Amanda writes:
I’m freaking out and am “scheduled” to deliver B/G twins on 2/24 (if I make it that long)! We had “decided” on a girl name way back in the day—Harper–and haven’t really discussed changing it since we found out we had one of each. We thought we were set on her name and struggled with the boy’s name for a while until we settled on Felix. He will be Felix Henry Daniels. Henry is a family name on both sides, and also a name that has become hip again.
We have been going back and forth and have not found a middle name for Harper. With the H__D, I’ve been avoiding vowel middle names. We’ve discussed the following:
Jane, June, Beatrice (I love, he hates), Brynn, a couple other B names to pay tribute to my husband, Brian. I think Harper Jane sounds too much like Harper, Jane. Brian and I met while working at a Victorinox store back in the day, so I liked the middle Victoria….until the Beckham’s named their daughter Harper!
I have been calling Felix by his name for months now, but really always call Baby B Girlie. I am having anxiety about her name now, and wonder if the reason I can’t pick a middle is that I don’t feel settled about the name Harper (which seems increasingly popular). I had a dream last night that she was born and I changed her name to Harlow. I love this name!! What do you think? Is it common to have this anxiety? What does everyone think about Harlow vs Harper?
Yes, it is definitely common to have last-minute name anxiety. Because you’re not having the same anxiety about Felix’s name, I wonder if this has more weight to it than the usual end-game jitters. But it could just be that Felix’s name is a more recent decision.
I have mentioned before that I love twin names to have just a WEE name gimmick. In this case, if I were you I would be very tempted to find a middle name starting with F for Harper/Harlow, so that the twins would be F.H. and H.F. I wonder if you’d like any of these:
Harper/Harlow Fairly
Harper/Harlow Faith
Harper Farrow (this gives some of the sound of Harlow)
Harper/Harlow Faye
Harper/Harlow February
Harper/Harlow Felicity (Felicity is the feminine of Felix)
Harper/Harlow Fern
Harper/Harlow Fiona (maybe too much long O with Harlow)
Harper/Harlow Flannery
Harper Florence
Harper/Harlow Frances
Harper/Harlow Frederica
Harper/Harlow Freya
If you want a name to honor your husband, I suggest Harper Brianna.
As for Harper versus Harlow, I think both work great with Felix. I like the sound of Harper Daniels a little more than the sound of Harlow Daniels. Harlow is currently less common than Harper, but I suspect that won’t be permanent; for peer purposes, though, a girl named Harlow born this year will likely have fewer girls sharing her name than a girl named Harper.
Let’s have a poll over to the right to see which name everyone prefers [poll closed; see results below], and I also suggest the post Choosing Between Two Finalists.
Name update! Amanda writes:
Turns out I ended up going into labor the day my Q was posted and didnt get to see the responses!! Felix Henry and Harlow Victoria were born on 2/13/12 @ 2:38am. We were still unsure of the Harlow/Harper issue when I delivered and when asked what her name was, my husband mentioned the two names. When the nurse said she just had another Harper, we went with Harlow. Funny that we did, as H spent a few days in the NICU, right next to ANOTHER Harper! We are happy with our decision and the family is doing well :-)
I find that Harlow sounds too much like harlot for me to really like it, and Harper Daniels sounds a bit off to me as well (although I like it…but I see what you mean about Harper, Jane). I wonder how you feel about Marlo? Marlo June and Felix Henry is pretty awesome. That’s my top pick, although I think Brynn is a nice choice–but neither Jane nor June works with that at all.
I like the idea of using a name that begins with F for the middle name. What about Farrah?
Harlow is wonderful, much better than Harper in my opinion. Harper always makes me think of nagging. I think Harlow Frances is particularly lovely.
Harper Felicity.
Throwing Fallon out there as another “F” middle name because I love the FH/HF idea! No help on which first name though–I like them both equally (although I guess I think Harper Fallon sounds a little better than Harlow Fallon).
i like both names a lot!
what about Meredith — it also means ‘ruler’, like Henry.mOr Juniper? Harlow Juniper D..
if he doesn’t like Beatrice, maybe he’d go for: bianca, trix(ie), bethany, beata, bronte, branwen, bryony?
i think Jane is sweet though! or Miranda, as a nod to your name?
I vote Harper, but only because Harlow makes me think too much of Nicole Richie, as that’s what she named her daughter. I LOVE Swistle’s idea of coming up with an “F” middle name for her — soo fun! May I suggest Francesca as another option? Harper (or Harlow) Francesca Daniels — love it! Harper Fiona is another nice choice. Francine might be another option. Felicia is another one very much like Felicity, but just a bit different. Best of luck to you!
I really LIKE Harper Jane, but I get the last-minute doubts. We had a solid girl first name/middle name combo ready for my second child–the name left over after the first baby turned out to be a boy. But it just started sounding more and more lame, the middle name in particular, as the pregnancy progressed. Second baby turned out to be a boy, too, so we never had to decide!
I am a strong proponent of Harper over Harlow, and I’m not sure why other than the Harlow/Harlot connection. Also, it reminds me of Jean Harlow (one reason why Harlow Jane doesn’t sound good to me at all), whose “blonde bombshell” persona and tragic personal life and death aren’t ones I’d want to wish on a baby.
