The Baby Name Wizard

Macy comes from Thomas, and could honor Grandpa Tom.

Robin for Grandpa Robert?

Wilhelmina for William?
Justine for Justin?
Winifred for Fred?
Frances for Frank?

My grandmother, the oldest of 8 children, was named after her father Benjamin - she is Benita. It seems like kind of a strange name for an Irish-German farm girl, but I'm impressed that her parents chose to name their firstborn after the father instead of waiting for a boy to "carry on the name."

A girl in my sons swim class is named Johnnie . She is almost two and has a good amount of hair but she is always mistaken for a boy and her Mom snaps at people when they get it wrong. Its like are you joking? She can't be surprised that people make that mistake.I bet when Johnnie is in grade school people wil read her name and think its an error. Unitl they get to know her of course. The instucter kept calling her Joanie which was pissing off her mom like I can't even imagine.
A friend of mine has two kids Ryann and Alexx both girls I always wonder what they would name a son.

Funny that this post came along right when I was thinking about the possibilities of Benjamina (to honor a Benjamin) and Jaspera (as a female form of Jasper)... What do you think? I'm especially curious about Jaspera -- would it sound made up/cree8ive? I'd pronounce it JAS-per-a. I'm not looking to use it on an actual child, just curious. Jasper is one of my favorite male names, after all!

Macy/Massey is the name of a prominent medieval family in the northwest midlands of England.

Winifred is not derived from the same root as Frederick or even from the same language. The feminine form of Frederick is (obviously) Fredericka.

A feminine possibility for Richard is the very old name Richildis. The first element is the same, but not the second. This is typical of Germanic bithematic names, because the grammatical gender of the second element determined whether the name would be given to male infants or female. So you can change a Germanic bithematic name from a boy's name to a girl's or vice versa by using the same initial element and then adding a second element of the appropriate gender.

Of course in the passage of time, many such Germanic names developed a feminine form according to the relevant vernacular. Hence Roberta from Robert, Fredericka from Frederick, Wilhelmina from Wilhelm (William), Ulrica from Ulric(h). In the absence of a recognized feminine form, it is still possible to use the old Germanic method of name formation. Take my son's name Edward. It would, I suppose, be possible to form Edwardine/Edwardette/Edwarda on the pattern of Bernadine/Bernadette/Bernarda, but it would be better IMO to use the old method and choose Edith (Eadweard/Eadgifu). My son's middle name is Raymond, the feminine version of which is Raymonde. Raymonde at one time was a very common name in Provence, but I suspect it is no longer.

Maureen: I really like Jaspera, though my impulse would be to pronounce it Jas-PEAR-a unless directed otherwise ('pear' like the fruit). It doesn't strike me as kre8tive per se.

I'm split on Benjamina. It does seem a little more kre8tive, but as I sit here and say it to myself, it's rather growing on me! (It's no where near the same level as Alexx, though, which to me screams kre8tive!)

David -- Davia, (or if you want to lop off it's head, Avia or Ava)

Benjamin -- Minna or Jamie (I don't care for Benjamina)

I like Masey for Thomas...

My father's name was Richard...I can not think of a female name that is easily derived from it.... Ricarda? Rita perhaps? Nothing I like.

Around the turn of the century in Scotland it was custom to add "-ina" to the end of pretty much every male name. So when I worked on a geriatrics ward in Scotland in 2000, the elderly ladies had the most bizarre (to modern ears) names:

Jamesina
Johnina (yes, really)
Davidina as well as Davina
Albertina
Alexandrina
Alexina
Thomasina
Williamina

some appear on here: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/name6.pdf

Edward - Edwina, of course

This is a fun challenge when I think about the male members of my own family. Like Laura talked about, there are a couple different routes to take for each name: "standard" feminine equivalent, shared origin, similar sound, and (for the real stumpers) similar meaning.

My father's name is Stephan, which obviously gives you Stephanie, which I hate (probably because it's from my own generation). A similar sounding name might be Stella, which I like. For shared origin, when I looked up the name etymology of Stephan I saw that there's a Maori variant "Tipene," which I could see as a girl's name if you're not afraid of a few funny looks. For shared meaning, Stephen is from "crown" in Greek, so how about "Atarah," which is crown in Hebrew?

I like this game. Let me try some others.

Family Name: Ian
Standard: Joan, Jane, Jean
Origin: Seona (Scottish form of Joan) or Siobhan (Scottish form of Jeanne)
Sound: Ianthe (Greek for "violet")
Meaning: n/a

Family Name: Gordon
Standard: n/a
Origin: n/a
Sound: Jordan, Gordiana
Meaning: Tara (Gaelic for "hill")

Family Name: Gerard
Standard: Geraldine
Origin: Gertie
Sound: Jeri
Meaning: Rhonda, Rhonwen (Welsh for "blessed spear")

James--You could do Jamie, but I prefer Jacqueline.

Mark/Marcel--Marcia

Benjamin--I like Benjamina. Gina would be a cute nickname.

The Oxford Dictionary of Names gives Rhona (Rona) as a feminized form of Ronald...based on that, Wendy, you could go with Richa or Rica, maybe?

You could take a cue from Dorothy's chic(ken) sidekick in Ozma of Oz and have yourself a little Billina. And Dorothy, by the way, could yield Theodore.

Uncle Samuel might lead you to Samantha, of course, or you could use the latter name as a jumping-off point and give him an Anthea instead.

If the Irish form of Jonathan is Ionatan, you could, I suppose, please your grandpa with an Iona in his honor.

And celebrate Cousin Derek with an infant Teri -- the first is a form of Theodoric, the second a possible diminutive of the same.

For Benjamin what about Benita?

For Richard how about Richmal - like the writer of the Just William books.

Anthony - Antonia or Antoinette

I've come across lttle girls called Billie and Frankie in England. But not Cameron or Aubrey!

Did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt was named for her father, Elliott Roosevelt, who was called "Ellie"? That's a pretty prominent cross-gender namesaking right there!

I know little girls named Frankie (Frances) and Rudy (Ruth). Both are under 4. And didn't Melissa Etheridge just name her daughter Johnnie Rose? I think these names are still in play... with all due respect, Laura! :) Actually, they may increase in popularity again when people start to tire of all the "frilly-elly-ana" girls names.

Applying the challenge to my family:
Arthur -- Arlene
Patrick -- Patricia, Patrice, Risa
Marco -- Marcella
Anthony -- Antonia,Antoinette,Etta,Tonianne

Off to see some fireworks on the beach...Happy 4th of July!

My mom's cousin was named Mary Fredna in honor of her father Fred, although I guess the obvious choice would have probably been Frederique....

I went to school with a Davida and a Johnatha. I think Johnna is pretty, though I'd spell it Jonna.

Let's see. If I named for grandpas, I'd have to go with Roberta (though I'd rather use Robin, as a previous commenter suggested), Wilhelmina or Willa, Jonna, and.....okay, I'm stuck on Grandpa Gerrit.

I have a female 15 year old cousin whose full first name is Franki, after her (previously deceased) grandfather Frank.

At this point I've heard it for so long that it seems completely natural - I cannot imagine her named anything else - even though we were all quite surprised when her parents intially named her.

Also, (for use some day far in the future,) can anyone think of any way of clearly naming a child (male or female) after someone named Wayne without using that actual name? It seems to be a name devoid of linked names, even through meaning. And first-letter commonality doesn't count to me. I'm curious what you creative people come up with!

okay. I'm quite curious how well I can accomplish this challenge.
The men in my family and my ideas to honor them:
Brian- typical would be Brianna, but I prefer Briony.
Orval- tough one. But I like Orla. as well as Onora.
Arthur- this one is hard...perhaps Aretha, but I don't really care for that.
Richard- another hard one. Perhaps Rachelle, though it's not really close at all.
John- I think Johanna is my favorite
Willard- I think I'd go with Willa.

not too hard...though other suggestions for Richard would be great.

