Lindsey writes:
We are pregnant with our second child, and we do not know the gender. We knew our daughter’s gender ahead of time so didn’t have much trouble deciding that go round, but for some reason, my husband and I cannot to commit to a name for either gender yet. We need help! Our daughter’s name is Emery Grace and our last name sounds like Lie-neck. I tend to like names that are out of the top 200ish in popularity and have strong vowel sounds. My husband is less particular than I, likes names that are slightly more common and traditional. Still, he seems almost indifferent to most names for this baby. He has yet to find one that has really struck him, which throws me because I want him to love a name as much as I. For middle names, we are not completely decided, but for a girl, we have considered Lee (after my father) and for a boy (Thomas, which is my maiden name).
We did manage to create a short list for each gender, though we are certainly open to other suggestions:
Girls:
- Maisie (a nod to my grandmother as this was her nickname given by my grandfather)
- Olive
- Sibyl (which is my grandmother’s first name and a name we both like, but I worry about the first name ending with the same consonant as the last name begins)
Boys:
- Cullen
- Finn
- August
- Ames
- (Orlando, see below)
Names I like but husband does not:
Girls: Juniper, Iris, Ruby, Paloma, Matilda, Luna
Boys: Orlando (though I’m still working on him to like this one as it is an old fav of mine and still on my own contention list), Leo, Lucian, Eamon/Amon
Let’s put your lists over in two polls to the right, one for the girl names and one for the boy names, and we’ll also collect suggestions in the comment section. I like Olive best for a girl, and Ames or August best for a boy.
Follow-up 07-16-2009. Lindsey writes:
I just posted a comment on your post for our baby, Baby Lieneck. It has our new favorites with a little help from your readers. I finally feel like we have a solid list of good names that I don’t feel so wishy washy about.
Any feedback on our new names would be so appreciated. Now it isn’t a matter of finding a name we love, but rather choosing a name we love most. And this baby is coming so soon, it feels, so we can’t possibly have that much time left to change our minds again. :)
Here’s the rundown, or you can check the comments section: (and our daughter’s name is Emery Grace)
Boys (middle name is my maiden)
Sullivan Thomas
Elliot Thomas
Finnegan “Finn” Thomas
Solomon ThomasGirls (middle names are all family names of our very favorite family members.)
Eve Monaghan
Juliet Janita (it’s a strange middle name, I know, but it is my mother’s name and I’d so love to honor her)
Greta Lee
Annalise Jane
Poll results:
Original girl names (208 votes total):
Maisie: 136 votes, roughly 65%
Olive: 51 votes, roughly 25%
Sibyl: 21 votes, roughly 10%
New girl names (194 votes total):
Eve Monaghan: 59 votes, roughly 30%
Juliet Janita: 22 votes, roughly 11%
Greta Lee: 61 votes, roughly 31%
Annalise Jane: 52 votes, roughly 27%
Original boy names (205 votes total):
Cullen: 33 votes, roughly 16%
Finn: 82 votes, 40%
August: 64 votes, roughly 31%
Ames: 26 votes, roughly 13%
New boy names (181 votes total):
Sullivan Thomas: 49 votes, roughly 27%
Elliot Thomas: 55 votes, roughly 30%
Finnegan (Finn) Thomas: 65 votes, roughly 36%
Solomon Thomas: 12 votes, roughly 7%
Name update! Lindsey writes:
We welcomed another baby girl to our family and spent two days pondering over which of our final four names (Eve, Juliette, Gretta or Annalise) fit her best. We happily settled on Eve, which is the name I almost called her outloud when they laid her on my chest and I discovered that she was really a she. Her full name is Eve Analee. Once we decided on Eve, my husband and I both decided that this probably being our last child, wanted to give her a middle name after my father, Lee. Lee alone sounded too choppy with Eve so we added the Ana, which worked out well because Analee sounds a lot like one of my old favorites: Annalise. So there you have it! Thank you to all your readers for their assistance and insight with our names! It really helped!
I love the name Maisie and had it high up on my girl name list for ages. But now I feel like it’s with Clifford and all the other names I completely associate with the character from children’s books.
Maisie is my favorite! In fact, you could give her a traditional name, such as Margaret Hazel, then call her Maisie/Maizie for a nn.
I think you’ve got great choices. I really like Orlando…keep working on your husband for that one. For Cullen, although I like that name, I personally wouldn’t be able to get over the fact that it is the last name of the vampires in the Twilight saga…though in 10 – 15 years, people might not make that connection as readily.
Of your girls’ choice, Maisie is my favorite. Olive and Sibyl are both great names on their own, but Olive Lee Lieneck and Sibyl Lee Lieneck are tongue twisters. I do like another poster’s idea of using Margaret, though, with a nn of Maisie. Margaret Lee Lieneck is cute, and if your husband is fond of more traditional names, it might make the name more exciting for him.
For boys, I like Finn, August, and Ames. I agree that Cullen is just too linked to the Twilight series, and while Orlando is fine, I like your other choices better.
