girl names – My Inner MishMash

Question of the day.

How do you people feel about yet another name-y question?

This time round, let’s say you’re having boy/girl twins. What are you naming them?

My answer:

I think today I’d name the boy Jacenty Filip, and the girl Helena Felicja. Jacenty and Helena are both vintage names, though Helena is a lot more popular and Jacenty feels like it has become totally forgotten in favour of Jacek and no one names their kids Jacenty these days, but if my intuition’s any good I feel that chances are it may change, because Jacek’s going down every year and I see more and more people saying how it’s quite dated, with its peak having been around 60’s, meanwhile more and more parents are interested in vintage names and not just those that were popular when their grandparents were born but also earlier. Jacenty would likely go by Jacek in casual situations anyway, as I guess that has been the case for all Jacentys. Helena is in top 20 for babies right now, which wouold normally bother me endlessly and likely discourage me from using such a name in the first name spot, but I love Helena way too much and for way too long to care, plus I don’t really know all that many little Helenas in real life, in fact there’s just one in our neighbourhood and Sofi says she doesn’t come across many Helenas among her peers either so I guess our particular area isn’t as in love with it as some other parts of the country must be. And their middle names both start with F, though each has a different feel to it. Filip is extremely common among babies, young children, and even teenagers. I used to be really fond of this name as a teenager (same with a lot more rare Filipina for a girl) but there are Filips everywhere – various schools I went to, Sofi’s class and school, all sorts of birth announcements that I see online, it feels like every young boy who isn’t a Jakub is a Filip 😀 and most importantly, my cousin’s kid is also a Filip. – And my Mum says it’s a name for a cat, not for a human. I don’t get her reasoning, and I always say that you shouldn’t care overly what your family thinks when choosing a baby name, but it just adds to all the reasons why I can no longer think about Filip as a first name for a kid, not even an imaginary one. 😀 But I think I could still use it in the middle name spot, especially next to the oh so unusual Jacenty. Felicja meanwhile, like I said in my quadruplet naming post, is a classic, yet underused, definitely vintage name, but not as obscurely vintage as Jacenty. It’s been really growing on me and can’t stop, but I’d feel hesitant about using it as a first name because I’m not a fan of the nickname Fela, which for most people I guess is the default nickname for Felicja, and Polish people just HAVE to nickname, even when your name is as simple as Anna.

HOw about your twins? 🙂

Question of the day (15th February).

If you had quadruplet girls, what would you name them? Feel free to include what middle names you’d give them as well!

My answer:

Quadruplets! What a scary idea! But so delightful when it comes to naming! 😀 I honestly have to say I don’t really understand people who feel the need to have their multiples’ names match, to the point where, at least to me, it’s glaring, like, say, Dolly, Holly, Molly and Polly, or Amy and May, or Madison, Addison and Mason, or Skyla and Starla, what not. Maybe I just don’t get cuteness, but I think it’s rather unambitious, and smothering the children’s individuality. And so impractical. I’m not a twin, but back when I still went by my birth name, my and Sofi’s default nicknames rhymed, and we would often be frustrated because we wouldn’t be able to figure out from a distance which one of us someone was calling, or people would often mix both up, and neither did I have any desire to be Sofi, nor did Sofi have it to be me. 😀 But no, I don’t think our parents actually did that on purpose, it just happened. Similarly, I don’t understand dressing twins in very matching clothes, unless they are big enough to express what they want and are on board with it. They’re humans, not dolls or a litter of kittens, and as such should develop their separate identities imo. A subtler, less obvious theme can be very cool though and I really like seeing such, the likes of Zoe and Eve (both mean life, have the same amount of letters yet different amount of syllables, and end with the letter “e” but not the same sound), or Caitlyn and Kevin (both start with the same sound, but not letter, and are anglicisations of Irish names, plus both end with “n”) or Eleanor and Michelle (both come up in Beatles’ songs).

With all that being said, I don’t think I’d go about naming quadruplets any different than naming four girls from four separate pregnancies, unless I actually had some clever theme in mind and there would be enough names fulfilling this theme’s criteria that I would actually really like, and not feel like I’m using any of them just to match the theme. Also I fall in and out of love with various names regularly, and the degree to which I love them changes almost daily, so if you asked me the same question tomorrow, possibly I’d be in the mood for something different than today. 😀

As it is currently, I think they’d be as follows:

Helena Felicja, Eliza (eh-LEE-zah in Polish, not e-LIE-zuh) Anna, Saskia Jaśmina and Wilhelmina Kornelia. I Think all these names are Classic, though not all are classic in the same way, for example names like Helena and Anna have been popular and common for decades. Felicja feels decidedly more retro but I see more and more parents embracing it lately. Eliza, while known here for centuries either as a nickname for Elżbieta or an independent name, is on the more unique but not extremely rare side, having had a spike in popularity in the 70’s, but in my opinion not big enough to make it feel a strongly 70’s name. Saskia and Wilhelmina are more on the obscure side but I think they have quite a classic feel internationally, and are also not total novelties here in Poland, especially Wilhelmina. Jaśmina was in top 200 for babies last year so definitely getting more popular, yet, as for now, at least, still very unique, especially in the overall population, it also feels kind of trendy because we like plant-related names for girls currently, feels more modern than the rest but still fairly classic to me. And Kornelia used to have similar known yet underused status as Eliza, but now there’s a whole lot of girls Sofi’s age and younger with this name, and is in top 50 for babies currently which is one reason I would rather not go with it as a first name.

