THEY’VE COMPILED LONG LISTS OF GREAT OPTIONS
Vanessa writes:
We’re having our sixth (our fifth together. He has a son from a previous relationship) and probably last child in late December, a girl!
We prefer first names that are ideally not in the top 50, but definitely not top 20 names. We don’t like anything too unusual. The names must be familiar in the US and the first initials can’t be the same as our other kids’ names:
- Nolan
- Audrey
- Connor
- Francesca
- Harrison
Our names are Vanessa and Adam, and our last name sounds like ko-VAL-check.
Names we both like:
- Gabrielle “Gia”
- Genevieve “Evie”
- Gemma
- Georgia
- Josephine “Josie”
- Lydia
- Maeve
- Oriana – but is it too out there?
- Sabrina
- Sylvie
- Vivienne “Vivi”
- Zelda
Names we both vetoed:
- Alice – We like it, but don’t want to repeat the first letters of our other kids’ names.
- Isabelle – People will mistake it for Isabella, which is way too popular for us. We don’t like Izzy, Belle, Bella, or Ellie for nicknames.
- Madeline/Madeleine – No way to guarantee that it won’t be pronounced mad-ah-lyn and we don’t like Maddie.
- Maia – We like it, but we’re worried that it doesn’t fit well with her siblings’ names and it will get misspelled as Maya or worse, Mya. We don’t mind Maya but prefer Maia.
- Sophie – Same reason as Isabelle/Isabella. We like Sophia, but it’s too popular.
Names I like, but he doesn’t:
- Beatrice – He doesn’t like how it looks.
- Bridget – Too harsh for him.
- Katherine – Too plain for him and he doesn’t like Katie. He likes Kate, but only as a potential middle because it’s a family name for both of us.
- Laura – He doesn’t hate it, but doesn’t love it either.
- Malia – He thinks it’s like saying Maria with a lisp.
- Tamara (ta-MAR-ah) – It feels dated to him.
Names he likes, but I don’t:
- Daisy – I think of a pet.
- Esme – I prefer it as a nickname for Esmeralda, but is Esmeralda too long with her siblings’ names? If so, can you suggest anything else that we could get Esme from?
- Penelope – I don’t like Penny or Nell.
- Piper – I hate the sound.
- Willow – I’m not a fan of most girls’ names ending in the -o sound and it’s gotten too trendy I think.
- Zoey – I don’t like Zoe as it is, but especially hate Zoey and Zoie.
Her middle name will be Claire, Victoria, Alexandra, Kate, or Christine. They’re all family names.
Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
TIME TO NARROW UP
Abby replies:
Congratulations on your new daughter!
First, I’m going to summarize what you’re looking for in a name:
- Familiar, but not too popular – i.e., not ranked in the current US Top 50
- Nothing beginning with A, C, F, H, or N
- Spelling should be straightforward, and pronunciation, too – it sounds like this is why Maia, Madeline/Madeleine and Zoey don’t satisfy
- Something compact – a nickname is okay, but only if it follows logically from your daughter’s given name, like calling Vivienne “Vivi” for short
Next, let’s tackle a few questions:
- Is Oriana too much? Obviously, this comes down to personal preference. But I’ll note two things: first, Oriana has never ranked in the US Top 1000. It’s very rare. Second, Ariana has ranked in the US Top 100 since 2001. (To say nothing of Arianna and Aria.) I think Oriana is gorgeous. I’m confident it would be misunderstood as Ariana quite often.
- Is there a longer form of Esme? Yes and no. Esme is an increasingly mainstream favorite in the US. Names like Esmerae or Esmeray, a Turkish name meaning “dark moon,” and Esmeralda, the Spanish word for emerald, are options. And a choice like Esmerelle or Esmerine works, too. But none of them are traditionally considered long forms of Esme, and they’re all pretty elaborate. I think Esme fits best with names like Sylvie and Gemma, as well as your older children’s names.
Lastly, I want to highlight a few considerations:
- Popularity isn’t just rank in a given year. It’s rank over time. With that formula in mind, some names that initially seem fairly uncommon might need to be re-framed as too popular – and vice versa.
- Names that sound a lot like other very popular names can be tricky. You’ve already experienced this with Isabelle/Isabella, and I’ve mentioned it with Oriana/Ariana. But this might be a factor with a few other names on your list – more on that below.
RANKING YOUR CURRENT LIST
As a reminder for readers, here’s the current list:
- Gabrielle “Gia”
- Genevieve “Evie”
- Gemma
- Georgia
- Josephine “Josie”
- Lydia
- Maeve
- Oriana – but is it too out there?
- Sabrina
- Sylvie
- Vivienne “Vivi”
- Zelda
Names I would drop:
- Gabrielle – While it’s not very common now, Gabrielle ranked in the US Top 100 from 1990 to 2010, which is a really long run. Gabriella appeared in the US Top 100 from 2000 onward, including 2023. Gia is a distinctive nickname, I wonder if this is another case of Isabella/Isabelle with a little bit of Maia’s challenges mixed in. If it’s not a favorite, it’s an easy name to pass on.
