Hello!
I am pregnant with a baby girl – due end of June. I’d say we lean towards classic names. My son will be 3 and his name is Zachary Robert. In hindsight, Zachary took us a long time to find but was perfect once we did. Robert is both of our father’s names. I can barely remember what our other options were, maybe Thomas, Benjamin, Daniel? But before we found out that this baby was a girl, I was thinking about Ian or Theodore (family name).
My husband’s name is Matthew John. Mine is Valery Lynne. Our last name is like Sung but with a Y instead of the S.
Once we knew it was a girl, some of our favorites were Carolyn, Natalie, and Elizabeth. I had hesitations about such long versions; we sign our cards “Matt, Val, Zach and …” And I didn’t want it to sound like a mouthful at the end (plus didnt love nicknames for Carolyn or Nat(alie) and we disagreed on Libby/Lizzy). My husband liked Madison but we call him Matty a lot so Maddie as a nickname ruled it out. He also liked Zoey but I hated feeling locked into Z (we are likely a 2-3 child family at max). We briefly considered Chloe but didn’t love it.
We feel pretty strongly at this point between Quinn and Addison. I have a soft-spot for Quinn because it was the first one that felt ‘right.’ But. I think “Quinn _ung” sounds like it is missing something – a one syllable name with the surname needs a harder consonant ending, maybe? I think “Addison _ung” sounds very nice, and I like the sound of “Zach and Addy/Addie.” But – that soft-spot for Quinn is holding me back.
If you want to hear how much I can overanalyze – I have also been disenchanted by the idea that our kids will be either “A (to) Z” or they are both the 10-point tiles in Scrabble. Everyone tells me I’m crazy for even coming up with those.
As for a middle name, I like to choose something with meaning instead of the middle names that feel like filler, or were chosen because they sound right. My ailing grandmother’s maiden name is a frontrunner – Turini. I like how it sounds with Quinn better than Addison (but would still consider it anyway) , so a back-up would be Lynne (mine) or maybe Mary (a family name).
I’m really wrestling between the two and would love your opinion if you can squeeze us in. Please help!! I’m a planner and like to have it set in my mind before baby comes! Plus our brother-in-law is expecting twins right after us (genders TBD) and I want to share our name to avoid any mix-ups. Thank you!!
Valery
It is difficult to know what direction to take when a parent states a preference for one style of names (in this case, classic names) and then has finalists that don’t fit that preference. I thought it might be interesting to digress for a moment and discuss that here.
Both Quinn and Addison are modern unisex surname names; neither are classic. So one possible path would be to find you some older/traditional/classic names with the sounds of Quinn and Addison (Katherine, for example, or Adeline/Adelaide, or Abigail, or Madeline). Another possible path would be to ignore the stated preference for classic names, and/or to assume you’re using one of the many other possible meanings of the word classic (“not made-up,” for example, or “currently standard and familiar”), and address the question as asked.
It depends in part on sibling names, other names on the contender list, and planned family size. In this case, the sibling name could go with either possible path: Zachary is a modern take on an ancient name, and I think it goes equally well with a sister named Elizabeth or a sister named Addison. Other names on the contender list also support either path: on one hand you have Carolyn and Elizabeth; on the other hand you have Madison; and on the third hand you have Zoe/Zoey (an interesting combination of IS ancient and FEELS perfectly modern). Planned family size is more useful: if there will be two or three children at most, I’m not as worried about you getting stuck. If you choose Addison or Quinn this time, it looks as if there are plenty of other names that would work if there were a second girl later on, and I don’t see any issue with potential brother names, either.
Another important factor is how strongly the preferences are stated. First there is the part about leaning toward classic names (not very strongly stated), and then there is the part about being pretty strongly split between Quinn and Addison (much more strongly stated). So what I’m going to do is toss out that word “classic” and proceed with the question as asked: Quinn or Addison? /digression
I suggest both. Addison Quinn _ung. It gets rid of the issue of Quinn _ung feeling too abrupt to you, and also the issue of the soft spot for Quinn keeping you from using Addison. It gives you a middle name chosen for meaning: “Mom loved it too much not to use it; it was the first name that Felt Right to us when we were naming you.”
Another possibility is Adelynne. It combines Addison and Quinn, and also incorporates your middle name Lynne. It’s similar to Carolyn from your list, but still gives you the nickname Addie. Adelynne Turini _ung.
Gwen would give you some of the sound of Quinn, but without the Q.
Emerson would give you some of the sound of Addison, but without the A, and without the nickname that rhymes with her dad’s nickname. Matt, Val, Zach, and Emmie.
But if at all possible, I encourage you to ignore the A/Z and Scrabble-tile concerns. At absolute worst, those are cute. I also encourage you to see if you can make yourself ignore the issue of making the family name list look nice on annual Christmas cards. Imagine how you feel, opening other people’s cards: do you feel weird if you see one name longer than the others? For example: Dave, Jen, Cade, and Madison. Or: Jay, Steph, Josh, and Delaney. And if you do feel weird about it, would you say the feeling is powerful and lingering, or mild and fleeting?
