Erin writes:
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with fraternal twin girls and I am due January 29, 2012. I really have a hard time coming up with girl names but think I have one for Baby A. My problem is that I am having a really hard time coming up with a first name for Baby ‘B.’ Our last name is 3 syllables, starts with L and rhymes with “Lavender.”
My name is Erin, my husband is Daryl and our 18 month old son is Cohen Fox “Lavender.” I love boy names and have no problem coming up with them. If one of these babies was a boy they would have likely been Emmett Hawk (Hawk, because I love animal middle names for boys). I like double consonants and also liked boy names Beckett and Wyatt.
I don’t know if a description of my son might help with names, but he’s a quick idea. My son is blond haired with beautiful, coarse waves and he is blue eyed (born with a full head of black hair though that changed when he was 4 months old). I’m assuming my girls might also follow this trend. My husband and I are both dark haired but he has blue eyes and I have brown. My son is stocky and sturdy. He’s 35 lbs at 18 months old, but he’s also off the charts for height. He has big blue eyes, a cute broad but button nose and full lips with apple cheeks.
I am a maternity nurse and hear names all the time and I think because of that I really don’t like most of the top 1000 girl names on most charts.
As far as naming the twins, we have actually decided on Avalon Juno “Lavender” (Avalon actually came to me in a dream and I loved it) for Baby A and we know that we want Quinn as a middle name for Baby B.
I had originally picked Tabitha as a first name for Baby B but my whole family pretty much hates it (mainly because of the shortening to “Tabby”…I like the idea of Beth as a nn though), so I’m back to the drawing board. I recently took a liking to Everly and Ember but again I’m getting snubbed noses. I think Everly might be a bit to close to Avalon because of the soft vowel and then v sound (and you might get Avy and Evie for nicknames which are really close).
I prefer 2 to 3 syllable first names as well. I like names from fantasy/fairy inspired, or that are just off the beaten path but not too “out there.” Names already used by a couple of my cousins that I love are Briar and Brynn. I like nature type names as well. I really like Willow, but again…no family approval. So frustrating! I got a lot of flack about Juno, but my husband loves it and it’s a middle name so we are keeping it as is. I think it would be cute to have the name start with B (then we would have first initials of A, B, C, D, & E in our family), and thought Braeleigh was cute, but my husband didn’t like it because it’s a bit of a mouthful with our last name. I’m also not a fan of alliteration with our last name though so I’ve been avoiding “L” names.
Anything you could suggest at this point would be so helpful.
and
I thought I’d send an update on our naming process. We could still use a bit of help! I am almost 28 weeks pregnant now with fraternal twin girls. Baby A is still Avalon Juno “Lavender” at this point and we have decided on Baby B’s first name to be Brooke. We definitely want to use the middle name Quinn but I’m having a hard time with the flow of Brooke Quinn with the hard K sounds so close together. I thought of switching the middle names, but my husband doesn’t want the initials “BJ” in there. My sister has a friend with those initials as well and has had nothing but teasing for ages. The name Quinn is important for us to keep because it is a name my sister loves and she wants us to use it. Considering she was our egg donor for our IVF pregnancy, I really want to use it too. I’m sure we could compromise on the middle names and remove Juno (although we’ve liked that name since I was pregnant with my son), and have Avalon Quinn and Brooke ____ . So stumped!
Any help would be great!
Thanks
I wonder if any of the names your family doesn’t like (or any of the names you liked except that they didn’t work as sister names for Avalon) would work as middle names for Brooke.
Brooke Ember
Brooke Everly
Brooke Tabitha
Brooke Willow
My favorite from that group is Tabitha: Avalon Quinn and Brooke Tabitha. I like the way they’d each have a 1-syllable name and a 3-syllable name.
But looking at the logic puzzle presented in the letters, it seems like the easier part to change is the first name Brooke. That’s the name that’s currently preventing you from using Juno, which was unshakeable in the first letter and which you say in the second letter you’ve liked since you were pregnant with your son. It looks like it’s a matter of choosing which name you’d prefer to use, Brooke or Juno—and Brooke is a more recent choice, and one that doesn’t fit your first-name preferences as well as Avalon does.
