Hi Swistle!
My boyfriend and I are expecting a baby girl at the very end of November. We have *a* name picked out that we would/could use as either first or middle name, but my best friend’s daughter shares the same name, so I feel like we have to use it as a middle name, which is proving very difficult to find a smooth first name. Anyways, the name we have settled on is Sophia. It’s his grandmother’s name, so that’s the only reason I considered it (not because I don’t like it… I love it, but due to my bff’s daughter’s name).
My grandmothers’ names are Natalie Grace and Elizabeth (something, apparently she has kind of a goofy middle name and won’t share it…) and I’d like to try and come up with some combination of using grandmothers’ names for our little nugget.
I like Natalie Sophia Grace (having 2 middle names) but I feel like it’s a mouthful, and I’m not super sold on Natalie as a first name (and my 2nd cousin’s 1st name is Natalie).I *really* like the name Nora Sophia, but it’s a mouthful of vowels especially with the surname, and I’m not sure I like that, either…
My original pick for a name (before my boyfriend decided to pitch in) was Quorra (like from the movie Tron… It’s pronounced like “Cora”) and a middle name Madeline (Maddelynn pronunciation) but he’s not sold on that name, either. Quorra Madeline.
I don’t like all the trendy names, and I definitely want a girly sort of spunk. I don’t want her to have the same name as 20 other kids in her class, I want something a little more original, without being too “out there.” We are both of German heritage, and I also Irish.
Please help!!
Thank you!
I don’t think Natalie Sophia Grace is too much of a mouthful. It would be a long name if you were planning to say the whole thing each time, but with few exceptions middle names tend to gracefully disappear after the birth announcements are sent out. On the first day of class, the teacher won’t call out “Natalie Sophia Grace Surname?,” she’ll just say “Natalie Surname?”
My only hesitation with the name is that it uses the first AND middle of one of your grandmothers, and nothing from the other. I don’t think there’s any reason honor names have to be evenly distributed, but if this is your first child, and if you’d like to have more children later, I wonder if this name problem could be solved by saving some of the grandmother names for possible future daughters, instead of using Natalie, Sophia, and Grace on the very first child. It’s rare to have such a fashionable assortment to work with.
I think Nora Sophia also works beautifully. It’s a matter of personal preference, but I do like the “two names ending in -a” sound; it sounds pleasingly Italian to me.
Quorra catches my attention with two possible concerns. The first is that in U.S. English, “qu” is almost always pronounced “kw”; the most likely pronunciation of Quorra would be Kwora. It seems like it would get tiresome to keep making that correction.
The second possible concern is future sibling names: that name is a difficult act to follow. It probably seems hard enough right now to name ONE child, but I highly recommend sketching out a casual list of names you might want to use in the future, and seeing if they go well with your current options. If you use Quorra for a first child, can you think of sibling names you’d like to use with that? If not, the spelling Cora may capture some of what you like about the name Quorra, while still coordinating well with names such as Natalie, Sophia, Nora, and Grace.
Another similar possibility is Clara.
I wonder if you’d like the name Madigan. It’s similar in sound to Natalie and Madelynn, but is currently very unusual. And it ends in a consonant sound, which would help to break up the vowels of Sophia Surname.
Nora and Quorra make me wonder if you’d like Flora or Maura or Georgia or Rory. Or Morgan. Or Corinne. Or Laurel.
Natalia Sophia is lovely, or Eliza Sophia, Liza Sophia, Lizzie Sophia.
If you love Quorra the best, would you consider Cora Sophia? That spelling will ensure the correct pronunciation.
I think Natalie or Nora is great, too!
For Natalie and Elizabeth, maybe Nell? I don’t love it with Sophia but it’s not often that you say someone’s first , middle, and last name all together. Or Bethanie/Bethany? That sounds nice to me with Sophia.
Nellie Sophia is quite nice and I thought of that too! Nell is a lovely combination of Natalie and Elizabeth.
There’s a girl in my 8 year’s olds class this year named Coralee, after her grandma. The teacher remarked it was the very first time she had ever heard the name and we all agreed it is absolutely lovely! I adore Coralee Grace, it gives a soft nod to Natalie and has the modern but antique and also unusual sound that it seems you like. I also like Coralee Elizabeth, but I like names that are a mouthful!
I would save Sophia for a potential second daughter (unless you are 100% sure you do not want another child) A few years would lessen the connection to your BFF’s daughter, and it sounds like you have plenty of other names for now.
I would also gently remind your BF that this baby will share a last name with him (if that is indeed the case, I appreciate many people do not go this route but it does still seem to be the majority) and thus you should get a tiny bit more pull for using family names from your side.
If you like Nora but not the flow of Nora Sophia, have you considered Eleanor Sophia, nn Nora?
I like Natalie Sophia. I don’t think it needs a second middle. I liked the suggestions of Cora Sophia and Eleanor Sophia as well.
If Quorra is too much for your boyfriend, I think you should look for other names that fit your adventurous style but are slightly more palatable to him. Something like Zadie, or Zella. Or Zelda?