There is a whole category of Baby Name Concerns that I remember from my own baby-naming days: it’s the category of “issues that matter very much during the naming process, but then never again after that.” As treatment (because I know how hard it can be to shake those things, or to know the difference between that category and the category of “issues that really will bug me permanently”), I recommend looking through a yearbook, or at the credits after a TV show or movie: so many names are non-ideal in one small way or another if we look closely at them, but it doesn’t matter at all. Even many names that are non-ideal in a larger way don’t matter at all: there are kids in my son’s yearbook named things such as Mason Thompson, which in a name post would have made me say “Uh oh, matched ending!,” and in real life didn’t get my attention until I was deliberately looking for names with issues. If I saw Quinn _ung in a yearbook or credits list, I wouldn’t flinch. All I would think if I noticed a Z and a Q in the same family is that the family liked cool initials. If I noticed a Z and an A, I might briefly and mildly think, “Oh…neat, like the two ends of the alphabet, but the other way around.”
Another exercise that was helpful for me was to think back on all the things that felt like big issues when naming previous children. So many of those issues had completely vanished once the baby was named, it was quite comforting to think about.
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Gwen or Addison Quinn. I have friends considering Quinn and it is strange with her last name, so they are considering a double first name. Quinn Rose, Rosa Quinn, Mary Quinn, Quinn Marie, etc. I guess Quinn Mary sounds a bit like Queen Mary, so that might not work, but thought I’d throw it out there as an option. Caroline seems to have the sounds you like plus is more on the classic side. Valerie perhaps?
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Adelynne Turini -ung. Alternate spelling: Adeline
Also, I have an aquaintence whose daughter is Annalin (AnnaLynne) which is very pretty, in my opinion. Has classic sounds, but similar to your front runners Quinn and Addison. Annalin Turini -ung.
Good luck.
A friend of mine used Quinn as the middle name for her daughter even though that’s what they call her because she had a hard time finding a middle name that didn’t make it sounds like “Queen MiddleName.” So she’s Emily Quinn. When she told me of her issue, I was like, “but OH Elizabeth sounds lovely as a middle name! So does Alexandra! Oh, never mind. You are right.” That said, I *do* think Quinn sounds wonderful with Turini as a middle name! I slightly prefer Quinn to Addison as names go, but I think I’m into the Q initial. (My friend also has a Zoe and a Toby (boy), so it seems like you guys might have similar styles).
For what it’s worth I’m not bothered by Quinn Sung as a name either. I kind of love monosyllabic first name/last name combos though (so of course my last name has two syllables and my husband’s has four). My vote is for Quinn Turini Sung. You seem to prefer it and I think it sounds nice. I like “Q” as a nickname if it’s important to you. Also, kind of out of left field, I think “Cookie” or “Kiki” might be a cute nickname too. (Lack of sleep, I was thinking of Q, and ki and coo sounds from that and my 16 mo old son calls cookies “coocoo”. Feel free to ignore me.)
First of all, I really like Turini as a middle name. It stands out more than Mary or Lynne.
I am not going to suggest names other than your two favorites because I think they are good choices and your reasons for not going with one of them seem trivial to me.
I would say if you go with Quinn, Turini is the only one of your middle choices that works – Quinn Lynne is too rhymy and Quinn Mary sounds like Queen Mary. But Turini is an excellent middle name so no worries there. I do not care for Turini with Addison and think Addison Mary sounds better than Addison Lynne.
So then I asked myself if I would prefer being named:
Quinn Turini (Y) ung or Addison Mary (Y) ung
Quinn won hands down. Why?
Primarily because of the initials – QTY and QY are such great initials – i would love to have them. (AMY is not a bad set of initials though and might offer a different nn option.)
Also because Addy and Maddy names seem very trendy and I expect I would have more than a few friends/acquiantances with those names. Something more unique would suit me better.
I’m going to vote for Quinn because it’s the name that hooked you. And I don’t think the one syllable first and last name combo is a deal breaker or worth abandoning the name you like best.
What about Elizabeth with the nn Elle, Ellie or Ella? Beth is nice too.
Zach and Elle
Zach and Beth
You may prefer Eliza instead and it sounds great with Zachary.
Zachary and Eliza. Zach and Ella?
Emmeline came to mind too. Zachary and Emmeline. Zach and Emmy. What about Aveline? Zach and Avie.
I’d also like to suggest Adele or Adair nn Addie.
Zachary and Adele
Zachary and Adair
Quinn Sung sounds fine to me and I don’t really think that the whole one syllable issue is a deal breaker if you really love the name.
