Joy writes:
I am back for more of your fabulous baby naming advice! I wrote you when we were expecting our son and now we expecting our third baby in about 7 weeks. We have a daughter (Maggie Suzanne) and a son (Oscar Alexander) so this will make our second little girl. My husband and I both thought it would be so easy to name this little one because she is a girl, but for some reason it has been just as hard as naming Oscar. Part of the issue is that I feel such a pressure because this is probably our last baby so I want to “get it right” and the other part is that Maggie is such a feminine yet cute name it is (in my mind) hard to match.
So, a couple of things about us: My husband is Hispanic and I am Caucasian so we need a name that would work well for a blended family. The other thing is that we love older classic names, but I really want it to be unique. My name is Joy so I grew up with a name that no one else had and I loved that! I also have a rule that I want to name my kids what I will call them instead of naming them something and using a nickname all of the time. Last, I am not as much worried about the names being matchy matchy like I was when I had my son, but rather I want her to have a beautiful and unique name that fits with the others names (if that makes sense).
Here are some names we like:
Me:
Charlie (I love, but have a hard time naming a girl a name that is typically for a boy).
Ellie
Kamie (lifelong favorite but my husband hates it)
IzzieUs:
Pennie
Macie (it sounds a lot like Maggie though)
MollyHusband:
Olivia (I love this only if we call her Olivia Jane as if that were her first name, but I am unsure of how I feel about two name first names and my husband only wants to call her Olivia. I think this name is too long and doesn’t fit great with the other kids. Plus, it is very popular)Middle names we have considered:
Jane
Elizabeth
Marie
Olivia (matched with Pennie)So there you have it! I am looking forward to reading what you come up with for us!!
Thanks in advance for your help!!
I suggest Sadie. It’s similar in style to Maggie, without being at all matchy. Sadie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Sadie.
Or Annie. Annie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Annie.
Or Libby. Libby Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Libby.
Or Livvy, which is similar to Olivia. Livvy Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Livvy.
Or Polly, which is similar to Molly without sharing so many sounds with Maggie. Polly Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Polly.
Or Lacey, which is similar to Macie but without sharing so many sounds with Maggie. Lacey Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Lacey.
Or Betsy, which is making a subtle comeback just as all the Betsys finally got everyone to call them Elizabeth or Liz. Betsy Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Betsy.
Or Ginny. Ginny Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Ginny.
I think Pennie from your list also works well, but I would suggest spelling it Penny to avoid the continual hassle of spelling issues. (And because I know, I KNOW this is silly, but my mind saw it as “Peenie” at first, and I know that’s probably not something to even consider but STILL. I’d go with Penny.)
I agree that Charlie is too boyish a name for a girl in this sibling group, but I wonder if you’d like Arlie, Karli, or Marli?
I was about to recommend Emmie, and then realized that an Oscar and an Emmy together is probably not a good idea!
Evie would work better. Evie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Evie.
Lily would be pretty. Lily Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Lily.
If you love Kamie, I wonder if you’d like Cassie or Cammie or Callie.
Name update! Joy writes:
I was going about my business today and it hit me that I never updated you! I am SO sorry!! Life with 3 under 4 years old has been crazy to say the least. So, although very late I wanted to update you anyway. I was all set to name her Penny Jane, but when she was born I looked at her and just knew that was not the perfect match. We welcomed Olivia Jane into the world on June 22. She was 3 weeks early and weighed a whopping 9lbs 4oz! She is absolutely beautiful both inside and out!!! Thank you for your wonderful blog and help with choosing a name. We loved all of your (and your helpers) ideas!
I wanted to stop reading at Sadie – I think it is perfect! Maggie, Oscar and Sadie just work, and Sadie Jane is gorgeous.
I also like the suggestion of Annie.
Other ideas..
Hattie
Clara
Calla
Pippa
Rosie
Penny is perfection!
Molly came to mind right away and then I saw you have it in your list. How sweet would sisters Maggie and Molly be??? :) Good luck!
I love Penny on your list, I think it is perfect. My other suggestions for classic, underused and cultural crossing would be
Lydia
Celia
Fiona
Sylvie
Evie
Rosie
What about Marie? I know some people think its a throw away middle name, but its very classic and underused as a first name.
I like Olivia best from the names on your list and Lily best from Swistle’s suggestions. I also like Jane as a first name. Jane Olivia?
Love Penny but love Libby even more! Maggie and Libby are both used as nicknames for very traditional girls’ names (Margaret, Elizabeth) but are so cute and definitely stand on their own. I think they are a good set for that reason.
I have a Lucy and wonder if you might like that?
Lydia. Ava. Elianna. Elaina. Carly.
Oh, I love Swistle’s suggestion of Sadie! I also adore the name Molly. I think either of those names would be perfect with Maggie and Oscar.
I think Olivia could work as well, especially if you call her Livvy most often. I’m not sure about Pennie, especially if it’s not a nn for Penelope (and I’m not sure why this makes a difference to me! I’d also spell it Penny).
