Hi
We are due to have our first baby, a little girl on 9th October.
We have decided on Rose as her middle name after husband’s mother, Rosemary.
Last name is Moorhouse.We have narrowed down first name to:
Charlie
Ella
RubyWe want a 2 syllable name preferably and it’s hard cos there are lots of girls names in the family taken!!
My sister has 3 girls already:
Lydia Anne (great-grandmother / mum names) age 4
Evie May (May from other great-grandmother) age 2.5
Macy Ella, also age 2.5 (twins)Plus in the family there is:
Willow Kate (6mths)
Sienna May (2)
Ivy Lyn (6)
Stella (born stillborn a year ago)We also liked Emme & Audrey (but not with Moorhouse) and used to like Isabella and Charlotte (but now too popular)
Hubby favors Charlie and I am torn as I don’t want her to always be mistaken for a boy. Hubby doesn’t like Ruby Rose as its the Australian actor/model who isn’t a great role model…
So we are thinking Charlie or Ella but I’m so confused!!!
I do think of the actor Ruby Rose, though the first thing I notice is the two shades of red.
My immediate association with Charlie Rose is the TV show Charlie Rose and its host Charlie Rose. I’ve never seen the show, and might not be able to pick the host out of a line-up, yet the association sprang to my mind.
I don’t think the associations need to rule out the names, since many middle names go unused—but it’s so fun to say Ruby Rose and Charlie Rose and Ella Rose, I could see this middle name being used more than some. Also, since it’s an honor name, it would be pleasing to draw attention to it. Also, it sounds as if you’d rather not use Charlie Rose and your husband would rather not use Ruby Rose, but both of you like Ella Rose. So from your list of finalists, the option that seems most pleasing to me is Ella Rose.
Another possibility is to go back to Charlotte, and use Charlie as the nickname. This solves two problems: the Charlie Rose association, and your concern that she will be always mistaken for a boy. It increases the popularity of the name somewhat, but I’m not sure using Charlie to decrease popularity is a worthwhile trade: naming a girl Jenny 40 years ago wouldn’t have kept her separate from the popularity of the name Jennifer. And using Charlotte gives her more possibilities: she can use Charlie, or Lottie, or Charlotte.
Another possibility is to use the original name Rosemary, instead of Rose: Charlie Rosemary, Ruby Rosemary, Ella Rosemary. This has three benefits: one, it significantly reduces the associations with Charlie Rose and Ruby Rose; two, it increases the honor to your husband’s mother; and three, Rose is a very popular middle name choice right now, and one of your preferences is for a less popular name. All three options feel fresher to me with Rosemary.
While Ruby is my favorite out of the three first name choices, if middle name were not a consideration. But, I wouldn’t use Rube with the middle name Rose because of Ruby Rose. Charlie Rose would also automatically be out. That makes Ella Rose the only combo I would use. That said, I’m a total vote for using Charlotte if you love it, without worrying about popularity. Ella has been in the top 20 since 2010, although on a slight downward slope (2010 – 13; 2011 – 12; 2012 – 12; 2013 – 15; 2014-17) but that doesn’t take into consideration the Isabellas that might use Ella, or the Eleanors, etc. Charlotte is on an upswing going from #46 in 2010 to #27 (2011), 19, 11, and final #10 in 2014. I imagine she’ll be even more popular this year with the princess though.
Would you like Etta? Etta Rose is beautiful and works well with Moorhouse. I also love the name Rosemary and encourage you to use the full name in the middle slot if you’re so inclined. Plus – Ruby Rosemary is a ridiculously adorable name.
I quite like Ruby with her sisters. Maybe I’m missing something but I’m not sure why THE Ruby Rose has to be a good role model for the name to be used? Or even why she isn’t one?
Agreed. Ruby Rose is a prominent animal rights and LGBTQ rights activist who’s only in the news–ever–regarding bringing light to those topics, bringing awareness to mental health struggles, and being awesome / successful in television. Oh, and for her partner being Roald Dahl’s granddaughter and CEO/designer of Faircloth Supply!! (It’s a v successful ethical clothing line.) What’s not to like?
I’m disturbed by some of the undercurrents of the “not a good role model” thing.
I don’t have an issue with her being “not a good role model” I don’t know anything about her beyond her role in “Orange is the New Black”. My issue as with Charlie Rose is that I wouldn’t want to give a full name of a celebrity to my kid as their first and middle name.
I like Audrey Rose Moorhouse! I don’t know why Audrey Moorhouse doesn’t work? I think it sounds lovely!
