I am pregnant with baby #3 (due in early February) and have never been so stressed about naming. It really does get harder each time, so it's good that we're planning on this being our last.
My family is mostly Italian and Greek. My husband is from England. Our daughter is named Eleni Nicole and our son is Rhys James. So far, one Greek and one Welsh name. I'm expecting a baby girl and would prefer to give her an Italian first name, although loving the name is more important than the background.
Some names that I've been throwing around are:
Caterina
Lucia
Chiara
Melina (nn Millie after my grandmother), but that's another Greek name
I also love the name Caia and have considered naming her Caterina with Caia as a nickname. Does that seem like too much of a stretch? I loved Eleni's name for years before we had her. The only other name I've crushed on that far back is Caia but I can't decide whether I prefer having the more formal Caterina as a given name with possible nicknames like Caia, Carina, Cat, Rina, etc......
The kids have been referring to her as Caterina Lucia which I liked for a while but am doubting now. Not sure if it's too sing songy. E&R both have an "ethnic" first name and a more traditional name. Not sure Lucia in the middle matches Nicole and James.
I like Chiara but worry about the lack of nicknames. The only one I can think of is Kiki which isn't my favorite.
Lucia is gorgeous but I think pronunciation will be an issue and I'm not sure whether I prefer loo-CHEE-ah or LOO-sha. Plus Leni and Lucy is pretty rhymey.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the names. Our last name is Freedman (without the D). My name is Maria and my husband is Joel.
A final consideration is that my kids usually go by Leni (pronounced like Laney) and Rhys. Do Leni, Rhys and Caia "match"? Do any of the others sound better as a sibling set? I am open to any and all suggestions, both for first and middle names.
Thank you for considering us, I would love some feedback.
And:
My grandfather died last week. His name was Joseph, and I think I'd like to use Josephine as a middle name in his honor.
I'd like to hear opinions on names that would work well. I still really like the name Caia but wonder if it's too short or nicknamey?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
And:
I am so sorry to write again but I have one last update for your consideration. This naming business is making me crazy!
My kids keep calling the baby "Cataweena" which is really making me lean toward naming her Caterina, with possible nicknames of Caia, Carina or Cat. In talking to my sister who is about to marry and was very close to our grandfather who passed away, she likes the idea of using Joseph for one of her children. Since my son's middle name is already after my father, I'm happy with "saving" Josephine for her to use in the future.
So....Caterina Lucia (my daughter's choice) still seems a little singsongy to me, not sure about that. I would consider any suggestions you and your readers can offer. I think that Eleni, Rhys and Caterina go together pretty well, but not sure that Lucia fits with Nicole and James? Or whether that really even matters, to be honest.
My husband isn't crazy about Chiara or Lucia as first names, so I think they're out. I still love Melina, but came across the fact that melena is a medical term with a pretty gross meaning which holds me back, plus he doesn't really like it anyway.
So I think Caterina will be her name. Can you help with the middle name?
Thanks so much, I apologize for my dithering!
No apologies for dithering/updating! I like to be able to answer an up-to-date question. I feel so sorry for the parents who write me in, say, June, and then their due-date group isn't worked on until December---probably all their list is changed by then!
Let's see if I can answer all the questions!
1. My opinion is that Caia is too much of a stretch as a nickname for Caterina: it's a completely unrelated stand-alone name. "Formal names" are useful when the nickname is the desired name but doesn't seem right/enough as a given name---so the parents choose Charles instead of Charlie, for example, or Katherine instead of Kate. Caterina, though, is the formal name for Cat and Cate, not for Caia. For Caia, Caterina is just "a longer name, also starting with C."
2. I don't think either Caterina Lucia or Caia Lucia are too sing-songy. In fact, I'm very partial to that kind of sound in names.
3. I also like the pronunciation lu-SEE-ah. But if you're trying for an Italian name, my first choice is lu-CHEE-ah to reflect that.
4. I admit to being swayed by the kids calling the baby Catarina---but the parents get first choice on the name, and the kids will soon call her whatever you name her, and just as cutely too.
5. While I too like sibling names to coordinate, I don't think you need to worry at all about the middle names not being perfectly coordinated. Middle names can be chosen for a variety of reasons, and so it's common for them to NOT coordinate (e.g., even if all three names were namesake names, the namesakes are likely to have had names that don't match at all stylistically).
6. I think Eleni/Leni, Rhys, and Caia sound like a good sibling group. I also think Eleni/Leni, Rhys, and Caterina sound like a good sibling group.
Everyone you ask will of course have their own set of answers to your questions. But my main opinion is that you should name your daughter the name you love, which is Caia---and not try to stretch it to some other name just because of the number of letters. Rhys is the same number of letters as Caia, but it wasn't necessary to search for a much longer name starting with R and then try to use Rhys as a nickname for it: you just named him Rhys. Since Eleni also goes by a four-letter nickname, the name Caia is if anything a better sibling-name fit than Caterina. If, however, you PREFER the name Caterina, I think you should use Caterina. In either case, I think Lucia is the perfect middle name.
Name update! Maria writes:
Thank you and your readers for chiming in on my panicky naming confusion. After all the obsessing for months about the same few names, she ended up being named something completely different.
Isla Catherine was born February 7th. My husband suggested the name a few days before she was born and it just clicked. I've attached a photo of our little Isla.....