The Baby Name Wizard mentions both Meredith and Bethany as names similar to Tabitha. I’d add Meribeth, a name we encountered on a child at the pool this summer and really liked. Avalon Juno and Meribeth Quinn.
Or Matilda. Avalon Juno and Matilda Quinn.
Or Minerva. Avalon Juno and Minerva Quinn. I like all the V sounds with your surname.
I wish Lorelei would work with your surname, because that would be so perfect with Avalon.
Ember reminds me of Cambria. Avalon Juno and Cambria Quinn.
Everly reminds me of Waverly. Avalon Juno and Waverly Quinn. V sounds again.
Willow and Briar remind me of Juniper. Avalon Juno and Juniper Quinn. I don’t know if the repeating June-sound would bother me or not; I might even kind of like it.
For a B name, one that comes to mind is Bronwyn. My impulse is to switch the middle names, but that lands you right back with the BJ problem, so it’s a little rhymey with Quinn. Avalon Juno and Bronwyn Quinn.
Another is Briony, which can be pronounced BRY-oh-nee as a botanical reference, or BREE-ah-nee as a modern sound-combination name. Avalon Juno and Briony Quinn.
Another is Beatrix, one of my own favorites. Avalon Juno and Beatrix Quinn.
Another is Bridget. Avalon Juno and Bridget Quinn. I like the repeating short-I sound in Bridget Quinn: it sounds happy and energetic to me.
If Brooke is set, I’d add Waverly to the middle name candidates. Avalon Quinn and Brooke Waverly.
Name update! Erin writes:
I just thought I’d drop a line to let you know that our baby girls have arrived! They made their debut 5 weeks premature at 35 weeks and 2 days. We wanted to thank you for your naming advice and for all the feedback it received. We decided to name Twin ‘A’ – Avalon Juno and Twin ‘B’ – Bellamy Quinn. I love their names!! The twins are fraternal and completely different. Avalon was the bigger and fairer of the two at 5 lbs 7 oz and Bellamy was 4 lbs 8.5 oz and has a head of dark hair. We are using the nicknames “Avy” and “Bella” for short. I do have a quick follow up question though…How would you spell “Avy” without giving it a hard A sound? Avy, Avi, Avie, Avee, Avey? No matter how I look at it, it seems to sound like Navy without the ‘N.’ For a 22 month old, Cohen is a great big brother too! Now we have our A,B,C,D,E family ;)
I have also attached a picture of the girls at 3 weeks old. Avalon is in the front, and Bellamy has her hand on her sister’s shoulder.
Thanks again!!
I would use Abbie/Abby as the model and spell it Avvie or Avvy.
The whole time I was reading I was thinking “Briony,” and there it was! Briony Quinn seems perfect and very your style, especially compared to Brooke. (I prefer the BRY-oh-nee pronunciation. Sounds more English/fanciful/like Briar Rose.) When I was little, my favorite pretend name was Aurora Briony.
I really really love Blythe for you. Avalon and Blythe. But that doesn’t really solve your problem. I was wondering if it’s possible for you to add a syllable to Quinn and still keep the meaning. Quincy or Quinlan. Brook Quincy Lavendar or Blythe Quinlan Lavendar. Good Luck with those twins! It sounds like they may be your little miracle babies!
Avalon is one of my all-time favorites. So excited someone is using it!
A few thoughts about Brooke: she’s pretty common compared to Avalon, so I think her middle needs to be a stand-out. But Brooke Quinn won’t work – it sounds like Brooklyn said by a small child – Brookwin.
So really, Avalon Quinn is set, and you need to find a middle you can love for Brooke, right? And it should be different, to fit with her sister’s and brother’s names.
If J is out, maybe you can hold on to the -o sound? You have it in your son’s name, too, so I assume you like it and it doesn’t conflict with your surname.