Perhaps Elsie Rose Moorhouse
I do agree with Swistle that Ruby Rosemary is a cute name!
I agree that Audrey Moorehouse sounds good to me. I also like Ellie or Elsa :)
Ella Rose has the advantage of being the one where you converge. I like the ideas of Charlotte Rose or Rosemary as the middle name. Charlotte Rosemary is quite elegant and you could use Charlie for a nickname.
I like Ella Mary-Rose. Also you could go with Charla Rose nn Charlie to avoid the Charlie Rose connection.
Have you considered Lucy Rose? It seems to fit well with the other names.
I think Ella Rose or Charlotte “Charlie” Rose are both fantastic options. I agree with the suggestion of Lucy Rose; I think that’s adorable!
Great options and your daughters have lovely names. I think Charlotte with Charlie as a nickname is super. One comment on popularity- I wonder if Ella won’t be more popular than Charlie. Charlotte is one of the only names I can think of that might be Charlie. Ella could be Eleanor, Eloise, Elizabeth, Elena or any Ella name like Isabella.
May I suggest Isla as a spin on Ella? Isla Rose is pretty and unique. Also Charleze Rosemary is a different look at Charlie (all girl, no talk show host).
Are you only using Charlie instead of Charlotte because you think it will be less popular? Because two of the three little girls I know named Charlotte are called Charlie (actually Charley and Charly) exclusively, so you might end up disappointed with how many girl-Charlies there are. That said, I think the name Charlotte nn Charlie is perfectly lovely. But my son’s name is Henry so I’m not one to avoid popular names :)
Ella is my favorite with your last name and I love Swistle’s suggestion of Ella Rosemary.
I suggest Carly Rose. Similar to Charlie but definitely feminine.
What about Ellie Rose. Gives you the “ie” ending of Charlie but definitely feminine. Or Charlize Rose. A more feminine version of Charlie.
I’ve no idea who Ruby Rose, but I would eliminate the name because of the double red connection. In this case, it sounds like a descriptor + noun; ruby rose, white rose, pink rose, red rose etc.
I agree with the suggestion of Charlotte nicknamed Charlie. You get 2 names you like plus the option of Charlotte in case you (or your daughter) decide Charlie is too much. Since you like them both, and want a 2 syllable name, I’ll also suggest Lotte (Lott-ah) another traditional nickname for Charlotte.
I agree that Ella Rose seems like the best option from all your choices. You mention drawbacks for but Ruby & Charlie, which makes me think you like Ella the best.
Yeah I don’t know who ruby rose is but I hesitate over the double noun double adjective thing.
I like both Ella and Charlotte rose.
Any chance you like rose as a first name? I think Rosie is adorable.
I was going to say go with Ella, but then hearing about a stillborn named Stella am not quite sure. How close is the connection to your immediate family? Is the name so similar that it would upset the parents of the stillborn? Why not just use Rose as the first name? Or Mary? I love the idea of a baby girl named Mary.
Audrey Rose Moorehouse sounds pretty wonderful to me! I really can’t see a problem with it at all.
Rose is such a pretty name and would sound lovely in the first name spot. Rosie is a cute nickname too! Both Rose Isabella and Rose Charlotte are nice.
What about Eliza Rose or Elizabeth Rose nicknamed Ellie or Ella? Or Adaline/Adeline Rose with the nicknames Addie or Della? Ada Rose is adorable!
I don’t think Emme Moorehouse sounds that bad either. Sure, there are a lot of ‘M’ sounds there, but it isn’t a deal breaker. Maybe have Emmeline Rose or Emilia Rose with the nickname Emme/Emmy? Emma Rose Moorehouse is great too.
I really like all the names on your list, I can see why you’re having such a hard time!!
All the best!!
I was going to make the same comment in regards to Ella it is very close to Stella.
All your names are lovely but they are all very common names, I have children 7,5,2 & 3 months and between school, daycare, play group etc we know several Ella’s, Charlie’s and Ruby’s I even know two children who are Ruby Rose, this obviously isn’t a big deal if popularity isn’t an issue but just want to make you aware, I have an Ava and although I love her name I was a little disappointed to discover just how popular it is!
Other suggestions sorry if I’m repeating, that I like with Rose
Ellery
Emery
Emerson (Eme)
Cora
Eden (Edie)
Freya
Oddette
Tahlia
Amity
Iris
Congratulations and Goodluck
I Forgot to mention, when my son was born three months ago he was one of 6 newborn babies on the ward, 4 out of those 6 babies were named Ruby, just gives you an idea of the popularity of the now at the moment.
*name not now!
