Hey! We are having such a hard time this time around finding a baby name we all like! I’m due September 20th, she’s a girl and we love the name Aurora Paige but our family isn’t too keen on it😂. We are trying to stay with mythological names since our first daughter is named Raven Elizabeth and it’s a mythological name! Our last name is Cox and my husband always says as long as they can’t make fun of her name when she’s older then he’s good with whatever but the problem is he can make a joke out of anything I pick! He liked Christina Paige but I am not in love with that name at all! This is our last baby so we really want a name we love! We are open to a variety as long as it’s Mythological and we can pronounce it 😂 all of this may be shared! Can’t wait to see what you come up with😍
Thank you,
Jacqueline Cox
Won’t it be lovely when we’ve evolved as a society to the stage where it is equally common to use the family name of either parent? It will be too late to save my former classmates Amy Dick and Michael Butt (first names changed, surnames real), but just think of the countless future generations who will be spared. So many surnames are being passed along instead of passed over, to everyone’s loss. Cox is not the worst of them, but it is causing unnecessary problems nevertheless.
And if the surname I see in your email address is your maiden name, then there was a elegant, beautiful, easy-to-work-with, particularly-lovely-with-mythological-first-names surname that could equally legitimately have been chosen for these children, and their father would not have been able to come up with a joke about any first name you picked. But no, we have to work with Cox, because that’s the father’s surname and father surnames are still chosen a vast majority of the time.
Fine. Fine! We will work with reality as we find it.
I think you should choose Aurora. You both love it, you agree on it, it meets your preferences, and your husband has not found a way to make a joke about it with the surname. Your families not being too keen on it is not a good enough reason to find something else: it is so common for members of the extended family to be Not Keen On a name they hear before the birth, but to be completely in love with it when it is announced to them alongside the newborn’s tiny beloved face. It’s hard enough to get two parents to agree on a name, without trying to get extended family agreement as well.
If, however, they have a more legitimate reason to object to the name than just not being keen on it (if, say, they have raised the issue that it is the same as the name of someone who stole your family’s fortune and ran off with its patriarch), or if their non-keenness has already ruined the name for you, let’s see if we can find more options to consider.
I am pulling this list from the Mythological section of The Baby Name Wizard (and thanks to the readers who let me know there was a 2018 fourth edition I’d somehow missed the release of). It’s a little tricky, because a lot of the names I would normally want to suggest from this list (Ariadne, Persephone, Minerva) feel too long and feminine and traditional with the sister-name Raven. But let’s see what might work, and I’ll include the ones that might be too much of a style shift, just in case (except Minerva, which bothered me by containing all the letters of the name Raven AND having unfortunate nickname potential with Minnie-which-sounds-like-Mini):
Aeron
Ariadne
Athena
Calliope
Daphne
Freya
Iris
Lavinia
Lilith
Lorelei
Melia
Morrigan
Niamh
Penelope
Persephone
Phaedra
Phoebe
Selene
Silvia
Thalia
Theia
Morrigan stands out to me from this list. It has a cool-and-somewhat-unisex sound similar to Raven, and I’m not seeing any issues with the surname. I would also lean toward Niahm (pronounced Neeve) if I didn’t think the spelling was more than I personally would want to take on. I don’t know if spelling it Neeve would give you the same mythological feeling, though.
(I would very much appreciate double-checking on surname issues, including with potential nicknames. I am remembering when a letter-writer with the same surname wrote in and mentioned that she wanted to avoid issues such as Mike Cox, and it took me longer than you might think to realize that the issue was that the name Mike would slide into sounding like My. But on the other hand, it’s hard to tell if I’m overthinking it: if Ariadne goes by Ari, pronounced like Airy, is that a problem with the surname? or is that kind of thing just the unavoidable “EVERYTHING can be a joke” issue that goes along with having the surname Cox?)
Other Roman Mythology ideas:
Camilla
Flora
Juno
Luna
Although I don’t see why you can’t use Aurora. Unless you can’t unsee your family’s reaction to it. Funny enough I let my mom and aunt’s reaction to a name taint it for me, but I later brought it up (after naming my kid something totally different) and they deny their feelings on it.
Love Aurora! Ignore the family. I named my daughter Penelope in 2011 and my family thought it was very, very weird. But we did it anyway and now it is fine (except my Grandma used to call her Pinocchio, bless her heart). I don’t know how you feel about nicknames, but you could use Rory. Raven and Rory are cute.
From Swistle’s list I like Thalia and I really like Calliope…would the alliteration of Calliope Cox distract people from any last-name-related-teasing?
