Dear Swistle,
I was due with my baby Feb 14th and am now overdue, but still have reservations about my girl baby name!!! My husband has been incredibly picky, making agreeing on a name a true challenge. Luckily we agree on the boy name (we did not find out gender) which will probably be Owen Michael unless that just feels off when we meet him, then we would use our 2nd pick, Emmett Michael. Girl names that he likes that I also like are Jillian Ivy or Camilla Ivy. Girl names I really like that he is lukewarm about are Nora Ivy or Lillian Ivy. I also love Vivian or Charlotte, but he really dislikes both. Our last name is Krause, which is why I have some minor reservations about Camilla. Too alliterative? Especially when shortened to Cami Krause for a nickname? I do really like Camilla, but don’t know if that would sound funny with our last name. I also love the idea of Nora Ivy. Nora would be after my paternal grandmother Eleanor and Ivy after my maternal grandmother. Oddly enough my paternal grandmother texted me a name idea a long time ago and it happened to be Camilla which is funny since weeks later my husband put that name on his list. As far as Jillian, I had really liked that name initially, but have reservations about it due to Jillian Michaels and associate it with more a tomboy type name. At the same time it is similar to Lillian and Vivian which I love, but husband does not. Other girl names I like that husband does not include: Samantha, Savannah, Emily/Emma (we can’t use these names due to someone else having this name, but we both like the names), Lauren, Scarlett, Juliet, Beatrice. Other than Emma/Emily, husband dislikes all of these. As well as numerous others I have suggested! We do plan to have one more baby. This is our first.
Who knows, maybe I’ll go into labor before you reply, but I thought I’d give it a shot!!
Thank you!
Alliteration is a matter of personal preference: some people love it and seek it out, others dislike it and avoid it. I am somewhere in between: I sometimes like alliteration and sometimes don’t. And Camilla Krause / Cami Krause sounds great to me.
I also love the story of the name: that your grandmother suggested it, and then coincidentally your husband added it to his list a few weeks later. And I think it’s great with both proposed brother names.
I love the name Jillian, too, if you take a look at the baby and she’s just not a Camilla. My association with Jillian Michaels is small, perhaps because I think of her as Jillianmichaels. Or I wonder if you’d like Julia? Or Gemma?
I suspect that this is last-minute cold feet. I remember agitating over my babies’ names even in the hospital: it’s such a big choice.
I like the alliteration!
All the best.
I like Jillian and Camilla better than Nora and Lillian, only because they are less common. Nora and Lillian/lily are really overdone in my area. Beautiful names for sure, but just feeling a little meh due to overusage.
Jillian has the adorable nickname Jilly. (Jilly Bean! Peanut butter and Jilly!) and Camilla can use the nickname Milly if you don’t like Cami Krause. I personally like the sound of Camilla Kraus a lot, but am less fond of Cami Krause. Millie Krause, however, is adorable.
Best of luck! Look forward to the update!
Ditto to all this….
I third all of this.
Fourthed!
Was just going to throw out the spelling Gillian – in case that works for you and removes the Jillian Michaels association (fwiw I don’t think of her at all either way!). Let us know what you decide : )
I like Gillian so much more than Jillian.
I love all of your choices. We didn’t find out the gender for our third and I obsessed at the end over our girl names. (We had two boys at that point and ended up having a third.)
My only suggestion is to relax. Your list is lovely. I like them all. We didn’t officially name it third boy until about 8-9 hours after he was born. So try a few out after his or her arrival.
I love Camille or Camilla, Nora, Jillian…everything on your list!!!
Camilla Ivy and Jillian Ivy are both lovely (I don’t even know who Jillian Michaels is, and anyway Jillian is a common enough name that I don’t think one person can ruin it). Nora Ivy is nice, too, but it sounds like your husband is less enthusiastic about it, so it makes more sense to stick with one of the names you both like.