Even though each of my imaginary quadruplet daughters has one name that is quite unusual and eye-catching, each also has one name that’s a bit or a lot less unique, so if Helena decides that she’s tired of sharing her first name with a dozen of other Helena’s in her workplace, she can still go by Felicja, which like I said is rising but is nowhere near as popular among babies as Helena is. If Eliza will think her name actually IS too 70’s, or will be pissed by people misnaming her as Luiza (which apparently happens to a lot of Elizas), or by every other person saying how unusual her name is even though it’s not really, or if she will have a lot of contact with Anglophone people and won’t like being called e-LIE-zuh she can go by Anna, which is not tied to any specific generation and is very common, thus possibly providing more anonymity, and less pronunciation trouble as it’s pronounced more or less the same in most languages. And if she will indeed have a lot of contact with Anglophone people she also has a delightful possibility of going by something like Annelise, if Anna doesn’t quite work either and is too underwhelming. If Saskia decides her name is really too obscure and she’s sick of people commenting on it and asking what’s her nationality, she can go by Jaśmina, which by her adulthood will perhaps still be on the slightly unique side, but nowhere near as spectacularly as Saskia. And same with Wilhelmina. If her first name is too overwhelming and won’t feel like herself even with the plethora of nicknames (you do have to be quite a character to pull of Wilhelmina) she can become one of many Kornelias. I think it’s a good strategy if possible when you want to give your child a more unique name, that you also give them a middle that blends in a bit better in case that’s what they end up preferring, and the other way around, if you give your child a name that’s very common either overall or in their age group, then it’s a cool idea to give them a more bold middle so that they can feel more special and stand out of the crowd if that’s what they want, even if they won’t actually end up going by it but won’t feel like they’re just a millionth Olivia Jane in the world.

How about your quadruplets? Would naming quadruplets be any different for you than naming four children from individual pregnancies? 🙂

Another round of This Or That, still with girl names.

OK, so because as I mentioned today, we have a holiday in Poland, let’s have some fun with the new round of this or that I’ve just made up, as always, if you’re willing to participate, just leave me your choices in the comments, and feel free to add your opinions on names if you feel like it, you can also make a response to this post on your own blog if you wish so, and you’ll find my answers and opinions after the list of names.

Ailbhe or Alleyne?

Aine or Aoife?

Alva or Ava?

Amie or Jami?

Ann or Anne?

Beth or Bobbi?

Camille or Catharine? Catherine or Christina?

Cathy or Christie?

Chantal or Shantel?

Chelsea or Amelia?

Christel or Evelyn?

Dagny or Dagmar?

Elaine or Elsie?

Eva or Edna?

Hannah or Harper?

Hattie or Nettie?

Heather or Holly?

Helene or Elvira?

Hilde or Hilma?

Hildur or Hermine?

Hope or Honey?

Ingrid or Sigrid? Lleucu or Leeah?

Marte or Milzie?

Molly or Kelly?

Nia or Nyah?

Sally or Polly?

Tiana or Tiara?

My choices:

Ailbhe or Alleyne?

Ailbhe. It’s pronounced like Alva. It’s certainly ot one of my favourite Irish names, but I just prefer it over Alleyne, as for Alleyne I actually think it’s pretty masculine-sounding.

Aine or Aoife?

Aoife.

Alva or Ava?

Alva, not a fan of either but I really dislike Ava.

Amie or Jami?

Both are cute, but I like Jamie for both genders, and the spelling Jami is nice too for a girl. Ann or Anne?

Anne sounds moe elegant and complete.

Beth or Bobbi?

Beth, Bobi was my dog’s name, I don’t think about it as a serious name for a child, or maybe it can be OK for a child, but not so much for an adult person in all kinds of circumstances and life situations.

Camille or Catharine?

I love love love Camille.

Catherine or Christina?

Catherine.

Cathy or Christie?

Cathy, though both are nice as nicknames.

Chantal or Shantel?

Shantel, but not very enthusiastically.
Chelsea or Amelia?

Um, both are lovely but also have their downsides to me… I guess Amelia, it’s more classy.

Christel or Evelyn?

