A. writes:
We are expecting boy/girl twins this summer. We have a 2-year old son William who we call Liam. Naming him was a breeze because we always knew if we had a boy we wanted to name him after my husband’s late father. But naming these new babies is a different ball game.
We were leaning heavily toward Noah Luke for the boy and Charlie Jane for the girl (all family names which we like using if we can) but I have hesitations with each of those. Noah is so popular right now. Liam is very popular too but we loved it so much we didn’t care. We really like Noah but I don’t think we LOVE it enough to not be bothered that it has become more common. And we both think Charlie is darling for a girl but I worry that a) it might not be feminine enough since it wouldn’t be short for anything (we don’t really like Charlotte or any of the other names it might be short for) and b) when we list off all three kids names together it would sound like three boys: Liam, Noah and Charlie. We like the idea of actually calling her Charlie Jane a lot but I know the Jane will get dropped a decent amount of the time.
Now we are leaning more towards using Charles/Charlie for the boy with either Luke or Dean as his middle name (both family names). We really love Charlie and feel pretty confident we want to use it for one of the babies. Like Liam, even though Charlie is pretty popular/common, we like it enough that we don’t really care. And now we are considering Magnolia Jane for the girl and mostly calling her Maggie. My husband LOVES the name Maggie and I think it is pretty cute but I don’t know if I’m sold yet plus I wonder if Magnolia is too random and off the wall if our boys will have more traditional names like William and Charles? I like that the twins would be Charlie and Maggie which sounds more distinctly boy and girl and I think Liam, Charlie and Maggie goes pretty well together but we have talked this in circles so much that I am losing perspective. :)
Do you have thoughts on the Magnolia/Maggie idea and whether it fits in or any suggestions of other girl names we might consider? I tend to like more traditional or old fashioned names for girls and my husband tends to like cuter, more tomboy-ish names for girls so a more classic full name with a cute nickname is likely to suit both of our tastes. We are sold on using Jane as her middle name as that is a family name we love. (Oh, and our surname is Wallis.)
Any help you can offer would be amazing!
Thank you!
I liked your point about not being sure you love a name enough to ignore its popularity. I frequently encourage parents to use the name they love even if it’s a popular name, and so if you loved the name Noah and were going to use a name you liked much less only because of popularity, my first instinct would be to talk you out of that idea. But your clarification shows that’s not what’s going on here.
If I heard of the sibling group Liam, Noah, and Charlie, I would assume Charlie was a boy. In this case, it’s because the name Charlie fits very well in style as a brother name, but is a completely different style as a sister name. It’s common for parents to have a different preferred style for boy names and for girl names, and that generally works just fine; but in this case the particular girl-name choice happens to fall exactly into the same group of names as your boy-name style, which is what’s catching your eye as a potential issue. The style-match as a boy name and the style-mismatch as a girl name all but forces the name to click incorrectly into place as Boy. For this sibling group I prefer your alternate idea of finding a long feminine name with a short boyish nickname: if you loved the name Charlotte, you’d be all set.
I love that you can still use Charlie for the boy twin: it really is great with Liam, and the name Charles Wallis makes me think pleasantly of Charles Wallace (Wallace was his middle name) from the book A Wrinkle in Time. In fact, the Charles/Charlie and Magnolia/Maggie twin set seems beyond perfect to me (perhaps in part because Charles Wallace’s sister’s name was Margaret/Meg). William/Liam and Charles/Charlie are extremely compatible brother names/nicknames, and Maggie fits beautifully and is great with the middle name Jane. The name Magnolia is more unusual than William and Charles and a somewhat different style, but it’s a compatible style and not one that leads to confusion or clashing. And if you do switch Charlie from your girl-name choice to your boy-name choice, I think that makes it particularly fun that the new girl-name choice Magnolia includes all the sounds of the previous boy-name choice Noah. But if Magnolia continues to feel too adventurous for your tastes, Margaret/Maggie is terrific with William/Liam and Charles/Charlie. I like the way both twins would have the “ar” sound in their given names: Charles and Margaret. But I guess I would hesitate a little at making such a strong apparent reference to A Wrinkle in Time.
The only preference left out by Magnolia/Maggie (or Margaret/Maggie) is the preference for a boyish nickname. If you wanted to keep looking to find something a little more like Charlie, here are some possibilities:
Antonia/Toni
Augusta/Gus/Gussie (too much S with surname?)
