Hello,
Thanks in advance for your help. My husband and I are expecting a baby girl at the end of October and we are totally stuck for a name and it is really stressing me out.We have a 3 year old son Jack, a name we absolutely love. Our last name is Murrie. Our girl choice for him was Fiona, this is still my absolute number 1 pick for a girl but my husband feels that it is “used” now and we need something new for our next child.
I am from the UK and have an unusual first name and it is important to me that our daughter not have to spell her name for people her whole life. I like the typical top 10 names but don’t want her to be one of 4 Charlotte’s in a class.
I like Kit as short for Katherine but Katherine is my MIL’s name and I don’t want to name my daughter after her, I think it will alienate my family. Likewise I think Elizabeth is lovely but it is already taken in the family.
I like Fiona so much because it is not at all common but it is not unusual and it doesn’t have multiple possible spellings. I really like Maggie and Molly but with out last name feel too limericky to me.
Do you have any suggestions to help us out?
Kind Regards,
The Murries
Fiona seems great to me. I understand it’s not uncommon for parents feel a name is “used” if they had it in mind for an earlier baby, but I think it’s worth putting in some mental effort to get past this if at all possible (I realize it will not always be possible). The name Jack is now used, but the name Fiona was not used last time because it was not needed. Could your husband find a way to think of the name Fiona as the name the two of you chose for your first daughter, as opposed to thinking of it as the name you would have used if Jack had been a girl? Then the name is not only still available but in fact has been specifically set aside for this upcoming child.
I wonder if it is the alliteration of Maggie and Molly that makes them not quite right with the surname, or if it is the matched endings, or if it is both. Let’s look for some names that match only beginnings OR endings, and also try to find some that match neither; let’s also look for some names that are more like Fiona:
Ada
Anna
Annabel
Annie
Bianca
Cassie
Clarissa
Claudia
Cleo
Daisy
Delia
Eliza
Elodie
Eva
Greta
Gwen
Josephine/Josie
Karenna
Kate
Lainey
Louisa
Lucy
Lydia
Mabel
Marlo
Matilda
Mika
Penelope
Polly
Sabrina
Sally
Sadie
Simone
Sylvia/Silvia
Tessa
Vivian
Winifred
Name update:
Thanks so much for your help, baby arrived last week and we did go with Fiona in the end after narrowing it down to Fiona or Katrina. I’m thrilled of course.
I like Swistle’s reframing of whether the name is used or not. That’s pretty much how we thought about it when I was pregnant the second time, that we’d come up with names for the first boy and the first girl, not for that specific pregnancy.
But if you can’t bring him around to Fiona, Olivia has a similar sound to me. More popular, though. I like Rose, too, with your last name and Jack. Jack and Rosie would be a cute sibling set.
Just as an aside, Jack and Rose immediately bring Titanic to mind (for good or bad).
There was also a movie called “The Ballad of Jack and Rose”, about a single father raising a teenage daughter in 1960s or 70s (the role of Rose was played by Camilla Belle, if remember correctly).
I can’t get past how perfect Fiona is; I hope that your husband can find a way to be okay with it.
Anona
Briony
Brianna
Caroline
Rihanna
Diana
Karenna
Ravenna
Savannah
Susanna
Shoshana
Fiona is beautiful and I really hope you can use it.
Fiona makes me think of Felicity, Bianca and Bethany, I love these names simple but Beautiful.
Fiona is great, I especially like the “ah” ending with Murrie. I really don’t think of it as being used, in fact, I had a boy and three girls and STILL lament my “unused” second boy name! I also thought of Daisy, because it is a nickname for Margaret – so you could still use Margaret and call her Daisy and not run into the M/M limerick problem. Good luck!
Is Elizabeth taken by such a close family member that Eliza would not be a possible adaptation? It fulfills many of your wishes—relatively uncommon, one spelling, and it’s lovely.
In terms of Kit, it could also be a nickname for Christina (though Christina does have the alternate spelling of Kristina, which could be annoying).
Clara and Flora strike me as good alternatives to Fiona as well, if those might suit?
I know a 9 year old Flora and she wears it well! I was also struck by Claudia Murrie.
Fiona is great. It also makes me think of Phoebe or Daphne.
Fiona is lovely but if you can’t persuade him, would he consider Finola or Flora? Good luck!