I love both, but Evelyn much more.

Dagny or Dagmar?

Dagmar, but not a big fan of either.

Elaine or Elsie?

Elaine, because of Celtic and Arthurian connotations, though ELsie’s cute.

Eva or Edna?

Uh, I guess Edna, but I dislike both.
Hannah or Harper?

Harper, because of the harp.

Hattie or Nettie?

Both are cute, but I much prefer Hattie.

Heather or Holly?

Holly.

Helene or Elvira?

I guess Helene, but I love both so it’s a hard choice.

Hilde or Hilma?

Hilma. That Finnish charm.

Hildur or Hermine?

I love Hermine. Would prefer Herminia, but Hermine’s awesome too.

Hope or Honey?

Hope.
Ingrid or Sigrid?
Hm, I can’t say I love them, but I like them both a lot because of lots of great Nordic associations, and they’re certainly beautiful. I guess I like Sigrid slightly more. Lleucu or Leeah?

Lleucu, yeah, I know it’s tricky, it’s a Welsh name, the ll at the beginning is a bit lispy, it sounds a bit like hl, or at least that’s how it’s usually described phonetically in English. And u sounds similarly to ee, so it’s like HLAY-kee, but it’s a very rough description, you’d just have to hear it. As for Leeah, I am not a big fan of Leah (with one e), with two ee’s it looks kinda more whimsical to me, even though I’m generally not a fun of such spelling creativity, so I like Leeah a bit more than Leah, but still, Lleucu’s better. Oh and I forgot to add that Lleucu is a form of Lucy. Doesn’t look (and definitely doesn’t sound) like Lucy, does it?

Marte or Milzie?

I must admit I haven’t heard of Milzie at all before preparing this list, I was using a few different list as an inspiration and got the names of very different places. I couldn’t find where it derives from, but I just love it. I certainly wouldn’t use it for a child in any circumstances, but it is such a playful nickname, and from now on, definitely a guilty pleasure name of mine. I like to think about it as a fanciful nickname for Melissa or names like Amelia, Camilla, Emily, Matilda, or Emilia. Yeah, I wouldn’t mind to be called Milzie at times hahaha. Marte is very dynamic, youthful and energetic and ages well, but also suits a little girl, but it’s not much my style.

Molly or Kelly?

I love Kelly.

Nia or Nyah?

For those of you who are confused, Nia is pronounced NEE-ah. I prefer Nia. A lot.

Sally or Polly?

I guess Sally, but both are nice and vintage.

Tiana or Tiara?

Neither is my style, I guess Tiana’s a bit more usable. Tiara sounds actually very weird for me as a name. Which of these would you choose? 🙂

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More girl names, this or that?

Feel free to let me know which ones you prefer, keep your answers as short or long as you want.

Anna or Anya?

Becky or Nancy?

Carmen or Clare?

Catrin or Catreen?

Ela or Rafaela?

Elin or Else?

Frances or Flora?

Frida or Freda?

Greta or Meta?

Gretchen or Christa?

Helene or Elaine?

Linda or Lana?

Mairead or MCKinney?

Meinir or Marylee?

Melanie or Angelique?

Mell or Mel?

Octavia or Oona?

Salóme or Joelle?

Sarah or Deborah?

Sophie or Sofie?

Verena or Victoria?

My choices:

Anna or Anya?

Definitely Anna. I love Anna. It’s my Mum’s name, it’s also my middle name, and I know so many great women named Anna, it’s just a beautiful name full of personality, still being very universal at the same time.

Becky or Nancy?

Rather Nancy, but I’m not crazy about either.

Carmen or Clare?

Hm, maybe Clare? I much prefer Clara or actually Klara, or Clarissa, and am rather neutral as for both Carmen and Clare, but OK, let’s go with Clare.

Catrin or Catreen?

Catrin, Catrin, and once again Catrin. Catreen looks slightly weird and too creative to me, whilst Catrin is one of my favourite forms of Katherine. Ela or Rafaela?

I like both, but i have a sort of love hate relationship with Ela. It’s a cute, a bit magical sounding nickname, or even a full name if you want, but it’s so badly overussed in Poland as a nickname for only ELżbieta – Elizabeth. There are so many names here with the -el sound, or ending with -ela, or starting with -el, but no, only Elżbietas are called Elas. Elżbieta is still quite a granny name, so it’s the nickname almost only used amongst women 50+. Nothing wrong with that, but just, it’s such a cool nickname, and could be really used more widely and creatively, and this way it’s becoming so prosaic. So as a form of rebellion, 😀 I’m going to pick Rafaela. It can be shortened to Ela as well, and Rafaela, although it could be perfectly usable in Poland, is hardly ever used. Rafaela is really cool, so energetic and full of temperament.

Elin or Else?

