Hi Swistle,
I’m pregnant and due soon with a little girl. We have a 2 year old daughter named Georgia Grace. I kept my last name but the girls will have my husband’s last name which is pronounced Strey-za.
Like many of your readers, I feel I already used my one and only baby name and now I’m stuck! We had a very hard time getting pregnant with my first daughter so I feel it’s a miracle that I’m pregnant again. This will definitely be our last child (no more $$ for IVF!) My daughter was named after her paternal grandfather (George) and my grandmother (Grace). I really love her name because I think it’s spunky and also classic Americana. We call her Georgie or Georgita so I like that there are good nickname options.
I ideally would love for this little girl to have an honor name but am struggling to come up with something I love….
Honor names I’m working with include:
Rose
Louisa (really love but don’t think it works with the last name)
Frances
Susanna
Pearl
Isabel (way too popular, right?)
Virginia (I absolutely love this but can’t have two kids with state names…)
Sam (We both really love Sam but don’t love Samantha. Is just Sam too weird for a girl?)Other names that are on the list:
Violet
Scarlett (Husband likes, I don’t)
Magnolia
MatildaAny suggestions or advice you could provide would be wonderful.
Thanks so much,
Jennifer
I love the name Louisa, too, and I agree it’s difficult with the surname. I wonder if you would like Eloise? It has similar sounds, but I think it works better with the surname. Eloise Strayza; Georgia and Eloise. But perhaps that’s too much of a change to the honor name.
I would not use just-Sam for a girl after using Georgia. If you’d used, say, Charlie for your first girl, I would think Sam was a good choice for the second girl. Or if you wanted to do Georgia/Samantha called George/Sam, I’d think that was a nice fit. But Sam on its own seems like a style clash with a sister named Georgia.
Isabel does catch my eye for its popularity, especially with a less-common choice such as Georgia. But I think if you love it, you can definitely use it. Popularity is not what it was in the days of Jennifer. (I was about to go into more detail here, then noticed that YOU are a Jennifer, so you know exactly what I mean. In short, Jennifer in its day was about 4 times as popular as the most popular name today.)
From your list of honor names, my three top choices with Georgia are Rose, Frances, and Susanna. The only thing that keeps me from throwing my full support behind Rose is that I find it a little difficult to say with the surname. Rose Strayza. I like the repeating Z sound, but not the way the Z-sound in Rose combines with the S-sound of Strayza. Eloise Strayza has a similar issue, but the three-syllable name lessens the effect for me.
I think my own favorite would be Frances. Georgia and Frances has such an appealing level of vintage sass. But Georgia and Susanna is right on its heels.
I would be tempted to see if I could find another repeating-initial name, just for fun. For example, I might go for Frances Fay, or Frances Faith, or Frances Fern.
But probably this urge would be trumped by the urge to use more honor names. Frances Pearl is wonderful. Or Isabel would be appealingly unexpected as a middle name. And I don’t mind the way Rose runs into Strayza if Rose is the middle name.
From the list of non-honor names, my top choice is Matilda. So many good nicknames. I know a Mathilda who goes by Hildy, and it’s grown on me so much it tempts me to spell the name with the H to add that option.
Name update!
Dear Swistle and readers: I can’t thank you enough for all your thoughtful responses. We were very surprised with the enthusiasm for Frances! After mulling it over for a few months, it began to sound like a good fit to us as well. Frances Rose was born this week and we are all enamored with the newest member of our family. Thanks again for all the assistance with this stressful naming decision!! Here’s a picture of our dear little lady.
Best,
Jennifer
I think I would vote for Frances. You could call her Frankie to go along with Georgie!
My thoughts exactly. I love this!
I was thinking the same thing, too.
My cousins have two little girls. Georgia and Frances. They go by Georgie and Frankie. :) I was going to suggest it, and then saw it on your list! It’s perfect!
Agree with this 100%
I can’t help wanting to plug Virginia because you absolutely love it and because it’s an honor name, too. This classic, unusual choice would more than compensate for any strangeness about both being “state” names. Weren’t they each something other than state names first? My next favorite would be Frances, but I think Virginia works better with Streyza. Virginia Streyza. Way cool.
