Jen writes:

My husband and I are preparing for the arrival of our second baby (a girl!) any day now. For years we have talked about baby names, and we always thought we would name a daughter June Margo after our beloved grandmothers.

However, we’ve also both fallen in love with the name Amelia Anne as well.

This past week I happened to mention in passing to my sister that we were thinking of Amelia and she revealed that she and her husband have been “saving” that name for the past 7 years for their “someday” daughter (she has 4 boys and is pregnant with #5…as of yet they don’t know the gender).

This seemed to cinch the deal for me that our baby would be June Margo. But, the more I think about it, the more worried I get. My name is Jennifer. Everyone I know calls me Jen, and my husband calls me Jenny. I have a sinking feeling that once baby girl arrives I will instantly regret my decision to give her a name so similar to mine. I’m starting to envision the confusion between our names only one vowel sound away from each other. On the other hand, we have always wanted to avoid “popular” names and Amelia seems to climb the charts every year.

SO, here is the dilemma, should I approach my sister and hope she’ll compromise on her long saved name, or am I being paranoid about similar vowel sounds?
Do you think Jen/June/Jenny/Junie will be confusing?
Baby girl has a big brother named Ezra, and our last name begins with a W and rhymes with Farnsworth.
Can you help me untangle this mess and set my mind at ease??

Thanks!

June seems distinct from Jen to me, and Junie distinct from Jenny. I can certainly hear the similar sounds, and I think there could be an occasional mis-hearing/mis-saying of one name or the other, but not at a level that would affect the happiness of your lives. I just yelled out both names in an empty house as if summoning for dinner, and I think they’d actually sound quite different: the vowel sound really projects.

You’d like to avoid popular names, and both Amelia and June are rising in popularity—but Amelia is at #23, while June is in the 400s. Furthermore, I think Ezra and June make a great sibling combination, while the combination of Ezra and Amelia draws attention to the matching -a endings.

You have a name you’ve loved for years, a name that honors two beloved grandmothers—and you’re considering switching to a recently-added choice that would cause your sister distress whether or not she has a girl, as well as knocking both honorees out of place. I’m opposed to dibs on names, but this is a situation where I can’t see the good in switching to the one name your sister wants. If you no longer want to use June, there is still time to change it, but I wouldn’t change to Amelia. Perhaps if you have another daughter later on, and by then your sister is done having children, the name could be reconsidered.

You could switch to Margo June: that would be lovely, and would completely eliminate the Jen/June issue, as well as keeping both grandmother names.

Or you could switch to Anne Margo, or Margo Anne.

Or you could change to a name similar to Amelia, one that still leaves room for your sister to use Amelia. “Similar” is a pretty loose term, but here are a few I might consider:

Abigail Anne (AAW)
Adelaide Anne (AAW)
Agatha Anne (AAW)
Aubrey Anne (AAW)
Aurora Anne (AAW)
Cecilia Anne (rhymes, but that seems fun for cousins) (CAW)
Celia Anne (CAW)
Clara Anne (CAW)
Cordelia Anne (CAW)
Dahlia Anne (DAW)
Delia Anne (DAW)
Eliza Anne (probably too close to Ezra) (EAW)
Elodie Anne (EAW)
Emerald Anne (EAW)
Emery Anne (EAW)
Emmeline Anne (EAW)
Evelyn Anne (EAW)
Everly Anne (EAW)
Felicity Anne (FAW)
Georgia Anne (GAW)
Harriet Anne (HAW)
Hazel Anne (HAW)
Julia Anne (JAW)
Louisa Anne (LAW)
Lydia Anne (LAW)
Magnolia Anne (MAW)
Matilda Anne (MAW)
Olivia Anne (OAW)
Penelope Anne (PAW)
Sabrina Anne (SAW)
Sylvia Anne (SAW)
Veronica Anne (VAW)
Virginia Anne (VAW)

Or maybe it is the alliteration of Amelia Anne you like, and you could find other similar pairings. Julia Jane, for example, or Margo May.

Laura writes:

I was hoping you could help me! I am expecting my 4th child in January and just found out she is a girl. We have chosen, re-chosen and, scrapped her name completely many times. We have a short German last name that starts with “K” and rhymes with “fish”. We love our girls’ names (Anneliese and Genevieve) and our son is a 5th generation Stephen (after my husband, etc.). After reading your blog, it seems like we have some similar favorites. We are Irish and German.

