Jessica writes:
So we have a baby naming dilemma – so much so that my dear husband keeps saying, “well, we have 10 days after the baby is born…”
Yikes!Our last name is pronounced Shafer. We have one daughter, Lily Grayce. We used Grayce with a ‘y’ in honor of good friends, and the mum happens to be British, so the “y” version is the popular spelling. We’re not too concerned about popularity, and prefer that over odd spellings and unheard-of names. Where we live “Lily” is not all that popular, despite it sitting high on the charts, we know one other Lily who is about 5 years older than ours.
My husband’s name is Eric and my name is Jess(ica) but as I usually go by the shorter, we all end up with four letter names with distinct letters – this makes it easy and neat, and we like it, but we’re not stuck on 4 letters. We do prefer to have different initials at least between siblings and preferably the whole family. We’d love to have 4 kids at least if life allows, so we’re trying not to get into too much of a pattern – hence we’re not wanting to go with another “L” name for fear of having either all “L” names (tricky) or changing after kid 1&2 which feels odd. We also don’t want to get into a pattern of “y” or “ie” endings. It seems like “er” ending names clash with our last name, so we’re not having luck there either – between the “y”/”ie” and the “er” that knocks out a lot of names!
We’re not finding out what we’re having this time, but we already have our options fairly settled for boy names, it’s girls we need help with!We do tend to favor shorter names, and if we were to chose a longer name we would likely use a 1-2 syllable nickname on a daily basis. We even cut Lily down to “Lils..” a lot, so we’re pretty lazy..!
We love Ruby, but it keeps us in the “y” ending… also considering Claire/Clara, Pearl, Olive (but not Olivia), and Sage.
I like Stella, Astrid, and Hazel, but my husband was not convinced. He has no ideas of his own. Our 2.5 year old would like to call the baby “Baby Poptart.”We like Jade, but don’t like the meaning. We have also avoided short R girl names due to a close in age girl cousin named a variation of Ryan and a close friend named Roma, tho we are willing to bend on that for the perfect name! We’ve discarded flower names as well due to not wanting an obvious garden… but we’re ok with plant and nature names.
If it helps, our top boy names are Milo, Jude, and Rowan, which would likely be paired with the middle name of Ellis, tho we’re not decided by any means…
Can you save our 2nd kiddo from being “Baby Poptart” forever?
and
4-8 weeks to go (depending on who you ask and how long this one likes to bake) but still no settling on a name! We have some updates and changes tho, so perhaps you’ll be up for helping – pretty pretty please? :D
We’re down to boy’s names Milo or West, which obviously have very different feels to them. We did favor the middle name “Maxin” (spelled with an ‘o’ not an ‘i’) which is my husband’s grandmother’s maiden name, however we’re not sure about it with our last name (pronounced Shafer). My good friend and name lover greatly dislikes West (not a breaking point) and recommends Weston, but it reminds me of both the TV show Burn Notice and the Weston Price Foundation… maybe neither are an issue – thoughts? We have considered playing of my maiden name somehow to make a middle name for West or Weston – my maiden name is said Ree-mal-ee (spelled simply) so we considered using something like “Remington” but are afraid this might sound a bit NRA :) That’s where we sit with the boys.
For girl names, we’ve added a new favorite to the top spot: Gwen. We keep debating different “Gwen-” names but keep coming back to Gwen because we’re certain to shorten it to that for daily use anyway. Finding a middle name here again poses a bit of an issue. My husband suggested Pearl, but then we have GPS.. again, maybe not an issue. I’m not certain it’s a great match tho, seems like we need a longer middle to make things flow better and we just can’t seem to find one that fits.
Backups to Gwen we’re still considering are Ella, Elle, Claire, and Ruby (tho we’re still not fond of adding to the “-y / -ie” collection.
Will you give us a much needed hand?
The name Gwen seems great to me: four letters, but new initial, new ending, new sound. I agree with you: I’d want a middle name with more than one syllable. I’d go through the list of names that you liked but didn’t want to use in the first name slot because they started with L or R or had an -ie/-y ending. Gwen Ruby Shafer is very nice.
