Holly writes:
My husband and I are expecting our second baby, a girl. She is due on the 31st of October, but as her older sister was two weeks early, I have a feeling she will be early too. Our first daughters name is Sophia Catherine. Catherine is my mums middle name, and I love that Sophia shares that with her. We sometimes call her Sophie-Kate, which I absolutely love!
We have decided that baby girl #2 will definitely be Grace, with Gracie as an occasional nickname. However we cannot decide on a middle name. We have searched high and low for a family name to use, but really don’t like any. The only family name we would consider using is McKinley, but I’m not too sure about it. I worry that Grace will be jealous that Sophia got a feminine middle name that we love, and she got a more masculine middle name that we are only okay with.
We have ten middle names we like, but we like them all and can’t decide which is our favourite!
In no particular order, they are:
Grace McKinley
Grace Adelaide
Grace Juliana
Grace Alaina
Grace Matilda
Grace Lillian
Grace Imogen
Grace Alexandra
Grace Amelia
Grace Louisa (I thought she could be Gracie-Lou, but is it tacky or cute to have Sophie-Kate and Gracie-Lou?)I should also mention that our last name is Camden, and we are not too fussed on how well the middle name flows with it. For example Catherine Camden sounds a bit funny, but we love Catherine so it doesn’t bother us. Also I have worried that if we don’t use McKinley as Grace’s middle name, she will be upset that we didn’t use a family name. However I have decided that if she does complain I will just let her know that we didn’t use a family name as we wanted to use a name we loved.
I was hoping that you, Swistle, would be able to create a poll with these names. I am also curious to see which middle name stands out to you.
Thanks :-)
You have a long list there, so what I’d suggest first is seeing if you can eliminate some least-favorites. Paul and I once narrowed down a too-long list by having each of us go through and rank each name. Any that were tied could have the same rank, like this:
Henry 1
Milo 1
Elliot 2
Leo 2
Charlie 3
Alan 4
Daniel 4
Held up next to each other, two lists like that can show you that, for example, both of you have the same several names in the #1 slot so you can start focusing on those, or that there are several names in the lowest slot that can probably be eliminated as not having any chance of trumping the higher-ranked names. (It can also show you if you’re nearly opposite and need to consider a mid-ranked name as a compromise.)
In the meantime, I will go into the thicket with my machete on the Highly Opinionated setting, to see if I can quickly take it down to my own favorite.
Grace McKinley immediately stands out to me: I think it’s gorgeous and striking. BUT: the important thing here is that YOU’RE not finding it gorgeous and striking. It sounds to me like you’re hoping for a family name but that your main priority is finding something feminine that you love—and I vote for going with that. It’s common for a firstborn to get a family name and for the siblings not to. (Or would you want to use your own name? Grace Holly Camden is so pretty.) And for all we know, the fight could end up being that Sophia is jealous because she got a grandma middle name and Grace got the cool middle name, or whatever.
Grace Louisa also stands out to me, and I’m in favor of the Sophie-Kate and Gracie-Lou idea.
If it were me, I would probably take out Grace Adelaide because of the way they run together in a “saddle” sound. The other vowel-beginning middle names give me that run-together problem, too. Normally I’d mention too that first and middle names are not often said together—but since you DO say your first daughter’s first and middle together often, I think you might do so with your second as well.
And I’d take out Grace Juliana and Grace Lillian for some reason I can’t put a finger on.
I said I was taking McKinley out, but I’m putting it back in. I really love family names, and Grace-McKin or Gracie-Lee might be super cute as nicknames. But again, this is just my OWN list, and yours might look quite different when you use your own machete.
So my narrowed-down list would look like this:
Grace McKinley Camden
Grace Matilda Camden
Grace Louisa Camden
I like all of those approximately equally in their full forms, but I’d vote for Grace Louisa for the sake of the Gracie-Lou nickname (and because even though it’s my own list, I’m remembering your tepid feelings about McKinley). Sophia Catherine and Grace Louisa; Sophie-Kate and Gracie-Lou.
