Hi Swistle!
I wrote to you about three years ago now for help with our first daughter (who we didn’t know was a daughter at that point). You and your readers gave us great confidence in our chosen girl’s name at the time, even though the whole discussion was around a male name. We named our daughter Josephine Rose; we call her Posey. We get mostly great feedback on her name on how it fits her and is so sweet, with a bit of confusion every now and again on why we didn’t just go with Josie (which they call her at daycare)…she just has a lot of names. But I think already, at the age 2.5, she understands her names and I don’t need to worry.
Here we are again, this time knowing we are having another daughter at the end of August! She is most likely our last baby. I’m quite excited to know this is a girl, as it makes me feel like the naming process may be just a bit more simple…maybe.
My husband and I have quite different naming styles (especially when it came to boys, so, phew!). He leans towards nicknames and only nicknames (no formal name) like Buck or Skeeter (for real). If it were a boy, we were leaning towards Sebastian, with the nickname of Bash.
Most of me wants a longer, “formal” name with a sweet, vintage-ish nickname, to match her sister, but I’m not sure how important this really is. I really love the name Mae, and think the pairing of Posey & Mae couldn’t be cuter, but I can’t find a name I LOVE to derive Mae from. I just can’t get on board with Margaret. I know full well that we can go with Mae as the name, but can’t get over how I would love to have a longer name.
So far, our names are:
Mae
Mabel (this is number one for me, but we happen to know a few children with this name, which isn’t a deal breaker)
Margot (could we call her Mae? I love Margot on its own, as well.)
Ramona (Mona or Mo which is my sister’s nn, do Posey and Mo sound too rhyme-y?)
Matilda (Mae or Tilly)
Henrietta (Hattie)
Pearl
Bernadette (husband’s suggestion, wants to call her Bernie)The middle name will most likely be Patricia, after my momma. I’m a huge fan of names sounding good together (as I am sure we all are on this blog!), so it’s a must that it pairs well with Josephine and Posey.
What are we missing?
Thanks so much for reading through this lengthy ramble and for your help!
xo Kim, Joe and Posey Lauren-with-a-D
In your shoes I too would be leaning toward another long name with nickname options. I’d know it wouldn’t HAVE to be that—but that is what the heart would want.
I was all set to recommend Rosemary as a long form of Mae, and then I realized you could end up with Posey and Rosie. (And also Josephine’s middle name is Rose.) I am not much bothered by the potential for rhyming nicknames, but it would be something I’d want to have thought about ahead of time.
Magnolia? I think you could get Mae out of that. And she’d have Maggie and Nola and so forth if she wanted them. Josephine and Magnolia; Posey and Mae; Josie and Maggie.
Or Maeve is pretty, though it doesn’t satisfy my inclination toward a longer name. Josephine and Maeve; Posey and Mae.
I think Mabel is a great idea, and agree that knowing a couple of other Mabels doesn’t have to rule it out.
Margo(t) could have the nickname Mo, if you wanted.
Bernadette is nice; other nickname options include Bennie, Betty, and Birdie. I especially like Birdie with Posey.
I am very fond of the name Henrietta and would love to see it used more.
I decided as I began this post that I would not try to push you into using Margaret: you have stated firmly that you just can’t get on board with it, and that is something I should respect. BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH. Margaret with your surname!! Josephine and Margaret!!! Posey and Mae, Josie and Maggie, Posey and Daisy, Josie and Maisy, Jo and Meg, ohhhhhhhhh!!! I require my fainting couch.
Well. Well. I will not push. (Any more.)
Beatrix or Beatrice? Josephine and Beatrix; Posey and Bee; Josie and Bea.
Or Penelope. Josephine and Penelope; Posey and Penny (fainting couch); Josie and Nell.
Or Millicent. Josephine and Millicent; Posey and Milly; Josie and Millie.
Name update:
Hi Swistle!
Here with an update, thanks so much to your readers and you for the awesome advice!
Mae Patricia Doren was born on 8/25. We decided after going through all the formal names that Mae could be derived from, we really just wanted her to be called Mae.