I'm not all up on the name roots, but I am creative. So, I had some fun with the name Aaron.

The obvious homophone: Erin

Anagram: Nora or Rona

When looking up the names, two definitions popped up: "mountain" and "exalted, strong"

For the "mountain" meaning: Sierra or Helen or any other mountain name could be a sneaky way to honor an Aaron.

For the "exalted, strong" meaning: There are many choices. A sampling: Aaliyah, Bridget in all its forms, Brianna, Valarie

My personal favorite out of these is Nora, but I'm sure y'all probably have even better suggestions!

Karyn--

For Wayne, I'd probably do something like Wynne for the anagram(ish) and sound-alike quality. Or Carter because Wayne apparently means cartwright or wagon driver.

That's all I can think of for now!

Duh. Or Cartwright for that sassy surname feel.

This is fun! I was considering Kendra for my dd as a way to honor a Kenneth family name but hubby vetoed it. I guess I could of gone with Kendall as well, but that probably would have gotten vetoed as well. They just weren't his style. In the other categories I get these:
Standard:n/a
Origin:(Gaelic=Born of fire)Endellion=Gaelic fire-soul
Sound:Kendra, Kendall
Meaning:Candace=Greek fire-white;Keahilani=Hawaiian the fire of heaven;Tanwen=Welsh White fire

Also:John as family name yields
Standard:Johnna
Origin::(Hebrew=God is gracious)Janelle, Janet, Jane
Sound:Gianna
Meaning:Shannon, Shawna, Shavonne (Scottish,Gaelic)

If I go way back in my genealogy I get some pretty interesting choices and actually have a male named Leslie so that would definately work for a girl.

"I'm stuck on Grandpa Gerrit."

Gerrit is a Dutch/Frisian form of Gerhard/Gerard. The feminine form of the name is Gerda--which may not thrill you. I myself know several Gerrits and Gerdas, but they live in the Netherlands where these names are not unusual.

Gertrude is not the same name, but it is related. It is also one "oldie" name that has not as yet been resurrected. One of my colleagues has an Austrian wife named Gertraud, who is according to my son's judgment a "babe,' and she has managed to go happily through life being called Gert (pronounced roughly like Gairt). If Sadie has made a comeback (to my astonishment), maybe Gertie won't be far behind (or maybe it will). In any case, Trudy is a cute nickname for Gertrude.

Just found out fem form of Kenneth is Kenina-eww! And forgot of course Makenna and the like.
Check out this site for more origin/derivative ideas:
www.20000-names.com
It has different categories too for those that prefer them.

Let's see, going with the male names in my family we would have:

George..obviously Georgianna, one of my favorite girls' names.

William...Willa or Wilhemina.

John (my dad)... I'd go with Johanna, which was also my grandmother's name.

On my husband's side, things get trickier.

Marshal (my father-in-law)...I suppose Marcia/Marsha would work, though I don't like that name much. According to some websites I found, Marshall means caretaker of horses, so Philippa would also be a (much preferable) option.

His grandfathers were:

Arthur... by sound, Athena is somewhat similar. If Arthur means "bear" or "bear man" than Ursula would be appropriate.

Irving... Wow, this one's tough. I've got pretty much nothing other than "I" girls' names like Ivy or Isadora.

I went to school with a girl named Fredell, she said she was named after her father, Fred.

My cousin was born a few weeks after our grandfather, George, passed away. She was named Georgina in his honor.

I have given some thought to the cross gender naming issue, partly because I myself was named for my grandfather and also because I have occupied myself thinking up appropriate names to suggest for grandchildren if there are to be any (not that my son and his wife would pay attention to anything I had to say....)

My grandfather's name was Meyer Wolf, and my parents considered Myrna and Myra before (wisely) choosing Miriam. Unfortunately there is no cute name for a female wolf as vixen is for a female fox.

My other grandfather's name was Schlomo (Solomon) Chaim. The closest female equivalent would be Salome Eve (the Hebrew form of Eve is Chaya). Schlomo/Solomon means 'peace' and Chaim/Chaya means 'life,' so one alternative that I like is Zoe (life) Irene (peace). Zoe and Irene are both Byzantine Greek names, and both have been borne by Byzantine empresses, so IMO they go together. Possible other 'peace' names are Frieda and Fredericka and 'life' names are Vivian and Vita.

This is a pretty tough one, the names I have to play with are:

William - Willa or Sweet William (which is what Billie is a nn for)

Garry - Gracie?

Steven - Stephanie obviously. Maybe Esta - from the Spanish Estefania.

Maurice - well in France it can be used for both males and females, but I would probably go for something like Marcelle.

Raynor - easy - I would probably go for Rainer.

Stewart - again hard because I don't think that there is a female form and it is a surname turned into a first name anyway. Actually, I can't think of anything.

The other name I have is Archer, which is my grandfather's middle name. This could be used as Archer for a girl and I like it, but one of my cousins has already called dibs!

As an aside, in the book "What Katy Did" by Susan Coolidge, one of the younger children is known as Johnnie, which is a nn for Joanna.

Miriam - I thought the Hebrew form of Eve was Chava not Chaya?

Kree8tivity with gender-bending names is nothing new. I know a Byllye who is nearing 60.

Karyn,

For Wayne, you could go with Waverly (or Wayverly), since it has the same initial sound.

My family names are nonstarters I think. Hubby and Grandpas are Stan, Jeffrey and Hirao. I did think about combining Tirzah and Stan to get Stanza, but Stan wouldn't go for it! (He hates his name.)

Yes, and Byllye Avery is a feminist health-care advocate born in 1937--so she's 71. But Laura agrees that the Billie/Bobbie/Tommie Jo girl names are mostly an early-mid 20c. pattern--so these Byllyes fit the model (creative spellings notwithstanding).

There's a preschooler in the neighborhood called Charley Sue--don't know if that's her full given name or a nickname for something like Charlotte Susanna. I rather hope the latter.

The men in our family have tough names to gender-bend to girl namesakes--starting with Ralph! Raffaela is fine, I guess. Timothy's a stumper, though. I might borrow Tamsin from the Thomas file if pressed. Andrew--well, Andrea, obviously, but that's not my style, so... Melisande? Drew?

Jeffrey might bend to Freya with a little twist...

Terrific conversation!

My grandmother, Leora, was named for her father, Leo. I've always loved both names, and have thought of using either, depending on whether I had a boy or a girl first.

Also, I love the idea of naming a baby girl after her dad or grandpa, rather than "saving" the name for boy.

In my family, some males names are:

Edward, James, Emerson, Joseph.

There have already been some great suggestions for Edward and James, and apparently Emerson is becoming more accepted as a name for a girl.

That leaves Joseph. I love both Josephine and Josie, though I guess those are a bit obvious. Also, Josefina. Nns could be Sepha or Rosie (to rhyme with Josie).

In my family, there are Thomas, Matthew, Harland, and Tempie to contend with.
Tempie is in my husband's family as a male or female name for at least 4 generations. We're not obligated to use it as it was already used by his sister for one of her kids.
The rest of the names are tough. I think Tamsin sounds cute and spunky but it would be really hard to convince anyone I am related to, except my dad, Tom. Mattea is cute but doesn't go with our last name. Harland could be morphed to Garland, which I believe is a man's name too, but it reminds me of flowers so I think it could work for a girl.