Until the ultrasound a week ago, our girl name was Lorelei (with the intention of using the nickname Lila). This is our big issue as our families don’t really seem to be respectful of what we want our child called (Genevieve’s intended nickname is/was Eve, but family insists on calling her Jenny–My husband and I mostly call her the full name or Eve). We realize that we are likely going to hear this baby called Lori and Lora half the time, so it is kind of putting a huge damper on the name for me (my name is Laura and besides not wanting the baby “named” after me, I am just not a huge fan of those names–probably because of people calling me the wrong name!)

Anyway, we have considered other options like Madeleine, which I love, but worry it is way too overused. I also like Scarlett, Fiona, and Cecilia, but not much feels quite right. Our families act like Anneliese and Genevieve are weird and exotic (and I know we will get a pained reaction with anything we choose, unless it’s in the top 5! haha) On the plus side, my husband and I are usually on a similar wavelength!

We are also trying to avoid any J-sounding names because I have long wanted to use the name Jude if we ever have another boy and I don’t know if I’m ready to decide against a 5th just yet (which eliminates Josephine, another one I love).

Sorry if this was long! I appreciate your help!

Lorelei sounds like the perfect name for her, but I see your point about your families and nicknames: it would be easy to say “Just MAKE them use the nicknames you’ve chosen!!”—but we have to work with the reality we’ve got.

I wonder if there would still be some hope in this case, with this particular name, because of the confusion with your own. You know your families and I don’t, so picture this and tell me if you see any possibility of it working: “Her name is Lorelei! We’ll be using Lila as her nickname—Lora and Lori would be too confusing with my name.” “What? Oh, I thought you were saying Laura! We’re going with Lila for her nickname: otherwise it’s way too close to my name.” Your irritation with those particular nicknames (I have a similar feeling about the name Kristine) may give you the strength to persevere.

But if you are shaking your head and thinking that’s never going to fly, let’s turn our attention to the other possibilities. Madeleine does seem so much more common than the other two choices—but if you love it, I think it’s a very nice fit: Anneliese, Genevieve, and Madeleine. How do you feel about the nickname Maddy, though? The families are bound to use it, and with all the Madisons and Madelyns (plus the similar popularity of the nickname Addy), that may tip the name over the popularity edge.

It is too bad about Josephine, because I think that’s an even better fit. Although maybe the sound of it is too similar to be right after Genevieve anyway: both have the same starting sound and two of the same vowel sounds.

Another name from my own list (if you don’t mind alliteration with the surname) is Clarissa. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Clarissa.

Juliette would be pretty, but carries the same J issue as Josephine.

I love Francesca, though I wonder if the -ca ending would be choppy with the K- surname. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Francesca.

For awhile my mom’s favorite French name was Lucienne. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Lucienne.

That makes me think of Vivienne. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Vivienne.

Winifred is so underused. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Winifred.

Isadora, too. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Isadora.

I also love Willemina, and I think the Dutch spelling is easier than the German (Wilhelmina). Anneliese, Genevieve, and Willemina.

I wanted very badly to use Millicent. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Millicent.

Maybe Rosalie? Anneliese, Genevieve, and Rosalie.

Or Emmeline. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Emmeline. Maybe it shares too many sounds with Anneliese.

Philippa would be pretty. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Philippa.

I like Philomena, too. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Philomena.

Or Meredith. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Meredith.

Eliza looks a little short next to the other two names, but it has the same number of syllables and it’s a name I’ve WEPT over not being able to use. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Eliza.

I like Cecily even better than Cecilia. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Cecily.

Oh, or Felicity? Anneliese, Genevieve, and Felicity. That’s my favorite for you if Lorelei is out. Otherwise I still vote for Lorelei, if you think you can stand the irritation of the family/nickname situation.

Update on Baby Boy McCormick: Campbell?
Update on Baby Boy Booker, Brother to Harper Ann!
Update (and photo!) on Middle Name Challenge: Dixon ______ Shields!
Update (and photo!) on Baby Girl Marasco, Sister to Malia!

