Hi Duana,
我们预计在beginn二女儿ing of July. We need some name help. With our first, we very quickly fell in love with the name Nora. We still love it and when I say her name it almost comes out of my mouth in a melodic way. For our second child, we have been struggling with finding names that we like and agree on. We like names that are somewhat unique and pass the 'professional name test' as my husband likes to call it. So, for instance, he wouldn't want to name a potential son "Johnny" as that seems like a child's name, whereas John would hold up. Anyways, our troubles started because I don't think my husband had reconciled that we are having another girl until recently, we thought boy all along and then we found out at 20 weeks she is a girl.
Anyways, I like the names Amelia, Willa, Simone, Freya. All short (like Nora) and somewhat unique although gaining in popularity.
My husband was so-so on all these names and yesterday suggested his first names since we found out the gender, two pretty good ones in my opinion; Roselind (Rose-a-lind not ROZ-lyn) and Svea. I like both, but wanted to know your thoughts?
Thanks for your help,
J
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I love Nora too! And I love you for illustrating what I’ve said before about loving the name you choose – the meaning, the ‘feeling’, and the sound; “it almost comes out of my mouth in a melodic way” is exactly what I think everyone should be aiming for.
And I completely understand the style of names you’re looking for – plus, extra kudos to your husband for actually suggesting names of his own, and not just dismissing suggestions without contributing anything else. It’s rare enough, and then his name choices are really great!
I have to be honest – I haven’t heard of Svea before and so I’m immediately drawn to that one. I love the way it sounds, how short it is, and how it shares some traits with Nora but it’s also so much its own name. There’s really nothing bad I can say about it, and I would heartily give you my stamp of approval.
That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with Roselind, which is maybe more similar to Nora in terms of historical usage, as well as a quality I can’t quite define, but that I’d have to call “names for women in movies set in the 1930s who are smart, strong, and very capable, but won’t make a big deal about it.” You know what I mean, right?
The downside, if there is one, is that there are going to be (potential) pronunciation conversations. I think that’s mostly because looking at the name, it reads as ‘Rose-a-lind’, so people have really overcorrected and internalized the ‘Rozlyn’ pronunciation because it’s surprising – kind of like the word ‘herb’ or, like, Hermione.
But if you love it and it sounds like music coming out of your mouth, that’s far from a reason not to choose it, so it really comes down to what you think fits the baby girl you (are about to) have.
If you need a few more suggestions, the names you’ve listed remind me of Alice, or Iris, or Eloise, or maybe even something like Luna, which is both similar and different from Nora in a really charming way… but if I’m being all the way truthful I’ll tell you that Svea has been dancing in my head since I read it first, so if it comes down to a vote, I think I’d go that way. Of course I would be very, very happy to meet baby Roselind, too.
Please let us know – I’m anxious to see how this lands!
