Hi Swistle!
I have a middle name conundrum I would love some advice on! I’m due in June with a little girl. I have a boy named Arlo Randy. Arlo was just a name we liked and Randy is my husband’s father’s name who passed away while we were pregnant with my son (it is also my passed uncle’s name and my part of my brother’s name so it was a no brainer!) Our last name is like Fitzpatrick- but Kirk instead of Fitz.
Our baby girl’s name will be Thia. My mother’s name was Cynthia and she died when I was 22- I’ve wanted to use the second half of her name since then. I know it is not the traditional way to spell Thea- but it makes sense with the name it’s honoring, and it still is pronounced the same (people are familiar with ending ia- Sophia, Mia- right?) I am a little worried about that, but maybe not enough to change it?
Anyways, my real question is the middle name. I always thought I wanted to name my daughter after my grandma’s middle name, Viola. Thia Viola. My great grandma happened to be Cynthia Viola as well. So it would pay extra homage- maybe too much? Maybe this girl needs a middle name that is hers alone? Arlo has his own name and an honor name, so should Thia?
Another twist is that my grandmother turned kind of nasty when my mom fell ill and said some hurtful things to my siblings and me. For the 20 years before that, she was like a second parent (my mom was a single parent) but at the end of my mom’s life, she turned on us (and passed away 6 months after my mom did, so I didn’t have time to see if it was just grief making her mean).
So I’m all sorts of confused about honoring her, having 2 honor names, if Thia Viola even flows on it’s own or goes with Arlo Randy.
If we decide not to do an honor name, I like:
Thia Arwen
Thia Wynn
Thia Nelle (husband vetoed)
Thia Wells (husband vetoed)
Thia Violet (similar to Viola, kind of an honor nod?)
Thia Anne (my middle name. Husband’s mom’s middle name, though hers is without an ‘e’.)If it matters, our boy name would have been Ramsey Lee or Keller Lee. Lee was my mom’s middle name.
Thoughts? Advice? I’m losing sleep over this and I have 19 weeks to go!
Thanks for reading,
Kaeleen
I did first read Thia as THIGH-ah. I think once I knew it was supposed to be like Thea, I would eventually get it right, and your explanation would help the spelling make sense, but as I was answering the letter I kept reading it wrong. It SHOULD read with the long-E sound to me, because of Olivia and Amelia and Aria and Julia and so forth—but for whatever reason, it didn’t. Maybe it has to do with the Thi- coming at the beginning of a word? Thiamin and thigh have the long-I, but thief has the long-E. (I think thiamin is the primary source of my trouble with it.) I wish we could have a poll, but the polls still aren’t working. I showed the name to Paul, and he said, “I’d first see it as THIGH-ah, but I’d know no one would name their child that, so then I’d guess THEE-ah” (“thee” with a soft TH, not the buzzy TH of the word “thee”). That sums up the way I saw it, too: I think I’d first see THIGH-ah, but then realize it HAD to be THEE-ah, or maybe TEE-ah (like the Th- of Theresa). It’s unfortunate that one of the possible mispronunciations involves the word thigh, making it somewhat more than the usual “more than one way to pronounce a name” issue.
The grandmother honor name is another complicated issue; I can see why it’s a fretful one. Is Viola pronounced with a VEE or a VYE? That would add another issue for me: if Viola has the long-I sound, it makes it even harder for me to say the first -i- correctly: the long-I of Viola, and the similar appearance of the two names, makes me want to say both with a long-I. But that is not likely to come up: most people won’t see the two names together on a regular basis. And of course if it’s VEE, that HELPS with the pronunciation of Thia—though then the combination seems a little sing-song.
I think I could go either way on whether or not she should have one honor name or two. One of my five children has two honor names, and those still feel like his own names—I think because we used relatively common names, so I’m accustomed to encountering them on other people, and so it feels more like duplicating than sharing. It also shows I’m not picky about sibling names being completely consistent: our plan was to use honor names as middle names, but then we found one we really liked as a first name, so we let our preference for the name take priority over the preference to make things consistent. Another family might do it the other way around, depending on how they rank their preferences.
I think for me, the combination of your mixed and stressful feelings about your grandmother’s last 6 months, plus your mixed feelings about using two honor names for this child when you used one honor name for the first child, might tip me toward a non-honor middle name. If you plan to have more children, perhaps Viola could be set aside for a possible future daughter.
