Hi Swistle
Back in 2014, I emailed you for some help naming our then-gender-unknown child – if a boy. We went on to have our little girl – Ev@ Jorge (pronounced like the Western version, or the royal baby). Thank you again for your suggestions!
We are now expecting our second child, another girl, and are looking for “the” name. Ev@ was “the” name even years before she was conceived, but this next one is much more tricky.
My husband loves the name “Sabriel” – a character from a book he likes. I’m not a fan, as to me it sounds too much like “Gabrielle” – which is nice but doesn’t do it for me – and also sounds a bit made-up, especially next to a more classic name like Ev@.
So we’ve negotiated S@brina, which I do think is lovely, except…
(a) Does the “a” at the end of Ev@ and “a” at the end of S@brina sound too rhymey?
(b) Is the recent revival of S@brina the Teenage Witch on Netflix an unfortunate or negative association to have? I primarily think of the Audrey Hepburn movie myself, but…I was also brought up with the old Sabrina show and that springs to mind too.
(c) Are there better choices out there that go wonderfully with Ev@ that I might not have thought of? I love the names Ele@nor and Eliz@, for example, but husband isn’t convinced and I’m still not sure if two daughters starting with E sounds too matchy or cutesy.
Any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
I don’t think an -a ending is enough for a rhyme; I think Ev@ and S@brina together have at most a very slight sing-song quality that I would not at all allow to rule out the name. I think the two names are great together.
I don’t think it’s too matchy to have two kids with the same first initial. I probably would avoid another name that starts with E- AND ends in -a, but that’s a very subjective line and I wouldn’t think it was wrong if you were on the other side of it. If you were planning more children, I might add that we get a fair number of letters from parents who feel painted into a corner after using the same first initial twice; but if you’re stopping at two, this isn’t an issue.
I do think of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, but for me it’s a positive association: I liked that show and the character. And I have plenty of other associations with the name, so it’s a diluted association as well as a positive one.
More names I like with Ev@:
Audrey
Beatrix
Bianca
Camilla
Celeste
Claudia
Eloise
Fiona
Greta
Louise
Lydia
Mae
Margo
Meredith
Nadia
Noelle
Rose
Ruby
Simone
Willa
Sabra
Sabine
Sela
Shoshanna
Chantal
I was going to suggest Sabine too! It’s classy like Eva.
Sabriel really takes me back to my days as a mall goth teen! Loved that book, but a very specific association.
What about Ariel? You still have a popular media association but it is a much more widely used as a name than Sabriel.
Same! I came to the comment section to suggest Sabine! I love it!
I wouldn’t rule out all ends-in-a names because you’ve used one. It’s a big swath of girl names. And when the middle initial and syllable count are different, as they are with Sabrina, I think it hardly registers. So maybe you’ve found your name.
But if not, between Eleanor and Eliza, I’d go with Eleanor. Or how about Carmen, to go with the Spanish flavor of Ev@, or Josephine, for its elegance? You’d have some alliteration with the surname, but I like that.
I think of the teenage witch too, but that’s because I’m of that generation as well. I’m not convinced that it will matter for the kids. Sabine is a nice solution though.
As for other options, how about Nora instead of Eleanor? Ev@ and Nora? Nora Jorge. It gets you over the same initial issue. I also really like Grace with Ev@. Both classy and timeless. Or Joy. Ev@ and Joy. Although Joy Jorge may be too much? Or Iris? Ev@ and Iris. Iris Jorge. One last one, Julia. Ev@ and Julia. Julia Jorge?
Good luck!
What about Serena? Same sound, I think it’s so lovely, and solves the potential teenage witch association.
I think Sabrina is great and not too similar/rhyme-y with Ev@.
If you are looking for other options, what about something like Sarah Brielle or Samantha Estelle and your husband can have a special nickname for her of Sabriel? Gabrielle, Annabel[le], Isabel[le], or Mariel[le] could also work as middles.
I just read the wikipedia page on Sabriel and wonder if he’d like Waverly, after the school, or a name based on Lirael, like Lyra (does your husband like the His Dark Materials books?), Lyric, Linnea, or Yael (although I imagine your surname gets pronounced in the Spanish way pretty often and having to explain both names a la “it’s ya-EL George, not Yale Hor-hey”) could get annoying. This could also be a place for you to do something like Lydia with a middle name ending with the -el sounding names above and she could have the special nickname from her dad of Lirael.
