Beth writes:
I’ve been scouring the internet for a name for our 4th baby, due on July 10th. She will join 3 brothers: Samuel Elijah (Sam), Sean Matthew, and Gabriel Joseph (Gabe). For some reason, I’m very apathetic about all things girl! And no names sound “right”. Our last name is Putzer, frequently mis-pronounced, but not any better than my maiden name was, so I’m used to it ;) My MIL used to tell her students this little sentence to help them pronounce it: Joan “puts her” shoes on.
Here is my list, that I’ve had buried list in my inbox since #2, even though we knew he and his younger brother were boys:Caryn (neat spelling)
Nia (Irish)
Stella (maternal great grandma’s name) – everyone I’ve mentioned this to has yelled out “STEEELLLLLAAAAAA”, even my husband, so I’m leaning towards no
Olivia – this was to be #1’s name if he was a girl, I think it is too popular now
Leah – meh
Morgan
Carina (beloved, in Latin) , I also like the sound of Cora
Mattea
Mira
Rachel
Renee
Harlow – husband thought this was absurd when I told him
Molly Philomena – seems to be more popular to me now, but Philomene was my grandmother’s nameNewer names I’ve come up with are:
Eden Philomena – I loved this before we knew this baby is a girl… I came up with a boy’s name and girl’s name I liked to avoid being disappointed when we found out. The problem now with Eden is that the FEW people I’ve mentioned it to haven’t been very enthusiastic. My husband seems fine with it and has come up with Edy (ee-dee) for a nickname), but did mention that he looked it up online and the meaning HE found was “place of pleasure”, which to me is somewhat off-putting, but I know there are other meanings. Another person said they had only associated Eden with boys. To me, Eden sounds girl-ish.
Imogene
Jillian (I love the nn Jilly) – husband like this better than Jaqueline, but is still non-committal
Jaqueline (but neither of us like Madeline)Ruby – I LOVE this, but is there a problem with the “u” sounds in this and our last name? I think it might encourage mis-pronunciation of our last name.
Generally, I am disliking popular names and names ending in -a and -ee sounds. I would like it to fit with the boys’ names as in tending towards biblical/saint names. We’d appreciate any help you could give us!
Eden is a place name, usually referring to the garden of Eden in the Bible. “Place of pleasure” is off-putting to me, too, but I think definitions for place and other noun names are unnecessary. A name like Paris, for example, really means “Paris”—rather than “place of croissants and perfume.” (There are some exceptions for names that sound pretty but refer to non-appealing places: for example, people usually prefer to combine the meanings of the names Brook and Lynn for the name Brooklyn.) You are right that Eden is widely considered a girl name, though not exclusively: in 2010, the Social Security Administration reports 1701 baby girls named Eden, and 222 boys.
If you like Caryn and Carina, I wonder if you would like Carys? Or Karenna? Or Corinne/Corinna?
And since you like Cora, I’ll mention Clara.
Eden makes me think of Eve—not for the place-name/place-resident reason, but for the sound of it. Sam, Sean, Gabe, and Eve. I think that’s my favorite.
Another biblical place name you might like is Bethany.
Would you like Genevieve? It appeals to me that then the kids’ initials would be S, S, G, G. The nickname Evie is similar to the Edie nickname your husband liked for Eden.
Another of my favorite saint names is Josephine.
My favorite from your original list is Rachel. I like it with her brothers’ names and with your surname.
I also like Philomena as a first name. She could go by Mena for short.
From your newer list, my favorite is Imogene (I like Imogen even better), and I also like Jillian.
Name update! Beth writes:
I think I’m pretty settled in at home now to let you know that our baby girl arrived on June 16, 4 weeks early! This pregnancy was so different than my previous three, I should not have been surprised to be in labor! Due to the gestational diabetes that I developed with this one, 36 weeks was too early for her little lungs and she was taken to the special care nursery right after delivery. She spent the night with oxygen and I got to hold her in the morning for a little bit. We still didn’t have her name picked out, but I really felt urgency to come up with something while watching her from outside the incubator. I was really liking Ruby Cecelia or Ruby Philomena up to that point, but I finally got out of my husband that his grandpa’s dog was named Ruby and therefor not an OK name for his daughter. The week before we had exchanged an email with Evelyn in it. I wasn’t sold, but Evelyn sounded nice with Cecelia (close to his grandmother’s name, everyone called her Ceil, but no one can tell me what her full name was) and he liked that it had a couple of different nicknames (Evy, Ev, Eve, etc). So she became Evelyn Cecelia. Just in time, I think, because she developed a pneumothorax (tear in her lung that let air into her chest) and had to be transferred to the NICU at another hospital. It was scary and she had to have a tube into lungs and an IV and many other things, but she got better quickly and was ready to go home after one week. We are so happy to be home and she is sleeping away as I type!