I love how it mirrors her sister in syllables, Josephine Rose, and how simple and sweet it is, just like her personality so far!
Posey loves her but still refers to her as “new baby” – we will get there!
Thanks again, here are my girls. ❤️
My [in-the-process-of-being-adopted] daughter is Bernadette-called-Birdie. Her bio parents gave her the first name, and when she had lived with me for about 6 months she decided to try Birdie as a nickname (which I LOVE BEYOND ALL REASON).
Maisie Patricia nn Mae
I LOVE love love Bernadette nn Birdie for you! Your list has so many gems as well. I like Ramona but I’m not sure that Ramona Patricia flows well with the ‘a’ sound at the end of each. Henrietta has so many fun nicknames -Etta, Hattie, Hettie. I know a Meredith that goes by Mae, but I don’t think it is very intuitive. Though it is popular, I also think Elizabeth pairs well with Josephine and has countless nickname options. Bess, Liza and even Birdie pair well with Posey!
I know a young woman whose name is Matiel, a version of Matilda. Matiel Patricia looks good and it would give you Mae.
I love the name Maeve and it would be a perfect way to get Mae as a nickname but I am pulled towards a longer name to go with Josephine. How about Cordelia with the nickname Cora or Delia?
Birdie is my all time favorite nickname and I just remembered I know a Cordelia who goes by Birdie! I also like the suggestion of Elizabeth to get to it.
Marguerite!!!
yes! Came here to put in my customary plug for Marguerite, which I so love as a sister name for Josephine.
I also like Bernadette with Bernie or Birdie. You can get Birdie through Roberta as well. I wonder if you might like Patricia– Patty as a first name.
Although Mae is not the most intuitive nickname for Margot, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work at least as well as getting Posey from Josephine, which is super cute. So you should definitely think about Margot
I also wonder if you might like other flower type nicknames– like Penelope going to Poppy or Margot or Daphne going to Daisy.
Any of those M names you like could go by Mae. I really like the idea of Penelope called Poppy, and Poppy and Posey would be so cute together. Plus she could be Penny at school. Josephine and Penelope. Posey and Poppy. Josie and Pennie.
I like floral nicknames and have thought that an Anastasia called Tansy would be cute, plus, like Josephine it has plenty of other nicknames if she prefers as she gets older. Ana, Annie, Anne, Stacy, Tasia.
Also, Mo is not at all rhymey with Posey, but does rhyme with Po (if you sometimes call her that).
I also came to say Marguerite (goes well with Josephine) and can get you to both Mae or Margot. Or another French idea – Esme nn Mae! I think I love that most of all. Josephine & Esme / Posey & Mae!
I think Daisy would be really cute with Posey. I woukdn’t choose Bernie right now because it could feel politically charged.
Yes indeed, I know an adult Bernadette who will no longer allow anyone to call her Bernie.
I would like to suggest the names “Maria” and “Marianne”, that you could argue could lead to the nickname “Mae”.
Oh, or what about Magdalene!
Josephine and Magdalene
Josie and Maggie
Posey and Mae
!!! This makes me excited
What about Mabelle/Maybelle/Maebelle. Or even Maybelline.
I lov how it sounds with Patricia.
Agree, Maybelle!
Or, Maybeth, Maelynn, Patricia Mae and then call her Mae?
Bernadette nn Birdie
Magnolia nn Mae
Juniper nn June
These are my favorites and all of them make my all-boy mom heart swoon!
I would add Emmeline to the list! It may sound a bit rhymey with Josephine, but I actually quite like that similarity:
Posey & Mae
Josephine & Emmeline
Josie & Emmie
Emmeline Patricia Lauren-with-a-D
Some other options:
Frances
Adelaide
Marilla
Esther
Marigold
Rosalie
Annabel(le)
Alexandra
Barbara
Eleanor
Irene
Clara
Ingrid
Genevieve
Loretta
Valerie
Veronica
Gabrielle
Camille
Constance
P.S. I also back the idea of having a longer, formal name to lean on when necessary, and a short, cute nickname for family and friends to use. In a daily life I usually go by a nickane (Asia), but I’ve stopped introducing myself like that when I was in high school, because I felt it sounds childish and silly (although I don’t mind that family members & close friends still mostly call me Asia or Joasia).
