Dear Swistle,
My husband and I are at an impasse choosing a name for our third baby, due in June. Older siblings are Natalie Rose (middle name after my grandmother) and James Hal-with-a-T (middle name after my father-in-law). I want this daughter’s middle name to be Lucile, after my husband’s 90-year-old grandmother. Our last name is a three syllable Scandinavian name starting with J. Another note is my name starts with J and my husband’s starts with N. I’d rather avoid these initials for this third child because it feels a little too theme-y.
My husband’s favorite is Julia, which I don’t like mainly due to the first initial, but I also don’t think it works with Lucile. It’s also the name of an Italian exchange student we had (spelled Giulia) and I don’t necessarily want to name a daughter after this girl, sweet as she is. He likes Aliana (from a novel he’s read) but I don’t like that style at all. He also likes what I think of as 1990s cheerleader names: Shannon, Jenna, Jamie, Kelly, Tiffany. I’m not a fan of that style, either.
My two favorites are Sophie and Emma. I know both are popular but I think I’m ok with that. I like that Sophie and Natalie have the “ie” at the end, and it’s less popular than Emma (although if you include Sophia it’s probably more popular). We have an Emma in our social circle who is 9 but don’t know any Sophie’s. My husband has said he prefers Emma if these two options. I like the sound of both with Lucile.
Other names I like that he’s shot down are: Lyla/Lila, Sadie, Chloe, and Hannah. Olivia was a contender for Natalie, but his grandmother’s first name is actually Olive, and he doesn’t want to basically duplicate her name for this baby. I know we could use Olive as a middle name, but grandma has gone by Lucile her entire life so we would rather honor her with that.
We have nieces named Kate Lucile and Elizabeth Lucile. Other names of nieces (so we can’t repest them) are Audrey, Claire, Hallie, and Michelle/Shelly.
Thanks for your help!
JJ
I think Julia Lucile works well enough not to rule out the name, but since it also breaks the preference for a new initial AND there’s the exchange student issue, I agree it doesn’t seem like the right choice. And I am with you about Shannon/Jenna/etc.: those are going to sound fabulous on our great-grandchildren, but they need time to come around again.
I think Sophie and Emma are both nice solid choices, and good with the middle name.
I was going to suggest Amelia for its similarity to Julia, Aliana, Emma, Lila, and Olivia, but I’m not sure it’s right with Lucile. As with Julia, I don’t think it’s enough to rule out the name if you loved it. I find the slight sound/letter overlaps with the sibling names appealing. Natalie, James, and Amelia.
Or Anna: it pares down Aliana, and is similar to Jenna, Emma, and Hannah. Anna Lucile; Natalie, James, and Anna.
Or Lydia: similar to Julia and Lila and Sadie, and I think Lydia Lucile is adorable. Natalie, James, and Lydia. That’s my favorite so far.
Name update:
Thanks for all the help! My husband actually came around to Lyla on his own, and that was initially one of my favorites until he shot it down completely and my friend named the cat we gave her Lila. But we’ve decided on Lyla Lucile, and she should arrive sometime this week.
Sylvie and Ella are similar to Sophie and Emma and are less common. I think your name choices are good, and I like Swistle’s, too. I am excited for your update!
Would you consider Lucile a a first name? Natalie, James, and Lucile. It seems like that stands out more than another cousin with the middle name Lucile. Also, Natalie, James, Olive work well together and you could chose a different middle name. I like Olive Julia.
Emma Lucile is lovely and if that is what you can agree on, I think it is fine to go with that. I do prefer Swistle’s suggestion of Anna Lucile, however. I also like the recommends Sylvie and Ella .
Second that–Lucile is such a great name!
We thought about Lucile briefly, but we really like giving our children their own first name (as in not repeating an immediate family member) with an honor middle name. I know other commenters have mentioned changing the middle name because of so many cousins, but we have a HUGE extended family (Lucile has nearly 120 great-grandchildren!!!) and there are a lot of repeated middle names and it doesn’t bother either of us. I actually kind of like the family connection it gives.