Allison writes:

I am reaching out to you in dire need of some guidance. We are expecting our second sweet baby girl in less than 10 days. She is welcomed by big Sister Brooklyn Elizabeth. For the past 9 months I have kept myself awake at night making lists of names that I am hoping to fall in love with. I just can not get there….

We want a name similar in style to Brooklyn. We like different names but not too off the track. I tend to steer away from the frilly names simply because they do not match with Brooklyn. Our last name is very short with 3 letters and one syllable and rhymes with Pam. Therefore short names just seem blah with our last name.

My Husband loves the name London but I am not on board due to the theme with all ready having a place name. We both love the name Blake but have been told numerous times it is a BOY name. To soften the name we do like Blakely Evelyn or Blakley Rose or Blakely Noelle.

Other ideas:
Juliette
Emerson
Maguire (family name)
Blake
London

Names that are out due to a large family of girls:
Aubrey
Paige
Kennedy
Avery

I just wish I loved the name and was 100% sure I was going with the right choice. What are your thoughts on Brooklyn and Blakely or do you have any other suggestions for names that would work?

This 9 month pregger mom thanks you!!

Brooklyn and London work individually, but together are similar to having sisters named Rose and Violet, or Hope and Faith: you can definitely do it, but the theme would dominate.

Brooklyn and Blakely work better together, though that is a lot of sound repetition: both have B sounds, K sounds, and L sounds. When I say them together, my tongue trips and I end up with other combinations: Brookly, Blakelyn, Blooklyn, Brakely, etc. But of course that can be avoided by speaking carefully, and you’re looking for similar names, so if it’s between London and Blakely, I vote for Blakely. My favorite is Blakely Noelle.

With Brooklyn, I think my favorite from your list would be Emerson. Both Brooklyn and Emerson are somewhat unisex but used mostly for girls; they have a similar sound without repeating too many sounds; and both could shorten to nicknames (Brooke and Emmie). Emerson also reminds me a little of the sound of London.

I wonder if you would like Everly? Brooklyn Elizabeth and Everly Rose.

Or Emery. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Emery Rose.

Or for something more similar: Briarley. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Briarley Noelle.

Or Bailey. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Bailey Noelle.

Blair would be similar to Blake, but perhaps it’s too choppy with a one-syllable surname. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Blair Noelle.

Brielle is definitely more feminine, but I think the matching Br- sounds help tie the names together. Brooklyn and Brielle. I’ve only encountered that name in The Baby Name Wizard, but I can see it working in person.

Brinley seems like a strong candidate, though it does repeat a lot of sounds. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Brinley Noelle.

Maybe Kinley would work better. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Kinley Noelle.

Or Finley. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Finley Noelle.

Instead of Blake, you could consider Lake. Again, perhaps too choppy with a one-syllable surname, but Laken would lengthen it if Brooklyn and Laken aren’t too rhymey. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Laken Noelle.

Or Leighton? Brooklyn Elizabeth and Leighton Rose.

Or Larkin. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Larkin Noelle.

We know a Teagan, and it’s quite a cute name. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Teagan Rose.

Or Devany. Brooklyn Elizabeth and Devany Rose.

A. writes:

Oy. Swistle, please help! We have a beautiful 5-day-old, little brother to Arlo Otis, and I am not yet sold on the name we announced on day three. Our last name is Johnson Ronay, no hyphen.

The name we announced is Emil Thomas. I love the spelling. I love the name. But I do not think the spelling Emil, phonetically represents our chosen pronunciation of eh-MEEL. If I can not get behind it, how will I comfortable navigate the queries and support my son?

When Arlo was born, we had a list of five names, shared them with dear friends for feedback and waited until his birth to get a sense of what names fit him. We both came to Arlo easily and shared with family and friends after about two days of making sure it was a good fit. No regrets.

Fast forward to “Emil”. We had a loose list which included Emil, Lars, Severn, Pavel and the extra-adventurous Utah. Again, as easily as Arlo first came, so did Emil. As soon as he was lifted out of the tub to her chest, she felt he was Emil. Before our midwives left the house, I had almost called him Emil several times. When the house was quiet, we each confessed the name then planned to sit with it for a couple days. My brother Thomas was randomly in town day three and when he met the babe I felt some excitement to share the name, so we just did it. I have regretted it ever since. In my own mind I can hardly remember how to pronounce it… Is it “Ay-mull”, “E-mill”, “em-IL” or “EM-eel”.