Great topic.

My father, grandfather and great-grandfather are either John or Johann, so it would make sense to take Johanna from that, although I have to admit it's not my favourite. It might be a stretch to take Hannah from Johann based on sound, but I'd more likely consider that one.

My other grandfather is Harold, often called Hal. Hallie? Hera? I'm not really a fan of either.

My beloved grandfather was Bruce, and I used to try to figure out a way to make that work for a hypothetical daughter. I never came up with anything.
Anyone want to take a stab at it?

I was thinking Ruby almost worked, but our ln sounds like a color so I had to rule that one out.

Purely a hypothetical discussion, of course.

Harland and Harold, meet your granddaughter Harriet.

Bruce and John, here's Bronwen Jane.

My husband's great-grandfather was named Holland. We're thinking of using it for a girl. He really likes it. I am on the fence...I like the nn Holly, but it might be a bit much for our baby who is due around the winter holidays...also he doesn't like Holly as much as I do. I am also afraid Holland falls into the "place names" trend that is going on right now, even though in our case it has nothing to do with the country. What do you guys think about Holland? I do love the actress Holland Taylor...

Ok, this was really interesting! I took my grandfathers' names: Edgar and Monte, and my dh's grandfathers: Wallace and Ercole.
Here's what I found:
EDGAR- means either Rich or Spear:
rich- Edith, Edina
spear- Gerlinde, Gertrude, Rhonda, Rhonwen, Sparrow
MONTE(dim. of Montgomery)- basically it was a personal place-name, "Gomeric's Mountain". Gomeric meant "man-power" (ha) so I used Power and Mountain:
power- Delilah, Isabella, Taryn, Zula
mountain- Amaia, Carmel, Cynthia, Ida, Jael, Moriah, Samara, Sierra, Skadi
WALLACE- means Welsh or Foreigner:
Welsh- Alis, Anwen, Avalon, Branwen, Bronwen, Briallen, Cambria, Ceridwen, Ceryn, Elen, Eleri, Enid
foreigner- Polyxena, Waltraud
ERCOLE- from Hercules, from Hera. Means Hero or Glory:
hero- Hera, Cressida, Hero, Indiana, Kim, Lois, Maeve, Robin
glory- Charmaine, Eudoxia, Gloria, Glory, Kleio, Slava, Theia
What I found most interesting is that Indiana and Indy are listed as modern-day relatives to Ercole (through "hero"), and my cousin just named his new son Indy Ercole LN.

For Richard -- I know a Riche, accent over the "e."

My male relatives are really tough:

Grandpas Arthur and Warren
Father Donald (Donna, I suppose... eeewwww).
Brother Roger (which seems the trickiest to me).

Anyone want to take the challenge?

Keren--Chayah and Chavah both come from the same root and either can be anglicized as Eve. My grandmother chose Ida as her English counterpart to Chayah, but I don't know how, why, or when. Her Ellis Island record gives her name as Sivie, which was I guess the bureaucrat's response to Tzivya. Since she spoke no English when she came and was never keen on English her whole life (that is, she could speak and understand English perfectly well when communicating with people outside the family, but inside she pretended not to be able to understand if she didn't approve of what was being said), I don't know how she came up with Celia Ida which is what appears on her citizenship papers.

Some suggestions:

Stewart>Stewardess LOL (well, Stewart means Steward....)

Timothy--the feminine version is Timothea. I know of a couple in New Orleans where naming children for saints is pretty much the norm for much of the population.

Joseph--another feminine form is Josepha.

Jeffrey/Geoffrey--the second element is frith/frid, so Frida/Frieda would be related.

Miriam,
I disagree that Frederick and Winifred are unrelated. Frederick is from the "Germanic" element fred/frid meaning peace and Winifred is from a Welsh name that used the Old English element frid (meaning peace). The Germanic family of language includes Old English, so I think that Frederick & Winifred meet Laura's criteria of coming from the same root.

Some names from my own family tree:
Michael- Michaela, Michelle
Sylvester- Sylvia
Terry- Dorothy (Terry is derived from Theodoric)
Richard- Richelle, Erica (again, both derived from Germanic elements ric/rikr = rule)
William- Willa, Velma
Joshua- Josune (nn Josie)

Beth--

Roger is a Norman form of the name Hrothgar (like the king of the Danes in Beowulf). -Gar 'spear' as in Edgar and Wulfgar is grammatically masculine and so would never appear as the second element in a feminine name. Hroth-/Hrod- does appear as the first element in feminine names--including Rose (here a Germanic name and the flower word fell together in forming this name), Roswitha, and Rowena (a name I quite like).

Re Rose: Behind the Name derives it from Hrodheid (which is a mouthful). The Norman form of the name is given as Roese or Rohese, hence Rose (as Jehanne became Jeanne and Mahaut became Maud). In the 19th century when jewel and flower names were all the rage, Rose got revived as a flower name. Those who think that Rose, lovely as it is, is getting a tad overused might think of going back to Roese/Rohese.

Terry can also be derived from Terence, the feminine of which is Terentia. I just finished reading a novel about Cicero, and Terentia was his wife's name.

Uh, Lysis, Theoderic is a Germanic name. The Theod- root means people and is the root from which Deutsch/Dutch was derived. -Ric is the same root as in Frederick and means ruler. Theoden is a word meaning lord (of the people). Tolkien used this word as a name in Lord of the Rings. Dorothy and Theodore are Greek, both meaning Gift of God (theo- 'God', dor- 'gift').

My husband and my dad are both Stephen; my dad's dad was Roblee (a family surname pronounced ROE-blee); my mom's dad was David; my father-in-law Tom. My parents named my sister Stephanie nn Stevie after Dad which, while it suits her, is not my style were I to name a girl after a Stephen. If I HAD to, I'd probably go the Stefania/Stephania route, which sounds prettier to me.

I considered Roblee for a girl's mn, since it was originally my great-grandmother's maiden name ... I also considered Tamsin for a girl's mn after Grampa Tom ... (our first son ended up with both names: Thomas Roblee). I don't know about a David -- I don't care for the female David options already listed, so I might try his mn -- Xavier -- for a girl's mn. The mn spot is so great for honoring family of either gender! And I believe the saint known as Mother Cabrini when she was alive had the full name Frances Xavier Cabrini.

I've mentioned before that we wanted to honor my mother-in-law, Carol, somehow, and we've come up with a bunch of options for both genders. We decided on Carine for a girl's mn (we don't care for Carol) or Caroline for a fn; for boys: Carl, Charles, and Karol are all contenders.

Caren- my gf's name is Leonor, either lee-oh-nor or lay-oh-nor (depending on the accent of the speaker). I've always thought it was a really pretty name.

Theodore -> Dorothy
Composed of the same elements -- "doron" (gift) and "theos" (god).

I wrote out a really long post that somehow never made it up...

of the men in my family, Charles, John and James have been discussed already.

Others:
Mark--Maren using meaning (belonging to Mars according to one site

Dean --not a clue. Could use his first name, Clarence, but he hates that one so much it would be an insult!

Albert and Delbert--> Alberta I guess for the one but yucko. and Delbert pretty much has no redeeming features!

irl if I was to honor Mark and Albert I'd use Alden--to honor my stepfather's mayflower ancestors and the "Al" that is repeated over and over in my mother's family (Alan, Albert, Alvin, etc).

Maybe I missed this in Laura's post, but why are most focusing on honoring a male relative by naming their daughter after them? Although there's nothing wrong with it, many women ancestors have gone un-named for and unrecognized in many societies' histories. I should think the challenge to name a boy after a Dalia, Susan, or Rachel would be a bit tougher--and thus, right up the alley of our NE community here.