Thank you and your readers for your help! I really appreciated the different perspectives!
Now… to try and finish our little girl’s bedroom!
Your short-listed names Mira and Jillian make me wonder I’d you would like Miriam. That still leaves the possibility of Miri or Mira as nn. Samuel, Sean, Gabriel, and Miriam. Aw!
I think, of anything, Ruby would HELP the pronunciation of your last name, as the ‘u’ sounds in both names are pretty similar. I certainly would be more inclined to call her Ruby Puts-Her before Ruby Pyewts-her (which is how I read your name at first sight).
I also like Eden for you, but with your sib set I don’t think it fits quite as well as other names might. That is strange, since you’ve got a lot of biblical names going on and Eden is, of course, also from tue bible. I
I suggest Cana. I do like Miriam, Jillian, and Eve with your last name, though.
Elizabeth is saint-y and biblical, and sounds good, to me, with your boys’ names. Maybe you’d have less trouble with Stella if you had a good short middle name to go with it? Like Stella Pearl? I also really like Eve.
From your list I like Jillian, Rachel & Ruby. I also liked Swistle’s suggestion of using a G name. How about Gemma?
Or how about Anna, Jessamyn, Lucy, Maya, Maxine, Rose or Ruth? (I know some of these end in a or the ee sound, but you have Ruby on your list so maybe there are exceptions and I can see any of them fitting into your family.)
If you like Stella, which means “star” apparently, would you like Celeste?
When I looked up Celeste’s meaning as a baby name it was listed as “heavenly.” But I saw the connection to Stella because I thought Celeste meant “celestial” which I thought meant sky, but actually means space, but it’s the same idea.
Good luck.
I know 2 Edens – both girls. One is 6 and one is a newborn. So it sounds cute and girly to me. :)
I like the suggestion of Miriam above too.
I suggested Stella to my husband back in 2005 and he did the same thing yelling “STEEEELLLLAAAAA”. I still think it’s a good option though and I think it is rising in the name ranks.
I agree that Ruby would HELP with pronouncing your surname. And its such a lovely, feminine name. I really think with three older brothers I would go for a very feminine name.
How about Faith? It fits with your biblical name theme, is not overly popular, doesn’t end in the cutesy “-a or –ie” sound, is very feminine and sounds well with your surname.
Faith “Puts-Her”
Samuel, Sean, Gabriel and Faith.
I’m voting for Eden all the way. Just because your husband Googled it and the first definition that popped up sounds…for some unknown reason, off-putting (does it sound sexual or something to you for some reason?)…shouldn’t steer you away from a great name. Google it again and see that a few listings down is the dictionary.com definition with 2. Any delightful region or abode; paradise. 3. A state of perfect happiness or bliss. What’s wrong with that?!? I think Eden invokes a wonderful image. Not only that, it’s a fabulous name with an even more fabulous nickname of Edy/Edie. So cute!! Go with your gut! Eden Philomena.
I looooove Eden!! I think it is so cute and I would use it myself if it weren’t for the fact that my friend already used it for her baby girl. She had gotten lots of compliments on her babys name, actually. And really, “place of pleasure” is a a mistranslation. The name Eden comes from Hebrew and literally means “delight.” I think it’s adorable. :)
How about Eden Ruby?
I also agree about the Eve suggestion. I love Evelyn and Genevieve with the nicknames of Evie or Eve.
Going with the Hebrew theme..
Another Hebrew name that means “morning star” (going with the Stella theme) is Danica. Sam, Sean, Gabriel and Dani.
How about Eliora? It has the cute nickname Ellie and has the same “ora” sound like in “Cora.”
Eliora makes me think of Eliana, which is also beautiful.
I likes Nia because it seemed to fit into what seemed to be Irish themed names
-Barbara