Ashley writes:
My partner and I are expecting our first on January 2 (That’s the truth so no crying baby Jesus) and we are having some conflict on the perfect name. We are set on the middle name Mae as it is a family name for us both. I like the name Taylor but was quickly shot down as she has a huge dislike of Taylor swift. We also liked Harper for a long time, but its growing popularity has made us shy away from it. Georgia,Charlotte, and Caroline are in the same boat. She really loves McLaine, but its a total no for me. We have a few parameters for choosing the name. 1.) we do not want an overly trendy name i.e. Aiden, Braden, Caden, Emma, Ava, etc. 2.) must have nick names 3.) we would like a name that is feminine, in other words we don’t want the little girl with the 2 mommies to have the boy name, but we are open to Unisex names like Reagan and Jordan. 4.) because the last name, Annest-Clark we don’t want the baby to have a too long of a name.
So far the top names in no particular order are:
Everleigh
Mattea
Madigan
Rory
Mirabel
TatumThanks for your help.
I have trouble adding to your list—it seems like exactly the right list! I will see if I can narrow it down a little.
Madigan has the nickname Maddy, which means she would be sharing with all the Madisons and Madeleines; it might be a little annoying to have people continually assuming your daughter’s name was Madison.
Rory lacks nicknames.
I think my favorite is Everleigh: it’s pretty and feminine and has good nicknames and sounds good with the middle name. If you want to reduce the length of the name, you could spell it Everly.
Name update! Ashley writes:
We welcomed our baby girl on December 18th, more than two weeks early! She is a healthy, happy baby. We went a totally different direction with our name than we thought. Her name is Olivia Mae, and the name suits her perfectly. Thanks for your advice and all the suggestions of readers, Merry Christmas!
Have you considered the name Aurora, nickname Rory?
Otherwise, I also like Everleigh and Mirabel, which also has nice nicknames. Congratulations!
Im with Jillian, love Aurora, nn Rory. I don’t think its too long either (especially if the nn is usually said – Aurora is 3 syllables but an easy 3 (I’d even say easier than your other 3 syllable choices), and not too many letters).
Also I love love love Mirabel on your list. That seems like the most feminine name by far though, and maybe just Mira would be a better fit for the longer last name and is a little less frilly. Love Mira too. I also like Tatum quite a bit. Everleigh doesn’t quite sound like a name to me yet, maybe it will though as more people use it, and I agree with Swistle about Madigan. Good luck!
If you want a longer name with a nickname, the one idea that comes to mind is Romilly, nickname Romy – close to Rory.
You might find Tatum trendier than you think now – especially once you’re reading preschool class rosters! And I agree with Swistle completely on Madigan – love the name, but Maddy/Addie is an epidemic.
I like Everly, but I find Everleigh a little much.
Love Mirabel, as well as Maribel. But how do you feel about the initials M.M.? I love alliteration, but some might find Mirabel Mae cutesy. (I’d use Maribel Mae in a heartbeat.)
Along the same lines as Everleigh/Romilly, there’s:
Delaney
Delancey
Ellery
Mabrie – but not with Mae, I think
Flannery
Best wishes!
Lorelei, nn Rory is another idea.
I love Aurora, with or without the nn. And Everly, nn Evvie or Ever would be cute too.
Good luck!
I was also going to suggest Lorelei nn Rory but I like Aurora nn Rory even better.
Congratulations!
From looking at your names, I would say Mirabel is the one that is the least trendy – I think Everleigh and Madigan are very current, and may sound outdated in a couple of years. Rory to me is still mostly a boy’s name.
Second to Mirabel, I think Mattea is fabulous although I see Swistle’s point of her nickname being Maddie. Still, you could go for Tea, Tee, Matty, which would be a bit different from the common nick names for Madeline and Madison. I like Mirabel – Miri, Belle, Milly would all make great nick names
Of course, if you love one of these names, go for it :)
Some possible ideas
Riley/Reilly
Michaela – Mika, Miki, Ella
Sheridan – Sheri, Dani
Cadence – Cady
Miranda- Miri, Andy, Mia, Rani, Mira
I like Mattea and Madigan best, partly because you want nicknames and Matty/MAddie are easy ones. You have gotten some good suggestions for full names that could become Rory, though. Aurora is my favorite. Aurora, Mattea and Madigan are all 3 syllables, though. Did you want something shorter? I don’t think you really need it. The last name comes in at just 3 syllables, which is short for a hyphenated name. My kids’ last name is five syllables.
I vote for Mirabel “Mira”:
–not trendy at all (Mirabel isn’t in the Top 1000; Mira as a given name ranked #807 in 2009)
–Mirabel has Mira or Bel(l) for nicknames
–definitely feminine
–Mirabel “Mira” isn’t a long name
I also want to second the suggestion of Miranda, which has even more possible nicknames and happens to be the name of my 3-year-old granddaughter “Mira”. Love the name!
And I like both Mirabel Mae and Miranda Mae — alliteration is cool!
You’ve got a great list! Love Everly, with Swistle’s spelling. Rory has always felt a little “mumbly” to me when I say it out loud, so I might suggest Tory:
Tory Mae Annest-Clark. Cute.
And Mirabel (Mira) is awesome too.
Gah…you guys are in great shape. Your girl’s going to have a killer moniker. Good luck and congrats!
Congrats!
I love Madigan Mae.
And even though it has no standout nicknames, I wanted to suggest
Rheia (ray-ah)
Mattea and Mirabel are my favorite names by far on your list. If you’re still looking at more unisex names Peyton and might work.
Mattea is by far my favorite though.
Congratulations mamas!
I think Everleigh is perfect with your surnames and absolutely beautiful in its own right. I love how musical it is to say.
What a great list of names. You can’t go wrong with any of them. I especially love Everleigh (Leigh, Leelee, Ever) and Mirabel (Mira, Belle).
Good luck!
I love Everly! Great nickname potential with Eve, Evie, Leigh.
You mentioned McLaine — what about Lainey?
Great choices, good luck! :)
Olivia Mae is lovely. Congratulations!