Hi Swistle,
We are expecting our third girl just after Christmas. I’m 95% sure we are going to call her Freya. Her sisters are Amelia Mae and Linnea Claire. (My 5% reservation with the name Freya is having three girls with names ending in “a”. Thoughts?) We are having a hard time coming up with middle names that sound good with Freya, our last name, and that we can agree on.
Our last name is 2 syllables and the first part sounds like “road” so any “R” names are out, especially names that start with “Ro”.
My husband does not want a middle name that starts with a vowel because he doesn’t think it flows with Freya. He also doesn’t want a middle name that starts with “C” or “K” because he thinks the initials FCR or FKR looks like the initials for a curse word…… that’s unfortunate because I like Catherine, Charlotte, and Kate for MN options.
I lean towards more traditional/classic middle names. I prefer feminine names, but may consider a gender neutral name for the middle name. We don’t have any family names or family members we plan on honoring. We just want something we like and sounds nice together. Some names we’ve considered:
Freya Jean- My husband’s favorite. I liked it initially until I googled it and there is a company that sells Freya jeans. One of my best friends also recently used Jeanne as a middle name. Another similar option is Jane but a family member chose that for a middle name last year. There is also June, but I don’t know about June. Plus, we already have a Mae as a middle name, so I don’t want a monthly theme.
Freya Madeline- We both like it, but not sure if it’s too long/hard to say. We’re just not sold.
Freya Elise- I love the name Elise. My husband doesn’t like it because it starts with a vowel. Elise is also my runner up first name if we decided against Freya.
Freya Louise- I think this is a cute combo. My husband doesn’t love it.
Freya Belle- I think this is another cute combo. My husband doesn’t like it because of Beauty and the Beast.
Freya Isabelle- Another one I like that my husband doesn’t. Grumble.
Other names we’ve decided against are: Beth, Violet, Marie, Noelle, Evelyn, Olivia, Grace, Cecelia, Joy, Hope, and Lillian. My middle name is Elizabeth so I’d avoid that as well.
Anyways, if you have any thoughts on our above options or if you think of other names that fit our criteria I’d appreciate it. Thanks for your help!
Kristen
I think three names ending in -a is fine, especially since you have four syllables, then three syllables, then two: it keeps the endings from standing out. I am more concerned with a pronunciation issue: do Linnea and Freya rhyme? I’ve been saying them linn-NAY-ah and FRAY-ah. I looked it up online (my only sources were a friend in college named Linnea and a memory of looking up Freya before), and found that Linnea can also be something more like LINN-nyah or LINN-nee-ah or even linn-NAY.
I like Freya Jean and have never heard of Freya jeans. Though now it is making me think of frayed jeans. I think a friend using Jeanne as a middle name is a non-issue. I think a family member using Jane as a middle name is a non-issue. I think Mae and June as middle names for sisters is another non-issue.
Freya Madeline seems great to me, not at all too long or difficult to say. I find it pleasing to say.
I have a harder time saying Freya Elise, but not very much harder. If your family doesn’t tend to say the first/middle combo aloud on a regular basis, then this sort of issue matters much less.
I agree with you on Freya Louise: my mom and I think Louise is one of the best middle names for saying aloud.
Well, let’s see if we can find more options:
Freya Briella
Freya Brynn
Freya Faith
Freya Genevieve
Freya Jade
Freya Joelle
Freya Josephine
Freya Lark
Freya Marina
Freya Maxine
Freya Melody
Freya Meredith
Freya Paige
Freya Pearl
Freya Penelope
Freya Ruth
Freya Sabrina
Freya Tess
Freya Victoria
I hope you will not be annoyed that I sneaked Ruth in there, against the no-R rule.
But I vote for Freya Madeline. You both like it, and I think it sounds great.
Madeline is great.
What about Jill? Jennifer? Joan? Ooh!! Freya Joan!
The rhyming thing was my first thought as well, but I do not really know how to pronounce Linnea. If they do rhyme, that would bug me. If they don’t, I like Jean and Madeline as middle names.
Freya Jeanette (or Jeannette). You could still call her Freya Jean (since it’s your favorite) but lacks the official Freya Jean brand connotation. Plus I like how the ette ending sounds with Freya.
Jillio wins!
Perfect!!!
I like Madeline as well!
I’m curious how the name Freya has become so popular? I know several <1 year old Freyas now! Anyone have any ideas?
Zeitgeist. My guess is it just has the sounds and feel that people currently like.
In Australia, where I live Freya has been pretty popular (top 100) for some time. It is a pretty name, vowel heavy and has no obvious nicknames. It is also a ‘classic’ coming from Norse Mythology with positive associations of spring time. What’s not to love?
Oh that’s interesting!
I did not know about the popularity in Australia or the connection to Norse Mythology! TY!
Since Mae and Claire are each one syllable, I wonder if you might want to try:
Freya Maeve
Freya Nell
Freya Paige
Freya Quinn
Freya Sage
Freya Tess
Freya Madeline sounds fine; Freya Marjorie comes to mind.
I think Freya Joy is pretty and works well with the sisters names
Freya June!
I like the one syllable middle like her sisters so … Freya Grace!
But then I thought of the J names on your list and thought … Freya Juliet.
Whoops … I see Grace is off the list :( Sorry!
