Dear Swistle,
I am 37.5 weeks pregnant with our second child, a baby girl. My due date is 8/31. Our last name is Brant with a G.
Our son is named William McIntosh, nickname Will. Both names are family names on my husband’s side, with the middle name being my husband’s middle name, his dad’s middle name and his grandmother’s maiden name. We like the idea of giving this baby at least one family name, but are not absolutely wed to the idea. We are having trouble deciding on any name, much less a family name, as the date draws closer. If this baby had been a boy, his name would likely have been Henry Benton (nickname Hank), named after our grandfathers. We may have another child after this one, not sure at this point.Family names we both like:
Lucy/Lucille
Emerson (nickname Emmy)
Rose (as a middle name)
Victoria (as a middle name)
AlineOther names I like:
Violet
Grace
Caroline
Catherine/ Kate (feel like this is too “royal couple” when paired with Will)
JaneOther names my husband likes:
Audrey
Bridget
Gretchen (absolute no for me)Names we like but cannot use for various reasons:
Elizabeth
ClaireFor a good part of this pregnancy, we have discussed naming her either Emerson Lucille or Lucille/Lucy Emerson. My husband is concerned that Emerson isn’t a traditionally female name and that it’s very trendy right now. He has also observed that many of the little girls we know have “E” names – lots of Ellie, Elle, Eleanor, Emma, Evie… My issue with Lucy Emerson is that her initials would spell LEG. Probably not a big deal, I could certainly think of worse three letter words. Other combinations we like: Lucy Rose, Lucy Victoria, Emerson Victoria, Audrey Lucille. We both like names that have nicknames for what it’s worth. We would appreciate your thoughts on Emerson as a girl’s name, middle names that sound good with Lucy/Lucille and any other thoughts you may have based on our lists above.
Thanks for your help!
I agree that Emerson seems to be an outlier on your list: a modern unisex surname name among the non-unisex traditionals and classics (including William and Henry). If you love it and it’s a family name, I think the middle name is an excellent place for it: I like when it works out to use a middle name of a different style than the first name. I also like the way both children would then have a surname middle name. William (Will) McIntosh and Lucille (Lucy) Emerson is a very pleasing combination, and my favorite from the possibilities—unless those two choices are SO parallel, it would make you feel pressured to find something that matched for the possible next child.
It does bother me just a little that this would cause the initials to spell a word, but I agree with you that this one isn’t a big deal: I wouldn’t use Emerson in the first-name position just to avoid the initials LEG. If, however, you like other middle name options just as much or nearly as much, it might tip me toward using one of those. (It would depend too on the source of the family names: if Emerson were your maiden name, for example, versus a great-grandmother’s maiden name on your husband’s side.) I also like Lucy Victoria, Lucy Rose, and Lucy Jane.
If you like Catherine/Kate but don’t plan to use it as a first name, the middle name would be a good place for that: Lucy Catherine Brant, Lucy Kate Brant. I especially like the look and sound of Lucy Catherine.
I also love Lucille as the middle name. The second-syllable emphasis makes it a delight to work with: it sounds good with almost everything! Audrey Lucille is wonderful.
But because your son’s name is so full of family names, and you like the idea of family names, I think that’s what I’d lean toward for your daughter, too. Lucy or Lucille seems to me like the first name that works best from the list, and then I would pair it with another family name if possible. I’d lean toward a name from your side this time, since your son’s names are all from your husband’s side.
I would advocate for use of a name from your side as well, but I also like most of the non-family names on your list. So I will do some mixing and matching, some of which are repeats from Swistle.
Audrey Lucille
Bridget Catherine
Bridget Rose
Caroline Jane
Grace Caroline
Grace Victoria
Grace Violet
Jane Audrey
Lucy Catherine
Lucy Jane
Violet Grace
Scratch any of my suggestions that start in Grace unless you want your kids’ names to be a tv show title, a good show, but still…
I think Emerson is fine though completely outside the traditional style you seem to love.
To me, Lucille is perfect with William and it has the added avantage of being a family name. I like the that the double L in Lucille parallels the double L in William though the two names do not sound alike. Will and Lucy are adorable together. Given this, I would look no further for a first name.
Lucille Emerson (B)rant is lovely. I won’t be bothered at all by the initials LEG but if you are, there are many other great options for you to choice from on your lists. However, I would eliminate any contenders that begin with a vowel for the same reason of the initials creating at word – Aline or Audrey make for the intials LAG which I would find worse than LEG.
Because you have Elizabeth on your list of likes, and your husband likes Gretchen (tho you don’t), have you thought of Margaret? Margaret Emerson (G)rant would be MEG, a traditional nn for Margaret. Gretchen is another nn for Margaret, that can be your husband’s pet name for her.
