You Can’t Call It “It”!

Blissfully Caffeinated is busy cooking an over-amped bundle of joy who’s destined to break the bank with her Ritalin consumption and mochaccino habit.  Said little girl needs a name, and they’ve turned to us.  She has lots of ideas and would love your thoughts and suggestions.

Bliss writes:

Two of the names on our list are Lila and Eva. We already have a Caroline and an Avery, so I’m worried that Lila is too similar to CaroLINE with that li- sound. And I worry that Eva is almost the reverse of Avery and sounds too similar. I have the same problem with Charlotte. Charlotte has been on my list all three times now, and I love it but worry that it is too close to Caroline. I could be wrong but thought they are both derivative of Charles. Adele has recently been added to our list, but having some trouble pairing middle names with it. The other names we are considering are Josephine and Kate, still love Fiona, Cecily, Annabel, and recently have a soft spot for Francesca. Thoughts? Advice? Help, please?!

 

Your girls’ names are crisp and bright and a tad preppy.  It’s been said before that Caroline and Avery are disparate styles, and that almost any name you choose will pair up with one or the other.  Yet if stylistic cohesion is what we’re going for, Fiona feels beautifully integrated.  It’s high energy like Avery and fem like Caroline.  It shares sounds with each of them (F/V and O and N).  It’s always been a favorite for you.

Lila strikes me as a good third with Caroline and Avery.  The repeated “LI” doesn’t bother one bit.  Eva on the other hand feels like a complete recycling of Avery’s first three letters, and I think you have to make peace  with the fact that it’s just too close.  Anybody disagree with me on this one?

Charlotte is another I’d have you omit from consideration.  Yes, she and Caroline are both derived from Charles.  Better as mother-daughter names as they did in Monaco, or for cousins– than for sisters.

This leaves Adele, Annabel, Cecily, Francesca, Josephine, and Kate.  Annabel, Cecily, and Josephine are all gorgeous, but each nag me a bit with your girls.  Annabel presents the two A problem, Cecily 2 Cs, and Josephine a double -ine ending.  Plus, stylistically they do sound a bit better with big sister Caroline.  Hmm.  Depends on how much you want all the names to flow.  I would love to see you with a Cecily, Annabel or Josie.  Still, not perfect.

Francesca honestly seems way weird as a sister to Avery.  Sorry to harp on matchiness– I’m just going on what I have to work with.  Kate as a given name is energetic, but not a favorite of mine due to its history as a nickname.  I’m a stickler for that rule.

Adele is last but not least.  Lovely, graceful, understated Adele.  It still leaves us with the double As, and the potential– good or bad– for the nickname Addie.  Yet I couldn’t dissuade you from choosing it.

My favorites on your list are Fiona first and foremost, followed by Lila.  When choosing between final favorites I always weigh three things:  1) Flow with surname 2) Meaning and 3) Flow with family’s names. Most importantly I hope you find a name that feels right for this baby.   Below are some eleventh hour suggestions.  Any strike a chord?

Blythe

Delia

Gillian

Isla

Maren

Piper

Hello all.  Slowly getting back in the swing after a languid end of summer.  Activities start this week, as does preschool application hell, but YCCII needs a little TLC.  Time to pull my head out of the sand.  

My absence saw multiple births and one adoption.  A Sparrow, a Blaise, a Dante, and a Naleigh made their way onto the scene.  Loving Blaise and Dante, for reals.  Sparrow intrigues, and it swerves goth-punk to me.  Sparrow’s not going to take crap from anyone.  Love the religious and symbolic implications as well.  Does it surprise you that I’m actually a fan?  

Naleigh, however, is unforgivable, if only because I know she will have so many namesakes.  The –leigh craze is OUT OF CONTROL and has become the Eighth Deadly Sin fo’ sho’.  Blakesleigh?  Finleigh?  Blargh.  I know her name is actually Nancy Leigh on the birth certificate, thank goodness, and that it is after family.  Fine.  Bully for you Ms. Heigl.  But don’t expect me to be nice to you.  I’m on team Apatow.  I was angling for Lena, anyway.

Last but not least, please help me welcome Rosemary Flora Claire!  She is the second child and first daughter for Sarah and her husband Nathan of Names From Adam to Eve.  ”Remy” joins older brother Edward Peter Nole.  Total swoon!

Now for the Yocals:

GIRLS

Amina

Clara

Eulala “Euly” (I couldn’t believe it!)

Isadora

Juniper

Leah (Josiah, Nehemiah)

Mia

Stella

BOYS

Aidan

Asher (Melech, Ushi)

Birch

Cosimo (Lorenzo)

Francisco “Cisco”

Harry

Josiah (Leah, Nehemiah)

Lorenzo (Cosimo)

Maximo

Melech (Asher, Ushi)

Mohammed

Nehemiah (Josiah, Leah)

Riley

Ushi (Asher, Melech)

It’s no secret that the burgeoning bevy of beauties over at Victoria’s Secret is procreating. So while as much as I already hate them for what I know will be picture perfect bodies even postpartum, I thought it only my duty to offer a few suggestions to the well-named Karolina, Adriana, Heidi, and Gisele.  

Not that they need my help, per se.  Former angel Laetitia Casta and her partner Stefano Accorsi just welcomed daughter Athena.  She joins big brother Orlando, and big sister Sahteene, daughter with Stéphane Sednaoui.  Well done, Laetitia, and congratulations!  

Sadly, this post comes too late for Angie Everhart and her darling baby boy, Kayden Bobby.  Angie’s full name evidently is Angela Kay, hence her son is her namesake.  Bobby too is a family name, but I might have gone with something like Kassian Robert.

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady need something ethereal for a girl yet rather down-to-Earth and conservative for a boy to pair with big brother John Edward Thomas, methinks.  Charles or Elodie?  Louis or Apolline?

To Karolina Kurkova and Archie Drury I bequeath a name that works in multiple languages.  I’m liking Rafaela or Katarina for a girl, Pascal or Gregory (used in full) in a boy.

Adriana Lima and Marko Jaric’s first child warrrants a romantic name, á la Ariadne (one letter different from mom’s name) or Philo.  Keep in mind, these babies will be so beautiful they can pull anything off.  Iolanthe or Niko also come to mind.

And last but not least we arrive at Heidi Klum and Seal’s little girl, whom they’ve declared to be their fourth and final child.  She will join Leni, Henry, and Johan, and be the daughter of Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel.  While their taste strikes me as more conservative than meets the eye, they might go out on a limb a bit with this one.  Still within a certain comfort zone, I respectfully suggest Colette, a diminutive like mom’s name with the meaning of “victory”, taken from dad’s Olusegun.  I offer Ursula as well, which might appeal to Heidi’s sense of patriotism (edited to remove Oscar and Tobias which, while lovely names, would not wear well on a young lady.

OK girls, are you reading?  

Anyone else want to take a stab at this?

It’s back to school time and the mad rush is on for shiny new backpacks and shoes that can take a beating.  Does anyone look forward to hearing the names of your childrens’ classmates as much as any other part of the process?  

Guilty. 

While we are just beginning to think about preschool applications here, I do have a short list of children we’ve met in recent days.  Come one come all– ballet class, soccer practice, home room and tai kwon do.  Post ‘em!  And if you really want to make this fun, don’t be afraid to tell us (roughly) where you’re from.  

Here’s mine so far:

Abigail (& Keagan)

Bella

Eva

Michelle

Sadie (& Declan)

Arthur

Declan (& Sadie)

Eliseo (& Itzal)

Felix

Griffin

Itzal (& Eliseo)

Judah

Keagan (& Abigail)

Luca