Oh, I have one more idea: Clementine.
Josephine & Clementine – how lovely!
Clementine Patricia Lauren-with-a-D
And I guess you could easly use Mae as a nn.
I kinda love Mae Patricia. I think Mae is classy and sassy in the same way Josephine is.
An acquaintance of mine just named one of her twin daughters Maybelline. I was surprised at first and though of the make-up brand but it is very pretty.
I really like Maeve Patricia.
I have a two year old named Mae, and I still LOVE her name. We originally wanted a longer name with the nickname Mae, to match our other kids, but Mary and Margaret weren’t options (for various reasons). We tried a lot of possibilities, but in the end we liked Mae the best, so we went with that. I had the plan to call her Maisie as a nickname, so that she still had a formal name/nickname, but so far we mostly call her Mae Mae. Anyway, here are some of the longer names we considered:
Rosemary/Rosemarie –I liked both of these options, and may have used one of them, but my husband wasn’t on board
Maeve
Esme–This made our short list
Mireille –Also on the short list
Mary–This didn’t work for me because of family associations, but I think that even though it’s short, it would go with Josephine
Marie –I like this one a lot
Maria
Marian
Marguerite
Maisie and Margot originally made the list, but then I decided that these names felt a similar level of nicknamey, and we liked Mae better.
We briefly considered names like Miranda, Magnolia, Matilda, etc, but to me it seemed like Mae was too much of a stretch from those, although I can’t put my finger on why.
Anyway, I think my favorites with Josephine are Rosemary, Rosemarie and Mary. I also think that just Mae works well with Josephine.
This is a name I’ve only recently learned about, but it seems customized for your conundrum: Maelle.
Josephine and Maelle, Posey and Mae
Pronunciation is apparently my-ELL, but the first three letters are your preferred spelling of Mae.
Sidenote: Maelle (imagine it spelled with an umlaut over the e) made it into the recent Baby Name Wizard book! Is anyone else geeking out about the new edition?
My daughter’s middle name is Maielle, which is pronounced my-ELL. I figured it was a more phonetic spelling for English but it is based on the French name, which I’ve seen as Maile.
It’s beautiful!
There’s also Maelys, also French, which I always thought was pretty.
I met a Maelee once! Beautiful name ❤️
Correction: Meilee, spelled the Chinese way. Phonetically similar!
Swistle is right, a fainting couch is required for so many of your options. I like just using Mae, or using Mabel or Bernadette. I think these names sound best with Patricia as a middle name, and all of the names sound good with Josephine. I have a hard time with names that end in -a and the middle name Patricia. I am a HUGE fan of Birdie as a nickname and would maybe give your husband this one as long as he agrees to that nickname (maybe his special name for her is Bernie and everyone else calls her Birdie?).
I love the suggestion of Penelope and the reader suggestion of Cordelia as well.
Other options (might be some repeats):
Felicity (Fliss, Lissie)
Eleanor (Nora, Nori)
Florence (Flora, Flori)
Violet (Vivi)
I have to agree, for no logical reason I just could never fall in love with Margaret even though it fulfils every single thing I want in a name (history, global use, one spelling, loads of nicknames).
I desperately want you to use Philippa (Pippa), Josephine and Philippa, Posey and Pippa!!!
I always wanted a Mary nn May/Maisie , Josephine and Mary, Posey and Maisie.
My old baby name book has Maida, nn Maidie or Mae….
Elizabeth fits with Josephine so nicely. Are there any Elizabeth nns that you like? Posey and Bess is gorgeous!
A name that came to mind for you was Imogen, nicknamed Midge (or Mo).
Marilla, to get to Mae? Could also be Rilla…
I spent too much time thinking about this today and so I’m back for a second comment. I wonder if you would consider Patricia Mae, called Mae? It has such a great flow. Josephine Rose and Patricia Mae. You could also call her Patty-Mae or Patsy-Mae for a fun family nickname too.
