Hi Swistle!
I found your blog a little before getting pregnant and have been a huge fan. My husband and I are expecting our first child, a daughter, in about two months. We are American and plan to raise the baby in the US. While we’ve discussed names together a few times and borrowed some name books from the library, nothing has really come up that’s been a true YES for both of us.
Our last name is like Duffie with a different spelling, and we are Jessica and John. If the baby had been a boy we definitely would have chosen James, but are not necessarily looking for ‘J’ names. Obviously, things may change but we would like to have one more baby in the future.
We both like names with a lot of nickname potential. For example, our cats are Claudia and Leona, but are often respectively called Kip/Kiki and Yona/Yogurt (so I felt totally called out by that baby girl McTune letter!!! haha). We will likely use the baby’s full name and nicknames interchangeably.
My potential name list is kind of short. My top favorite name ever for this baby is Georgia (Gigi, Georgie), with Theresa (Tess, Reese) being a moderate second. For me, Georgia feels like a perfect combination of recognizable but not overused, classy, and wears great throughout life and on any personality. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bring any particular joy to my husband. Juliet would be my third place, but I have a very strong unpleasant association with a Jules, so that’s out. Most other names I find myself feeling kind of ambivalent about. Some names I’d put in my ‘decent, but not wow’ category are Keira, Maya, and Cassandra. I like Claire and Antoinette as middle names, if that helps give a clearer picture of my naming style.
My husband really likes the names Alice, Madeline, Imogen, and Juliet (although he agreed to rule it out over the strong nickname possibility Jules). For ‘decent but not wow’, he likes Cassandra, Claire, and Veronica. He also likes Antoinette as a middle name, but not as a first.
Other observation:
Some ‘D’ names can sound silly with our last name (Daisy is cute but Daisy Duffie sounds like a Fairly OddParents character), as do some names that end in a -y sound. I’m cognizant about this for nicknames as well. For example, the name Madeleine is nice, but Maddy Duffie has a lot of ‘Ds’ and the repeating -y sound. Other potential names kind of melt into Duffie, such as Alice Duffie -> Alicestuffy and Jade Duffie -> Jay Duffie, and I don’t love that either!I know you are a proponent of considering the woman’s last name, which as you can see from my email address is uncommon. I like that name and still use it sometimes, but I enjoy the anonymity that Duffie has afforded me. It also has a similar region of origin as my mother’s maiden name. As such, our family is sticking with it! I hope you can help me rise to the challenge of finding a name we both love that works with our last name too.
Thank you!
I think the name Georgia is perfect, and so my first hope is that this will be one of those letters where we first hear that the spouse (almost always a husband) is not on board, and then later we get a follow-up that the spouse came around to it and in fact ended up choosing it.
I wonder if either of you would like Geneva? Geneva Duffie. I like the way it repeats the SOUND of your first initials without repeating the actual letter. And I like the nicknames: you’d still have Gigi, and also Genna/Gen, and also Eva and Evie and Neva and Nevie. I know at my house we would end up calling her Gevie (I don’t know if we’d spell it that way) and Jeeves and so forth too. Geneva Claire Duffie; Geneva Antoinette Duffie.
Or Genevieve. Genevieve Claire Duffie; Genevieve Antoinette Duffie.
I agree that Alice kind of mushes into the surname, and the absolute OCEAN of Maddys in my kids’ schools makes me reluctant to endorse the otherwise wonderful Madeline—but I love Imogen from your husband’s list. Imogen Duffie. It’s underused but not difficult, and it has fun nicknames: Immy and Gen/Genna, Mo, and also Midge. MIDGE!! Imogen Claire Duffie; Imogen Antoinette Duffie.
Theresa/Tessa and Veronica make me wonder if either of you would like Vanessa. Vanessa Duffie.
I also want to push both of you to like Veronica, even though it’s only on your husband’s Okay list. It’s just such a terrific name, and it has nickname options: Ronnie is retro; Nicky could work; Nica feels more modern; she could use Vera, too. And even though this is not usually my sort of thing, I like that it is KIND OF a combination of your two names: the -on- sound of John, the -ica of Jessica. Jessica, John, and Veronica is pretty fun to say, as long as it won’t make you feel pressured to repeat sounds for a potential future child.
Now that it has occurred to me, I wish to pressure you to name this baby Winifred. WINIFRED. Winnie! Freddie! Winifred Duffie could give us a little bit of an issue of -d running into D-, but I’m not finding it’s causing an issue when I say it: I just pause for the merest moment between the two names. And I suppose Freddie Duffie is a little too much swap-the-letters-around, but I can’t talk myself out of it!
I think Juliet could be added to the middle name list, since you both like it, and since it is very likely from that position to result in any use of the nickname Jules. Vanessa Juliet. Veronica Juliet. Winifred Juliet.
