Dear Swistle,
I am so sorry not to have discovered your blog before this, the middle of my third pregnancy, but am hopeful that you can help me and my husband out with our big naming problem! His/the kids’ last name is pronounced Lind. If we have a boy (which I suspect we won’t), his name will be my maiden name, which has been our chambered boy name for each pregnancy so far. We haven’t completely decided yet, but believe we will probably try for one more baby after this one, and also have a second boy name ready if we need it.
Our big problem is finding a girl name. Ironically, we chose our two daughters’ names very easily–but that was before realizing that our theoretical name preferences are wayyyyy out of step with our actual ones! Our 3-year-old is Sophia and our 18-month-old is Ava. Believe it or not, we were going for unique names both times, only to choose names that have been in the top five for the past several years.
When we named Sophia, we had no idea what sorts of resources were out there for discussing and analyzing names–we just talked to each other and decided that Sophia was a pretty, elegant, RARE vintage choice, which was exactly what we wanted. We were among the first in our social circle to have kids, so we just didn’t know better. After Sophia was born, we started to gain a sense that the name wasn’t as uncommon as we thought (right away I noticed that NO ONE reacted with the delight and surprise I had been expecting, and then another Sophia was born in our social circle a few weeks later), but it wasn’t until Ava came along that it really hit home. Why? Because for the past 18 months, I don’t think two weeks have gone by without someone saying to me, “Wow, my nieces/neighbors/kid’s friend and her sister are named Sophia and Ava! What a coincidence!” After the first couple times, I finally found the SSA website and a few baby name blogs, including your own, and was aghast to learn how NOT unique these names were, both generally and in our state (where Ava was number 1 the year ours was born).
I can’t tell you how disappointing this has been to me. I can’t imagine the girls’ being named anything else, but there are times when I feel genuinely embarrassed to introduce them by name, because I feel that everyone is thinking, “Wow, don’t their parents have any creativity?” I used to have thoughts like that about other people’s kids’ names, so please don’t try to convince me that it doesn’t happen! The one thing that has helped is that we often call them by random nicknames (Lulu and Lottie), so at the very least strangers don’t have to know they have two of the most common names in the present universe.
So that brings us to naming our third child, if it is a girl. This baby feels impossible to name because we have boxed ourselves into a corner I don’t like. Several people have already suggested Olivia to me, apparently believing this must be my style since it’s another top-fiver. And indeed, maybe we should just go with that, because what’s the point of doing otherwise? It IS a pretty name (although not one that I would have picked in a vacuum, because I’m not drawn to that long O at the beginning). I’d prefer not to repeat an initial, but Amelia is another one that would fit in with the other girls’ names. Lila is a favorite of mine, but won’t work with the last name.
However, I can’t help but feel that we have a shot here at coming up with something that recasts the set, so to speak, and jazzes it up a little bit. Obviously if we named her something like Urania, it would stand out in a bad way, and wouldn’t fix the problem. But am I overlooking something in the in-between area that would make the group feel slightly less faddish?
By the way, I hope this question doesn’t offend anyone with daughters named Sophia or Ava. Obviously, I think they are beautiful names or I wouldn’t have used them! I think it’s the SET, and not so much either name individually, that feels faddish to me.
I would really, really love your help with this! We aren’t concerned with a middle name (we just use names of significance to us at the time, and can choose that toward the end based on the first name we pick), so the focus is just on making sure the first name works. The baby is due on Thanksgiving, but the other two were both three weeks early…
Thank you so much, if you’re able to help!
– VAN
I think what I might do is try to spin the sibling group as Vintage Hollywood Glamour. Sophia (Loren), Ava (Gardner), and ? You certainly could go Olivia (de Havilland) here, but you don’t love the name and I don’t suggest it. I might go more this direction:
Audrey (Hepburn) (repeats an initial)
Catherine (Deneuve)
Elizabeth (Taylor)
Esther (Williams)
Faye (Dunaway)
Grace (Kelly)
Greta (Garbo)
Helen (Hayes) (a little hard to say with the surname)
Ingrid (Bergman) (hard to say with the surname)
June (Allyson)
Katherine (Hepburn) (she spelled it Katharine but I’d go with Katherine)
Lana (Turner) (probably not with the surname)
Lillian (Russell) (probably not with the surname)
Mae (West) (a little difficult with the surname)
Marilyn (Monroe) (probably not with the surname)
Rosalind (Russell) (absolutely not with the surname)
Vanessa (Redgrave)
Veronica (Lake)
Vivian (Leigh) (she spelled it Vivien but I’d go with Vivian)
I wish my search had turned up a well-known actress named Margo, because that’s the name I thought of while reading the letter. Margo Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Margo.