I don't have a lot of relatives with Western names. But here's a sampling of those who do:

Men: Maurice, Emil, William
"Corresponding" girls' names: Maura, Mauricia, Emilia, Emily, Willa, Billie, Wilhemina

Women: Elaine, Angela
"Corresponding" boys' names: Allan, Elmer, Angel, ?? (or, to get creative, maybe a boys' name of an angel, for example Michael or Gabriel).

Honestly, I would never name my kid after any of these people, though, save for Angela.

I'd like to add this note: I have known four different people of three different age groups who have come from large families with siblings all named after the father(two African-American; one European-American; one Irish; three middle-income, one lower-income--so, apparently, no demographic commonality here).

The names were stretched thin by the third kid:

Father: John
Kids:
Johnna (g)
Johnetta(g)
Johnisa (g)
John (b)
Johnathan (b--actual spelling)
Johnnessa (g)

Father: Darren
Darryn (b)
Darrenna (g)
Darreen (g)

Father: Gerald
Gerald (b)
Geraldine (g)
Gerryanne (g)
Gerard (b)

I would like to respectfully express my displeasure with this naming scenario. My personal belief is that a man who "needs" every child named after him (and a woman/women who agree with him) has some ego issues. Yes, I know a lot of people have large egos, and aren't children an extension of our egos, anyway? But. I think it's unfortunate that these kids had to wear those possible "issues" on their sleeves--or on their nametags, as it were.

oops--I forgot the last person. In case you're interested:

Father: Roger
Rogerika (g)(I don't know how this one was spelled--I knew it on sound alone)
Roger (b)
Rogerria (g) (I don't know how this one was spelled)

When I see lists like that how many kids they would have to have to run out of options. And I wonder how often the wrong kid comes running when the mom yells. And I wonder all the same things as you, easternbetty. I will respectfully add to your displeasure. We each get to name our own children. I love the job, but I never wanted clones.

ok. also to easternbetty. My grandma was Gladys. I can not/will not name a child Gladys. But I would love to honor her. Can you help me? My dad was Jerry, sometimes nn Jed. There is a semi-ok approval to use the name James Edward/Edmond nn Jed to honor him. But it is not quite hitting the right spot. Any other ideas?

Also, do any of you know anything about the name Cretora? (cree-tora)

Easternbetty--

Laura's post focuses specifically on male to female, both in the 'essay' part and in the examples. At the very end of the male to female examples, there is one female to male example, looking rather like an afterthought. Hence, posters have concentrated on male to female.

In my community, the Ashkenazic Jews, it is a firm custom/tradition to name children after deceased family members. That means that if the grandpas are living, but a grandma has passed away a newborn son will be named after the grandma, and so the female to male name issue will arise--double because both corresponding Hebrew and vernacular names have to be chosen.

In my case my grandfather died while my mother was expecting me, and both my grandmothers were living. The namesake was obvious.

When my cousin had her son, her mother, my Aunt Mildred, was deceased, but Uncle Joe was still alive. So my cousin named her son Michael after Mildred. This so incensed our Aunt Blanche, who wanted Milton and thought Michael was too far off course, that she turned around and gave my sister and me $5000 a piece just so she could snub my cousin by giving her zip. This was all the weirder because Aunt Blanche despised Aunt Mildred and hadn't spoken a word to her for twenty years....

I myself had the sad misfortune of having lost both my parents before my son was born, so I had same-gender names ready no matter whether I happened to have a son or a daughter.

As for egomaniacal fathers, George Foreman may take the prize. From Wikipedia:

"Foreman has 10 children, and each of his five sons is named George: George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, and George VI. He is able to distinguish one from another by the use of nicknames such as "Monk", "Big Wheel" and "Little George".[3] His five daughters are Michi, Freeda, Georgetta, Natalie, and Leola."

Egomania or sheer lack of imagination, that's six out of ten. Do you think Michi, Freeda, Natalie, and Leola feel left out--or grateful?

Hi Jessica,

Should I presume that you would only name a child after a relative of the same gender?
Either way, I've put (g) for girl and (b) for boy:

Gladys "Sound-alikes"
Glynis (g)
Glen (b)
Glenna (g)
Adyssa/Adisa (g)
Addie (g)
Addis (g/b)--also a little-used place name; great capital city :)

Gladys Meaning or Sound cognates
Farah (g) (gladness/joy in Arabic--for "GLADys" sound)
Joy (g) (")
Leticia (g) (")
Felicity (g) (")
Felix (b) "
Claudia (g)
(If I recall correctly, some sources believe Gladys is a Welsh form of this name, which means "disabled"--but I don't have my better books at the location I'm at, so I'll leave it to someone else to verify). I LOVE the name Claudia, BTW.
Claude (b) (")

Jerry sound-alikes
Jeremiah (b)
Gerard (b)
Gerald (b)
Geraldine (g)
Jerusha (g)

If I think of more, I'll post.

Miriam,

That's ashame about the rest of the Foreman children. Georgianna, Georgina, and Georgia are such pretty names! I suppose the last one could be Georgette, which seems easily distinguishable enough from Georgetta in a family of six Georges! Yeesh.

Winifred is a curious one. It comes from the Gwen root in Celtic, which has many variant spellings. My husband has one of these Celtic Gwen type names, and I've considered Winifred in honor of him. His middle name is Joseph and Josephine is actually the more obvious choice at the moment. If anyone has any beautiful suggestions for honoring a Roger, I would be most grateful.

John yields Jean, Jeannette, Johanna, Joanna, Joan

Jules (family name for us) could become Juliette, Juliet, Julianne, Julia, Julianna

William becomes Wilhelmina, but I wonder if Mina on its own would suffice? I also knew a girl named Billie.

Henry--> Harriet, Henrietta (was this one discussed?)

Peter--> Petra

Otto--> Ottoline, Ottilie

Karyn--You could go for something rhyming with Wayne, like Blaine, Duane, Jane, Laine, Shane, or Zane...even Elaine or Lorraine if you were okay with a slight stretch.

another amy--Dean could become Deanna or even Dina, or to continue the rhyming trend, Jeanne or possibly anything -ine.

Easternbetty--How was Rogerria pronounced?

Elisabeth,

I had the same thought about the Foreman daughters. I mean, why not Georgianna, Georgina, Georgia--and, while we're at it, Georgie Girl? BTW I had a colleague named Georgette whose brother was George--they weren't twins either.

I did give some suggestions above for feminine names related to Roger. Both Rose and Rowena come from the same initial root, Hrod/Hroth. Rowena is little used, and I quite like it.

Speaking of Rowena and unusual sibsets, a goodly number of years ago a colleague asked the Anglo-Saxonists' listserv members for help in finding an Anglo-Saxon name for his fifth child (second daughter). His first four children were named Herebeorht, Eadweard, Raedwald, and Emma. Well, the suggestions came in, Edith, Edwina, Godiva, Hild, Audrey (AEthelthryth), Fritheswithe, and so on, but in the end, he (and presumably his wife) chose Rowena. BTW the kids (all teens and young adults) go by Hereb, Ead, Raed, Rowie, and Emma.

about the foreman children..

don't worry about freeda, her middle name is george. :P

Let's see, going back for several generations, men on my side of the family are James and William. If I were to name daughters after them I'd probably go with Jemma and Willa, but I'm not, so there. :)

However, I'd love to name either a son or a daughter after my grandmother Jacqueline. The problem is DH and I don't really care for the names Jacqueline, Jack, or *shudder* Jackson. Well, the first two are okay, just not really my style.