Swistle’s idea of Emmie reminds me of the name Esme. Esme Olivia Perez is such a great name!
Congratulations!
I really like Penny from your list (I read Pennie as Peenie at first, too!). I’ll also throw out the suggestion of Bonnie.
When I read your children’s names I immediately thought “Ooo, I hope this baby has a middle name with a V in it!” I thought this because of the snazzy end-of-the-alphabet letters in Suzanne (Z) and Alexander (X), and for some unexplainable reason my mind went straight to V to make a cute but not super noticeable pattern/theme. Kind of ridiculous, I know, but it’s my long winded way of saying that I was happy to see Olivia on your list….maybe that could be a middle name contender :)
If not Charlie, how about Lottie?
I like your no nickname policy. Maggie was on my own list of potential names. :-)
How about:
Callie
Marley
Zoe
Nelly
Good luck!
Betsy —> BETTY. Such a cool retro name.
I think Molly is great! It has sounds from both sibling’s names, and flows nicely. You could even spell it Mollie.
I think Swistle’s suggestion of Sadie is perfection! Molly, Lucy, Esme and Clara are also very nice. What about Sally, Ruby, Tessa (or Tess) or Allie?
I agree Charlie reads too boy as a given name for a girl. Carly is nice-or maybe Charla?
What about Violet Perez?
Sadie is lovely, but the native Spanish speakers in my family might say Sad-ie instead of Say-dee, which would knock it out of contention for me. Polly is great! So is Molly. Ruby is my #1 vote, though!
Callie was my top suggestion, too.
Otherwise, what about:
Nellie
Cherry
Ginny
Hattie
Queenie
Ivy
Carrie was popular three to four decades ago, but now it’s virtually unused… and still classically lovely.
All the best to your growing family! I LOVE your children’s names; great taste!
I like Lily for you :)
I LOVE Lacey as well as Karli. The one Lacey I know is in her 20s now.
Good luck!
From other blogger suggestions I second Carrie Perez, Molly Perez and Ruby Perez. They all go very nicely with Maggie (great name!) and Oscar. I hear the comment about pronunciation of Sadie and I don’t think that works well. My Hispanic relatives haVe named their daughter Livia which I love as its differeNt to Olivia. They call her Livi as a nickname which I know you don’t want to do, but Livvie could work as a stand alone name with Oscar and Maggie. Livvie Perez. You could fill middle space with a classic name like Grace or Ann-Marie or a unique name like Amorosia or a stylish modern name like Zara or Pippa or even Julia. By the way I do think you could use Charlee (I have two nieces named Charli and. Charlee in different families) as it is a very accepted diminutive girls’ name these days.
I would avoid Penny and Polly because of the initials P.P. What about Amelia or Camellia. Camellia gives you the nickname Cami, and is popular in Latin America.
Livvie Jane Perez. Perfect! Livvie Marie and Livvie Rose also work although Livvie Maria might sound a bit better than Livvie Marie. I love that Livvie and Maggie have double letters then ‘ie’ and are a twist on a traditional name. Livvie Christine just popped into my head as well, but Livvie Jane is the best I think. Good luck and tell us what you decide!
These are ALL such lovely suggestions, and I am so happy to see my name on the list! It’s worn well for me, I think, and my mother was always happy with it. (I was a mother’s-maiden-name kid; my mom is Cynthia Lacey.)
Anyway! Back to you. I love Penny, Annie, Polly, Evie, Lottie, Esme, and Tessa. Ooh, just saw the P.P. concern: although it is silly and you may not care (I don’t know if I would), it IS perfect for schoolyard teasing. Too bad. Penny and Polly are lovely and perfect and not too popular…
Growing up, I knew a Sally Perez. She had brown corkscrew curls and the BIGGEST dimpled smile, and was always coming up with jokes. I adored her. She was my grandmother’s favorite of my friends, and my grandmother had perfect taste. <3
I second – third? – Sally. It’s in the same vein as Penny, Betsy, Molly, Polly, Millie, etc. but NO ONE is using it. Seriously – the name’s not in the U.S. top 1000, and hasn’t been since the 1970s. It’s easy to say and easy to spell. Like Sadie, it’s also a nickname for Sarah with the huge bonus that it doesn’t have the celebrity trendiness of Sadie. (Plus, no sadist connection or the word “sad” as the first three letters of the name.) And for some reason, Sally has been used in approximately 1,001 songs, several of which are classics. It’s a really happy name, too – it just has a nice sound and people seem to love to say (and sing!) it. I once met a Latina named Sally, and she told me that she loved it.
Can you guess my name? :o)
Daisy, nancy, elia, Elsa, Betty, Lucy, Lizzy, Libby, Molly, I don’t know if any of your in laws are fluent in Spanish but Pennie is very very close in sound to male anatomy in Spsnish.