Dear Swistle,
I am 35 weeks pregnant and we would love some help with a name, specifically a middle name for a baby girl. We have two daughters whose first and middle names are Molly Claire and Hope Charlotte. All four of their names are meaningful to us in some way by either honoring a family member or something significant in our life. We tend to like classic, timeless names that fit nicely together. Our last name sounds like “Kalderelly.”
We do not know the gender of this baby but we hope to have a decision when we head to the hospital. If it is a boy our top choice is Reid Joseph. We also like the boy names Evan and Thomas. Joseph will be the middle name.
For girls our top choice is currently Emma and we also like the names Anna, Ava, Leah. Despite the popularity of the name, we think Emma sounds the best with our last name and it was also a contender for our other daughters. We like Emma because it is a family name and a German name which reflects both sides of our family. We are stumped for a middle name. Here are some middle name options: May, Alissa, Alice (short for Alissa), Kate, Jess and June. May, Alissa and Jess are all family names. Kate has my initials in it KA, and June is a name my daughters have called this baby because I am due in June!
Do Emma (and Reid) flow nicely with Molly and Hope? Which middle name do you think works the best with Emma? We are open to suggestions and ideas. Thanks so much for your help and we are excited to hear feedback. I’ve always wanted to write in to this site!
Fondly,
A soon-to-be Family of 5
I love your daughters’ suggestion of June: I think I would go with Emma June. It’s my favorite from the list anyway, it’s wonderful with Molly Claire and Hope Charlotte, and it makes for a great naming story.
First, let’s get the boys name out of the way. Of your three choices, I would rule out Thomas as I think it flows least well with Joseph and your last name. I also think it works least well with your daughters names. I must admit I prefer Evan over Reid. I trip over the final d in Reid and the d in your last name. Also, I see Reid as a noun name as is Hope so I prefer Molly, Hope, and Evan over Molly, Hope, and Reid.
Now on to your girls choice. All of the choices on your list work well with your daughters names. And all of the names are popular so that shouldn’t influence your choice. I really like Emma June the best of your middle names aoptions.
Yes! Emma June Kalderelly!
June’s the sweetest, definitely! I love Emma June, but the fact it reflects her birth month just makes it that much more perfect. On a kind of more “out there: limb, I also like Emma Spring or Emma Summer (to reflect the seasons, depending on which one she arrives during). If she is born on the summer solstice (which seems like it’s probably close to your exact due date…?) I’d be tempted by Emma Summer. But stylistically, I really love Emma June best. Especially with your other daughters’ names!
Good luck, and please do update us!
I have a daughter named June (family name, she was born in March) and I’ve always thought it would be cool if it matched up to her birth month. Emma June is very cute.
June! I cannot possibly pass up the sweetness of named by your sisters.
I agree! It will be a great story and possible nickname. Emma June!
I love Emma June. When I first saw it as one of the options I thought it was so cute and when I read the part about the sisters I loved it even more!
I agree .. I love Emma June. I’m sure you’ve thought of this and probably would prefer to have family meaning over pattern (no pressure to be locked into a pattern!) ..but I do think there would be something sweet about everyone having a C middle initial. I also like that “Alice” has many of the same letters as Claire and Charlotte.
Emma Cate? Cait?
Emma Celeste
Emma Cecelia (love this one! it also has “alice” in it plus a C!)
Emma Carmen
Emma Cassidy (perhaps too close to Eva Cassidy?)
Emma Caroline (loveeee..)
Emma Colette (too close to Charlotte? But I love the sound)
Emma Catherine (pretty in a classic sort of way)
Emma Catalina
Emma Corinne
Emma Carrington
Emma Carys
Agree with middle name C. Otherwise, i like Emma May.
I was going to mention the C-pattern, too. My girls have “c” middle names. I was going to suggest Emma Corinne. Or Emma Cate.
But it’s hard to compete with the sweetness of her sisters choosing her middle name. Emma June is beautiful, had a great story and gives you the nickname “EJ” if you like.
I agree, I would do a C name for a girl’s middle. I like Emma Chloe or Emma Catherine with your set.
Emma and Leah are my fav of your fn girl options with your older two and last name. I really like all of your boys options, but Evan the least, especially if you might have a 4th and still want to use Emma.
Molly Claire, Hope Charlotte &
Emma Cecily
Emma Clover
Emma Chloe
Emma Celeste
Emma Christine
Reid is my favorite of the boys’ names. I know a sibset of Molly and Emma, and they definitely work together. I was leaning towards Emma Kate, but I just realized that my friend is Emma Grace, and I was echoing her rhythm. Emma June it is. It’s a middle right? Great story.
I’m all about honour names, and yes you do have some more typical honour names listed (such as family names) but I have to agree with Swistle… I LOVE Emma June. I love the sound of it, the simplicity of it, the femininity of it, and most of all, I think it I love the fact that your girls have been calling the babe. So cute to say that her sisters named her! Also, maybe that’ll be a special nn your older daughters can have for her. :) Love it.
Wow… that sentence didn’t make sense…. I think what I love most is the fact that your girls have been calling her June since she was a babe^^. (preoccupied by my own kiddos)
Just chiming in with another vote for Emma June! The way I see it, June IS a family name, in that it was picked by your daughters. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it!
I agree. I think it’s more important to use a name that has meaning/history to it than to just pick a name because it starts with a C like older sisters’ middle names. I’m the youngest of 3 girls and I love that we all have unique first and middle names that are special to us…not because of a pattern that was followed.
Thank you all for the wonderful feedback!! We
loved reading your comments and will keep you posted on what we decide if this precious baby is a girl! Now onto boy names! We are stumped! We think we have narrowed down the boy names to Reid Joseph and Evan Joseph. Trevor Joseph is now a close third. Which of these 3 do you think sounds best with Molly and Hope? Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
I’m loving Trevor with your girls’ names!
Some people will like it for this reason, but I think Emma May is a little M-heavy.
I love Emma June! I had noticed the C middle names and thought that would be a nice pattern to continue, but if not, Emma June is perfect!!
Your boy names are all nice. Trevor is an interesting choice! It reminds me of friends around my age (I’m a late 80’s baby)…..the Trevors I know are in their early 30’s now, so it seems a bit early for Trevor to be back. Evan also doesn’t seem as fresh as Reid. But your kids’ have names that I could see on people of all sorts of ages (not “time stamped”) so I think all 3 of your boy names could work! Sorry, I’m not much help!
Emma June is adorable! Nickname Junebug!!
Emma Elisabeth, Louise or Juliet would be lovely too.
Emma Juliet is gorgeous!
Reid Joseph is great. Love it! Owen would be nice too.
Molly, Hope and Owen
Good luck!