Or, if what you really love about Quorra is the nod to Sci Fi, maybe there’s another, more pronounceable name that you would love. Madeleine was already on your middle name list…maybe thats a connection to Madeleine L’Engle? Or maybe Valentine from Enders Game? Battlestar Galactica’s Starbuck’s first name is Kara…maybe that would be your style?
Also, Tron was written by a man named Lisberger. Maybe Liz or Lizzie from Elizabeth could get you the connection you want?
What about Corryn or Corinne?
Corryn Sophia
Corinne Sophia (I’ve also seen it spelled Carrin)
I also feel like you should maybe consider some other names that you BOTH really like.
You really have some lovely family names to choose from! Maybe you could “build” a family name from the letters of your grandmothers’ names? Maybe something like Adelaide, Annalise, Liesl, etc as a nod to your German heritage?
Have you considered Sophie? I feel it is more “spunky” than Sophia. I particularly like Sophie Elizabeth!
Similarly, I like Natalie…but Natalia is also beautiful, with the nickname Talia or Tallie.
Grace is a very popular middle name in my area (deep US South) although it is lovely with the right first name choice, particularly a distinctive choice.
Love the suggestion Coralee, although I would amend the spelling to Coralie. I’d add Amelie to that for consideration!
Ooh. I think Talia as a standalone name is a great idea! Talia Sophie is my vote. That separates her from your cousin as well.
Please use Talia!!! It was my no. 1 pick for my own daughter — my favorite since grade school — until I realized when I was pregnant last year that next to my name (Jena), it was a bit, um, risqué.
Jena + Talia
Plus our last name is Be@ver. That’s a lot of private parts!
But the nickname Tali is so, so cute. This gets my vote.
My sister is a Sophie Elisabeth and we all love it.
I just wanted to mention something no one else has about the name Quorra. It’s very similar to the popular question-and-answer website Quora. Not that it’s a negative association, but you might need to get used to “Like the website?” questions when you tell people her name if you go with Quorra.
Quorra is interesting, but the pronunciation issues Swistle raised will be made much worse by the rising popularity of the Q&A website Quora.com, which is pronounced “KWOR-a”. It has millions of users/viewers and many of its pages show up in the top search results for queries on Google now, too. I think Quorra will also be misspelled often by people visually familiar with Quora.com, besides the people who will assume it is Cora or Kora.
Actually, do you like the spelling Kora at all? It’s the original Greek version of Cora, and quite nice I think– even though it is older, it feels more modern and contemporary than Cora. Less vintage-y. Kora Sophia is a dramatic and lovely name– it’s positively ancient while also being completely 2015. Quite a feat!
Also, Kora is the German version of Cora as well, so there’s a heritage tie-in.
Love this suggestion! The Kora spelling reminds me a little of “Legend of Korra”, but since it’s not the exact same spelling I don’t think it’s an issue. I just really like the K in this case since it is a justifiable K ;)
Also just thought I’d add that “Kora Sophia” literally means “wise girl” when put together– can’t get a better meaning than that, I’d say.
What about Natalia Sophia- nicknamed Talia? Unique, spunky but not out there and honors one granny per parent. Plus less confusion with your cousin. Talia could then pair with a traditional name or something more unusual for future siblings.
I also like the suggestion of Eliza Sophia honoring Elizabeth, but maybe Eliza isn’t out there enough.
Natalie Sophia Grace as pointed out by Swistle is double honoring one person so I would avoid the two middle hassle and drop the Grace. Natalie Sophia is lovely.
I believe Quorra is pretty far out there.
I love this idea and would take it a step further–how about Natalia Sophie? This way both grandmothers’ names are changed slightly, and if the letter writer doesn’t like repeating 3-syllable names and/or repeating -ia ending names, this breaks things up a bit. Talia is a gorgeous nickname!
I agree with Swistle’s comments about Quorra. I’ll add that because it sounds like a familiar name with a comment, accepted spelling, Quorra would just be setting her up for a lifetime of confused looks & explanations. However, I would be totally on board with Cora Sophia. Or perhaps something like Cordelia Sophia, with Cora as a nickname.
I noticed one of your grandmother names is Elizabeth. It has so many nicknames & variants that I think that would be a good place for you to look for names. Eliza, Elise, Ella, Lily, Isabel, Bette, Betty, Lisa, etc. You can view a more complete list on behind the name (link below). You could also do something like Bethany. While not a true Elizabeth variant, I think the “Beth” connection is enough for it to work.
You could do the same with Natalie-look for variants related to the name. Natalia, Natasha, Tasha, Talia, etc.
Or you could aim for a mashup name to honor both grandmas without resorting to multiple middle names (nothing is wrong with multiple middles, but you seem to have hesitations). Natalie + Elizabeth = Nell/Nella. Elizabeth & Natalie = Ena.
I do like some of these suggestions, thank you!