If I have a daughter she's pretty much already named -- Isla Ruth after my mother Ruth Ailene.

What would be a male version of Ruth though?

I had a feeling somebody would ask "why not talk about naming boys after grandma?" :-) The answer is in the narrow way I framed the challenge: finding creative/unexpected names that *come from the same source name*. That's hard to do with women's names because historically they didn't spawn "spinoffs." It's a one-way street -- very few men's names are formed from classic women's names. So for these purposes, there's not much to play with. (You might notice that the Jennifer example above is rather a stretch.) I know that a handful of familiar surnames do come from women's names...anybody?

I knew a couple a few years back who wanted to name their child David after a relative. When the baby turned out to be a girl, the 'd' in David was changed to an 'a' to accommodate--and Davia was born!

I liked Njjm’s way of arranging this. I did my grandfathers, grandfathers-in-law, father, stepfather, father-in-law, and lastly my husband, who was the hardest.

Family Name: Charles
Standard: Charlotte
Origin: Carolina
Sound: Charity
Meaning: Leda

Family Name: Eugene
Standard: Eugenia
Origin: Owena
Sound: Eudora, Eustacia
Meaning: Adelaide

Family Name: Richard, called Dick
Standard: Ricarda?
Origin: Richmal (not sure how this is pronunced)
Sound: Dixie
Meaning: Alarice, Erica, Frederica, Harriet (works if you pare Richard down to the “ric” part)

Family Name: George
Standard: Georgia
Origin: Georgiana
Sound: Ginger
Meaning: Gardenia

Family Name: Michael
Standard: Michaela
Origin: Mihaela, Miguela
Sound: Michiko
Meaning: Angelina

Family Name: Victor
Standard: Victoria (best nickname ever for Victoria I heard on a young Russian girl: Vica, pronounced VEEK-a)
Origin: Vittoria
Sound: Vita
Meaning: Boadicea (coolest ever), Nike (also quit cool)

Family Name: James
Standard: Jamesina
Origin: Jaqueline
Sound: Jasmine, Jamila
Meaning: ?

Family Name: Joshua
Standard: ?
Origin: Josune, Jesusa
Sound: Sasha, Shoshannah
Meaning: Salvadora

I knew a woman named Danel (dan-NELL) named for her father (Dan or Daniel, not sure which).

I've always liked some less used feminine versions of masculine names like Raphaella, Josefina, Alexa or Alexis, Michaela, Antonia, Gabrielle, Georgia, Jordana. And I love Addison as a nod to Adam. NN Addie is positively adorable.

I always considered the name Teodora (Tay-oh-dor-ah) for the fem version of my grandfather's name, Theodore. I'd jump at the opportunity to name a child after my grandmother as well, Lorraine. But I'm not crazy about it and can't think of any masculine alternatives (Loren? Sounds too much like Lauren to me)

Kimberly - Rufus? I think you'd almost have to find the meaning of Ruth and then find the same/similar meaning even if it looks/sounds nothing like Ruth.

Jessica - Geri or geraldine/a?

Easternbetty - Knew of a family where the father was Robert and his oldest daughter was Roberta and his son was Robert. When Susan came along as the 3rd, she was crushed that she was the only child her father hadn't wanted to share his name with. :-)

Both DH and I hate the female names on his side, but I came up with the mn Jill to honor all 3 of his sisters who have the first initials L,J,and L. :)

I should continue on Jacqueline ... since I didn't really go down the whole list of names and why I don't really like any of them. I should say that my grandmother was not at all French and her name was pronounced the American way--JACK-uh-lynn.

Jacques - neither DH or I are at all french and it would be just weird
Jake - cute, but I don't like nn's for given names, plus it's a nn for ..
Jacob - cute, but 1) biblical and 2) the most popular boy name
Jacobo, etc - see above, plus it would be weird to use names from an ethnicity we have exactly 0 claim to

I guess Jacqueline is closely related to James, which leads to all the James names, but I don't really want a name that is obviously from James, since that would lead to major confusion about who, exactly, he's named after since my father, grandfather, brother and so forth are all James. Does that seem weird?

My grandmothers, grandmothers-in-law (combined Maria/Mary), mother, and mother-in-law:

Family Name: Anita
Standard: n/a
Origin: n/a
Sound: Anatole, Anthony
Meaning: John

Family Name: Joan
Standard: John
Origin: Ian, Sean, Giovanni, Hans, Ivan.
Sound: Jonah
Meaning: Miles

Family Name: Maria/Mary
Standard: Mariono
Origin: Marion
Sound: Mario
Meaning: Merari (Old Testament name)

Family Name: Sally
Standard: Sal
Origin: n/a
Sound: Salvatore, Salim
Meaning: Cadfael, Rex

Family Name: Martha
Standard: n/a
Origin: n/a
Sound: Martin
Meaning: Adam, Charles

Kimberly, how about Jacquetta? Jacquetta of Luxembourg (Jacquetta Woodville by second marriage) was the mother-in-law of Edward IV and great-grandmother of Henry VIII. So it's not a made-up name.

Laura, are you thinking of surnames derived from feminine occupational titles like Baxter and Webster?

For Ruth, which means "friend" ... all the "win" names mean "friend." There are lots to work with.

Considering my grandparents...

Grandfather Karl? Easy... Karla/Carla, Karly/Karlie, etc.

Stepgrandfather Lyndon? Also easy... Linden is a totally cute, yet strong, name for a girl.

Grandfather Graham and both grandmothers named Edith? That's more difficult...

EDIT to previous post:

However, Graham might work for a girl as well...

David (means beloved) you could go with a biblically related name or meaning. Abigail (one of David's wives) or Carina/Cara
Benjamin =thought of Jemima
Richard=Richelle
Frank=Frances
Wayne=Juanita for sound alike
Garry/Gerrit=Gerri or Gertie
Maurice=Maureen
Stewart=Going on meaning I had to stretch to "keeper" and then stretch further to "peaceful ruler" to get Frederica
Stan=best I could find was Constance or you could do the whole gem=stone idea and go with Jade/Jewel/etc. and Sidney means meadow so Stanley=Sidney Jade
Timothy=meaning is to honor God so Honor seems to be appropriate
Harland=Harlow
Joseph=Josie/Josephine/Josiane which could arrange to Josianna
Thomas=Tammy or derivative
Matthew=(on meaning also) Dorothy or derivative
Tempie=Tempe/Temperance
Bruce=Bryce/Brysen
Dean=Deena/Deanna
Arthur=best choice is Ursula
Warren=Samara
Donald=Donelle
Roger=Cayne/Corrigan/Gerri and derivatives/Trudy

Miriam-Love Zoe Irene!
Miriam-Immediately thought of George Forman also. Great minds think alike!
Rogerria makes me think of the aging disease Progeria. Definitely a deal breaker!

sdh-Like Holland and Holly is so cute (albeit a bit obvious) for a winter baby

Being intensely bored since every single person I know here is in Europe for the summer and I am not, I took up Laura's challenge to find surnames derived from feminine names and here's what I came up with. (Note: my fields are Old and Middle English , Old Icelandic and Germanic philology, so I didn't go looking for surnames which might also work in languages I don't know well.)

The obvious (infamous) one is Madison, son of Maud. Another obvious one is Marion, a diminutive of Mary, as in Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. Some less obvious ones are Kimberley (Cyneburga's field), Audley (Ealdgyth's field), Dwight (from Diot, a diminutive of Dionysia), Emmett (a diminutive of Emma), Evelyn (from Aveline/a, ultimately from Ava), Royce (Rose), and Wilbur (Wilburg/a).