Let’s have a poll over to the right to see everyone else’s favorites (it’ll only let you vote for one, but feel free to make expanded lists in the comments section). [Poll closed; see results below.]
Name update! Holly writes:
Our beautiful healthy girl arrived on the 25th of October. We decided to name her Grace McKinley. Big sister Sophia is in love with her, and calls her “Gacie-Kins” (Gracie-Kins) all of the time!
Thank you to Swistle and all of the readers who helped convince us to use McKinley.
I would not resist calling Grace McKinley Gracie-kins. I find it adorable. What about Kinley instread of McKinley. It’s more feminine and Grace Kinley sounds pretty. But I think you shouldn’t pressure yourself to use a family name. Just explain you loved the name Catherine and it happened to be a name of a grandmother if this daughter fusses. And that you love her name just as much.
I love Gracie-Lou. Of course, now I saw Gracie-kins in the first comment and I love that, too.
I voted for Grace Louisa, but I also like Grace Alexandra, Grace Amelia, Grace Imogen and Grace Juliana. Good luck choosing.
Love the suggestion of Grace Kinley above. So pretty!
I love Grace McKinley. Gracie-Kins is super cute, or even something fun like Gracie-Mac.
Oh, wow! How much am I LOVING the name Grace McKinley?! If it were me naming this kid, I would stop right there– it’s a lovely name, not one I’d consider masculine at all, just a very powerful-sounding name! I, too, immediately saw the nickname “Gracie-Kins” which I also think is just adorable.
Grace Louisa is nice, but I don’t like it nearly as much as Grace McKinley. I’d also want to call her Gracie-Lou Freebush, because of the movie Miss Congeniality!
I think Gracie-Lou is cute, but am not so fond of Louisa overall. I like the suggestions for Gracie-Kins/Gracie-Mac as nns with McKinley.
I don’t think McKinley is too masculine of a name at all, if that’s your concern with it, particularly as a middle name paired with a clearly feminine first name. Plus, I like the rhythm of that pairing.
Overall, though, my favorite was Grace Amelia – it was my first thought when I saw the title, then there it was on your list.
ooh, just noticed McKinley gets you the somewhat unfortunate initials GMC (truck). While I like the name on it’s own, I think the initials swing it over the ‘manly’ edge for me.
I think Grace Juliana, Lillian and Louisa are the most difficult to say because of the way you have to change your mouth position between words.
I prefer the flow of the names beginning with A. I find the way they run together makes them easy to say. I think I like Grace Alaina the most followed by Amelia.
Although McKinley is not my style I do like the sound of Gracie-Mac.
I voted for Grace Louisa, which seems to be frontrunner at this point. Grace Louisa just sounds so great. I also like Grace Adelaide and Grace Mathilda.
Good luck!
I like Grace McKinley and don’t find it masculine at all. I don’t know if you and the people in your life watch Glee, but the school in that show is called McKinley high. Not that that should stop you!
Sophia Catherine and Grace Cesmina (Cesmina is a translation of Holly)?
I personally think Sophie Kate and Gracie Mae would sound fantastic together. Grace Maelynn, or Grace Madeline/Magnolia/Annamae
Grace Annabelle – Gracie Anne
Or a name inspired by Halloween, seeing that she’ll be born around that time?
I love Grace McKinley, and I like the suggestion of Grace Kinley if you want to try to make it more feminine, although I don’t think you need to.
I like the idea of using Grace Kinkey and would like to suggest Grace Louelle or Grace Louise instead of Grace Louisa just because I think a 2 syllable middle name flows better. Regardless, Gracie Lou is absolutely perfect!
Gracie Lou is cute, but Sandra Bullock’s jokey nickname for her pageant character in Miss Congeniality. If that bother you, it doesn’t bother me at all. That movie rules.
Either way I completely vote for Grace Kinley.
