Michal writes:
My dilemma is on the naming of my second child. I am due with a baby girl on Sept 20th. Our first daughter is Kendal Essa. Her middle name is after my grandmother and great grandmother – it is a version of Essie. We named her Kendal because it is not very common and had the ‘al’ similar to my name Michal. And we felt the first and middle went really well together.
For our second child, I am kind of at a loss. I loved the name Maria Angeline but my husband hates it. We liked Ella Marie but then our neighbor named their dog Ella and then a new neighbor has a daughter Ella.
Our top two right now are Aprilia Ryan and Siena Ryan. Her middle name is after her father – Jonryan. Our criteria is to have a somewhat unique first name and then a middle name is reserved for naming after a family member. My husband loves Aprilia and I like it, but not really sold on her being called April for short. My husband isn’t sold on Siena.
Any other thoughts/suggestions?
I wonder if you’d like Averil? It’s unusual but familiar, like Kendal, and it has a similar level of no-frill. Kendal and Averil. That’s my top choice; here’s my whole list (since I saw Marie and Angeline above, I’m assuming the middle name Ryan isn’t a sure thing):
Arden
Averil
Brycelyn
Darby
Finley
Hollis (Holly)
Larkin
Linden (Lindy)
Madigan
Meredith
Rory
Rowan
Shelby
Sheridan
Skyler
Sloane
Teagan
Tierney
Name update 11-02-2009! Michal writes:
Thank you everyone for your comments! We ended up naming our little girl Natalie Ryan. I love her name and she is a wonderful little girl. :)
What about Rylan? Or Mariah? Something incorporating the Ryan into the first name… since you used the ‘al’ influence in your first daughter’s name.
Mariah is close to the Maria that you like, but throws the sound of Ryan in there. Mariah Angeline is very pretty.
Since you liked Ella, how about Eleanor? Or Rhianna, which is similar to Ryan?
I love Arden, Averil & Rowan. I think Tatum fits with those too.
If you go with Aprilia – you could use Lia for short or even Rila…
If not Siena, how about Seneca? Summer? Sierra? Sedona?
Avril is the French word for April, so that might be a good compromise. It could be pronounced with a long /a/ or short /a/.
I like the reasoning behind Averil – it is French for April which is similar to Aprilia, but cannot be reasonably shortened to April. Note how I qualified with “reasonably” because I know there are some people who will try to nickname anything with any name that is remotely close to the formal name. Nevertheless, with Averil I feel you can avoid April. Plus, I like how Kendal and Averil both end in l, but since Kendal ends in al and Averil ends in il, the names don’t rhyme too much at all, but rather are just similar enough.
I love love love the sound of Maria Angeline, but next to Kendal it is too classic whereas Kendal is more fresh and spunky.
I love all of Swistle’s suggestions and all of the suggestions for Averil/Avril. I also love Arden and Linden.
I love Averil! A beautiful name, and goes so well with Kendal!
If you went with Aprilia, I don’t think a lot of people would necessarily shorten it to April (though she might, herself, if she decides she likes it better when she’s older – you never know). “April” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite easily enough to be a natural nickname. If you come up with another pet name for her, Lia or Rila as suggested above, or maybe Rilla or Pia, I think most people would use that.
Though I love the idea of Aprilia, its unique and very pretty, I do think it clashes in style a bit with your other daughter’s name. Aprilia is really frilly while Kendal is the complete opposite. That is why I’m backing up the previous suggestions of Averil, which I think goes perfect with your other daughter’s name.
Other ideas you might like:
Adair
Ainsley
Aspen
Auden
Blair
Delaney
Flannary
Piper
Rowan
Sage
My daughter’s name is Kendall. I am in a similar boat for a second girl’s name. Love the way Averil sounds with Kendal! One of the top runners in our house right now is Maren/Marin/Merryn. In your case, I think it’s similar to both Maria and Ryan.
Marin Angeline?
Another idea is Stella, or Bella, possibly short for Isabella, as an alternate to Ella.
I agree with others that Aprilia does not seem to go with Kendal. To me Aprilia is kind of a mouth full and I could see it getting shortened to April. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Averil. But,even though I’m SURE that is a proper spelling it still looks strange to me, I like it spelled Avril (maybe this is even considered a different name, don’t know I’m not an expert!) I know a sib-set name Kendall and Natalie, Natalie Ryan would be a cute name. Btw, I think you should go with Ryan as the mn. Also like from Swistle’s list, Arden, Madigan & Sloane and I’ll also add Harper. Good luck
Thank you everyone for your comments! We ended up naming our little girl Natalie Ryan. I love her name and she is a wonderful little girl. :)
Our girls are Kendal and Natalie.