Ones which look like they might fill the bill but don't:

Ainsley (Anna's field)
Eldon/Elton (AElla/Ella's 'tun' fortified settlement)

Both Anna and Ella are masculine names. (See King Anna of East Anglia and King AElla/Ella/AElle of Northumbria.)

OK, Laura, so what have I missed?

"Miriam,
I disagree that Frederick and Winifred are unrelated. Frederick is from the "Germanic" element fred/frid meaning peace and Winifred is from a Welsh name that used the Old English element frid (meaning peace). The Germanic family of language includes Old English, so I think that Frederick & Winifred meet Laura's criteria of coming from the same root."

Lysis, I forgot to comment on this.

WINFRED is a Germanic masculine name made up of the roots for 'friend' and 'peace' and so can be said to be related to Frederick. WINIFRED is a feminine name derived from the Welsh Gwenfrewi and has nothing to do with Frederick.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith are another example - they have a daughter Willow, and a son Jaden. I think Willow especially is beautiful - and sounds so much more effortless than something like Johnetta, where you can 'see the joints'.

I always thought Erica was the feminine of Eric, but apparently it has a much more recent history and can be traced to the Latin for heather. So you could name a little Erica after either her dad Eric or her mother Heather!

Cringing at George Foreman's brood. Hang onto your boots for the Adam Clayton Powell clan...

Adam Clayton Powell Sr. (1864-1953) was a prominent pastor in Harlem (NY). His son Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908-1972) was a civil rights leader and member of Congress. So far, nothing unusual...

*With his second wife, he had a son Adam Clayton Powell III.

*With his third wife, he had a son Adam Clayton Powell-Diago (b. 1962) (wife was Puerto Rican, so they were following Spanish naming traditions)--BUT, this ACP-D changed his name to Adam Clayton Powell IV in 1980.

*Aha, but there was already an Adam Clayton Powell IV (b. 1970) by then--the son of III. (This one became an engineer)

*The older Adam Clayton Powell IV has followed his father into politics--and named his own son Adam Clayton Powell V.

*So, to recap, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. had two sons who went by ACP III and IV, and two grandsons named ACP--ACP IV and V.

Are these people just unimaginative? Do they think they are being cute or funny? Or are they just following a family tradition? In any case, I think it's ridiculous! No wonder I have so much trouble finding all my John and Mary, Anthony's and Michael's in my Genealogy! Thank goodness I broke the trend.

Another celebrity father with a peculiar naming style (and a few other peculiarities) is Michael Jackson. He has two sons, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as "Prince") and Prince Michael Jackson II, and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.

I have a co-worker named Nicole who named her first son Nicholas. They now have 4 kids, but none of them are named after Dad.

Wow, Laura is right. It's really hard moving from feminine names to masculine ones, unless the female name is already a derivative or a crossover.

Family Name: Anita
Standard: n/a
Origin: Anibal
Sound: Anil, Andre
Meaning: Zayn (grace in Arabic)

Family Name: Phyllis
Standard: n/a
Origin: n/a
Sound: Philip, Phelan
Meaning: n/a

Family Name: Shirley
Standard: Shirley
Origin: Sherwood, Riley
Sound: Sheridan
Meaning:

Something else I thought of earlier for my grandfather Gerard, and the person stumped by a Gerrit: for a "sounds similar" name, Greta is adorable I think.

It's been interesting to see all the creative solutions people are coming up with!

I know a brand new Stevie Elisabeth. No more than a month old, though I can't remembr her date of birth. I also know a Stevie who is probably 6 years old. Both of these are FEMALE Stevies.

I am not good enough, nor do I have the resources to comes up with some names from our family. I'm quite the newbie when it comes to loving names. Our family is mostly Charles/Charlies anyway, so Laura already did the work for me. :)

Okay, female names going to male. In my family:

My mom is Ann. her son is Andrew, but I don't think they consciously named him after her.

Wendy -- Wendell
Suzanna - Zander
Margaret -- Garret
Jewel -- Jules
Judith -- Jude
Linda -- Linden
Mara -- Mark

Hmm women to boys names...in my family I have Carol=Karol/Charles
Dorothy=Matthew(on meaning)
Vera=Vincent/Victor (on first letter)
Rose=Rowan(sound)
Margaret=Mark/Garrett
Ruth=Rudy (don't care for this at all though)might just go with initials if I had to. Her middle is G so RG could be Robert George or Richard Garrett or something like that. Rowan Geoffrey works too.

Maybe the classicists can tell me the problem with this thinking, but when I see names like Julius/Julia, or Alexander/Alexandra, I don't think oh, the male name is the "original"--they're just the male and female versions of a name, with equal claims on being "original" rather than derivative. (After all, there were always roughly equal numbers of men and women to be called SOMETHING, eh?)

So I'm not sure what the hold-up should be...

Louise's namesake is Louis, or Lewis, or Ludwig; Caroline's namesake is Carl or Charlie or Karol;
Julia's namesake is Julian, or Jules, or Julio;
Olivia's namesake is Oliver, or Olivier;
Marcia's namesake is Marc, or Marco, or Marcus;
Jane's namesake is John, or Evan, or Ian;
Lea's namesake is Leo, or Lee, or Fielding;

Etc. etc.

I was just thinking..changing the subject a bit, can we have 12 children in fantasyland named after the 12 months of the year?
Janus(b)January(g)
??(b)Violet or Amethyst(g)
Marcus(b)Marge(g)
Avery(b)Avril or April(g)
??(b)May or Maya(g)
??(b)Juniper or June(g)
Jules(b)Julie/Juley/July(g)
August/Augustus(b)Augustine(g)
Seth(b)Septima(g)
Octavius(b)Octavia(g)
??(b)Neve(g)
Declan(b)Holly or Winter(g)
Does anyone have any ideas for my blanks or alternate ideas for those I've posted?

Stephanie- a girl I used to work with had 2 children, and when her 2nd was born, really wanted to honor her dad. So she named her daughter (1st was a girl too) SteveAnn MaidenName (similar to Conangeli) LN. Her other daughter was Victoria.

January
Enero- Spanish
Garnet- birthstone

March
Marzo- Spanish
Jasper- birthstone

April
April
Abril- Spanish
Avril- French

May
Mae
Maggio— French could become Maggie?
Mayo -Spanish could become Maya?

June
June
Junio- Spanish
Juni -YOO-nee German
Pearl- birthstone
Summer

July
Julio-Spanish
Ruby-birthstone
Onyx- birthstone
Juli -YOO-lee German

August
August

October
Opal- birthstone

I seem to be very drawn to feminized versions of male names: my eldest is Philippa (Pippa) and for our other two girls we had Georgina, Theodora, and Cornelia (Cornelius is a family name for us) on our list at various stages. Possibly my favorite of the moment is Augusta (Gussie), since after three girls I'm starting to think I'm not capable of making the little Gus I have pined for for two pregnancies :) I also saw Angusina in a Scottish baby name book once!

Jodi-You know how Murphy likes to get his hand in on these things-LOL. Once you use up Augusta for a girl then you'll get pg with a boy.

JuBo-I like your idea of using birthstone names didn't think of that. Thanks. February and November boys names are still stumping me though!

It make me confuse.
i think have female name and male name. every words have the couple word.
man with woman, boy with girl, ect. just change into the couple.