Brooke Isabeau
Brooke Kalanchoe
Brooke Marigold
Brooke Shiloh (Though is B.S. any better than B.J.? Probably not.)
Brooke Harlow
Brooke Kahlo
A few other thoughts:
Brooke Everly
Brooke Ellington
Brooke Emerson
Brooke Mariel
I do like Brooke Waverly from Swistle’s list, and I tend to agree – if Brooke wasn’t set, then Avalon Juno and Juniper Quinn would be my top choice.
Best wishes!
You could add on to the name Brooke, then you could still call her Brooke as a nickname, but when you say her full name it will flow better…for example Brookley or Brookleigh…it gives you the leigh from Braeleigh, and sounds better with Quinn.
Brookleigh Quinn Lavender.
There is also Brooklyn, but that is too rhymey with Quinn.
You could also add the -leigh onto Quinn to improve flow…Brooke Quinley Lavender.
haha, I had the same thought- Briony and Bronwyn :)
Avalon Quinn and Brooke Zenobia
Avalon Quinn and Brooke Meriel
Avalon Quinn and Brooke Rhiannon
Avalon Quinn and Brooke Magnolia
or, if Brooke isn’t ‘fixed’:
Avalon Juno and Brigit Quinn (mythology link)
Avalon Juno and Beatrice Quinn – Ava and Bee/Bea.
Avalon Quinn and Bryn(ne)Rosemary
Avalon Quinn and Bay Nerine
Can Quinn not be a first name? Avalon Juno and Quinn Juniper/Jacinda?
or Avalon Quinn and Rowan June
or Avalon Juno and Nysa Quinn (Nysa is also a mythical place?
* Aside from your sister’s preference, I like the Quinn for the 2nd baby – she’ll bring your family to 5 ;)
I love the name Avalon Juno. The solutions I would consider are (1) Give up Brooke or (2) Explain to your sister that Quinn isn’t going to work. As I have a hard time imagining myself having this conversation with my sister, I’m going to work with number 1.
I love the idea of ABCDE for all of the fun monogramming you can do. Coat closets. Lunch bags. Too cute.
– Brietta Quinn. There’s a bit of background on Brietta at Appellation Mountain that I found: http://appellationmountain.net/2010/12/02/baby-name-of-the-day-brietta/
– Beulah Quinn.
Some non-B names?
– Annora Quinn. Perhaps two A names on twin girls is too much, but I can just hear this being shouted from the front door, “Avalon, Annora – Dinner!”
– Lorelei Quinn.
Good luck!
Wow. I think you may have given up too soon on finding “B” names that fit your criteria. Maybe go back to Avalon Juno which goes so very well, better than Avalon Quinn, and consider:
Barbarina Quinn
Belphoebe Quinn
Betony Quinn
Bonita Quinn
Bronte Quinn
I also like Bridget Quinn and Birgitta Quinn.
I like Brooke, just not sure it fits with the imaginative qualities of Avalon and Cohen.
A longer option for Quinn if Brooke is to stay is Quintana, the name of author Isabel Allende’s daughter.
I love Bellamy for you, given that it means “beautiful friend” and would be a lovely tribute to your sister. Plus it works with Quinn, the name she likes, and pairs well with Avalon.
Bellamy Quinn Lavender.
Avalon Juno and Bellamy Quinn.
Cohen, Avalon and Bellamy.
Best of luck!
Avalon Juno and Salome Quinn.
Didn’t Swistle just do a post on the name Briarly? I vote that one. Avalon and Briarly. You already mentioned you like Briar. The added -ly makes it a bit more familiar.
If Briarly doesn’t work, what about Beverly? Or I love Swistle’s suggestion of Bronwyn. There’s a lovely kind of symmetry between the -n endings: Avalon and Bronwyn. Avalon Juno and Bronwyn Quinn. I even like the rhymes.
Good luck.
Oh, sorry. I read that paragraph too quickly. Your COUSIN used Briar. Is Briarly different enough? Maybe not. Still, I think it’s perfect for you.