I feel the same way! I absolutely love Georgia and Virginia! Georgie and Virgie is cute, but Gerogie and Ginger is my favorite!
These particular states are fine to pair together because the states are named after people not the other way around. (I would advise against siblings named Arizona and Tennessee because they aren’t baby names outside of the states.) But you could easily have sisters named Georgia, Virginia, and Carolina without a problem.
What about a longer name with Rose in it? Rosemary, Rosamund, Rosalind?
I think Susanna is spunky and unique like Georgia. I also think Frances is a great match.
Rosalind Pearl
Susanna Pearl or Rose
Frances Pearl
These were my exact thoughts- take Rose and turn it into an already established name like Rosamund or Rosalie and use middle name Pearl!
Rosemary is so pretty and underused.
Rosalie could work as well.
I think Louisa Strey-za could work. Obviously it’s distinctive, but its not overly cutesy or precious. Its musical. Maybe it helps that I pronounce Louisa with a strong z sound. If that’s not your preferred pronunciation, I can see people defaulting to it because it does match the last name so well.
I also really like Susanna from your list, but this might be more evidence that you should embrace your love of Z sounds. SuZanna Strey-Za.
There don’t seem to be any alternative long forms of Sam for you that are as mainstream as Georgia, but I’m intrigued by Samuela (is Strey-za Italian by any chance?). Or maybe you’d like Simone? Different vowel, but not really that different in pronunciation.
Samara is another way to get to Sam for a girl but it lacks that classic Americana feel.
I was going to suggest this, too, but spelled Samira, because the only female Sammy I know is a Samira. She’s a teenager.
I really like Rosalie Pearl with a nn of Rosie. It incorporates the honor name Rose but avoids the issues identified by Swistle.
My favorite choice with the last name on your list is Susanna Rose or Susanna Pearl.
Also, I see no problem with sisters Georgia and Virginia.
I agreed with a poster above who suggested the same thing- Rosalie/Rosalind/Rosamund Pearl!!
I have a Georgia myself and am contemplating a few of the same names! Plus we also have an annoying surname to work with. And I’ve given up all place names and anything southern, it is limiting to some degree. People keep voting Frances for us too.
I wanted to throw in a suggestion for Sam – I know a little Samara who goes by Sam or Sammy. It’s a legitimate name that sounds lovelier than Samantha in my opinion. Plus Mara is a pretty nickname as well.
But honestly, if we hadn’t ‘wasted’ Louise as the middle name for our G, I’d use Louise or Louisa or Eloise in a heartbeat. Eloise especially is so beautiful and comes with so many nickname options.
Good luck!! I can’t wait to see what you choose :-)
I love Frances with Georgia. Frances Faye is adorable. I don’t see an issue with Virginia and Georgia. However I think there is a lot of teasing potential with Virginia. If popularity is the only reason you’re hesitant about Isabel, I would say to use it. Isabel seems to be trending downward now, but that might just be my perspective.
Omg! I have a 2.5 y.o Frances and we are strongly leaning toward Georgia for baby #2 in October. Of course I wouldn’t be the only one to think of this PERFECT combination.
I can tell it’s the right choice because instead of being like “oh no, other Frances and Georgia families” I’m like, “oh yes! it’s so good! let’s all do it!”
:D
Ha! I agree. I wasn’t saddened by this, I was encouraged to believe Frances & Georgia are right for each other. We could start a Frances & Georgia Fanclub! ;-)
We’re in, ha!
I also like Frances/Frankie! Since you love Virginia you could do Frances Virginia. My little girl is Iris Virginia (Virginia is an honor name), which has a very similar rythm.
If you go with a non-honor name my vote goes for Magnolia! I so love that name.
My favorites from the honor names are Susanna and Virginia. The state name thing doesn’t bother me personally.
If Frances isn’t calling out to you strongly, I suggest Francesca. Same great nicknames, but less expected. Francesca Streyza sounds glamorous and wonderful to me.
For something more Americana, what about Florence? Nickname Flo is as spunky as Sam and I like the retro feel.
1) Louisa Rose/Pearl Strezya. I still like it!
2) Susanna Frances/Pearl. Georgie and Suze could be a British TV show!