Zoerhenne- how about Noel or Noelle for a December boy? or Noeline? I like the birthstone idea too- Maybe I could rename myself Ruby ( last week's discussion has tempted me)
The domestic goddess Nigella Lawson was named for her father, and her sisters are called Thomasina and Horatia. I think one needs to be screamingly posh to get away with those ones!
Jodi- The heiress who married Mr Elton after Emma Woodhouse refused him was named Augusta.....

Hi all, I've been a lurker here, but I couldn't resist since I've been thinking about this topic anyway. I'd only been thinking of same gender conversions for my hypothetical children. I'd come up with Garrett to honor my father Gary, but I also considered Gray which seems to me like it could be used either for a girl or boy. Particularly cute for a girl I think.

I do like the suggestion of Thomas/Tamsin since Thomas is my husband's father's name.

Both of our mothers are named Patricia. Obviously the direct idea would be Patrick, but I'm just not overly fond of that name. His family is very tied to the name Patricia (3 generations worth), so much so that I doubt he'd want a child named any variants on it, but I was just wondering if there would be any options, creative or otherwise.

AB: I know a Pascal who goes by "Pat". Also, it's not really done much anymore, but in the 1800s, "Patsy" was a common nickname for Martha--not sure why, but it was.

Oooh, also for the Patricia namesakes:

"Patsy is also an English diminutive of other names containing the syllable “Pat” or “Pet,” including Hypatia, Patience, Patrice, Patton, Cleopatra, Patterson, Petrona, Petula, etc."

Cleopatra would be mighty hard to carry (and I believe it's a popular cat's name), but Patience or Patterson I can see...

And don't forget the Irish Padraig/Padraic--just in case a different spelling freshens the name for you.

A few girls named after fathers from the popular media come to mind from the examples StevieAnn and others above:
- JonBenet Ramsey, I believe was named after her father
- JamieLynn Spears, also (Jamie makes for a cross-gender launch pad there)

But what to do if your male relative is named something difficult?

- Keith?
- Jeffrey? (someone suggested Freya for that)
- Stuart / Stewart?
- Bruce? (this was also mentioned by someone above, with no resolve)
- Scott?
- Clyde?
- Howard?
- Angus?

I guess for the truly stubborn there's still the ScottieLynn and HowardAnn route, but I claim that with some names you just have to stretch the rules, and reduce to initials, nicknames, meanings or sounds from within the name. If it really is that essential to insist that they were Named After Someone In The Family. :)

february boy-Valentino!

To add: there's also another, less common reason to give a boy's name to a girl: the parents wanted a boy so badly they refused to use anything but a boy's name.
For example, Barack Obama's mother's full name is Stanley Ann Durham, and she went by Stanley until college. This practice seems a little dated, though - or am I wrong?

I tried doing this with some family names, but I'm having no little bit of difficulty.

The 2 impossible names for me:
Harvey
Clyde

Others:
Daniel = Danielle
Joseph = Josephine
Winfred = Winifred
Herman = Hermine/Hermione

On a side note, I work with a lady who was named after her father. Marvin = Marvanna

Susan-Yes, by all means Noel and Noelle for December babies (especially if they are twins)! Maybe Fabian or Fabrizio for February boy? I don't much care for Ruby but I am a July baby so I kind of like the Ju-lee pronunciation of it used as a name. I don't think I could ever change my first name completely but my favorite name has always been Jessica. Dh didn't care for my daughter to be named that though. Plus our last name has a long A sound so it didn't really match.

AB-I like Patrice, Patton, and Patience for a different variant on Patricia.

Re naming a daughter after a father--

Anne Rice's given name at birth was Howard Allen O'Brien, named for her father.

**Baby Alert**
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban had a baby girl Monday morning. Named her Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. Eww, I hope they just call her Rose! And why did they name her Sunday instead of Monday?

Sister Melinda, I find myself thinking that too; as far as I know, Julia/Julius were Roman family names, as in "girl of the Julii clan"/"boy of the Julii clan". That's why I can never really warm up to those names, or a name like Lydia, meaning 'woman from Lydia' - they seem a bit too "Hey, you!", if you know what I mean. But no, I don't think of Julia as the "feminized form" of Julius either, it's not the same as something like Malcolmina (which I have seen on a real girl, and she wasn't Scottish or elderly either!). I'd also be interested to hear from any classicists about this.

I'd forgotten about Nigella, Susan - apparently, it was her grandmother's idea, inspired by the Nigella flower which is also known as "love-in-a-mist". So not entirely due to sheer egotism on Nigel Lawson's part! In an interview I read, Nigella said that when she was little she wished her name was Caroline, because all the Carolines in books were nice girls! Her sisters' names are definitely not my cup of tea (although I do love the more down-to-earth and less obviously cobbled-together Tamsin).

"Sunday Rose" sounds like a country music song, which I guess is appropriate?!?! NMS, though. Any Ozzies have local insight about the choice?

A female namesake for Roger might be Rogelia (pronounced in Spanish Row-hay-lee-uh).

It took me all day yesterday and most of today to catch up on these two posts! And by now I've forgotten most of the comments I had as I was reading through them.

I do know of a family with parents named Paul and Paulette. Their children are Paul, Paula, Pauletta, and Pauline (or maybe it's Paulette and Paulina). A little bit of overkill, don't you think?

Jane and Susannah, congratulations on your wise choices. How is the switch coming along? Has there been much resistance?

Kate, congratulations on the birth of John Dominic. I have a friend who has sons named John and Dominic--they flow well together.

Names heard while on vacation in New Hampshire last week: Kailyn (Kaylynn?), Lloyd, Aidan, Jazlyn (the name of the girl in the surgical bay next to my son, who broke his arm--it was a hell of a vacation).

There is the option of just giving a girl a "boy's" name or using a surname or putting the make name in the middle slot.

For example, I know a grown woman named Stewart and a little girl named Davis.

I personally am considering the names Rhodes (my grandfather's mn) and Miller (hy dh's grandmother's maiden name) for either gender.

I had a female high school friend with the middle name of Scott who went by Scotty.

Of course, this doesn't work with every male name.

oops! "make" should say male

The men in my and my husband's families are:

Frank
Anthony
Walter
Burchard (2x)
Thomas
Jeffrey

Frank, Anthony, and Thomas are easy, as noted upthread, with lots of options for each.

Walter and Jeffrey are definitely more difficult (although I do remember Freya for Jeffrey).

But what would you do with Burchard?!? Birch? What I wouldn't like about that is the Burchards go by Burch, too. I couldn't hear it without thinking of the U in the middle rather than the I.

I have been thinking of naming my daughter Dove after her great-grandfather Dave, or David. I love the name and wonder why it has been off the charts since the 1880's. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Dava and Davida are other names I seen used for David.

Whoo-ee, Burchard is a tough one! Would Bridget be close enough for a tribute?

I think Dove is a lovely name. I'm not sure why it isn't used more widely, what with its simple sound, easy spelling and pronunciation, and nice connotations (peace). It makes sense to use it to honor a David, too. Isn't there an Israeli name similar to this? I can't remember now...

For Grandma Ursula, there's Arthur, Bernard or Orson, all of which are related to bears.

Roger has the same first element as Rowena and Romilda, which could work. Maybe.

There's also Petronella/Petronel/Peronel for Peter (though maybe those aren't actually related, but became associated with each other so early on that it doesn't really matter).

How would you name a boy after a Margaret or an Elizabeth?

Margaret - Mark, Martin

Elizabeth - Eliot

Dove is so beautiful and simple. WIth the comeback of nature and religious-themed names, I can't believe it hasn't at least had a small surge.

There's a male Israeli name, Dov, meaning "bear," which is nice too.

