Cammie writes:
Our first – a girl- is due in September. Our last name is Liberty, just like the Statue and the Bell. While I love our last name, it’s actually making things a bit difficult in the baby-naming department. We’ve decided that all “L” names (I love Lily and Lucy and Louisa) are out as we think they’ll sound too cartoonish. Do you agree?
The other issue we’re having is that my husband comes from a very large, very close family (his father is one of twelve) and many names are “taken” already. A repeat wouldn’t be the biggest deal in the world, but we’d like to avoid it if possible.
I’ve loved the name Nora for about two years and knew that if I ever had a daughter, she would be Nora. Of course, now that I am pregnant and we are having a girl, my husband has revealed that he doesn’t “love” Nora. His issue with it is that we will inevitably shorten it (we tend to do that with everyone!) and then she’ll be “Nor,” which neither of us likes. He loves Meredith. I like it A LOT, but can’t quite commit to it yet, though I love “Mere” as a shortened version.
We’ve pretty much decided that the middle name will be “James” which is his father’s name and my grandfather’s name. I really like a masculine middle name with a feminine first.
Other names we like:
Madeline
Allison
Annie
Margaret – Meg or Maggie
AbbyIf we were having a son, he would have been Samuel (Sam) or Charles (Charlie.)
We’re staying away from very popular names if possible. I am a female “Cameron” (I’ve been called “Cammie” most of my life) and loved being a little different.
Thank you so much for considering our request for your expert assistance! We are so looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
I ruled out several names I liked because I didn’t want alliteration with my surname. BUT: I have a rather harsh surname full of strong consonant sounds. Liberty is such a beautiful surname, I think I’d have the opposite feeling: I think I’d want to find an alliterative name to highlight it.
Alliteration can sound cartoony, but it can also sound distinctive and memorable. I’d avoid names that also matched the end sound, such as Lucy Liberty and Lily Liberty, but I think Louisa Liberty works great. I notice as I’m going through a list of other possibilities that a 2/3-syllable combination can sound a little bit like a comic book character: Laura Liberty, for example.
I love the name Meredith, and feel inclined to push you to use it. If you have two girls, I think Louisa and Meredith make wonderful sister names.
I would steer you away from Madeline/Madelyn and Abby if you’re avoiding popular names.
If you like everything about Nora except that you think you’d shorten it to Nor, I wonder if you’d prefer Cora or Clara or Cara or Flora or Rory. Because Rory is a unisex name, I wouldn’t pair it with James—but I like how the name Rory might parallel your experience with the unisex name Cameron.
Name update! Cammie writes:
Hello, Swistle and readers! We are so happy to announce that we welcomed our baby girl on Friday, September 27th. We were still deciding between Nora and Meredith until the last minute, but when we saw her face, we both knew that Meredith was the one. And so she is Meredith James Liberty and a complete joy for both of us.
Thank you so much for your advice and for all the reader comments! It gave us great confidence in our choice.
My friend is a Meredith who goes by Merry with her family. But then I’m also partial to Mere, as compared to Nor, even though I really like Nora. I don’t like alliteration as a general rule, so I’m skewed there. I do agree that the extra syllables in Louisa prevent the name from sounding cartoonish with Liberty. (Which is such a great last name by the way!)
I like Merry as the nickname too
I like the suggestion of Rory — you could use Aurora James which is more feminine, then call her Rory for a nickname…
I love this idea. Aurora James is such a nice combination with your last name!
I second the name Aurora! I love the feminine feel mixed in with James as a middle name. Aurora James Liberty. Very appealing.
(note – I’m a different Kelsey then the one who comments separately below)
I also like Louisa best of the L names, and Madeline and Margaret best of the non-L names.
Meredith James Liberty is lovely! Strong, feminine, and not at all alliterative or cartoonish or anything.
I don’t like the rhyming going on with Rory Liberty, though that’s just a personal preference, and I agree that it screams “boy” when you add James as the nickname. However, I love the above suggestion of Aurora with the nickname Rory. Aurora James Liberty – swoon!
I love James for a middle name. It’s always been on my girls names list.
Lenora James Liberty might work and give you the nick name Nora.
I like both Meredith and Nora. If your only hesitation is how you would shorten Nora, have you considered making Nora the nickname for Eleanor or Elenora?
I agree I’m not crazy about L names with your surname. It’s not just the alliteration so much as your last name is also a word name with a pretty strong meaning. For me, all the L names start to sound like comic book characters. It’s really a shame, as I really like the L names you listed.