- Oriana – Again it’s a great name, but the Ariana factor isn’t ideal.
- Zelda – I love the idea of the youngest child’s name starting with Z … and yet, Zelda is beyond the Top 500. It’s not terribly mainstream. While I think it will be familiar to most, I wonder if it’s a little too different?
- Josephine/Josie – Both names are very popular; combined, it might be too much.
- Maeve – Gorgeous name, but it’s rising quickly. And there’s no nickname for Maeve, meaning unlike Gabrielle/Gia, there’s really no way to distinguish your Maeve from another one in her kindergarten or on her soccer team.
Names I think have lots of potential:
- Gemma – A perfect sweet spot name, familiar but likely to be all your daughter’s own.
- Genevieve/Evie – It seems like you’re very into G names and v sounds, and Genevieve/Evie has it all.
- Georgia – One of my favorite sweet spot names for a daughter – traditional, stylish, a little unexpected, but only a little.
- Lydia – Yes, it’s popular. But not a lot of names sound like Lydia.
- Sabrina – Like Gabrielle, this name was popular in the recent past, ranking in the US Top 100 in the 1990s. But because there wasn’t the Gabrielle/Gabriella phenomenon, I think it’s on the right side of familiar, not too common.
- Sylvie – A newly rising possibility, Sylvie is fresher than Sylvia, with that appealing V sound. A logical alternative to Sophie.
- Vivienne/Vivi – On paper, I think this name is perfect. But Vivian is also rising in use, and ranks in the current US Top 100 – a bit ahead of Vivienne. I’m wondering if it will end up being another case of Gabrielle/Gabriella.
ADDING TO YOUR CURRENT LIST
- Daphne – If Penelope, Zoe, and Daisy are all close, but not quite, would Daphne appeal?
- Esme – Even without a longer form, I think Esme deserves a second look.
- Phoebe – As with Daphne, this fits the same Penelope/Zoe/Daisy category, but it also shares the strong B sound of Sabrina and Beatrice.
- Zara – A little more familiar than Zelda, appearing in the US Top 300 since 2017. If a name starting with the initial Z appeals, would you consider Zara?
WHAT NAME GOES WITH NOLAN, AUDREY, CONNOR, FRANCESCA & HARRISON?
Your current family includes names that all go together, but represent a broad range of styles – surnames and more traditional first names; Irish and Italian and English; different endings sounds and syllable counts.
They’re linked by their status as current names with clear, strong sounds.
While lots of names would work beautifully for your daughter, I’m going to suggest my three favorites:
#3 ESME
I think it’s worth a second look. Yes, it can feel a little short. But no more than Audrey, really – and, like Audrey, it’s a full, complete name.
#2 GENEVIEVE
It’s a different first initial and a different ending sound. I love the way Genevieve’s V sound picks up on the V in your surname. And – bonus – Genevieve could shorten to Gia, Vivi, or Evie – pretty much all of the nicknames you’ve considered. It’s traditional, flexible, and just a little bit different.
#1 SYLVIE
Because you love Sophie and lots of names with a strong V sound, Sylvie feels like the logical choice. Nolan, Audrey, Connor, Francesca, Harrison, and Sylvie. It really works!
Our daughter was born early yesterday morning (Christmas Eve! She was born at home around 6 AM). We named her Zara “Zosia” Alexandra. Her middle name is after my sister. We had her older sibs vote on our shortlist after she was born and Zara won hands down. We call her Zosia in honor of Adam’s Polish heritage, despite it being a nickname for Zofia there (but we nixed Zofia because Sophia is overused here and Zofia would likely be misunderstood as Sophia/Sofia).
We’re a little over a week from the due date (12/25. Christmas baby! But we all know babies usually don’t come right on their due dates. Lol) and have narrowed our list for our daughter’s name to the top 5 –in no particular order and we’ve chosen Alexandra for her middle name:
1. Genevieve “Gia” Alexandra
2. Sylvie Alexandra
3. Vivienne “Vivi” Alexandra
4. Zara “Zosia” Alexandra
5. Rosalie “Rose” Alexandra
Nolan, Audrey, and Connor don’t have nicknames by choice and because there really weren’t any that stood out to us when they were named. Francesca goes by Annie or Cesca (chess-ka), and Harrison sometimes goes by Hal.
Those are all beautiful choices.
Would you consider using Zosia as a given name? It’s beautiful and makes more sense to me than naming her Zara and calling her Zosia.
We like Zosia, but it’s a nickname for Zofia in his paternal grandparents’ native Poland, not its own name, so he said no to it on its own, and we’d already vetoed Sophie, Sophia, Sofia/Zofia, etc…because Sophia is so popular here. So we sort of combined some of the sounds in Zara and Alexandra (and Alexandra is sometimes nicknamed Sasha in Europe too), so we thought Zosia could still work.