C. writes:
Hello! I am due at the beginning if July and having a little girl. Our last name is Charles and our son’s name is Cooper Harrison Charles. Honoring a Jewish naming tradition, Harrison is meant to honor his great grandfather, Herbert. We used the “H” to honor a living relative. We are planning for baby girl to be Carrington “S middle name” Charles. The S middle name is after my mom, Shari and her namesake, Sarah. We are having a really hard time finding an S name that flows. HELP!
I said the first and last names out loud a few times, and the rhythm that appeals to me most is a 3-syllable middle name:
Carrington Samantha Charles
Carrington Savannah Charles
Carrington Selina Charles
Carrington Serena Charles
Carrington Sienna Charles
Carrington Silvia Charles
Carrington Sofia Charles
I also like Carrington Simone Charles.
If I were choosing, I would probably choose Carrington Sofia. I like the relative shortness of Sofia compared to other 3-syllable names, and I like the emphasis on the second syllable, and I just like the sound of it overall. I also like the mix of styles: Sofia is regal-sounding like Carrington, but also much more feminine and common. And if Carrington is ever shortened to Carrie or Cara, I think Carrie/Cara Sofia is fun to say.
But preferred name rhythms are so subjective. What does everyone else like for flow here?
Name update! C. writes:
Thank you so much for the advice given by you and your readers! I hadn’t initially thought a 3-syllable name would work because of the length but after reading all of the suggestions I realized it was the way to go! Sweet Carrington Savannah was born just two weeks ago and we just love the name. It is a long name but hopefully by the time she’s in school kids won’t be bubbling scantrons anymore!
Great suggestions Swistle! I agree a longer name works best for flow. I’ll also throw in Susanna, Seraphina, & Sabrina.
I read somewhere that when putting together a baby name it sounds best not to have 3 unaccented syllables in a row as in Carrington Samantha: CAR-ing-ton sa-MAN-tha. Has anyone else come across that poetic (?) advice?
So maybe a 2- or 3-syllable S-name with the first syllable accented, something along the line of:
Carrington Scarlett Charles
Carrington Sadie Charles
Carrington Sophie Charles
Carrington Stella Charles
I like Carrington Scarlett Charles as it includes ‘sar’ found in both Sarah and Shari.
I looked at a long list of 3-syllable girls’ names beginning with S and nearly all of them had the accent on the middle syllable, like suSANna, soPHIa. The only exceptions I found are Stephanie (Stefanie) and Syvia:
Carrington Sylvia Charles
Carrington Stephanie Charles
Does it have to be an S name other than one of the namesakes? I ask because I do like Carrington Sarah Charles. I think Carrington Suzanne Charles would be nice, too.
Great suggestions so far! I love Swistle’s suggestions of Samantha, Silvia, and Sofia, and another poster’s suggestion of Seraphina.
To add to the suggestions, I looked for names that begin with “Sh-” to make the connection to your mom more prominent:
Carrington Shaina/Shanna
Carrington Shira (LOVE this, especially since it’s just a switch of the vowels in your mom’s name, and it has Hebrew roots)
Carrington Shoshana
I know that it’s not 3 syllables but what about Shea, or the spelling Shay. Carrington Shay Charles. I also love the recommendation of Shira.
What about Sonia?
Carrington Sonia Charles :)
I LOVE the suggestion of Shira! My best friend is Jewish and almost used this name. I think it sounds lovely after Carrington.
Love Carrington nn Carrie. I really like the sound of Carrington Sofia too, very pretty.
Other suggestions:
Carrington Sybella
Carrington Samala
Carrington Samira
Carrington Sarita
Carrington Satara
Carrington Soraya
Carrington Suzette
Carrington Sybil
Carrington Saffron
Carrington Sabine
Carrington Starla
Carrington Satine
All the best!
I actually prefer a 2-syllable middle name for flow, over 3-syllable. I love Sophie… Carrington Sophie Charles. And, I guess this is a little out there and depends on how you feel about this country star, but for some reason I quite like Carrington Shania. A few others: Sasha, Sydney, Stella, Sierra, Sienna.
I agree with Laura that a 2-syllable middle name might sound best for the flow of the entire name. Also, I’ve noticed that a 2-syllable middle would create a reversal of the number of syllables in her older brother’s first and middle names:
Cooper Harrison Charles 2-3-1
Carrington Sophie Charles 3-2-1
I too love Carrington Sophie (the French form of Sophia and not a nickname as thus) and that would be my personal choice. Scarlett or Shira are also nice options that are closer to Sarah and Shari if that’s important.
I actually kind of like a 3-1-2 rhythm (but, in my head, “Charles” is 2 syllables … I can see how others would say it with 1 syllable, though). Let me add some 1-syllables to the mix ….
Shea/Shay is pretty (as was already suggested)
Sky/Skye (the style is different, but I think the name as a whole sounds … whimsical yet grounded in a lovely way)
Sage (although, something about the “ge” followed by the “ch” sounds is awkward to me .. but Carrington Sage is great!)
Sloane
Shane/Shayne (maybe not feminine enough?)
Heh, turns out finding one-syllable “S” names is difficult! Maybe you should go with the 3-ers ;)
I’ve always thought of Charles as having only one syllable: “Charlz”. I just now looked up the name online and found that while it is perceived by some as having 2 syllables: “PRONOUNCED: CHAHR-əlz” (behindthename.com), many other baby name websites — including baby name wizard and nameberry — say that Charles is a 1-syllable name. It depends on how the parents say and perceive their surname. With the one-syllable pronunciation of Charles, I do like a 3-2 pattern (the reverse of her brother’s 2-3 pattern) for their baby girl.
I second Carrington Sophia. I’d go with a fairly traditional, feminine name to balance out Carrington.
Avoiding repeats:
Carrington Selena Charles
Carrington Sidony Charles
Carrington Sapphira Charles
Carrington Salome Charles
Carrington Siena Charles
Carrington Stephania Charles
Wow! So many great suggestions! I think I was so fixated on Carrington being a long name that I was not focusing on 3-syllable names. Swistle, this totally works! Favorites are Carrington Sofia, Carrington Savannah and Carrington Susanna.
My first thought was Carrington Susanna Charles. And I love it.
I agree that 3 syllable middle names sound best! I like that flow! Carrington Serena is my favorite.
That being said, I did just want to add Selah or Sela to the mix, since they have Jewish roots. Carrington Selah Charles is nice!