Eva Lucile–Natalie, James, & Eva ♡
Mia Lucile–Natalie, James, & Mia
Mia could be a nn for longer M names like Marissa or Miriam as well.
I Also LOVE the suggestion of Lydia Lucile.
I came here to suggest a personal favorite of mine, Marina. Marina Lucile :)
A few other ideas :
Talia (too similar to Natalie?)
Cora
Carrie
Violet
Evelyn
There is something very liberating about saying “popularity doesn’t matter” and I love it! I personally think Abigail would be so lovely with Natalie and James. I wonder if Abigail would suit your husband as well—it could’ve been a classmate of his as easily as it could be a classmate of Natalie’s. Abigail has the same feminine but not frilly vibe as Natalie. Basically I’m a big fan.
But I also liken Emma and Sophie just fine, and I love Lydia and Miriam.
What about Juliet? It is still a J-name, but doesn’t sound like Giulia and makes an even better pair with Natalie than Julia (well, at least IMO). And Juliet Lucile sounds great: Natalie, James and Juliet.
I also like Alice for you, however it may be a bit too matching in sound with Lucile: Alice Lucile; Natalie, James and Alice.
Or maybe Alissa? It is slightly “90s cheerleader”, but not exactly. It could be a good compromise between the likes of Jenna / Hannah and Julia / Sophia. But I would probably pair it with Olive rather than Lucile: Alissa Olive; Natalie, James and Alissa.
Some other options: Anita, Dahlia, Bridget, Lillian, Maya, Harriet, Caroline, Caitlin, Matilda, Esther, Iris, Nicola, Justine.
And I also think that using Lucile as a first name could be a very good option: it’s a lovely name, and there ale already 2 other cousins with Lucile as a middle name anyway. Lucile Sophia J.!
Haha! OP here, and Alissa is actually the mother of Kate, so that’s out 😁
How about Aimee? My friends used it instead of Emma.
I love Lucile as a first name, in case that’s an options. Also love Sophie and Emma – you can’t go wrong with those.
Other options:
Annabelle Lucile
Grace Lucile
Vivienne Lucile
Ailsa could work. It’s basically Elsa but more chic, Scottish. It has the frill LOOK your husband likes but not really the frill sound or connotation. Similarly, Isabel could work. I know it blends with Lucile but some people (ahem me) don’t really care about that forced pause between the two names since it’s rarely spoken aloud except birth and graduation. Good luck!
Sylvie Lucile; Sylvie, Natalie, and James
Sylvie Lucile Torgenson
Soooo pretty! Gah!
What about Rebecca? I know it is a little older, but I think it nestles nicely with Natalie and James and has a kicky 1990s nickname (Becca) or a cool present nickname (Bex)
My name is Rebecca Lucille so I totally endorsed this combination!
Any e would get a Ellie nickname
Other suggestions
Eleanor
Ruth
Anna
Cora
Audrey
My mom is Rebecca and she’d absolutely endorse it, too! We are trying to avoid repeating first names of cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents, though. I do love the nicknames though. My mom goes by Grandma Becca.
We’ve added Anna and Amelia to our list since reading comments. He doesn’t like Eleanor (I really do!) and the others are pretty close to close family members’ names. Thanks for the suggestions!
Lots of great suggestions! I agree with those who suggested Lucile as a first name-possibly with Lucy as a nickname?
I also like the suggestions of Rebecca & Juliet. Valerie, Sabrina, Samantha, Miranda, & Vanessa are other names that could have been a 90s cheerleader, but don’t seem so date stamped as your husband’s suggestions.
My husband was in love with 80s cheerleader names. I managed to convince him about Cordelia because of the cheerleader character on Buffy/Angel. Maybe there are some pop culture references where the character has the right “vibe” you could use to convince him, but the name isn’t actually 90s cheerleader?