Elin, I love Elin. Else is cool too, but I prefer Elsa much much more, so I’ll stick with Elin. It’s both Swedish and Welsh name, so a sort of culture compromise of two of my favourite countries, and I know a few absolutely fabulous Elins from both countries and from Faroe Islands, and I have so many other brilliant associations with the name.

Frances or Flora?

Flora. Frances has some nice, classic, feminine charm, and I mostly like it because of Frances Hodgson Burnett, but Flora is just so beautiful and I like it much more.

Frida or Freda?

Frida. Not a big fan of both, but Frida is so very Scandinavian and I like its crispy -ri sound.

Greta or Meta?

Dislike both, but will pick Greta, because meta means finishing line in Polish, so quite weird for my Polish brain. Gretchen or Christa?

Rather Christa. I dislike both, but Christa a bit less.

Helene or Elaine?

Love both, but Elaine is more usable for me, and the Arthurian connections…

Linda or Lana?

Linda, definitely Linda. Maybe for many of you Linda sounds dated or something, as it was so extremely popular in the 40’s in the US and also pretty popular in the UK around the same time, but for me Linda still sounds rather unique. I had a friend at school named Linda and she is the only one Linda in Poland I know personally, it’s an extremely rare name here, and usually liked by people. Oh and one of my favourite groups of names are names ending in -linda, so if you know it, my choice isn’t a surprise for you. Also for me the name Linda has a bit of a Swedish twist, because Swedes seem to like this name as well, there are lots of LIndas there born around 1970 as far as I know.

Mairead or MCKinney?

Mairead. I quite like it. There are lots of Irish names I love, Mairead isn’t among those of my most favourite Irish names, but I still like it. NOt a fan of MCKinney, I’m not that crazy about surname names usually.

Meinir or Marylee?

Meinir.
Melanie or Angelique?

Both are so lovely… Really tricky. OK, I guess Angelique.

Mell or Mel?

Well not much difference haha, I think Mel, it looks more natural for some reason.

Octavia or Oona?

Oona, for the Irish connection, but Octavia is also very cool and elegant.

Salóme or Joelle?

Joelle, I love Joelle to pieces.

Sarah or Deborah?

Sarah, it might be boring and overlooked, but it’s a classic, I just like it.

Sophie or Sofie?

Ugh, awfully hard… … Sofie, I guess?
Verena or Victoria?

Victoria, but Verena is nice too, so fresh youthful. But then so is Victoria for me.

I’m curious about your picks. 🙂

Anyone else bored? Join me. More names, this or that.

Yes. I think I’m quite bored at the moment, and that’s not something I’m used to. So I thought I’d do more of that this or that stuff I did recently with other names, and give you my opinion on various names. There are only girls names as well this time, partly inspired by heroines of my own short stories and partly chosen at random from different places, including various name lists on Behind The Name, names of my favourite female musicians, particularly those recently featured in my song of the day series, literature heroines, nymbler.com, etc. many are quite similar to each other. used and derived from many different languages and cultures. So, if anyone else is bored, or likes names, or likes to share their opinions with the whole world, join in the fun and let me know in the comments which name of every set you prefer, and, if you want, why. Cori or Charla?
Elisa or Isabella?
Elli or Ele?
Ellinor or Ellenora?
Emiliana or Emilianna?
Erin or Eileen?
Gunnhild or Genoveve?
Gwyneth or Gladys?
Hadassah or Dinah?
Hana or Ivana?
Hanna or Hannah?
Hanne or Hadassa?
Hannelore or Liselotte?
Heather or Hope?
Jasmine or June?
Kristin or Kiersten?
Madilyn or Madelyn?
Mette or Marlanna?
Molly or Mollie?
Rae or Reva?
Victoria or Veronica?
Mine:
Cori or Charla?
Cori, but not a fan of either.
Elisa or Isabella?
Love both, but ELisa seems to be less popular now, Isabella is so trendy in many countries, so Elisa. Elli or Ele?
Elli. Ele sounds very weird and incomplete to me. Elli is lovely. Ellinor or Ellenora?
Ellenora sounds stately and elegant, and has something nice to it, but it also sounds a little bit overly creative to me, so I go with ELlinor, which is sweet and strong and sooo Swedish. Emiliana or Emilianna?
I like both. But I like how Emilianna is a combination of both of my names Emilia and Anna so I pick it, though I don’t think it’s usable as a real name to go by on a daily basis for a real person. Erin or Eileen?
I like the Irish connection to both of them, and they both have similar feel, but Eileen is more my style and is more sophisticated. Gunnhild or Genoveve?
Dislike both, but Genoveve’s worse, it looks like a misspelling to me. So I pick Gunnhild, plus you can always call her Gunilla, which is cute. Gwyneth or Gladys?
Gladys feels like a charming old lady name to me personally, but it’s at the same time something about this name that keeps me away from it. I think the main reason I like it nowadays is because years ago I decided to call one of my heroines this name and she was a lovely lady. So I choose Gwyneth. Gwyneth sounds like an essence of Welshness to me. 😀 Maybe because my Welsh speech synthesiser is Gwyneth. Hadassah or Dinah?
Not my style both, but I choose Hadassah because of that Francine Rivers’ series of books, there was a girl named Hadassa, or Hadassah, I dunno, she was Hadassa in Polish version. Hana or Ivana?
Hana. I really dislike Ivana for some reason.
Hanna or Hannah?
Honestly they both have a similar feel to me, but, um, Hannah. Hanne or Hadassa?
Hadassa.
Hannelore or Liselotte?
Liselotte! Liselotte sounds so whimsical and princessy I love it. Hannelore is lovely as well, and has its own, completely different charm, but I like Liselotte much more. Heather or Hope?
Hmmm… quite neutral for both… maybe Heather?
Jasmine or June?
Jasmine! Love Jasmine.
Kristin or Kiersten?
Kristin, I don’t like how Kiersten looks written down.
Madilyn or Madelyn?
Both nice, but I prefer Madelyn, Madilyn looks a little bit too creative, or maybe I’m too sensitive for all those different spellings thing. Mette or Marlanna?
I feel tempted to say neither, just neither of them says anything speciffic to me and Marlanna looks like some mid-20th century invention and I’d never seen it before, Mette looks more familiar, as it’s a Scandinavian name, so Mette. Molly or Mollie?
Mollie. I like many -ie names and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s best friend was nicknamed Mollie. Rae or Reva?
Is Reva RE-vah or REE-vah? OK, maybe Reva? No strong feelings for either name. Victoria or Veronica?
This is the duo that I often tend to confuse, and with such a similar feel. Both Weronika and Wiktoria are trending baby names here in Poland now, so I’m a little bit fed up with both, Zofijka has two Wiktorias and three Weronikas in her class. But still, they are beautiful names, no matter how spelled. I think I’ll pick Veronica, because it’s the title of one of Cornelis Vreeswijk’s songs, and I really like it, the song, I mean, and it made me like this name more. What are your choices? 🙂