This is a fun topic. Hy dad is Homer, and Homera just wouldn't make me happy (is that even a name?) But what about Penelope, from The Odessy?

Another David possibility is Davinia. I once knew a girl named Davinia Darling. Yes, Darling was her last name. My mum thought the girl's mother was just very affectionate and a bit precious always using a term of endearment, and then found out that it was really her daughter's (but not her) last name!

While not a common name, the name Colombe, the French version of Dove, has been used more-or-less consistently over the years in Quebec. Maybe in other places, too. (I did the Facebook test and sure enough, there are quite a few Colombes who turn up.)

I'm Aussie.... baby Kidman's name is getting mixed reviews here on morning tv. Some people seem to like it for being 'unusual' but most are a bit bemused by it. Sunday is certainly not a popular name in Australia. There have been reports that it is common in Nashville but I'm not sure whether that is true or not? Personally I don't mind it, but the bub has already been nicknamed 'Sunday Roast'.

The name is very different to Nicole's other children's names - Isabella and Connor. I guess they were named a long time ago now and with the infulence of a different partner.

last names derived from female names:

I'm going to hazard a guess that the Polish Rutkowski is derived from Ruth.

I have a friend of Romanian ethnicity whose last name is Magda.

Dove is sweet. Don't forget also, that the Spanish is Paloma.

I was named for my grandfather (and his grandfather) Valentine, and our son was named James Valentine, partly for this and partly for his due date (although he was actually born in January).

Sister Melinda- for Timothy, I actually know a woman named Timothea (Tim-o-THEE-a).

Enjoying all the wonderful inventiveness of us NEs and the fabulous etymological input, particularly from Miriam!

Dove is sweet. Don't forget also, that the Spanish is Paloma.

I was named for my grandfather (and his grandfather) Valentine, and our son was named James Valentine, partly for this and partly for his due date (although he was actually born in January).

Sister Melinda- for Timothy, I actually know a woman named Timothea (Tim-o-THEE-a).

Enjoying all the wonderful inventiveness of us NEs and the fabulous etymological input, particularly from Miriam!

Bill--

Jewish surnames derived from women's names are quite common, because Jews are matrilineal. Examples would Rifkin (child of Rifka 'Rebecca') and Sorkin (child of Sora 'Sarah').

Homeira/Humeyra/Humaira is a girls' name used in Farsi and Arabic speaking families that might work as a feminine tribute to grandfather Homer... There is a famous Iranian singer called Homeyra (b. 1939) now living in Los Angeles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeyra

Sunday Rose...don't get it...especially born on a Monday.

Interesting that Sunday and Suri sound so much alike...

re: Harvey, my dad says he grew up with a girl named Harveline. Probably not a very modern aesthetic.

I think the name Sunday is sweet, and certainly no more strange than girls born in October named May, or girls born in the spring named Summer. :)

Someone help me out here. There's a famous song that references a girl named Sunday.

how about Anna > Anuszka > Anuszkiewicz

Lucie la Morena said:
"...Nigella said that when she was little she wished her name was Caroline, because all the Carolines in books were nice girls!"

Caroline Bingley in Pride and Prejudice strikes me as not very nice! I do know a nice Caroline in real life, though.

miscellany:

How about Fredelia as female for Fred? It's a street I saw while riding my bike tonight. Or Fredonia, if you are into placenames.

Also, I mentioned this before under a different post, but I think my middle name Derek is the male version of my mom's name Darlene. It follows the D continuity in my family: Denise, Danielle (<- these two a sibset) Drew.

And I was thinking about Rogelia, nn Hayley (or some such spelling).

I echo Valerie: let's not forget Paloma. I think this is the most melodic name ever - SO pretty. But it clashes with our last name, so I could never use it.
Also, am I crazy? I kind of like Sunday. It is the nicest day of the week, has a very laid back religious connotation, and has the word "sun" in it, which is hard to find fault with. I know it is offbeat, and not an old classic, but it also feels sort of right for a country music singer, as someone said above.

Sarah, believe it or not I've never read Homer. I looked up the name and its meaning is from the Greek word meaning hostage. Not exactly a great thing to pass on. However, if you keep in mind the fact that Homer was a poet, you can look up poetry and get a few names.
Thi(pronounced Thee)-poem in Vietnamese
Vagdevi-Hindu goddess of learning, music and poetry in Indian
The following are from Sanskrit:
Karika-collection of philosophical poetry
Kavita-Poetry
Kavyalola-Fond of Poetry
And these are English:
Poesy and Poetry itself!
So I hope that gives you some ideas!

Tizrah -- there is a Blonde song called Sunday Girl. But the girl isn't named Sunday...

Watch it on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obwanhb6kww

I like the name Sunday-or any of the days of the week for that matter. although, maybe not Saturday... My Husband was stuck on the name Winter for a while even though our daughter is due this week in the dead of summer.

I'm trying to convince him to go with my grandfathers name Lowell for her first name. Her middle name is the shortened version of his name Reynald. He's french so it is pronounced Rain-al. So she would be Lowell Reyn. As of this moment she is Peregrine Reyn. I had to stop him with Winter or we would have had a Winter Reyn which is kind of cold and wet.
Anyone have an opinion on Lowell Reyn or Peregrine Reyn? Aurora is our last choice but I feel it is becoming way over used.

Kat - Sorry, I just don't see Lowell as a girl's name. Maybe if it were Lowelle...? But Reyn is a really pretty name and it goes with a lot of first names. (Although really, Winter Reyn isn't a pleasant image for anyone who lives in a climate with distinct seasons. It did make me laugh, though!)

Guest- I know what you mean, Winter Reyn sounds like a bad Comic Book Character! The spelling Lowelle is better, I agree, thank you. She is going to be called Reyn. It was simply to difficult to come up with a middle if that was her first. There are so many firsts that work with that as a middle name! Part of the issue is pronunciation as he is French and I am American, so we have to be careful for both families... yuck.

To follow along with Zoerhenne re Homer--

Calliope is the muse of epic poetry, and of course Homer is THE Greek epic poet.

Kat- I actually like Lowell for a girl, I certainly don't like it for a boy. I think if it's spelled Lowelle, you might get the pronunciation "low-EL" rather than just the almost-single syllable "loel". Peregrine for a girl is interesting. I tend to think of it as a boy name but again, I think I don't care for it much on a boy. Aurora is *very* difficult for me to say, and Aurora Reyn is nearly impossible. :)

My father was named for his father, Marcus, but was always known by his mn - Leslie. I told my parents that I wanted to name a daughter Leslie. My mom told me in confidence that my dad was insulted as he had always considered it as a very manly name, the meaning being "grey fort". So I shifted my chosen girl's name to - wait for it - Jennifer! (Voyager tells me that Leslie, for a boy, was in the top 100 when he was born and in top 100 for a girl, when I was expecting).

As it turned out we had a boy and named him Mark. In retrospect I wish I had given him the whole original name of Marcus.

Did someone suggest Marcella from Marcus? Would not like that at all.

Here are a few names to work on:
Zachary
Enoch
Ebenezer
Gideon
Simeon
Seth
Travis

Kat,

Just FYI: Lowell is a gritty, down-trodden ex-mill town in Massachusetts, which I believe has a gang problem. Not a great association if you're anywhere near the east coast! I've also noticed that it gets mispronounced a good deal by non-Massachusetts residents who encounter it for the first time (Lo-WELL, for example).

Kat-- "Lowell" has an illustrious history in the U.S. due to the exploits of a particular family, which produced not one, but two well-known poets, Amy Lowell, and the much more renowned Robert Lowell, about whom tons have been written, if you care to loo