Swistle, you bring good points to the name Quorra, thank you! :)
Kerry- I like your suggestions a lot… I had actually looked for the meaning of Zelda and then looked up name alternatives. My boyfriend is a total gamer nerd, and we both love the DC and Marvel comics… so something kind of nerdy without being too out there for someone, somewhere to find something about it to make fun of… I will respond more shortly :)
Piggybacking off your feedback…Zorah Sophia, Zara Sophia, Thisbee Sophia…best of luck!
Are you a GoT fan? I think Arya is a lovely name, and Arya Sophia is just beautiful. I also love the name Arha, from Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books.
Ooooh that is gorgeous! I like that a lot! :) spelling and all! I will run it by him :) thank you!! :)
There is a Talia is in the Batman comics!
Other “nerdy but not out there names”: Nova, Jubilee, Cassandra, Arwen, Leia, Lyra, Kira, Lorelei, Emmeline
Some of these actually sound really sweet with some of the names in your letter. A few combos that I think work well:
Sophia Jubilee
Talia Madeline, Talia Grace
Lorelei Elizabeth
Kira Natalie
Cassandra Grace
Sophie Cassandra
Kora Sophia and Arya Sophia are my favorites of the suggestions so far. I also agree that, unless you are sure you are only having one child, you may not want to use all the family names the first time around.
If you wanted to honour both grandmothers, Nell might work. Also, if you like Natalie and Madeline, what about Magalie? I have a friend with this name, she goes usually by Maggie and I have always admired how beautiful her name is.
Some of your gamer names that came up, in combination with your love of Quorra, made me wonder about Thora? Like the actress Thora Birch? I always thought her name was pretty neat.
Andromeda?
Menolly or Lessa from the Pern books?
I have to comment that you said “I don’t want her to have the same name as 20 other kids in her class, I want something a little more original” yet in the U.S., Sophia has been in the top 3 most popular girl names for the past 5 years, including #1 for 3 of them.
It is still a lovely name & you should use it as a first name if you love it but I think it makes an excellent middle. I like the suggestions of Kora/Cora & Nell & Talia with it. I also have an older Italian family member named Natalena, which I always liked!
Right, Sophia will be her middle name, and we are solid on that name being there. I don’t like “Sophie” so much, it just sort of sounds cut off to me… And one of our dogs names is Kira so that’s out of the equation as well, lol (other 2 dogs are boys) (Also another reason for maybe straying from “Quorra” in any of its spelling variants). I am fairly certain we won’t be having more children, this is our 1st and this pregnancy has been pretty rough (lost around 10-12 pounds during 1st trimester due to morning sickness, along with other physical problems which make it extremely difficult to walk some days).
I really like Arya Sophia
And I do like the nickname Talia, though I’m not sold on Natalia. Yes of course we would go through names we both like, I just ran out of the same old same old boring sites Listing the same 100 names, so I thought that finding something more personal would be of help. Thank you all so far! Keep em coming! :D
I really like Swistle’s suggestion of Madigan with Sophia. And my name is Natalie ;) which I love but it was very unusual in my generation, much less so now.
If you are a sci-fi/Who fan, what about Teagan?
An unusual first name backed up with traditional/popular Sophia, in case she doesn’t like the first name, seems like a good choice.
Good luck!
All of my kids have two middle names, and to be honest, minus on the birth certificate or if someone asks, it’s not a big deal or a mouthful as we only ever say the first and last name together. Only one of the three kids full set of four names actually flows or sounds good together, but we choose honor names for the two middle names (one from each family) and accepted that it’s ok if they don’t flow that well. it hasn’t been an issue at all.
Ok, so with that being said, I love the name Sophia and Grace.
Nora Sophia Grace. I really like the sound of it actually. If you want something to break it up, you could reverse the order, Nora Grace Sophia.
I agree with several of the comments above, I think Quorra is too out there for spelling… It would be a constant correction 100% of the time and hit-or-miss with the pronunciation.
I really like they suggestions of Zara or Zora. Zora Sophia Grace. Gives Nora a bit more spunk. To be honest, that might be favourite!!
Good luck and keep us posted!
Here in Australia we use Thalia or (tar-lee-uh) a lot. She is one of the Greek muses and I think she is pretty spunky and a nod to Natalie as well.
I know a Thalia here in Washington state, and she pronounces it THAY-lee-uh. Also an option!
Nora, Cora and Arya make me wonder if you would like the name Aurora.
Aurora Sophia or Aurora Sophia Grace are both very pretty!
What about Ariana or Laura?
Good luck!
What about Emerald? Emerald Sophia Grace nn Emmy. Too cute!
Sooo, he’s decided on another name- one we both like, but I feel it has potential for teasing and being the butt end of sexual innuendos once she gets older… Anya (pronounced like on-yah, and both unsure of how to spell it). I think it’s a really pretty name, but like I said I think it has potential for teasing, etc… maybe I’m just thinking too much into it. Her initials with this as a first name would be ASA… we are 7 weeks away from due date, and I’m getting more and more antsy about finding a name… but maybe it’ll be like in the movies, where we’ll just know when we see her face lol… any input?