How about Bianca Quinn?
I also liked the suggestions Beatrix Quinn, Bridget Quinn or Brooke Quinlan.
I’m not sure that Brooke really goes with Avalon. Avalon is all King Arthur and the Round Table and Brooke is just so … 80s. It’s a pretty name, but I don’t think they go together well. I’d suggest finding names that you and your husband like and ignoring your family’s opinions. There will always be someone to find something wrong with any name. You don’t even have to tell them the name until after the babies are born. They are your children, not theirs. So, if y’all still like Willow or Ember or any other name that they may not approve of, use it anyway. Once the babies are born, people likely won’t make as many rude comments about your name choices.
I wanted to suggest Emberly for Baby B– Emberly Quinn is so cute! But then I finished reading the post, and I LOVE the suggestion of Briony/Bryony. Briony Quinn is a stunning name, and stands up well to Avalon Juno and Cohen Fox.
I must agree that Brooke, while a nice name, is not as interesting/creative as your other children’s names. I’d encourage you to keep looking :)
I think Bailey might work, too. Because it means the external wall of a castle, or the castle court yard it brings some of the same imagery as Avalon to my mind.
I just love that using a B name will give you ABCDE, and that Baby A will have an A—- name and Baby B would have a B—- name. So I really really really really want to encourage you to use that.
Could you use your sister’s name or middle name as baby B’s middle to honor her?
Just for fun, here are some other B names:
Bellatrix
Bellicent
Beryl
Boheme
Brenley
Britta
Britton
Also, I love the suggestions of Briony, Bronwyn, and Briarly.
And my word verification for this comment is bribonar.
Love the suggestion of Bellamy! I think it’s a great match with Avalon – and has an option of bell or bella as a mm, just as Avalon can be Ava or avy (unusual name with common mainstream). Good luck! :)
YAY!!! LOVE Avalon!!! and Love baby A- Avalon and hopefully baby B = B____… I will just give you more B name suggestions that are a bit more unique than Brooke!
Brinley
Briarley
Braylie
Bronwyn
Bronte
Brylee
Braylin
Best of luck Erin!!!
The A,B,C,D,E, & F thought is VERY appealing. Wonderful idea!
Belinda Quinn ‘Lavender’ has a nice balance to Avalon Juno (great name, by the way!). Both have a classic story sound (King Arthur & Oz).
Avalon and Belinda, Ava and Belle.
Beatrice Quinn is good, too. Shakespeare used this name in his comedy ‘Much Ado About Nothing’… she’s the clever heroine.
Avalon and Beatrice, Ava and Bea.
Bianca or Burgandy are both color names (white and red, respectively). Avalon and Burgandy. Avalon and Bianca.
Best wishes to you and your growing family! Please let us know what you and your husband decide!
Love the B theme for Baby B so what about…
Blair
Berkley
Brighton
Brinkley
Baylor
Brie
Bellerie
Barrett
Bevyn
Brinsley
Blake
Blakely
Blakesley
Blaine
Blainie
Betsie
Brenna
Bekkett
Love Avalon Juno! Would be sad to have to change that one! I second Juniper Quinn! (Note that Avalon Juniper is a fragrance though, but they obviously go so well together). Love Junia too.
Great names!
Other ideas . . .
Brighton
Pemberly (Similar to Ember or Everly)
Nova
Luna
Hazel
Vida
I adore the name Avalon Juno! Even the letters in the two names look great together. I agree with others that Brooke doesn’t seem like *quite* the right fit with Cohen & Avalon. So, I’m one for changing Baby B’s first name. I love Swistle’s suggestions. Briony seems perfect, considering you both like Briar & Bryn – AND it goes better with Quinn that those two names! Win-win. I also really like the suggestions of Bronwyn and Bronte. If you want to move away from the B names, my vote goes to Juniper Quinn. What a great name, especially with Avalon Juno. My front-runner for you is Briony Quinn.