I think we could help secure the pronunciation with going with the spelling Emile, but I do not like the look or potential for confusion with Emily.

When people ask his name, I am near meltdown. In my unscientific research, I have found that a hefty majority of people who do not have a French connection, or a Grandparent named “Ay-mull” or “E-mill”, go automatically to “eh-MEEL”.

I don’t know what to do. Can we just go with it? Will this haunt my child forever? A little effort to correct pronunciation or inform spelling seems okay in exchange for a strong name that can be taken around the world, but I do not want to be taking phonetic liberties.

Bonus is birth certificate is yet to be filed, in the event we scrap it and go with Pavel. Forever drawback is not listening to the “his name is Emil” that we both shared upon meeting him.

I welcome any and all feedback! Thank you kindly!

You say that “a hefty majority” of people pronounce the name Emil the way you’d like them to (and the ones who don’t are just more familiar with one of the other possible pronunciations), AND that you are near meltdown about it. I would think it would be the opposite: that you would be increasingly reassured by how many people say it the way you’d like them to. I’d pronounce it eh-MEEL too. (I’d have to look up how to pronounce Pavel. PAH-vull? PAY-vull? puh-VELL?)

Emile is no improvement: all it does is add EE-myle and eh-MYLE and Emily to the list of potential mispronunciations. Also, Emil is familiar to me as a boy’s name, but I’d be less certain about Emile in the United States. Here’s the 2012 Social Security Administration data:

Emil, F: –
Emil, M: 114
Emile, F: 6
Emile, M: 40
Emilee, F: 548
Emilee, M: –

Emil is a standard spelling; eh-MEEL is a standard pronunciation. You love the spelling; you love the pronunciation. What is it you’re still having trouble getting behind?

You have chosen a name that is uncommon in the United States, so yes, you are going to run into issues with pronunciation and spelling, as will he. This is part of the package deal when you choose an uncommon name, and presumably you are on board with that or else you would have named him Mason or Jason and had no trouble at all as long as he stayed in a country where those names were familiar. (Keeping in mind that a hefty minority of people spell my name Kristin or pronounce it Kristine even though it is Kristen; and I’ll bet right this minute someone is calling a Jason “Jayden” by mistake or spelling it Jayson; and don’t forget the endless hassle of the very popular Madelyn/Madeline. Pronunciation/spelling issues are not the exclusive domain of the less-common name.)

My diagnosis is that you are suffering from a perfectly normal post-naming freak-out. You gave the name a lot of thought, and you chose carefully. You did not say to each other, “We want to choose a name that will haunt our son HIS ENTIRE LIFE and require FULL PARENTAL SUPPORT for him to carry.” No: you chose a name you love, a name that fits him, a name you think will make him feel at-home worldwide.

It is normal to take a little while to feel comfortable with a new baby’s name, and it is normal to feel a little self-conscious about a name during the announcing phase. You will get used to pronouncing it, and so will everyone else. Leave the birth certificate blank for awhile longer if it makes you feel better, but it sounds to me as if the real naming ceremony has already taken place.

Raven write:

I’ve read your site for a while, but I never thought I’d have my own baby-naming conundrum. Here’s my information:

I’m Raven and my husband is Donnie and our last name is Pierce with a “y” tacked on at the end. We have a two-year old daughter, Scarlett Jane. We picked her name because it was a name that people are familiar with, but not one you hear everyday. We also liked the spunk of name.

We are now expecting our second baby (in January). This new baby was a surprise souvenir we brought back from a vacation to Australia. Whoops. We also just found out that it’s a boy and we are having a very, very hard time coming up with a name we love like Scarlett. We want something that 1) goes well with Scarlett and 2) is unusual, but not crazy.

If this baby had been a girl, we were considering:

Tallulah – we liked the spunk of this name
Matilda – this was a nod to Australia (the whole “Waltzing Matlida” thing)

Some boy names we like:

Arlo – probably my favorite, although I don’t love the way Scarlett and Arlo roll together into Scarlo – but that’s not a deal breaker.
August – mainly to get the nickname Gus. We like August, but think Gus is better, although I have reservations about giving a kid a name just to get a nickname out of it.
Dashiell – nickname “Dash”, although I’m afraid Dash might be translated into Douche later in school.