I started thinking “Linnea” (linn-NAY-ah) as I was re-reading the letter, but now I don’t remember why. Linnea Duffie. Linnea Claire Duffie; Linnea Antoinette Duffie; Linnea Juliet Duffie. Linny, Lin, Naya. Oh, I see now: it was because of the cat’s name, Leona. They do share sounds, but they’re not TOO-too similar, and perhaps the cat could rely more on her nicknames.
Theresa, Cassandra, Alice all make me think of Annelise. Annelise Duffie. Annelise Claire Duffie; Annelise Juliet Duffie.
Susanna. Susanna Duffie. Susie, Annie, Anna, Zuzu. Susanna Claire Duffie; Susanna Juliet Duffie.
Cordelia. Cordelia Duffie. Cory, Delia, Lee. Cordelia Claire Duffie; Cordelia Antoinette Duffie; Cordelia Juliet Duffie.
When I think “name with lots of nicknames,” I think Margaret. Margaret Duffie. Meg, Maggie, Daisy (maybe too cute with the surname as a given name, but I think fine as a nickname), Greta, Margo, etc. Margaret Claire Duffie.
I’m Team Margaret all day, every day, if John doesn’t come around to Georgia!
Or maybe Marguerite, if that suits you all better (Antoinette and Juliet made me think they might prefer it).
Many of the same nicknames as Margaret, plus Rita and Reet.
Even though you have a bad association with ‘Jules’ I see it’s still third on your list and the only crossover with your husband, so I’d consider it a contender. If I think back on the names I considered impossible because of associations back when I was naming my first child, I can barely remember why / I see how having a child named that name could overcome the association. So I’d totally choose Juliet and plan to call her Jet or Juju and then see if Jules actually feels good associated with the child in front of you. Or not and don’t use that nickname. I know a Juliette who goes by Liette actually, which might appeal. But yes, I hope your hubby comes across to your favourite name.
Yes! And even if Jules is used as a nickname, it will be your Jules, and not the former Jules. I had issues with potential nicknames that changed completely when they referred to my own child, and now I love them.
Also think Margaret is lovely if Georgia is a no go.
I came here to say I have a Juliet and we call her Jet- it is delightful! Best of luck. I’m pregnant with my third and Geneva is on my list :)
Okay, Theresa is my top girl name. You can’t overlook the sheer NICKNAMES of it all.
You’ve got Tess, Tessie, Tessa. Tress, Tressie, Tressa. You’ve got Reese and Resa. Want to go even further off the beaten path? Thea, Tea, Trixie. Does the middle name start with an L, like Lillian? Then you’ve got Tillie. When I told a young nephew that my middle name is Theresa he said “oh, FANCY!” because to kids who haven’t grown up around a lot of Theresas, it does sound fancy. Theresa is a gem hiding right out in the open!
All your other choices are great too. You can’t go wrong. I just had to give my Theresa pitch because I so rarely see people consider it.
Theresa/Teresa is so good and so underused!
What about Georgette? Same nickname potential as Georgia, has the “et” sound from Juliet, might be a good compromise?
And I will also always be on team Margaret.
I just want to say Claudia Claire Duffie has such a great flow AND Claudia Duffie sounds like a pretty bada** report, CEO, artist, doctor, teacher, etc. Nicknames are great too– Claude, Dia, Cece.
Ooh, CLAUDE as a nn for Claudia! That’s brilliant, and it makes me love it even more!
I LOVE the name Claudia—but it’s their cat’s name!
Simple solution: rename the cat Clawdia, name the baby Claudia 😂 haha I kid
So many great contenders! I want to boost Claudia, Veronica, Theresa, Cordelia, and Margaret. Any would sound great with a potential future brother James if you plan on trying for a second, and they all have a glorious bounty of nicknames! Delia Duffie (from Cordelia) might be my favorite.
Just wanted to mention…I live in CT and we named our daughter middle name Imogen. Omg few ppl pronounce it correctly. They land on Immojean. It’s awful. Most ppl aren’t familiar with it at all where I live.
I LOVE the suggestions of Genevieve and Margaret! I really love the name Gretchen, which is a nickname of Margaret. I always have, but our surname’s first and second syllable rhymes with it, and I didn’t have enough girls!
Let us know what name you use!!
Also, I just wanted to say that I had a classmate named Deirdre Duffy (nn Didi), and I thought it was the most perfect name ever. Didi Duffy. But obvs tastes vary.
I like Georgia the best of your choices as well.
Since you both have some affection for Claire but it’s not rising to the top or to first name position, have you considered Clara? I love how Clara Duffie sounds.
Love the idea of Annelise! Sweet name.
Or Annalisa.
Or Elise.
Or Eliza (nn Lizzie or Ellie)
If you husband isn’t sure about Georgia, what about Georgina?
