The Girls in my Head

After taking a break and trying not to think about names (Ha!), I find these name combos still in my head. Any here that catch your eye?

Ottilie Frances Jane – Tillie still thrills me, and I’m charmed by the thought of Josephine & Ottilie sisters.

Wilhelmina Esme Jane – Yep, Mina is darling. Esme & Jane are pretty light and tiny next to weighty Wilhelmina, whose solidity makes me smile.

Araminta Lucy Violet – Again with Mina/Min possibility, I’m enchanted. I also think Josephine & Araminta are pretty stunning sisters.

Cecily Pandora Jane – Remains at the top of my “emminently usable” list. And Cecily is charming, if a bit confusing in my Cec- loaded family (yet Cecily remains unused!).

Clementine India Jane – Yep, Clementine thrills me. Cleo/Clio are possible nicknames but like Josephine, she’d be Clementine most often.

India Mehetabel Jane – India’s short but three syllbles, which makes her sit well with Josephine in my head. The middles, as always, honor.

And still tops after the break: Maud India Scarlett. Yes, India & Scarlett together. I like colors but find them a bit too much, the double ‘t’ makes it more namey, less color-ish for me. And India is one he adores, but I’m not thrilled with “Indy” potential.

Any up there that you prefer over the others? Or just let me know what you think of them. I’d love to hear!

As always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!

Better late than Never!

Sorry for the long break, Josie started school this September and I’m enjoying the bustle & routine. I have been storing ideas and finally can expand one: Josie finally came home with her class list! Without further ado, here they are:
Reid
Samuel
Edward
Alyssa
Wyatt
Mark
Blake
Dylan
Noah
Genevieve
Cora
(Josephine)
Monica
Philip
Lionel
Steven
Cassandra

And that’s them. Josie’s particular favorites are: Genevieve, Cora, Alyssa & Cassandra from the girls & Reid, Edward, Dylan, Philip & Lionel from the boys.

With the girls, I want to play “One of these Things is not like the Others” with Alyssa, whose name feels trendier & fluffier than the others. But other than that, I have no problems with any of them.

What do You think and which are your favorites up there, if any? Sorry for the huge lapse, hopefully I’ll be a bit more regular again now. Take care all and Thanks!

Ottilie Again

I’ve been thinking about Ottilie. How soft and charming she is, how pretty. yes, I still love Ottilie.

What I have been rethinking is her combo. Ottilie Alice Ghislaine is pretty stunning and isn’t going anywhere just yet but I wanted to try Ottilie out with my Mom’s name. Ottilie Frances feels a bit more grounded than Ottilie Alice, to me. I think it’s the F, that consonant is quite down to earth.

So I went digging and came up with a handful that please me in various ways, from the simple to the elaborate. Here they are:

Ottilie Frances Jane
Ottilie Frances Loveday
Ottilie Frances Valentine
Ottilie Frances Violet
Ottilie Frances Adele
Ottilie Frances Elanor
Ottilie Frances Isadora
Ottilie Frances Kathleen

I’m really digging Ottilie, for her Tillie potential, also for her overall look & sound. So pleasing both to see & hear. makes me smile.

Now I’ve been leaning towards the sweet & simple Ottilie Frances Jane but He likes a few of the more flowery pairings more. Which of these would you pick, if you had to and why did you pick that one (if you don’t mind telling me)?

I’d love to know your thoughts on these, better or worse than Ottilie Alice Ghislaine?

As always, thanks for stopping in, I greatly appreciate it!

Wilhelmina

Has appeared on my radar yet again and this time, I think I’ve got a few excellent thoughts for her combo:

 

Wilhelmina Lucy Pearl
Wilhelmina Esme Jane
Wilhelmina Lila Pearl
Wilhelmina Lila Adele
Wilhelmina Cleo Elinor

I adore Mina, just to pieces and I can easily (and comfortably) live with Willa, if she chose.   Billie is not a favorite option but I could deal, if that’s what she wanted. I can wrap my head around Billie on a girl; I grew up listening to Billie Holiday (who was born Eleanor, if I recall rightly).  I just can’t let go on Mina, in any form or fashion and Wilhelmina works in an honoring sense for me, His maternal Grandpop was Willem. Now I know Willem & Wilhelm are forms of each other and Willemina is a legit variant but I much prefer the look of Wilhelmina. Weird, but there it is!   Now I have a favorite up there as does he, but those are all our choices. Can you figure out who likes what and then tell me, which is your favorite?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.  

 

Off to the park for a picnic lunch and Happy 4th to All!

Penelope, Araminta & Elspeth

Beyond Cecily, Cleo & Maud, these three are top favorites for both of us:

Penelope: She’s galloping, sweet and I love the potential for Poppy & Nell and she can always go by Lola should I stop using it someday! I love her mythical counterpoint and the fact that Penelope’s familiar to almost everyone but not very common.