This baby has no sisters; those are her cousins’ names. One of those uses “mum’s name” which makes me think the OP may not be American, which may knock the Charlie Rose celeb connection out of consideration. Ruby has certainly gained in popularity, but I think the commenter above lives in a cluster of them. I myself only know one, but I know 3 Charlotte’s under the age of 7, and 2 Audrey’s.
I love Swistle’s suggestion of Rosemary as the middle, though, and Ruby Rosemary is my favorite by far. But then, I’m not a big fan of Charlie on it’s own, and Ella seems so ordinary to me these days. II do like Audrey Rose , too.
I think Audrey Moorhouse works just fine.
I wouldn’t use Charlie Rose or Ruby Rose because of the celebrity connections, but I’m curious as to why you think Ruby Rose is a bad role model…??
Rose would also make a good first name. Or Rosa.
I echo the previous commenters who point out Ella is very similar to Stella. Too similar. Usually I’m all for family members using the same name or very close names, and don’t believe in “name stealing”, but still birth is something different…it is the death of a child, and it’s profoundly traumatic. Ella is too painfully close to Stella, I think. Plus the stillbirth only being a year ago…that’s terribly fresh.
From the tone of your post and the names included, I’m guessing you are from the UK. I don’t know as much about popularity trends over there, but a quick glance leads me to see that in absolute terms, Isabella is not more popular than Ruby or Ella…all three names are in the top 15. There were only 500 more babies named Isabella than Ruby or Ella. And I imagine the true popularity of Ella is greater than either Ruby or Isabella, when you start counting the babies named Ellie, Ellie-May, Ellie-Rose, Eleanor, Eliza, etc.
Actually, I just found a combined spellings list for 2014. Here you go: http://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/combined-spellings-2014-girls.html
When counted with all spellings together, Isabella, Ella, and Ruby pull in neck-to-neck. They’re virtually the same in popularity. But I think Ella will still seem more abundant because of Ellie, etc. (not counted in the combined spellings).
But besides all that, I don’t think you should use just plain Ella because of Stella. Eleanor, Eliza, Eloise, or Ellie would be OK though (thinking of a hypothetical similar situation in my family).
Looking further down the list for names that feel similar to Ella, Ruby, and Charlie, but are less popular, I found:
Georgia/Georgie
Clara
Nancy
Violet
Elsa
Maisie (too close to Macy?)
Penelope
Arabel/Arabella (too posh? it’s an old Scottish name, if you have any Scottish ancestry)
Sadie
Lila
Millie
Hattie
Margot
Adelaide (too posh?)
I also think using just Rosemary would be lovely! Rosemary M—house is beautiful, and Rosie, Romy, or any of the Mary nicknames would be adorable.
Good luck!
Hmm.. where to start!!
I personally like the sound of Charlie Rose together… If I were to use it, I would want to use it as a double-name and call her Charlie Rose. That would get away from the being mistaken for a boy. Names for this generation seem to be different then for our generation… we all had nicknames or shortened names it seems where as kids nowadays don’t always have shortened names or you are seeing the double-names come back and people aren’t necessarily shortening them. Another thought on Charlie, one of my close girlfriend’s name is Charlee, spelt with two -ee’s instead of the typical male spelling of -ie at the end. I think seeing it makes your brain stop and question, hmmm think could be a boy or a girl, whereas the typical spelling of Charlie most certainly does induce thoughts of being male. So, if you weren’t going to call her Charlie Rose, but just Charlie, I would almost consider seeing if you could find a different spelling?
I guess on that note, are you planning on having more children?? Maybe that’s where the discussion can take you. If you do have more kids, and happen to have a girl, what other names do you like? If you have one girl named Charlie and one girl named Ella… that seems very off to me stylistically. Where if you had another girl and named her Frankie. Charlie and Frankie, you get either two boys or two girls, but you won’t have one girl wondering why they got a “boy” name vs. a “girly” name like her sister. Just another thought.
I also personally like Ruby Rose (and I actually like the double red connection) and Ella Rose. Sigh, you have a great set of names.
I love the above suggestion of Etta Rose. Actually, totally love it. It might be my favourite!
What about Thea Rose?
Have you considered using Rose as the first name? We have a little Rose and we totally love her name. We flip between calling her Rose and Rosie. :)
Good luck and keep us posted!
Rosemary would be great as a first name! Just think it’s so fresh.
Love the suggestion of Etta Rose. Love it.
Other ideas that pop into my head are
Maeve Rose
Iva Rose
Emmeline Rose
Vera Rose
Camille Rose
Maielle Rose
Wow. What an amazing array of replies!! Thank you all so much!! It is so great to get some help without friends knowing what names we are thinking!
