Hi !!!
I would LOVE your help!!
We have 3 kids — will use their real names. William James, Alice Ann, and Elle Caroline.
We have a new baby on the way (will be 4 1/2 years younger than our youngest) and I’m stumped!
I’d love a girl name with an ‘L’ in it somewhere — that is vague but my only criteria.
For a boy, not sure! Henry, Charlie, Jack, Max all seem to go with William but I don’t love those at all. Any ideas? I wish I had more criteria but I am out of the baby name game as this was a surprise baby and I’d quit thinking about names 4 years ago after we named Elle.
With much appreciation,
Mary
I am interested in the “L” preference for a girl. If it were for either a boy or girl, I would assume it was because all three children have dominant L sounds in their names. But only for girl, especially when one girl is actually named L/Elle, makes me wonder if there is a story here.
Potter is a challenging surname, as I know you know. James would be out even if it weren’t already another child’s middle name, and Lily is out. I would avoid Henry as being too close to Harry. It’s been awhile since I read the books, so I am counting on commenters to point out any similar conflicts with any names I suggest. (And just overall to double-check me: I am apparently very distracted, and only in proof-reading realized I had suggested Willa without noticing it was kind of an issue with a brother named WILLIAM.) Jack and Max seem to me to fit better with Liam than with William. Charles/Charlie is somewhat Royal Family with William, but not dealbreakingly so, I don’t think, and it’s my favorite of the listed options.
What do you think of the name John? I think it is underused. It claims to be #27 in the U.S. in 2018, and yet none of my kids have anyone named John in any of their classes. They are deluged in Jacks, so that is probably some of the Johns; the rest must be Jrs/IIIs/IVs going by other nicknames—or be living in different areas of the country. William, Alice, Elle, and John.
Or George? Again, a little Royal, but not dealbreakingly so. George Potter. William, Alice, Elle, and George.
Edward? Edward Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Edward.
Or Edmund. Edmund Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Edmund.
I like Calvin in this sibling group. Calvin Potter; William, Alice, Elle, Calvin.
Or Nolan? Nolan Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Nolan.
Or Frederick. Frederick Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Frederick.
Or Franklin. Franklin Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Franklin.
Benjamin. Benjamin Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Benjamin.
Ian. Ian Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Ian.
For a girl, we already have Al- and El-, and that makes things a little tricky.
Charlotte has that same smack of Royalty, but again, not dealbreakingly for me. Charlotte Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Charlotte.
Molly feels too Weasley, but maybe Sally? Sally Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Sally. No, that feels too similar to Alice.
Maybe Lucy? Lucy Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Lucy. But Lucy and Alice have so many sounds in common.
Willa is pretty, but too similar to Elle, and of course also to William. Stella is too similar to Elle. Lydia is too similar to Lily. Calla is too similar to Alice AND too similar to Elle, and so is Cecily. Jillian is too similar to William.
Maybe Isla? Isla Potter. William, Alice, Elle, and Isla. It’s very similar to the other names, but it’s similar to ALL the other names in a way that might tie everyone together.
Or Celeste. Celeste Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Celeste. I don’t like the way it has all of the sound of the name Elle in it.
Or Louise. Louise Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Louise.
Delia? Delia Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Delia. I encountered this name recently in a waiting-room situation and had a very favorable reaction to it.
Camille? Camille Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Camille. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable that everyone gets double-Ls except Alice, but that is the kind of thing I like to try to make myself ignore. (Still, I admit I’d lean toward a one-L choice for this baby.)
Olivia. Olivia Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Olivia.
Natalie. Natalie Potter; William, Alice, Elle, and Natalie.
I wanted to suggest Claire, which I think would be close to perfect—except I think it’s about one heartbeat to Clairey Potter and I’m already tired of that.
I really like Calvin and Lydia (despite what was said about it being too close to Lily Potter).
William, Alice, Elle and
Julian
Maxwell
Malcolm
Lucas
Rosalie
Juliet/Juliana/Julia
Madeleine
Amelia
Violet
Carmen? It doesn’t have an L but it sort of feels like it does.
Joseph? Leo?
Was also going to suggest Rosalie!
Calvin and Lydia were EXACTLY what I would choose too! I don’t think Lydia Potter is too close to Lily–I feel like they don’t sound alike at all except for beginning with an L.
With William, I do like traditional names. Swistle’s suggestion of John is a good one but I also like David, Thomas, and Phillip.
For girls, I really like Swistle’s suggestion of Isla. Because Elle starts and ends with the L sound, I think I like the L best in the middle of the name. Some ideas:
Chloe
Julie
Cleo
Flora
Clara
Flora
Elodie (oh, except this is so close to Elle! Hmm… Melodie?)