Araminta: Has long fascinated me. I think She’s strong but oh so lush & rich. I adore Minna/Mina & Min as possible nicknames and I love how Araminta seems familiar to most but it’s so rarely heard for real. It’s stunning in full, too!

and

Elspeth: Charming, feels other-worldly. Completely feminine but no fluffy thing, Elspeth has a steel core. And she would honor Grandma Lily and me, as the Scottish form of Elisabeth, which we both had/have. I adore Elsa
& Elsie as possible nicknames (not to mention the far flung Bess & Lily)!

I have combos I love for each of them:
Penelope Violet Jane
Araminta Lucy Violet
Elspeth Scarlett Jane

Now, my dilemma. Should I move these onto the primary list or leave them as wildcards? What should I toss if I did move them to Primaries? Do you like these better than the ones already there or not? What? Just help, because we can’t decide what goes where beyond Cecily (or Cleo) at #1 and Maud at #2.

Anyone have a theory why boys names come so easily to us but girls names we have to struggle with? I’m baffled!

So any thoughts are most welcome, indeed. As always, Thanks for stopping in!

Some Newer Stuff

Well, “newer” is figurative. I’ve had a few of these names on my lists before, I’m just liking them anew. Since I had so much down time, I worked on combos and came up with a handful that I really like. This is what I do with much of my free time (at least, in my head):

 

Romilly Allegra Violet
Penelope Violet Jane
India Ottilie Violet
Peregrin Henry Arthur
August James Tiberius
Matilda Esme Violet
Amos Willem Rafferty
Lucius George Pascal
Eulalie Saffron Jane

 

Romilly is back again, still searching for the perfect middles for India, Eulalie stays on the list despite Elisabeth having a brand new one while Matilda’s firmly on the list now and I’m still searching for the perfect middles for Penelope. Lucius never left, I’m still perfecting him and Amos is slowly replacing Clancy in my head.   Not entirely, but starting to. So here’s a related question for you folks:
Clancy or Amos, which do you like better (or which would you rather see on a real kid)?

 

So there they are, anything strike you as keepable?  I’d love to hear what you folks think!  As always, thanks a million for stopping by. And, I’m back! 

Byron’s sister!

Just a quick announcement, Little Byron is now the proud older brother of:

Claudia Therese

25, June 2009 7lbs, 5 oz. 21″

Very pretty and Mom & baby are doing well.
Just thought I’d toss that out since I just found out.

I hope everyone’s having a lovely summer so far. Be back very soon.

August

I’m back to August. Dignified, strong & handsome (do NOT start with me on how Month names are unisex unless you are willing to use May on a boy of yours!). yep, August is all manly for me, Augie & Gus are two lovely nickname options. I prefer Augie, but Gus is more mainstream should he want. And August honors my Mom, beloved Frances who hated her name, born 6 August 1940. I think it’s a subtle thing that she probably wouldn’t mind.  And she’d probably dig Gus.

I came up with half a dozen combos as did He and between us, we narrowed the field to these 5. Which would you choose and why?

August James Tiberius (yes, I know, it’s kitschy, and geeky, but if I could make James Tiberius ___ flow with the surname I’d use it in a heartbeat and be thrilled. What a fabulous combo! and yes, I saw the new Star Trek movie and am so jazzed!)
August James Aloysius – a bit kitschier bit not as geeky.
August Julian Oliver – I’d rather Lucian, but August Lucian doesn’t sound as good as August Julian.
August Milo Aurelian – Aurelian’s awesome and I’m still stuck on Milo, but it’s too nicknamey for up front.
August Edward Bede – gets the honoring in there, and my beloved Bede.

Now August honors Mom, James honors not only Him, but my Pop’s oldest Brother (who’s still around) and Edward honors Mom’s brother, and my cousin (who I like much better than the Uncle). Milo is what Josie would have been had she been a boy, and I still like it very much. The rest are just fun.

So, what do you think? I’d love to know!

Names I have an Irrational Dislike of

I think we all have some like this. Names that are perfectly usable but for some reason they turn us off. I have a handful for each sex and thought I’d share them. Then share yours!

 

Hannah – perfectly bland
Abigail – I still think of the “lady’s maid’ assocation.
Jasmine – the flower makes me sneeze and the princess is perfectly blah.
Theresa – Funny, I love Tessa but Theresa just does nothing for me . Absolutely white bread boring.
Karen – Not a pleasant sound for me.
Anna – it’s pretty, yeah but so everywhere. Simple Anne has always been my preferred variant.

