Melissa writes:
My best friend K is due with her third child, a girl, in less than a month but baby could arrive any day given that K’s babies always arrive very early. K and her husband, J, really like unusual/unique names. Their eldest son has a made up name (rhymes with Tyson, starts with a K sound). Their second son is Declan which is a “real” name but still pretty unusual. Their last name sounds sort of like Caldwell.
Here are the notes I got from K:
First name contenders:
Sadie
Emerson
Briony
Kinley
Hadlee
Delaney
Siobhan
Amalia
Reamy
Raelyn
Coralie
EverlyI don’t like common names but I do want names that people can read and pronounce (except siobhan because i do like it) I did find another I liked “Brecklynn” but realized it sounds like Declan so it won’t work.
Middle names in contention are: Leigh, Grace, Rae, Schae, Emmeline, Reamy, Amelia, Hazel but that’s just to give you a further sense of her taste. K isn’t too worried about middle names and prefers to worry about the first name right now.
Notes about names from J:
J has a longer list (that I don’t have) but apparently the names are in the same ballpark (unusual). One name I know he likes is Callie (or some variation thereof) but K is not a big fan. J likes to pay attention to how the names flow as a whole and having similar sounds in first and last names (like “K” sound or “L” or “R”) Their last name does have an “R” sound since it isn’t really Caldwell.
Finally, commentary from Melissa, the friend. I think K’s family likes names with a hard “K” sound in them. All four names in the family have a “K” sound in them and the last name has a repeated “K” sound. So, even though I wasn’t asked, I think Kinley and Coralie seem like strong contenders.
Thanks, Swistle and readers, for any help you can provide in naming this baby! Bring on the unique girl names.
And then, Melissa writes:
I wanted to update you on this swistlebabynames submission. As of yesterday I spoke with K and the c-section is scheduled for June 25 (although they are still thinking she’ll arrive before that) and the names are narrowed down to Raemy and Briony with likely middle name Emmeline. She’d still welcome input from Swistle readers if you have time to post this one. :)
Name update 06-26-2009! Melissa writes:
Since I submitted the request I thought I should submit the update. Also, I think photos should be required with updates :) Anyway:
Baby Girl “Caldwell” arrived June 25 and was named McKenna Emmeline. So much for their “finalist” names. The whole family is doing great.
Briony Emmeline is beautiful.
“Reamy” or “Raemy” sound/look like “ream me”. Which sounds like pr0n.
I MUCH prefer Briony…
Definitely, definitely Briony. A lovely name.
Briony. Absolutely. One of my favourites! Could also spell it Bryony…both lovely!
I LOVE Briony!!
I like Briony!
Hands down Briony over Raemy
Brierly is pretty, too.
ooh, I REALLY like Coralie.. that is so pretty and I’ve never heard it before. I love how it sounds with the brothers.
Personally; Briony- meh.
I like Raemy better… especially with Emmeline as the middle.
My favorites from the original list:
Delaney Grace
Siobhan Emmeline
Amalia Leigh
Coralie Rae
Everly Hazel
Between Raemy and Briony, I don’t really have a preference. Good luck to your friends!
The one that popped out at me from the list was Briony. I thought, “Perfect!” It is not common, yet should not encounter very much misspelling/mispronunciation problems, and fits in with the brothers’ names.
I prefer Briony over Raemy as well. But don’t think you won’t encounter mispronunciation. I have heard people pronounce it BREE-uh-knee and bry-OH-knee, when it is, in fact BRY-uh-knee. (It’s a “real” word, not a made-up name.)
You could spell it Bryony, like Tennyson! :)
I vote for Briony over Raemy. I LOVE Briony.
I definitely prefer Briony — I think that’s such a pretty name!
I like Briony over Raemy. However, I don’t like Emmeline as a middle name. I much prefer Schae from your choices above. I think it sounds better with Briony and Schae just sounds more like a mn than Emmeline.
I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Brierly :)
I’ve never heard of Briony, but I have heard of Raemy, but it was spelled Ramie.
I’d pick Raemy, but I would choose a different spelling.
Man, it’s too bad Coralie, Kinley, and Everly are off the list now. They were definitely the prettiest while being a bit off-beat and my favorites from the list.
I don’t really have a preference between Briony or Raemy…I guess I just see Briony as kind of masculine (almost to the point of thinking they wanted a boy and didn’t have a girl name picked out) and Raemy might be mispronounced (is it ree-mee, ray-me, or rem-ee?). How about Briarly instead?
Odd, I only knew one Briony ever and she pronounced her name Bree-OH-nee which I prefer. I like it pronounced like that, or BREE-oh-nee, but not so much BRYE-oh-nee. Sounds too much like Brian with an ‘e’ tacked on. So, my answer would be depends on how you pronounce it, and after looking it up, it sounds like Briony’s pronounce it all different ways, so not sure there is a right and a wrong.