I find that with a soft, vowel-ending name like Thia, I prefer more consonants in the middle name, especially at the beginning of the name: Thia Wynn and Thia Anne feel so soft, like I almost can’t get a grip on them to say them. Arlo is another soft, vowel-ending name, but then Randy has its nice consonants to balance it; I’d look for something similar for Thia. Thia Miranda would be the feminine equivalent, or Thia Violet from your list does it (but has the same long-I issue as the VYE pronunciation of Viola).
Because I found Thia Viola potentially misleading, pronunciation-wise, I might look especially for middle names that have the same -ia- as in Thia. But because the first and middle names are unlikely to come up together very often, and because your surname is nicely full of consonant sounds, neither of these two issues I’ve raised (consonants and -ia- matching) are ones I’d give heavy priority; more like tools I’d use to help me make a list, if I were having trouble coming up with one.
I wonder if you’d want to use Gracyn as the middle. I’d added Grace to the middle name list below, and then thought of the first half of your mother’s name. Thia Gracyn gets the whole Cynthia in there.
Thia Bianca
Thia Bridget
Thia Claudia
Thia Frances
Thia Grace
Thia Jane
Thia Jillian
Thia Jocelyn
Thia Liviana
Thia Louise
Thia Marigold
Thia Rose
Thia Rosemary
Thia Rowan
Thia Ruby
Thia Simone
Thia Valentina
Thia Victoria
Thia Vivian
Thia Winifred
Name update!
Hello Swistle!
Name update! I asked for some help naming my baby girl back in February! I was so appreciative of everyone’s advice!We had our little girl on June 17.
We ended up naming her Thia Patrice. My sister’s middle name is Patrice, and I decided that my relationship with my Grandma just was too confusing to name my daughter after her. My sister was elated with this news! I like the repeated sound of the -ia and -ice and I love that she’s named after the two most important women of my life.Thanks again!
The pronunciation is pretty intuitive to me. I think it might actually be easier than Thea, because as I understand it that can be either Thee-a or Tay-a, and people you meet will probably have met others who pronounce it one way or the other and will have a hard time remembering. Thia will be unique to your daughter, and for me at least that would make it easier for me to remember how she pronounces it.
Of your options, I think I like Thia Anne the best. But if you agree with Swistle’s soft sounds issue, what about Thia Kaeleen? It has a good rhythm to it. Thia Jane and Thia Rose are also very nice.
I agree with what Kerry says about the pronunciation. I am familiar with the name Thea pronounced both ways, actually, so Thia was more intuitive for me.
Additionally, my lifetime of experience with an apparently hard-to-pronounce name has taught me that it’s merely a minor annoyance and certainly not a big enough deal to make me wish for a different name.
And I don’t think potential occasionally pronunciation issues should drive you away from a name that is both gorgeous and incredibly meaningful to you!
As for the middle name, I agree Viola is not the very best flow, and overall I think you should go with a name that won’t dredge up old wounds. (That is one heck of a mixed metaphor.)
Also just chiming in to say that I also read it as THEE-ah and would not even have though Thigh-a at all. Love the idea of taking part of a name and using it as an honor name!
Actually, I automatically read it as “THEE-ah”. I, too, have thought about how Cynthia could be turned into Thia, so it didn’t even register with me as “THIGH-ah”. Thia with a Vi- middle name also didn’t throw me. Swistle made some good points, but I wanted you to see that that wasn’t a universal opinion. Plus, I just adore Thia/Thea.
Secondly, I’m with Swistle that your conflicting feelings about your grandmother would lean me toward a non-honor middle name for Thia. That being said, I loved your Violet option instead of Viola. It gives Thia her own name, but it may gently remind you of the sweet times you had with your grandmother. Win-win, in my opinion.
All in all, I love your name choices. Well done!
I kind of love Thia Jane!
Thia Viola doesn’t have the cadence that Cynthia Viola has. And with mixed feelings toward that Grandma, another V name might have less charge…Thia Vanessa/Thia Vivian/Thia Valerie/Thia Veronica. V’s are such great girl names! Best of luck!
Both Thea and Viola are two of my favorite names – I may be in the minority here, but I have no problem at all with Thia Viola. I knew immediately it was ThEEa and I say VYEla and I think it’s adorable with the two different sounds and tripped off my tongue. As Swistle notes, it can be pleasing to vary the consonant and vowel sounds for flow and I LOVE FLOW but I think that’s MORE important with sibling names than a full given name.