I really wanted to vote for Iris, but since it wasn’t an option I voted for Maisie as a distant second.
What about Beatrice? It seems like a lot, but it has an adorable nickname–Bea! Baby Bea! Little Honey Bea! It’s not hugely popular and it’s a traditional name.
Just thought I’d throw it in the ring for your consideration.
I love Maisie, but I don’t think it’s substantial enough on its own… it’s great as a nickname for Margaret, though. Margaret Olive Lieneck is gorgeous.
Maisie is my favorite of your girl names, but I’m a purist who feels Maisie doesn’t hold up as a given name, and would use Margaret with the nickname Maisie. August is my favorite of your boy names.
Coming up with another idea for a boy was easy. When I saw your list, Arlo immediately came to mind. It has the o ending like Orlando but is 4 letters beginning with A like Ames. However, with your last name, Arlo Lienick might be too many L’s.
In fact I noted a lot of names on your list contain L’s. If you don’t mind a lot of L’s and are fine with Orlando Lienick then, you might like Arlo Lienick. I really like it with your middle name too: Arlo Thomas – nice.
I do agree with the poster who said Sibyl Lienick would run together. That’s good enough reason for me to eliminate Sibyl. Especially with the middle name Lee. Sibyl Lee Lienick is – sorry – but too awkward.
I also have the Sybil/Sibyl issue and the Sally Field conenction (Maybe Cybil Shepard, too?). I’m going to suggest a few others to consider, but I am partial to the names Olive on your list (though with Lee is sounds a little like “alovely” and Cullen.
For girls:
Genevieve Lee, Emery and Genevieve
Daphne Lee, Emery and Daphne
Juliet Lee, Emery and Juliet
Isla (not Lee) Emery and Isla
Miriam Lee, Emery and Miriam
Greta Lee, Emery and Greta
For boys:
Deacon Thomas
Finnegan Thomas (still nn Finn)
Julien Thomas
Malcolm Thomas (Emery and Malcolm)
Orion Thomas
Solomon Thomas
Jasper Thomas
Just a few more to think about, good luck!
I do like Orion as an alternative to Orlando. Then you don’t have to worry about the repeated “L” sound.
Wow! Thank you all so much for your suggestions! They are so helpful! And Erin? You hit the nail on the head with some of your suggestions. I love your idea of Solomon, Greta and Juliet! Orion is so cool, and I love it, but hubby doesn’t and thinks it will be confused with “Ryan.”
I actually wrote in to Swistle a few weeks back as we thought this baby would come early. So in the meantime, we have changed our favorite names significantly since. Though, I really appreciate the feedback, it has confirmed what
we have concluded a few weeks ago. Maisie doesn’t really work all on it’s own and though I love the name Margaret, I just don’t see us actually using it. Sibyl doesn’t work with our last name and Olive has just kind of fallen off the favorites list somehow.
Our new favorites, provided your excellent suggestions are:
Boys
Sullivan Thomas
Elliot Thomas
Finnegan Thomas
Solomon Thomas
Girls (middle names are all family names)
Eve Monaghan
Juliet Janita (it’s a strange middle name, I know, but it is my mother’s name and I’d so love to honor her)
Greta Lee
Annalise Jane
We are still waiting on Baby, but I swear he/she is coming any moment. I think this short list might be the one we will stick with.
Thank you all so much for your help!
I love, love, love Sullivan! I hope you have a boy so you can use that name! Emery Grace & Sullivan Thomas, what a great sib-set. From your girls list I like Eve the best. But I still love Maisie and think it can stand on it’s own as a first name. Good Luck!
For boys I really like Sullivan the best out of your list. I think Emery and Sullivan would make a great sibset. For a girl Ilike Juliet the best but not with the middle name Janita. Maybe Juliet Manoghan would be better ?
Sullivan!! Love it! Emery and Sullivan works. I even like the possible nickname Sully.
Good job on the new list! I think you would do well with any of these names but my personal favorites are:
Boy: Elliot
Girl: Greta
Greta was actually my first choice for my 2 1/2 year old daughter but my hubs nixed.
And I don’t think Janita is a stange middle name – I rather like it! Good luck.
LOVE Sullivan!! and my vote for girl is Annalise (although in my family we tend to nn with initials – and one of my favorite cousins has the nn AJ – so it could be influencing me) :) Good luck! all your name choices are great ones!
Janita is cool, but I find it to JJ with Juliet- what about Annelise Janita?
Also- Solomon = CUTE!
Im so honored you liked some of my suggestions! from your new list I like Greta Lee with Emery Grace the best (the sounds and the feel go really well together I think, with the “gr” sound tie-in and soft e sounds) and I like Finnegan or Solomon or Sullivan, you can’t go wrong, so whatever you like the best.
I also think Annalise Jane sounds very nice with Emery Grace, and liked the suggestion above of Juliet Monaghan as well (though is that too close to Montagues, as in Romeo and Juliet, Montagues and Capulets? its kinda cool either way). Good luck!