Mila
Juliet
Letitia
Ilsa
Lyra
Lucille
Priscilla
Rosalie
Romilly
For boys:
Julian
Lucas
Miles
Abel
Laurence
Glenn
Lawrence
Leah
Elizabeth
Lois
Priscilla
Pearl
Penelope
There’s something about your kids’ names and your favourites list and some of Swistle’s suggestions that feels British to me. I just looked up a Top 100 baby names list from the UK and I wonder if that might be a starting point for inspiration?
My 2 were born in London and we were there for their early years…I found so many of those little UK babies and toddlers that we knew coming to mind as I read your letter. Good luck!
Ooo I’m jumping on the jul-train. I think Julian, Julia/Juliet would he perfect here
For a boy, I love Oliver for you – William Alice, Elle and Oliver Potter are a sweet set.
For a girl, I’m on the Juliet train. Alice, Elle and Juliet are so cute together! Natalie would be great, too.
Another vote for Julia/Julian/Juliet!
I like Calvin and Malcolm too.
I also like:
Calla
Mallory
Georgia
Felicity
Lana
Laurel
Imogen
Ruby
Ruth
Brooke
Helena
Fiona
Jean
June
Nicola
Daniel
Andrew (repeats an A)
Douglas
Desmond
Gabriel
Nathaniel
Lawrence
Benjamin
Edwin (repeats an E)
Patrick (initials PP)
Sebastian
Theodore
Ian
(Worth noting, all of the -iel names kind of rhyme with Elle)
Going through some of the peerage news in Britain, since you’re naming style feels very British:
Camilla
Melissa
Lydia
Caroline
Amalia
Julia
Laura
Ophelia
Thomas
John
Robert
Miles feels like it would be a great addition to your family, with Julian as a close second.
For girls, I like Olivia, but since you don’t mind similar-sounding names, I actually find Olive this most pleasing to my ear: William, Alice, Elle and Olive.
I have a Theodore who primarily goes by Theo. But Teddy would work too. I think it goes well with William and your daughters’ names. Also, you can call your baby Theodorable and it’s very cute and satisfying :) I think Cecily and Caroline are sweet girl names with L sounds. I agree with others that Juliet is lovely.
I was coming to add Louis, Lawerence, Malcolm, and Fielding to your boys name suggestion (you have a ton of good ones here), I was going to jump in with Sylvia, Louisa, and Lavinia, Oliva, and Mabel for the girls, and to add that I don’t think that Claire Potter would turn into Clairey Potter– it feels too many steps away.
I like the name Davis for a boy’s name, it is still traditional and yet not typical. Nolan is also good with the sibling set. I love Julia or Juliet for a girl.
Clara
Miles
Hugh
Instead of Isla, I’m much more inclined to go with Ilsa for this sib set.
Ilsa Potter. Alice, Elle, and Ilsa.
nn: Allie, Ellie, Illie; or Al, El, Il
I love Calvin and Lydia for you. I also think Sybil and Juliet are great choices.
With a brother William, I’d go with Charles or Maxwell rather than Charlie or Max. And Henry Potter is the villain in It’s a Wonderful Life, so you’d want to keep that in mind.
From Swistle’s suggestions I like Delia, Louise, and Lucy best. From commenters’ suggestions, I like Caroline, Chloe, Clara, Madeleine, Olivia, Penelope, Sylvia, and Violet OR Louis, Miles, and Nathaniel.
How about Felicity or Malachi?
I think with this age group Harry Potter is more likely to strike a cord. I didn’t remember the name of IaWL’s villian, despite having seen it a time or three.
I do agree about using the formal versions of Charlie, Max, or Jack for the official name, even if the child goes by his nickname exclusively. They match William so well.
Calvin! 😍 I like Oliver, Milo, and Malcolm too.
For girls, I like Matilda, Claudia, Sloan, and Willow.
Harry is a nickname for Henry.
How about Gloria, Laura, Cordelia, Chloe, Lou, Juliana.
I misread Swistle’s “Natalie Potter” as “Natalie Porter.” Which isn’t a bad association to me, mind.
I particularly like Olivia, Isabelle, Laura, or Penelope for a girl and Isaac, John, Miles, or David for a boy.
What about Leo? Saw your list of boy names (which were on my list, too) and thought of my son’s name! :)
Thank you so much for the wonderful suggestions! I am so stumped but appreciate all of these ideas – I’m liking Helena, Ruby, Felicity, Sloane, Willow, Gloria, and Chole for girls. My husband’s first name is Homer (he is a 4th) and we are considering going with a 5th…is Homer doable? Is there a nickname for that name? Middle name is A L L E N. If anyone sees this, I’d appreciate any more thoughts!! Grateful to all of you!