Charles – He’s the Theresa of the boys list!
Paul – Nasty assocations aside, it’s a small name with a tight feel. And St. Paul is no friend of mine. Bah, mysoginistic fool.
Noah – Sounds like No with an Itailian accent to me. Old Italian nighbor ruined Noah for me.
Benjamin – Just feels a bit too preppy for my liking. Too fussy and preppy.
Harry – feels sloppy and messy.
Chase – It’s just ridiculous. Put it in the front and whatever you’ve paired it with sounds like a command, use it in the middle and it sounds like a bank. Blah.

 

No offense meant to anyone bearing these names, this is just my list of names I personally dislike and why. Perfectly good names (all but 1, anyway) just yuck to me.

 

What are your perfectly usable dislikes?  I’d love to hear!

Happy Memorial Day to all!

So there. Enjoy your BBQs, picnics or potlucks. I’ve got a BBQ planned for tonight but am kicking back and relaxing. Reminiscing about the Vets in my family, My Uncle Jim, a Vietnam vet, My Pop, an Air Force vet (he was in before Vietnam, was married with a  kid on the way when it started so he got left out, lucky me!). Grandpop was in the Navy for WW2, My Aunt May was a WAVE.  My OH was an Army guy for 10 years but is thankfully home safe and staying home these days.  I hope you & yours are Safe & Happy today. 

 

So I was being weird yesterday  and posted a poll at BtN, Thinking about a few names specifically that I like with Josephine. Here’s what I posted, and the total # of votes each got, following:

Josephine & ? Which would you like to see most?

Josephine & Helen: 8
Josephine & Frances: 13
Josephine & Violet: 22
Josephine & Elinor: 8
Josephine & Cecily: 18
Josephine & Jemima: 11
Josephine & Imogen: 7
Josephine & Winifred: 11
Josephine & Ottilie: 12
Josephine & Edith: 6

 

What do you think of the final outcome? Which would you have voted for (it was a pick all you like poll) and tell me, am I still crazy for loving Ottilie and wanting her in first place?  Talk to me, tell me whatever you think, I’d love to hear! 

Wilhelmina

On top of Raphael, I’ve been thinking about Wilhelmina yet again. I can’t help it! She’s been a love since I was a kid. That cartoon of the little girl walking and saying “Willa-Mina”!

 

Wilhelmina  (I can’t get the actual video to embed, but here’s the link! It’s still so cute!)

Okay, so maybe a bit odd, but I do love the sound of Wilhelmina and am absolutely enthralled by the possibility of a Mina. I’ve gone on about Wilhelmina before;  anyone who’s been here for more than a week should know about my love of Wilhelmina’s sound. I do think her look is a bit heavy, but I have no problem writing it out, and even enjoy it’s swooshes upwards as I write. I also like how stern and almost severe she looks in type. How formidable!  I think a Wilhelmina would be feminine and sweet but no pushover. And even a bit of a broad, if that makes any sense. I rather like that. She’s got a bit of attitude, a bit of oomph and a whole lot of verve & style. She even honors my Pop in a realted sort of way. He was Wayne, loved his W, wished he was William (Which would have gone better with brothers: James, Theodore & Richard). So In an odd sort of way, I think Pop would be very pleased indeed with Wilhelmina.

 

I have a few combos I came up with that make me smile. I’ve tried to balance the length of Wilhelmina with light and airy looking or sounding middles.  Here’s what I came up with, what do you think of these beauties?

 

Wilhelmina Poppy Amabel
Wilhelmina Romilly Violet
Wilhelmina Lucy Adele
Wilhelmina Saskia Jane
Wilhelmina Lily Jane
Wilhelmina Daisy Elinor
Wilhelmina Esme Frances
Wilhelmina Viola Honey

 

(Honey is what the kids call Grandma Pandora: Nana Honey. See how much she hates her name?!)

So, what do you think of Wilhelmina?  And which combo do you like, or do you have something in mind that might be better? Tell me! I’d love to hear what you think of Wilhelmina!

 

Raphael

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time with Raphael as a first name. I’ve got Rafael in the middle in several combos because that’s how the G. Uncle spelled his name. But Raphael is more standard a spelling, I see several Raphaels on pictures hanging on the walls of the school Josephine will be attending this fall, so yeah.  I think Raphael is handsome, suave, charming and more than a bit jazzy.  He’s an archangel , so soothes the Catholic family and has jaunty Rafe as a possible nickname. So what’s not to love?

I came up with a dozen or so combos that please me in various ways but over the last day or so, we’ve whittled them down to 6. Here, for your perusal is Raphael:

Raphael Edward Wilder
Raphael Oliver Bede
Raphael John Porfirio
Raphael Arthur Willem
Raphael Arthur Peregrin
Raphael Inigo Francis

I have my favorite in there and He’s got his, can you tell which is whose?   It’s funny how we go back & forth so much easier with the boys. Neither of us can narrow our girls list!  

Anything up there jump out at you as pretty good? I’d love to know!  Please, do tell! 

 

and as always, thanks a million for stopping by!