore (Theo\/Bear)’.<\/p>\n
\nIn fact, it was the comments from a couple of your readers (Kim C and Emily) who mentioned using a European form of a family name ‘Elizabeth’ which helped set us in a great direction to find Baby Girl Kale’s name.
\nLooking through our family trees, my husband and I again came across an ancestor named a German variation of Elizabeth = Elsbeth.
\nThis time though, the name clicked.
\nBaby Girl’s middle name arose from a feminized form of my Maiden name = Mattea.<\/p>\n
\nHer name is Elsbeth Mattea with a likely nickname of Betsy (although big sister is making a concerted push for Bets).<\/p>\n
\nMy children are named –
\nMaxwell, Annika, Theodore, Elsbeth.
\nMax, Annie, Theo, Betsy.<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Screen-shot-2014-03-07-at-5.34.17-PM.png\")
<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"