Sarah writes:
I need baby name help and I know that you are an expert so I would love some ideas. Our surname is one syllable and starts with G. We are expecting a baby girl in August and we already have a 2 year old boy- Lance Edward (initials spell LEG and though he has the same first and middle name of Lance Armstrong, he isn’t named after him). Lance is named after Lance Mountain my husband’s favorite skateboarder and Edward is my grandfather’s name.
I have consulted the Baby Name Wizard book for sibling names that go with Lance, but I didn’t really like their suggestions. My maiden name is Hannah which I originally wanted to use but the husband vetoed it. Other family names my husband didn’t like, but I did were Emma and Anna. We each kind of have names we like, but aren’t 100% sold on them and are open to any and all suggestions. I like the name Lily (lance and lily, it sounds nice together, and I don’t mind the names being kind of nursery rhyme like- like jack and jill) and he likes Olivia (i do like olivia, but I don’t know if I am ready to commit to it). I have been trying to find middle names that went with either name to see if I would prefer one name over the other, but no such luck.
I worry that both Olivia and Lily are too common of names and I don’t want our daughter to be like me growing up, Sarah was really popular growing up and I hated being one of many Sarah’s in school because unlike all my other friends I was always known as Sarah Hannah and not just Sarah and also my husband’s name Jeff was fairly common and what is even weirder and off topic is how many couples we have met that are Jeff and Sarah, it is kind of freaky! Anyways, I like Olivia and Lily, but I am open to all suggestions or if that is too much to ask for I will be happy with middle names for Lilly or Olivia.
Thank you so much for your time and for your consideration.
Okay! So you want to avoid overly-common. I’m going to open a new browser window for The Social Security Administration’s Baby Name site, because that’s my favorite tool for seeing which names are likely to get more common, and which are likely to get less common.
The name Olivia is in the Top Ten right now, and has been since 2001. The name Lily is less common (#27 in 2007) but on the rise:
1990: #583
1995: #319
2000: #124
2005: #39
As you know, I’m not opposed to common names. But I also understand wanting to avoid them. Here’s the problem: it looks to me as if you LIKE common names, as I do. Here are the names you and/or your husband like, with their 2007 popularity rankings:
Olivia: #7
Lily: #27
Hannah: #9
Emma: #3
Anna: #25
Lily and Anna look like your best bets for “no repeats in the classroom,” although of course there are always flukes: in Rob’s class last year there were two Noahs, a name ranked #24 the year Rob (and those Noahs) were born—and yet there were NOT two Jacobs (#1 that year), Michaels (#2 that year) or in fact two of any other more-popular name.
If you want something SIMILAR to the names on your list but less common, how about:
Annabel (#798) (Annabelle is #196)
Clara (#228)
Eliza (#334)
Fiona (#352)
Flora (not in the Top 1000)
Georgia (#296)
Josephine (#224)
Lena (#453)
Violet (#231)
A caution: these names are rising in popularity. The names on your list fall into The Baby Name Wizard‘s “Antique Charm” category, and that’s where most of the names from that list of suggestions fall, too. That style of name is popular right now, and it’s hard to tell which name will be the next Isabella (from #895 in 1990 to #2 in 2007) or Ava (from #953 in 1990 to #4 in 2007).
Let’s look at the names with the sibling name (I won’t include the names from your list that either you or your husband have rejected):
Lance and Lily
Lance and Olivia
Lance and Annabel
Lance and Clara
Lance and Eliza
Lance and Fiona
Lance and Flora
Lance and Georgia
Lance and Josephine
Lance and Lena
Lance and Violet
I agree with you about Lance and Lily together: I think it’s sweet without being sing-songy. The names both start with L, but after that they’re completely different and so they avoid matchiness. If you plan on having more children, will this make you feel trapped into using only L names? If not, then I think Lance and Lily is great.
I also like Lance with Clara, and with Eliza, and with Fiona, and with Lena. I would choose a favorite, but I can’t: I think Lily, Clara, Eliza, Fiona, and Lena are ALL great.