If you decide against Jane for the middle name, you could also go with something having the same “happy” meaning as Felix. Beatrice works for this, as do Blythe (which I really like) and Caroline. [I just consulted a database for meanings of names.] There are probably a number of others with that meaning.
I think using Felicity as the middle name is a brilliant idea. That way both of your kids will have “happiness” in their names, and who wouldn’t want that? I also think Harper sounds a bit more “solid” – in a good way! – than Harlow.
I’m pretty sure Caroline doesn’t mean happiness; it’s derived from the male name Charles, and the meaning is closer to “man” or “free man.” Happiness would be a lovely meaning, though.
I prefer Harper over Harlowe but I think my biggest problem is that they both seem to be such a different style than Felix. I know a lot of families have more eclectic tastes than I do, especially for boys vs. girls-but for twins I just can’t help but think they might be too different. Could that be why you liked Harper before you knew it was twins, but seem to like it less now that you’ve settled on Felix? If so, maybe moving Harper to the middle slot? Brynn Harper is nice and both first names would mirror each other in meaning.
I have to agree with the previous poster. I realize that Felix has had a recent surge in popularity, but it is by no means a “trendy” name, whereas Harper certainly is. I don’t think they fit together well, particularly for twins. Harlow isn’t far enough off from Harper for me to say, “Yes! Excellent pair!”
I’d be more inclined to pair Felix with names like
Hazel
Ivy
Eliza
Clara
Olive
Sadie
… most of these names are currently popular but seem to have more “weight” and history, like Felix, when compared with Harper or Harlow.
For the record, our 12-year-old is Henry and this baby would’ve been Felix had she been a he! Both are great-grandfather names on each side… too bad the grannies don’t have names so cool, because we’re still stuck trying to find a name for our “Girlie!” lol
I second everything Lara Jane, the poster above me, said. Even Margot goes with Felix better than Harlow, in terms of longer lineage. Hazel would allow you to keep the reverse FH HF theme going, or maybe Harriet.
Good luck!
fwiw, I think Harper/Harlow work really well with Felix. Especially Harper and Felix – both sound fresh yet established.
I like Swistle’s idea of using a F middle name, like Faye- I like the repeating Y of Henry as well.
Felicity may be a bit much with Felix, but it is rather cute.
If you want her name to be linked to your husband’s name, I like Harper Breanne or Harper Brynn most.
I love the Idea of H.F. and F.H. subtle but a nice match. My fave suggestion is Harper Fiona, but Harper Faye and Harper Fern are close seconds. Good luck!
while i don’t have any suggests on a first name, i think the middle name ‘briony/bryony’ would be a nice tribute to your husband. :)
*
I’m afraid I can’t choose between Harper and Harlow because I find both are problematic due to sounding very similar to negative terms sometimes used for women: Harper … harper/harpy (one who nags); Harlow … as mentioned above, harlot.
On the other hand, Felix Henry is a great name. Felix is somewhat unusual, but has been an established male name for a long time. Wattenberg (“Baby Name Wizard”) characterizes Felix as “Timeless, Traditional, Exotic and Nickname-Proof”. Felix is an “ever-present” name, having been in the SSA Top 1000 names since 1880; in fact, Felix has been in the top *400* names for the past 131 years.
I’d like to suggest that you choose a name that is traditional, timeless, and/or exotic for Felix’ twin sister too. Some ideas:
From BNW and BNW namipedia online:
Adeline
Freya
Sylvie
Beatrix/Beatrice
Flora
From London Telegraph birth announcements for the last 4 years, sister names of boys named Felix:
Aurelia and Rosabelle
Cecilia
Florence
Jemima and Olivia
Savannah
Amelia
Chloë
Isabelle
Scarlett and Mimi (twins)
Sanna
Freya
Tatiana and Elodie
Triplets: Lola Madeleine, Jack William and Felix Mark
Zoe
Phoebe
Audrey
Georgia
Isabella
Isabel
Daisy
Cecily
Natasha
Alice
Theodora
Tabitha and Matilda
Aurelia
Sophie
Polly
Florence
Kara
Clementine
Poppy
Iris
Anna, Georgia and Alicia
Arabella
Cecilia
Beatrix Katherine*
*I love those last two names together and think they’d be excellent with your son’s name:
Felix Henry
Beatrix Katherine
Another name I like with Felix is Esme.
Best wishes!
BTW, Felix is a very popular name among ‘Telegraph parents’, ranking #17 in 2011. Felix is also quite popular in all of England/Wales, where the name ranked #122 in 2010.
I really like Harper, despite its popularity. I am not a fan of Harlow though… I just don’t like names ending in “o” – especially for girls.
I think Harper Jane sounds great… I also like Harper Felicity. I think whether you go with Harper or Harlow, she should have a definite feminine middle name.
I love Harper Brianna (I’d pronounce it with the long A sound, so it’s bree-AH-na instead of bree-ANN-uh), but I also really like Harper Felicity and I think it would be a cute but subtle gimmick to have FH/HF initials and the feminine of Felix for her middle name.
Felix is a lovely, classic name but both Harlow and Harper are a little trendy for me. I admit that is partly down to unfortunate celebrity baby naming and that might not be a deal-breaker for you. Of the two, I much prefer Harper which has great literary connotations. I agree with an earlier poster that Harlow is just a little too close to ‘harlot’ to be viable.