There are bzillions of baby name bloggers out there. Literally, I think. A few of them manage to score the sort of fame and fanfare that gets people writing in to seek wisdom in their own baby name situations. This is one of my favorite such name blogs. But I am not one of those bloggers, and this is not one of those blogs.
Nevertheless, an online friend of mine, knowing of my little obsession hobby, has solicited advice from little old me in naming her sixth child. *And* she kindly agreed to let me pretend I’m an Internet Name Guru and post our musings here.
So, without further ado…
Erica Johnson, mom to Libby, Parker, Perry, Corban and Clayt, writes:
Just thought I should have a little fun with a fellow name-nerd! I know you will at least understand all my different angles of thought!
I’m playing around with Girl names, Eric [hubby] won’t discuss much until the gender is confirmed. But before we got pregnant we “picked” Regina Janelle…. Regina (his sister’s first name) Janelle (my sister’s middle name).
Then…I started thinking about twin names [we name nerds, we do this. It’s normal for us] …and decided I really LOVE the name Janelle… too much to use it as a middle name. So we picked…
Regina JoHannah and Janelle Mayci …Gina and Nelli – I know that completely breaks Trevor’s #1 name rule, but I think it’s too cute!
I want to use Hannah (or a form of it) as a middle name when I have the set of twins I’ve been praying for!
Mayci is a name I’ve had picked out since my first Pregnancy…it is my Great Grandpa’s first name (Macy) and my Great Grandma’s middle name (May) so that’s how I came up with the creative spelling…It’s become a little too popular…in that unique trendy kind of way… for me about 10 years ago, but it’s good for a middle name. I thought it went okay with Janelle and liked it even though it doesn’t have perfect flow.
Well, no twins this go around (unless we find one was hiding at the first ultrasound). We don’t want to save our first choice, first names.
The boys first names are in consonant “pairs” Perry and Parker, Corban and Clayt…which is why this baby *HAS* to be a girl….
I thought since Libby has always be the “lonely L” as the boys like to say…that we’d just make all the girls have their “own” personal first name letter…Gina=G and Janelle=J….even though they almost make the same sound.
Corban Joseph and Clayt Daniel both have a Hebrew name so I wonder if I should keep a trend up? Not so sure that “Hebrew” is especially special to me…But what is REALLY important is to have at least one of the names with a Strong godly meaning…
I’m pretty sure we are going with Gina for a first name. Libby is not an “Elizabeth” so I didn’t want to name a baby one thing and then ONLY call her a nickname…so I like the idea of Gina better.
Last night I kept thinking of Gina Grace…but I’m just not sure about putting myself in a trend for Virtue names…even though they DO have strong Godly meanings…hmmm. Janelle Faith sounds pretty good though, <giggle>!
Okay…so if you made it this far…what do you think?
But I also know the virtue names are the “new” Marie, Ann and Lyns, and I do not want to be one of those who just stick in something easy.
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Fun! I am so much better at philosophizing about name issues than offering a list of suggestions, so I’m glad that’s not what you’re in the market for!
I think I’ll work my way through this backwards, since it’s the middle name thing that I’m thinking about right now. Mine is Lynn, so I get where you’re coming from there!
So, from where I sit, the bad news is that Grace totally *is* the new Lynn/Ann/Marie. Faith might be up there too, especially in Christian circles, but the other one I hear *all the time* is Rose.
With that behind us, I submit to you my absolute *favorite* Christian girl middle name that I haven’t heard anyone use yet: Ruby. I love it for its reference to Proverbs 31 and a noble woman’s value being above rubies. I want that for my daughters, but we’ve used family names (mostly) for middles, so I’m desperate for *somebody* to use it! Gina Ruby? Please?
I don’t think you should nail yourself down to using virtues, either way. Your pattern so far is that one name has a biblical or faith based meaning, and that’s what I think you should stick with. First or middle, be it a Bible character, concept word or hero name from real life or history. Keep your options open. If and when you get your twin girls, I have to admit I like a little bit more special matchiness for twins, so then maybe Verity and Honor for middle names, or Hannah and Rachel, or something like that.
As for the names on your list:
Regina/Gina – the meaning for your family makes me like these more than I would have on sound alone, but I have to admit liking the full name better. So regal… literally (doesn’t it mean queen?).
Janelle/Nelli – Love, love, love! I would spell it Nellie, but that’s just my own hang-up about my name feeling unsubstantial, and after all, it’s only a nickname in this case, so who cares? I love the family connection, and *adore* the nickname.
JoHannah – hmm… I get using Hannah, and I get why Johannah works better with Regina, but the capital H doesn’t sit right with me. It looks clumsy to my eye, and I think explaining it and spelling it would get old for her. If you love it that way though, don’t mind me.
Mayci – *Love* the meaning, but the spelling is a lot for the purist in me to swallow. I think Maycie would work slightly better, but as I said before, I have a thing about names ending in -i! I really like just Macy best of all, and you can still hear the ‘May’ loud and clear, so I don’t see why it can’t still honor both relatives.
