Hello. My name is Kaci Guthrie and my husband's name is Dustin. We are due in June with our first child, a boy. We already know that his first name will be Emile. We are struggling and can't come an agreement on the middle name. If we ever have a girl, her name will be Mae Adele (Adele is my middle name). If we have another boy, his name will be Ira Keller (Keller is my mom's maiden name). Why we can't decide on Emile's middle name is beyond me! Here are some thing ideas we have been rolling around but are not set on:
Emile Allen (Dustin's dad's middle name)
Emile Holden (from Catcher in the Rye)
Emile Sinclair (b/c they are both French names)
Do you or your readers have any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help!
I agree, Emile seems to be a particularly difficult name to find a middle name for. Maybe Emile Dustin?
Because of the popularity of girl name Emily, and because the kre8tive spelling trend, I'm inclined to go extra-masculine for the middle name. Allen, Holden, and Dustin all seem good; Sinclair is a boy name but actually now that I think of it would be a very pretty girl name. I think the "clair" part gives it a feminine sound I'd avoid with Emile, even though I think you're right that the rhythm is very good. Another one I like is Emile Jean-Luc, but again I wonder if Jean is too girlish-looking. Maybe Emile Lucas?
Some more French possibilities:
Emile Jerome
Emile Phillipe
Emile Sebastien
I think my favorites from my list are Emile Lucas and Emile Sebastien, and my favorite from your list is Emile Holden.
Name update! Kaci writes:
We ended up naming him Emile Tobin Guthrie. The original question was about what middle name to select, but then the discussion turned to whether Emile sounded like Emily. I had some really encouraging words from someone who left a comment about how her husband's name was Emile and she loved it. I think maybe it didn't have an e at the end. Also, I am a teacher and I have a student who is a girl, her name is Dylan. I talked to her about it. She said that usually on the first day of school, her teachers think she is a boy. They realize that she is a girl and they move on with life. They know she is a girl from that day forward. I think that is how it will be with Emile too. Hopefully he will be a confident enough person to handle the inevitable teasing about being called a girl. Thanks all!
