Hi Swistle!
I love your blog and would love your thoughts on alliterative names. My last name is Milk but starts with a W. I love the names Winnie and Willa, and even Wendy, but am really hesitant that they’re too much with the last name. (I don’t really like Gwendolyn or Wilhelmina.) Do you have any thoughts on this? So curious what you think!
Thanks!
Margot
Alliteration is one of those subjective topics where on one end of the spectrum we have people who avoid even a hint of it, and on the other end of the spectrum we have people REVELING in it. There are a few kids in our school system with names similar to Jason Johnson and Lauren Lemon, and I’ve got to say I get a little thrill from the sheer flair of names like that, even though I myself am more toward the avoidant end of the alliteration spectrum.
In fact, I’d say I generally admire alliteration in other people’s names, which makes it harder to explain why I didn’t want it with any of my own kids’ names. I didn’t make a deliberate rule that I WOULDN’T use any names starting with the same letter as our surname, but I found I ruled them all out anyway.
I do think alliteration brings extra attention to a name, and exponentially so if the first name or the surname are at all whimsical (the Lemon of Lauren Lemon), or if there is more repetition than just the first initial (the -son of Jason Johnson). Your surname strikes me as just slightly whimsical, and it has only one strong consonant sound. When combined with a repeating Wi-, or even more so with a repeating Wil-, the whimsy is increased and more attention is attracted. And the soft Wil- sound blends very easily, especially for first names that end in a vowel and don’t have many hard consonants, making one word out of two names (WillawiIk, WinniwiIk) [I used a capital i instead of a lowercase L in the surname].
And so Willa with your surname does seem like Too Much to me: it fails the “Would I want to introduce myself with this name?” test, and it fails it hard. I don’t even want to say the name out loud if I don’t have to. I would not want to introduce myself as Winnie with the surname, either (though I would pick it over Willa, if I had to choose one), but the similar name Winifred would pass my test: three syllables, some nice strong consonants, and better first/last name separation all combine to make it fall on my own personal subjective side of this line.
To continue with my own subjective division, here are more W-names I would NOT put with your surname, at least on first pass: Willow, William, Will, Wilma, Wallace, Wynn, Willis, Walker, Wendell. But here are some I think would/could work for someone who likes alliteration: Whitney, Whitman, Wyatt, Wilder, Warren, Waverly, Walton, Wesley, Westley, Weston, Winston, Walter. Different people are going to sort those differently, of course, and, even in the “would/could work” section we’ll have all different cut-offs for where “pleasingly alliterative” turns into “VERY ALLITERATIVE INDEED.”
I would test potential combinations by saying them aloud and listening to others saying them aloud, and putting each one through the “Would I want to introduce myself with this name?” test. I would also make extra sure to test the combinations WITHOUT a middle name: the middle name isn’t usually present, so testing out, for example, Milly Elizabeth Milk can mask how alliterative the first/last are together. I’d also think ahead of time about whether the alliteration is distinctive enough to make you feel pressured to do something similar with the names of subsequent children.
I love Willa WiIk – so energetic! So cheerful! But I have a son who is Victor Villareal (slight change on the last name there) so I am obviously down for allieration.
Maybe an extra syllable or two in the first name might help balance things out? Winifred WiIk spaces the ws out a bit and gives you more sounds overall in the name. Wilhemena WiIk?
But I like Willa WiIk best. So much charm in that double-w! I say go for it.
The only reason I didn’t choose Barbara for my third child and second girl s is because their last name starts with B and I already had two kids whose names DIDN’T start with B and I didn’t want to make anyone wonder why I wasn’t doing it with everyone. I had the same ‘logic’ apply to not naming a baby girl Monica after I had a Veronica because no one else’s name rhymed. So as long as you were okay with either doing it or not doing it for subsequent kids, I think it’s adorable and charming and not at all too too. Good luck!
I was adamantly against alliteration as a teenager but softened my stance with age. By the time I got married and had a kid, I was open to it and ultimately ended up giving my daughter an alliterative name because our favourite name happened to begin with the same sound (though not letter) as my husband’s surname. Two things that help the combo were touched upon in Swistle’s response: A 4-syllable first name to contrast the 1-syllable surname, and the first sound is the only one repeated.
Willa simply doesn’t have enough other sounds to distinguish it from the surname. Winnie is okay for me, but definitely flirts with sounding like a superhero. Whether that’s a good thing or Too Much will depend on your taste.
My name is an alliteration. I love it. I don’t have a lot of flare in my life, but my name has flare. I also work as a professional who has to introduce myself a lot. Never been a problem.
I’m of the bent that Willa WiIk (and similar) is a great name for a character in a children’s book but not so much for a live person.
Wilhelmina WiIk works well.
