Ellie writes:
I am Elinor always known as Ellie. My husband is Thomas always known by his full name. Our daughter is Constance Leah always known as Connie. Her middle name is never used. My husband’s surname which our daughter has, as will the new baby, is Richardson.
We are expecting baby number two due in July and don’t know whether it is a boy or girl, and would love your help and your readers’ suggestions.
Girls first…
I don’t mind the names going together particularly, but there are problems with my two favourite girls names. The first is Annabel nn Annie. But Annie and Connie are perhaps too similar (especially as I am Ellie). The second is Clemency but I really think children should have their own first initial so am wary of having two Cs (which also rules out E names and T names).
Constance is a honour name for my grandmother who passed away, but I also love the sound of Connie.
The other girls names I love are Vivienne and Catherine (that C problem again). I like Susannah also nn Annie but as well as the Connie/Annie/Ellie problem I want to avoid too many Ss in case she has a lisp as I did as a child when saying Susannah would have been my worst nightmare (worse at the beginning of words than the middle).
We quite like Lucy but don’t love it.
And I like Anna (nn Annie). (I like Hannah too but can’t use it as it is a close friend’s baby).
I like Frances but there is the singer Connie Francis.
We want a Jewish/old testament middle name if the first name is not Jewish as we are a mixed faith household.
Boys…
If our daughter had been a boy she would have been Leo David. Still like David as a middle name (I like it as a first name but my husband doesn’t and he doesn’t like nn Dave). I’ve gone off Leo though.
I love the name Joseph/Joe but can’t use it as have a close relative with the name.
I like Frank but husband says no. Other names husband says no to that I like are Adam and Toby. Edward is nice (nn Bear) but the initial thing comes up again. I love more leftfield names like Valentine and Horatio but husband says a very definite no.
We both like Jonathan but Jonny and Connie not good!!
I quite like Harry.
We like Robin and Rowan, both more common for boys than girls in the UK where we live. Also that initial thing again. And they aren’t very masculine.
Neither of us like surnames as first names.
Please help us. To recap, no Es, Ts or Cs, nothing rhyming with Connie, no surnames as first names, and a short Jewish middle name if possible. Or are we just asking too much?
Thank you!
I think Connie and Annie are fine together. I too would probably first try to find a name with a more different nickname, but if I couldn’t find one I’d go ahead and use an Annie one. Constance and Annabel are plenty different enough, so it’s only the nicknames that are a little matchy.
If you like Clemency, I wonder if you’d like Verity. Constance and Verity. The main trouble is a lack of a good nickname. “Very”? No. But if a nickname isn’t a requirement, I think Connie and Verity works well.
Would you be willing to spell Catherine with a K? That would solve the initial problem. Connie and Katie is sweet.
Or Vivienne seems to handle everything well: different initial, and Connie and Vivi doesn’t seem too close.
If Lucy isn’t quite right, you could use Lucienne: similar to Vivienne, but with Lucy as the nickname.
The name Frances makes me think of Alice. Or Francesca might be far enough away from the Connie Francis association.
I’d rule out Rachel as a middle name, to avoid seeming to refer to the Bible story of sisters Leah and Rachel. Rebecca would be pretty, or Ruth, or Sarah, or Miriam, or Naomi, or Esther. Or you could use Hannah, if that wouldn’t bother your friend in the middle name slot. I like Ruth with pretty much everything, and Ruth is a very nice biblical character: Annabel Ruth, Katherine Ruth, Vivienne Ruth, Lucienne Ruth.
If you love Joe but can’t use it, I wonder if you’d like Sam. Samuel Richardson sounds wonderful to me, and Connie and Sammy is sweet.
If you like Rowan but would prefer not to alliterate, I wonder if you’d like Owen or Nolan.
I think Edward is great, or Edmund would be nice. We have all different kid-initials in our family, but I don’t include the parent names, just the sibling names. (We’re usually M and D for Mommy and Daddy anyway.) If you were going to drop a preference or two to make the selection process easier, that is probably the one I’d start with.
Jonathan makes me think of Benjamin. Connie and Benny is about the same similarity as Connie and Annie; Connie and Ben works great if you don’t think you’d use Benny.
I’ve been trying to push the name George recently. George David Richardson is so nice, and Connie and Georgie works well.
I also like Frederick. Frederick David Richardson; Connie and Freddie.
Name update! Ellie writes:
Just to say the only reason we didn’t update you after this post is we had a boy, and used Leo David after all. Thank you again.
I was totally trying to sell my husband on Verity with no luck, but I love it :0
I also love Clemency. What about Justice? I know a teenager with that name (girl) and LOVE it. But no good nickname there either.
Good luck!
I have an uncle who uses Jono as a nn for Jonathan.
Connie and Jono isn’t too matchy.
Is Patience too matchy with Constance? Connie and Patty?
A childhood friend of mine was named Veronica, nn Ivy.
If Joseph or Joe is out of the question for a boy because of male relative, could you use Josephine or Joanna for a girl?
Sarah nn Sally jumped out at me as the perfect solution.