I did an ends in a first name and a starts with a middle name and things worked out fine.
More of a concern is you’re not sure you actually want to honor your grandmother using Viola. If that’s the case, then decide if you like Viola on its own better than any of your other choices. Would your first or middle name work as an honor name? I love that idea.
I knew right away that it was ThEEa. Thigh didn’t even cross my mind.
I immediately read THIGH-ah, and kept reading Thia that way throughout both your letter and Swistle’s response… I had to keep checking myself. It reads to me like a shortened version of some kind of medical term or Latin plant name.
I’m wondering why you aren’t considering just using Cynthia? And the nickname Thia? To me that would be the most sensible and happy course of action. It’s very firmly an honor name at that point, and (Cyn)thia can choose down the road if she wants to use a very uncommon (and unusually spelled) name, or something more standard and familiar.
The very fact that you’re writing in about Viola and the uncertainties of using it in light of family stresses makes me think it might not be the right middle name. Are there any other names you’d want to honor? What about from your husband’s side?
Good luck!
I, too, wondered why not just use Cynthia? Such a beautiful name, and so unexpected today. Then calling her Thia and spelling it in this way would be completely intuitive and modern. Who knows? You might even start a trend.
I came to say this as well. I love the name Cynthia, especially with the nn Thia.
Also, I think if you wanted to spell it Thea, it wouldn’t honor your mother any less. The honor comes from how you feel about the name, what you tell your daughter and how she feels about that. (FWIW I did read Thia as pronounced the same).
I like the middle name options Viola or Violet. It’s not unusual for people’s personalities to change as they get older, especially if they are having health issues themselves or dealing with a loss. Please try to remember your grandmother for the loving person she was and not how she acted at the end of her life. If you decide not to honor her, perhaps you would want to use your own first or middle as her middle? Or maybe there is someone else you would like to honor? Or you could do Cynthia Leah or Cynthia Leanora for an updated version of your mom’s name.
I was coming in to say the same thing, that Cynthia would make a nice name, and you could call her Thia exclusively. This would solve the issue of Thigh A or Tea ah (which I actually said at first) because it would be clear when her name was written that it was pronounced Thea.
As for the middle I disagree with Swistle (which I find a little shocking) that the softer names (Anne, Wynn) are too wispy. I really like Thia Anne and Thia Wynn. They give the name a romantic air.
Good luck
I read it as THEE-ah but I may have been influenced by the reference to Cynthia close by and I knew what you were going for with the ending there.
I prefer the Thea spelling, but as a previous commenter said, that’s sometimes said “TAY-ah”
Okay so I will be in the minority of blog posts I see so far, but I really dislike Thia as opposed to Thea. To me, it seems like that common urge nowadays to randomly spell a name just to be different *like if you spelt it Thya. Now, of course, if you’re going to regret not using the I, then go for it, but I think Thea is a pretty name on it’s own. If it was Cynthia but we’ll call her Thia, again that’s different. But just “well my moms name was Cynthia so we wanted a nickname and we liked Thea but of course Cynthia ends with an I so we went with that.” Thea complicates it less.
I agree with Swistle on the whole sharp sounding middle name. ESPECIALLY if you are going to spell her name a bit uncommonly, I’d shy away from a gender neutral middle name and instead go with a more feminine (but strong sounding) name. Anne, Francis, Liviana, and Joslyn are my favorites!
I got it pronounced the right way on the first time. Maybe the difference is where we live? I’m in iowa.
Me too, in Iowa. :-) The full name looks/sounds like Thea Vye -o -la (like Violet) to me.
I read it as THEE-a right away, and I think it’s quite pretty. I also really like the idea of Thia Violet as an honor nod to your grandmother. That said, if you decide you’d rather not honor her after all, I liked Thia Rosemary, Thia Marigold, and Thia Jane.
I read it as Thee-uh immediately too- no need to worry there.
I’d skip the middle honor name tho.
I’m going to be in the curmudgeonly minority here and say that I don’t care for Thia as a given name, although my opinion reverses completely if it’s Thia as a nickname for Cynthia (I am tickled by the “ending of name as nickname” concept, a la Liam for William) or if it’s spelled Thea. I actually read Thia as TEE-uh (like Tia) at first. I’m not sure why, but maybe I was thinking silent/subtle H, kind of like Mathilda? I imagined myself calling out names to hand back exams because it requires speedy recognition of a lot of first names, and I envisioned that this is one that would make me say, “…..Tia…? Thigh-uh…? Thea…?,” a situation that is always slightly embarrassing for both me and the student.
