Chelse writes:
My name is Chelse. My husband’s name is Chris. We are beyond the moon to be having a little girl, due on Valentine’s Day 2013! We have two little boys, Finley Everette (age 2) and Henry David (age 1). Yes, we are busy, to say the least! Chris and I have been going back and forth about baby girl’s name and we are stuck – we are adamant that we want to steer clear of any “–y” names, for fear of being too sing-songy with a Finley and Henry, both ending with the “y/ee” sound. Likewise, we are not wanting the baby to have a popular name (the Eva, Olivia, Ella, Clara bunch of names that are so hot right now). We initially loved the name Georgia, but then I fell in love with the name Beatrice. Chris is on the fence with Beatrice and says that with the perfect middle name, he would be sold on it. So, the quest for a middle name has begun.We would like to incorporate some element of Chris’ family into the middle name – some of the girl names on his side are Marlene, Nina (pronounced nine-a), Monahan (his deceased mother’s maiden name).Our last name is Dall which is fun (we have baby Dalls, live in the Dall house, etc) but also means that we don’t want a name like Barbie Dall… wink wink.Any thoughts? Suggestions? We so appreciate it! This little girl is a huge blessing and we want her name to reflect the specialness that she’ll bring to our family!
To reflect specialness, I might use Beatrice Joy or Beatrice Felicity. Since the name Beatrice already means “blessed,” it’s a nice double-shot of it.
But if you want to use a name from your husband’s side, and since he thinks the right middle name would sell him the first name you love, I suggest letting him go through his family tree to choose the right one—or let him make a list of finalists, and then decide together. It makes a great naming story, too, to say her dad chose her middle name.
I agree that it would be nice to let your husband pick a name with significance…so long as you like it too! I’m going to suggest Beatrice Pearl. Pearls are precious objects that form in the belly of the shell. If you’re wanting to emphasize how precious she is and how blessed you feel to have made her, this would be my top pick for you. Best of luck :)
I also think letting your husband choose the middle or using a name from his family tree makes sense since you are trying to win him over to Beatrice, but here are some ideas:
Beatrice Ann
Beatrice Ariadne
Beatrice Elizabeth
Beatrice Elspeth
Beatrice Harriet
Beatrice Joyce
Beatrice Judith
Beatrice Miranda
Beatrice Olga
Beatrice Rowena
Beatrice was one of our top two girl names (but we had boys) and we had narrowed it down to Beatrice Marie or Beatrice Jane.
I can’t believe another family that pronounces Nina Nine-ah. I thought our family was the only one. My great aunt read the name and didn’t hear it pronounced when she picked it. :D
I vote for Beatrice Monahan Dall
Beatrice Mona or Monahan
Beatrice Nina or Beatrice Marlene all work
Or Beatrice Georgia.
But I agree if its important to your husband to have a middle name from his family it would help for him to dig into his family tree and see what captivates him. Beatrice seems to go nicely with a lot of names.
Although personally I’d avoid Nina with your last name no matter how you pronounce it.
I too know a Nine-a (Nina); she was born in 1913. I’d probably avoid using Nina as a mn because your family pronounces it in the old-fashioned way and that could be an issue when her middle name is used.
What about your husband’ late mother’s first or middle name? Would either — or something very similar — work with Beatrice? Other than that, I agree with Swistle that since your husband wants a name from his family and the -perfect- middle name to go with Beatrice, I think he might be the one to come up with some suggestions.
Beatrice Marlena?
My Godmother’s name was Beatrice and we called her Bea and I loved the idea of naming my daughter Veronica Beatrice B___ (rhymes with deck) but my husband had chosen her middle name, Lucy, so it was nixed. But I loved loved loved the idea of a Veronica Beatrice, called Veronica Bea sometimes, it just seemed flow really well. But if Beatrice is a middle name, I feel like it calls out for a one syllable middle name. Beatrice Joy, like Swistle suggested, or Beatrice Rose, or Beatrice Ann, although then her initials would be BAD, which could be kind of cool, depending on how you look at it. Of course I agree it would be fun for your husband to pick the perfect middle name that goes with your choice. Best of luck!