This or that? A little q&A for my readers.

I’ve got a very spontaneous idea. I am curious about your name tastes, my dear readers, and so I’ve made a little q&a for you all, in the form of this or that, and you can answer in the comments – or make a separate post on your blog and pingback, if you prefer. I’m curious about which names you prefer. The names have either similar feel, or sound, or something else, some can sound a bit foreign, there are some Polish ones, some Scandinavian ones and some Celtic ones among the ENglish names, I tried to make it possibly diverse, and if you feel like it, you can also tell me why do you prefer certain name over the other and express your opinion about these names as I will do. Write as many or few details as you wish. If there is anyone who has one of the names I included, please don’t take neither my or any of others’ opinions too seriously, if someone has written something negative about their name or that they don’t like it, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you, there are tons of names and everyone has the right to like some and dislike others, and it isn’t related to the people bearing these names, so it’s absolutely not about name bashing or anything, just for fun. Just wanted to clarify, since so many people tend to feel indignant or hurt because of someone not liking their name or the same names they do. Though obviously we need to express our opinions politely, but that’s not a big news I guess. For now all the names are girl names, I can do a boy names post in future. You can find my answers at the bottom of the post. So here we go:
Annika or Anya?
Aoife or Grainne?
Catrin or Caitriona?
Chelsea or Michaela?
Diana or Lana?
Elan or Elle?
Ellie or Nelle?
Elsie or Ella?
Elvira or Elva?
Eva or Evie?
Gwenllian or Gwendoline?
Heidi or Heidy?
Heledd or Elen?
Helen or Cordelia?
Helena or Lucia?
Helene or Adeline.
Hellie or Hazeline?
Hollie or Annie?
Ingrid or Inga?
Louise or Isabella?
Maia or Kaia?
Margrete or Margrita?
Maria or Marina?
Marie or Marion?
Mine:
Annika or Anya?
I think Annika. Anya is cool, and similar to Enya, which I like, and also my Mum’s nickname is Anja, so I have quite nice associations, but I prefer the sound of Annika, and I have a very nice Swedish friend called Annika. Aoife or Grainne?
Hmm, I think Aoife is cute, it’s pronounced EE-fa and I like the way it sounds and how complicated its spelling is hahaha. Grainne is cool too, but AOife’s better. Chelsea or Michaela?
Both lovely, each in a different way for me… I’m gonna go with Michaela, but the way I pronounce it – mee-hah-E-lah – or mee-kah-E-lah, like in Scandinavia. I don’t like it pronounced the ENglish way like Makayla. I also like Michaela because it has so many great nicknames – including Misha.
Diana or Lana?
Not a big fan of either. I really dislike Diana pronounced in ENglish, don’t know why actually, but I do, Polish DYAH-nah is a bit snobbish imo, and we had a neighbour who had a dog named Diana, it’s not particularly popular for people here. I have the weird linguistical associations with lana… And also I associate it with Lana Weinberger from that Meg Cabot series “Princess Diary” or how was it called, she wasn’t the nicest person. Hmm, OK, I’ll choose Diana. Elan or Elle?
I don’t speak French, but I guess everyone knows Elle means “she” in French. I find it weird to call your girl “she”. I mean, I like the sound of the name Elle, but I’d rather use it as a diminutive of something longer. So I’m gonna go with Elan. It’s a Welsh name and it is the name of one of the sisters of my crush. Ellie or Nelle?
Both sooooo cute, but I’d rather use them as diminutives for Helena. Um, really tricky one… I guess Ellie… But I’m not sure. 😀 Elsie or Ella?
