Dear Swistle,
We are having our second baby girl in late August. Our first daughter is named Holly Clare Pederssen (middle + surname spelled differently)
We are having the classic dilemma of having used our favorite name for our first child and are bummed that we haven’t had the same clarity for this child as we did for the first. I’ve been reading your blog for years, and am a self-proclaimed name nerd. LOVE baby names.
Before we even conceived we said THE name for a 2nd baby girl would be Mabel Marais. It was done, that was that. Mabel is BOTH of our maternal great grandmothers’ names. Marais is after a city which we are very fond of, plus we think it’s beautiful with almost any first name we can come up with. Marais is 99.9% set in stone as the middle.
My issue is feeling like there are other options out there. Mabel is beautiful and meaningful to us, but I told my husband it just sounds “sticky” in my mouth. I know you know what I mean. Are there any similar names you can recommend that would be fresh to our eyes and ears?
Some of our (ok my) guidelines have been:
-No name ending with Y or IE as I don’t want to repeat the same sound our first daughter has
-No name ending in A (this guideline I’m not as “strict” on) I’d love it to end in really anything other than Y, IE, A, AH
-I don’t like names that can be shortened or nicknamedI personally believe that our 2nd daughter’s name has the opportunity to make Holly sound certain way when they go together. It could create a more twirly, girly set of sisters (think: Holly and Mirabel) which I’m not so sure I like. For some reason I’m leaning toward a more androgynous sounding name, BUT wanting it to flow with Holly. I am not a fan of sibling sets that don’t make any sense together. And I’m always cognizant of the fact that it would be “Holly and _____,” but someday it could be “Holly, _____, and _____” if we have a third child.
Here are some names that have been floating around our house:
-Payton Marais (initials PMP, ehh?)
-Blair Marais
… Ok that’s really it.We like both of those but are looking for more to test out with Holly.
For a boy I was loving the name Baker. (NOT after the football player) Others we loved were Hayes, Gavin + Corbin. We were convinced it was a boy until we found out. So when we learned she is a girl, we kind of went back to our baby girl name drawing board, per se.
Am I being annoying and should just go with the name we were so confident with before? Is there another name out there that is “the one?”
Thank you in advance for your wisdom and advice, Swistle and commenters!
I think it’s normal to re-think even a Very Decided name once an actual baby is on the way, and I also think it’s fun: why give up the thrill of the naming process, just because you may already have the right name? It’s especially pleasant, I think, to be able to think about it as much as you want, always knowing that if you get tired of the process, or stressed by it, you can go right back to the plan of Mabel Marais. And if it’s just cold feet, playing around with other names can sometimes help with that.
I wonder if you would like May instead of Mabel. May Pederssen; Holly and May. Or, and this would be my own preference, you could name her Mabel to get the family honor name, but call her May for as long as Mabel feels odd in your mouth. (I do know what you mean, and also my GUESS is that effect would fade with time/use.)
Payton strikes me as a mismatch with Holly. Holly is a name that was moderately common in my generation, while Payton was virtually non-existent; that’s probably part of it. But also: Holly is a nature name currently used only for girls in the U.S., while Payton is a modern surname name with unisex usage (though leaning more toward girls). It immediately hits my ear in this context as a brother name.
I can better imagine a Holly and a Blair. Even though Blair wasn’t much more common than Payton in my age group, there was a Blair on the TV show The Facts of Life, so it feels like it’s from a similar era. (I feel similarly about Drew and Reese: I didn’t go to school with any girls who had those names, but Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore were on screen and made those names feel familiar and from the right time period.) It’s a little bit of a surprising combination, but not startling, and I think a third name could make a very nice happy assortment later on.
Holly and Mabel is a surprising combination to me, though SIGNIFICANTLY less so when I hear that Mabel is a family name on both sides. Holly peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, but I don’t remember Mabel coming to my attention as anything but an Old Lady Name until they used it for the baby on the TV show Mad About You in the late 1990s (and it was a startling choice on the show); more recently, it was the name of a quirky character on the TV show Gravity Falls. (Today’s edition of Swistle is apparently TV-themed.) The name Mabel had dropped out of the Top 1000 completely in 1964, and appeared again as a sort of alternative-vintage-revival choice starting in 2013, along with names such as Matilda. It’s currently almost exactly as popular as Holly (according to the Social Security Administration, in 2019 Holly was #479 and Mabel was #440)—but headed in opposite directions: Holly gradually dropping more and more out of usage while Mabel gradually gains. In another couple of decades, the generation gap may become more apparent—like siblings named Susan and Shannon, or Jessica and Ava.