Bernadette/Bennie/Bernie
Calista/Cal
Colette/Cole
Danica/Danny
Francesca/Frankie/Frank
Georgia/Georgie/George
Georgianna/Georgie/George
Josephine/Jo
Katherine/Kit
Louisa/Lou
Philomena/Phil
Matilda/Mattie
Theodora/Theo
Thomasina/Tommie/Tom
Veronica/Ronnie/Ron
Winifred/Freddie/Fred
Liam, Noah & Charlie would make me assume 3 boys. However, I love Liam, Charlie & Maggie. It’s a great sibset!
I wouldn’t be too bothered about Magnolia being a little different style wise from William & Charles. A lot of people have different styles for boy names vs. girl names. & the nicknames tie them all together very nicely.
I agree with Swistle and think Charlie for the boy would be better than for the girl. I automatically thought of Margaret if you don’t end up going with the spunky Magnolia. Also, I’m going to suggest Millicent (nn: Millie or Mills). And also, Magdelena (nn: Maggie or Lena). Best of luck!!
Yes, I was wanting to shout “Magdelena” as a suggestion! Such a fun name, but doesn’t seem made up. And it comes with awesome nicknames — Maggie, Lane, Lena.
I think either given names Charles and Margaret or Charlie and Maggie would be great. (But I’d keep both in the same style, not Charles and Maggie.) I think Maggie is one of those nn s that stand alone, like Kate and Beth. (Maggie has been in the top 1000 consistently for 120 years as a given name, so a lot of people agree with me.) Molly would be absolutely perfect, too.
If you’re looking for other ideas per Swistle’s list of classic names with boyish nicknames, also Victoria/Vic/Tony.
I think you’ve got this solved already, but if you can’t quite settle on Magnolia, I do like Margaret in this sib set, too.
William, Charles, and Magnolia. Liam, Charlie, and Maggie. I love it and I am not even going to suggest anything because it is such a nice pairing!
Magnolia! How perfectly precious!! It’s always been a favorite of mine. Another nn possible for Magnolia is Nola ala the musical Show Boat, but I think Maggie works perfectly with Charlie and Liam.
I agree with Swistle that Charlie would be better off as the boy twins name. If you weren’t set on Jane as the girls middle name, I would suggest using Charlie as her middle. This way it still keeps it for your girl. All of Swistle’s other name suggestions are perfect.
Congrats on your little ones! How fun it is to have two to name!!
Have you thought about other variants of Margaret? Like Margo/Margot (nn Maggie)?
I love the idea of a Liam, Charlie, Maggie sibset. It’s wonderful!
I’m going to come down strong on the side of using Charlie for boy twin, it’s too much boy on a girl given the other sibling names.
Perhaps because I grew up with a Magnolia nicknamed Maggie, it doesn’t seem out there to me at all. I always thought it was a very beautiful name.
It’s a big pet peeve of mine when a family of three children has two that are obviously a sex and a third that is very ambiguously named.. so it’s easy to say I am against naming the girl Charlie. I much prefer it for the boy twin, as I do feel Noah is now overpopular and William/Liam and Charlie are wonderful brother names.
Magnolia seems too fro-fro for me.. especially with William & Charles. Would you consider Maggie-Jane as the full first name? I find that cute & with the hyphen I don’t feel the name for a longer version of Maggie.
Hm.. I meant: “two named so that their sex is obvious, but a third who is named in such a way that their sex is hard to determine” or something to that effect.
and I don’t feel the *NEED* (not name) for a longer version of Maggie.
Geez.. I guess I can’t type today!
I actually like the name Charlie for the girl twin in this case. There would be a lot of gender confusion though. I think it would work better if you committed to calling her “Charlie Jane” instead of just Charlie.
I do like Magnolia nn Maggie though- I don’t think it sounds strange and it seems like a pretty and spunky name.
I definitely prefer the second set…it’s darling. Magnolia is more ”out there”, but it’s a beautiful name, and Maggie fits in perfectly.
Enjoy your twins…what an adventure!! :)
William, Charles, and Magnolia are terrific together as are Liam, Charlie, and Maggie.
I definitely love the Magnolia/Maggie idea ..and calling her Maggie-Jane or even “MJ.” I also like the idea of calling a Charlie-Jane “CJ” occasionally when you want something shorter instead of dropping the Jane..and while that’s still gender neutral, for some reason it stands out in a way that makes me less quick to assume “boy.”
Would you be open to more of a stretch for Charlie? I know you said you didn’t like Charlotte or the other names it’s short for ..but maybe you could find one that you wouldn’t mind to preserve the Charlie nickname. It sounds like you’ve thought of this, and I’m not entirely sure they’re your style, but I’ll list a few classic names that could be Charlie-fied just in case :)
-Charlene/Charleen
-Chiara (Ciara)
-Charlayne
-Charmaine
-Charliene (oh that’s really pretty!)