I also like the name Rowan, which isn’t a mythological name per se, but has mythological roots. Rowan Paige Cox sounds great. I can’t figure out if if Rowan Cox says anything bad…I mean maybe, but seems sort of nonsensical. Raven and Rowan. You might not want the same letter, but that would be my pick if Aurora is non-choosable.
I had to sit with Rowan Cox for a second to think about why it sounded funny — it’s nothing naughty, just … overly boat-y? Rowan sounds like rowin’, and cox is what people who do crew call the coxswain. I am not a person who does or has ever done crew, so I think this is a no-go!
My husband’s grandma had never heard of the name Liam when we used it in 2011 and kept calling him Ullam by accident. 😂 Pinnochio is so sweet and funny (assuming she was doing it accidentally too).
I would stick with Aurora. My family didn’t like any of my kids’ names before they were born and now they sort of preen when they get to share their names with others and they insist now that they loved them all along.
I like Lilith and Phoebe with Cox. Lilith has the same dark and lovely mysteriousness of Raven. Phoebe is Raven’s bright opposite, much like Aurora.
I would also highly recommend ignoring your family members and to stop discussing baby names with them. So many people toss off a careless, not well thought out criticism (and forget later that they disliked a name). My mom crushed how I felt about a few names, until I stopped discussing ones that made my heart sing.
So, if you can sit on Aurora and still love it when baby comes, then Aurora Paige is a beautiful and fantastic name. I would also recommend Thea
I would also highly recommend ignoring your family members and to stop discussing baby names with them. So many people toss off a careless, not well thought out criticism (and forget later that they disliked a name). My mom crushed how I felt about a few names, until I stopped discussing ones that made my heart sing.
So, if you can sit on Aurora and still love it when baby comes, then Aurora Paige is a beautiful and fantastic name. I would also recommend Thea
Apologies for the duplicate—my phone went wonky.
I love Aurora! Or it also makes me think Aurelia? Does that fee mythical enough?
I love Morrigan for the reasons Swistle mentioned (and I love that it sounds like a familiar name since it has a lot of familiar sounds, but also doesn’t sound made up). However, I did immediately think “more-again, cox!” … which doesn’t *really* make sense but is worth thinking of.
Also, I think Courteney Cox (among so many other actors and actresses with the last name Cox—IMDB has 13 of them) has helped with the name seeming less humorous. I do think the alliteration helps too, as mentioned?
What about Larisa or Melaina? Artemis? Brigid? Enid? Jara?
My favorite out of Swistle’s suggestions is Freya. Raven and Freya sound amazing together. Freya Cox and Raven Cox.
I gotta be honest. I wondered what jokes we were talking about for a fresh minute until I realize the significance of Cox. Initially, it sounded more like the news channel Fox than anything anatomical. While a different set of issues (like maybe avoid calling your baby girl Donald), the timeline of the Cox jokes may be limited to middle school – college. Cox is (in my mind) established enough as a last name to make this (to me) a non issue. (But heck, there was a kid in my school with the last name of Seaman. Which was noted.) The other family with the last name of Slaughter in my opinion has a harder time. All that being said, so long as you avoid names that sound large, small, powerful, weak or sick, I think you are in the clear.
So maybe not Maximus Cox or Minnie Cox or even Randy Cox (in the UK, Randy means sexually promiscuous) or Ziva Cox (which sounds like Gonorrhea in Hebrew). But Aurora Cox? Sounds great to me.
I also vote for Aurora, I think it’s lovely and goes well with Raven as a sibling set :)
I would stick with the name you love: Aurora Paige.
Aurora may not be super popular but it is not unusual or strange. It is a beautiful name, and even offers some fun nickname options. Aura/Ora, Rora, Rory.
Even if the family is not keen on it, they will grow to love the name after baby Aurora arrives. For example, I have a nephew named Princeton. It was a little unusual when we (the family) first heard the name, but now that he is here, we cannot imagine any other name for him! My family was not so keen on the nicknames Benji and Remy for two of our boys, but — again — once the boys were here and I intentionally used the names, the family fell in love with the names.
Go with the name you love. Your family will grow to love it.
PS: I love your name. ;)
I agree that Aurora Paige is a perfectly lovely name, and if it’s the name you and your husband love, you should go for it! However, if Aurora is absolutely a no-go, I really like Phoebe from Swistle’s list. Not only is it mythological like Raven, but they’re also both bird names!
I like Aurora and Raven as sisters. However, if that just won’t work I agree with KitBee and recommend Phoebe, another bird reference. Phoebe Paige and Raven Elizabeth sound very nice together.
