(I’m out of town but didn’t want to fall too behind on the May baby names. Here’s one for you to work on while I’m gone.)
Becky writes:
I am due on May 24th, but will be induced on May 22nd if necessary due to gestational diabetes – so I have a definite end date.
We don’t know the gender of the baby – so we’re looking for both boy and girl names.For a girl:
I found the name Cora on your site and immediately fell in love with it. I think it’s a nice match for Lily in that both are sort of old-fashioned, yet modernly “sassy” and both are nature names. I like short names, while my husband really wants a longer name alternative for future use. So our first daughter is Lillian, but we call her Lily. We’d like a similar name for Cora and are currently thinking maybe Coraline or Coralie. Or course the Tim Burton movie version of the Neil Gamon Coraline graphic novel was slightly annoying, but I’m thinking it wont’ be a major issue for the name. Any thoughts on a good long version for Cora? We’re also open to other girl suggestions that go nicely with Lily. Oh and for the middle name – my husband is Chinese and his parents give the children a Chinese name. So Lily’s full name is Lillian Man-Ching Wong and a second girl would be Cora (?) Man-Wong. For a boy:
We’ve had a harder time finding a boy’s name. I’ve pretty much come up with three that I’m okay with and told my husband he could pick. But I’d love to hear you and your readers opinions on it as well. The middle name issue is more complicated here because I really want to use Daniel – my maternal grandfather’s name. I was very close to him and he passed away when I was only 10 or so. However, my husband’s parents would still give a Chinese name, so we’d have two middle names- Daniel and a Chinese name. OK so these are the current top three:Jackson Daniel
Wong –> my husband LOVES the name Jackson. My concerns here are that 1) it seems to be pretty common these days and 2) I worry slightly about the whiskey association with Daniel as the middle name. Had Lily been a boy, she’d probably be named Jackson. Quinten Daniel
Wong –> I love the nickname Quin and it turns out that Quinten was my paternal grandfather’s middle name (I had no clue!) So I like the double family tie-in here. Zachary Daniel
Wong –> I think this would be my favorite, but my mother has a cousin Zack who is not very well-regarded in the family. I keep vacillating between disliking the “bad” association and liking the chance to reinvent the name. I also think Lily and Zack sound super cute together. I also wonder if the 2 middle names are too much. If I give up the Daniel thing then Jackson has no more issues with whiskey…..
And my “I should be packing but can’t resist” short reply:
Some long versions for Cora: Cordelia, Corinne, Corinna.
A Zack-like name that isn’t Zack: Isaac.
Would you want to use Daniel as the first name, maybe?
I knew a girl named Corinthia, and there’s always Coral for some longer versions of Cora.
Jackson Daniel doesn’t make me think of the whiskey, I think because the -son ending seems to break it up.
What about Jackson Quin? Then you could still honor a grandparent. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Daniel as the first name. Daniel Jackson Wong sounds great!
I don’t think the whiskey connotation with Jackson Daniel is such a big deal – Jackson and Daniel are perfectly acceptable names on their own. Jim Beam or Gray Goose or Fat Tire … might be another story :)
I love the suggestion of Corinthia for Cora. So pretty! Corinne is also nice.
Would Daniel be the first middle name or the second middle name? Personally, I think second middle names get lost. I wouldn’t use one (IMHO).
I really like Coralie for a longer version of Cora. With Coraline all I could think of was the movie.
I agree that I don’t like double middle names. Why not name him Daniel? Or name him a Chinese name with the middle name Daniel?
How about Coralynn? Similar to Coraline but without sounding like the movie.
I love the name Coraline, regardless of the movie (which, for the record, had no Tim Burton involvement!), but I can understand your hesitation. Coralie is just about as cute!
Of your boy names, I prefer Quinten. Jackson does seem way overused, and Zachary is nearly as common. I also like the family tie there.
Good luck!
I never would have thought of Corinne as a long version for Cora, but I love it and feel of your long versions for Cora, Corinne is the most enduring option that will still be fashionable when you child is 20, 30, 40…etc. I also love Corinthia and I like Coralie but don’t love it. As for Coraline, I’m not a fan. My feelings have nothing to do with the movie but rather the similarity to Caroline. I like Caroline, but I fear Coraline would get misspelled or otherwise mistaken for Caroline and thus wouldn’t use it.
And as for Jackson Daniel – I have friends who named their son Jackson Daniel and found the Jack Daniel connection amusing. I think Daniel was also honoring in some other way, but the couple also liked the wiskey. I wouldn’t worry about the wiskey connection, but wouldn’t use Jackson only because I fear it is getting over done. I love Quinten but feel Zachary, again, like Corinne is the most enduring. I also feel Isaac is enduring too.
If you are like me, and really try to pick a name that will be fashionable for life, I feel Corinne, Zachary, and Isaac are your best bets.
For the record. I don’t have any idea what movie is being mentioned. I’ve never even heard of it, adn I suspect, I’m not th eonly one, so if you love Coraline, I don’t think that should be a deal breaker.
I also like Swistle’s idea of using Daniel as a first name. Lily and Dan. It’s nice. :)
Congratulations on your new addition!
I like Coral best of all the Cora-names, but Corinna is an interesting idea as well.
It seems like Quinten is the only boy’s name that doesn’t have some kind of drawback for you, so that might be a good choice. I do like Jackson and Zachary very much, though. I think the ne’er-do-well relative could be more of problem than the whiskey association at least for me.
If Becky is concerned about Jackson being overly popular for her tastes, I’d suggest not using it. It seems to be extremely common in my area (the upper midwest, for what it’s worth), and according to the SSA website, it’s been growing progressively more popular for quite some time now. It’s #32 on the boys’ name list for 2008. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this name in the top 20, if not the top 10, before long.
Just re: the double-middle name thing: I LOVE it. We are planning to do it with our children – after the paternal and maternal grandparents (so, e.g., Nina Elena as the middle name for our first girl, after my MIL and my mother). I personally have a double-middle name now, since I squished my middle name and maiden name into one middle name. In the two years that I’ve had this, it hasn’t been an issue at all – I just use the first middle initial when I’m only given space for one.
Oh, shoot, and I do have another comment! I love the name Cora – it’s my niece’s (and a late great-grandmother’s) name, and it’s timeless and cute at the same time. I think Corinne is a great long-name version for this, if you don’t just want “Cora” for a name.
I think either Corinthia or Coralie, nn Cora, would be lovely. Coraline is alright, but I do think it would get confused with Caroline quite often, and I just personally prefer the sound of the other two, anyway. Besides, the similiar if not quite matching endings of Lillian and Coraline are a bit tongue-twistery.
For boys, I like Isaac Daniel and Quinten Daniel the best, and they sound terrific with Lily. The Jackson Daniel whisky issue would not be a deal breaker for me, but it probably will come up at some point, and I think you have some fantastic alternatives.
Best of luck!!!
I like Zachary Daniel for a boy. Zachary has actually been going down a bit in popularity while Jackson is still rising.
For Cora – I hadn’t really heard of the name Coraline before the movie/graphic novel. I like Corinne – which I hadn’t heard of before the singer. Neither association is a bad one for me though. It’s a cute name!
What about Coryn/Coren/Corin? Pronounced like Karen. I also like Coraline and wouldn’t worry about the movie. No one will remember it a few years from now.
I agree that Jackson is gaining popularity. Of your favorites, I like Quinten Daniel. Lily and Quin sound good together. And I like the family connection.