I guess Elsie is pretty much outdated, at least in US, isn’t it? But Ella is soooo popular. I like them both, but if something is so overused as Ella, it loses some charm for me, and this name could be really very charming, it has something magical to it. So I pick Elsie. I suppose that with all these E and El- names being more and more popular, and with so many vintage nicknames lovers Elsie will become more popular sooner or later. And I guess it already has quite a few fans in the UK. Elvira or Elva?
ELvira! Definitely Elvira! It’s lovely and unique, and so much my style. And Elva means eleven in Swedish. With my hatred for figures, numbers and all related I definitely can’t pick Elva, and I don’t know how Swedish parents can give this name to their kids, it’s like labelling your kids with numbers, isn’t it? I’ve heard Elva can also be derived from elves, but still Elvira’s way better for me. Eva or Evie?
Not a fan of either, but Evie’s slightly better.
Gwenllian or Gwendoline?
Gwenlian, ha, ha, ha. If it was Gwendolyn, not Gwendoline, I could think more, because I have a kinda soft spot for -lyn names, but in this case I’m all for Gwenllian. Heidi or Heidy?
Heidi. Heidy looks weirdly and unnecessarily anglicised to me. And Heidi is so quirky, so Scandinavian, so girly but strong, and I associate it with the Heidi from the Johanna Spyri book, like many people, I suppose. Heledd or Elen?
I love both, but Elen is a bit more girly and more accessible anywhere outside of Wales, where they both originate. Helen or Cordelia?
I love both, but Cordelia mainly because of Anne Of Green Gables associations, and that it can be nicknamed to Delia, which I like. I have many more reasons to love Helen, so I’m going with Helen. Helena or Lucia?
Love both, but Helena is my all time favourite and I just have to be loyal! Helene or Adeline?
I’m always a bit confused as for how to read Helene, should it be he-LEN or he-LE-ne or he-LE-nuh, or maybe e-LEN, and in which language, so Adeline is safer, and so sweet and lovely. And I love both. But I wouldn’t pronounce it with the -lien, rather -leen or -lin in the end. Hellie or Hazeline?
Both sound very hipster and so lovely and brave and quirky. But I’ll choose Hellie, it’s beautiful. Hollie or Annie?
Hollie.
Ingrid or Inga?
Inga.
Louise or Isabella.
Both are beautiful and classy, and in my opinion they have such a similar feel. I don’t think Louise is boring, although I realise how popular it is as a middle name in English-speaking countries. I think it’s sad people tend to overuse it so much as a middle name and don’t think about it as a first name option, it’s such a great first name, not just a filler without its own personality, so that’s unfair. But I think I’m going to choose Isabella, just because I like it that little little bit more. It’s very charming. Maia or Kaia?
I like Maia, and I’ll pick it, even though I have very awful associations with the related Maja. I’m rather neutral about Kaia, and Maia sounds really nice. Margrete or Margrita?
Hate both. Uh. OK, Margrete.
Maria or Marina?
Maria is a kind of stereotypical old lady name in Poland, coming back recently, and it’s just too popular for me, but Marina is completely not my style, so let’s go with Maria, it’s still a pretty and classic, traditional name and I know lots and lots of brilliant people with this name. Marie or Marion?
To me both sound very dated, and Marie is kinda boring because of how often it’s used as a middle name in many countries. But it still has some regal, French charm, and something classic and elegant about it, while Marion doesn’t say much to me, except it looks like Marian, which may be vintage and associated with Robin Hood in other countries, but in Poland it is a male name derived from Marianus, and sound very, very dated, sort of older uncle/grandpa name, definitely not ready for a come back, and isn’t quite liked, rather laughed at. so I pick Marie.
Looking forward to read your answers and learn more about your name tastes. 🙂

Spring name game.

