Meg writes:
Hello!
Right, here goes! I am not American, nor do I live in America, Buut I do read your site religiously both baby names and regular blog, and have done since before I had my son, whom your site helped name nearly 2 years ago.Sooo this feels like the obvious place to come when faced with the challenge of naming baby number 2! So I would be so grateful if you would consider helping me :)The baby’s surname Will be Eason and she is a girl :) her big brother’s name is Noah and he has two middle names which id love and would like her to have two middle names too.She is due end of Jan, but due to complications I had with my son could come earlier (eeep)Im having a hugely hard time to name her… it seems its a million times harder to name a second baby…. without falling in to a “naming trap!”….. Me and my partner have very different tastes so thats the main issue…Names I loveEdith (Edie)Harper (not very popular here … yet!)Betsy (he hates this name but its my fave!)OttilieAs you can see I seem to go more toward what are known as “old lady names”.Names he lovesAdaWe both don’t mindOliveTalulahMiddle name Would most likely be Kate or kitty for family or Bobby also for family but obviously will depend on first name.So we are getting No where fast! I know we have a little while but with an older sibling I really want to have a for him to call her so when she is born she isn’t stuck with “Baby sister “as her name for months and months (this has happened to some of our friends) Im trying to stay away from the top 10 names (Noah wasn’t top 10 here when I picked it :P) But it isn’t the end of the world if its the right name and its slightly more popular than i’d hoped … Im really hoping that having another countries spin on this will help to, shine some light on some names we would have never thought of …. ? maybe! haAnyway thank you!!
The first names that come to mine are Hazel and Lila. Then Harriet.
When I saw Edith on your list, I first thought of Ruth, and then of Esther, then of Estelle, then of Dorothy/Dorothea and Martha and Lilith. Then I saw Talulah and thought of Tabitha, which made me think of Thora and Matilda.
Ada makes me think of Ava, and also of Ida and Ivy and Daisy and Jada and Dahlia and Deirdre. With Edith, it makes me think of Agatha.
Olive makes me think of Hazel and Lila as mentioned before, but also of Livia and Silvia and Willa.
Talulah makes me think of Lila and Tabitha as mentioned before, and also of Lucille and Lucy and Louisa and Eloise.
If he wouldn’t mind YOU calling her Betsy as long as he didn’t have to, it would be sweet to name her Elizabeth or Elsbeth or something similar (I see The Baby Name Wizard mentions Bettina) and have Betsy as a special nickname only you call her. Or you could use Elizabeth as one of her middle names, and then you can call her Betsy from that. Or of course you can just call her Betsy with nothing connecting it to her name—I can picture cooing “Aren’t you my sweet little betsy-boo?” to a baby as an endearment rather than as a name.
Name update! Meg writes:
Hi !
I can’t believe the pregnancy has flown by so fast and now here I am with my one month old baby daughter!
We went back and forth over names, I added many of beautiful names suggested by your brilliant readers to my list, and we got to her being just over a week old before we finally settled on a name listening to how important it seems to have choice with a name we went for one with nicknames for choice.Darwin Bobby Violet
We call her Winnie and dee dee, the bobby part became more important when she arrived on my brother Roberts birthday!
Violet as v names are a family tradition on my partners side.Thank you so much for all your help :)
(I have attached a photo :))
Edie/Edith+Ada ~
Eden
Heidi
Sadie
Good luck!
I would avoid full names ending in -ee- sound due to run-on to your last name. Betsy Eason is a nice nickname but requires slow proper pronunciation ti avoid “Bets Eeson”. Eden Eason suggested above does not sound good, Heidi and Sadie has the run-on.
Of your list, I think Olive Bobby Kate Eason is my fav. Edie Eason doesnt sound good to me. Too rhymy. But if Olive isnt quite right, I think Olivia is gorgeous-Noah and Olivia. Or to modernise it a bit, I second Swistles suggestion Livia. Liv is both a cute and mature nickname. Livvi is sweet too. Livia sounds good with Noah. Olivia or Livia Bobby Kate Eason would be my pick.
You and I are name-twins I think ;) I few of your choices are on my shortlist too! I wonder if you’d like Audrey? I don’t see that it has been suggested yet but Audrey Kate (Bobby) Eason sounds lovely to me. Audrey Eason seems to flow really well.
A* not I…sorry that would have bothered me!
It doesn’t seem as if the style of your list and his and the compromise list are all that different, which is good news. I think Ada definitely falls in that old-fashioned category, along with Olive and Talulah. I like the suggestion Hazel. That seems right on target.
Or how about Clementine or Susannah, nn Zuzu or Sukie? Perhaps with Elizabeth as a middle and Betsy as an occasionally used nn?
Edith/Edie is adorable. Edith Bobby Kate E… sounds like someone from a 20s flapper novel. I love it.
What about Bettina as a full name? Betty or Betsy could be a nickname. Bettina Kitty E..
Viola
Rosanna, Rosie?
Beatrix/ce – Bee, Bea, Trix
Phoebe
Vera, Verity
Clementine
Piper
Bridie
I 2nd Elizabeth or Elsbeth with Betsy as a mom-only nickname. I also like the idea of Kate/Kitty or Bobby as one of the middles, with one of your non-family favorite names as the 2nd since this seems to mirror Noah’s name. Elsbeth Tallulah Kate is wonderful!
I really like Swistle’s suggestions of Hazel, Tabitha, Matilda & Lucy and I will also suggest Cordelia, Stella, Violet, Ruby, Cora & Flora.
Betsy is one of my all time favorite names too, but sadly, my husband has refused to use it for future children.
I just wanted to suggest the name Enid!
With the surname Eason, any first name that ends in the “ee” sound is going to have the same problems that the second commenter, Moomoo, mentioned. I’ve tried out a lot of the suggestions out loud, and it’s true–the ending sound of the first name ends up getting swallowed by the surname. To me this eliminates Betsy, Heidi, Ivy, Daisy, Lucy, Sadie, Audrey, Sukie, Edie, Phoebe, Bridie, Verity, and Ruby, all suggestions that have so far been made.
Actually, the name Noah is brilliant with the surname of Eason because it not only eliminates this problem, but he most likely won’t grow up being called Noey.
And if Bobby is going to be used as one of the middles, I think it’s only going to work if followed by Kate, for the same reasons.
Harper, Olive, and Talulah all work quite well with Eason. To me the main task will be to discover a name like Noah, one you both really like a lot, that won’t be shortened to a diminutive that ends in “ie” or “y”. A sweet name like Ava might work quite well, because as soon as a name has 3-syllables there’s a real tendency to want to shorten it to something ending in “y” or “ie”. Matilda to Mattie or Tillie, say, though Tilda could also be used.
What about Calla, Lila, or Alice?
Good luck!
I too am concerned about the run-on vowel sounds of a last name and i really think the name Beatrix (or Beatrice) is pretty perfect. The worst case nickname scenario is Trixie, but that’s avoidable. Beatrix Kate Eason is LOVELY
I’d be careful with Beatrice/Beatrix. They are often both shortened to Bea. Bea Eason is more of a problem for me than something like Lucy Eason or Ruby Eason.
Gretchen comes to mind. If you like Kate and Kitty, Katrina is also nice. Edith is a family name for me. Sibling names were Vera and Antonia. Elizabeth Easton seems almost too perfect. If she arrives a bit early, I’d suggest Clara. The old world charm and Nutcracker reference… ah! Good luck!
I later thought also of Adalaide, with the nickname of Ada or Laida……
Have you considered Adeline/Adaline? Adaline Eason sounds fabulous to me and it *seems* to suit both of your styles.
Dorothea nn Dot
Lilah
Claire