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can we talk about middle names?
I want to skip them since we're having issues and the babies will have a massive last name, but have been vetoed 
what criteria did you use to pick? C's mom's name is kind of awful, so we can't go with grandmas (she hates her own name, lol). If it was a boy, the middle name would probably be our mom's maiden names, but they're both really ethnic (Polish and Slavic) and i can't do it with the girls.
we've been tossing around using names beginning w/ our initials (C&E) or our moms (M&E), but nothing has stuck. The first names are pretty Irish and kind of neutral. We have some ideas, but they're also pretty Irish/Gaelic (ironically, only C is Irish, and only 1/4) and I feel like middle names should have some meaning.
C also has this idea the kids could choose to go by their first or middle name later, or both. there is some merit to this since my brother uses his first professionally (its kind of awful) and his middle at school/socially.
sigh. any ideas/input?
Re: can we talk about middle names?
What about your middle name and C's middle name for each of their middle names?
We decided for a girl, she will have my middle name for a middle name. My middle name was my grandma's first name. For a boy, the middle name will be A.
ETA: for clarification
A+S | Met 8/24/06 | Married 9/27/08
Started TTC 12/2008 | dx PCOS 5/2009
6 failed clomid/femara/TI cycles, 1 failed clomid/ovidrel/IUI cycle
Successful Cycle: 5/12/11 - 1000mg Metformin + 100mg Clomid(late response) + TI = BFP
? 2/13/12 - We proudly welcomed our daughter, Hadley Teresa! ?
? Lots of Luck to all of 3T/IF ?
Jason and I agree that mn's should have some meaning too. That said, if you and C can't decide on mn's for the girls, I think it's perfectly fine not having them... I actually knew two girls in high school without middle names.
Also, what about your and C's grandmothers. I know it's nice to honor the soon to be g'mas, but maybe you just need to go back a bit further.
I hadn't thought about that. Our middle names are Hope and Marie. Kind of blah, but I'll run that by Chris.
I wish C's mom's name was better, because I really like my mom's name (Elizabeth).
I have my mom's middle name, her biological mom named her and my grandparents kept her name so we have no idea where Dawn came from. My dad named me and he loved it so that's where I got mine.
My brother has my mom's father's first name, Erland, and he really doesn't like it.
My dad's middle name is his father's last name, his parents did not get married. I will used my dad's middle name if we have a son to keep the name going.
I'm pretty sure JT's middle name just went well with Joshua so I don't know where it came from and I think the same for his sister.
I personally like middle names with some sort of significance.
Books read in 2011: 111
Books read in 2012: 100
my read shelf:
I like Hope and Marie! Elizabeth is great, but what is C's mom's name (first or middle)?
A+S | Met 8/24/06 | Married 9/27/08
Started TTC 12/2008 | dx PCOS 5/2009
6 failed clomid/femara/TI cycles, 1 failed clomid/ovidrel/IUI cycle
Successful Cycle: 5/12/11 - 1000mg Metformin + 100mg Clomid(late response) + TI = BFP
? 2/13/12 - We proudly welcomed our daughter, Hadley Teresa! ?
? Lots of Luck to all of 3T/IF ?
C's mom's name is Marion. She doesn't care for it (and neither do I). Her mom disliked her middle name so much she ditched it when she got married.
Our grandma's are Angela, Norma, Bertha and Marilee...none of them are working for various reasons (I kind of like Norma though and could deal with Marilee if C were to agree to this option).
This would be simpler for one baby. Our first names go well together, but we can't give one kid both favorites
As an aside, I've always heard that if the first name has two syllables the middle should have one, and vice-versa. You want it to be easy to say :-)
P's middle name is B's middle name as well as FIL's middle name. It also just happens to be the first name of our best man.
Had he been a girl (or most likely if we ever have a girl) it would have been my middle name (Elizabeth), which was my grandmother's first name, my aunt's middle name (spelled with an s instead of a z, though) and the middle name of most of my BFFs as well as one of B's younger sister's middle name. It also happens to be the first name of our MOH.
If we have another boy we'll have to discuss it, but it most likely will be either my maiden (or a slant spelling of it) or another close family member's name.
2012 Reading Challenge
Marion = Marianne? or just Mary? It's an option!
So you do have family name options:
Hope/Marie, Elizabeth/Marianne (Mary), Norma/Marilee
All would be great!!
A+S | Met 8/24/06 | Married 9/27/08
Started TTC 12/2008 | dx PCOS 5/2009
6 failed clomid/femara/TI cycles, 1 failed clomid/ovidrel/IUI cycle
Successful Cycle: 5/12/11 - 1000mg Metformin + 100mg Clomid(late response) + TI = BFP
? 2/13/12 - We proudly welcomed our daughter, Hadley Teresa! ?