There is Quinlyn, Quinley, Aquinnah or Quincy if you really want a longer version.
I love Swistle’s suggestions of Abigail and Katherine.
Zach and Abby
Zach and Kate/Kit
I have seen Abby as a nn for Eliz(ab)eth before too.
Good luck!
A second, third, fourth for Quinn! Sounds great-no worries on the sound to a first time name sayer. You’ve said it over and over in your head so that’s why it sounds less perfect for you.
A though: Joan Didion named her daughter Quintana. Somehow having a famous author do that makes that name a classic to me. You could go that route, giving baby the also classic Ana as a second nickname possibility.
Love the suggestion of Gwen for Quinn!
What about Guinn instead of Gwen or Quinn?
We know a little girl named Quinlan. It might solve your issue of Quinn Sung feeling like it is missing something, and then you can use Quinn for day-to-day?
I think Quinn because you obviously love it. :) Quinn and Addison are already two names I love so you really can’t go wrong, in my opinion. But, go with your gut–you know what you love. Quinn Turini (Y)ung…perfect!
I think Elizabeth is ADORABLE with the nn Beth or Bets. It doesn’t have to be Lizzie!! :) I personally don’t like Quinn or Addison as much as Elizabeth. It fits so well with Zachary, too.
Good luck!
I’m going to be that jerk who adds another concern to your list of concerns (although I will say that I never would’ve noticed the Scrabble tile count and the initials Z and A don’t trouble me whatsoever): a lot of the names you like have the same short “a” sounds as Zach(ary) and Matt(hew) already do. I imagine it would lead to confusion to have Zach and Addie, Maddie, or Nat(alie) in the same household because to me they sound really similar.
I don’t love the one-syllable Quinn with the one-syllable surname, but I do really like Quinn, and if it’s the one you feel fondest of, I think you should go for it. I absolutely love Quinn Turini – Turini stands out much more strongly than Lynne or Mary.
Also, this may be totally unnecessary, but if you like classic names and Mary is a family name, it occurs to me that you might like Maria. Zachary and Maria; Zach and Mia; Maria Turini _ung?
I think both Mary and Maria would be problematic with Zachary, because of the “ary” in mARIa and zachARY and the same ending with a shorter beginning of Mary. I’m going to disagree with Calla in that I don’t think that Addie and Natalie are too close in sound to Zachary.
If you’re considering the nicknames Maddy, Matty, and Addy, would you also consider the nickname Natty for Natalie?
I wanted to suggest Tallie as a potential nickname for Natalie. Natalie Quinn is very cute and nicely paired with Zachary Robert, in my opinion.
I love the suggest of Adelynne for you. Rhymes with Quinn, incorporates a family name, offers a nickname you like, reminds me of a more classic Addison. Really, it has so much going for it I hesitate to suggest other names.
Gwen instead of Quinn is also a nice suggestion. It’s more feminine/classic (which is what you say you like). It is still 1 syllable, but you could also do Gwenyth or Gwendolyn (there’s Lynn again) with Gwen as the nickname.
Zoey and Chloe made me think of Phoebe. Perhaps you’d like that better? It has more nickname potential (both Fi & Bea) than either Zoey or Chloe.
It’s good you’re consider first name- last name flow. Not enough people do, I think, and really that’s what stays with your child their whole life– not sibling name coordination, or whether cousins or friends are also using the names, etc.
That said, Quinn [S]ung doesn’t bother me. Think of all the famous people with zippy short single syllable first and last names– Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Kate Moss, Bob Hope, Will Smith, Anne Heche, Jude Law, Tom Ford, etc etc etc.
I agree Quinn [S]ung is rather *soft”. But, it’s not bad at all.
When I heard your description of your taste, the first name I thought of was Alexandra (or Alexa) with Alex as a nickname.
And I think Quinn has greater staying power as a name than Addison, which has a very trendy popularity track for better or worse, and I think might be more easily dated in the future.
Here are some other “classic” names I thought of that might fit your tastes. I tried to go for ones with short nicknames, but not all of them have them:
Vivian (Viv, Vivi)
Violet (Vi, Lettie, Viv)
Rebecca (Becca, Becky)
Claire
Clara
Naomi
Laurel
Annabel (Ann, Annie)
Jane
Georgia (Georgie)
Rachel
Sarah (Sadie, Sally)
Amy
Elise
Cara
Katherine (Kate, Katie, Kit, Kitty)
Julia
Juliette
Lauren
Emma
Whoops, I was editing my comment and some of the lines got out of sync. Sorry for the jumping around!
Another vote for Guinevere, called Guinn, to match your family’s long name/nickname theme.
Guinevere Turini Sung
Guinevere Lynne Sung
Guinn Sung
Zach & Guinn
Or Google some lists of Elizabeth nicknames. There are dozens! The suggestion of Eliza was a great one, and would be my top pick with Zach.