I agree with Swistle that you are going to get a split decision in the comments since this is subjective. Alliterative names are not my favorite so I would say Willa Milk with a W is too close. Wendy would be my favorite from your list since it starts with a slightly different sound (we- instead of double wi-). I agree with the above comment that adding a syllable helps break it up to my ears.
Huge fan of alliterative names, but there are obviously still going to be some that sound good with the surname and some that don’t. I wouldn’t use Willa, but I love Winnie and Wendy.
I like alliteration but find Willa to be too much with the surname.
I have to agree that Willa WiIk sounds a bit cartoonish. It may be cute as a name for a child, but I’m not sure I would like to have a name like that as an adult.
Swistle cautioned that middle name may mask an unwanted alliteration, but what about actually using that as an advantage? For example, Willa-Jane WiIk (or Willa-Grace, Willa-Rose, Willa-May…) sounds very different to Willa WiIk, and she still could be just Willa at home.
Side note: WiIk happens to be a quite common last name in Poland (it literally means ‘wolf’). I went to college with a girl named Julita (Juliet in English) WiIczek (‘baby wolf’), and I think it could work well with WiIk too: Juliet WiIk nn Julie?
I didn’t use alliteration naming my own children. As a teacher, I find I like alliterative names. I have a student this year named P@rker P*st and I usually call her by both names.
I agree with many of the other commentators. Willa Milk is too much for me. It has the comic feel of John Johnson, but moreso because it’s less common. It’s almost the same name twice.
I have a similar reaction to alliteration in general that Swistle has – I often find it fun on other people’s kids, but I wouldn’t choose it as my favorite for my own kids.
There is a local newscaster in my area named Harry Hairston, and I just … can’t. Willa WiIk has the same effect for me!
Twyla!!
I like alliteration overall, but did not use it for my kids. I think it makes a great stage name or author name. Our last name starts with S, so I didn’t want to saddle my kid with “Thara Thmith” and I could easily see W1lla W1lk turning into Wiwwa wiwk. But I like Swistle’s list of suggested W names.
Also, this seems to be a great situation to try giving out the name as yours in public, and see what happens.
I love alliterative names! I think Winnie sounds great with your last name, but don’t care for Willa, as it sounds too much like the last name for my liking. I really wanted to give my son an alliterative name, I just didn’t love any B names and didn’t want to pick one just to make it alliterative.
I like alliteration but I think it’s easy to cross the line and sound comical. The line is different for everyone. Our last name is Conley so for example previous to knowing my husband I liked the names Conrad and Connor but those were never considered once this last name was in play. Coretta, however, was considered.
Willa is too much with that surname in my opinion. It sounds like a cartoon character. I think your other options are fine. Wendy sounds great!
My own married name is alliterative, and doesnt sound too much. I loved the name Shaun but couldnt bear it with our surname that also starts with Sh – so didn’t use it, because the repeating Sh just sounded wrong to my ear, ditto with Alex, it became AleC when said with the surname. To my ear Willa, Wilson even Walter are just too similar to the surname sound. And Wendy is a little cartoonish for me. I think there are some letters and sounds that do not lend themselves to alliteration in names and for me W is one of them.
ITA with everything Swistle said.
Agree with Swistle. Of the three W names you listed, I do think Wendy WiIk works just fine.
I really like Willa but less with the last name. I think it is one of those combos that will forever be said together … Oh here comes Willa “Milk”. But, as a girl, she is more likely to have a different last name later in life.
I think Wendy is great with “Milk”. I like the illiteration. I just think Willa is too close. Perhaps the double name if you really love Willa! Or a hyphenated last name?
My hubby and I both grew up with ‘cartoon character’ names (as I’ve always called them) and had hugely different experiences. I think the main difference was in the initial letters. IMO some letters sound quite good and some sound comical or cartoonish. This seems to depend on whether letters are mainstream name letters (like M or S) or less usual ones like H or Z. More usual names seems to also tip the balance. I had a top 10 first and very common last (not Sarah Smith but might as well have been) and no one ever mentioned the letters, my hubby had a rarely heard, slightly pretentious first and an unusual last name along with an unusual letter and caught hell constantly and still gets smirks when he says his name (think Peregrine Percival).
I debated the merits of alliterative names for many years. My husband had been in the firmly opposed camp. Finally when we had our 8th baby, 6th son, last summer and we were both nearly out of favorite names I summoned up my courage and used a name we loved even though it was alliterative. This is to say I think its better to use a name you both love even if the alliteration gives you pause.
I enjoy alliterative names — they remind me of comic book characters, like Peter Parker and Lois Lane! But while I like repeating the first letter, I would balk at repeating the first entire syllable, which is why I agree that Willa “Milk” is too much. But Wendy “Milk” sounds fine to me!