Jill writes:
My husband and I are expecting baby #2 (a girl!) who is due September 10. He and I, along with our first daughter, Jenna Elizabeth, share the same initials including middle initials. We can’t decide if we want to continue with this or not. I’m leaning toward not using another J name because I don’t want people to confuse our kids. We like names that are “normal,” somewhat traditional, but under-used. We’re not fans of super trendy names like Grace, Claire, Ellie, Isabel, etc.
Our top picks for J names are:
Joni Ellis (Joni for my husband’s grandmother, Joan)
Jane
JocelynOr top picks for non-J names are:
Callie Sue (Sue for my husband’s mother)
Lyndie SueAnd…. that’s about all we’ve got! We’re definitely coming up short this time around. Can you help??
P.S. Our last name rhymes with Yarns.
If you DO continue with J names, here are some possibilities:
Joely Elena
Jorie Emeline
Josie Ellis
Joy Emerson
June Ellery
If you DON’T continue with J names, here are some possibilities:
April Sue
Cara Sue
Claudia Sue
Ellis Joan
Holly Sue
Laurel Sue
Libby Sue
Marissa Joan
Molly Sue
Robin Sue
Romy Sue
Sukie Joan
And what I want most to know is whether everyone thinks they should stick with J names or not, so let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]
Poll results (190 votes total):
Stick with J names: 125 votes, roughly 66%
Switch to another letter: 65 votes, roughly 34%
Name update 10-02-2009! Jill writes:
Just a quick update on our JEB dilemma….
We decided not to go with another J name and named our daughter Callie Sue. She was born 09-08-09!
Thanks for the help,
Jill
My answer to the J name dilemma would depend on if this will be your last baby, or if you plan on more. I realize sometimes these things can’t be totally planned, but if your last, shes the odd duck out, and you have some good J choices already. If not the last, then she will at least be in other company of not having matching initials and have a namesake (Sue) so it won’t be as hard on her, and it won’t be as hard on you coming up with yet another JE name.
I really like Jane Ellery, and both Josephine and Juniper are becoming new favorites too.
I voted to stick with the initials thing given that everyone else matches. If it were me, I would feel decidedly left out until I was much older.
This might be too far from your traditional but underused but what about Juniper?
Or more traditional options that you may not have considered?
Johanna
Julia
Juliet
Julianne
Josephine
Jillian
I do really like both Jane and Jocelyn though.
Of Swistle’s non J names, my favorite is Holly Sue.
I would also stick with the same initials, using the J. It would be a shame to leave out the second daughter.
Name suggestions:
Jaycee
Janna
Jaclyn
Jaime
Jayne
Joanna
Julia
I think you should choose the name you like best, whether it starts with J or not. I really don’t think a kid would care whether her name starts with the same letter as the rest of her family or not. I think people tend to overthink these kinds of things. If it did bother her, you could always explain that the non-J name is more special because it’s different.
I really like Jocelyn Ellis or Joy Ellis. From reading comments on previous posts it does seem like kids are sensitive about being the odd one out.
I agree that you should stick with J names unless you find something that sticks out. Lots of good suggestions so I’d like to second (or third, fourth, fifth, whatever) Julie/Julia and Jillian. I think Jillian would work wonderfully with Jenna. You could use Jill as a nn if you wanted. I also like Jane. I’m curious about other middle names – Emily seems like it would be a good option.
I feel that Jane might be too similar to Jenna, if you’re worrying about the “mixing up your kids” thing.
Jocelyn is my vote from your list. Jenna and Jocelyn are different sounding enough to not cause that confusion despite having the same first letter.
Other J names I like are:
Josie
Julia
Jacqueline
Jillian
I like the J.E. thing… since all three of you so far have the exact same initials I do think that this little one might feel a little left out being THE ONLY ONE without them.
BUT… another thought… what if THIS little one has the initials “E.J.” . Then she still gets yours and your hubby’s initials, but your two daughters have it reversed (to make their first names more unique).
Emily Jane
Ellis Jocelyn
Elena Jane
Emeline Jocelyn
Erin Joan
Eloise Joan
Elsie Jane
etc, etc… Just another idea!
More “E” names should you go that route (Joan as a middle name would be nice since it’s a family name).
Eva
Eve
Evelyn
Esme
Edie
Emma
We had the same issue. My husband and I are both As, and our son was named after his grandfather – also an A. But our daughter ended up a C.
For us, it made sense – she’s named after her grandmother. Any future children will also have family names, so R. wouldn’t feel left out (we hope.)
But if we were just choosing names mainly because we liked them? I would almost certainly have chosen a fourth A. name. (And a fifth, sixth and seventh if necessary!)
The other thing I would add is this – Jenna is a nice, classic name that invites short forms like Jen and Jenny. Josie and Joni and Callie all seem like nicknames already – sisters for Sadie or Emme, not Jenna. So from your list, I’d say Jocelyn is the best bet. She can be Jocelyn or Lyndie or Josie or Joss … just like her big sis.
Of the suggested J names, I love Juliet. It’s an underused name that is really quite lovely.
For the non-J name, Callie Sue sounds great. Callie and Jenna are a great sibling set.
I agree that it’s probably best to come up with another ‘J E’ name unless you plan to have at least one more child.
There have been lots of good suggestions for first names beginning with J that go with Jenna. Some of my favorites are:
Julie — as a given name or short form of Juliana, Julianne or Julia
Josie or Joselyn nn Josie (Josephine seems awfully ‘heavy’ with Jenna)
Joni — because of the family connection (or Joan nn Joni)
I like all three of your top picks – Joni, Jane and Jocelyn, although at one time “Jenny” was a nn for Jane and Jenna and Jane don’t offer much contrast.
Because your first daughter’s middle name Elizabeth is one of the most classic girls names in the English language, you might want to give your second daughter a middle name which is also a classic. Some suggestions (depending on the first name you choose):
Ellen (or Elena)
Eleanor (or Eleanora)
Emily (or Emilia)
Elaine
Eve
I stay stick. I know it limits you, but I think that it will make this child feel different and left out..
I love the suggestions of Joely and Jorie. Jorie would be a great nickname for Jordan.
Another great name is Johanna (could be pronounced Jo-honna , or Jo-hanna)
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! There have been some great ones! We have a lot to think about and will let you know what the final decision is. Thanks again!
-J, J & J
I’d stick with the J. I like Jane best from your list.
I say stick with the J, but then again, I’m the one who wrote in with a question about agreeing to name all future children with the same initial, so I’m clearly biased in this. The more people I can get over on my side of all-one-initial litters of children, the less weird I seem.
(Except those Duggars. They’ll still be weird.)
I agree, if it’s your last child, stick with J.E.
But I also really like switching it to E.J. So many lovely “E” names!
I also strongly think you should stick with the same naming convention. I wouldn’t be concerned about them getting mixed up unless the names are very similar.
My family (all 6 of us, including parents) were “D” names. When my mom wanted to name the youngest a “P” name, the older kids said no way for that reason (there was an 8 year gap too, which would have made it worse).
I like Jocelyn and it is different enough from Jenna. Jane is too similar I feel. Some of the newer suggestions are good too.
I think the idea of going with the initials EJ is a great idea.
If you decide to go with another J name, I’ll offer up my fave J name: Jordana (said Jor-DAN-a). Possible nickname: Dana.
Another vote for switching it up and using EJ initials with Joan as the middle name. A few more suggestions:
Erica Joan
Ella Joan
Elise Joan
Emma Joan