R. writes:
Our baby girl is due Feb. 13, 2012. Last name starts with a K. We are looking for a name that will sound good with Emma Mae – that’s our first daughter who will be 15 months old when the new baby is born. I always wanted an Emma because of the Jane Austen novels and I like traditional/old fashioned names but nothing that is so old we’d be the first people to use the name in like 50 years. I’ve always loved Abigail, but we know too many Abby’s personally. I also like Mona but my husband doesn’t.
Some of our names we are going back and forth on are:
1st Choice currently – Evelyn Ann (Ann is my mother in law’s middle name) (Mae is my mom’s middle name) I like names that I can shorten to a nickname like this would be Evie Ann…I call our daughter Emmie Mae
Caroline or Carolina
Kaitlyn Ann — would probably be called Katie Ann (This is my husband’s choice, I don’t like how it sounds with Emma personally)
If we ever have a boy our first choice would be Noah Michael, and we also like Joshua Allan, and Lucas Scott. So we’d like our baby girl’s name to sound good with those boy names as well. We’d like to have 4 kids.
Suggestions?
From your lists, Kaitlyn is the one that stands out to me as not fitting in with the others—either with the other girl names or with the potential future boy names. A name like Katherine would give you the nickname Katie, while keeping your name list in the old-fashioned/traditional theme. Or Kate is also a good stand-alone name, although then it doesn’t sound right with the middle name.
Emmie and Evie seem too similar to me, but maybe they wouldn’t be. I’m trying them aloud and can’t decide.
It’s too bad Abigail is out, because it seems to me like an excellent sister set with Emma. Do you like Gabrielle instead, with Gabby instead of Abby?
Or Annabel? It shares some of the sounds of Abigail, and I think it’s so sweet with Emma. Emma and Annabel. It messes up your middle name choice, though.
I love Sadie with Emma, too, or Sophie, or Lucy, or Molly. Maybe Sophia, and have Emma/Sophia and Emmie/Sophie.
The Baby Name Wizard suggests Grace, Lily, Julia, Isabel, and Chloe. I especially like Lily, or maybe Lillian. Emma and Lillian; Emmie Mae and Lily Ann.
If you love Jane Austen, I suggest Jane. It’s old fashioned, traditional, and underused but not at all unfamiliar. Emma and Jane is almost too wonderful. But as with Kate, it’s choppy with the middle name.
I wonder if you’d like Charlotte. Emma and Charlotte; Emmie Mae and Lottie Ann.
I think Kaitlyn is just fine, because although it’s not “old-fashioned,” it’s currently “in fashion” along with Emma, Josh, and Luke.
Other Austen character names include Lydia, Marianne, Elinor, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Georgiana. Oh, and, um, Fanny. :)
— SJ
Margaret! Maggie Ann is dreamy.
I was expecting to see Swistle suggest Clara for a nice complement to Emma! : ) It’s like Caroline but more classic-feeling.
What about Margaret Ann? Maggie Ann? Honestly, Evelyn is one of my favorite names… I like Katherine, Hazel, Matilda, Eloise, Lucy, Olivia, Molly, Josephine, Audrey, Amelia, Charlotte, Cecelia, Eleanor, Alice… All of those would work with Ann and still be old fashioned. That’s basically most of my names I love list…
My favorite nn for Charlotte is Charly (pron. Sharly), and I think Emma and Charlotte are such cute sister names.
I think Kaitlyn would work better if you spelled it Caitlyn. I have absolutely no reason for this, just a feeling.
To go with Emma Mae, I like Elizabeth Ann (Eliza or Lizzie or Beth or Betsy all sound good with Ann), Charlotte Ann, Elinor (or Ellie) Ann, Louisa Ann, and Francis Ann. (I don’t think Francis or Louis are Jane Austen characters but I don’t care, I just love those names.)
But I really, really want you to name her Jane. I teach knitting and one of my students has a daughter name Emma Jane and it is such a good name that it could only possibly be improved by being sister names. Is there an honor name you could use for your MIL other than Ann? Jane Ann is a little awkward, but it’s really not *bad* if Ann is the only option.