I’m going to point out a difficulty I see with Morrigan. She is described as a shape-shifting goddess and one of her forms is a crow so it seems to me that these names are perilously close to ‘being the same name’ although not really. Just something to consider, since you needn’t chose this week heehee.
I like Pheobe and Paige, but not together with Cox as the last name. Call me immature, but PP Cox is not so good.
Go with Aurora! You both like it & that’s what is important. If I had waited for my family and my in-laws to all agree on our baby names, my children (age 17 and 12) would still not have names.
Um, I will politely disagree with Swistle about using Morrigan. She is strongly associated with ravens, so a sister sib-set of Raven & Morrigan seems a Lot Too Much to me. But if you just can’t pull the trigger on Aurora, I really like Iris & Daphne with Raven. You’d have a double connection with both siblings having a mythology name that is also a nature name. From the other names on Swistle’s list, I also really like Selene with Raven. Something along the lines of Luna could also be fun.
Oooh, I have the same due date. How fun! Where I live, Aurora and Raven are both very noun-y objects of regular everyday encounters. Besides enjoying them in nature, they occur heavily (together!) in the local first people’s folklore, business logos, and tourist T-shirts. To me it screams less mythology and more caribou and totem poles under a winter sky. Which can be cool, if you don’t mind that theme. However, if you are in no danger of moving north you will probably be safe as it seems from the comments that people are associating Aurora more with the goddess than the natural phenomenon.
From Swistle’s list, my favorite with Raven is Freya.
I hope you like Freya because it is so beautiful, especially with a sister named Raven!
Aurora is a lovely choice. You should choose it if you and your partner both love it.
Otherwise, from Swistle’s suggestions, my favorites with Raven are Athena and Phaedra. I’m also loving the suggestion of Juno for you.
A few others that I think work well:
Clio
Xanthe
Rhiannon
I am going to Politely Disagree with the commenters who suggest Morrigan would be “too much” with Raven. It is not a remotely obvious association. But I know a bit of Celtic mythology, saw the connection right away, AND WAS CHARMED! Charmed I say! Bad-ass mythological bird sisters.
Obviously “team Aurora if your family issues resolve” but if not Morrigan.
Agreed! Morrigan is not “too much” with Raven–it is exactly just enough much!
“Bad-ass mythological bird sisters” FTW!
Failing that, then Aurora is a perfectly good alternative that I think the family will come around on once they meet the baby.
Came back to say I also love Freya. Like how it has the RAY sound and is 2 syllables but is otherwise so different from Raven. Complementary sister names please me, what can I say?
Cleo, Astrid, Juno, Luna, and Morgan are all good options, but Aurora seems just fine to me.
I love Freya and Phaedra from Swistle’s suggestions!
I love Calliope as a sister to Raven as well but…Calliope Cox…peacocks. Not sure if that’s me thinking too hard about it.
Anyways, like the other commenters, I think Aurora is lovely and perfectly usable despite family input.
Go with Aurora if you love it! I think Aurora/Rory and Raven are great together.
Calliope Cox… I do hear the “peacocks”, plus it kinda has the sound of a porn performer? For this reason, I’d google any name with Cox before you commit to it.
Suggestions I liked best:
Phoebe (but not with Paige, I have to agree that PP Cox is a no go)
Phoenix
Daphne
Juno
Athena
Lorelei
Maybe avoid the P names because it makes peacocks and also the possibility of teasing about pee cox.
I like Aurora and I see the appeal of Raven, though it isn’t my style. The two names paired together, though, feels like too much of an imagery contrast to me. Aurora feels light, and happy; it brings to my mind an innocent princess dancing in the friendly woods with her animal friends, and also the goddess of dawn. Raven as a name feels spunky and modern, the cool v adds a little edge; it brings to my mind Raven-Simone in Thats So Raven. But when paired with Aurora, Raven makes me think of darkness, death; the wicked fairy’s pet and side kick in Sleeping Beauty is a raven (while the princess is named Aurora), and Edgar Allen Poe’s famous work. Aurora is also far more popular a name than Raven.
However, the imagery contrast and popularity differences don’t seem to have been noticed by anyone else, and at least one other person thought they go so well together as to seem too commonplace. So mileage will vary. If you like the name, use it, though be prepared for initial comments if your relatives are rude or forthright.
If you are having second thoughts and don’t like the idea that relatives might be commenting in their heads or behind your back (what they and we think shouldn’t matter, but sometimes what others think feels like it matters), then consider one of the other name options.
I like Thalia the best with Raven, it feels equally spunky and new, while having history behind it, it also reminds of a cool character from the Percy Jackson series. I can picture a Raven and Thalia having cool adventures together.