I think you should go with your gut on the honor name issue, whatever that is. A name is a gift that becomes the child’s once you give it (the name you have given doesn’t continue to “belong” to the original bearer), but I can see where it would be somewhat upsetting to be reminded of the name on a daily basis if your feelings about your grandmother are complicated.
Hmm, as someone who rarely ever has her name pronounced correctly on the first try, I don’t agree that it’s embarrassing to have your name pronounced incorrectly. I am used to responding to any multisyllabic jumble that starts with an A with a polite “Ariana? That’s me!” Then we move on and it’s fine. It’s hardly a cross to bear, and unless we’re all going to name our children only the Top 5 baby names or so, there will ALWAYS be someone, somewhere who doesn’t know how to pronounce every name. And that’s ok! Gentle correction is all it takes; no embarrassment required.
Sorry, that was from me. Accidentally had a username entered from another site. :)
I too love the ending of a name as nickname concept. Christopher-Topher, Robert-Bert, Alexander-Zander, Elizabeth-Beth, Kathryn-Ryn, Margaret-Greta, oh I’m having a great deal of fun with this!
Another vote here for Cynthia nicknamed Thia. I find it an absolute delight to be able to honor someone and have a spunky and neat nickname.
I did read it Thia like Thea (and had not heard of the Tay-a pronounciation before these comments) but I was rhyming it with Chia.
I also had never heard of this “Tay-uh” pronunciation for Thea! I had heard of Taya, Tea (pronounced Tay-uh), and Tia (pronounced Tee-uh)… but Thea had always been “Thee-uh” and Thia seemed to follow suit. Is it due to where I live? I’ve lived in Arizona, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri…
I pronounced the name as THEE-ah right away, so I wouldn’t worry about the spelling.
I’m torn on the Thia vs. Cynthia as the given name issue. I don’t really associate Thia with Thea since the Cynthia connection is so strong, so I guess I don’t think of it as a “creative spelling.” That being said, there is something I love about Cynthia as a name for a baby girl; it obviously ages well and I feel like it’s delightfully unexpected. I don’t think you could go wrong either way, but maybe it’s something to consider.
As for the middle name, I would skip Viola and Violet. If it’s keeping you up at night now, it will continue to do so and I think you might regret using the name down the road. I’m sure there are many other people you could honor if you choose to, or just pick a name you and your husband love but isn’t right for a first name slot.
I think Jane is the perfect middle name in this situation. Cynthia Jane is very pretty and Thia Jane is adorable, and both lend to nicknames CJ or TJ, which I also love.
Ooh, good point about the middle name Jane giving you CJ or TJ. I love the options that opens up!
I read Thia as THEE-ah, so I think it will be split. I wouldn’t use Viola as a middle with it though – for both confusion of pronunciation issues and because of complicated feelings with your grandmother after your mother’s passing.
I also, love Cynthia with Thia as a nickname, for what it’s worth.
Since Thia (or Cynthia) is already an honor name, I would be inclined to let a little loose with the middle name and go with something that I loved.
Good luck and best wishes!
I read THEE-ah right away, as well. I think the Thia spelling is less of an ambiguity than Thea – on that spelling I always wonder if it’s pronounced TAY-ah or THEE-ah.
I read Thia as Thea. I don’t think changing the e to an I is a big deal.
I LOVE the idea of using a middle name with -cyn in it to get the full Cynthia In her name!
I very much don’t like the idea of using Cynthia if you plan to call her Thia. Of course. I’m a huge proponent of Just Naming the Kid What You Plan To Call Her/Him. :) To me, Cynthia is very, very dated, and the Cyn sound is unappealing to my ear both musically and because of the “sin” association.
I agree with you, Ariana. Cynthia is a very, very dated name, and in my opinion, not ready for a comeback. Thia is a beautiful name and I had no problem figuring out the pronunciation. Go with Thia!!
Interesting! I don’t find Cynthia dated at all. Maybe because I’ve never met anyone by the name that I can recollect. I do know a handful of women who are named or go by Cindy, but even Cindy sounds fresh to my ear– sort of like Betty, Nancy, Susie, Ruthie, and Sally. Mid-century nickname-names that will be among the next wave of vintage revivals after Hazel/Charlotte/Ruby/Iris etc have peaked. I think if the letter-writer uses Cynthia now, her daughter will be ahead of the pack.