Other complicating factors: My husband is a Jr. and his family would love for there to be a Donald Peter III, but I just can’t do it. At one time, we had talked about naming the baby Henry and calling him Hank (my dad’s name/nickname), but I feel like it’s not fair to do that if I have already rejected the naming tradition from my husband’s side of the family.

We’re also at a loss for middle names. Basically, we are going to have a five-year-old unnamed child, unless we get some help!

Thanks for considering our question!

Since you considered the name Matilda if your Australian souvenir had been a girl, I thought I’d start by browsing the Wikipedia page on Australia, to see if there were any good name candidates for boys.

The current Governor-General of Australia is Quentin Bryce. Perhaps this would be like naming a child [insert name of a disliked U.S. leader here], but Quentin seems like it would go very nicely on your list. Quentin Pierce-see; Scarlett and Quentin.

There are a TON of island names to pick through, though those might be significant only if you’d spent time there. (Also, I’d check to make sure they were NICE islands, lest one be doing the equivalent of naming one’s child [insert name of a dangerous/ugly U.S. location here]. Still, just going through part of the list, I found:

Bowden Pierce-see; Scarlett and Bowden
Clark Pierce-see; Scarlett and Clark (similar to Arlo)
Duncan Pierce-see; Scarlett and Duncan
Falcon Pierce-see; Scarlett and Falcon
Houghton Pierce-see; Scarlett and Houghton
Hudson Pierce-see; Scarlett and Hudson
Shaw Pierce-see; Scarlett and Shaw
Thomson Pierce-see; Scarlett and Thomson
Wilson Pierce-see; Scarlett and Wilson

I hope our Australian readers can offer insights and suggestions for Australia-related names.

I like August, and I like the way it’s slightly reminiscent of Aussie. Austin might work well, too, though then there’s no Gus.

There is a wide range of opinion on this, but my own opinion on giving a child a name just to get a nickname is that it’s not only fine but also fun—as long as you don’t DISlike the given form. I understand the “Why give the child a name you’re never going to use?” point of view—but what I like is that I MIGHT/CAN use it if I later want to, as can the child. I like the “long form for the dignified resume/profession” concept, and I also like that if my child turns out not to be the Libby type I’d imagined, she can change to Liz or revert to Elizabeth. I also like that I was named Kristen and not Kris or Kristy or Krissy. With August, you have OPTIONS, is what I’m saying, and I think it’s fine to like the nickname better than the given name.

I had never thought of the word douche as a risk of the name Dash. I don’t think I’m thinking of it now, either, though it’s too soon to call it: with some connections, as soon as I’ve heard of it I find it hard to forget. This one doesn’t have that “Crud, now the name’s been ruined for me” feeling to me, though: Dash still makes me think of a short enthusiastic run. Perhaps it’s that vowels don’t interchange as easily as consonants, since changing vowels doesn’t result in rhymes? I think of issues with Cooper and Tucker, but I don’t think of Rob sounding like rib or rub or rube or robe. But then, I’m not a middle school boy. …Wait! I have two of those in residence! I asked them (and also Paul) if they could think of anything to make fun of about the name Dash, and they came up with nothing I consider a problem (“It rhymes with crash!” “It’s the name of the kid in The Incredibles!”). After giving them awhile to think, I told them the word we were concerned about—and they all entirely brushed it off. Paul: “Oh! *scoff sound* No. Definitely not.” Rob and William: “What? No! I wouldn’t think of that!”

A possibility for dealing with the Donald Peter III issue without continuing the tradition is that you could use the same initials: Dashiell Preston Pierce-see, for example. This depends on whether your husband’s family is the type that would consider this a gesture of goodwill or not.

Or you could use either Donald or Peter as the middle name. Or both: August Donald Peter Pierce-see. That sends a much stronger message of goodwill, and would be the kind of compromise I might have gone with if Paul’s family had had a naming tradition.