I’d go with Gwynne myself. Guinevere does not feel usable to me.
Quinn is super (although not classic). I like all of your other choices except Addison.
However I am going to throw out a crazy suggestion: call her Rini! I’d leave Turini in the middle spot and use Rini as her full time nick name. You could also just name her Rini. It’s special, spunky, feminine, different and fun! I have a friend who goes by Reenie (same pronunciation as Rini, short for Maureen) and it wears well.
I like Quinn better than Addison. Addy and Maddy are trendy nicknames right now. I also like Alexis for you.
I know someone (she is from Korea) whose name sounds almost exactly like Quinn (S)ung – but her first name is spelled quite differently.
I personally like the name Quinn, but prefer two-syllable first names with a soft, short surname like yours. I love the suggestion of Adalyn.
Team Quin Turini
with Gwen as honorable mention because Swistle is awesome.
Also future son: Xavier so they all have high scoring Scrabble names :-)
I think you should go with Quinn, but I’d like to just say, that as an Elizabeth I’ve loved having a plethora of nicknames I could use,
Liz
Lizzie
Libby
Beth
Betty
Betsy
Bitsy
Lili
Ellie
There’s also the nickname Birdie!
Zachary and Elizabeth
Zach and Birdie
Too cute!
I have a Quinn Catherine, a 3 year old little girl, and I love her name dearly. It is easy to say, flows well, and she is able to spell and say it very clearly. I also do not thing Quinn _ung sounds bad at all. However, I must say that Adelynne is a really gorgeous suggestion! I love that it would tie in part of your name.
To me, the names Matt, Zach, Addie, & Valery sound practically like the same name. Someone trying to learn English would have a difficult time distinguishing them. While others may love the way this “ties” the names together, on this basis alone I would favor Quinn. If you were open to using the nickname Sunny for Addison, I’d reconsider all over again, though.
Because of the “queen” issue, I think Quinn Turini is maybe the only real option, even though this creates a very gender neutral name. Someone reading the name Quinn Turini *ung wouldn’t automatically know if it designated a boy or a girl, but you don’t say if this matters to either of you. (My take on this may be influenced by the only Quinn I know being a 22-yr-old man). Finley/Finlay could be an option that would circumvent the short first/short last effect. (Not sure about Finlay Turini, though…..)
My favorite suggestions so far are Eliza, or reconsidering Elizabeth with a nickname you’d both be on board with. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Emerson, but again, gender neutral territory.
My favourite is Adalyn Tuirini Sung. Can go by Ada or Addy. I personally can’t get my tongue around Quinn sung. I love the name Quinn too but can’t get It right with the last name. I also would suggest using Quinn as a middle name instead of you love it so much.
I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this but I am. My daughter is Natalie. Her nickname is Nata. If you still really liked that one, it may fit with your nickname requirements. :)
We originally planned on just using Nat as a nickname, but when she was born my toddler couldn’t say Natalie and started calling her Natty. Which is super cute on a chubby baby but seemed like it could stick too easily and I didn’t like that idea for long term. Nata was the compromise and it COMPLETELY fits her.
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Addison Quinn and also Quinlan, it’s a family name, of sorts, and it keeps Quinn while solving your problem of the one syllable/one syllable name. I feel you on the signing of cards things, I’m always writing Love, Joanne, Mike, Anthony, Maria, Veronica and Felicity and I want to write (phew!) at the end, ha! Best of luck!
I feel like a terrible person for thinking Quinn _ung sounds abrupt and after birth announcements the middle tends to get lost unless they are called that daily. Although I like the name, I’d probably go for a multi syllable first to soften the sound of the first and last together. Both Addison and Quinn sound modern/trendy to me. Eliza seems like a great suggestion if going for the “classic” option but perhaps Elizabeth nn Bess, Liza, Libby, Betsy, etc. It also fits nicely with Zachary.
As someone else said, Quinn in the middle spot may do the trick. You could see how it morphs as she grows into her name/personality. Or call her by her middle at home. Have you thought about Turini as a first name? Turini Quinn _ung is very appealing!
Just want to point out the Biblical reference of Elizabeth and Zechariah as the parents of John the Baptist. The names come up together during Advent every year in the Catholic liturgy at least. I think it’s a positive association but Elizabeth and Zachary made me think of it right away.
Dear Swistle and commenters,
Thank you so much for posting my question, your reply, and to all those who commented. It really helped us work through it and talk it out. Seeing all the other suggestions reinforced the top choice for us and having objective third-parties say Quinn Sung didn’t sound too short flushed it out for us. Now we are 99.99% set on Quinn Turini and I am so thankful to this community for their help!
I know this is late but I thought I would chime in. My 8 month old daughter is Quinn and our last name is a short one syllable name as well. No issues so far! I love that it’s short and sweet and strong. Just like her! We went with Amelia as the middle name.