Since you like Emma, do you like Etta? Etta Lucille.
Since you like Sophie, Do you like Daphne? Daphne Lucille.
Since he likes Kelly, do you like Felicity? Natalie & Felicity!
Since he likes Shannon, do you like Rhiannon? Rhiannon Lucille.
Since he likes Jenna, do you like Gemma? (She’s almost exactly like Emma!) Gemma Lucille.
Natalie, James, and Gemma. Oh, this is an elegant set!
Best wishes on your new daughter and CONGRATS!
I like Emma Lucile and Anna and Abigail are good suggestions, too. Or how about Amelia, Ava or Charlotte?
I think Emma and Anna work really well here. I also think the nn of Annie would be sweet.
I wanted to chime in with Emily/Emilie. It takes Emma a little closer to the style of Julia. It is also the last half of both James and Natalie all in one. And it could satisfy the 90s cheerleader criteria too. All three names are in the top 40, with Emily ranked between James and Natalie, thus nicely within your comfort zone. Of course you could go all the way to Emilia too if you want more of the -lia that is both Julia and Aliana.
Emily Lucille. Natalie, James and Emily. Natalie and Emily. James and Emily.
There’s a song called Beautiful Emilie that makes me love both the name and that specific spelling! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UfRg2P7PA
If you like Chloe and other names ending in an -ee sound, how about Zoe?
or if you do go with Amelia, nickname Amy is a good 90s cheerleader name and gives you the -ee sound at the end.
Love the suggestion of Lydia and also think Amelia could work nicely. If you love Sophie, I would ask DH if he’d be willing to let you have the final say since two of your three children will carry honor names from his side (and presumably their surname will be his family name as well). Sophie is darling and will age well as she grows up.
If Lucile as a first name is an option, perhaps she could go by Lucy (or Lucie or Lulu etc) and then you can choose a family name from your side for the middle (even your maiden or your first or middle).
I like the way you think! haha. If I need to pull that out as a trump card, I definitely will!
My middle name is also Rose, and my maiden name unfortunately doesn’t work as a first or middle name. We’ve toyed with Jane (a shortened version of Janessa, which is my first name) as a middle name but we live very close to his grandmother Lucile, she’s 90, and I know having another baby with her name would mean a lot to her, so I want to use her name as the middle this time. Thanks for the suggestions!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! We’ve added a couple of names to our list, and he said he’s coming around to Emma, so that’s promising! I’ll definitely update in five months (ugh forever) when she’s here, because knowing our track record, we will probably decide on the way to the hospital!
Would he like Gemma more than Emma? It gives a fresh spin to a popular name!
I like the suggestions of Miranda, Lydia, and Abigail.
The name Janessa seems like a rich source of honor names – Jane, Vanessa, Tessa, Anessa, Jessa, Jan, etc. I really like Jane and Tessa. Tessa Lucille.
Sophie is adorable!
Eliza or Fleur?
What about Heather?
Good luck!
Sophie is adorable!
Eliza or Fleur?
What about Heather?
Good luck!
Susanna?
So I’ve been thinking about Madeline or maybe spelled Madeleine. Madeline Lucile. It isn’t as popular or trendy as Madison but the nicknames are the same, so maybe it still is too trendy. Still deciding.
I know a good number of maddie/maddy/Madi-s who are my age (I was born in the 90s). For most of them I honestly have no idea which are Madison and which are Madeleines/Madeline/Madelyn. I think for that reason it sounds quite common to me, but then your baby will obviously be quite a bit younger than me and so it might not be a problem.
You could always try to pull an unconventional nickname (Del, or maybe Lina?) or just always call her Madeline.
Is this where I post an update? Thanks for all the help! My husband actually came around to Lyla on his own, and that was initially one of my favorites until he shot it down completely and my friend named the cat we gave her Lila. But we’ve decided on Lyla Lucile, and she should arrive sometime this week.