Or Genevieve. Genevieve Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Genevieve. It makes me think of Jenny Lind, in a good way. If she goes by Evie, that might be too close to Ava.
I also like Eliza. Eliza Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Eliza.
Or Eloise. Eloise Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Eloise.
Or Esme. Esme Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Esme.
Or Dahlia, which is similar to Lila but I think works better with the surname (though it’s still a little tricky). You could call her Dolly, which goes nicely with Lulu and Lottie. Dahlia Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Dahlia.
Or Flora. Flora Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Flora.
Or Bianca. Bianca Lind; Sophia, Ava, and Bianca. I really like that one.
But even before thinking about spin, I’d want you to make a list of the names you love—without, at first, consulting the SSA charts. Just: what would you name this baby if you hadn’t found out about the popularity issue? You’re feeling self-conscious about your previous choices, but the spin that might bring the best chance of long-term happiness is “We like popular names. *SHRUG*” I do understand on a visceral level the stomach-dropping sensation of thinking you’ve chosen a name for a particular attribute and then finding that not to be the case. But if you can force yourselves to retroactively spin your style as something more like “having our finger on the pulse of current naming style” or “deftly choosing the enduring, quality names from among the trends” or something like that, it may help with long-term feelings about the names. Does anyone else know that you were trying for rare? If not, it can be our little secret. No one has to know that you didn’t know. You can practice a casual little laugh: “Oh, I know it’s so popular! But we just loved it!” Or to downplay the whole thing while not making your first two children feel you regret their names: “We just chose our favorite name each time.”
I’m a fan of sibling-name coordination, but I don’t think it’s a huge deal when there’s a shift partway through. As long as you’re choosing based on your own tastes, it’s likely the names won’t clash: the most likely thing is that you’d choose another pretty, elegant, vintage name, and the only gap would be in popularity.
I completely understand your feelings on finding out AFTER naming your girls how popular their names are and how popular the set itself is. When I named my first daughter Alyssa I had no idea it was #14 the year my daughter was born. After she was born, we met THREE girls named Alyssa in the first six months of her life. Then, when she was eighteen months old, my cousin named his daughter Alyssa. So yeah…
But then when I was pregnant with my second daughter, we knew a little better and researched a little more and we threw the popularity thing to the wind and named her Olivia, which was #3 the year she was born. We went with Swistle’s advice to you. We declared that we KNEW it was popular but it was our favorite name and that was that.
And get this…we’ve met more girls/women named Alyssa than we have Olivia. Olivia has had one class (a gymnastics class when she was four) with another Olivia. So…for what it’s worth, I agree with Swistle in that I think you should make a list of your favorite names, not looking at popularity at first and go from there.
Good lucky. Sophia and Ava are beautiful names!
I think your feelings are completely normal. If it makes you feel better, I think you made classic choices moreso than popular choices. I mean, obviously the names are popular now, but both of them give off a classic vibe that other currently popular names don’t.
I really like Swistle’s suggestions of Greta and Eloise. I actually don’t love Olivia with your daughters’ names because it seems too similar (ends in A like both, same ending as Sophia, middle V like Ava). Other names you might like:
Penelope
Etta (too similar to Ava?)
Lorelai
Thea
Harriet (Lulu, Lottie, and Hattie is adorable to me)
Claire/Clara
Good luck!
I actually loved a lot of the old hollywood actresses with your group– particularly Esther, Greta, and Faye. I thought about Fern or Rebecca or Laura (my personal fav…) when looking at your lists.
I would also say that my sister and I had a pair of pretty popular names, and I have come across several Laura and Rachel pairs, and it always makes me feel a little jolt of happy and surprise. It might be a little disappointing to you now, but in 30 years it will be a funny story. Good luck on getting another beautiful vintage-y name.