Thank you so much for posting this Swistle! And thank you to all the people who have commented so far.
It’s funny because after emailing this question, I have found myself favouring Grace McKinley. Still not 100% sure though as I really love them all. Grace Louisa is probably my second favourite too.
I will have to show my hubby this so we can try and determine a favourite!
CANNOT put into words how much I love Gracie Lou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Grace McKinley is very pretty and sounds nice together. Gracie- kind would be adorable. But when she got older she could just go by Grace( which I love). I also think Gracie- Lou I’d ADORABLE!!!!!!!!
Oh and does anyone know how I can email swistle. A lot of baby name issues!!!
Best of luck!!
@Maddie Her email address is under Put Us To Work! in the right-hand margin.
@Maddie Also in the About Me section in the righthand margin.
I LOVE Grace Mckinley! That one just stands out to me from all the rest. What about Grace Mae/May? I think Gracie May sounds so cute with Sophia Kate.
I wanted to respond to this yesterday but things were crazy.
My concern about Grace McKinley is that in my mind, McKinley hasn’t crossed over to the surname as a first name category, and is strictly a surname. As a result, Grace McKinley Camden looks like she has two last names. But I know of someone who used the Mom’s maiden name as a middle name, which isn’t an unusual practice. Maybe I’m just biased because usually I’m all for honoring middle names but I find all the other names on your list so much prettier than McKinley, and admittedly more suited to my own personal tastes. But this is not my baby, obviously…
I love Gracie-Lou, but I also find something off with the flow of Grace Louisa. I don’t feel Grace Louise flows much better. I know your list is long enough, but I’m sort of inspired now and can’t resist these suggestions, in case you hadn’t already considered them:
Grace Jillian – Gracie-Jill
(and you like Grace Lillian)
Grace Susan or Grace Susanne – Gracie-Sue (love as much as Gracie-Lou)
Grace Annabel – Gracie-Anne
Grace Regina – Gracie-Jean
Frazzled Mom- McKinley is #556 on the SS chart for girls, so I’d say it’s made the crossover.
I LOVE Grace Imogen for a gazillion reasons.
I think Imogen fits your desire for a feminine name.
But the biggest reason I love it?!?!?!
You could call her Gracie Jean
I mean it’s perfect, you have a Sophia Catherine whom you sometimes call Sophie Kate (which, adorable I agree) Well if you went with Grace Imogen, the sisters would have similar nicknames in that you add a vowel to their first names to make their nickname (e for Sophia to make it Sophie, i for Grace to make it Gracie) and then change the spelling of their middle name to make their middle nick name (Catherine to Kate instead of Cate, Imogen to Jean instead of Gene)
Love love love love love. This is what stands way out to me. It’s PERFECT.
Oh – I just thought of Grace Josephine – Gracie-Jo.
Anon 12:04 – Fair enough. Since I personally never met a McKinley, I still can’t personally picture it on a person, despite the popularity of McKenzie and McKenna. I even have a friend who had a baby last month and named her Kinley, but the inclusion of Mc makes it seem surname-like to me. That’s just my personal frame of reference.
If you name her Grace McKinley Camden you might as well buy her a little black robe so she can start practicing being on the Supreme Court. That is a name with gravitas. I love it, even without the family connection. And “Gracie-kins” would be an adorable nickname.
Sophia Catherine and Grace Louisa are superb sister names. They balance very well in an opposite sort of way:
Sophia/Louisa
Catherine/Grace.
Sophie-Kate is darling and Gracie-Lou, equally so. I don’t find the two names at all tacky together. First off, those are nicknames for two very strong feminine names, and as such, are unlikely to be carried into adulthood, but so sweet when the girls are young. Second, Sophia/Sophie and Grace/Gracie are popular names, but your little girls have/will have something special with their middle names shortened and hyphenated to their first names — double nicknames!
Grace Louisa is brilliant with Sophia Catherine, and I would definitely go with it.