3) Frances Rose nn Frankie
I really like Susanna with Georgia, to me it has a more Americana feel to it then Frances(but whenever I see this name all I can think of is France, so maybe it’s just me) I like the nicknames Susie/Anna. Georgie/Susie, Georgie/Anna. I do love the nickname Frankie with Georgie though, if you decide to go with Frances.
Ah, we have similar dilemmas! A surname with a strong “s” sound (or two, in your case) and a love of names that also have a strong “s”. Nearly all of your favorites are on my own list.
I agree Louisa is too hard to say (sniff, sniff :'( ) with Streyza, and I’d add Frances and Susanna are as well though I love both of them. I also think Rose is borderline too challenging… what about Rosalind, Rosetta, Rosamund, Rosemary, or Rosalie, with the nickname Rose or Rosie? Rosalie in particular is very pleasing. Rosalie Streyza. Very rhythmic and lovely.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Isabel is so terribly popular. Isabella is, but I do think of Isabel as a different name.
You have so many great names to choose from! Go with your love, even if it’s Virginia (I think the two state names are kind of cute, and also it wouldn’t occur to me right away.)
Rosalie Pearl, Virginia Pearl, Virginia Frances, Virginia Isabel, Virginia Louisa— you have so many great options! Good luck and please update us.
You have lots of very appealing names on your lists.
I don’t think ISABEL is “way too popular” at all. For me, Isabel (preferred British spelling, ranking at 144 last year in the US) and Isabella (Spanish/Italian form of the name, ranking at # 4 in 2014) are not the same. Isabellas are everywhere and often called “Bella”, while Isabel is rarer and often called “Izzy”, which is darling. Isabel Rose would be lovely.
I also like Louisa very much and think it sounds fine with your surname. Louisa Pearl Strezya is lovely too, and Lulu, if that’s to your liking, would be a cute nickname. (Louisa May Alcott raised her niece Louisa and called her “Lulu”)
Magnolia pairs nicely with Georgia: both have a Southern belle feel to them (Magnolia being the state tree of Mississippi), and “Maggie” is another darling nickname. Magnolia Frances would give her an honor name too.
As for Frances, I love Frannie/Franny as the nickname — far more than the tomboyish Frankie with Georgie. Frances Pearl would give her two honor names like her sister has.
Congratulations on achieving a second pregnancy!
PS This very recent request for second baby girl name suggestions from another couple who also have a little Georgia may interest you: http://appellationmountain.net/name-help-a-sister-for-georgia-louise/
Glad someone pointed out the app mtn site. Very similar question.
My favorite combo from your list is Matilda Louise, nickname Tilly Lou is super spunky. Frances is my second favorite from your list.
Best if luck! Georgia is a great name.
We just named our third girl Georgia, so I am partial to your naming style. Virginia (nn Ginger) was also on our list, and so was Frances, which I just love so much. Our other girls are Elna (nn Elle) and Harriet (nn Hattie) which you might like? Like so many others, I would put a strong vote for frances. Love it! I also love Magnolia! Nn Maggie. I’m obviously a big fan of nicknames! Ha!
My favorite from your honor name list is Rose. I don’t find it difficult to say with the last name. Have you considered a mash up to fit in more than one honor name? Something like Rosabel perhaps?
Frances is probably my 2nd favorite from your list.
Susanna is the only one I find problematic with the last name. The combination of alliteration & ending sound + overall flow makes it very sing-songy to my ear.
If your family is OK with honor names that are not the Exact Same Name, I like the idea of Eloise for you. Or just Louise instead of Louisa, I think it works better with the last name.
Is the Virginia in your family ever called Ginny? Perhaps a “gin” variant like Ginevra or Genevieve could work. Or perhaps Ginger? Though you may not want a Ginny or Ginger name with Jennifer. Perhaps you could play off the beginning of the name? Veronica, Vera, Verity, etc.
Pearl is nice, I’d say it’d be 3rd place for me. A nice variant would be Margaret, which is supposed to mean pearl.
I agree Sam just doesn’t work for me as a sister for Georgia. If you don’t like Samantha, what about Samara or something with “sam” in it like Jessamine? I admit that last one is kind of a stretch.
Honestly, if you can’t decide on any of the other honor names or a variant, I vote for just using Isabel. Yes, it’s popular, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s lovely & I Isabel is my favorite spelling for it. It also works well with Georgia.