You seem to keep coming around to Annie (Annabel, Susannah, Anna, Hannah) which makes me think this is the name you really love more than others. Personally, I don’t see a problem with Connie & Annie. They are close but I don’t find them to be too matchy. If it really bothers you, maybe you could just change the ending slightly? Constance and Annabel, Connie & Anna? Of your non-Annie names, I like Catherine the best & changing to a K as Swistle suggested avoids the matching initials. Swistle (as usual) offered some wonderful suggestions. Francesca nn Franny-close to Annie but maybe far enough removed that it doesn’t bother you with Connie? Verity is also nice, I’ve always loved that name. Ruth is a good middle name suggestion and fits well with all the names on your list.
For boys, I like all of Swistle’s suggestions, especially Sam, Owen & George. I’ll also suggest Nathaniel (Nate). From your list, I really like Harry.
Verity is pretty, especially to complement Constance; Vera could be a nn for Verity
When I first read this, I thought “Connie and Annie aren’t too close! That should be fine!” but then on re-reading I noticed you are from the UK and I wonder if you pronounce some of the vowels differently. In the midwestern US, I would say “Cohn-nie” and “Ann-ie” with the Ann being a nasal sound – to my ears, that’s not too similar. But would you say “Ahnn-nie” in the UK with a softer “Ahhh” sound instead of a nasal “An” sound? Because in that case, I could see how Connie and Annie would almost rhyme, and that would be too close, I agree.
To go along with the Constance/Clemency/Verity lines, what about Felicity? You could use the nickname Fliss or Lissy, which would be cute, and Lissy is similar to Lucy but a little more unique.
I think Vivienne is pretty too, and I like the suggestion of Josephine (nn Josie, love!) or Joanna.
The “Virtue” names that are more unique spring to mind.
Constance and Honora. Honora offers the nickname of Ana or Nora. I like Honora Ruth.
Constance and Alethia. You could use the nickname Thea or Ally.
Philip David for a boy? Simon David? Levi David?
I think the commenter who pointed out how you keep coming back to Annie has an excellent point. It seems like that really is the name you want. And if Connie and Annie is just too close for you (for me it’s not ideal, but not a deal-breaker), Anna is pretty close to Annie. Anna Ruth is a lovely name.
For the boys, I liked the suggestion of Owen as name that’s similar to Rowen. Ronan could work for you, too. Ronan David is very handsome.
Or Roman, that could work, too.
I am so in love with the sibling set of Constance and Verity! Would Vivi be too far-fetched as a nn? But I agree with the other commenters who point out that you keep coming back to Annie, and I don’t think it’s bad with Connie at all.
Benjamin sounds great with Constance and with your last name AND has a great Old Testament connection. Benjamin David. Connie and Ben.
My best friend’s name is Verity and I think it is beautiful. As a nickname she goes by V or Ver.
Her sister’s name is genevieve which I think would also go well with Constance. Her sister has Gen has her nick name. Constance and Genevieve.
Good luck!
I dont like Benny but LOVE Benji and think Benji and Connie are great together. Benjamin David or Benjamin Matthew or Benjamin Joshua. Even Benjamin Luke. You love Annie, so maybe Lucy-Anna is far enough away when in its formal form. When with Ruth or Mary it sounds lovely to me. Constance and Lucy-Anna, or Lucianna. Lucianna Ruth. I do agree with swistle though that using a K for Katherine and having Connie and Kate or Connie and Kitty are really lovely if you decide against Anna. Katherine Mary or Katherine Ruth. Loads of good ideas in the other suggestions, too!
First suggestion – if you feel Annie is too close to Connie, could you just name and call her Anabel without the nickname? Connie and Anabel.
Second suggestion – Nancy. As you seem drawn to names with the ‘an’ sound.
Connie and Nancy are a delightfully old fashioned set of names. (straight out an Enid Blyton story perhaps?). Perhaps at a stretch you could even use Nancy as a nickname for Clemency.
Constance and Clemency
Connie and Nancy
I love it. Good luck and let us know what you choose.
I second megz’s idea of Nancy. I like that name and its retro feel, and would go well with Connie!
What about Amy? Amy and Connie sound good. I know a family with siblings Kathy, Connie, and Amy. It also means beloved. Amelia nn Amie. Amelia Ruth,,,Amelia Jane (node to Jans). Also Lilian Lily for short. As far as no rhyming nn. Fran , Gwen, Mia, Bea (Beatrice), Bree, Quinn.
Boys. I love Leo David. I also like Robin a lot. How about. Sean, an Sean David seems to work and Connie and Sean are good. Bennett maybe. Henry ? I again like one syllable names if you dont like the rhyme. Matt, Beau, Gage, Finn
Why not use Nate as a nickname for Jonathan?
I love Annabel, and if Annie is to silmilar, would you consider calling her Bell? Connie and Bell would be really cute together. Good luck!
A friend of mind has a Connie and an Arabella – I love the names together. If Annabel is too close would Arabella work?
Thank you so much for all the advice and comments. I was thrilled you printed my email. No news yet and we’re still thinking…
I don’t like Verity or Felicity – I don’t know why, I just don’t. But the other names are great.
We can’t use Benjamin and the Connie after which my daughter is named was my grandma and her husband, my grandpa, was Benny, and to have the pairing would be too weird. And my nephew is Sam so that is ruled out.
But we are going to put all the other names into the mix for discussion. Thank you again.