Allison writes:
I am reaching out to you in dire need of some guidance. We are expecting our second sweet baby girl in less than 10 days. She is welcomed by big Sister Brooklyn Elizabeth. For the past 9 months I have kept myself awake at night making lists of names that I am hoping to fall in love with. I just can not get there….
We want a name similar in style to Brooklyn. We like different names but not too off the track. I tend to steer away from the frilly names simply because they do not match with Brooklyn. Our last name is very short with 3 letters and one syllable and rhymes with Pam. Therefore short names just seem blah with our last name.
My Husband loves the name London but I am not on board due to the theme with all ready having a place name. We both love the name Blake but have been told numerous times it is a BOY name. To soften the name we do like Blakely Evelyn or Blakley Rose or Blakely Noelle.
Other ideas:
Juliette
Emerson
Maguire (family name)
Blake
LondonNames that are out due to a large family of girls:
Aubrey
Paige
Kennedy
AveryI just wish I loved the name and was 100% sure I was going with the right choice. What are your thoughts on Brooklyn and Blakely or do you have any other suggestions for names that would work?
This 9 month pregger mom thanks you!!
Brooklyn and London work individually, but together are similar to having sisters named Rose and Violet, or Hope and Faith: you can definitely do it, but the theme would dominate.
Brooklyn and Blakely work better together, though that is a lot of sound repetition: both have B sounds, K sounds, and L sounds. When I say them together, my tongue trips and I end up with other combinations: Brookly, Blakelyn, Blooklyn, Brakely, etc. But of course that can be avoided by speaking carefully, and you’re looking for similar names, so if it’s between London and Blakely, I vote for Blakely. My favorite is Blakely Noelle.
With Brooklyn, I think my favorite from your list would be Emerson. Both Brooklyn and Emerson are somewhat unisex but used mostly for girls; they have a similar sound without repeating too many sounds; and both could shorten to nicknames (Brooke and Emmie). Emerson also reminds me a little of the sound of London.
I wonder if you would like Everly? Brooklyn Elizabeth and Everly Rose.
Or Emery. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Emery Rose.
Or for something more similar: Briarley. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Briarley Noelle.
Or Bailey. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Bailey Noelle.
Blair would be similar to Blake, but perhaps it’s too choppy with a one-syllable surname. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Blair Noelle.
Brielle is definitely more feminine, but I think the matching Br- sounds help tie the names together. Brooklyn and Brielle. I’ve only encountered that name in The Baby Name Wizard, but I can see it working in person.
Brinley seems like a strong candidate, though it does repeat a lot of sounds. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Brinley Noelle.
Maybe Kinley would work better. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Kinley Noelle.
Or Finley. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Finley Noelle.
Instead of Blake, you could consider Lake. Again, perhaps too choppy with a one-syllable surname, but Laken would lengthen it if Brooklyn and Laken aren’t too rhymey. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Laken Noelle.
Or Leighton? Brooklyn Elizabeth and Leighton Rose.
Or Larkin. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Larkin Noelle.
We know a Teagan, and it’s quite a cute name. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Teagan Rose.
Or Devany. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Devany Rose.
I know a set of sisters named Brooklyn, Avery and Delaney. I wonder if Delaney would work?
What about Waverly? There is a Waverly Avenue in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Elizabeth and Waverly Rose.
I agree with Swistle on the sound repetitions of Brooklyn & Blakely. From your list I LOVE Maguire! I would love to meet a little girl with this name :)
I was also going to say that Leighton comes to mind, but Swistle already made that great suggestion!
Brooklyn Elizabeth and Leighton Evelyn/Rose/Noelle
I have know a couple of young girls named Taryn and think it’s a very pretty name without being “girly.” One is actually a sister to a Delaney. My last name is only three letters, w/ one syllable as well. And it starts with a vowel, so I feel you that naming front! Good luck :)
Blake Lively has been able to get away with the name just fine. But seeing it in print people probably would assume she was a boy. I do like Blakely though and many of the other suggestions given. I love the name London but think it would put you in a corner if you were to have any more kids. I have a friend who’s two kids (girl and boy) are named Kennedy and Reagan and they didn’t have a problem with having two presidents.
I do agree that Blake/Blakely are fairly close to Brooklyn and that London sets up a theme. The ones that sprang to mind immediately are:
Everly
Waverley
Delaney
Rowan
Ainsley
Piper
And I know sisters Blake and Paget.
What always bothers me about siblings Brooklyn and London (I’ve heard of/know a few) is that Brooklyn is in New York City and London is a full blown city. Call me crazy but that has *always* bothered me! I would rather siblings Brooklyn and Chelsea because at least the two correlate. I really prefer Blakely despite the potential tongue-twister. You could eliminate the issue by reversing their names in introductions. Blakely and Brooklyn is somehow easier to say than Brooklyn and Blakely. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Briarly too. If you want to keep the subtle place name connection then Waverly would be spot on.