Of your non-honor names, I really like both Violet & Matilda.
Francine vs. Frances
Francine Pearl and Georgia Grace
I second Francine!
I know a woman named Samia (pronounced SAM-ia). It’s another possible long form for Sam. Or Sam could be a lovely unexpected choice in the middle.
I don’t find Louisa Strey-za more difficult to say than Susanna Strey-za or Rose Strey-za or Frances Strey-za. If it’s what you love, I say use it!
I really like Magnolia, nn Nolie. Or Marigold, nn Goldie. Both seem spunky and fun with Georgia. I also vote Harriet–so cute. I have a daughter named Harriet Franceszka that we call Harriet Frances and I just love those names!! I also like Rosalie nn Rosie. Cute.
Other names I like as a sister for Georgia: Lois, Iris, or a “line” name like Adeline or Emeline.
What lovely honor names you have to choose from! I think it would be hard for you to go wrong with the options you have.
Frances has a lot of cute nickname potential—in addition to Frankie and Franny as already mentioned, there’s also Francie.
I really like Matilda from your list. Matilda Rose and Matilda Pearl are both lovely.
Georgie and Mattie. Too cute!
What about Annabel with either Annie or Belle as a nickname?
Audrey, Edie and Lydia came to mind too!
Good luck!
Frances Louisa?
I think the difficulty in pronunciation matters less if something is only going to be said on diploma-ish occasions, when people are speaking slowly and enunciating maximally anyhow.
I think you have wonderful honor names to work with, and it would be really sweet to use two honor names for your second daughter, as well. My favorite of these with Georgia is Frances, but my favorite with your last name is Isabel. (Frances Streyza is a bit of a tongue-twister.)
I think Isabel with a Georgia somehow “spins” Isabel into sounding less popular/common. I’m not sure how to explain it more clearly. Georgia & Isabel is different than Isabel & Olivia. Does that make sense to anyone else? :)
Anyway, I think my top pick for you ends up being Isabel Frances (middle name Frances + your last name doesn’t bother me as much as first name Frances). Georgie & Izzy?
I just wanted to weigh in on the popularity issue of “Isobel”. As Swistle pointed out, popularity now is different than when “we” were kids. I’m not sure how old you are, I’m a 36 year old Jessica and I always had at LEAST one Jessica in class with me in Elementary school. One time we had FOUR. However, my youngest is 4.5, born in 2011 and I named her Ava. I was in love with the name, but worried about popularity. The love for her name won out, and after being in a large daycare/preschool setting for four years now, we’ve yet to have one Ava in the entire place. So…if you love Isobel, go with it!!
Otherwise, pick Rose! ;) Rosalie was my grandmothers name, Rose is my middle name & my oldest’s middle name. It’s solid. :)
I also love Frances — particularly with Georgia. I know two teen girls who are best friends and have these names, so I associate them together.
The popularity thing really hit home last Friday. There are 40 new students at my child’s school this year, and they were introduced at the school flag salute. Out of those 40 names, there were no duplicates. There are three sizable classes in my daughter’s grade, and only one duplicate that I know of (Zoe.)
Having said that, I’m a Francesca or Rosalie fan. Frances always seems plain to me.
Violet Virginia
Susanna Scarlett (nn San… almost Sam!)
Pearl Patrice
Magnolia Matilde
Louisa Lenore
Rita Rosette
Many comments back I was trying to come up with alliteration for the second baby girl’s name too, but then it occurred to me that Georgia (soft G) Grace (hard G) may not technically be alliteration. Georgia Grace is as cute and spunky as can be, but for alliteration, I think Georgia would need to be paired with a name that begins with a soft G: Georgia Ginger, Georgia Gill, Georgia Gem (not that I like any of these as well as Georgia Grace). So instead of trying for alliteration, I would probably match double honor names, as with Georgia Grace’s name — e.g., Isabel Rose or Louisa Pearl that I suggested above.
Last comment, I swear
Eloise Estelle
Eliza Elaine
Anita Anabel
Honora Hope
Harriet Honora
(I love the idea of having an H_ after a G_!)
Georgia and Susanna do sound pretty cool together though and, the more I say them together, the more I like it!