-Charis/Charys
-Charisma
-Charleston (not sure this helps make it sound girly though)
-Carisse/Charisse
-Carissa
-Chlarissa/Clarissa (okay, the Charlie isn’t quite as apparent here, but it could work for your family since you have the family-Charlie-tie!)
-Charlize
-Caroline (oh this would be such a style match! You could totally call a Caroline “Charlie”!)
-Carling
-Carmen (again, a stretch, but the family connection helps make the case)
-Caritas
Can’t wait to hear what you choose! :)
I love Magnolia and think it has a classic, yet unique sound. I know a baby Magnolia in my mother’s group and they call her “Nola”. I think Maggie sounds perfect with your sibset.
What about Noa as a boyish nickname for Magnolia? That seems to cover all your bases!
Magnolia”Noa” is great. Magnolia is a beautiful name and although Noa is actually a girls’ name it still sounds boyish. Personally Nola is probably my favorote Magnolia nickname though.
I don’t think Magnolia’s as out there as it might seem. I’ve met several, and it’s such a familiar flower, and flowers are so often names. It seems on the quirky end of ordinary to me, but not weird.
As cute as Charlie-Jane sounds, I’d go for Charlie as the boy name for the reasons you gave.
I wouldn’t hesitate on Charles and Margaret as a combo, though—it’s great! Even though I loved the book, I wouldn’t have made the connection. They’re too normal of names, and you want to call her Maggie, not Meg.
Also, Liam has a fantastic name. I thought of William Wallace.
Love Magnolia “Maggie” for your daughter and using Charlie as a boy’s name instead of a girl’s name. I don’t think Magnolia is too out there at all – would love to hear you use it. :)
Oh and I really like Jane as a first name too.
Love the Liam, Charlie and Maggie set! Very sweet!
Love Charles and Magnolia/Charlie and Maggie.
I absolutely love Charlie for the boy twin. I think Margaret or Magnolia are good names, but if you’re looking for something else entirely, I LOVE the name Josephine. William, Charles, and Josephine – Liam, Charlie, and Jo/Josie. Or Frances for your little girl. William ,Charles, and Frances – Liam, Charlie, and Frankie.
Also! Josephine Jane Wallis could be nicknamed JJ, which is beyond adorable. Frances Jane could be Frankie Jane, if you wanted to go with the two name nickname. So many great options!
I LOVE William/Liam, Charles/Charlie, and Magnolia/Maggie. It’s great symmetry that they all have longer, formal names with shorter, spunkier nicknames. William and Charles are such a handsome pair, and Charles and Magnolia sounds like a pleasantly eccentric British couple. I think it totally works. Magnolia is one of my favorite names for girls, so I’m so pleased to hear you’re considering it.
While it might give me pause if you were having two girls and naming them, say, Magnolia and Anne, I think it’s fine for you to use different styles for different genders. I remember being a little kid and complaining that my sister had a prettier “princess” name because her name has three syllables and mine has two, but I don’t think a brother would feel the same way in that situation, especially since his name matches his brother’s so well.
Another vote for Charlie and Magnolia!!! I love Magnolia, it sounds so refreshing and spunky!! Plus,
Liam, Charlie, and Maggie. So sweet and perfect!!
Enough said, love it!
I think William, Charles and Margaret make a good st. Very classic English in my opinion
Would it feel weird to you using Charlie as the boy name when you’ve been thinking of it as a girl name ? If you went back to Noah as the boy, would you like Lily for the girl? If you don’t mind repeating an initial, i like that Liam, Noah and Lily each have four letters.
Good luck .
Echoing everyone here – naming a girl “Charlie” with no more feminine fall back name can cause lots of confusion later in life. I have a friend “Aaron” who is female and has learned when applying for jobs, her resume must read “Ms. Aaron ________. I also grew up with a Michele spelled “Micheal” and got so tired of people looking for a boy during every first day of school, trip to the DMV, etc., she legally changed the spelling of her name when she was in her early 20s.
We’re expecting a boy any day now (!), but Magnolia is/was at the top of our girl list. Just a note that Magnolia Jane (or Jane Magnolia) is also a specific type of magnolia tree. Obviously I endorse the use of Magnolia, just wanted to make you aware of the “other” Magnolia Jane!
Good job naming! I think you have perfect names already chosen with Charles and Magnolia! I think it’s settled and you just need some reassurance. I love Magnolia and do not think it’s too out there. It has some southern charm with your classic boys names. And…..Charlie and Maggie is absolutely darling!! Congrats!