It kind of sounds like I’m trying to talk you out of Mabel, and I’m not (I love the name AND I love a double family honor name); this is merely the downside of being CHATTY about baby names. I start looking into it, and typing what I find, and before I know it I’m talking about not-really-equivalent pairs of names (Susan, Shannon, Jessica, and Ava were/are all much too common to compare to Holly and Mabel, but they came to mind as representative examples of their eras). Holly, while a peer name for me, is not the same as other peer names such as Michelle and Shannon, nor the same as peer names such as Elizabeth and Sarah: while not a timeless name like Elizabeth/Sarah, it feels much more usable than the quite-tied-to-their-era Michelle/Shannon. Michelle and Shannon need to wait their turn to come back into style, and Elizabeth and Sarah are always in style, but Holly feels more like, say, Jillian and Veronica: just because they were used back then doesn’t mean they’re not still working great now.
Holly has a further advantage because it’s a nature name. Nature-type names come in and out of style like any others (Heather and Holly and Amber back then, Violet and Hazel and Ruby WAY back then and also now), but they have a certain permanence because of being Actual Things (and usually Actual Pretty Things). It also potentially gives us a nice way to tie sibling names together. Perhaps you don’t want to catch yourself humming “The holly and the ivy / When they are both full grown” day and night (and that’s a bit of a competitive song for siblings anyway), but Holly and Hazel, or Holly and Ruby, or Holly and Violet, have a pleasant little tie-in without being too cute (though it would be a good idea to think ahead to a possible third girl and whether you might feel pressured to go with another nature name).
So in short, I think those are the areas I’d be starting with if I were you: the Jillian and Veronica names (contemporaries of Holly that still sound great), and the Hazel and Ruby names (contemporary/vintage choices that fit thematically—especially if the theme is more subtle, as with a name such as Laurel). Well, and then I’d move on to “any other names that seemed like they’d work with Holly,” so this list is a bit of a jumble.
(Also, you will notice I ignored for the time being the preferences for avoiding names ending in -y/-ie/-a and names that could be nicknamed. This is partly in case you are moved to reconsider those preferences in the face of difficulty, and partly to make the list more widely usable by others in a similar naming situation.)
Abigail/Abby
Anna/Annie
Avril
Bethany
Bridget
Brynn
Claudia
Cleo
Darcy
Emily
Ginny
Hazel
Hope
Jill
Jillian
Jocelyn/Joss
Joelle
Joy
Laine
Laura
Laurel
Lynn
Mallory
Maren
Melinda
Melody
Morgan
Paige
Phoebe
Robin
Ruby
Sadie
Shelby
Susanna
Tess
Veronica
Violet
The group is going to differ on some of those, of course: one person’s “This name is still beautifully usable!” is another person’s “Wow, that is such a MOM NAME!,” is another person’s “I didn’t even hear that name for the first time until after high school!” It depends a lot on our own personal experiences with the names, and where we grew up, and how old we are, as well as our impressions of the name Holly (Holly Golightly is a very different impression than Holly Hobbie, which in turn is a very different impression than the Hollys I went to school with, who are now mothers of half-/nearly-/fully-grown kids).
But don’t let your eye skip past some of those just because they’re familiar. Lynn, for example: I recently encountered a small child named Lynn and was BLOWN AWAY by it. I hadn’t Truly Seen the name Lynn for DECADES: my eye just went right past it as the filler middle name of maybe a third of the women I know. But as a first name, and NOW! It’s trim and unexpected, familiar yet extremely underused, feminine yet not a bit frilly. Lynn! Lynn!
Or Robin. I went to school with more than one Robin, but all I have to do is say the name a few times to bring back the bouncy fresh birdlike sound.
Or Bridget. I only know one Bridget my age, and her name is so much fun for me to say, I have to be careful not to overdo it.
Name update:
Hello Swistle,
This past March, the same evening after I sent you my email request for naming help, we found the name Brynn and it was almost like it had a shining halo above it, saying, “this is her name.”
