Hi!! We are expecting our 3rd and likely final baby (a girl) in June. We already have a son Judson and a daughter Willa. We are drawn to more vintage names that are not common but familiar. Our last name sounds like “Taylor.” We can’t seem to decide on the one!
I really love the name Goldie but think it may be strange if our baby is born with dark hair. (Our son is brunette and daughter are blonde so theres a 50/50 shot. Thoughts? We have thought about Marigold with the nn option of Goldie but not sure if it goes with siblings’ names.
Here are some other names we have tossed around:
Flora
Rosie
Daisy
Clementine
Delilah
Hazel
SienaMiddle name will likely be Lennon to honor a family member.
Would love your thoughts on Goldie and other potential names to complete our sibset!
Thank you!!
Caroline
I am intrigued by questions of name/appearance. This question has come up with other such potentially-interpreted-as-descriptive names (Rudy for non-redhead, Ruby Rose for a redhead, Annie for a redhead, why can I only think of redhead-related examples), and what I find intriguing is that the question can go either way: i.e., we can equally well ask if it is odd if a child named Goldie DOES have golden hair or if she DOESN’T. Like, maybe it starts to seem a little too much like those old stories in which three sisters have white, brown, and black horses named, respectively, Whitey, Brownie, and Blackie; or maybe it’s like if someone had a brown horse named Blackie.
Well. I know hair genes are complicated (and also this is a name blog, but I am feeling caffeinated and chatty so let’s have a digression), but it is my impression from casual observation that a lot of kids with blonde hair grow up to have brown hair, particularly if there are any brown-hair genes in the family. That is, my Norwegian friend’s family has blonde kids who will all likely be blonde as adults, because my friend and her husband are both blonde as adults. But in my family, where Paul and I both had versions of blonde hair as children but now his hair is dark brown and mine is light brown, I didn’t expect any of our blonde children to make it to adulthood with blonde hair. If it is similar in your family, and I think it must be if you have a dark-haired child, then the question of whether it’s odd to have a non-blonde person named Goldie is pertinent no matter what color hair she’s born with.
My own feeling is that I think I would RATHER use the name Goldie on someone who was not likely to have blonde hair. On a blonde person, the name Goldie reminds me in a small way of the nickname Blondie: descriptive in a way that could seem reductive. On a person with any other color of hair, it clicks in as a Bobbsey Twins / jazz era nickname name like Flossie and Dixie.
I love the name Marigold, and I love having more options for names/nicknames. However, if you’re only considering Marigold to get to Goldie, I don’t think that’s necessary. Judson, Willa, and Goldie; Judson, Willa, and Marigold. Those are both good combinations.
However, the stand-out name to me from your list is Flora. It goes beautifully with Willa, and has no issues with hair color or being nicknamey. Judson, Willa, and Flora.
Name update:
Hi! I wanted to send an update to share that we welcomed our beautiful daughter,
Marigold (Goldie) Lennon on 6/17/20.She was born with a full head of dark hair and just knew she was “Goldie” no matter what color her hair is/will be. We love Marigold and love that she’ll have more name options.
Thank you so much for all of your help naming our girl!
Caroline
I agree with Swistle. Giving the child the full name Marigold (or some other name entirely) and letting the nickname “Goldie” evolve naturally because the child has blond hair seems much sweeter to me than naming her Goldie because of some hope or anticipation that she WILL have blond hair, just because of all the loaded cultural implications of assigning value to blond hair.
If I had a brother named Judson and a sister named Willa, I would prefer to have a non-nickname first name, and I think Marigold is nice. With Lennon as the middle name, my other favorites from your list are Flora and Daisy–for me, it gets tangled up with Clementine, Hazel, Siena, etc.
Meant to add that I also favor using the nickname if she DOESN’T have blond hair, because then it’s about the loveliness of the name/image, and not about some physical characteristic of hers that may change over time!
Goldie is so completely Jewish to me (I work in a Jewish university… many Goldies and Goldas) that I associate it way more with ethnic Jewish features, which are almost always dark hair.
