I have been reading your blog often to find help with names for my twin girls (due October 24). I definitely need some help. I have a 3 yr old named Luke Anderson (goes by Luke). I am a huge fan of last names first, but it seems that two girls with last names first is too much-so I will probably only let one girl have a last name first. We do not have great family names as options, and my husband does not want all three kids to begin with "L" (even though I love lots of girl "L" names like Laurel, Lyndie, Lainey, etc). I also want their first names to be what they go by, as I have hated being called by my first name even though I go by my middle name. Also, our last name is 2 syllables, starts with G and ends in -er. So we don't want a first name ending in -er. Here are my name suggestions that I like, but am not at all sold on. I am very interested in them having first names that are easily understood, but not so common. Claire seems to be more common than I thought.
"Claire" Elisabeth (not a huge fan of Elisabeth, but need 3 syllables, husband doesn't love it either)
and
"Ellis" Catherine (paired a boyish name with a very feminine name, not a huge fan of Catherine either)
Ellis is not your typical girl name, but I can see it working. I've tried it out on a couple of people hoping they wouldn't think I was saying "Alice" and none of them did. Is Ellis too weird for a girl? She could go by Ellie, Elle, or just Ellis. I have always liked Elise, but we have known quite a few lately, so that is no longer an option. I feel like we need better selections of 3-syllable middle names too. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
I think Ellis with work fine, considering the popularity of names such as Ella. Another similar choice is Ellery. Oh, or Ellison.
Depending on how coordinated you want the names to be (I tend to want more coordination for fraternal twins, less for identical twins), a girl name starting in Em might be nice: Ellis and Emerin, Ellery and Emerson.
If you want less coordination, I like names that are not too feminine, because otherwise I feel like the femininity of the feminine name makes the name Ellis seem masculine:
Ellery and Adelyn
Ellery and Delaney (this gives you Laney without an L initial)
Ellery and Hollis (Ellie and Holly)
Ellis and Avery
Ellis and Darcy
Ellis and Jensen
Ellis and Madigan
Ellis and Macy
Ellis and Marin
Ellis and Rowan
Ellis and Shelby
Ellis and Teagan
Elisabeth is 4 syllables. Some 3-syllable possibilities:
Annika
Bethany
Calista
Carissa
Clarissa
Corinna
Elena
Fiona
Joanna
Josephine
Karenna
Kiara
Linnea
Lissandra
Marissa
Melina
Natalie
Sabrina
Samantha
Selena
Susanna
Well, I guess that list could go on and on: there are tons of names with 3 syllables, if 3 syllables is what you want. With some first names, I think 2-syllable or 4-syllable middle names sound good too.
Ellis Josephine is nice, or Ellis Melina. With Ellery I think I prefer one syllable: Ellery Jane, Ellery Rose, etc.---but I also like Ellery Sabrina.
I think my favorite set overall is Ellery Jane and Hollis Josephine: Ellie Jane and Holly Jo.
