Louise writes:
We are expecting our second daughter on October 1st and are getting to the final stages of trying to name her! We have decided to continue a few trends we began with our first, who is Charlotte Sunny Louise. She goes only by Sunny. We wanted her to have a ‘sensible’ first name to fall back on if she found Sunny too silly/childish/ridiculous later on in life. For now, Sunny suits her to a tee. It suits us too as Charlotte is so popular. Her second name is my name. For our next child we would also like to give two middle names (a family tradition), one being a more unusual name that we would use as a nickname. At the moment we have Ava Scout _______. I know Ava is super popular, but we both like it (a feat in itself) and we would call our little girl ‘Scout’ anyway.
I would describe my style as a mixture of vintage, hippy and literature derived names. Names like:
Violet
Evangeline
Bellamy
Tallulah
Juniper
Indigo
Madeleine
Audrey (a family name)
Jolie
ValentineMy dear husband Jacob is a little more traditional and likes Ashley, Abigail, Laura and Eleanor. He would name our child ‘Laura Ashley” if given half the chance!
I suppose what I am hoping for is suggestions for the second middle name and even possibly suggestions of the first name (instead of Ava) as I’m still not 100% on it. Our last name is a but tricky to work with due to its strong ‘ooo’ sound and ‘ah’ ending which unfortunately has put me right off Tallulah and Juniper. With the two shorter first names I think a three syllable second middle name sounds best to my ear. I’m not a huge fan of alliteration in names which has deterred me from using a second middle name which begins with an S or B sound or that uses V (because of the V already in Ava).
As you can see, I am over-thinking things and I would absolutely love a fresh perspective! Any help or suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
Since your first girl’s second middle name is a family name, perhaps you could continue that as well. Are there any good girl names on either side of the family tree? Grandmothers, aunts? Or you could give all the girls your name as the second middle name. Normally I think baby name enthusiasts recoil at the idea of duplicating names, since it means fewer fun choices to make—but in this case, where she’ll have two middle names, it seems like a shared second middle name is itself a fun choice.
If not, your husband’s choice Eleanor would be nice there: Ava Scout Eleanor.
If you want something very similar to Ava but less popular, there’s Eva. Eva Scout Eleanor. But other parents are also noticing the Ava/Eva thing, so Eva may soon be just as common. And Eva Bruna may be too close to Eva Braun. Ada, Ida?
For something completely different than Ava: Josephine. I like that name so much with Charlotte, and with Bruna. Josephine Scout Louise Bruna.
It sounds like the Scout part is decided on, but if not, here are a few more possibilities: Birdy, Daisy, Dolly, Pippa, Poppy, Romy, Tilly. Josephine Poppy Louise Bruna?
Name update! Louise writes:
Just letting you know that our little girl finally decided to show her pretty face on October 10th! We named her Ava Scout Evangeline and have already started calling her Scout, which seems to suit her well. Thank you so much for your input, we loved hearing your insights and getting feedback from other readers. Keep up the great work!
I LOVE all your names. Evangeline is my daughters name, and almost every other name on your list was also on mine. I am now pregnant with a boy and LOVE the name Scout and have seriously considered doing the same thing you are and give him a “safe” first name and Scout for a middle but calling him Scout.
Back to your post… I didn’t even finnish reading Swistle’s suggestions becuase I loved her first idea so much. Give all your girl babies the same second name. I think it is a very cute family tie in, and since they will have their own first and middle, there won’t be any individuality issues.
As to possibly changing the “first name…” I think Ava is perfect. It is the exact opposite of Scout, just in case she hates it. If Scout is tomboy and uncommon, Ava is feminine and familiar. It is a perfect “safe” name. Ava and Charlotte are a perfect sib set, as are Scout and Sunny.
Kuddos on comming up with unique, creative names without dooming them!
I love your names. Sunny and Scout? Adorable.
Suggestions for a possible mn:
Estelle
Florence
Juno
Ruby
And first names:
Alice
Evelyn
Frances
Josephine (great choice, Swistle.)
Good luck!
How about putting your husband’s choice Eleanor in the first position since you don’t intend to call her by that name anyway? I think Charlotte and Eleanor are more compatible than Charlotte and Ava. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of giving all your daughters your name as the third middle. Thus her full name would be Eleanor Scout Louise Bruna.
If you don’t want to repeat the name Louise, then I second Swistle’s suggestion of giving this daughter another family name — your middle name, a grandmother or aunt’s name, etc.– as her second middle name.
As for “Scout” which is usually associated with Jean Louise “Scout” in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the character Scout was invented to fit that unusual nickname for a little girl. If there were a back story, the child would probably have been called Jean Louise (which as I recall her father still calls her sometimes in the film) or something close to that name when she was very young, until she took on the tomboy characteristics where “Scout’ fit her. I don’t think the name Scout would suit every little girl. Too, calling this child Scout may be overly matchy with Sunny, taking something away from the uniqueness of your older daughter’s name — 2 5-letter names beginning with S. On the other hand, Sunny sounds feminine, whereas Scout is very boyish.
From your list, you might consider putting Jolie in the 2nd. position — the name she’s called.
Eleanor Jolie Louise Bruna
Eleanor Jolie (family name) Bruna
Sunny and Jolie
I like the idea of using another family name, or repeating Louise. Or using one of your husband’s favorites– Eleanor or Abigail, maybe? Or Violet perhaps.
Other possibilities: Ava Scout Aurelia Bruna, Ava Scout Beatrice Bruna, Ava Scout Carmen Bruna, Ava Scout Grace Bruna Ava Scout Jane Bruna.
I love Swistle’s final suggestion of Josephine Poppy Louise. That is just fantastic and Sunny and Poppy are cute sister names without being too matchy.
I really love Lucy as a sister to Charlotte. I like how both are vintage names that seem to be coming back in style.
I like either Lucy Scout Josephine or Lucy Scout Eleanor.
I also love all of Swistle’s Scout alternatives. I love Poppy and Dolly, which also remindes me of Polly, which I also like.
What a fun name challenge! I hope you tell us what you decide.
Oh, and I guess the u in Lucy may sound too much like the ‘ooo’ in Bruna, which could be a positive or negative depending on how you look at it. I still like Lucy for you.
I’m weighing in really late. I think there are a lot of great ideas here. And I really love the nn Scout.
But. I love the name Ava. Classic, beautiful, and a good fall-back if and when she outgrew Scout. BUT. You mention disliking alliterative names, and I can really relate to that. I don’t care for alliteration or anything at all rhyming. All I could think of with Ava is Bruna. Some people will only say her formal first and last name, and I’m imagining at her college graduation, them announcing into the microphone, AVA BRUNA! And I cringe. Might be silly, but that’s my $0.02.
So, I also sort of vote for the name Eleanor as a fall-back first name. Eleanor Scout ___ Bruna. Eleanor allows for great nn’s itself. So if she decides she wants to be more feminine than “Scout” at some point, she could choose to be Elle, Ellie, Nora, Noor, and so on. (My little girl has a classmate Noor, and it is so fitting for her! Adorable.)
Good luck, and congrats on your second little girl!