I read Thia as “Thea” right off and think it’s a very special way to honor your mother Cynthia. Although I don’t usually care for nontraditional spellings, I would encourage you to stick with Thia with your circumstances, unless you decide to use the full name Cynthia. (I myself would probably use the full name, with Thia as her nickname, but I can understand why you like Thia with Arlo.) As for her middle name, since you have issues with your memories of your grandmother Viola, I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be best to use another name. Anne seems to be the perfect name because your daughter’s name would include part of both grandmothers’ names as well as a shared middle name with her mother. I think Thia Anne is lovely, also Cynthia Anne. It really seems to be the perfect name for your daughter.
Thia Viola is very beautiful!
Any confusion will be easily remedied by the simple statement, “Thia. Like CynTHIA.”
And about the grandma-turned-grouch thing: half a year of grouchiness will matter less to future generations than the fact that Grandma Cynthia Viola was “a second mother” to you for over twenty years. Time has a way of softening the less-ideal memories.
Oops, I meant to add that if you find yourself unable to commit to the name, you could include your mother’s middle name and honor her with the name Leah.
I have a friend who has a daughter Thia! The pronunciation seemed intuitive to me (I didn’t read it thigh-a) and it was a couple years before I found out her full name actually is Cynthia. I had thought it was a standalone name. It works great either way!
Also, was Viola the mother of Cynthia? If so, using Thia would honor both of them, and perhaps release you from feeling an obligation to use Viola.
I read Thia and pronounced it as Thea… so I didn’t have any difficulties at all. I like the tribute/honour touch to your mother. I personally love Thea/Thia :) It is a fabulous name!
I really like Thia Viola. I like the flow of it, the sound of it, the femininity of it, everything! To answer your question about whether you should use it or not given the situation you mentioned above, I will direct you to my short-novel below.
I am sort of going through the same thing that you are right now. Our first two children both have two middle names, one to honour each side of our families and we are currently pregnant again (c-section is on thursday). If this is a boy, we are doing one grandfather’s name from each my husband and my family AND we would like to do the same if it is a girl but I originally had some hesitation with choosing my grandma’s name. My grandma suffered from Alzheimer’s/dementia and for the last 10-15 years of her life she was quite hostile, unhappy, bitter, disliked the majority of her family members… you get the picture. I don’t really have many positive memories of her and I don’t remember her like my older cousins or other family members do (apparently she was a very lovely person, welcoming to everyone). One of the most difficult things for me to get over was how horrible she treated my mother in the last decade, when she was her main caregiver. SOOOOO, when we started talking about honour names this go around, I really had mixed feelings. I never really felt close to my grandma so I had initially thought I would pass on my side of the family honour name but we decided to sit on it and not make a decision either way. Which is my advice to you. You still have 19 weeks left in your pregnancy…stop thinking about it for a while and come back to it in a couple of months. See how you feel. I don’t know what was said/done or what your feelings are, but I do know that everyone grieves differently and sometimes people respond in a way that they wouldn’t normally behave, say things they don’t mean or wouldn’t normally say. Was the woman that hurt you and left this world too early to apologize for her behaviour really the woman you knew and loved or was that someone struck with grief and sadness and just didn’t know how to cope? Was what she said/done too horrible to overcome? No one can answer that but you. (FYI- we are choosing to use my grandmothers name as even though I don’t really remember who she was as a person, she was a very important person to everyone else in my family, including my mother. But that was a choice I had to come to on my own, over time).
Good Luck and Keep us posted!
Oh my gosh! I am so happy that my letter was addressed and I’m having so much fun reading everyone’s responses. Lots of emotion in this.
I love your thoughts, Swistle. And I love the Gracyn – if only I didn’t have a boss named Grace. I will be on the look out for other -cyn endings- pretty cool concept.
I think my motive for soft short middle name is due to the long consonant driven last name! My last name overwhelms me sometimes. This is one reason I am avoiding Cynthia nn Thia…plus I’m generally in the school of thought “name them what you will call them”
Anyways, I’m so appreciative of all the responses and my wheels are turning!
Also- one middle name idea I forgot to mention- Annelise. I thought it would be a good mix of Anne and Lee. I also notice now it has the harder sound (I think?) that Swistle was recommending. Thoughts?