So, my dream name for you: Janelle Ruby called Nellie. *Love*!!! (Re)gina Ruby, “Gina” is also delightful.
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Any reader thoughts for Erica? I know she’ll be reading and hoping for more name input!
*Love* Ruby!!! If I knew my dh would go for it and I didn’t already have a girl name I absolutely love this time around, I’d probably use it!! I also really like Regina/Gina. What if it is a boy though? I’m horrible at naming and really only have one rule, no repeating first initials of siblings, so really I’m not much help!
Not sure if I’m supposed to “chime” in here or not…but a question was asked and it is *killing* me to not answer!
What if it’s a boy?….we will have approximately 23 weeks to work on names after the ultrasound determination…which is p-l-e-n-t-y of time to choose a boy name. So for now, I’m having fun focusing on GIRL names…just knowing it is a possibility makes it more fun than other times of the year 😉 of course, preggo or not, I’m usually thinking on names at one time or another!
I think since I have kids over 10 years old…I’m slightly stuck in the “age of creative spelling” But I’m not *so* into it that I want to go crazy (I AM getting better…would have loved to name Libby….Paizleigh 😉 Its much prettier in hand writing…if you will at least give me that! LOL
I do have a few “favorite letters” (G, h, z, i, and y) Which is why you see the reoccurring “i” endings. My fall back on spelling is that if I’m unsure of the pronunciation, I like a name to be phonetically sound(ed?)-out. (sorry, not sure of the proper way to state “sound-it-out” in past tense, lol)
Oh…LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ruby too…adding it to the list. I think with a Libby, it might be too close to use as a first name, but I sure LOVE it!
Well, I can’t not offer an opinion … 🙂
I echo Jodi … I prefer the full Regina. But I think ultimately I’d fall back on the pattern you’ve already set which is Libby isn’t Elizabeth and use just Gina. Also, if you’re sister is Regina, doesn’t this ease some confusion?
Grace IS total overkill right now. I wouldn’t use it. And I wonder what Libby’s middle name is so that I could work off that pattern. That said, I immediately think of Gina Abigail, Gina Susanna, Gina Candace … I think I’d say away from an “ends with a” middle name unless it has more than two syllables. Gina Hannah doesn’t do much for me, but Gina Susanna seems ok to my ear. And unfortunately, most biblical girl’s names end in “a”.
Ruby is really sweet and sounds great with Libby to me. Ruby Janelle is really lovely. Ruby Regina is ok as well.
I really dislike Mayci. Well, I dislike the spelling. However, I think Macy as a first name for a girl would be a great fit with Libby … Macy is a nn for Margaret just like Libby is to Elizabeth so they fit well for me. Macy Regina is nice as is Macy Janelle.
I think I’d also like May, just May, as a first name. Or maybe Mae because I prefer this spelling.
For another boy, I really want you to consider names like Clive, Vincent, Abbott, Willis, Cash … Cash Abraham. Love it.
Good luck!
Well, since no one told me off for chiming in last time….here I am again…
Libby’s middle name is McClairen. I was watching movie credits one evening and saw the name “Clayre” roll by. I thought it would be a way to honor my dad Clayton, but when I said the names together it sounded like Lib-Eclaire. We both liked “Mc” names and decided on McClairen, with the traditional spelling because to me McClayren…looked as if Clay was the stressed syllable. She’s 9 years old so that kind of name was sort of the trend, I didn’t mind it as a middle name since we had an under-used, old-fashioned, but super cute first name…well if you ask my opinion on it that is how I classified it.
So, for middle names I tend to use family names, or at least a form of a family name (as in McClairen…that one is a stretch when you look at it on paper), but I guess I came up with the name out of the idea of honoring my dad, so it counts to me. There is one child (Parker Logan) that we just picked the name out of the blue because we liked it. I wanted a “P” first name and I think his dad suggested the middle name and I was happy to get to pick the first name, it sounded good with it, so I was happy.
Clayt is the first time we’ve used a first name to honor a family member, but we did shorten it from Clayton to Clayt…some wouldn’t agree that is honoring the name, but to each their own. The other 3 boys all have family derived middle names…Perry Thomas, Corban Joseph, and Clayt Daniel.
It really does flow better to use Gina with a Libby…but I think I’m starting to sway back to naming her Regina and calling her Gina…normally I don’t like planned nick-names, nor does my husband…but when I started thinking about the Janelle/Nellie name, I don’t mind it at all for that name..I think it is because I equally like Regina/Gina and Janelle/Nellie. While, I really didn’t care for Elizabeth at all…so it seemed really silly to name her something I didn’t like.
Hi 🙂 I stumbled across your website (I think it was a link from a link via baby name websites?!).
Anyway, I had to comment and mention the name ‘Gianna’ an Italian girls name that is a derivative of John, and a mixture of both Gina + Hannah.
All the best!