Of your long list, I adore Margaret. I also like Annie, though I would probably use Ann or Anna with Annie as the nickname.
I love the sound of Louisa Liberty!
For what it’s worth, we have a 4-year-old Nora and have never heard anyone call her Nor.
Meredith James Liberty is beautiful!!!! I love the name Meredith, but hubby isn’t so ken :/ I really hope you use it!!!! I love both nicknames Mere and Merry!!!
My sister’s name is Meredith and I’ve seen it shortened to ‘Mere’ quite a few times in writing but I have no idea how that’s pronounced. Many Meredith’s I know go by Meri but my sister never has. She’s always been ‘Mer’. ‘Mer’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘her’, it’s just the first syllable of Meredith. I can’t even think of a word that it rhymes with. But ‘Mere’ is an actual word so I’d pronounce it like it rhymes with ‘here’. Or, is it the first two syllables of Meredith, like Mer-uh? What is ‘Mere’?!
Oh, and just know that 50% of the Meri’s I know were given that nickname against their parents’ desires, as my sister was one summer in camp but luckily she never saw those kids again.
I have a friend called Meredith who goes by Merry. How do you feel about Merry Liberty? I really like Nora btw.
Are you sure you’d shorten Nora to Nor? That doesn’t really feel like a natural nickname to me. I have a Cora and no one has ever tried to call her Cor. I’ve also met quite a few people named Laura and none of them have gone by Lor/Laur.
I’m a name short-ner with good friend and I’ve definitely called my old college roommate, Laura, “Laur” and my coworker friend Lori, “Lor”….but I know a Cora and have never shortened it, likely as a result of not being close to her. But I’m a Christine whose family has called her “Chri”, not even Chris.
We are major name shorten-ers/nickname givers. Our first daughter has probably never been called by her full name. BUT we named our second Nora, and have never, ever shortened her name to Nor. Neither has anyone else who knows her. I say if you love the name, go for it.
I have a Norah, short for Eleanor. She gets called nores, noresy, snorah and snores (she does snore, always has, it’s adorable!) Norah-Dora, Norah the explorer, poppet, mopsy, big girl, sweet pea and a few other things. Moral of the story – we are shorteners and nicknamers and have never called her ‘Nor’. It’s not inevitable, and it is a beautiful name.
I find that a little death stare soon quashes any variations I don’t like!
We get compliments all the time on her classic, underused (here in Australia anyways!) and spunky name. Go for it!!!
I really like Meredith James Liberty.
I agree with Swistle that some L names could definitely work. I’m really loving Lucinda Liberty (Lucy) or Lucette or Lucille. What do you think? I saw that you liked Lucy and I LOVE Lucinda – Lucinda James Liberty is just amazing.
Best of luck! Can’t wait to see the update.
I really like Louisa James Liberty! I also like the name Meredith but Louisa Liberty is a precious name! I had never thought of James as a middle name for a girl, but it is seems to work just fine.
Our top two names for our third child were Meredith and Margaret. In the end, we went with Margaret and get compliments all the time on how pretty and (currently) underused it is. We do not call her by a nickname, but before my husband changed his mind about Margaret, the name Meg was one of our top two on its own.
I love the name Nora and would definitely put it on my short list if we were ever to have another little girl.
Our oldest has a friend named Aurora who goes by Rory. I don’t know her middle name.
I love Meredith James Liberty or Aurora James Liberty. I also like the suggestion of Cora James. You have so many beautiful names to choose from.
If you like Nora, perhaps Maura? It’s unique and pretty, but only 1 sound away from Nora.
I agree that alliteration with your particular last name does lend itself to an almost comic book style name. So it’s not my favorite, but the L names that dont also end in an “ee” sound are less that way.
Meredith and Margaret are my favorites from your list. Margaret James Liberty is gorgeous!
Have you considered Chralotte for a girl and call her Charlie…one of your boy choices.
I wanted to suggest Mara. It’s my daughters name and we do sometimes shorten to Mar. It seems very similar to Nora to me because I also seriously considered it for her. I like Meredith ‘Mere’ for you a lot too.
I think you’ll be surprised to find that you most likely will not shorten Nora to Nor :) It’s not really a natural flow. And I think lots of people end up with nicknames that they never expected to! Our daughter’s name is Scarlette and my big hesitation was that people would call her Scar. No one calls her Scar, we call her Lettie which we never even thought about when discussing the name!
(But if Nora is a definite no, I vote Meredith too)