(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)
Amy writes:
Our 1st daughter is named Simone Maya. The middle name having a special meaning to us as we were married in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The choices of middle names with meaning we have come up with for our second daughter are Jean (runs in both sides of our families), Rose (our relationship started with a single rose) and Lily (Tiger Lily was our wedding flower). Now we can not come up good first name options, it’s been a huge struggle. I’m hoping you can help. Our Last name is one syllable and starts with a ‘B.’ Here’s some criteria of our likes and dislikes:
We would like:
Two syllables but no more than three
Something that sounds good with Simone
A Name (not made up, put together names)
When you see it written, you know how to say it (no funny spellings)
Meaning (Something that doesn’t have a negative meaning)We do not like:
Super Popular Names (if it’s on the top 100 Social Security List, I will hestiate using it, even if I like it)
Highly Feminine Names (these often end in the ‘ee’ or ‘ah’ sound; Christy or Hannah) This is a hard one to avoid and if I find the right name, this one won’t matter.
Nicknames (the name should be the name)
Classic Names (we want something different than Elizabeth)
Name update 10-19-2009! Amy writes:
I wanted to thank all your readers for their name suggestions. It was great to read other people’s ideas. Our 2nd daughter was born on Oct. 18 and her name is Giselle Marie. Thanks to reader Giselle, we did use your name! In between contractions we decided on Marie for the middle name. We liked the flow and Marie is the same middle name of 3 very strong women that are and will forever be in our lives. Thank you again.
How about Morgan? Morgan Lily or Morgan Rose are very pretty, but Morgan isn’t super popular, girly, or classic.
Simone and Morgan
Or Lauren. Lauren Rose or Lauren Jean.
Simore and Lauren
Good Luck!
Libby
No -ahs or -ees? That’s a tough one. Rose is my favorite of the three middle names (and probably the easiest to work with, so I’m going with that):
Jocelyn Rose, Simone and Jocelyn
Jolene Rose, Simone and Jolene
Ginger Rose, Simone and Ginger
Ellen Rose, Simone and Ellen
Monique, Simone and Monique
Perhaps look at French names, since Simone is a popular French name? Monique, Delphine, Nadage (love that one), Noelle, etc.
I’m also going to suggest Brenna Rose. I know it uses the -ah sound, but it has two syllables, is a name, is easy to say, has a few different meanings (little drop of water, raven, dark-haired). It’s not super-popular and not too feminine. Just something to consider ;) It goes nicely with all three middle name options too (me thinks).
Ooh, I like the suggestion of Monique from above. I was just going to suggest Esme, since Simone has the French thing going on. I know the ending is kind of ‘ah, but not spelled that way. I believe it meets all the criteria, and it’s just plain awesome. I think Esme Rose and Esme Jean both sound lovely. Simone and Esme; I like how they share sounds but in completely different ways. Good luck.
I really like the suggestions above. How about:
Skylar Jean or Skylar Rose
Elise ?
Alice Rose
Ivy Jean
I think all sound nice with Simone.
With Simone, I like:
Eloise,
Elodie,
Cecily,
Cecilia,
Vivienne,
Amalie,
Noemi,
Anais,
Josephine,
Caroline,
Eleanor,
Beatrice,
Julianne,
Frances
I think my favorites are Josephine Lily, Cecilia Jean, and Noemi Rose.
Good luck!
I double-checked to make sure these weren’t top 100, and I really like how they each sound with Simone, depending on your tastes.
Miriam
Violet
Elise
Renee
Kendall
Eden
Camille
Iris
Willow
Oh and Camille, Camilla, Estelle, and Louise/Louisa came to mind.
Simone Maya and Louise Rose?
How about Giselle? I think it sounds great with Simone, it isn’t anywhere near the top 100, doesn’t end in an “ah” or an “ee” sound.
And my middle name is Jeannette…which goes beautifully if you say it all Frenchy…and ties in with your Jean reference.
Yes, you can take my name…Giselle Jeannette. ;)
I like the above suggestion of Lauren. Also:
Payton Rose
Kara Lily or Kara Jean
Jordan Rose
Erin Rose
What about Daphne? Celeste?
Daphne Jean
Celeste Lily
Emerson Rose “Emmy”
Louise Rose “Lulu”
Kaitlin Jean “Kate”
Alexis Lily “Alex”
Adrienne Rose
Juliet Rose
Maribel Jean
Elise Lily
Adele Rose
Bernadette Jean
Marion Rose
Nadine Rose
Elise is surprisingly the most popular of these names. It’s having a slow rise from the 600s 30 years ago to 218 last year.
Adele was on my short list for baby #2, but my husband didn’t like it and we had a boy.
O O O! Claire Nadine.
Colette
Arden
Justine
Joelle
Mirelle
Gwen
Gwenneth
Lark
Lyra
Celeste
Camille
Love Claire, Lauren, or Jocelyn.
Ainsley
Felicity
Iris
Esme
Marina
Whitney
Paloma
Giselle
Twyla
Melody
Jocelyn
Delilah
So, some of these have 3 syllables instead of 2, but here are some thoughts (I think Rose and Jean pair better as middle names than Lily – the y sound seems to cut off the flow somehow)
Harriet
Evelyn
Esme
Olive
Celine
Astrid
Florence
Jillian
Frances
Beatrix
Iris
Imogen
I like Astrid and Jocelyn from previous commenters’ suggestions. Here are a few that came to me while reading your letter:
Corinne
Arden
Piper
Laurel
Here are my suggestions for a sister for Simone Maya:
Aven
Avril (from latin aprilis mng. second, latter. I guess that could be good or bad depending on how you look at it)
Carrigan
Eden
Ellery (Ellery Rose is so cute!)
Elise
Finola
Maribel
Margot
Marisol
Priya (such a pretty name, means beloved)
Stella
Zoya
Zara
Genevieve!
I have been totally touting this name for awhile, but a gorgeous french name that goes beautifully with Simone and any of your middle choices. My favorite is Genevieve Rose I think. True, there are a few possible nicknames and it is three syllables, but so perfect with Simone. I also would suggest Noelle, Simone and Noelle I love also.
Other names suggested already that I think work well are Jillian, Camille, Vivienne, Josephine, Eden, Elise and Margot. I would stay away from the more modern suggestions when pairing with Simone.
I’ll just stick with commenting on the names I liked from previous posts that I thought go well with Simone:
Esme (Lily)
Genevieve (Rose)
Camille (Rose)
Marisol is very pretty to me but I think it lends itself to a nickname too easily. I think Simone is a beautiful name and I hope you pick something equally pretty for #2 :)
How about something that ends in an “o” sound? That would keep it from sounding too feminine, and would echo beautifully the “o” sound in Simone.
Harlow?
Willow?
Marlowe?
Shiloh?
Margot?
Beau?
Nico?
Indigo?
Cleo?
Aiko?
Juno?
Poe?
(I know you don’t like nicknames, but just in case…)
Chloe, nn Clo?
Zoe, nn Zo?
Margaret, nn Margalo or Margot?
Dorothy, nn Doe?
Nicola, nn Nico?
Noelle, nn Noe?
Flora, nn Flo?
Maureen, nn Moe?
Juniper, nn Juno?
June, nn Juno?
Good luck!
I will give you one for each of your middles.
Willa Jean
Margaret Rose (three syllables but the middle one tends to get elided when people actually pronounce it.)
Clara Lily
Good luck!