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!
Jill writes:
My husband and I are expecting our sixth child, and fifth daughter. We like traditional names, but after four girls, we’ve run out of names we agree on and could use some new perspective.
Our son is William Andrew, mostly called Will.
He’s followed by four sisters:
Anna Elizabeth, called Annie, Annabeth, Anniebee, and AnnaBanana at home, but mostly Anna by everyone else.
Katherine Jane, sometimes called KayJay, but mostly Katie or Kate.
Sarah Veronica, always Sarah. Her middle name was Rose until the very last minute, when we decided we might use Rose for a future daughter.
Eleanor Grace, mostly known as Ellie.
Our last name is long, Polish, starts with a N, ends with a -ski. No one ever says it right, so we want our kids’ first names to be easy. Family names aren’t our thing, unless it’s an accident from a few generations back.
The only name that has been on our maybe list for all this time is Rose. Sarah was almost Sarah Rose; Ellie was almost Rose Eleanor.
If we’d had another boy, we’d planned to use James Henry or James Anthony. Since it’s possible we’ll see use it in the future, we probably want to avoid J names. (So Jane was never a first name option.)
We also like the idea of Elizabeth, except it’s already Anna’s middle name, and we have an Ellie. So that seems confusing.
Please read on for my response, and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Dear Jill –
Name her Mary!
Wait, did I just blurt that out? Let me back up.
Congratulations on your daughter! It does get tougher as you use your favorite names. But in this case, I’m wondering if you’ve ever considered Mary? It seems like such an obvious sister name for Anna, Kate, Sarah, and Ellie. And you could easily use Rose as her middle name. There’s something very sweet and timeless about Mary Rose, whether you use it as a double name sometimes, like Annabeth, or not.
Except you must have considered Mary already, right? Or Maria or Marie? So I’m going to (try very hard to) move on. Would you consider:
Claire/Clare – Clara almost rhymes with Sarah, so that’s out, but how about classic Claire? The French spelling, with the ‘i’ added – is far more popular in the US today, but you might like the sparer Clare instead. (And I know women and girls with both spellings.)
Louisa/Louise – I feel like Louise is more your style, a tailored name in the key of Katherine and Eleanor. And nicknames? Oh my, do these two names have nicknames! Lou, Lulu, Lucy, Lula …
Lucy – Of course, Lucy isn’t a nickname at all. It’s the typical English form of Lucia just as Mary is to Maria. Or Lucy could be short for Lucille, too, which seems like it might sound right at home with your older girls’ names.
Margaret – I’m having the same reaction to Margaret than I have to Mary. Surely you’ve talked about traditional Margaret already, right? With forms and nicknames galore, it’s easy to imagine Maggie or Meg or Margo fitting in with your family.
Ruth – Ruth carries the same simple elegance as Rose, but it feels a little different, too. And it’s slightly distinctive, I think, a name that’s just different enough.
Teresa/Theresa/Therese – I know a bunch of girls who answer to Tess – or Tessa or Tessie – but they’re actually Theresa, Therese, or Teresa. So it seems like a logical name to suggest.
Okay, I know our readers will have opinions, so I’ll end with this: I love the idea of something like Mary Lucille or Margaret Ruth – two traditional names, but one a little more evergreen, and the other slightly less so.
Readers, what names would you suggest for William, Anna, Katherine, Sarah & Eleanor’s new sister?
The Mary Rose is a very famous ship from the Tudor era, Henry VIII’s battle fleet. She has a fascinating history and can be seen in a specially built museum in the UK. A really cool and unusual namesake! 🙂
Do LOVE Mary for you. Also love Alice.
Mary Evelyn
Mary Abigail
Alice Charlotte
Like Georgia a lot, too.
Rose Emmeline
Audrey Claire
Adelaide Lucy
Lucy Caroline
Caroline Audrey
Rose Audrey
Rosalie Claire
Lucy Adeline
Adeline Pearl
Ruby Adeline
Caroline Ruby
Florence Lucy
Rose Jemima
Imogen Rose
Thea Claire
Dorothy Rose
Harriet May
Geneva Lucy
Thea Florence
Here are some combos I was playing around with. Maybe you’ll like one or two. 🙂
Rose Caroline
Rose Marianne
Rosemary Louise
Rosemary Sophia
Harriet Rose
Frances Mary
Louisa Charlotte
Louisa Mary
Margaret Louise
Lucy Matilda
Lucy Rose
Lucy Caroline
Beatrice Mary
Lydia Margaret
Lydia Rose
Mary Isabella
Mary Louisa
I think the recommendations of Mary, Teresa, Helena and Victoria are spot on. As for other names with different letters that others haven’t mentioned, how about:
Felicity
Philippa (Pip, Pippa)
Paulina (Polly)
Georgia (Georgie, Gigi)
Clementine
Lilith
and a little girl in my son’s class has the name Octavia. I don’t think she has any nn’s, but Tavi would be adorable!
I love Mary for you. A beautiful, currently under-used classic. There’s an adorable 6-year-old Mary in my building. She’s the only kid Mary I know.
Lots of other great suggestions too. Some of my favorites are Beatrix, Edith, and Petra.
Julia Rose would be pretty, classic and sweet. It’s familiar but not overused.
I feel like I missed something… why not Rose? Rose is a classic, wonderful name. Rosemary or Rosemarie perhaps?
Mary Clare
May Frances
Helen Mary (Nellie-May!)
For this set of siblings I would like to reiterate on some the previous suggestions –
Julia
Charlotte
Margaret
Caroline
Joan
(If went the Mary route) perhaps a slight variation, Marion, Marilyn, Marybeth?
Barbara — This may be out of style in the U.S., but it’s a very classic name and stylish in other countries.
Caroline — Classic, less common than Charlotte. Carly or Carrie are cute.
Frances — Classic, Francie or Frannie or Frankie.
Grace — a little less common now. Gracie is cute.
Julia — goes nicely with the other girls, has Jules as the nickname.
Susannah — Sue, Susie, Zan, Zanna