I agree with that you should spin the set as classic names. I think swistle’s suggestion of Catherine, Elizabeth, Audrey, and Grace are perfect. I also like Lydia, Eleanor, Ella, and Claire/Clara for you.
You know what I think is really popular right now? Naming babies “rare and unique” names and not what you love. If I had a quarter for all my friends that told me things like “we love the name Jackson/Sebastian /Ezra but it was too popular so we named him… Forrest” I would have a lot of quarters. It’s rare to find someone who will admit “We loved the name Noah and we didn’t care how popular it was… it gave us a warm glow when we heard it and I couldn’t imagine meeting little Noah’s in the future and feeling a small pang of regret we didn’t use it.” So using names you love regardless of popularity is rare and special, there’s nothing to be ashamed of in that. Alternately when I was pregnant with my son I googled his full name to make sure there are others, I think it will be a boon to him to have thousands of hits when you type his name into a search engine, that type of internet privacy is priceless. So. All good reasons your daughters have beautiful timeless names that aren’t rare. I love Faye for you guys and I can’t wait to hear your birth announcement!
Oh how I empathize. My daughter’s name was safely (I thought) in the mid 100s, and climbing gently when we named her. And now it’s shot right up to top 50 and climbing. I hear “Oh, I know another little X!” all the time. But I love it! Just like you love Sophia and Ava. They are such classic, beautiful, strong names, I bet their popularity will endure long beyond today’s trendy feel.
Swistle’s suggestions are all SO GREAT. I love the idea of spinning your choices into a Vintage Hollywood Glamour theme. My favorites are Veronica and Vivian, but there are SO MANY excellent choices.
Congratulations on your new baby — the name will be perfect, whatever you choose!
I love Margo with your girls’ names. Or how about Cora?
Sophia and Ava are popular because they’re beautiful names. You have nothing to be embarrassed about!
Absolutely agree. .beautiful, classic timeless names.
Love Margo
The other thing to remember, that Swistle reminds us of so often, is that even today’s popular names have not reached the popularity level of, say, Jennifer in our generation. Sophia and Ava are both beautiful names, and I do think it’s worth trying to convince yourself not to care so much if they are relatively popular choices.
I like Flora and Bianca especially, but also wanted to suggest the spelling Emilia since you like Amelia but are hesitant about repeating initials.
Trying to play with the “old Hollywood” theme, what about:
Gloria (Stuart)
Greer (Garson)
Ida (Lupino)
Irene (Dunne)
Marlene (Dietrich) — or maybe Marla
Teresa (Wright)
OMG Gloria. That is a fantastic suggestion! That and Marla and Lana are my faves, because they really flow with the surname Lind and the other sibs’ names. Hollywood glamour! But seriously, who HASN’T fallen in love with Sophia and Ava? They are really beautiful, and what’s more, they’ve been used by thousands and thousands of women over history.
Greta Greta Greta Greta Greta Greta!!!
When I read Swistle’s suggestion of Greta for you, my heart swelled and I had to run, not walk, to the comments section to beg you to use it.
I actually LOVE your girls’ names (they’re gorgeous) and, with you, lament that they are so popular. But Swistle’s suggestion of Old Hollywood Glamour is the perfect solution. Greta is a name on my list of names I love but can’t use. It definitely sounds like a sister to your girls, it has a satisfying “a” ending like they do, and it is just what you’re looking for in terms of something less popular but not off-putting.
Good luck with your choice and congratulations on your sweet baby!
As a mid-80’s Amanda, I can empathize. I was named for my great-grandmother, and my parents had NO idea it was the top girl name that year. My dad simply wanted to honor his grandmother. For years, I knew my future daughter’s name would be Sophia, my great-grandmother’s middle name. It’s beautiful and at the time it wasn’t popular. Now that I’m ready to have kids, it’s too popular for me to feel comfortable using. Sigh.
Since we seem to have similar taste, here are some of my top contenders:
Beatrice (nn Bea)
Dorothy (nn Dottie)
Edith (nn Edie)
Frances (nn Frankie)
Geneva (nn Neve)
Joanna
Sabrina
Hey, I can definitely relate! I named my son William, nicknamed Liam, thinking I was being so clever and unique, like I was the only one in the whole world who had noticed that Liam was the last four letters in William. Shortly after he was born, I learned that Liam is now the most popular nickname for little Williams everywhere…just like Will was the most popular nickname for William in the 80s and Bill/Billy was in the 50s and 60s. Haha. But I still absolutely love it, so no worries.
