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Hello,
I am 23 weeks pregnant with our third (and last) child. Our oldest is a boy named Mason Anthony Ranney (rhymes with Fannie) and we have a daughter named Brooklyn Renae Ranney. Our third child is also a little girl due November 18. We are having a hard time finding just the right name. Currently our strongest contender is Reagan, but we’re not completely sold. We’ve also liked Kaitlyn and Madisyn. If the baby was a boy I loved the name Nolan.

I appreciate your suggestions! Thank you.

Meagan & Dale Ranney

I notice two things about the name Reagan. Neither is necessarily a big deal, and both may in fact be pluses rather than minuses. The first is that it is only one letter different from your name. The second is that it is very alliterative with the surname: Reagan Ranney. Particularly because the name Ronald Reagan was also alliterative, this catches my ear and eye.

What I notice about the contender Kaitlyn is that it has the same -lyn ending as Brooklyn. What I notice about the contender Madisyn is that it shares the Ma- and the -son/-syn with Mason.

So for my list of suggestions, I’m going to do a mix: some will be suggestions that work with the assumption that you like alliteration, and similarities between sibling names; and some will be suggestions that offer alternatives in case those alliterations/similarities are why none of the contenders feel quite right. I found I was inclined to avoid names that repeated the -ee/-ey/-ie ending of the surname.

Addisyn
Adelyn
Ashlyn
Avelyn
Cadence
Campbell
Ellisyn
Emersyn
Harper
Hayden
Jaidyn
Jordyn
Keelyn
Kyla
Makenna
Paige
Payton
Rilyn
Savannah
Skylar
Teagan

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Hi Swistle,
We’re expecting our first child, a girl, this September. Our last name sounds like ‘Baker’, and the current top contender name is Jacqueline Liliana ‘Baker’. I have two concerns about the middle name:
1. Is this too long when combined with the first name (number of syllables, not number of letters) and 2. Is it too frilly?

While we’re pretty certain on the first name, other middle name choices include Wren (would this elide too much with the ‘soft’ ending of the first name?), Maeve, Alice, or Iris. All of these potential middles are shorter, although I’m uncertain about the rhythm of a 2-syllable middle with a 2-syllable last name. I’d like to avoid more common (ie Ann, Lynn, Grace, Rose) middle names.

Thoughts?
Anonymous mother with a 9 syllable full name

It doesn’t seem too long to me—but then, I gave my daughter an 11-syllable full name. I did worry a bit when we chose it, but only 6 of the syllables are her first/last, and those are the only ones that most people encounter. People won’t have to say Jacqueline Liliana Baker every time they address your daughter: they’ll just say Jacqueline Baker, or just Jacqueline, or just Jackie or just Jax if she uses a nickname.

It doesn’t seem too frilly to me, either, for similar reasons. Jacqueline doesn’t strike me as a frilly name, nor does Baker. The only frills are with Liliana, and that’s tucked into the middle. The total frill-level of the name seems well within reason.

If you decide against Liliana, my favorite from the other candidates is Jacqueline Iris Baker (I do like the 2-syllable middle name with the 2-syllable surname). But I think you can pick the middle name you like best, without worrying too much about rhythm or length: rhythm/length are so governed by personal preference, there aren’t any particular guidelines to shoot for other than “Do we like it?”