I love Sabrina and think it’s a good fit with Ev@ (and a great compromise for Sabrielle). I also like the previous suggestion of Sabine or Sabina.
I don’t think the teenage witch should really matter that much. By the time your daughter is old enough to care, any associations from the current show will be so diluted it won’t matter.
I assume that your husband wants to name her after the character from Garth Nix’ series? If so that would be a very cool association – I really loved these books too.
Although I also think that Ev@ & Sabriel make a bit odd pair. What about using Sabriel as a middle name (with more classic first name)? For example:
Anna Sabriel Jorge, Ev@ & Anna
Ella Sabriel Jorge, Ev@ & Ella
Grace Sabriel Jorge, Ev@ & Grace
Rose Sabriel Jorge, Ev@ & Rose
Maya Sabriel Jorge, Ev@ & Maya
Sabrina is a very pretty name too, as well as your other picks (Eleanor & Eliza) – you can’t go wrong with them.
I also like the idea of using a combination of names that sound similar to Sabriel (mentioned in earlier post): Sara Elle, Sarah Blair, Sabrina Belle, Sabine Belle…
Hm, or what about Swistle’s clever suggestion of Beatrix? Beatrix Jorge sounds great, makes a nice pair with Ev@ (Ev@ & Bea <3), and kind of brings Nix to mind:)
I just wanted to throw out the suggestion: Sabine. It is similar to your husband’s pick Sabriel and your compromise Sabrina, but not connected to the revival of the show.
Yes, I like that name! And it reminds me of Griffin and Sabine, which might be a positive association for this family. Mysterious woman from a gorgeously illustrated epistolary novel.
I think Ev@ and Sabrina is a fine sister set, although I like Serena even a little bit more. I also quite like Eliza and all of Swistle’s suggestions. A few other ideas:
Ev@ & Liza
Ev@ & Nina
Ev@ & Mila
Ev@ & Lara
Ev@ & Florence
I just read the post from when you named your older girl and I wonder if you would consider Blythe?
I know you wanted to use it for a boy but it is a beautiful name for Ev@’s sister. Or as you like Anne of Green Gables what about an Anne variant? Anna, Anastasia, Annabelle? They are all classics and sit nicely with Ev@ in a shortened form (Ev@ and Annie :)
I don’t know Sabriel but it does seem a different style to Ev@. S names that fit Ev@ in my mind are Selah, Skye, Saskia, Sally or Sarah,
Cosima or Cosette have that dramatic flair?
Saskia’s a great recommendation! Also, Sabrina is gorgeous and it’s a beautiful compromise. The -a ending is so tied up with feminine names that I don’t think it really registers as “matchy” at all. It’s just part of our naming culture. I think you have a great name picked out.
I didn’t even notice the matching endings! Ev@ and Sabrina are great together. Depending on which list you use up to 7/10 of the top USA girls names end in “a”. No one will notice that they match. (Side note, my two daughters share two letters of their names – Neelam and Amaya – the only person who has ever noticed that the ending of one is the same as the beginning of the other is my mum and she loves names like I do!)
I like Sabine (or my aunt’s spelling, Sabina), and Serena.
What about Marielle or Mariel instead of Sabriel?
I love love love Eleanor with Ev@.
Seconding Mariel!
I think Ev@ and Sabrina balance each other out. They do not sound too similar because of the difference in syllables. I am not a huge fan of Sabine..
BUT I also like Ev@ with:
Simone
Blair
Cleo
Sage
Iris
Ellery
Sloane
Have you two talked about Simone?
I think Sabrina is a lovely sister to Ev@!
Congrats and best wishes.
What about Delphine? Delphine is just a beautiful name and has a similar sound.
I also LOVE Blythe with Ev@. Or Cecilia
I like Ev@ and S@brina together.
Sabine
Sylvie
Bianca
Sybil
Firstly, thank you so much Swistle for your response again – and thank you to everybody who commented also. WOW! Between Swistle and all the commenters, I have so many amazing ideas and thoughts to consider. What’s really heartening is to know that we are on the right track with names – it will just be a matter of refinement now 😊
At this stage the middle name will be Rubee (spelt the conventional way, of course!) This name is quite locked and loaded, but I completely forgot to mention it in my original post! 😊
Thank you again!