You know it’s snowing here? :O Really! How is it where you live? Anyway, I thought we could play some spring name game, so maybe the spring would finally come to all of us. Are you looking forward to this season? Below you’ll find the list of questions and my answers and just follow the instructions, and leave me your answers in the comments, I am very curious to see what yours will be. Or if you prefer you can make a pingback. And let me know if you enjoyed this game, so I’d make more of them in future. If you’re not from an English-speaking country, feel free to use names characteristic for your country, or for country(ies) you particularly like. It isn’t anything obligatory, but very welcome. Because My own favourite countries are a few, sometimes names of siblings might not be particularly matchy.

Here we go:

1.

Name a child boy/girl using March, April, or May as either their first or middle name. Add a first or middle name to go with the name you selected and a nickname you like.

My choice: Lucy May. She may go by Lou/Lu if she wants, but I think Lucy’s fantastic without any nickname as well, if not better. Moreover, LUcy May is short enough to call her Lucy May at times. I’d surely do so.

2.

Name siblings using the initials SP RI NG. You choose the sexes.

My choices: Saskia Philippa, Rhian Isla, Noelle Grainne.

3.

Name boy-girl siblings. Each must have a spring themed first or middle name. A few name ideas:

Anthea
April
Aviv
Avril
Bloom
Breeze
Brooke
Chloe
Dahlia
Daisy
Spring
Brook
Keby
Leif
Leaf
March
Maxwell
Rain
Raine
Robin
1. Weldon
2. Berilo

You can but don’t have to use any of these names.. They’re just suggestions and if you have any other spring names on your mind, use them!

My choices: Rhys Jacek and Elen Gwanwyn. Jacek is a Polish form of Hyacinth, while Gwanwyn is “spring” in Welsh.

4.

What would you name boy/girl twins? Use the initials of those names and select new names for them.

My choices:

Raine Joel and Elmerald Giselle.

5.

Rename yourself using these rules:

Your new first name:

You can select between the three names for the month you were born.

January: Denver, Easter or Emerald.
February: Flora, Lily or Maxwell.
March – Maia, March or May.
April – Meadow, Neo or Raanan.
May – Rabi, Rain or Rose.
June – Season, Spring or Stormy.
July – Sunny, Thalia or Green.
August – Verna, Zinnia or Hyacinth.
september – Anemone, Apple or Attwell.
October – Aurora, Azalea or Jarek.
November – Bloom, Bluebell or Neville.
December – Bradwell, Brooke or Claribel.

Choose a middle name with the letter based on the day you were born:

1-5 – R
6-10 – S
11-15 – I
16-20 – H
21-25 – K
26-31 – T

Remember that your middle name mustn’t be associated with spring.

My choice:

For my first name… mm, let’s choose Lily. It’s cool and quite universal, and I like it, although not love it, there are so many Lil- names popular over here right now for babies. And my middle name should start with R so… let’s be adventurous and multicultural and open-minded and choose Rhianwen. Rhianwen is a Welsh feminine name and I think it’s beautiful and goes well with Lily.

Looking forward to seeing your choices. 🙂

Rename yourself.

So as promised, I’m posting the name game in which we’re going to rename ourselves completely. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Rules:

Your first name will depend on the second letter of your actual first name. Below are lists of names for both girls and boys with three names assigned for each letter. These aren’t names starting with this letter, but three possibilities of choice you have depending of your actual first name’s second letter.

As for the middle name, the choice will be based on the month of your birth. So go to the list of middle names for your gender, and pick one that you like the most or that fits you the most from three names assigned to your birth month.

Surname depends on the first letter of your actual surname, I’ve assigned a random surname to each of the letters.

If you still aren’t sure how to do it, see how I am doing it for myself below. To make it more challenging, you can’t change the spelling of names you choose.

And please do let me know in the comments how you renamed yourself, do you like it, does it fit you, or to which spelling you’d change it if you could, what nickname would you use. I’m very curious what will come out of this. ALso please let me know how did you like this game overall so if you’ll like it, I might make more name games in future, also with other types of names maybe, as many of these here are a bit unique and all oscillating around English-speaking countries, while there are also so many brilliant names in other languages.

And remember you don’t need to tell me your real name or anything personal, that’s not the case here.

OK, so here we go:

First names, girls.

A – Katelyn, Lenore, Hanna.
B – Joy, Deirdre, Mae.
C – Harper, Larissa, Euphemia.
D – Ashlyn, Sibyl, Tabby.
E – Simone, Lauressa, Skye.
F – Isabelle, Sunshine, Topaz.
G – Avalon, Sheenagh, Leatrice.
H – Nan, Angelle, athena.
I – Danielle, Raquel, Christianne.
J – Leann, Eleanor, Mandy.
K – Rachel, Vera, Rita.
L – Louisa, Fallon, Beatrice.
M – Cathy, Nellie, Marybeth.
N – Whitney, Prue, Quintella.
O – Rowanne, Lyndsey, Naomi.
P – Caitlyn, Wynona, Angelina.
Q – Elissa, Stone, Susan.
R – Meagan, Charity, Tilda.
S – Candy, Catelin, Vickie.
T – Tamela, Maureen, Camryn.
U – Alisia, Livia, Deloris.
V – Katie, Lizzie, Totty.
W – Rue, Ethelyn, Petronel.
X – Michaela, Elea, Ina.
Y – Pip, Shari, Bettice.
Z – Rosie, Rebeccanne, Christabelle.

