Finding a Fun, Surprising Middle Name for Amelia

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.

TRUE, BLUE, and ALL NEW

Lauren writes:

We’re expecting our third child this summer, and we would love some help coming up with middle names.

Our children are:

• William True – We usually call him Will or William. True is a family name that we always planned to use for our first child’s middle name.
• Isabella Blue – If Will had been a girl, we were going to name him Isabella, and that was still our favorite name with our second, so she was going to be Isabella Rose. But we changed it to Isabella Blue at the last minute because we were calling her “Bella Blue” like the Grateful Dead song “Stella Blue” and we’re so happy with her name. Most people call her Bella, but we call her Bella Blue and Bluebelle at home.

We have 99% settled on Amelia for this baby’s name, but we’re not sure what to do about a middle name. We will probably call her Mia for short.

Other names we considered as first names were Mila, Lucia, Katherine, and Alice. We don’t like any of those as middle names, and we’re hoping to have another child in the future, so we’d like to keep those in reserve.

Middle names we have considered:

• Rose – Again, because I like it and it flows well with Amelia, and it is a color name like Blue. But it does feel very common and maybe a little boring.
• Navy – Another Blue name, and what we would probably choose except it rhymes with our last name, so I love it, but it’s a hard no.
• Scout – Not really sure where this idea came from. I like it, but my husband isn’t sure.
• Pax – I like it and my husband was considering it, but my mom said it sounds like a disease.
• Bea – pronounced like “bee” seemed to make everybody happy, but the initials ABD have a negative connotation in my husband’s professional life, so we’re hesitating.

Our last name starts with a D and rhymes with Navy.

I’d really like something fun and special, just like Will and Bella have, but I think we need some new ideas!

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

FINDING ANOTHER STAND-OUT MIDDLE

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your new daughter!

Your question reminds me of something that is so true in 2025. We’re no longer content with filler middles, just to write something in the space. Even when there’s no specific family name or tradition to carry on, we expect middle names to do their part to make our child’s name memorable and meaningful.

So where do we go from here? It’s tempting to suggest other blue names. Or maybe just color names. But I’m intrigued by Bella Blue/Bluebelle, too, and maybe there’s a double name option with Amelia or Mia that could appeal, something that makes the full name click.

As I often do, I turned to this list of single-syllable names for girls for inspiration.

Before we go any further, I really do like Amelia Scout for your list. There’s a sense of adventure about the name, but all that literary appeal, too.

MIDDLE NAMES FOR AMELIA

DARE

Like True, Dare is sometimes seen as a surname. It’s bold and bright and still name-like enough, I think.

DOVE

Because you liked Pax, would you appreciate Dove, as another symbol of peace? I do think it might be sort of close to your surname.

JUNE

Or even July or August if your daughter arrives later in the summer!

LOVE

Bella Blue is sort of sentence-like, and that got me thinking of Mia Love – my love. I mean, not really. But sort of. Also: I feel like I’m gravitating towards single-syllable, four-letter, ends-with-E names, which is a coincidence, so let’s see if I can break that pattern.

LUX

Like Pax without the pox association. It’s a little close to Lucia. Also: I’ve heard it pronounced like Luke, and also like luxury. Both are valid.

SEA

Probably because you mentioned Navy, but also because Bea/Bee is on your list. Sea sounds like it’s her middle initial, but it’s a very cool middle, too.

SKY, SKYE

Sea makes me think of Sky, which is another shade of blue. Bonus? Spell it Skye, which is actually more popular, and you’d have another one-syllable, four-letter, ends-with-E middle.

WREN

From the ending sound of your name, which means Will and his sister would both have family-inspired middles.

I’m torn between Scout from your original list, and Wren and Skye from mine. On sound alone, I really like Skye as a middle name for Amelia with your surname.

But that’s not the only consideration. And it might create a pattern that could feel confining in the future. If that feels like a potential issue, I really do like Amelia Wren, too!

Readers, over to you! What middle name would you give to Amelia with older siblings William True and Isabella Blue?