Of your choices, Matilda nn Tilley is very sweet! Margot is lovely with nn Mo is great too!
Love the idea of Philippa nn Pippa already suggested!
Margaret nn Maisie really is swoon-worthy!
You could also get Birdie as a nn for Elizabeth
Elizabeth Patricia, Josephine and Elizabeth Posey and Birdie
Good luck!
I know a little girl named Esme – pronounced Ezz-may. It could easily be shortened to Mae, but give her the option of a more formal name. And Josephine and Esme sound adorable as a sister set!
BRILLIANT
If Mae is the nickname you want, I’m here to boost Madeleine or Madelyn
Or ooh!!!! Marielle!
As an Elizabeth nn Liz, I never felt like a Betsy, but Posey and Betsy?
Move Patricia to the first name and have Posey and Patsy? HEART EYES.
Georgette? Posie and Gigi?
But I’m really on Swistle’s side with Posey and Penny.
I’m sure it has already been said, but, while Maggie is a nice nickname for Magnolia, the real winner nicknames are Mae and Nolie. I just adore Nolie. Posey and Nolie. SO CUTE!!! You can also get the nickname Nell from Annabel and I really love that with Posey. Josephine and Annabel, Posey and Nell. I love the nickname Bea SO MUCH that I almost want you to use something just to get to it. However, I think Swistle hit it our of the park wtih Magnolia.
I like Mabel, or maybe Amabel as a longer way to get to Mae.
But Henrietta? You could have a Josie-Posey and a Henny-Penny. <3 :3
What about Eleanor? You could have Ellie, Elle, Nell, Nora or even Lenore
Josephine is on my list if I have another girl child. My daughter is Cecilia and we call her Ceci, so I thought I’d recommend that.
I also like Beatrice, Penelope, Mae (I like Magnolia), Matilda (Tillie and Posey is cute), Susannah (Sunny), Annabel (Annie), Theodora (Thea), Lucinda (Lulu or Lucy), Philippa (Pippa) … some may have already been mentioned so sorry for repeats!
OOOOHHHHHH! What about Bernadette nn Bunny? Posey and Bunny! (Yes, I re-watched Desk Set last night. Didn’t you?)
And I know you’re really not going for Margaret, but there’s a character in the movie named “Peg” and now I’m thinking Posey and Peggy and being all delighted.
Maida is another option to get to Mae. It’s rarely used these days, but style wise it goes well with Josephine.
Just here to say I love your daughter’s name, and I love all your options for your next daughter! Love every single one. If I had to pick favorites, I love (Mabel) Mae, (Henrietta) Hattie and (Bernadette) Birdie for you.
What about Bonnie as a nickname for Bernadette?
Marguerite! It’s French, like Josephine. Same length. It’s not Margaret, but has so many of the benefits of Margaret. And lends itself naturally to Mae. Also, what about Marjorie?
I understand your desire for a longer name with the nickname Mae, but I do think Mae can stand alone and Mae Patricia works nicely.
What about Mary?
May/Mae has been a traditional nickname for Mary for many years.
I think Mary and Josephine are a lovely sibling set. Also Mary, like Josephine has a number of nicknames (Molly, Polly, Minnie etc) that give your daughter lots of options.
Mavis nn Mae? Love the suggestion of Esme too.
BERNADETTE NICKNAME BIRDIE POSEY AND BIRDIE WHY ARE WE EVEN STILL TALKING HAVE THE BABY ALREADY
It sounds to me like you have lots of good choices. I think Mae P———– is lovely on its own and if it is your favorite, you should use it! Marguerite and Matilda are also fabulous with the sister name and would also give you Mae. And I love Bernadette and Birdie with the sister names as well. I don’t think you can go wrong. Good luck!
I adore the name Maeve…I’ve also seen Maeva used and equally adore it. So many lovely choices here, and I totally understand the desire to go with a long name with the option for nicknames, but if the heart wants what the heart wants…just go for it!!
Use Bea as a nickname for Bernadette!
if you love the name mae you could easily use it on its own.