I have 2 suggestions:
1. Give up Brooke. I don’t think it fits well at all with Avalon and Cohen.
2. Think abut Quinn–I LIKE Quinn, but I wonder if it would be more meaningful to use your sisters actual name or middle name?
3. OMG PLEASE use A and B names! That is all kinds of awesome.
Reading the post I was thinking Blythe, Blythe, Blythe and I still am, that is an excellent choice.
Blythe Quinn; Cohen, Avalon and Blythe.
I think I like Bronwyn even better, because it has the same ending as the other 2 names (I would find that sort of thing important, but I realize many would not)
Bronwyn Quinn: Cohen, Avalon and Bronwyn
There’s Boheme, which the blogger Rebecca Wolf just used for one of her twins (the other is Reverie)
Boheme Quinn (hmm, too rhyme-y I think)
I also like Briarly, Briony and Bellamy.
let us know!
with Avalon Juno i really like Elowen.
they both have the trendier nicknames of Ava & Ellie, or less common (and beautiful) full names with a “fantasy/faerie” element to it. Avey & Wen, Av & Lo, etc.
Avalon Juno & Elowen Brooke would work.
i also like that all of your children would end with “n” and have nature-y middle names.
i don’t really like the sound of Cohen, Avalon & Brooke. Brooke sounds choppy and less thought-out than Cohen & Avalon, even tho it is not.
(i also like other comment idea of Bronwen. It’s beautiful, and then you would have A&B names.)
other B names that i like with Cohen & Avalon are:
Beatrix (which i like with the middle name Quinn)
-or Beatrice, Beatriz
Blythe
Bridget (Avalon Juno & Bridget Quinn – so sweet!)
-or Brighid, Brigid, Brigita
Blodwen
Branwen
Briony/Bryony
good luck finding the perfect names for your family!
P.S. January 29th is a GREAT birthday (o;
I love the name Brooke! Can’t really say I’m a fan of Avalon though. What about Amelia juno? Amelia and Brooke?
Blythe, Bianca, Briony, Bridget and Beatrix – I can’t decide which I like best! Though Blythe Quinn is a tad choppy.
I’m stunned at the name Bianca Quinn. Beautiful! Bianca is a Shakespearan name and Avalon reminds of King Arthur. I’m imaging poems and princesses!
What about BETHAN: Welsh form of Greek Elisabet, meaning “God is my oath.”
Gets you nickname “Beth” while being familiar but different & keeping with old English/welsh pattern of Avalon & retains “n” sound at the end of the name like Avalon & Cohen……
I think Avalon Juno is a pretty great name and that you should keep that one as is. I join the camp that thinks that Brooke sounds… not up to par. I really like the suggestions of Briarly, Beatrice or Beatrix Quinn for you – I think any of those have a pleasant flow with both Quinn and pair much better with Avalon than Brooke does. Best of luck with everything.
Cohen, Avalon, and Bevin – en, on, in
Bevin means white, fair lady.
I LOVE Avalon Juno(please don’t change it!), but I agree that Brooke doesn’t quite match up with it. As twin names go, I think it’s cool when they match but aren’t “matchy.”
Here are my suggestions of some that might go with Avalon. I love either Brooke or Quinn as a middle name for any of these!
Eleanor
Aurelia (nn Lia)
Aurora (Rory is a cute nn!)
Eugenia
Tahlia
Cordelia
Adelaide
Genevieve (I have a friend with this name who goes by Vivi)
Bronwyn (as others have mentioned)
Good luck!
I have to second what Heidi says. I realize sometimes it’s easy to say these things when you don’t live in a family, but I have a hard time understanding people who add stress to the naming process by trying to get approval from extended family members.
You’re not the only people who seem compelled to get approval on name choices from several family members, but I think seeking that approval takes away some of the fun in naming your baby.
I can understand under the circumstances, keeping Quinn for your sister, but other than that, I think you will find a huge weight lifted, if you leave the rest of the naming decisions to you and your husband. Your other family members will learn to eventually like (or at least tolerate) whatever name you choose.
