Kyisha writes:

Months ago a friend shared your blog with me when I was at a loss for my third daughter’s name. Now it is mid June and I am still not in love with anything. The topic of baby names has become a very sensitive and frustrating source of tension in my marriage. He says no to every name… but the truth nothing has felt right for me yet either.

I have read baby name books, naming sites… etc. None seem to help… so I turn to you as my due date (July 29) approaches.

Some insight:

My children’s names are Jase (11), Loralei (4) and Piper (3). Their names work PERFECTLY with their personalities!

I haven’t duplicated an initial yet… so I don’t think I want to.

I want a name that is easy to pronounce and spell but is not popular.

Names I have thought about, but don’t work:

Penolope- out because of the p

Stella- husband said no… I still kind of like it

Harper- I LOVE THIS, but it is too popular lately and the per is too much like Piper.

Everly- I like! My Meme’s names is Beverly and my nana is Evelyn making Everly a pretty combo. My hubby thinks it sounds too made up. I don’t really like either Beverly or Evelyn as they are… enough.

Quinn- I would pick this but hubby knows a man named it and says no. (it doesn’t help that he doesn’t like the man, lol)

Baylee- Cute.. I like the nm Bay. All my kids’ have nicknames: Jase, Lo and Pi or Pipidy.

Sage- I haven’t mentioned it to my hubby yet.

Vayla- saw this on one of your posts… haven’t digested it yet but initially I like it.

Please help! I really want to love get name too!

Thank you,

Kyisha (key-sha) My name has always caused me trouble. People assume I’m a different ethnicity, not that that should matter… but to some it has. It is always pronounced wrong. However, I have always values being unique… never another me in my class. I really want this girl to have the spunk and originality in her name… but still have it grounded enough to be recognizable.

and

Hello Swistle. I know I wrote you before distressed about my darling 3rd daughter being born without a name.

Well, I have now fallen in love with Vivien/Vivienne! So what is my issue? The hubby isn’t 100% on board. He likes the full name but isn’t a fan of the nickname Viv. Our three other children all have nick names, so a nick name is important.

My second concern is the pop in popularity. I read your thorough post about the Vivian trend… and I feel a bit more settled about this issue. Truth is I love the name so much I don’t care about trends!

So, do I trying to get the hubby to commit to a name he isn’t in love with the nick name for?

Vivienne is so spunky, bold and yet still feminine. It marries the two styles of my other daughter’s names. Loralei and Piper.

Help… please.

 
For Vivienne I’ve heard people using Vivi instead of Viv. I realize it’s only one letter different, but it seems to make a huge difference in the style of the name. It’s similar to the difference you’ve noticed between the names Beverly and Everly: one letter makes a huge difference in style and in the assumed age of the bearer. You could also use Vi (older), or Vee (younger).

Everly is still an uncommon name, but it’s catching on quickly enough that I suspect in a decade it won’t sound made-up at all. Already it sounds like Emily and Beverly, which makes it feel familiar despite its uncommonness.

Maybe Ellery? Or Emerson? A similar possibility is Briarly, but I don’t know if any of these would sound any less made-up to your husband, and Briarly and Ellery especially share so many sounds with the name Loralei.

Brinley?

Or Romilly. As I understand it, the name is pronounced with either a short or long O, but the short O is the original pronunciation. Milly makes a cute nickname.

If you want the long O, I think I’d go with Romy instead. Fewer mix-ups, and you’d get the nickname Ro or Mimi.

I also like Fiona for you.

Or Zoe.

Or Sloane—I think I like the idea of adding a long-O sound! But no nickname.

Or Juniper, though it repeats the -per of Piper. I think it helps, though, that it’s three syllable instead of two.

Or Beatrix, which has both Bee and Trixie.

Another possibility is Imogen (IM-ah-jen). I think it goes well with the other children’s names, and it’s uncommon but not made-up. I recently read a novel in which the character named Imogen went by Immy, but Gen would work too, and on a previous post someone suggested the nickname Mo.

Elodie would be pretty, and it has some of the sound of Penelope and Stella.

Scarlett would work, too, I think.

Or Madigan: unusual, yet familiar in sound because of Madison and Madelyn.

 

 

Name update! Kyisha writes:

Swistle and followers. Thank you so much for your help. Our daughter, Willow Elizabeth was born July 29th. After all that stress, the name just fell out in conversation a couple of days before she was born. It fits her perfect. Our family is complete with Jayson, Loralei, Piper and Willow.