We are in Australia – hence the very strong connection to Ruby Rose (she is Australian).
I think she is a great person and have no moral issues against anything she stands for, but people would assume we named our daughter after her – pigeon holing her into a specific category. I guess I just want her to be seen as her own person, and not have to continuously explain why we named her Ruby (because I love the name and she will likely be a strawberry blonde!) And Rose after her grandmother.
I do like the suggestion of Rosemary, although hubby isn’t as sold on it.
Also because we are in Aus I’d never heard of Charlie Rose the presenter or show. It’s not played over here, so isn’t so much an issue I don’t think.
I dont mind picking a name that we love if it is popular, but not too popular. In terms of babies named this year:
– Charlotte is the 2nd most popular name in the country (and only just behind Olivia) and the 3rd most popular in our state
– Ella is no. 13, with Isabella no. 14 & Isabelle no. 22, added together more than doubling the amount of Charlotte’s (oh dear)
– Ruby is 10th most popular
– Isla no. 15
Charlie (with any spelling) isn’t in the top 100.
I think Audrey maybe had too similar a sound to Moor – “Aud” and “Moor” ??
A few other suggestions were Eden (nn Edie) Eva and Ava – all names we love, but these I think are all too close to Evie my niece.
Also, I think Etta sounds a little harsh and I don’t like Mary. I did like Eloise, but hubby hates the name Louise and thought people would end up calling her that.
Was thinking maybe Elodie (pronounced like Melody) – I think it is feminine and pretty and flows well with Moorhouse, plus not too long and could nickname Ella Elle or Ellie. What do you think??
That would also remove the connection to Stella, which is a really good point I hadn’t fully considered (baby brain?!).
My goodness it is so hard, and we only have 2.5weeks till due date so I am freaking out!!
My favorites now are:
– Elodie Rose Moorhouse
– Charlie Rose Moorhouse
– Ruby Rosemary Moorhouse
HELP PLEASE!!! and THANK YOU!!
Hi! I think Elodie Rose is lovely. It ticks all the boxes!
Just out of curiosity, do you say the “Au” of Audrey with an R sound? Like “AWR-dree”? Even at that I still can’t get it to rhyme with the Moor of Moorhouse, with my American accent…they are completely different sounds.
But anyway, Elodie seems perfect! Please remember to update if you can. :)
I’m British and Audrey Moorhouse sounds like “OR-dree” “MOR-house” to me – so they do have the same OR” sound, but I think that could be a fun thing, rather than a bad thing. :)
Elodie is very pretty, I’m also in Australia and have never come across an Elodie before, and Elodie Rose is very cute! Elle is a great nn for Elodie I actually prefer it over Ella or Ellie.
Elodie Rose is gorgeous!
Go for it!!
Elodie Rose is perfect! Love how beautiful it sounds and you can use a great nn Elle
I agree with Swistle on all points. In your situation, I would prefer the usage of the middle name Rosemary. Of your first name choices, I would go with Ella. Not only is it just gorgeous–Ella Rosemary Moorhouse–but it eliminates all of those sticking points. I, too, thought of Charlie Rose the host, and Ruby Rose seems like it must be a negative association (with which I’m not familiar). Ella Rosemary gives you the option of still calling her Ella Rose as much as you like, but the honor name is fully intact and the popularity of her first-and-middle combo goes WAY down.
If your hesitation on Ella was in any way related to the stillborn Stella in your family (and you did not indicate that it was, but I wondered), I offer this anecdote as an encouragement. Our firstborn daughter’s name has already been shared with the family, even though we now found out we’re having a boy in January. If he has a sister, the name will remain the same. It ends with the word/sound “line”. There was a stillborn child in what would be her same generation, her first cousin. That child’s name was Madeline, but pronounced “lynn”. Not one person made any connection whatsoever to the similarity, and it is possible that it was because of the different sounds. But my guess is, it’s a different name altogether and no one noticed/cared. I think Ella and Stella are both different enough names, they are not variances of each other, and the sound is pretty hot right now, so it’s not like the parents have not heard of any girls’ names rhyming with Stella. Maybe this never worried you, but if it did, I would say it’s a non-issue.
Elodie is a nice name and, as you said, it lends itself to several nicknames. Elodie Rose sounds beautiful.
I also still have a soft spot for Charlie Rose. I would love to call her by both names, Charlie Rose as a double-name vs. just Charlie… Something about the spunk of Charlie and the softness of Rose together that makes it almost magical. It gives room to so many personalities…