? Lots of Luck to all of 3T/IF ?
We've been working with this. I think I'll pull Sarah Bs list crack into the E&Ms again tonight. I am nesting and want it settled dammit.
thanks for the input guys
You could just go all Beckham on it and just use your rugby numbers as middle names...
"While they haven't explained the name, "Seven" could be a homage to Beckham's first soccer jersey number when he played for Manchester United and England."
2012 Reading Challenge
lol.
We both played two positions primarily too, so we wouldn't even need first names.
Ten Fifteen and Four One. Done and done.
2012 Reading Challenge
Alexi doesn't have a middle name and while his name is unique (most Spanish men go by Alexis), he insisted our little one have a middle name just for added safety with identity theft and such now-a-days.
Mariela's middle name is a variation of my mother's first name. (Joy. My mom's name is Joyce.) What are your mothers' middle names if they have them? Could those names work as a middle names for your girls?
Could you use a variation of your moms' names instead of what they really are? For example Mariela is a combo of my MIL's real first name, Maria (Mari), and my grandmother's name, Eleanor (ela).
God, I haven't even thought about middle names... Guess it would help if we narrowed our first name list down to at least 25? or 10? ha.
ETA: I was going to post what Claire said too-- all our names are derived from some form/ initials of family members. My middle name is Elizabeth and that was from Lily I guess (a grt grandma)...
I also like having a family connection with the middle name.
We went with Catherine because it is both of our maternal gma's name, it is also my middle name and my paternal gma's middle name. If we have another girl, I would love her middle name to be Mae, which is Kirk's paternal gma's middle name. Her first name was Edna which I am not a fan of. If we have a boy his middle name will be Thomas after my father who passed away when I was little.
I agree about going back farther, my cousin went back several generations of our family and found both Lily and Analise and now his third kid is names Lily Analise, which I think is lovely and it is all family.
I think at least one name (first or middle) should have some sort of meaning, whether is it after someone or some other sort of meaning.
I like the idea of using your mother's first initials to come up with a middle name. Or liek someone else suggested, a variation of their first names for the MN. For Marion your could Maria, Mary etc.
Or, are there any places that have meaning to you both, that could could also work as MNs? Just an idea.
I also think not having a MN is ok, esp. if they will have long possibly hyphenated last names.
Blog
I posted this on your blog before seeing this post. Here is a C&P:
I obviously have no experience naming children, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it.
My favorite is Elizabeth. Other than the
fact that I just plain love it, it is my mom's middle name, the name of
the church I grew up in, and my SIL is Beth. Other possible middle names
I like are: Victoria (because DH and I met in the state of Victoria in
Australia) and Iris (my favorite flower). I too like middle names with
meaning.
Since the first names are neutral, what about something feminine for the middle names, like flowers: Rose, Lily, etc? Grace is a popular middle name and very sweet. Along with Grace you could do Hope and/or Faith.
I agree with everyone else on the middle name having meaning. I like the suggestions of using initials from the grandmas.
Eli's middle name (Rich) is after Justin's grandpa (Richard) and part of my maiden name (Goodrich, which is from my grandfather). If we have another boy, his middle name will be Anthony after Justin's other grandfather. If we have a girl, her first name will be Sydney, after where Justin and I met. Do you have any places you could use as names?
2012 Reading Challenge
As an aside, DH's grandmother was named Louise. She gave two of her three daughters the middle name Louise. DH's uncle used to make fun of her by naming all of his cats "Something Louise" like "Tiffany Louise was one. That is why Stella is Stella Louise.
What about your mom's maiden names as middle names? or would that just be too much b/c then it would be like they had three last names?
Or you could do one Emily and one Christine if it goes...but I think there could be lots of good names that go with the middle initials of the grandma's to be.
Our middle name choices are family names (David for my dad and Virginia for my granny).
I like Ainsley and Morgan (of course, it's hard not knowing what the first names are!)
I also don't think it's horrible to have the names have zero meaning behind them. Both my and my sister's middle names (Marie and Rae) were chosen because they sounded good with our first names.
I know that if we have a girl, her name will be Something Pearl E. Pearl was my great grandmothers name, and my (favorite & most influential) great aunts middle name. The name I love is Colleen Pearl E, M not really a fan, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it! My middle name is Jennifer, after another great grandmother, one of my grandmothers used to call me Jenny all the time and wanted me to go by that... I like the idea of having family connection, and I understand how hard it must be with having to come up with 2 sets of names! (When M was born, his parents had 4 sets of names, b/c they didn't know they were having two girls/two boys/boy-girl... that would be overwhelming to me!)
I do love Ainsley and Morgan! Can't wait to find out the first names!