Brooklyn was its own city until the early 1900s and somewhat still functions as though it is independent. If you live in Brooklyn, your address is Brooklyn, NY, not New York, NY (that’s only for addresses in Manhattan.) Brooklyn has its own completely separate library system, too, and its own separate city council, etc. It’s a formerly independent city that is now a borough of NYC, whereas Chelsea is a relatively small neighborhood that lacks even fully defined borders (there is disagreement how far east and north Chelsea goes.) I think Brooklyn certainly holds its own next to London. (But I wouldn’t choose them as a pair because it would be too matchy for my taste.)
Oh boy (open mouth, insert foot) I didn’t realize. To be fair though, I pulled a random London borough (Chelsea) out of my head without remembering that there was a Chelsea in NYC. Foot, you can stay in there for a while ;)
Haha, it’s ok :-) Brooklyn just still gets short shrift sometimes!
I think Blake is fine for a girl, though seeing Blake and Brooklyn together I would probably assume a boy-girl pair at first. Blakely would eliminate this problem.
Brooklyn and London are a bit much together in my opinion. Is either place special to you and your DH? If not, I would move on because the matchiness could be seen as a little gimmicky.
My favorite from your other choices was Emerson. I think it goes really well with Brooklyn and most likely with your surname. It has a bunch of cute nickname options (Emme, Emmie, Emer, etc.) How about Emerson Blakely? Emerson Noelle or Emerson Rose is nice, too.
Do you like Harper? That’s another name that pairs nicely with Brooklyn.
Or why not use Evelyn, one of your middle name choices? Evelyn is also sort of unisex, like Brooklyn. Until the 1940s, it was a male name. Vivian is like that too.
I also thought of:
Flannery
Skylar
Eden
Sienna
Finley
Kenzie
Zadie
Sadie
Molly
Audrey (too close to Aubrey?)
Cadence
Ruby
Cassidy
Maeve
April
Dylan
Sawyer
Cameron
Ryan/Ryanne
Meredith (was once unisex)
Shiloh
Jocelyn (also once unisex; I know a male Jocelyn actually…)
Ashby
I think all of these go with Brooklyn. Some highlight Brooklyn’s femininity, others are more neutral or masculine. My favorites are:
Brooklyn & Ruby (really spunky, modern, light & strong pair)
Brooklyn & Flannery (nice pair, especially if you have any Irish heritage)
Brooklyn & Skylar (again, spunky)
Brooklyn & Sienna (keeps the place name thing going, but in a much more subtle way than London)
Brooklyn & Cadence (nice contemporary pair)
Brooklyn & Ashby (I know an adorable female Ashby)
Good luck and please, please, please update us!
I think that there are too many repeated sounds in Brooklyn and Blakely. Also, Blakely is a pain to spell/type. Brooklyn and London are too theme-y for my taste. Also, Brooklyn has very pretty sounds, and while London looks nice, it really doesn’t sound that great- LUN-den. Meh.
Brooklyn is well-established enough as a feminine name that I think Juliette works really well, especially with the first names you are considering: Juliette Blake or Juliette London- kind of a reverse of Brooklyn’s modern/classic names. Brooklyn and Juliette are so sweet. If you wanted to stick with gender-neutral names, Arden is lovely. Brooklyn and Arden.
I like the suggestions of Leighton, Everly or Finley, and will also add Poesy Eva, Asha Noelle, Marlowe Rose, Sailor Evelyn (or Selah) and Linden Juliette.
Brooklyn and Poesy
Brooklyn and Asha
Brooklyn and Marlowe
Brooklyn and Sailor
Brooklyn and Linden
Maybe a noun name that’s not a place name would work for you, similar but not too matchy. I was thinking of nature names that aren’t flowers (feminine but not too girly) like Willow or Ivy, or a lesser used virtue name like Felicity or Liberty. Liberty’s a subtle NYC tie-in because of the statue.
I like the suggestions Waverley or Emerson with the middle name Rose! So pretty. Best of luck with the birth.
I vote for Emerson Rose, it is gorgeous! Sounds great with Brooklyn Elizabeth too.
All the best!
What about Campbell? It shares some of the qualities of Brooklyn, is much easier to say than Blakely, yet not as masculine as Blake. I think Campbell Noelle, Campbell Rose, or Campbell Evelyn are all beautiful choices.
Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions! Lots to think about and even new names added to the List now :)
we so appreciate all the feedback. Stay tuned….
Maybe its just me but when I see Blakely I want to say “Blankly”. I love the suggestion of Emery, Brooklyn and Emery. Seems to fit together! I also liked the suggestion of Meredith, but I’m partial to that name since its one of my sisters. Good luck! London is still great if you decide that too, seems like you can’t wrong :)
I have a blond haired blue eyed neice named Blake and it fits her perfectly!!! I say go with Blake!