If you like Claire/Clara but would prefer four letters, I suggest Cora. Cora Shafer; Lily and Cora.
Or Cleo. Cleo Shafer; Lily and Cleo. This wouldn’t allow for Milo later, though.
If you like Ruby, you might like Ruth. Ruth Shafer; Lily and Ruth.
Or June. June Shafer; Lily and June.
Elle and Ella make me think of Anna. Anna Shafer; Lily and Anna.
I think Gwen is the best one, though.
If the baby is a boy, I favor Milo—not only because that was one of our finalist names for Henry, and I still have a soft spot for it, but also because it seems to have fewer issues than the name West. I prefer the name West to the name Weston, but the name West has the unfortunate issue of making names sound like towns: West Shafer. I also find the transition between -st and Sh- a little difficult to say: I end up with something like Wes Chafer.
I like Westley best as a longer form: that would still give you the four-letter nickname West, while also impressing fans of The Princess Bride AND removing associations with foundations and towns. It does give you another -ly name, but I think two in a row is a surmountable pattern, especially since one is a boy and one is a girl. (It’s three in a row where I think it’s nearly impossible to resist the pressure.)
But Milo avoids all these issues, so that’s what I’d go with. Milo Shafer is wonderful; Lily and Milo is wonderful. I like Maxin fine with your surname, or I like the idea of using your maiden name as-is: Milo Maxin Shafer or Milo Reemalee Shafer. I prefer Maxin, because I’d prefer to avoid the initials MRS. If the actual spelling of your maiden name looks feminine, it would be nice for a girl: Gwen Reemalee Shafer.
Gwen Ruby! I love it.
Swistle did a great job answering this one. I love Cleo and Cora for you, too.
I think Milo West or Milo Westley would work.
Good luck!
i have the same last name as you!
my name is kaylee and my sister’s name is lindsay and they work quite well with our last name. we also tossed around kathryn (nn Kit) and molly when my mom was preggo with my sis. Best of luck!
I love Gwen, it really does seem like a great sister name to Lily. You mentioned Ellis as a boy middle, I think it could also work as a middle for Gwen. Gwen Ellis. Maxin from your boys list made me think of Maxine, still a great tribute name and I think it works with Gwen. Gwen Maxine. Gwen Ruby is my favorite though.
For a boy I agree I like Milo better than West. West Shafer does sound like a town, or maybe like a certain area of town “We were looking at houses in West Shafer, but just can’t find anything in our price range”. Weston is better, but not great, and I personally don’t think the Burn Notice connection is an issue (but I’m a fan of the show). I’ll also suggest Wesley called Wes. It would be another Y ending, but I agree with Swistle that it seems less theme-y with a brother & sister. Maxin is fine as a middle, though I’m not crazy about the alliteration of Milo Maxin. However, he’d have the initials MMS and you could have a lot of fun with that & M&MS-and what kid wouldn’t love to have a candy name for initials? If you really love West, I think it would also work well as a middle for Milo. Milo West.
And of course, I always like mother’s maiden as middle and think it will work fine for either a boy or a girl. I’d prefer using it as is, instead of trying to change it. If you do change it, I’d avoid West Remington. For some reason, West seems to emphasize the gunness of Remington.
Gwen is great. I also suggest Maya, nickname My or May. Lily & Maya is so cute!
Milo is wonderful, & I wonder if you would like Arlo? & It’s too bad Waldo is off-the-charts…
Best of luck!
Milo is perfect! Milo anything really…but as the first name. It’s so cute on a little boy and if my hubs would agree to it on anything other than a cat I would use it myself! I like the name Gwen, but I’m always slightly irked by Gwens who don’t have a full name backing them up. Call me crazy but when I hear someone’s name is Gwen I want to know “Gwen…dolyn? Gwen..yth? Gwen…evere?” Another G-name I think works with Lily is Giselle. It incorporates the sounds of some of the other names you like. If you do use Gwen, Ruby is a lovely middle name.