Oh, and the alliteration doesn’t strike me as a problem. Having grown up with & married into an alliterative name, with zero effect on my life, I’ve never understand the distaste.
I agree that Jillian is a great name and I don’t think of Jillian Michaels, but you could use the traditional Irish spelling Gillian.
I was also going to suggest Julia. You like Juliet and Julia seems more in line with your othe names, so maybe your husband will like.
I’m not usually a huge alliteration fan, but Camilla Krause sounds great!
Jillian alone isn’t enough to make me think of Jillian Michaels.
Lovely names!
I married into an alliterative name… and I love it. It is also the hard c sound, so Camilla Krause is lovely, and I think Cami Krause is even nicer.
Camilla Krause is very nice! I also like Gemma.
I’m joining the masses and saying I like Camilla Krause too!
I usually don’t like alliteration, but Camilla/Cami Krause is fine.
Jillian is lovely and I don’t think it has a tomboy vibe at all. Jillian Michaels is really a very minor association for me. I am much more likely to think of Gillian Anderson when I hear the name. I also agree that it seems like the perfect compromise since your husband doesn’t like Lillian or Vivian (seriously, Lillian & Jillian are so similar, it’s hard to imagine how anyone can like one but not the other).
Charlotte & Vivian made me think of Violet, perhaps you’d also like that?
I don’t think of Jillian Michaels. At. All. for what it’s worth.
Camilla Krause is a great name! I love alliteration! My first and middle are alliterative, and I’ve always thought it was fun.
I LOVE the nickname Millie and am dying to use it myself but can’t use any of the longer forms for various reasons. Please go with Camilla nn Millie!
I love the sound of Camilla Krause! Millie or Cam would work as a nickname if you wanted something different. As one reader suggested, spelling Jillian as Gillian might help you, but FWIW, I don’t associate the name with JM too much either or at all. I think it’s a great, underused name, personally. Gemma is another great suggestion. I wonder if you’d like Emilin since you can’t use Emma or Emily. Or maybe Carlin? But I truly think your current list is just wonderful. Let us know what you decide!
I think both top contenders would work. I don’t think Camilla K is too much alliteration, but I have a slight preference for Jillian.
Oh, and I had to look up Jillian Michaels to see who she was, but it doesn’t seem like a negative association from what I saw.
Camilla Krause / “Milla” Krause.
I have a 14 month old granddaughter named Camilla Rose; her name is often shortened to “Milla”. I love both forms of Camilla’s name.
Milla as a given name has been in the top 100 in Australia recently.
Best wishes!
PS I suggested the name “Camilla” for my granddaughter too! Her daddy loved it immediately; her mommy liked it a lot too, and they ended up naming their daughter Camilla!
I love the name Jillian. My cousin married a Jillian, and everyone in the family calls her Jilly.
PS I went to school with a Gillian (pronounced with the G sound, not the J sound). Gilly reminds me of the SNL character, lol. So be careful with the spelling you choose for Jillian. I don’t think of Jillian Michaels at all (although I know who she is). Plus, whatever your baby is named, you and your friends/family will come to associate the name with her (the baby).
I agree and think Camilla/ Cami sounds lovely. I am partial to the nn Millie, since a family member named their daughter Milana (maybe another name option you may like), nn Millie. So cute!
I think Eleanor Ivy Krause is beautiful with nn Nora.
I also love Camilla Ivy Krause with nn Milla.
All great names. Camilla Ivy would be my top choice. Lillian Ivy is a bit botanical heavy if you call her Lily, so I might scrap that. Jillian is nice and plenty feminine, but it would rule out a future Vivian for me. I think you could easily pull off sisters Camilla and Vivian. Vivian Ivy is a bit too V-heavy for my taste.
If you like Emma/Emily, I wonder if you would consider Ella? It honors grandma Eleanor and has the double L you like. However, I would probably name her the full Eleanor and then you can call her Ella, Ellie and Nora. One other option you might like is Amelia, but I do prefer Camilla or Eleanor.