I like it in general and for you!!
This is my context as well.
Aye, the one Golda I know is a Jewish brunette. She’ll be about 18-20 now. (I used to live next door to her grandma)
As a red head, I am somewhat torn on names “going with” or not going with hair color. Ruby on a red head? Sure! Just do it because you love the name and not because you think it is “cute.” But Annie on a red head? Oh, that one bothers me quite a bit more, even if the name was not give for the cuteness/orphan connection. Perhaps because teasing I experienced was more likely to be Annie related rather than Ruby related.
Anyway, I don’t think Goldie on a non-blonde is an issue at all, in fact, I agree with Swistle that I would prefer it on a non-blonde. And I love Goldie with Willa. I think it emphasizes Willa’s more vintage/jazzy qualities. I also rather like Marigold with Willa. It has a nice, almost botanical feel to me (Willa reminds me of Willow) without being overdone. From the rest of your list, I also quite like Flora & Hazel-and for many of the same reasons.
I like the name Marigold nn Goldie because even if the child does not have blond hair, you can say that the nickname came from her flower name.
You could also derive the nickname Goldie from Gilda… which has a sound from Judson’s name and Willa’s name: Judson, Willa, and Gilda. But it might be too sing-song-y?
From your list, I like Rosie, Daisy, and Hazel best, which are all floral names themselves. Judson, Willa, and Rosie. Judson, Willa, and Daisy. Judson, Willa, and Hazel.
If you are looking for non-floral vintage options, maybe one of these?
Birdie
Callie
Carol
Dotty
Exie
Fanny
Mabel
Mavis
Nelly
Norma
Rosette nn Rosie
Sibyl
But I keep going back to Marigold/Goldie.
You can also name her Aurelia which means “golden” and use the nickname Goldie! That way if “goldie” doesn’t fit or you still have concerns about blonde hair, then can fall back on Aurelia which is beautiful and goes well with Willa and Judson.
Otherwise I like Goldie on its own too :)
Cressida also means golden.
I have an Aurelia, nicknamed Goldie, and a Clementine. Needless to say I like your style!
I love Marigold, and it is beautiful with Willa and Judson.
I LOVE Marigold, nn Goldie! That said, I agree with Swistle, that Flora from your list is also great especially with her siblings.
As for color names and hair color, you might get comments, but from my experience it’s not too big a deal. We picked the name Violet for one of our daughters and she happened to be born with red hair. We got quite a few comments along the lines of “Why ‘Violet’? She has red hair!” in the first few months of her life. Don’t ask me why – it’s not like anyone is ever born with purple hair. But she’s now in Kindergarten and there haven’t been any comments along those lines in years.
So apparently Carson Daly just named his new daughter Goldie Patricia Daly. Siblings are Jackson, Etta, & London.
https://www.babynames.com/blogs/celebrities/carson-and-siri-daly-welcome-a-baby-girl/
I vote Marigold or Golda or Gilda or Aurelia to get to Goldie
And I concur with Swistle that Flora is a perfect fit for this sib set
Marigold Lennon is GREAT. I love love it. You have a lot of alternatives that are also lovely. Honestly, lucky baby she’s gonna get a beautiful name to go with her sibs.
I had the thought so I’ll ask- would you reverse it to Lennon Marigold, nn Goldie? Same perfect names, Marigold in the second spot takes the pressure off Goldie being too on the nose about anything. And still I love Lennon with Judson and Willa.
The age old condrum eh? I personally think it’s fine but Sienna is beautiful and I’d also recommend Delta and Winslet.
When I picture a Goldie, I do imagine a blonde person, but that may be because Goldie Hawn is the only Goldie I am familiar with. When I think about it, no one expects Rose to be a red head. How would you feel about a Hazel with blue eyes? I think names can be descriptive but don’t have to be, if they are established enough on their own.
I prefer Marigold (or Golda) as the full name with Goldie as a nickname. But my favorites from your list are Clementine and Hazel. They are fabulous in that sibling set.