Sophia and Ava are beautiful names, and I love so many of Swistle’s suggestions (and those of the other commenters) that it is hard to choose a favorite, but I would put little starts by June, Catherine/Katherine, Harriet, and Vivian. Oh and Margo. And Laura! You pretty much can’t go wrong. ;)
Sophia and Ava are beautiful together. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Eloise, Eliza and Flora.
Here are some more ideas:
Nina – Sophia, Ava and Nina
Lydia – Sophia, Ava and Lydia
Julia – Sophia, Ava and Julia
Nora – Sophia, Ava and Nora
Mila – Sophia, Ava and Mila
Lucy – Sophia, Ava and Lucy
Gemma – Sophia, Ava and Gemma
Ruby – Sophia, Ava and Ruby
I love your girls’ names and think they will age well. Classics! I’ll throw out my middle daughter’s name for consideration, though: Moira. Same classic feel, flows with the set, but definitely not on any top lists! Good luck and congrats!
Looks like you’re really not alone :-) I also have a first daughter with a name that ended up being way more popular than I expected, even after being a name nerd and poring over the name stats in my province. You can’t beat trends, regardless of how armed you are with information. So hopefully you can focus on the fact that you gave your girls names you love. I tried to be more more clever and pick a name that isn’t likely to get as popular as older sister’s for my second, but guess what? Friends of ours used the name on their kid four months later. And two friends have told us that they already know a little X. Oh, and also, I do know a comedic number of Benjamin and Oliver sibsets, and yes, I may chuckle, but they’re great classics. You know the second most common sibset I know? Wyatt and Marlowe! So.. what I’m saying is I like Swistle’s advice to try to choose like you’re still in a vacuum.
The first name that popped to mind was Juliet, for what it’s worth. Goes along with your romantic classy ladies vibe. Good luck!
I love Juliet for this grouping!!! Great suggestion!!!
Swistle has great advice. I just thought I’d mention that the older your kids are, the less this will be noticed and spoken about. People talk a lot about baby names, not so much teenager names. You picked the names because you love them. I’d keep that in your mind first and foremost, and pick another name that you love.
What you seem to really like/want are vintage revival names. This is a popular trend right now, but not all vintage revivals are top 5 or 10. Finding something lower on the popularity charts is probably key to finding that in-between name that you are looking for.
I really love the suggestion of Margo for you. Same feminine vintage vibe I get with Sophia & Ava, but much less popular (that spelling is not in the top 1000. Margot is #433). Clara (#99), Molly (#157 and declining), Lucy (#55), Lucia (#213), Phoebe (#316), Cecilia (#179). None of these names would seem out of place next to Sophia & Ava, but they also don’t scream Top Ten the way Sophia, Ava & Olivia or Sophia, Ava & Emma would.
I’d suggest picking a range in the rankings that you feel comfortable with, and then scroll though names on the SSA site, then write down any that appeal. You’ll know when you get too low, as you’ll likely stop seeing many names that appeal. You’ll also know when you’ve gone too high, because the worry about naming fads will start to creep in again.
I recommend you and your husband each list 5 names that you really like without looking at the stats at aIl.
Then go an see where they are on SS list. I think your sweet spot might be top 100.
From suggestions already made, I really like Audrey, Vivian, Juliet with Sophia and Ava.
With your girls names, I also like
Eleanor
Diana
Verity
Yvonne
Clara
Delurking to note that Bette Davis plays an utterly fabulous actress named Margo in the classic movie All About Eve, so it fits thematically, if that matters to you.
I also like the idea of finding something with an F/V sound at the beginning of the name rather than the middle: Fiona fits nicely with the other two names and is not in the top 100. Violet’s more popular but I really like Sophia, Ava and Violet as a trio.
