Newest Baby Name Announcements
By Linda Rosenkrantz
Ah, my favorite time of the month, when we get to see all the wonderful names chosen by Berries IRL. And this past April was certainly no exception!
Two sets of twins this month, all girls:
Felicity Veronica Pearl and Olive Ramona Grace and
Names chosen by more than one Berry: Olive and August
Further evidence of the growing interest in ancient deity names: Juno, Osiris, Mercury, Zeus
Most unusual middle: Wildrose (her sibs’ middles are Nightingale and Mayflower)
Here’s the full list, as reported on the Birth Announcement Forum.
GIRLS
“Anastasia won because we loved the nickname Annie. We think it is a strong, regal and beautiful name like Elizabeth, Caroline and Charlotte but less common in the U.S.”
Calla Willette, sister of Julia Pilar and Simone Theodora
Carys Celestine Claire, sister of Judah Derek and Lilah Kieran Jane
“Originally I was going to name her Claire but the older children asked if they could pick a middle name for her. They chose Carys for the meaning and I loved it enough to move it to first place. Celestine was my grandmother’s name so it is a much loved family name. I love that naming this baby has been a family act of love.”
Cecily Violet, sister of Sylvie Camille
“We chose Clara because it is easy to spell and is recognizable in multiple cultures. I spent years dreaming about baby names and wondered how I’d ever choose when the moment came. It was surprisingly easy once she was here.”
Dorothy Wildrose, sister of Peter Nightingale and Sabina Mayflower
”We couldn’t be happier with our storybook name choice…The husband and I are set on Dora and Dot as nicknames, but more pet names and nicknames are sure to come.”
Elowyn Magnolia
Felicity Veronica Pearl, twin of Olive Fiona Grace and sister of Everleigh Sarah Ennis, Bristol Lucille, Violet Dahlia Jane, Dolly Caroline, and Grechen Giselle
Flora Louise, sister of Grant Gilbert
Genevieve, twin of Madeleine and sister of Everett
Ingrid Constance, sister of Madeline Grace, Ainsley Rose, Genevieve Camille and Abbott William
“Constance is the name of both of our mothers.”
Juno Moira Elizabeth, sister of Ainsley Morgan and Griffin Oliver
“Dad liked elaborate literary names, but I liked short and spunky names. Juno was the perfect fit! We couldn’t agree on a middle—Moira, the Irish version of Mary, my first name, or Elizabeth, his mom’s middle (and his nan’s first)—so, like a proper Brit, she has two middles.”
Louisa Therese, sister of Marguerite Elise
Madeleine, twin of Genevieve and sister of Everett
Olive Estelle, sister of Winnie Matilda, James Henry and Pearson Gilbert
Olive Ramona Grace, twin of Felicity Veronica Pearl, sister of Everleigh Sarah Ennis, Bristol Lucille, Violet Dahlia Jane, Dolly Caroline, and Gretchen Giselle
“I chose Ramona as her middle name because of the Beverly Cleary books… the Ramona books were a big part of my childhood.”
Rhiannon Lorelei, sister of Keira
“We chose the name Rhiannon for many reasons, but I first fell in love with as a child reading Seaward by Susan Cooper…Because Rhiannon is a captured selkie, we wanted Lorelei as a middle to continue the mermaid theme and as a counterbalance to Rhiannon, since Lorelei is a dangerous siren who can be tamed by no man. We want our daughter to be a strong woman, in her full power. She has already proven herself a fighter as a NICU graduate….And yes, her nursery is mermaid themed. And yes, we sing her the Fleetwood Mac song nightly!”
“Finally…after a three-year long adoption wait…I was matched with a beautiful 6 month old girl in India. Thea honors my mom. Her middle name is Dorothea. And Renée honors my father who recently passed away and middle name is René. Niharika is her given name, which was important for me to keep. It makes for a long name, but she will have to forgive me for that.”
Theodosia Cecilie Josephine, sister of Benedikte Eva Nichola and Konrad Rupert Leopold
“There is a long tradition of names meaning “gift from god” in her father’s family. Theodosius, Donatus, Dorothea, etc. She is a long desired addition to our family after a difficult year…She is definitely our gift.”
Veronica Pearl, sister of Maeve Opal
“Veronica had been on our favorites list from our first daughter, and it seemed to be a great option for a middle this time around—when it occurred to us the night before leaving the hospital that perhaps Veronica Pearl was actually our best option….and feedback from Berries helped so much.”
BOYS
“Arthur is a name we fell in love with both for its studious, almost nerdy image, and for its rich history in legend and literature. We also love the fact that it’s a classic name, but still used infrequently in our home province.”
August Jude, brother of River Eloise
August Owen, brother of Bennett Elwood and Spencer Adam.
“We used family names for our older two but August is just a name we both liked, we liked the nickname options and felt it was a good match with the older boys names.”
Ethan Edgar, brother of Griffin Adam
“Ezra was a name we both liked the sound of, it’s unique but not outlandish and can stand out while fitting in. Wolf is my maiden name and my dad (who had two girls) is thrilled we are passing on the family name! My dad goes by Wolfy and has started calling our little man “little Wolfy.” We like the outdoorsy vibe of Wolf as well, as we are big hikers!”
“We both loved the strong, vintage English feel of Frederick with the lighter Sanskrit Sameer, which together honour both his English and Indian heritage. But so far, he’s mainly just little Freddie.”
“DH’s name is Alexander James, he goes by James. Jacob and James are both family names for him, almost every oldest son in his family is either Jacob or James, going back at least 4 generations. Jacoby seems a nice way to us of upholding the tradition, but with a little twist. We went with Marcellus as a middle name because we both like Roman names and it’s the name of two popes, derived from Marcus. It’s classic but unusual…We were looking for a name that’s easy to use and pronounce in different languages, because I’m from Belgium and my husband’s English.”
Jasper Neil, brother of Katherine Alba and Amelia Jean
“We ultimately chose Kai because we knew we wanted a one syllable name and loved the relaxed vibe of it, plus all the great meanings in so many languages. Everett seemed to flow well with it and offers a more “traditional” sounding name should Kai ever want one. Also, Everett has been a recycled name in my dad’s family for a long time so it was nice to offer up that to him and my grandfather.”
Lewis Martin, brother of Annabelle Joy
“We wanted a strong, recognizable and easy to pronounce name that was not too common. We chose the Lewis spelling to ensure it was pronounced Loo-is and not Loo-ee. Martin is a family middle name on my husband’s side shared by mu husband, his father and his grandfather.”
Lucas Joseph, brother of Mia Margaret and Isabelle Rosemary Therese
“We chose his name because people have heard of it, they can pronounce it when written and spell it when spoken. He will also not be confused with too many other Normans on the playground and there weren’t any nicknames we could think of that we didn’t like.”
Osiris Mercury James, brother of Azula Rosemary and Indira Coral
“Osiris we chose simply for cadence and mythological namesake. Mercury we chose for the nature, fluidity & fleet-footed connections.”
Rooney Kevin, brother of Cormac Thomas
“We chose Rooney because we wanted to celebrate our Irish heritage and we both like Irish names that aren’t too mainstream.”