I would avoid names ending in ‘a’ as you end up with similar sounds to ‘er’ and therefore your last name, in some regions/accents it might be the same sound.
So, Gwen Ruby is absolutely beautuful, and I feel like saying you MUST use it- especially as you both like it!
Milo Maxim and Milo West are just fabulous choices, but not West in first place, for Swistles reasons.
I do think other single syllable ‘western’ style names also work well with Your surname, and although you prefer everyone has different initials, what about Jack? Lily and Jack – great! Jack Reemallee – great! Jack Maxin Shafer, great! Or lengthen it to Jackson.
If not, also consider John and Jonah or James.
Or others for boys, Andrew (Drew) and Liam.
Definitely, definitely Gwen Ruby!
I prefer Milo to West as well. My preference for the girl name would be Gwendolyn Pearl, nn Gwen. I think the flow of the whole name is better than Gwen Pearl or Gwen Ruby. Or would you consider Pearl as a first name? Pearl Gwendolyn? It’s not 4 letter but it’s short and sweet, like Lily.
Soo excited to see our name question pop up, thanks Swistle for making my month! :) Thanks all for the comments, can’t wait to share with my husband later – we will take them all to heart :)
How about Gwen Romilly?
My fav 4-let name: Isis!
What about Wren? sounds like Gwen but has the nature feeling of Lily. (I’m partial to Wren because it is my youngest child’s name.)
It doesn’t seem as if jade is still in the running, but if it is, I would like to point out that it may sound close to “Jess” if yelled or said quickly. If it is still a contender, I wouldn’t worry about the meaning; I think a lot of people would think of the green stone first. I would also recommend Keeping pearl for a future child since you both like it, and find another mn for Gwen, such as Gwen Elise. Then her initials will be GES just like your nickname.
I like Wren but I just can’t pronounce it – I always slip up!
Isis is a lovely name but I feel like it’s too many “s” sounds with the last name.
Pearl is still on the list but not my husbands favorite.
Jack is my grandfather’s nn – so we’re not considering it and in fact, trying to avoid family names :) It does sound great with Lily tho!
Thanks all!
Wren is pronounced “Ren” just fyi.
Thanks all – we went through all the thoughts and comments as well as Swistle’s response tonight – got some new ideas and solidified some old… feeling so much better!
Thanks for all the suggestions and thoughts – we love reading them!
I love Milo for a boy, but find Gwen too harsh compared to Lily. Would you like Ylva?
Ella Pearl sounds lovely with your daughters’ name.
Lily Grayce and Ella Pearl
For a boy I like Max Weston.
Lily Grayce and Max Weston
Alternatively, I think Maxon would be a great first name, nn Max, and sounds perfectly fine with your surname.
Maxon West
Good Luck!
All of your name choices are lovely, but my favorites are Gwen and Milo. Lily and Gwen, Lily and Milo – wonderful! Gwen Ruby or Gwen Olive is quite pretty, and I also like Gwen Reemalee. Other suggestions not on your posted list: Gwen Coralie, Gwen Edith, Gwen Violet, Gwen Linnea. As for Milo, Milo Maxin sounds like a winner to me! (Milo Reemalee or Milo Weston will also work.)
Best of luck! I’d love to hear what you end up deciding. :)
From the current lists, here are my favorites in order:
– Gwen (just Gwen)
– Cora
– Ruby
Perhaps you would consider these?
– Lily and Vera (meaning “true”, I like the Grayce and Vera link.)
– Lily and Neve
– Lily and Hope
– Lily and Thea (tay-ah)
– Lily and Jane
For a middle name, I am torn. I love the name Pearl, but think I would use your maiden name.
For a boy, my favorite is Milo Maxin. I would shy away from Milo Ree-mal-ee, because it sounds like Milo Rembaldi to me, an Alias reference.
Good luck!
Gwen Ruby or Gweneth Pearl! Both perfect, in my opinion!