Lorelei was a close second for me. It has a similar sound and vibe to Aurora, without being so princess it clashes with Raven. I think it could be a really good option for you. It doesn’t scream mythology, but neither does Raven or Aurora. It is also very closely ranked to Raven in popularity.
Phoebe and Phoenix also seem like a good fit, but then I realized that might be because they are all bird names, and that would probably jump out at people before the mythology does.
Lilith is another good option. It does lean in to an underlying dark vibe, but with both sisters having that edge, it feels like a cool intention and brings to mind the strengths associated with the mythology of each name. If you live in a very religious area, it might bring to mind monsters and Adam’s first wife (whether such an association is right or not, it is there for many people).
As for concerns about the last name, I agree that you should avoid any obvious choices (Harry and Mike, for example), but the last name Cox is probably less problematic for a girl than it was for their father (girls don’t generally tease or bully that way, and she won’t have even one cock, so trying to use that to make fun of her is unlikely to stick). Besides, there is a way to make fun of anyone’s name. A group of us tested the theory in college by trying to think of ways to make each others name in to a joke or insult. “I’m lucky,” I said, after we had gone through nearly everyone else’s name “because nothing rhymes with Emie.” “What about phlegmy?” We all had a good laugh, and not one of us (a group of about 15) had a name that was proof against teasing in some way, nor could we think of a name that couldn’t be manipulated in some way like that. Rhymes, homonyms, alliteration, using nicknames, using a combo of first and last name, no name was “safe.” And most of us had never had anyone think of such silly things to do to our names before.
I love Aurora. Go with Aurora! Your family will come around. I can’t even imagine what their problem with it is? But one fun thought is too pick a name that is even a little bit more out there to float by them…like Antigone. I personally really like Antigone (Tig!) BUT if someone has a problem with Aurora I can only imagine how Antigone would go.
I also love the name Freya and it would sound great with Raven.
I think I forgot to finish my thought: I think your family will warm up to Aurora real fast is your present some other options that they like even less.
Also—they don’t have to love her name, they just need to love her.
I really like the name Daphne, Iris, and Thalia (I’d probably spell it Talia).
I keep seeing all of these comments about the last name… but I don’t see where the original letter mentions the last name as a source of potential issues? Just that the husband wants to make sure that no one can make fun of the name they pick. The last name is common enough that I don’t see any issues that would be more burdensome than the normal teasing. I wouldn’t suggest “Isolde Cox” – I Sold A Cox – but it’s really not a super-hazardous last name. .
I like Maeve from Irish mythology.
Raven and Maeve are similar, but not rhyming or matchy-matchy, imo. If Paige isn’t a settled choice for a middle name, I really like Maeve Aurora Cox.
I think Aurora Paige is nice.
If you can’t use it (I think you should) what about Paige Aurora?
I agree with many pp’s that Aurora Paige is wonderful and you should use it. If that is off the table, I love Iris and especially how it works with the sister name, so that would be my top pick. Paige Aurora is a great suggestion too.
I think you’ve got your name, Aurora Paige. But Swistle’s list of mythological names is good for backup if you need it. My favorites from it are Penelope, Phoebe, & Thalia.
Aurora Paige is a beautiful name. I think a long and romantic first name balances the surname very well. I don’t love it with Raven, though, because Raven is more gender neutral. But getting a perfect name for this baby is more important than getting the perfect sibset match. I say go with Aurora.
I am not very well versed in mythology but just want to add some names I thought match the spirit of Raven, lyrical magical and literary:
Reverie, Story, Phoenix, Lyric, Electra, Ember, Journey, Ever, Soleil, Sonnet
I agree with everything Emmeline said above. I love the name Aurora, and Raven is lovely but when paired as a sib set it makes me think Aurora is a Disney princess and Raven is the evil queen.
My favorite name that Swistle suggested is Freya. I had never heard it until my friend in the UK named her daughter Freya and instantly fell in love with the name. Would love to see it used more in the US.
Raven and Freya ❤️
I love another reader’s suggestion of FLORA! Flora Paige! Raven and Flora
OK, at the risk of revealing my inner 13 yo boy, I want to mention that Aurora Cox made me immediately think of Morning Wood. I don’t know if someone who wasn’t a name enthusiast/mythology reader would think of that. Clearly, I’m only one voice here in a large group of people who love the name, but Aurora is the goddess of dawn and that’s just where my brain went. Personally, I think kids could make fun of anything and if they hone in on a name, then there must not have been an easier target, so yay for that kid.
I like Athena and Phoebe Cox.