Megan writes:
My name is Megan and my husband’s name is Eric. We’re expecting a baby girl on February 2, 2011. We have everything all prepared for her arrival… except for her name! Our two kids are named Meryl Alexandra (5) and Quentin Thomas (3). Meryl and Quentin’s names were easy to pick: Meryl is after Eric’s grandmother Mary and Thomas was my maiden name, Alexandra and Quentin were names we just liked. This time around, we’re having more difficulty. Here are our current front-runners:
Clementine – This is probably my favorite. I would shorten it to Cleo as a nickname, but I’m not sure if we’re brave enough to use it! I love it, but is it too much for a little girl?
Tess – This is Eric’s favorite. I like it, but I dislike the way the “s” in Tess runs into the “s” in Osbourne.
Renata – Again, we love it, but is it too much? I don’t think we would use a nickname.
Celine – Eric likes this one more than I do. I think it’s pretty, but I don’t see it as “the one.”
Allegra – I’m a little bothered about the way Allegra Osbourne runs together. Is this a problem?I think it ultimately comes down to Clementine “Cleo” versus Tess. Tess is a safe choice, Clementine is much more unusual. Is it too big of a name to saddle on a little girl? Ultimately, Eric says he would be fine either way, but I know he prefers Tess and I wouldn’t feel right about naming her Clementine if his heart wasn’t in it.
Is Clementine the right name? Tess? One of our other choices? Something else entirely? Help us out!
This is the fault of my 5th grade teacher, who for music class had us sing nothing but the folk songs she enjoyed in her youth: the name “Clementine” automatically and without fail causes me to think “Oh my darling.” Because of this, if you knew me I would tell you it was better to use Clementine in the middle-name slot: you get the full fun of the quirkiness with none of the downfalls (such as Swistle humming the song cheerfully whenever she’s around you, without even realizing she is doing it).
I like Tessa Clementine. Adding the -a gives a nice separation between the S sounds in the first name and surname, and you can still call her Tess whenever you want. It gives you a nice combination of safe and quirky, and gives you the option of calling her Clementine as an endearment—and she can go by it later, if she wants.
Another option is to name her Cleo. I think of Cleo as a completely different name than Clementine, and not a natural nickname for it. Cleo has some of the quirkiness of Clementine and some of the safeness of Tess—a nice compromise name. Cleo Clementine or Cleo Allegra or Cleo Renata plays up the quirkiness; something like Cleo Celine or Cleo Maria or Cleo Samantha plays it down.
Name update! Megan writes:
Thank you so much for all your help! Cleo Celine Osbourne was born on February 4, 2011, at 6 lbs, 10 oz. She’s absolutely delightful and her name fits her perfectly.
I like Tessa Clementine, too. Its a great compromise and you can always call your child Cleo or Clementine as her pet name.
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Cleo —- Osbourne. I’d add that you don’t need to worry about being too safe or not safe enough – I think the names on your list are a good match with Meryl and Quentin. But since you asked such direct questions, I’ll put in my two cents:
Clementine – ….I love it, but is it too much for a little girl?
I don’t think so.
Tess – This is Eric’s favorite. I like it, but I dislike the way the “s” in Tess runs into the “s” in Osbourne.
I think Swistle suggestion of Tessa, nn Tess helps a lot.
Renata – Again, we love it, but is it too much?
I don’t think so. It’s a nice, under-used name but not weird or even unusual.
Celine – Eric likes this one more than I do. I think it’s pretty, but I don’t see it as “the one.”
I’m with you. It also gives the sibset too much of a celebrity theme.
Allegra – I’m a little bothered about the way Allegra Osbourne runs together. Is this a problem?
I don’t think it’s a “problem” but I agree about the flow, though I could live with it if Allegra felt like “the one.”
Renata is my favourite from your list.
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I like Tessa Clementine as well. Or, perhaps Reatta instead of Renata?
Good luck!
That’s funny you mention Tessa Clementine, because Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room’s daughter is Tessa Tangerine!
http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com
I like Clementine a lot but my husband vetoed it for my girl. And I wanted it as a middle! You could pronounce it as ClemenTEEN to avoid the song association if you wanted
Do you like ‘Rhetta’? It has the same feel as Clementine and Tessa, and it definately isn’t going to force her to go by ‘Rhetta O.’ in second grade.
Meryl, Quentin, and Rhetta…
Do you like ‘Celina’ or ‘Clematis’ or ‘Clemency’ or ‘Clorinda’ or ‘Clymene’? She could still have the nickname ‘Cleo.
Meryl, Quentin, and Clemency…
I like how the sisters would both have a ‘y’ in their names. It’s unsual but familiar. AND you get the same meaning as ‘mercy’ without naming her Mercy.
Anyway, best of wishes to the five of you! Please let us know what you picked when your little beauty is born!
I love Tessa Clementine! Such a perfect name and meets all of your parameters.
As I type, my 2 y.o. daughter is snuggled up against my side. Her name is Clio! It suits her wonderfully, and wears surprisingly well.
We used Claire Caroline Wren – a string of family names – for her formal name, but she’s known as Clio since the first minute. (The downside of family names is that she’d inevitably been called Little Claire, or Bitsy, or something else to distinguish her from the others.)
The only downside to Clio is that it is often misheard as Chloe. But that’s not a huge headache.
I’ve seen Clementine, nickname Cleo, suggested other places and I think it works well.
So I’d stick with Clementine, nn Cleo – but I am biased!
I would go for Tessa Clementine.
Other ideas- I like T(h)eresa as a name with your other children — Tess could be a nickname for T(h)eresa, and gives your daughter more options with her name growing up.
A similar sounding name is Clara, which also has the same old fashioned feel to it as your other children’s names. Clara Clementine?
What Mrs. Haid said. Like Swistle, I can’t hear Clementine without thinking “oh, my darling.” I love the idea, though, so Tessa Clementine sounds like a way to get both the safe name and the cool name without the potential aggravation of having people sing at her all the time.
I love Renata from your list and I would say this is my favourite! While I don’t care for Clementine as a first name as much, Cleo is cute. Tess/Tessa is also a great name. Hmmm, I see your dilemma. Good luck!
I like Clementine, but since you both love Renata, go for it! I only met one Renata ever and she was older than I was at the time, so it probably puts her in her forties or fifties now.
Good luck!
I LOVE Clementine, but I am one of those people whose minds go straight to the song after seeing/hearing it. Not in a bad way, but it’s the reason I would personally only use it as a mn…
The solution might be one of these: Cleo Tess; Tess Clementine; Tessa Clementine.
Good luck!