I know a little Freya and it’s pronounced just as Swistle thinks it is, but I don’t know any Linneas, so I can’t be sure of the pronunciation of that one. My suggestions are Freya Lynn or Freya Joy. (Although I’m partial to Freya Hope 😊).
To me Freya and Linnea rhyme. It would drive me crazy to have rhyming kid names for my family, but with three girls I wouldn’t notice as much with an acquaintance’s family. Elise is a beautiful name if you decide against Freya.
I love Freya Jane and Freya Madeline. With a 2 syllables first name and last name I really love three syllables middles.
I always thought Linnea was proumced Lynn -eee-ah.
If so thete is no rhyming issue and three names ending in a is not an issue. I also think Freya Jean is fine though I love Freya Juliet.
I love the suggestion of Freya Joy! I also like continuing the one-syllable middle, it’s a nice connection and so fun to use regularly.
I do pronounce Linnea with the same sound as Freya though – Le-NAY-yuh (I know one Linnea and one Linnaeus, both pronounced with the Freya sound.) Do you call Linnea by her full name?
The a-matching endings didn’t bother you with the first two, so keep going, I agree the mix of syllables makes it less matchy (although I do hear Amelia quite often lazily pronounced Ah-MEEL-yuh, but those are your first two girls, so moot point about Freya.)
How about Freya Meryl? It combines some of the sounds of Madeline, Elise, and Louise; it doesn’t start with a vowel; it’s a bit more compact than Madeline. And there’s a neat visual symmetry to both names having a “y.”
You could also go for Freya Margo or Freya Margaret.
But I think Freya Madeline is perfectly lovely, as is Freya Jean! The denim product seems like a non-issue to me.
Freya is a lovely name and I don’t see the ‘a’ ending as a problem at all!
If Linnea is pronounced Le-NAY-ya, rhyming with Freya though, I would probably avoid it.
Freya Madeline is my favorite from your choices but, to my ear anyway, a two syllable middle name sounds best with Freya. Freya Louise or Freya Marie perhaps? I know you’ve ruled it out, but Freya Noelle sounds nice. For a unisex middle name Freya James would be pretty cool!
For some reason, the name Elodie comes to mind for another first name option. Amelia, Linnea and Elodie! Elodie Anne or Elodie Jane!
I think using the name Jane or Jean/Jeanne, although someone close to you has recently used them, is really not an issue here. Both these names are traditional middle names that are used frequently by many.
Good luck!
If you’re still unsure about the ‘a’ ending, have you considered Isabelle as a first name? Sounds great with your other daughters’ names. What about Eloise?
Amelia, Linnea and Isabelle
Amelia, Linnea and Eloise
😀
I think Freya is beautiful, but if you end up being too concerned about the rhyming of Linnea/Freya, what about Clara? It still has the -a ending, but its own sound and keeps the 4-3-2 syllable thing going.
For middle names, I know you said Joy is out, but for what it’s worth I love it best. Otherwise, from your list I think Madeline is very nice, and also Louise.
Do you like Freya Wynn Ro—-, or Freya Wren Ro—-?
As a Jean, I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble. I mean, if you were going to name her Levi, maybe that would be more obvious, but I’ve never heard of Freya Jeans. I do, however, sometimes use the explanation “like pants” to help people spell my name correctly (sometimes people try to spell it with a G).
I like Freya Jean and Freya Madeleine. Both are so beautiful that I don’t think it’s necessary to suggest anything else. However, if it turns out Freya rhymes with Linnea (I have always mentally pronounced it Linn-Ay, so with that pronunciation I think it works great), I think you should consider Eloise.
Freya Lark
Freya Lane
Freya Lux
Freya Lee
Freya Joy
Freya June
Freya Jane
Freya Anne
Freya Dawn
Freya Dove
Freya Skye
Freya Wren
Is Freya pronounced like FRAY-UH or is it like FRYE-UH?
For the record, I think either pronunciation sounds good with all of your options!
BTW, I do like Elise as an alternative if you decide not to use Freya.
Amelia, Linnea, and Elise are a nice trio – and I like how they all share the L sound.
I wouldn’t worry about sharing middle names. I have to think to remember my cousins’ middle names, even thought A’s middle name is also my brother’s first name. A was 8 when bro was born (and i 10) but the two families were particularly close.
Freya Elise turns into Frey Elise for me, and I immediately hear (Beethoven’s) Fur Elise. Possibly a stronger association for me because my sister is a pianist. I don’t think it needs to be a deal breaker for someone else, but for me the combo wouldn’t work.
Thanks for all the responses everyone!
I’m not sure how I missed it, but Linnea and Freya do rhyme!!! We pronounce Linnea as Lin-NAY-a and we don’t have nicknames for either girl. I haven’t decided if it’s a deal breaker since I love the name Freya but I have to think about it more. And say the names out loud a hundred more times……
Maybe we should do Elise instead, although I find it tricky as well for middle names b/c the emphasis is on the second syllable. (Also a family member who I see a lot has an Eliose, and it’s pretty close to Elise.)
Other first names we have considered are Vivian, Anneliese, and Evelyn, but I don’t like any of them as much as Freya. I think Freya is cute and spunky for a kid, but still sophisticated for an adult. I also like that it’s a Norse name as I have Swedish ancestry. It’s also not super popular which I like. (I didn’t realize just how popular Amelia was becoming when we chose that name for our oldest.)