Ms. B. writes:
Hi, I came across your blog in a desperate search for help in determining whether our name pick “flows”. You seem like an expert on baby names so I thought I’d send you an email to see what you think!
My husband and I already have a three year old named Matthew, and we’re expecting a baby girl in May. We’ve agreed on the name Skye Samantha, but I’m having doubts. I love the name, but originally we planned to call her Samantha Sky which I *know* flows well and I absolutely love.
It was just recently we decided we really like “Skye” and might prefer it as a first name. (I don’t think we want to name our child with the intention of using her middle name… my sister-in-law and father-in-law have both taken that route and paperwork is always a nuissance.) Our last name is three syllables, starts with B and ends with “let.”
As much as I still LOVE “Samantha” I do wonder if a different middle name might work better. My husband suggested “Abigail” but I just think Skye+Abby = scabby…
The problem is that Skye and Samantha were the only names we really agreed on. Other names I suggested were: Sarah, Sierra, Sienna, Eliza, Jessica, Isabelle. We’d also consider Elizabeth for her middle name since that’s mine, but I wasn’t sure if ending Skye with an “e” and starting a middle name with an “e” made sense. My husband also likes the name Dakota, but I’m not feeling it. He also likes “Skylar” but I feel that “Skye” is more original and I like the way it looks.
We want to avoid ending up with the intials SOB.
I think this will be our last child, though having a third isn’t out of the question. For a boy, I love the name Noah Emmanual, but I don’t think my husband is sold (even though Noah was a name we considered when we were expecting our first). If we had another girl I don’t think we’d be able to find another name we could agree on!
Please help! Maybe you can reassure me that Skye Samantha flows just fine, or maybe you can come up with a suggestion we haven’t thought of. I feel like baby girl will arrive and we’ll still be “debating” the name issue.
One-syllable first names can be challenging to find good middle names for. I think Skye Samantha is great. In fact, I think I prefer it to Samantha Skye, though I think both work well. If you had written this as a middle name challenge, saying her name would be Skye _____ Bernadet [not the real surname, just showing the rhythm], I’d be first looking for a name with a da-DA-da sound: Skye da-DA-da DA-da-da. Samantha fits perfectly.
Skye Abigail is also pretty. Name rhythm/flow is very subjective, but my vote is that I prefer Skye Samantha. But I also don’t think “scabby” is an issue, since people rarely get nicknames for their middle name.
I also don’t see anything wrong with having Skye end in E and Elizabeth start with E, if you like Skye Elizabeth better—but again, I don’t think it particularly helps the flow, so again would advise sticking with your favorite.
It can be reassuring to consider how often you think the first and middle names will be said together. In some families, the parents routinely call their children by first-middles, in which case it would be worth questing to find a combination you liked. In most situations, however, the middle name all but vanishes after the birth announcements are sent out, and it seems more important to choose a name you love than a rhythm you love.
I like it and think you should go with Skye Samantha.
I also wouldn’t worry about Skye Abigail. My son’s first name starts with an M and has the middle name of Asher. Didn’t realize until we got home from the hospital that it was M. Asher. lol. But we never write his name like that so it isn’t a big deal.
My twin sister’s name is Skye Ann with a two syllable last name and I can’t imagine her name without the E on the end. With that being said, my sister has always hated her name. We are 30 years old so while it’s becoming a more popular name, my sister felt odd growing up. When she would say her name over the phone people often thought she was saying Scott and of course that gave her a negative feeling as she’s female and is not named Scott. She also got teased in school by people saying things like “There’s a storm in the Skye” along with other immature things. Even as a grown adult, my sister is not fond of her name even though most like it. Also, when she tells people her name is Skye they often ask her is her real name Skylar and she tells them no that it’s just Skye. Also another tid bit, because people assume Skye is a shortened version of Skye, people will write her name incorrectly as Sky. Hope this helps as this is coming from someone who has personal and direct knowledge of a Skye as a female!
I think all your potential middles (Samantha, Abigail, Elizabeth) work fine with Skye. It could be you’re just having jitters that make everything seem wrong.
I do like Samantha as the first name, too, though, if you decide to go back in that direction.