Another one here who tried at first to pick more unusual names and then said, “Who cares?” My little Eli is 8 and I love his name so much that I don’t really care how popular it is. Plus, my Miriam (14) was the only one we met forever and now her best friend has a younger sister named Miriam. You can’t predict these things!!! Emeline was rare when we picked it and now is gaining traction and I would pick it all over again because I love it. I knew Annabel was all over the place when I picked my baby’s name, but it just worked so well for so many reasons and my husband had loved it forever (I like it a lot too!!), so we went with it.
There are lots of good reasons to pick baby names, but loving the name is one of the best reasons!!!
I really like Faye or Daphne for you.
Sophia, Ada, and Daphne. LOVE IT! Good luck!
May I suggest Cecilia? Such a pretty name and (I don’t think) common!
I’m liking Audrey,Lucy, and would add Annabel for suggestions with your girls names. Or to turn the tone a bit, how about Jillian? (unfortunately, Jill Lind doesn’t work), Josie (though Josephine doesn’t work well with Lind) or Gabrielle? (I prefer staying away from another ‘a’ sound name ending… the only one I’d consider is Hannah). I would’ve added Charlotte but presume that may be Ava’s middle name? Can’t wait to hear what you choose!
Good luck to you!
My comment got eaten! I should have copied it! I know better than to not copy it! Siiiigh.
OK, a much shorter version: I love a one syllable name with your sib set. 3-2-1, and it avoids being very rhyming with Sophi-uh and Av-uh.
Faye – Awesome
Mae – LOVE this, more than Faye
June – I’m not sure about this one, I like it but not necessarily with Ava and Sophia
Grace – I know an Ava-and-Grace duo, so I’d say it’s possibly too popular for your intentions for this name
I can’t remember all my suggestions but here’s my favorite:
ROSE – Sophia, Ava, and Rose, SO CLASSIC
I love Rose SO much with this sibset!
I love Rose and I love it with this sibset. But I think with the last name it would be too easily confused as first name Rosalind.
I also love Rose with this sibset, but I agree it might get confused as Rosalind. Maybe a good solution is to use Rosemary/Rosemarie? Rosemary Lind – Sophia, Ava, and Rosemary. Rosemarie Lind – Sophia, Ava, and Rosemarie. I think both work nicely (though I prefer Rosemary in this situation).
This happened with a friend of mine too – her first two kids are Jackson and Ava. Named after places that were important to them – and they had no idea they were hugely popular names! Then their third child is Holland – so, same theme, but in the sib-set, seems strange given the popularity disparity.
My first thought for you, just upon seeing the sibling names, was Audrey. Of Swistle’s suggestions, I really like Helen. It matches beautifully in style, yet is a lot less widely used. I also thought of Rita, for Rita Hayworth. Her birth name was Margarita, which could perhaps get you to Margot or Marguerite, which would also sound lovely with the set. I also like the suggestions of Nina and Edith.
I also like Colette. It doesn’t fit the them but Sophia, Ava, and Colette sounds really sweet. I also love the suggestion of Rose.
From the previous suggestions, I like Juliet the most.
What about Caroline? Violet?
I may be biased, but Elizabeth? Many sweet nickname options (Libby to go with Lottie and Lulu?) and it spins the group back toward timeless and classic.
These suggestions are all great! I prefer non-A endings to mix things up a bit, and like Audrey and Juliet. Of the A-endings, I love Bianca with the set.
Best wishes. This is a great problem to have. :)
I love Swistle’s suggestion of Veronica, especially if this letter writer is willing to embrace the Old Hollywood theme! Sophia, Ava, and Veronica really works for me as a set, and I think Veronica “spins” it (to borrow the term you used) in a direction headed away from “currently popular names,” since Veronica shares some similarities with both Sophia and Ava but is currently outside the top 100. I like Vanessa for the same reason, but that one is slightly more popular, though on the bright side it shares even more sounds in common with each of the other names.
This brings up a related question for me, and I wonder how other baby-name people–those of us who spend time on boards like this one, and who read the SSA data the minute it comes out each year–have chosen to answer it. How do you all react when a friend confides in you that she’s chosen an “uncommon” name for her baby, yet you happen to know that it’s either much more popular than she thinks or is rapidly gaining popularity and is headed toward undermining her reasons for choosing it?