Some other familiar but not overused name ideas that might work with your surname:
Camille (Cam, Cami, Millie)
Clara
Bianca
Lydia
Phillipa (Pip, Pippa or Philley)
Or just Pippa
Good luck!
Or would Georgiana have more appeal to him and still be one you love? I think it’s gorgeous, classic, and adds Annie/Anna nicknames to the ones you already have with Georgia. (Also Gia is a good nickname, to go with your Gigi and Georgie.)
Clarinda!!
Violet
Valentina
Theodora
Belinda
I had also wondered if Claire has first name potential. I like the suggestion on Clara. Antoinette makes me think of Antonia. I’d also like to suggest Helena, Philippa, Louisa, Marina, Cecilia, Natalia and Lucia. Traditional with a wealth of nicknames.
In your situation I would be inclined to try out the names you both feel moderately warm towards. I would give each name four or five days where your focus is on that one name and visualising it as the name of your daughter. It might just be the space you need to see the name in a new light or make a breakthrough.
Wondering if you’ve considered Julietta? The English language pronunciation is “julie-etta.” That gives you the nickname Etta, Lia, or Jett (rather than Jules). I LOVE those names, and they sound good with your last name. Julietta Duffie. Etta Duffie. Lia Duffie. Jett Duffie. Just a thought!
This is coming from left field, but the all time best name for nicknames is, in my opinion, Hyacinth. Baby Hi. Aunt Hi. Grandma Hi (see, it sets her up for a lifetime of friendliness). Yaya. Cindy. Maybe Cece if you want.
I like virtually all the names on both of your lists, so I feel like you can’t go wrong, but when I started to search for one that’s high up on both lists I started to see the problem. You both have Cassandra on a similar (not high) tier. If you paired it with Claire and called her CeCe would that increase the appeal? Or how about Charlotte Claire? That seems to fit your style and she could be Charlie, Lottie, or CeCe. I like Josephine for you, too, if you don’t mind having three Js in the family. There are so many great J names it wouldn’t be hard to go all in on it if you have another kid (not that you’d have to). Jo, Josie, Posey, for nicknames. Josephine Antoinette, Josephine Claire.
Juliet? Julie, Lettie, Lee, or Jett pretty easily.
Anita? Annie, Nita,
Susannah? Sue, Susie, Susan, Anna, Annie, Sunny, Zuzu, Zan
Josephine? Jo, Joney, Josie, Jean, Posey
Carolina? Cara, Lena, Carol, Caro
Lucinda? Lucy, Cindy, maybe Lucky
Natalia? Nat, Talia, Lia, Natalie,
Debora? Deb, Debbie, DeDe, Debs, maybe RaRa
Cassandra? Cassie, Sandy, Sandra, Casey, San
I am absolutely Team Georgia. Husband, get on board!
I love Georgia but if it’s a no go I’m gonna go ahead and plug one of my all time favorite names: Miranda
Miranda is feminine and flowy in style just like Georgia, Antoinette, Theresa, Cassandra, Veronica, Claudia, Leona, Juliet (which is also Shakespearian like Miranda) and it has so many nickname options! Mira, Miri, Randy, Andy, Mimi, Mindy, maybe even Mia, Myra, or Maya! And did I mention it means “wonderful, to be admired”? Such a beautiful name all around and I think it perfectly fits what you love about Georgia: “a perfect combination of recognizable but not overused, classy, and wears great throughout life and on any personality.”
Congratulations, good luck, and please let us know what you decide!
Seconding this! Miranda is also one of my favorites and has great multi-nickname potential (Ran is another one, though Mir and Miri are my favorites.)
And Genevieve, which I adopted as a commenter name because I love it so. Gen, Genie, Vee, Viv, Vivi, Neve, Nevie, Ev, Evvie, Evie. And fun silly things to croon to a baby: Genuine Genevieve. Genevieve the Generator. Engine Genevieve coming down the track.
Joanna? Joey, Jo, JoJo? Seems like some of the sounds you like. (I know others in Swistleland are fans of Josephine and I am… not haha. But Joanna seemed possible!)
I also love the name Georgia, but if not, how about this name I saw today: Vivette. I thought, lovely name, and GREAT nickname potential! V, Vivi, Vi, Ettie, Etta, Viva…
Or Celeste? So, so pretty.
I second the suggestion of Georgia. Seems like it would fit nicely.
A bit of an outfield suggestion – Cosette ? (Uncommon but mostly recognisable).
It combines the sibilant sounds from some of yours & your hubby’s favourites, with the et ending. Plus it means victorious.
I think it goes smoothly with James if you have a future son.
We have a Beatrix and one of the reasons we loved it was the multiple nicknames! Bee, Be-ah, Trix, Trixie. I also saw on a previous swistle post about Bix being a nickname. Can also go with Beatrice which has similar nicknames but Tris instead of Trix!