Choosing Meaningful Middles for Cora Valentine’s New Brother

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! To have your question considered, email appmtn (at) gmail. Looking for your own private #namehelp post? Order one here.

A CHOICE THEY’D LIKE TO REPEAT

Kaitlyn writes:

Our daughter, Cora Valentine, was born on February 12th, but due on Valentine’s Day. We were kicking around all the usual middle names – Elizabeth, Katherine, Marie, Rose – when a friend suggested Valentine because of my due date, and we both loved it.

We would like to find a similar middle name for our son. We plan to name him Miles, and we’d like a middle name that has something to do with spring. My due date is May 2nd.

This might be unrealistic, but we’d like his name to be obviously about the season/time of his birth, but we want it also sound like a name. Lots of suggestions we’re seeing are either not obvious (Adam, Owen) or not really names (Gemini, Spring).

Our last name is a very common and traditional first name, starts with an H, ends with -ry.

Do you and your readers have any ideas?

Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.

A BROTHER FOR CORA VALENTINE

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your new son!

Cora Valentine is a great name. And I love Miles for her brother’s name, too.

But here’s the absolute, hard reality.

Cora’s due date came with an obvious, built-in name choice. It’s actually a given name with centuries of use. Everyone gets it. It’s not particularly religious, even though it’s a saint’s name, so it might be. Plus Valentine sounds quite current – after all, Valentina ranks in the girls’ Top 100 right now. Should she reveal her middle name and someone ask if she was born on February 14th, she has an easy response.

Simply put, there is no equivalent for the second of May.

Even giving a daughter the middle name May/Mae wouldn’t have the same kind of significance, because it’s such a popular choice.

Another wrinkle: May 2nd is quite close to April. So if you chose a highly May-specific middle, would it still work if your son arrived on April 29th?

I’m going to suggest the following: instead of focusing strongly on a date-specific middle, brainstorm middles that have meaning for you. Where was your first date? Consider the street name or other place names associated with places you first lived or traveled together. Do you share a favorite song, musician, athlete, fictional character, author?

In the meantime, let’s see if we can come up with some general names related to your son’s due date that might work.

A MIDDLE NAME FOR MILES

BRIGHT

I thought about suggesting Blue for the blue skies of spring. But that feels a little vague. Is Bright any more specific? Maybe not, but Miles Bright is an appealing sound.

HAWTHORN

Also known as Mayflower, hawthorn trees and shrubs flower in spring. It’s both a May-specific choice and one you might not need to change should your son arrive on the 30th of April.

MASON

I’m guessing this is too much in the Adam/Owen camp, but Mason has the month of the name built right in. (You could even spell it Mayson, though I’m not sure it needs to be so specific.)

QUINN, QUENTIN, QUINTAN

May is the fifth month on our calendar, so any name suggesting the number five has potential.

SOMMER, SUMMER

While May is very much the spring, it’s also the beginning of summer. I wonder if Summer appeals more than Spring/Springer as a middle name? Spelling it Sommer is every bit as valid, and the surname was often given to those associated with the season.

TWAIN

As in the number two, from a Middle English word. Author Samuel Clemens took it as his pen name while working on river boats. When the pilot heard “mark twain,” he knew the river was two fathoms deep – safe to travel.

I’m voting for Miles Hawthorn. It’s seasonal and surprising, but not completely out-there. Unlike Twain, the name doesn’t lose meaning if your child arrives a day early or late. I’d also vote for Miles Quentin, which is quite name-like, but has enough meaning to possibly appeal.

Readers, over to you. What middle name would you give to Miles?