(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.)
T. writes:
My husband and I totally do not agree on names. Its making this baby naming situation not much fun. I always dreamed it would be really neat to name my daughter, now its just avoidance from my husband (ie, we have tons of time, from day one of the positive test) to annoyance, on my part! :)
My due date is October 13, 2009
We have no other children, but our puppies name is Piper. Very preppy.
-Emerson – I love love LOVE it. My husband hates it
-Quinn – We are both lukewarm on this one.
-Reese – We both love because of the meaning, but having problems coming up with a middle name. We also hope that it doesnt fall flat. Everyone loves the name because of Reese Witherspoon, but I think its more powerful because people say her first and last name. No one will use our daughters first and last name when referring to her. At least I hope not, it sounds very courtroom type trouble-ish!
-Hazell – I dont like it (sounds too old), but its my husband’s grandmothers name.I like Reese (which means passionate for life, fiery) and would love a bibical name, like a name that means Christ or the Lord. Then she would be passionate for God, but I havent found anything out there that would work! Our last name starts with a B and is 4 sylables. So I would love to not torture my daughter with a super long name! :)
I love Reese, I think it’s really pretty. If it’s a name you like, I say go for it! I don’t think it’ll fall flat.
Here are some Christian baby girl names, maybe one will work as a middle name:
Elisha (Latin) – Luke 1:5 – salvation of God.
Elizabeth (Hebrew) – Luke 1:5 – the oath, or fullness, of God.
Hannah (Hebrew) – 1 Sam. 1:2 – gracious; merciful; he that gives.
Joanna (Hebrew) – Luke 8:3 – grace or gift of the Lord.
OR… The following names all stem from “Christ”, maybe one from this family of names would appeal to you:
Christa – Christ bearer
Christabel – Beautiful Chrisitan
Christiana – Christ Bearer, Christian
Christina – Christ Bearer
So the options from above are:
Reese Elisha
Reese Elizabeth
Reese Hannah
Reese Joanna
Reese Christa
Reese Christabel
Reese Christiana
Reese Christina
My personal favourites from these are any of the “Reese Christa – Reese Christina” set. I think they’d fit your criteria!
Hope this helps!
Now I may be biased, but based on your names, and since you both like Reese I say Reese Christine or Christina based on how they sound with your last name.
Neriah – means burning light of God
Moriah/Mariah – from Mount Moriah, has significance for Jewish and Christian faith
I think you should definitely go with Reese. I think Reese Olivia would be really pretty.
Good Luck
Libby
It sounds like you both agree on Reese, and with a four-syllable surname, a short first name makes sense.
There’s also:
Sloane
Brooke (maybe not with a B last name)
Blair (see above)
Blythe (ditto!)
Hope
Wren
If none of those seem like better fits than Reese, I’d stick with her.
As for the middle, Reese Christabeau is unexpected and interesting – modern and medieval at once, meaningful but not obvious. I don’t care for the double “ee” sound in Reese Christina/Christine.
There’s also Reese Christian, but that’s so gender neutral, it might be a bad idea.
There’s also Gabrielle/Gabriella, which mean “heroine of God.”
That would give you something like “passionate heroine of God” when paired with Reese.
Reese Gabrielle
Reese Gabriella
I like Reese Christine the best. My daughter’s mn is Christine too, so I LOVE the name and meaning of it! Good luck!
I love Reese.
Reese Christine
Reese Elisabeth
Reese Danielle
Reese Ariella
I think these are great with Reese, plus they all have great God/Lord/Christ meanings.
My first thought was actually Reese Emmanuelle which means “God with us”, but that may be too long for you?
There’s also Ariel (Lion of God) and Eliana (my God has answered), but those are the only ones I had time to find right now…
Best of luck on your decision!!
I’m going to echo what most have said already and say that Reese is a great pick! I certainly do not think it’ll fall flat. It’s especially great with such a long last name. Go for it!
I don’t have many creative options for names that mean “God” or “Christ,” since that’s not the meaning I seek out for my own name choices, so I’ll just second some of the ones above:
Reese Ariella
Reese Ariel
Reese Gabriella
Reese Gabrielle
Reese Christabel
Reese Elizabeth
Those are my favorite combos. I especially love Reese Ariella. Lovely! That combo would make for a pretty long full name (9 syllables!), so that’s something to consider. I personally have no problem at all with long full names (in fact, if I ever have a daughter, her full name will have a whopping ten syllables!), but you might feel otherwise.
Good luck! :]
Reese is a great choice! I like the other suggestion of Reese Emmanuel, what about Reese Evangeline? Or Reese Christa?
Unusual Biblical names: Eden, Moriah(the Lord is my teacher), Shiloh, Zorah (Home of Samson), Dinah, Keziah & Jemima (a few of Job’s daughters).
These might be too popular for you but I am really loving Faith and Grace right now. Our last name ends w/ “th” but I am thinking seriously about Grace myself. What about Reese Hope?
Reese Joanna jumps out at me. I also like Reese Christina.
What is it that your husband doesn’t like about Emerson? Too masculine sounding? The nickname Eme, though, is super-feminine and so sweet. Maybe after he sees all the hardwork you put in to get her here, he’ll change his mind :) My husband is a guy who has to warm up to names. Maybe just ask him to seriously consider it because you love it so much and don’t say anything else about it till she’s here.
I know this is kind of ‘out there’ but what about Trinity? There’s the whole Matrix connection, but I met a baby named Trinity Grace once and she was so beautiful and a squishy rosy BABY that there was nothing leather-clad about the name.
Reese Evan… Biblical reference, uh, Evan Almighty?
I really like Reese Elizabeth!!
This is not an original suggestion, but I’d go with Reese Christina.
I love Reese Elizabeth, but if that is too much of a mouthful how about Reese Anne.
I love Reese Elizabeth.
Also, what about a first name of Kristin? Thats pretty short and sweet (same meaning as longer Christina)
I love Reese Elisabeth!
Definitely Elisabeth with an “s”, not a “z”, though, as it visually goes better with the “s” in Reese.