I have a friend who’s currently considering a particular name and is absolutely SURE no one else will use it. She’s being super secretive about it (she told me only because I begged her) because she doesn’t want to tip anyone else off! The problem is that this name, while still relatively unpopular, took a HUGE leap last year (#3,269 in 2015, #901 in 2016) because of a certain movie, and either it’ll keep climbing or, more likely, it’ll spike and then drop after a couple years. I feel bad for not telling her, but I REALLY don’t want to kill her excitement about it!
I’d either stay silent and just be there to say ‘oh, bummer’ if it turns out you’re right. OR find an article that lists the name as up-and-coming and forward it to her with a shocked-face emoticon? I’m very curious what the name is, and if it’s what I think it might be, there is another name that is way more popular (#145 in 2016) and I’d be more annoyed by people mistaking my baby’s name for that, as it’ll be more familiar. He’d come running to the name in the playground whenever it’s called, probably?
My BFF chose names for her two older kids that were genius (familiar yet not overused) but then skyrocketed a few years later for both, and she always talks about how she hates hearing their names everywhere now. So when she told me that they’d chosen a very popular name for their third (if you count her nickname, it’s like Top 20) I held my tongue and sent her a list of names that weren’t as popular. They stuck with the popular-name and so far, oddly enough, they haven’t met many. So I’m glad I held my tongue.
I would not say anything unless they ask. Their baby, their name and, as I have learned on these sites, regional differences in name popularity are pretty huge.
We had the somewhat awkward situation where close friends announced the name of their baby girl, and it is the EXACT same first-middle name combo as our 1-year old niece. I got the message first, and congratulated them heartily on their little one and her name. Then I called my husband and told him that in no way was he to say “what a coincidence, our niece has the exact same name”. I didn’t want them to feel unoriginal; it is truly a lovely name, and I know they put a lot of thought in to it. Just an odd coincidence.
Worked perfectly until my Mom saw them and blurted out that her granddaughter has the same name. *eyeroll* Seriously, Mom?
Yes to previous poster suggesting Rose! Sophia, Ava and Rose is classic and feminine. As for the “sib set,” I get coordination but one of my favourite quotes on a naming blog was something along the lines of “they’re people, not matching samsonite suitcases.” They won’t be thought of as a sib set in their every day lives. And yes to just choosing the name you love- Sophia and Ava are timeless classics! I’m a Natalie and its common but I love my name. I like meeting other Natalies. We named our daughter Pearl after grandmothers on both sides whose names mean “pearl” (their names are Margaret and variations on the name Margaret which means pearl). I checked the popularity lists and its safely tucked above 500. Well, there’s another Pearl in her daycare, and I’ve met or heard the name three other times when we have been out AND a lot of people tell me it’s their middle name choice. I though it would bother me but I couldn’t care less- I love her name and wouldn’t change it! As for feeling a bit uncool when you tell people your kids names- its small beans. Picking a rare name that people go “wow” has its pitfalls too (struggle to remember, difficult pronunciation, etc.” And the feeling of impressing strangers or friends with choosing rare names is limited- picking names you love for you children lasts a lifetime. We have a son with a rare Swedish name after my dad and while I DO love it because it honours my dad and heritage etc I find myself wishing it were more well known so I wouldn’t have to explain it or correct pronunciation etc!
Regional variation is real. I have never met a Natalie of any age–nor a Pearl! Too bad, because both names are lovely.
A few suggestions that haven’t been made yet that I think would be lovely:
Maeve – Sophia, Ava and Maeve (possibly too similar to Ava? But one of my absolute faves)
Nora – Sophia, Ava and Nora
Cecily – Sophia, Ava and Cecily
Lydia – Sophia, Ava and Lydia
Jane – Sophia, Ava and Jane (I love the idea of having syllables that go 3, 2, 1)
Elizabeth – Sophia, Ava and Elizabeth
Good luck!
Ahhh!!! Cecily is BRILLIANT. Sounds so good with sisters Sophia and Ava!!
I like Swistle’s golden age of Hollywood idea. Of those suggestions, I like these best:
Audrey (if you don’t mind repeating the initial)
Elizabeth
Grace
Ingrid
Mae
Or if you want to go in a different direction, I know an Ava with sisters Carmen and Josephine. I’ve always liked that sibling set because Carmen brings the romance language element out of Ava while Josephine has some of the same old-fashioned charm. If those exact names don’t appeal, using those same criteria, you could use Isabella, Gabriela, Cecilia, etc. (for romance language names) or, Margaret, Rose etc. (for old-fashioned names).