Susanna sounds fine with your surname, even with the repeating ‘Z’ sound, and I think it’s because the three syllables really make a difference. Susanna Pearl perhaps?
Georgie and Sunny. Adorable!
Susanna Mae!
Louisa Streyza isn’t ideal in sound, but I don’t know that it would be a deal breaker for me.
The Virginia I know goes by Gini. Georgie & Gini?
I will point out Samara is the name of the girl that crawls out of the TV in The Ring. : /
For Sam, what about Jessame? Or to combine Rose & Sam -> Rosamund?
So funny I was going to suggest Samara as a feminine for Sam that isn’t Samantha and I see that has already been suggested. So, nothing from me but you have a lovely list to choose from!
Magnolia is one of my all-time favorite names, so I’m a bit biased toward that one! Magnolia Rose would be pretty, unless you don’t like the idea of two flower names. Or Magnolia Pearl. (I don’t have any kids yet, but if I did Magnolia Pearl would be on my own list of potential names.) Or Magnolia Frances! It goes well with pretty much all the names on your list, actually, except maybe Matilda. (And think of the nickname options! Maggie, Nolie, Lia…)
Okay, enough about Magnolia. I agree with Swistle that Rose doesn’t sound great with your last name, but how do you feel about Rosalie? (Another one of my very favorite names ever–I might like it even more than Magnolia.) Rosalie Matilda, Rosalie Frances, Rosalie Susanna…
Frances would be cute, especially if you used the nickname Frankie. Georgie and Frankie! So adorable! Or another feminine name with a unisex nickname. Louisa/Lou, perhaps?
But really, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the names on your list. Some alliteration options, if you decide to go with that:
Rose Rebecca
Rose Ruby (had to put that one on there since my name is Ruby Rose)
Rose Renee
Louisa Lee
Louisa Lily
Frances Fiona
Frances Felicity
Frances Faye
Susanna Sam
Susanna Scarlett
Susanna Sage
Pearl Penelope
Pearl Phoebe
Pearl Paloma
Isabel Isla (Maybe too many shared letters? I think it sounds pretty, though.)
Isabel Ivy
Virginia Valerie
Virginia Violet
Sam Susanna
Sam Scarlett
Sam Sophia
Sam Sarah
Violet Virginia
Violet Valerie
Scarlett Susanna
Scarlett Sam
Scarlett Sophia
Scarlett Sarah
Scarlett Sage
Magnolia Marie
Magnolia Mae
Matilda Marie
Matilda Mae
How about Rowena? Rowena Ruby; Georgia & Rowena.
When my daughter was born our top three names for her were Eloise, Georgia, and Matilda- I love your style :) We named her Eloise, and we love it. So many nickname possibilities! Her full name is Eloise Felicity, and her big sister is Blythe. Looking forward to hearing what you decide!
Hi there! Congrats on your second pregnancy! I haven’t read the above comments (except the first one) as there were too many.
I just wanted to say that we have a 7 month old Rose and absolutely love her name. i am so happy with it. It’s a classic name that isn’t overly popular. I really like it. BUT I do have to agree with the first commenter that Georgia and Frances, Georgie and Frankie…. TOO CUTE. They are almost too perfect to pass up, especially since I see Frances is on the list of honour names as well. I also really like Pearl.
Good luck and keep us posted!
You have lovely names to choose from!
Georgia and Frances are great together. My only thought with that is that with the first name ending in the same letter your last name starts with that it can sound like “France Strey-za” when you say it together.
This happens to us all the time with my son and bothers me more than I thought it would (though I still love his name:-)
Anyway, other than Frances, I also LOVE Matilda, Magnolia, and Louise/Eloise.
So, my vote is…Georgia Grace and Magnolia Rose
Visually I love the “ia” ending on both and the “g” in the middle, I love how they sound with the Americana first name and the the one syllable middle name, that each sounds strong and spunky but has a softness, the not matchy-matchy but goes together look and sound of each, and the awesome nicknames (Maggie, Nola, Nolia, Lia, Mags…).
Margot means pearl. How about that? Similar to some your husband likes
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! Congratulations from another Frances & Georgia family!!!!!!
Congratulations! she’s beautiful!