I think Emma Mae and Evelyn Ann go nicely together, as do Emmie Mae and Evie Ann, but not if you think you’d ever use the just nicknames without the middles. It’s the Emmie/Evie combination that seems too close to me.
I liked the suggestions of Catherine and Jane, also tweaking the spelling of Kaitlyn would help. I like Caitlin best.
I think Caroline Ann is a wonderful name. If you choose a first that doesn’t work with Ann, you could lengthen the middle to Anna or Annabel if you think it wouldn’t dilute the honor-name aspect too much.
How about Olive? Olive Ann, nn Liv or Livie Ann?
Emma and Olive?
One of my favorites is Carrie Ann. It has the same flow as Emma Mae without being too matchy, and it is very sweet with your future boy possibilities.
If you want to lengthen it you could do Caroline Ann and Carrie Ann as the nickname.
Sophia pairs beautifully with Emma to me. Sophia Ann has the weird a-a thing happening, but Sophie Ann as her nickname is so cute.
Of your list, I love Caroline Ann. She could be Carrie Ann or Caro, which I love.
Of the other suggestions, Charlotte Ann is wonderful, as is Catherine Ann. Oh, and Margaret Ann is also great! I would love it if you kept the middle name Ann to honour both grandmothers; I think that would be lovely!
Victoria (Tori) Ann would be lovely.
Emma and Victoria.
Emmi and Tori.
I like these:
Chloe Ann
Julie/Jolie Ann
Lucy Ann
Rebecca (Becky) Ann
Sarah Ann
Zoe Ann
I immediately thought of Jane too, and I think it DOES work with Ann as the middle name: Jane Ann. In fact, I’ve known a Jane Ann. Jane Ann is exactly the same length as Emma Mae, and Emmie and Janie are darling together. I know a family with an Emma and Jane.
(I agree that Kate Ann would be too choppy, but Jane Ann flows together nicely.)
I love Swistle’s suggestion of Charlotte. And I like Lily, but if Ann is the middle name I don’t like Lillian as the full name, since it repeats the “an” sound, giving you Lilli-an Ann.
Jane Ann! It’s my mother’s name and she’s always gone by both names since her mother’s name was Jane. I also like Evelyn Ann, though I was pronouncing the Evie as Ee-vie, in which case it doesn’t sound at all like Emmie.
I love Leah for you, or Amelia, nn Lia or MIlly. Leah Jane, Leah Kate, Amelia Kate.
Love the suggestion of Sophia/Sophie too — excellent sister name with Emma/Emmie. In fact, it would be my first choice among the names being considered or suggested. I have a granddaughter named Sophia Anne — mostly called Sophie; Anne is a family name. Her next older sister is Emma. I went with Jane first because Jane is less used than Sophia/Sophie — and that’s what many parents seem to want. But of course, Emma is a very popular name too, so why not Sophia for her little sister’s name?
I LOVE Emma Mae! Congrats on such a great name choice!
Have you ever considered using Anne as the first name? I love the way Ann Elizabeth or Ann Victoria sounds. Additionally Ann has the old-fashioned undertones your looking for, literary conotations (Ann of Green Gables) and a cute nickname (Annie).
Another option would be an old-fashioned virtue name. These are really cute and almost always antiquated sounding. How about Temprence Jane (this might be too close to Emma, though) or Felicity Anne?
Additionally, what about Philippa (nn Pippy), Viriginia (nn Ginnie) Bellatrix( nn Trixie) Jaqueline (nn Jackie) Opal, Matilda (nn Tilly), Celeste (nn Cece), Grace(nn Gracie),
Alice, Beatice or Ada/Adeline(nn Addie)
Margaret, Charlotte (LOVE), Olivia (maybe too popular though), Elizabeth, Victoria, Cordelia or Cornelia….I love traditional names:)
Why not continue the Austen trend? Emma and . . . Lydia, Eliza, Mary, Caroline. Lovely!
Side note for hard core name nerds, There is aninteresting book review on a book about Austen’s naming thoughts here: http://www.jasna.org/bookrev/br191p15.html
Margaret Ann is a great complement to Emma Mae. Plus, the nickname Maggie Ann is sweet.
Willa (Keri Russell’s baby)?