Love Fiona. If you can’t get him on board my I sugggest:
Gemma
Delia
Celeste
I love Fiona for the reasons you describe. Other names that I think appeal in a similar way:
Celia
Delia
Lydia
Clara
Joanna
Edith
Julia
Rose
Rebecca
Louisa
Please consider repeats seconded!
I have UK cousins named Fiona and Kay. I’m wondering if Kay would work as a nod to Kit but without the MIL complication.
Here are some other names that could work well as an alternative for Fiona, and seem like a good match with big brother Jack and your surname:
Alice, Alma, Alexandra, Autumn, Abigail, Adrianna
Beatrice
Caroline, Cassandra, Cecilia
Ella, Eden, Eve, Evangeline
Gretchen, Gabrielle
Hazel, Helena
Ida, Irene, Imogen
Juliet, Jenna, Jillian
Lena, Lana, Lila, Leah
Miranda
Opal, Olive
(With Juliet, Leah, Lena, Ella, Cassandra, Helena and Imogen – in no particular order – being probably my favourites: Jack & Juliet, Jack & Leah, Jack & Ella, Jack & Imogen… Lena Murrie, Ella Murrie, Cassandra Murrie, Helena Murrie, Imogen Murrie… – all sound great for me.)
But I also think that Fiona is worth being reconsidered, especially since you already really like it!
It just now occured to me that maybe you could derive Kit (Kit and Jack really make a cool sibset!) by combining first and middle name? Something like these:
Keira Theresa [I especially like Keira since you mentioned you’re from the UK:)]
Kirsten Tess
Kinley Tabitha
Kimberly Tatum
Kiara Taylor
Stella was my first thought.
If you love the name so much, don’t miss the opportunity to use it on an actual child!
It would be a shame if your daughter got any other than the name you both agree to choose for your first daughter! If you choose another name, it’s like depriving your daughter from your first choice, and then diving her a second choice name, because she wasn’t born at the “right” moment…
I like Fiona a lot and agree that the ah ending is nice with your last name. Still if your partner won’t come along it is probably out. Might Frances fit the bill? I like Lily with Jack, or maybe sticking with flowers, Iris?
Would you consider Margot instead of Molly or Maggie? It has the “O” sound like Fiona but is less singsongy with your last name.
Naomi has the same sounds!
Just a word on Rose, which is a lovely name that has been suggested: Jack and Rose are the main characters from Titanic. Maybe this matters to you, maybe not—but just in case.
All of my love for Fiona, the perfect name for your FIRST daughter!
But if not Fiona, maybe Tabitha or Matilda.
What about Freya?
Names like Fiona…
Isla
Nora
Felicity
Frances
Anna
Ruby
It is a stretch but what about Tabitha for Kit? It has that Kitty-Cat feel??
A few that I think would work well with Jack and Murrie:
Colette
Phoebe
Daphne
Margot
Margaret, nn Meg
Gwendolyn, nn Gwen
Orla
I also love Kit…perhaps you could use another K name to achieve this nn? Maybe:
Kathleen
Katya/Katia
I also think you could get Kit from Katelyn or Keturah.
Another vote for using Fiona. It’s perfect.
I was going to say Bree or Brianna/Breanna for fancy but, paired with Jack, Bree makes me think of cheese.
Brianna Murrie. Jack and Bree.
I might just be hungry.
Oh you’re right! It’s a cheese pairing! Whew, good catch.
In the UK, Jack wouldn’t really register as a cheese, even if paired with Bree.
Fiona was on my (vetoed) list for a girl, so I’d also say I hope you go with it!
Love the suggestion of Naomi.
If it turns out he just can’t see Fiona in a new light, you could consider Leona. It’s an old fashioned name, (I know a 90 year old lady named Leona) but it has the same soft sounds and goes well with Jack.
I also though of Eleanor or Elora.
Love Alice or Eliza for you!
What about Tess/Tessa or Cora?
Fiona is lovely.
Clover, Chloe, Eloise, Cleo, Indigo, Oakley?
Love Jack and Cleo together!
The suggestion of Orla is a good one too!
Good luck!
Just chiming in as a Fiona, to say I have always loved my name and think it would be a wonderful fit for your family!
Great name! Do you ever use nicknames? I think Fi/Fee is charming!
I kind of get what your husband bod saying. Sometimes she a decision is made, after a while it doesn’t feel fresh and unique. Fiona is a good name but the freshness of the name has faded. Sometimes you may get that feeling back by getting a new middle name.
My name suggestions
Eliza
Nora
Violet
Cora
Thea
I love Fiona! I hope your husband comes around to it!