Diana! Why is this beautiful name so underused? It’s so lovely and classical. I also like Veronica for this sib set.
It pains me to say this but I’m not sure if Greta goes great with your other daughters’ soft beautiful names!
I really love the idea of Clara or Emilia that others have suggested! How about Celia? Not common but very pleasing and soft, just like your other daughters!
If you do end up going with Olivia, you could have the nn of Livvie! Goes great with your other daughters nicknames (would love to know how they got those!).
I also love Juliet that someone else has mentioned! I think June would be nice, but if you don’t want a 1 syllable first with 1 syllable last, there’s also Junia :)
For a one-syllable name, I do love Kaye!
Another thought I had was Mabel? Maeve could also work but may sound too similar to Ava, so Mabel would be nice instead!
Eliana would also be lovely. Or Willa! Has the same soft sounds ending in “a” — that would help unite your 3 names!
Adelia is uncommon but beautiful. Or if you wanted to be more vintage, Adelaide? If you really wanted to change the view of Ava and Sophia, would Bellamy work?
Violet was the first name that popped in my head when I read your letter. All of swistle’s suggestions would work amazingly, but my favorites are Vivian and Elizabeth.
I would also like to suggest Hazel.
How do you feel about the name Willa?
Sophia, Ava, & Willa.
Willa Lind.
Using Greta solidifies the Hollywood Glamour feel. She gets her own initial, is as elegant as her sisters, AND gives you that “recast” you are hoping for. Greta Lind is glorious.
Otherwise, I’d throw my vote behind Irene. She’s a peaceful, timeless, and refined selection. Sophia, Ava, and Irene… this combo says, “My daughters are LADIES.”
Best wishes!
My (just celebrated her 90th birthday last week) grandmother is Sylvia Irene and goes by Irene. I love and totally agree, Sophia, Ava and Irene Are Ladies. Great suggestion!
I know a sib set named Ana and Elsie. They were 4 and 1 when Frozen came out. Whaddya gonna do?
Pick your favorite. Me, I love Margo and Juliet, and I’ll put a plug in for Sabrina.
This happened to my Mum. She picked a name she had never met in person but loved from a book. My name is the 80s Australian version of Jennifer. She was very disappointed and often bought it up apologetically when introducing me.
I just wanted to tell you that it turned out fine. I like my name, there are many positives and as an adult no negatives to a popular/trendy name.
I like it so much that all my kids have top 100 names and we deliberately chose names that make them Google-proof.
Please stop beating yourself up for choosing lovely names that fit into the mainstream – they are popular for a reason!
Oops, for clarity my name isn’t Maree.
Yes! I have an incredibly popular name for my birth year. It has been always good for me…everyone knows how to spell it, it’s a name easy to find on souvenirs, all positive as an adult that I am not google-able! I’d prefer to give my child a popular name with the positive experience I’ve had. My best friend and I have the same first name, and it doesn’t even matter. When I think of her with the name it doesn’t even seem like it’s mine too, haha.
I kind of understand your feeling of disappointment and I kind of don’t. I think Sophia/Sophie and Ava are just very beautiful wonderful gorgeous names, and it just so happens that they are now popular too. That doesn’t take away from their beauty, IMO. In fact, isn’t it nice that the most popular names right now are not all super annoying or shallow?
I think as far as advice for you goes, I would continue to do exactly what you did before: pick a name you love. If you absolutely want to avoid a popular name this time around, why not make a list of names firsts and then later check about their popularity? But first make the list. YOU ARE NOT BOXED INTO A CORNER AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE OLIVIA. Sibsets in my view can have many different “feels” or “themes”, depending on who you’ll add to the mix:
Sophia, Ava and Octavia
Sophia, Ava and Lavinia
Sophia, Ava and Anouk
Sophia, Ava and Lilith
Sophia, Ava and Iris
Love Greta and Margot for recasting the crew. I love Vivian for keeping the romantic, more mainstream vibe. What about Tessa or Georgia or Hattie?
I love Tessa with the sibset! Unique, yet very current. Alexa would be another good choice, although it does repeat syllables.