I think Skye Samantha is absolutely lovely and you should definitely name her that. Cheers!
I love Skye Samantha, and would in general just second everything Swistle has said! (In contrast to above anon poster, I love the imagery that Skye invokes, and these days, girls are being named Scout and even nn’d Scotty (Scarlett), so to me Skye doesn’t seem that out there….., just quite beautiful.
With a brother name Matthew, I’d use a classic name – like Samantha. I don’t think Skye is a viable first name and reminds me of Skype.
I love Skye Samantha! I think it flows beautifully and you love it–so use it!
I do agree with Anonymous above who said Matthew and Samantha “match” better. However, I think a lot of families have different styles for boys & girls, so I don’t know that it is really all that important. The flow is lovely and I’ve know a few Sky/Skye/Skylers who have never had any problems with the name. It’s much more common than it was 30 years ago, so don’t be too concerned about the negative experiences of the previous posters sister. My only concern is that the first/middle initials are SS. If they were first/last initials of SS, I’d advise against it but in the case of first/middle I think it’s more one of those things you should be aware of before you do it-but not really something that should stop you. sigh–so, a very long post just to tell you that I think Skye Samantha is fine.
I find initials S.S. disturbing. If your daughter will have any contact with Jewish or European communities, she may never want to use her full name or initials. If you like the sound of Skye, how about Kye or Kylie or Kyla? Samantha could still be first or middle. I think Matthew and Kylie are nice together, as are Mathew and Samantha.
I also lived in a slightly hippie community when I was younger and all the “Sky” people I knew were boys. Although looking back that was probably a bit weird as it does sound like a more feminine name.
I think Samantha goes better as a first name with Matthew and Noah. But I think Skye sounds better as a first name with a three syllable last name. Either way, I like both names and I don’t think you can go wrong.
As for the previous comments about SS initials — my initials are SSD and my high school was more than half Jewish kids and no one ever brought it up or mentioned it. In fact, for a while people called me “the SS Lastname” as in a boat, (but it was in a fun, not insulting way), and that later got shortened to some people calling me just SS, and still no one ever mentioned the negative connotation of the initials, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Skye Samantha has a nice flow to it, so I would not hesitate because of that.
However, I do think of Skype when I look at the name, and that would be a dealbreaker for me.
I love Samantha Skye, and it sounds like you do/did, too, and it also goes SO well with Matthew that I would go back to that plan, personally.
Either way, you’ve got good choices and good taste!
I was about to say use Skye – so striking, so unusual, so evocative – but since you wrote you “absolutely love” Samantha Skye I wonder if you’re just having pre-naming jitters. Samantha and Matthew do make a better sibset, although you have to remember they won’t be under the same roof forever. For what it’s worth, I think Matt and Skye sound fine together – it’s not unusual for a son to have a traditional name while the sister’s is more unique. (Look at the Afflecks: you have Violet, Serafina and Samuel. Or on TV: Firefly had a brother and sister named Simon and River.) I’ve heard this trick; go out to your back door, and yell the name you’re thinking of using. Whichever one feels more natural, go with that. And for what it’s worth my mom was considering naming me Skye and I would have loved it, what with sky-blue eyes and all. (And nicely unusual without being “weird.)
I think Skye Samantha is beautiful. Good luck!
I really like Skye Samantha and Skye Elizabeth.
I don’t care for Skye Abigail. I’m not concerned about the “Scabby” connection, I just think there is something about the flow that is off.
I wouldn’t worry about Skye not going as well as Samantha with a brother Matthew. I think slightly different name styles are more feasible with opposite sex siblings.
Good luck.
What about Skye Amanda? Similar sound to Skye Samantha but I think it flows better.
Wow, a great big thank you to Swistle and all the reader comments. You have no idea how much I appreciate the feedback! Since writing this letter, I think I narrowed it down to Skye Samantha (husband’s first choice), Samantha Sky (our original choice) or Skylar Elizabeth (something a bit different). We will have to continue our discussion but your comments make me feel that whichever name we choose in the end will be just right for her (and I love them all). I’ll keep you posted!!!
– Ms. B.