Getting two parents to agree to a name is hard enough, but trying to get parents and brothers and sisters to all agree to a name is near impossible.
I vote Briony (with the pronunciation BRI-oh-knee)!
I like Bianca and Bronte as well, but I think Briony fits perfectly with sister’s name.
What about a straight flip? Quinn Brooke? I think Quinn is a better first name match with Avalon too.
Avalon Juno is amazing, but I agree with the other commenters that Brooke doesn’t seem to match it. Avalon is fanciful but not too out there, and Brooke is solid and seems more ’80s. Plus, Cohen is such a cool name that she may feel left out.
Briony is great; Brigid, Bridget, Bellamy…just keep looking!
I know it’s a bit late to chime in again, but I just saw the name Brighten Elizabeth used on another site and thought it could be workable. Brighten Quinn. Then all your children’s names would be tied together with similar sounding endings and modern tastes.
What about Eden? Eden Quinn
Avalon and Eden.
Or Iris? Iris Quinn.
Avalon and Iris.
Marilla (Rill for short, Rill means brook) Quinn.
Avalon and Marilla
LOVE both Matilda and Briony! Also think Brooke Tabitha is a lovely option paired with Avalon Quinn.
My favorite so far is Bianca, Others (since we seem to have similar-ish taste when I’m not having to compromise with my husband)
Hazel
Ivy
Diana
Cecily
Laurel
Stella
Thea
Miriam
Anora
(I had Faye, Adele and Tamsin on there too, but they don’t work any better with Quinn than Brooke does)
Or, with the B’s
Brigid, Brianna, Beatrice
I wouldn’t do Brooke Waverly or Willow – too much water imagery. In fact, I wouldn’t do another noun with Brooke at all. I think Brooke Everly is my favorite of things suggested so far.
Emeran. Emeran Quinn and Avalon Juno. Emeran and Avalon.
I really like the name Branwen for you (or Bronwyn if you prefer). Avalon and Branwen.
According to Celtic legend, Branwen was the sister of Bran the Blessed, and married to the King of Ireland. I like the way both Avalon and Branwen bring to mind images of mystical times and places, while also being similar in style to Cohen.
I love the ABCDE idea, and should you not choose Branwen, I also like Bridget, Bethany and Bianca for you.
Congratulations.
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Juniper – Avalon and Juniper work well together and you could nickname them Ava and Juno (thus using Juno, which you love.)
If you are really keen to have the ABCDE initials for the family I like Gail’s suggestion of Bronte.
Now we are torn between: Bevyn Tabitha (my pick) and Bellamy Quinn (my husband’s pick). I know my husband doesn’t like the shortened form of Bevyn being “Bev” and I do like “Bella” as a nn, but I’m not sure about Bellamy as a whole name. I like how it sounds with Quinn, just not sure about it as a stand alone name. I like how Cohen, Avalon, & Bevyn would all end in ‘n’ and that the twin girls would both have a ‘v’ sound in their names. Is it too matchy matchy? Would it be better if Avalon and Bellamy were completely different for their own unique identities?
-Erin
i very much prefer Bellamy Quinn to Bebyn Tabitha. Bellamy, Avalon & Cohen sound very nice together. Bevyn & Avalon are too close for me with the “v” in the middle and the “n” at the end. Bevyn also does not look as pretty as Avalon to me, and i don’t like the nn Bev.
I love Bellamy, Bellamy Quinn is such a beautiful name! Goes so well with Cohen and Avalon. Perfect!
Oh please like this suggestion:
Elspeth. or Elsbeth.
– Beth as a nn.
– ABCDE still a go
– th in it like Tabitha.
– as feminine-but-not-frilly and rare-but-familiar as Avalon and Tabitha
– regal like both Cohen and Avalon
– sounds great with Quinn and Lavendar
Elspeth Quinn Lavender
Elspeth Lavender
Cohen, Avalon, and Elspeth
GREAT choices!