First names, boys.

A – alex, Joel, Phoenix.
B – Kevin, Sinclair, Ezekiel.
C – Cullen, York, Clancy.
D – Alexander, Grahame, Nelson.
E – Lowell, Michael, Jack.
F – Callum, Raine, Ruben.
G – Wilhelm, Reece, Maxwell.
H – Ford, Ranulph, Desmond.
I – Lyndon, Ingram, Phil.
J – Franklyn, Emory, MCKenzie.
K – Lucius, Rolf, Christian.
L – Luke, Gordon, Lucian.
M – Gabriel, Zachary, Fulke.
N – Ethelred, Olaf, Jacob.
O – Linton, Riley, Ozzie.
P – Lachlan, Cameron, Christopher.
Q – Claud, Royce, Stevie.
R – Benjamin, Jackson, Grey.
S – Louis, Brennan, Rain.
T – Rowan, Nathaniel, Cliff.
U – Xander, Merlin, Jeff.
V – Charlie, Nicholas, Farrell.
W – Dashiell, Bill, Clay.
X – Landon, Mike, Leo.
Y – William, Delbert, Vincent.
Z – Lewis, Albert, Lucas.

Middle names, girls.

January – Angelica, Carmel, Merrilyn.
February – Gloriana, Ginger, Josephine.
March – Veronica, Celestine, Modesty.
April – Missie, Lizette, Kerenza.
May – Christy, Lori, Dulcie.
June – Jeanette, Hyacinth, Happy.
July – Renae, Elyzabeth, Ida.
August – Dory, Crystal, Tory.
September – Anemone, Cindy, Hortense.
October – Libbie, Honour, Jodie.
November – Emelia, Sarah, Aileen.
December – Ursella, Lilly, Nettie.

Middle names, boys.

January – Ocean, Ramsey, Peter.
february – arwel, Torquil, Cornell.
March – Dillon, Karl, Ross.
April – Clifford, Ariel, Odin.
May – Neely, Garland, Glen.
June – Joyce, Lionel, Roswell.
July – Devon, Samuel, Smith.
August – Mel, Emmanuel, Montague.
September – Jeffery, Cornelius, Griffith.
October – River, Timmy, Geordie.
November – Geoffrey, Reynard, Tim.
December – Crispin, Greer, Daniel.

Surnames.

A – Randal.
B – Wallis.
C – Wilcox.
D – Garrard.
E – Fortune.
F – Alberts.
G – Chamberlain.
H – Mulvihill.
I- Gillingham.
J – Cook.
K – Neil.
L – Merrill.
M – Fanhope.
N – Eccleston.
O – Bernard.
P – Payne.
Q – Dickinson.
R – Fisher.
S – Davis.
T – Humphrey.
U – Fairburn.
V – Blackwell.
W – Milward.
X – Kelsey.
Y – Blakeley.
Z – Williams.

Mine.

So my name is Emilia. The second letter in my name is M, which means I can choose my new first name from Cathy, Nellie and Marybeth. Honestly I like them all to some degree, but the only one that doesn’t seem to clash with my personality and looks is Nellie. So I choose Nellie. Yippee! I must say I really like those kind of vintage, sweet nicknames of girly names. I think I would prefer to have some longer name like Helena or Cornelia and then go by Nellie, but it’s really OK, I think I would quickly get used to being Nellie.

My middle name. I was born in February, so I can choose from Gloriana, Ginger and Josephine. Mmmm… Definitely not Ginger. Quite cool name, but not my style and would clash so brutally with me so that people wouldn’t even believe I’m Ginger. 😀 Josephine is nice and similar feel to Nellie I suppose, but… I have an impression it doesn’t go well with Nellie. Nellie Josephine… I don’t know. And it doesn’t really suit me I think. OK, I’m gonna pick Gloriana. It doesn’t sound perfect with Nellie either, but it is a pretty name, kind of princessy, not quite like me, but not so very different, I like it.

My surname starts with Z, so simply my new surname would be Williams. Nellie Williams… I think it’s fine. Nellie Gloriana Williams not so much, but I’ve seen worse sets, I wouldn’t be unhappy with that as I like both these names, even if they don’t play very well together.

I’m very curious how you guys will rename yourself.

The names to this game I took from here