Or, if you did name him Henry/Hank, you could spin it: Instead of naming him for one grandfather, you’re naming him for the other. Or: your husband’s father has already had someone named after him, and now it is your father’s turn. It’s not a rejection of your husband’s side of the family, any more than naming him Donald Peter would have been a rejection of your side of the family. A combination such as Henry Peter or Henry Donald might make it even clearer: this is a merging of families, not an absorption of a female member into a male family line. He’d be “named for his grandfather and his father,” just as he would have been if he’d been named Donald Peter, but one of those two people would be from his mother’s line instead of both from his father’s.

The more I think about it, the more I think using Donald or Peter for the middle name might significantly cushion the blow of not having a III, as well as solving the challenge of finding a middle name. If the flow isn’t right, Don would be another option.

Tawny writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first child A BOY on 1/3/14. To date we have lost 3 babies so in reality this baby may be our only child. My name is Tawny and my husband is Jeremy and our last name is Plate….yes like you eat off of. I love the fact that my name is unique and have been obsessed with baby names since I was a child. The fact that I may only be able to choose one name for a child is heartbreaking for a name obsessed mom to be. Naturally I tend to lean to the more unique names just because I don’t want my child to be so and so “P”. My husband on the other hand could care less. Herein lies my problem. I have been looking for a name that is unique like mine and that will wear well over time. I don’t LOVE anything just yet and so far nothing I have come up with has appealed to my husband. He has landed on the name Jace and LOVES it. I am not sold. Here are my concerns:

#1 – Jace Plate sounds way to short. I feel like his first name needs to have more than one syllable. I just cannot imagine yelling “Jace Plate!!” up the stairs. I feel like it is a bit of a tongue twister.

#2 – I am worried that with the popularity of the show Duck Dynasty I will get “Oh you named your child Jace like on Duck Dynasty!” I know Jace and Jase (Duck Dynasty) are spelled different but it’s still the same name.

#3 – Because of Duck Dynasty is Jace on the rise in popularity….will my child be Jace P in school? Jace was #86 on the Social Security Baby Name list for 2012.

Am I crazy? Do you have any suggestions on something like Jace that would appeal to both of us?

Thanks…..desperate and feeling like giving in :(

I agree that Jace Plate doesn’t quite work. It’s not just the number of syllables, it’s also the repeating long-A sound, and the way it brings “faceplate” to my mind. I don’t think it would be awful, however, and likely you’d yell just “Jace!” up the stairs (or “Jace, dinner!” or “Jace, did you do your homework?”). So that’s the first option: shrug, and go with it.

I do think we’ll see Jace/Jase get more popular, yes. It has an appealingly cool and current sound, and yet its similarity to the very familiar name Jason keeps it from seeming weird.

A second option is to use Jason, and nickname him Jace/Jase.

A third option is to use a similar name. Most of these solve only the Duck Dynasty issue and not the one-syllable/two-long-A issue (some, such as Grey, even make that issue worse by ALSO making it two word names), but they could be starting places for other names: Case could be short for Cason, Grey could be short for Greyson, Gabe could be short for Gabriel, etc.

Ames
Blaise
Blake
Bryce
Cade
Case
Chase
Dane
Drake
Gabe
Gage
Grey
Hayes
James
Keane
Rhys
Shane
Tyce
Zane

A fourth option is to use the initials J.C. and get Jace out of that, sort of. This gives you an additional layer of distance from Duck Dynasty, and also gives you more name/nickname options—as well as the chance to use up more of the names you like. For example, if you name him Jameson Carter Plate, you have not only Jace but also J.C., Jamie, “Jameson Carter, you get down from there RIGHT NOW,” etc. If you name him Jaxon Charles Plate, you have not only Jace and J.C. and Jaxon but also Jax. Jasper Colby Plate. Judson Cyrus Plate. Jonathan Curtis Plate. Jericho Cassius Plate. Jeremy Carson Plate.

A fifth option is to use Jace as the middle name, where its similarity to your surname won’t come up so often, but where you still have the option to use it if you want to. This may mean sacrificing whole-name flow—but in my own experience, I said my kids’ whole names only while I was pregnant, and never afterward. Something like Dashiell Plate, Gideon Plate, Sebastian Plate, Everett Plate, Kieran Plate, Malachi Plate, Griffin Plate, Ezekiel Plate, Darian Plate—and then Jace tucked comfortably in the middle.