I really like Thia Annelise for you. Any middle name that includes Ann would be very special for this baby girl. While sound and flow of the first and middle names are something to consider, for me, using a middle name with special meaning within the child’s family trumps that. I also think it would be very thoughtful of you to include your mother-in-law’s name in the baby’s middle name since her first name will be for your mother.
Thia Annalise is lovely and does solve the soft sound issue.
Agree!!
Hi there, I’m commenting on the updated post. Congratulations on your beautiful, healthy baby! Thia Patrice is a GORGEOUS name. Patrice is so underused. Great choice!
Thank you! We love it!
My first guess was Thia like Thea, but once I saw thigh-ah it was hard to unsee it. I think it will probably come up, but I’m not certain it would be a deal breaker. Have you considered the option of naming her Cynthia and using Thia as the nickname? That might make it easier, if people were confused when they saw Thia you could example it as “short for Cynthia.”
In your case, I think I would pass on using Viola. Your feelings about it seem too mixed and you don’t really seem to want a double honor name.
I agree with Swistle that Thia needs something a little harder sounding. Thia Anne and Thia Wynne just kind of mush together for me.
I notice you have both Arwen & Wynne, so perhaps other names with the “win” element would appeal sound-wise? Winter, Gwenyth, Gwendolyn, Guinivere.
Nelle & Wells both have “elle.” Other names with that element include Adele, Annabelle (also a nod to your name), Gabrielle.
I read the name as Thee-ah from the start and even after seeing Swistles thigh-ah. I also think Thia works much better for you than Cynthia because:
– a 3-5 letter first name flows and looks best with an 11 letter, three syllable last name
– Thia seems much more like a sibling of Arlo than Cyrnthia does, and
– there is no risk of some people calling her Cindy
Thia Viola is lovely but if you have hesitations with using that name as a middle name, it makes sense to avoid it. You don’t want to have any negative thoughts when using your daughters full name. I really like Thia Arwen .. the full name flows very well.
Thia is a lovely name, and I read it as Thee-ah immediately, so no problems there! I have actually seen it spelled this way before.
Arlo and Thia sound so sweet together. I’d like to suggest either Juliet or Noelle, as middle names with Thia, just because I like the sound of them together!
Thia Juliet
Thia Noelle
Good luck!
I wanted this post to have a pole. I read Thia as Theee-a, and have strong feelings about Viola depending on if it is pronounced Vee-ola or Vie-ola.
I’ve always thought it was VIE-ola if it’s a woman’s name and VEE-ola if it’s a stringed instrument. But I could be totally wrong there.
Our family pronounces it VYE-o-la…. I had never heard of vee- until this post. Definitely gave me something to think about!
What about Thia Leanne, a combination of both you and your mother’s middle names?
Thia Annelie or Thea Vianne are good combos too.
I love love love Cynthia nn Thia. I like giving options in case Thia doesn’t love her name. Plus she may not always have your last name. I will add spell check keeps changing Thia to this…. Slightly annoying.
Thia Annalise is a little hard to say with the a ending and beginning. Same with Anne.
Thia Lee or Cynthia Lee is great as is Thia Jane/Cynthia Jane.
I like the sounds of Thia Arwen. I like that Anne is for you and your mother-in-law, but it is a little hard to say. Maybe Thia Anna? That dilutes the connection a bit, though.
I am way, way behind on reading posts, and so it is very late to chime in here! I wanted to say that I instantly read Thia the correct way, as Thea (Theeee-uh). I really don’t think it will be a problem, and reading through the comments, almost everyone who chimed in read it as Thea as well. It may help that I have spoken Spanish all my life, in addition to English, and that those with experience with romance languages pronounce the ‘i’ as an ‘eee’ sound. So that may be helping me in that regard. I actually visually like Thea better – but could see how that could cause more pronunciation confusion (Thee-uh? Thay-uh? Like how Leah can be pronounced both ways. Or even Tay-uh?).
Anyways, however you spell it, it’s a lovely name and one of my favs!
Thia Patrice is lovely. Also, I missed this post the first time around, but I thought you might like to know that a very fun character in Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Wives and Daughters is named Cynthia Fitzpatrick-with-a-Kirk. It’s an obscure book (though really good), but the BBC made a terrific miniseries of it, so maybe someday you’d like to watch it with your Thia just for the fun of seeing her literary name-twin!
Oh my gosh! I’m getting the book as soon as I can. Thank you so much for letting me in on that gem!
What a lovely choice! Thia Patrice is so pretty.
Patrice is the perfect middle name. Great choice!