Johanna (I would pronounce it with a soft /a/ “Jo-hah-na”)
Monica
Cora
Vera
Estella/Stella
Daisy
Oh, I do like Tessa a lot!
Mother of a not-at-all popularly named kiddo here, just weighing in to play devil’s advocate!
We chose a family name for our daughter that is used more often for boys – Brady. I definitely don’t regret our choice – it has such a wonderful meaning and totally suits her – but the number of times someone has misheard her name as “Sadie” or “Brandy” or commented, “We have a friend named Brady – but he’s a boy!” can be a little disheartening. I’m assuming it’s VERY similar to the way you feel when someone mentions another sibset with your girls’ names!
So all this to say, SHRUG! I feel like no matter which route you go, you will get some sort of potentially annoying commentary. Choose what you like! :)
Sophia and Ava are popular for a reason. They are beautiful names!
Love Juliet, Emilia and Lucia from all the suggestions so far.
What about:
Miranda
Isabella
Gabriella
Allegra
Zara
Aurora
Rosa
Good luck!
You like Lila, which is so lovely, but you dont like it with your surname. I personally think Lila is perfect. Isla has slightly less “L” and sounds nice in the group too.
I’ll also add Leah, Alexis, Adeline, Penelope, Leora, Scarlett, and Evelyn.
Good luck!!
I have to share this story about my beloved mother in law. In 1985, my pregnant MIL read a book with a male character Ashton and thought “If I replace -ton with -ley, wouldn’t that be a beautiful girl’s name?!” She added Elizabeth as the middle name and she thought in 1985 that her daughter Ashley Elizabeth had the most original name! Until Ashley was in class with 3 other Ashleys and 1 other Ashley Elizabeth…
Helene, Cornelia, Estella, Celia or Adaire?
This could be because we have a large Russian population near us, but Sophia and Ava are both in “currently popular names that I first heard from children of Russian/eastern European heritage” … so that could be another route to go?! Of course if you don’t have any of that descent yourself, it could be a little odd ..but maybe that’s part of your “style” as well? :) Americanized versions of names from that region? Any Polish or German in you?
Thinking in that vein (I know some of these are repeats, but maybe they will sound different from this angle!):
Alexandra
Vera
Valeria
Veronica
Daria/Darya
Dina
Diana
Elena
Isabella (probably too popular?)
Irina
Clara
Maria/Mariya (what a stunning classic! though maybe it would sound like Maryland?)
Liliya (maybe too hard with your last name?)
Larissa
Lucia
Maya/Maia (ohh, love this with the sibset!)
Marta
Marina
Nadiya/Nadia
Natalia
Nina (LOVE this too with your kids!)
Regina
Tatiana (an intriguing option!)
Emelia (maybe too close to the Amelia you’re trying to avoid? Or too close to Emily? I still love it with the set!)
Annika
Anyway, just wanted to share the random way my brain went with this question ;)
I just wanted to say I totally understand seeing baby #3s name as a chance to change the overall feel of a sib set. Our daughter is Lucille, our son is Lennon. I wanted our son to have his own initial but after digging and digging and digging, we could not find a name that felt as perfect for us. I know that when I introduce people to my kids some people think we chose Lennon to match Lucille with another L name. I shouldn’t care what people think. But because it’s exactly the opposite of the truth, it drives me insane. I can’t wait to give baby #3 a non L name, so that all 3 of their names can shine individually instead of looking like a matchy set.
Fwiw, when I meet kids with new, trendy names I’m more likely to think their parents lacked creativity than I am with classics like Ava and Sophia.
Some of my favorite classics (sorry if they’ve all been mentioned) are Gwendolyn, Winifred, Jane, Phoebe, Cecilia, Beatrice, Corinne, Miriam, Lorna, Isadora. Good luck.
Not quite the same as Old Hollywood Glamour but Margot Fonteyn sprang to mind. Margot is pronounced the same as Margo.
There is the opposite feeling as well: nervous to tell people the slightly unusual name you have selected.
I think Sophia and Ava are so beautiful. They give me a little French feel. Vivian is a perfect sister. Or Delphine, Margot, or Julia.
These names are in the top because they are gorgeous and classic.