The following day, I read your response on your blog and it felt like fate that you had included it in your list of names to go with Holly.
Our (ten pound !!!!) Brynn Marais was born last week and we are so happy with our naming decision. Thank you for your input, and we also very much appreciated reading the perspective of fellow name-nerd commenters – you guys are my people!
Photos attached of the sisters Holly Clare and Brynn Marais❤️
So the only Hayes I know is a girl, and I’ve always loved her name. Maybe you could consider that as a girl name since you liked it for a boy? Holly and Hayes has a cute ring to it!
I simply MUST suggest Meredith for you. Holly and Meredith, Holly and Merry, Holly, Merry and Baker. Meredith Marais Pedersson. Unisex like Peyton, restrained like Mabel, but potentially twirly with that extra syllable.
I like the idea of using May as a nickname for Mabel. Mabel has such an appealing backstory, but May seems a better match for Holly. I think of month names as being kind of nature-y– that must be why. And then when she’s grown and not quite so associated with her sister, Mabel’s a good option if she wants it.
Also, nature names are such a big category you probably wouldn’t have trouble if you had three sisters to name (or even two sisters and a brother– the boy names aren’t as common but there are some good ones).
Ooh, month names! That makes me think of April, which I think sounds nice with Holly.
I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Laurel, and for some reason Margot also popped into my head. I think all three would go well with the last name and with Marais as a middle name. I would stay away from “P” names to avoid the initials P.P.
I had an aunt Mabell who had a sister Myrtle. So if Mabel feel twisty, maybe Myrtle somehow works better for you. (I love both names).
I love Mabel for you and love Swistle’s suggestion of nn May as well!
Payton and Blair swing Holly way to the 80s for me.
I know little girls with the names Baker and Hayes, so if you would want to use those names for a girl, that would work too, although I can understand if that would be a hard no. I would also think about the H trend if you use Holly and Hayes. Hayes Marais might be a mouthful.
This might swing a little too plant-y, but Juniper nn June keeps popping into my head. Also, Audrey does too, probably because of the Holly Golightly connection. Audrey Marais sounds great.
I have an Evelyn & Mabel – I loved loved Mabel as a name and then discovered that my husband’s maternal great grandmother was a Mabel, so it was kismet. Oddly, we do call Evelyn “Evie” (ee-vee) but we haven’t nicknamed our Mabel at all.
Just a thought . . . switch your first and middle names. Marias is a very pretty name and your grandmothers are still honored with a middle name. Marias Mabel is a good name too.
Of Swistle’s suggestions, I second
Holly and Mabel “May”
Holly and Eve
Holly and Maren
Holly and Ruby
Holly and Susanna “Sunny”
I would add Briar, Fiona and June
Bridget, Meredith, and Jillian all feel like winners! Laine/Lane also feels unisex but still fits well with Holly.
I think Mabel is adorable but I don’t love it with Holly. They feel so different. I’d vote to move Mabel (love that it’s a double honor name!) to the middle and then pick something you love for the first.
Holly Clare and Audra Mabel
Holly Clare and June Mabel
Holly Clare and Nora Mabel
Holly Claire and Louisa Mabel
Good luck!
Interestingly, Holly and Mabel sound just right together to me – but I’m in another country where Holly is still enjoying a peak and Mabel is just starting to rise. I think Mabel Marais is gorgeous and unusual.
Also like the suggestion of using May (as a name, or a nicknames for Mabel). Maeve is another possibility, and her warrior-queen connotations would accentuate Holly’s thorny fierceness rather than cuteness, if that’s what you’re going for.
Other suggestions:
Holly and Ursula
Holly and Tamsin
I love Laurel as a sister for Holly so much!
I second Reese and Laurel. And Audrey!! I would be careful not to use a more modern name than Holly if you want them to match styles. I’ll add Ellis and Heidi to the list, as well.
But, I think the importance of using Mabel as a double honor name would sway me to use it, personally.
Ooh what about Blythe? Kinda on the unisex side, but still female, can’t be shortened to an obvious nickname, etc.
I rushed over here to also suggest Blythe. It’s a word name like Holly, with such a sweet meaning but not too frilly. Both are not common but familiar. Holly and Blythe.