Let’s vote! The poll is over to the right. [poll closed; see below]
[Poll results:
Lily: 58 votes, roughly 35%
Olivia: 19 votes, roughly 11%
Clara: 33 votes, roughly 20%
Eliza: 26 votes, roughly 15%
Fiona: 16 votes, roughly 10%
Lena: 16 votes, roughly 10%]
I voted for Eliza. You could always call her Liza to “go” with Lance but you aren’t locked in with the L names.
I like Olivia best- you could call her Livvy, which still has that “lily” feel to it, but again, you’re not locked in with the L names.
I also like Olivia, and the nickname Livvy. There are so many ways to spell nicknames, and I think I’d choose Livie for this one. Liv is also cute, like the actress Liv Tyler.
I voted for Lily. Simple, classic, common but not overused. And I love how it sounds with Lance.
What about Hannah for the middle name? I always wished I had had a good maiden name I could include in one of my children’s names… and the middle spot is the perfect name for it!
No one mentioned Elizabeth. This is a lovely classic. What is really cool is two names on the voting list are also nicknames for Elizabeth, Eliza and Lily. With Elizabeth you always have the option to choose between Eliza and Lily later without committing now! Isn’t Elizabeth awesome! Yes, it’s a common name, but Elizabeth really deserves its popularity.
And personally, I feel it’s better to avoid trendy as opposed to avoiding popular. Trendy to me is any name that will become dated in a few years. For example, Isla, isn’t even in the top 1000, but I’ve been hearing it more and more, and if it becomes more popular, I could see it getting really trendy. Ava is an example of a popular name that I consider very trendy.
Even though many of the names on the list are popular, none are trendy so I feel you have good options.
By the way, I voted for Lena. When I was a kid, my neighbors had a daughter, she would be about 20 now, named Lena. She was named after her Great-great grandmother. I always thought it was a lovely underused name.
I voted for Clara. Clara Hannah G______. I think you should keep Hannah somewhere in there! :)
I voted for Lily, but that’s because Swistle didn’t put Georgia on the poll. Lance is slightly off the beaten path, and I think Georgia is as well.
I voted for Lily, because its a name I personally love and if you like it (sounds like you do!) then I think you should go for it!
But I also really like Olivia… so I’m no help, really. LOL.
I think using a fairly well-known name is a good idea; it really helps the child go through life with very little name-related conflict. When you pick something tooooo “unique”, the poor kid has a whole life ahead of them of “explaining their name”. Best to go with something known; and I think all the choices we have here would work well under that criteria. :-)
Since your (and my) name is Sara(h), I’d avoid Clara. I think mother/daughter rhyming names are a little too ‘cutesy’. It will probably end up being your husband and other family members who end up frequently having to say “Sarah and Clara”… It would bug me.
what about Olive, apart from the popeye references it is a really lovely name and less common than Olivia
I voted for Olivia just to keep the initials from being the same, but I like Lilly a lot, too. I’m pregnant with number two, and I have a daughter, Kara. I’ve considered Lilly as a potential girls’ name. I’ve also thought about Lila.
I love classic names, too. What about Matilda and calling her Millie? Millie sounds like Lilly but is less popular. I love that idea, but my husband hates it. Boo on him!
I voted for Lena…but I really also like Josephine. (Lance and Joey). So pretty.
I voted for Olivia thinking about the “Liv” nickname angle as well. Another name that wasn’t mentioned is Lydia — #123 on the SSA list. Just thought I’d mention it.
Oh, I loved Clara until you made the comment about “Sarah and Clara”! Um…ok, along the same vein, how about Cora? Same sort of old-fashioned feel, but no rhyming problem.
I happen to love sibling names that start with the same initial. I’m a sister (Beth) to my brothers Brent and Brad, and my kids are Tara and Tim. So, obviously I love it. That being said, Lance and Lily is great…and I like Lance and Lydia just as much, without the popularity issue.
Lance was a boy’s name we considered, and we would have chosen Lauren as a sibling name. Throwing another idea into the mix!
I chose Eliza because I love it and because I think it has the same classic but trendy feel as Lance. Also, I think Lance and Eliza sound nice together, and I agree with the comment that you could call her Liza but not be locked into L names. Good luck!
How about Lillian, combination of Lily and Anna, nickname “Lily”?
I just came across this while looking for a name for my third child. Guess what my first two are name??
Lillian & Lance!!!
Any suggestions for another “L” to go with??