That is AWESOME! Meg!
Emmeline could work as a more feminine, classic alternative to Emerson, nickname Emmy. Emmeline Rose, Emmeline Grace, etc. Emerson is fine as a first name for a girl, just feels a bit trendy paired with the classic William. Also, I love Lucille/Lucy. As for the initials LEG if it is unavoidable it isn’t awful, but personally I wouldn’t want my initials to spell a real word. Just my thoughts! Happy naming!
I’d also keep Emerson as a nickname rather than first name.
Combos I like:
Audrey Lucille
Lucy Rose
Lucy Catherine
Lucy Caroline
Audrey Catherine
Audrey Grace
Audrey Caroline
Victoria Lucille (Will and Tori)
Victoria Rose
Victoria Jane
Violet Jane
Violet Lucille
I’m not sure how to pronounce Aline. I had a Brazilian friend with that name who pronounced ah-LEEN-ee, but it seems like the English pronunciation might be ah-LEEN?
To my ears, Lucille is a very Francophile-type name–Guillaume would be the equivalent–at least that’s how it goes in my family……my own middle name is Lucille, a family honor name from my Tante Lucille. For these reasons, I’d favor Lucy as a pairing with William, or use Lucille in the middle.
You have many beautiful names on your list, though….don’t think you can really go wrong. I love some of StephLove & Ira Sass suggestions.
Lucille Emerson is a beautiful name and works wonderfully with William McIntosh. Look no further! I would be inclined to ignore the LEG initialism — it just won’t come up in any way that matters.
My middle name is Lucille (a family name for me as well) so maybe I’m biased, but I think it is an absolutely gorgeous name and the nickname Lucy is so sweet and ages well.
Lucy and Will, Will and Lucy… Will, Lucy, and possible future Henry/Hank…perfect!
I think Lucy Emerson is a great way to use your family names and it sounds wonderful
I will also push for Audrey Lucille because it is on my list for future children as well :)
Oh I love Margaret Emerson with the nn Meg. What felicity!
Otherwise I have word initials (LAP) which is probably worse than LEG and I always loved it. My husband is ADD and a mathematician, which he also loves. It is cute and people remembered when that happens. Importantly if she hates it she can always just write LG which is not embarrassing at all.
My initials are JMP — almost the word “jump” — and I have always liked that too. Plus it’s the name of some excellent statistical software!
You have some lovely names on your list! I love the suggestion of Emmeline too. I would be inclined to avoid the initials LEG though.
Our friends have a baby Lucy Rose, and it’s adorable. Also, another way to get to Lucy is Lucia or Luciana.
Audra?
William and Lucille or Lucy are very sweet together, and so are William and Emerson–since Lucy and Emerson are such style opposites, and William can kind of be swung in either direction (it’s either a traditional brother for traditional Lucy or a currently popular brother for trendy Emerson), I’d expect you’d get different reactions to both kids’ names based on which you choose. For me, “William and Lucy” more vividly evokes a certain image–traditional and maybe somewhat conservative–whereas “William and Emerson” is harder to pinpoint because William is versatile and Emerson is so trendy at the moment. That’s not a vote in either direction, just a thought!
Lastly, because of the vast style difference between Lucy and Emerson, I would think “Lucy Emerson [B]rant” was a first name and then two surnames–because of that and the LEG issue, I would go with Emerson (or something else) first!
I think Lucy Emerson and Lucy Emmeline are both lovely names.
Using combinations of all your choices, my favorites are:
Lucy Victoria
Lucille Rose
Caroline Rose
Bridget Rose
Bridget Lucille
William and Bridget with the nicknames Will and Birdie are adorable!!
Lucy Emilia or Lucia Rose are others I’d like to suggest.
All the best!
I think Lucy Rose sounds beautiful, especially Lucy & Will as siblings.
Aline is also a great name, and very underused. Aline Rose has a beautiful sound.
Emerson is somewhat like your son’s middle name so if you’d use Lucy as a first name, you’d have a similar naming pattern as with your son.
If Lucille doesn’t quite work for you, what about Lucina? Lucina Rose?
I think Lucille is great– it manages to be classic yet unusual, with the bonus nickname of Lucy.
I also second the Emmeline suggestion. Besides its style being an outlier to your other names, Emerson is a bit trendy for girls.
Doing some reading yesterday, I came across the rather obscure Emerentiana. She was an early Roman saint. Probably not wearable, but I thought it had some similar sounds to Emerson.
Good luck!
My kids are named Will and Lucy so I obviously love that combo!