Some of the lovely Beatrice combinations found in London Telegraph birth announcements where Beatrice ranked at #23 in 2011 and #12 in 2010:
Beatrice Eleanor
Beatrice Clara
Beatrice Charlotte
Beatrice Mary
Beatrice Rose
Beatrice Grace
Beatrice Daisy
Beatrice Constance
Beatrice Lucy
Beatrice Caroline
Beatrice Isabel
Beatrice Lily
All of these have middle names where the first syllable is accented, as in Beatrice. I think the full name’s rhythm sounds best this way, e.g., Beatrice Isabel = BEE-ə-tris IZ-ə-bel; Beatrice Lucy = BEE-ə-tris LOO-see.
As I was trying to come up with a mn for Beatrice I noticed that it sort of rhymes with Chris. That wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, but I thought I’d point it out.
There’s an actress called Beatrice Dalle fyi
What about Georgia Beatrice?? You still use the name you’ve fallen in love with and she’ll have the name you and your husband picked out together. You can call her Georgia Bea as a full name, if wanted.
Love the Georgia Beatrice suggestion. Beatrice is such a lovely name, I like the Beatrice Felicity pairing and Joy is pretty but I have to say, maybe be mindful of certain initial pairings like a J middle name to Beatrice.
My first thought was that Beatrice Georgia would be great, but I see you are specifically looking for a family name. I think Beatrice works with any of the family names you mentioned. If you are looking for a slightly fresher version, maybe Beatrice Lena instead of Marlene? I agree with Swistle that if your husband needs the “perfect” middle name to be totally sold on Beatrice, I’d just let him pick something. You’d have veto power of course. BTW, if he can’t find the “perfect” middle and you decide to go back to Georgia, I think Georgia Beatrice would be a great name.
What about Beatrice Lena?
I also like Beatrice Monahan
I came back to suggest Beatrice Annabel Dall, thinking that was a really nice name, until I saw the other commenter mentioning the initials BAD. Oh well.
if you don’t end up using a name from your husband’s family and she IS born on 2/14, I vote strongly for a holiday-centric name:
Beatrice Valentina
Beatrice Valentine
Beatrice Love
Beatrice Rose (subtle!)
Beatrice Aimée (french for loved)
Beatrice Whitman’s Sampler
Okay, that last one was a joke, but you get the idea!
Beatrice Pearl is lovely and I also think Beatrice Monahan sounds great.
I also like:
Beatrice Primrose
Beatrice Opal
Beatrice Esme
Beatrice Susanna
Beatrice Eloise
Beatrice Rosa
Beatrice Lucinda
Beatrice Nell
Having two middle names with Beatrice sounds great too if you wanted to include another name you really like plus a family name. For example:
Beatrice Monahan Mae
Beatrice Monahan Pearl
Beatrice Lucinda Marlene
Beatrice Rosa Marlene
Beatrice Nina Rose
Beatrice Nina Pearl
You could mash Marlene and Nina together to get Marlena.
Beatrice Marlena
Double middle names sound lovely and would resolve the BAD initials if you don’t like them but really like an A name. For example:
Beatrice Amelie Nina
Beatrice Annabel Monahan
Beatrice Arabella Marlene
Hope these suggestions help.
Good Luck!!!!!!!
oh mah gah, i cannot stop laughing at beatrice whitman’s sampler. that is prime time hilarity.
i like beatrice wynne. or beatrice emme (em mee). beatrice vera? beatrice remi. beatrice clory. beatrice mabry. beatrice everly. i can’t STOP finding lovely middle names!
I wonder if you would like a middle name beginning with B so that you would always have a little B B Dall.
I think Beatrice Bethany has a nice ring to it.
I love Beatrice as well, but I couldn’t use it because of my husband’s surname. Be careful with the initials B.O. and B.J. though, you might want to avoid them. I like the B.B. Dall idea though, so cute!
Oh my goodness! I am overwhelmed with all of these fantastic suggestions. B. B. Dall especially is just darling… now, to find a name on my husband’s side of the family that begins with a “B” is the challenge!
We are also loving Beatrice Monahan. So many choices!
Thank you all for your ideas and thoughts – I just love this blog and was honored that they picked my email to post! I’ll keep you posted as to what we decide!
Chelse and Chris
Is it not too late for me to say… I love Beatrice Rose Monaham Dall!
I’m sure you’ll pick a corker though.
I’m nowhere near to finding a man to start a family with, but already I’m thinking up name combos that I love. When I was born my mum picked my middle name and my dad picked my first name, but I’ve always been called by the middle.