Comments on: Welcome Marion and Tabitha!

By: SophieGray

SophieGray — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:07:54 +0000

I find these two a lovely little pair really. I’m not very fond of Marion at all, but I adore Tabitha. The names seem a little mis matched to me as well though – Marion reminds me of Robin Hood, and she doesn’t seem very feminine to me, whilst Tabitha is very warm and homely and feminine, to my ear.

I feel bad that she only has one mn as well.. Emmy Jo I like Tabitha Iris Hodge! With Marion Loretta I like Tabitha Elaine.. it’d be lovely.

I just checked, and James’ full name is James Wilkie Broderick, so I wonder why Marion has the extra name??

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:28:40 +0000

Emmy Jo, you’re not alone – a number of people have commented that it feels like Tabitha got short-changed on the middle name front. I wonder why? And now that I think about it, Tabitha and Loretta sound more like sisters than Tabitha and Marion …

I’m a big fan of two middle names myself, even though I had to pitch a fit to get my husband to agree on “Caroline Wren” instead of just one.

Love your combos, though – and the fact that you’re dreaming them up! I must admit, I’ve always been fond of Elaine. And Lois is nice, too.

By: Emmy Jo

Emmy Jo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:14:47 +0000

I like both Marion and Tabitha. They go together in the sense that they’re both somewhat dated choices (albeit from slightly different eras), but they still have plenty of appeal and they’re rather unexpected for today.

Little ol’ OCD me is slightly bothered by the middle name imbalance and thinks it would have made sense to give Tabitha a feminine middle name to precede what I presume to be a family surname middle. Something like:
Tabitha Lois Hodge Broderick
Tabitha Iris Hodge Broderick
Tabitha Elaine Hodge Broderick
Tabitha Susan Hodge Broderick

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:35:18 +0000

While I appreciate the name Tabitha, I prefer Talitha. It’s amazing how many more nicknames possibilities there are when you change a ‘b’ for an ‘l’.)

I groaned when I heard Marion, though for purely selfish reasons as Marian and Marianne are both on my shortlist. In both cases it’s in order to honor my mom, Mary Ann.
Pretty nice names, unexpected and creative. Lovely!

By: Eva

Eva — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:45:20 +0000

I think Marion Loretta is really pretty, but I prefer the spelling Marian.

I don’t know why they wouldn’t give Tabitha two middle names as well. Hodge isn’t really an attractive in my opinion, so it would have been nice to have another lovely, feminine name to balance it out.

By: youcantcallitit

youcantcallitit — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:20:25 +0000

I do prefer Marion to Tabitha. I’ve actually always quite liked Marian spelled with an A, but the O feels masculine. Is that arbitrary?

I think the general public will take its cue from SJP and we’ll see Marian rise in the stats, along with Vivian, which I’ll bet will take off from Brangie’s Vivienne. Same but different. Hodge and Loretta are names I’d like to see get a little attention too, actually. I floated Hodge as a way to honor grandfather Roger. Didn’t take (and we haven’t had the opportunity to name a boy). Don’t think Hodge would have ever made it to the birth certificate though.

By: neschria

neschria — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:45:07 +0000

I really like Tabitha, but I am only lukewarm on Marion. Too much Happy Days in my youth, I guess.

And then the two names together? Not so fond of this pair. Even Muriel (not too far off from Marion, in over all feel) would have been better with Tabitha, or perhaps Marion could have been matched with something like Eleanor (which is more popular, but seems to match better in style).

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:59:23 +0000

Hi Lola! We’ve missed you! Hope everything is okay.

And I love the nicknames Mimi & Tibby … I was just mulling over what you can call Tabitha besides Tabby. Bitsy would work, too, but that’s really only for a very small child.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:58:13 +0000

Or maybe Tabitha and Mariana …

By: Allison

Allison — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:00:52 +0000

Yeesh. I can’t relate these names to each other in any way at all; twin names shouldn’t be matchy-matchy, but these two don’t even sound like siblings. Tabitha is an interesting choice, I even like Tabby ok, but Marion is so very bland. If they had been Marion and Myrtle, Dorothy, or Helen, I’d get it. I guess the contrast is what bothers me: Tabitha sounds girly and spirited, and poor Marion can’t help looking a bit drab and frowzy next to her.