I am always a fan of honor names, and Mabel is a pretty name. I also like reversing your names and putting Marias first.
Laurel- like the leaf- to me is too floral to match with Holly.
But I agree with others that Jillian, Meredith, and Bridget are top notch- all winners!
Instead of Laurel, Lauren?
Instead of Blair, Blake?
But…. Bridget Mabel or Bridget Marais? Oh my!
Holly was the name that got away for me and Mabel is definitely the name of my fictional third daughter. So I love this set! I agree the double honour makes it a slam dunk. You said you don’t want a nickname for the name you choose – so maybe Mae isn’t for you, but it’s also darling.
Or shift Mabel into the middle spot (and name a pet Marais or give it to 3rd child) and use something like Maren or Miller or Merrick (clearly I like alliteration.) Greer, Quinn, Wren?
Good luck! I think giving yourself time to search for anything that makes your heart sing more is fun. But don’t give up on Mabel yet!
Thank you for your comment! We are currently noodling on moving Mabel to the middle spot and loving the name Brynn (which crazily we stumbled on after I emailed Swistle but before she posted her response!) Thoughts on Brynn Mabel?
I think Brynn makes Holly feel more tailored and global! Brynn Mabel is quite sweet. I’m glad you’ve found another name you love. I like it quite a bit better than Payton or Blair.
😍😍😍
Brynn works wonderfully well with Holly! That’s a great name. Brynn Mabel, Holly and Brynn. Absolutely.
The matching Ys and double letters are delightful, but not overwhelming in matchy-matchiness, and Brynn and Holly are both delightful “trim and tailored” girl names.
It’s also pleasant that they’re different in how they sound- vowel ending vs consonant, single syllable vs double.
I adore Mabel as a sister name, but I think Brynn is a great competitor!
I love Holly and I love it with Mabel. You are so right that adding a sister is a way to sway which way Holly leans. As a Molly, I like that Holly has the comfy friendliness of Molly and Polly but with a nature element. If not Mabel, I like relatively trim nature names:
Wren
Lark
Aspen
Arbor
Rowan
Willow
Prairie
Iris
Myrtle
Laurel
Lee
Valley
Lilac
Aster
Marigold ( maybe a bit more fanciful but I would swoon at Holly and Marigold)
Reed
Seren (“star”)
Avis
Robin
Nell
Olive
I love Mabel and think it is just lovely with sister Holly.
If you aren’t feeling it or want to move it to the middle name slot, I agree that Blair and Payton make the sibset swing 80s-ish.
For a sister to Holly, my inclination is to go to nature names (apologies for any duplicates):
Linden
Sage
Lark
Willow
Wren
Iris
Bryony (fails ending requirement)
Rose
Rosemary (fails ending requirement)
Primrose
Juniper
(warning: as I’m writing these some of these sibsets might sound like candle scents, ymmv)
Autumn
Clover
Meadow
Calla (fails ending requirement)
Camellia (fails ending requirement)
(falling out of nature theme into leaning-in-to-double-L theme which might lead to breaking no nickname requirement)
Lillian
Lucille
Marielle
Millicent
Phillipa
Roselle
Stella (fails ending requirement)
Bellatrix
Ends in L like Mabel:
Beryl
Coral
Jonquil
Kestrel
Opal
Raquel
Pearl
Mabel, especially if called May/Mae, makes me think of the other name associated with Holly Golightly in the film, the character’s birth name Lulamae. Which could be kind of cool. I think I prefer the suggestion of reversing the first and middle to Marais Mabel, though. The rhythm is maybe not quite as good, but it’s fine, and Marais is gorgeous and sounds fresh, plus it’s a nature name meaning marsh. So many other great suggestions here, too!
I like Mabel and Blair both. But also, what about Brooke?
Meredith, stylistically, strikes me as a perfect sister to Holly. I also like Margot, Evelyn, Laurel, and May as mentioned above.
Here are some other suggestions:
– Ruth
– Carys
– Cassidy (repeats “y” ending)
– Tess
– Kit
– Joanne (would be cute and refreshing to hear on a child!)
– Jean or Joan
– Florence
– Eileen
– Erin
– Roslyn
– Wynn
– Wallis
(Nature-related)
– June
– Jade
– Jasmine
– Iris
– Pearl (PP initials)
– Autumn
– Summer (absolutely love this with Holly!)
– Willow
– Fern (unexpected but sweet with Holly)
I think my favorite from the above list are Summer, Fern, Tess, and Pearl!
I was reading this thinking Paige!!
Paige Marais
Holly and Paige
Mabel makes me think of Martha
Love the suggestion above of Blythe – two word names with historical use. Love it.
I’m late to the party, so apologies for repetition.
Mabel Marais, with Mae as the daily use name (as opposed to May). Holly and Mabel; Holly and Mae.
Joy Marais While Joy ends with a Y, it doesn’t have the same long E sound. Holly and Joy.
Robin Marais One of my favorite name pairings is Robin Sophia. Holly and Robin.
Rue Marais The drawback to this name is it translates to “Marsh Street” in French. Holly and Rue.
Brooke Marais Continues the nature theme. Holly and Brooke.
Bliss Mararis I’m not sure why, but more and more I am liking the name Bliss. Holly and Bliss.
Coming up with new names is more fun, but I can’t cause Mabel Marais is perfect.
I really like Holly and Mabel!
In terms of the name feeling ‘sticky’, I find that names with a strong s/z sound can sound ‘fresh’ and ‘clean’ (realise this is so subjective though!). Less sticky names, to me, would include:
Holly and Astrid
Holly and Alice
Holly and Iris (although plant theme is very obvious)
Holly and Rosalind
I love Holly and Mabel together. Mabel’s proximity to “Maple,” as well as its echo of “May,” make it a kind of honorary nature name for me. Or you could emulate Jason Bateman and name her Maple!
I do like the name Mabel but not so much with Holly. (Of course, the honor part of it may outweigh the style and mouth feel of the name.) While I like nature names, I think I would avoid floral ones to prevent crossing the line from well matched to cutesy.
Some possibilities:
Similar to Peyton and Blair –
Quinn Marais (Holly and Quinn)
Paige Marais (Holly and Paige)
Sloan Marais (Holly and Sloan)
Brooke Marais (Holly and Brooke)
Other options –
Amber Marais (Holly and Amber)
Dawn Marias (Holly and Dawn)
Robin Marias (Holly and Robin)
Wren Marias (Holly and Wren)
What about Maeve if Mabel doesn’t feel quite right? I think Holly and Maeve would be great sister names!
Also, in terms of one-syllable nature names that fit stylistically with Holly, I like Dawn and Brooke, as previous commenters have mentioned.
Holly and Maeve
Holly and Brooke
Holly and Dawn
Love Holly and Summer, too!
You said you don’t want an -ie, Y, or A ending, you want something that pairs well with Holly, and maybe leans a bit androgynous so I wanted to suggest Brooke as it checks all those boxes. Holly and Brooke. Brooke Marais.
If you are willing to flex on the not ending in -a rule then I’d also suggest Tessa. Holly and Tessa. Tessa Marais.
First, I LOVE Mabel. Maybe the “sticky” feeling has to do with the two M’s in a row (with Mirais)? But it would be a fabulous choice!
For other options, it sounds like you’re looking for a name with a certain simplicity to it, that is not very frilly-sounding, and that sounds nice with Holly but isn’t too matchy-matchy. So my suggestions might be:
* Lois
* Lenore
* Alice
* Joan
* Jane
* Margot
Was going to add Eve, but that might be a little too Christmas-y sounding with Holly.
* Marais, I mean! Not Mirais.
You are absolutely right about Eve! I had it on my list, but I’m going to remove it.
I think Mabel Marais is perfect! Maeve was going to be my next suggestion, and I see I’m not the only one. For some reason Isolde popped into my head too.
I think you should stick with Mabel. It’s a great name, sounds wonderful with Holly and is an honour name. I went through a similar dilemma with naming my son; I COULD NOT come up with a name I liked for him. We ended up picking my husband and my paternal grandfathers’ name, and have never regretted it. Every time I think “ohhhh, maybe we should have gone with XYZ instead” I am quickly delighted by his name again after I think about family connection.
I do think it is fun to keep revisiting names and normal to keep wondering “is this IT”, but I really do feel you have a winner with Mabel!
Mae! Sabrina, Tess, Genevieve, Ivy, Margot
I like Holly and Tessa and Holly and Wren. Any of them works with Mabel as the middle.