For once, I'm not posting snark...

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

Here are the names my husband and I have agreed upon.

GIRLS

Maizie Elizabeth - Please don't hate all over Maizie. It was my great-grandmother's name (except she spelled it 'Maizy'). Elizabeth is my sister's middle name and my best friend's first name.

Ruby Charlotte (??) - "Charlotte" is still a little bit up in the air as far as a middle name goes. Any suggestions for Ruby (or names that would sound good with Ruby as a middle name)?

BOYS

Nathaniel Edison - Nathaniel is the name of one of my husband's ancestors; Edison is a name we heard from a family in Old Navy and loved. Plus, it goes well with his son's name - Emerson Maxwell.

Henry Foster - I've always loved the name Henry, and Foster is my grandma's maiden name.

Whatcha think?

ETA: I would love to use the name "Sylvan" as a middle - it is my grandpa's name, and he and I were very close (he died when I was about nine years old). Any suggestions on coupling that? I kind of like Matthew Sylvan.

Comments

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

I LOVE all of your names!!!
Like seriously love love love.
Maizie is adorable and Ruby is a name I would consider using except it is my best friend's mother's name.
Nathaniel I would use too but my fiance doesn't care for it.
And Henry is so classic, I adore it.

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think Maizie is cute, but not too cute for an adult - it's name she can grow into.

Henry is another one that I think grows with a person as well. As long as no one calls him "Hankie," we'll be all set. :)

[isoldereverie.livejournal.com]

Love 'em! Maizie Elizabeth is fabulous! Ruby Charlotte is okay. Both boys names are great. I would hate to have to choose between them ;)

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

I know - the boy names are killing me! I suppose we could combine them in some way - Henry Nathaniel, Nathaniel Foster, etc.

[americandiva.livejournal.com]

I love them all.

However I would prefer Nathan to Nathaniel and I am not a a fan of Charlotte. How about

Ruby Claire
Ruby Catherine
Ruby Mae
Ruby Paige
Ruby Noelle

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like Ruby Claire. And Katherine is my middle name! Ruby Noelle is beautiful, but almost too "Christmas-y" (because Ruby = dark red and Noel = Christmas).

[silver05.livejournal.com]

I love Maizie, and I love Elizabeth, but they sound a little awkward together, zee ehliz. They don't sound terribly awkward, just a little bit. And anyway Maizie Beth is an adorable pet name. I absolutely adore the rest of the names.

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about the awkwardness... you have to make an effort to enunciate so it doesn't run together.

I can see my mom calling her "Maizie Lizzie." :)

[gangwaygirls.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth is definitely overused, you're right. I feel like it's a filler, but it does have meaning, so... yeah.

Ruby on a boy, really? I've never heard it. My husband has an uncle named "Luby" (also a name I've never heard).

Glad you like Matthew Sylvan. "Matthew Kyle" was going to be my name if I was a boy.

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

in regards to your husband's Uncle Luby, my fiance has an Uncle Libi. But that's just his nick name, his real name is Aria.

[glitterberrys.livejournal.com]

I like all of those names, but I LOVE Ruby Charlotte.

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to hate all over Maizie, I promise. But, the one thing I'd say is that it's kind of a cutesy name for an adult. I mean, some adults might be able to pull that off (your grandmother obviously did), but I feel like having a name like Maizie might make it harder to be taken seriously when she's trying to get a job as a lawyer or something, you know? I do like the name, though, and I love names with meaning. Maybe use it as a nickname for Margaret or Molly? I've seen it used both ways before, and I think that might give her some more options. Also, I think Elizabeth Maizie sounds nice, too, and you could always still call her Maizie. I mean, hell, there are so many nicknames for Elizabeth, why not another one?

Just my suggestion.

I adore Ruby Charlotte, by the way. I think Charlotte Ruby sounds amazing, too. Charlotte is a gorgeous name; I say keep it.

If it were me (and obviously you can ignore this; I don't mind, really lol) I'd probably switch the middle/first names for both of your girl names. I think Elizabeth and Charlotte are much nicer names and they're both gorgeous ones that can work on any age group, and on someone who is serious, or someone who isn't. Ruby and Maizie are a little harder in that sense, I think, and nothing says you can't call them by their middle names.

And I love both of your boy names. GORGEOUS. Seriously. Nathaniel and Henry are two of my favorites, and I think the middle names flow nicely with both of them.

[mrsduryee.livejournal.com]

I'm not being snarky. I honestly don't know what it looks like for a person to NOT "pull off" a name, as you say. Her grandmother had the name Maizy, and she grew up, and THEREFORE she "pulled off" the name, right? She didn't really have a choice.

I am a Rosalie, which has a million nicknames, including the childish Rosie and the very adult Rose. I don't HAVE to "pull off" Rosie in the corporate world, because I can be Rose. Tons of people call me Rosie though. If Rosie were my name and it couldn't be shortened, then I'd have to pull it off, even in the corporate world, wouldn't I?

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

I don't think I really said that the way I meant it. I don't mean that no adult women can ever be called something like Maizie, or that there are certain names only for little girls, or only for adults. What I mean is that for certain names, when you hear it, it connotes a certain image, or a certain age, or a certain socioeconomic group. Right or wrong, we stereotype, and even names can be stereotyped.

Personally, when I hear the name Maizie, or names like Madison, or Lily, etc., I always think of a little kid. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, since there are a lot of people who have said the same thing in comments to other posters in this community. If you're applying for a job, you don't want the person interviewing you to have their first impression, upon reading your resume, be "hey, that sounds like a five year old kid's name," you know? It's just one more barrier to leap over. Plus, Maizie is generally used as a nickname, not as a given name, and as a lot of people point out when nicknames-as-given-names are discussed in this community, it makes people think you don't know enough to put your formal name on a job application, or resume, or college application, or whatever.

(As a side note, that doesn't really have that much to do with my argument against using Maizie as a given name, I don't think Rosalie, or Rosie, or especially Rose, sounds like a child's name at all; I don't even know any adult Rosies and I still don't automatically assume it's a child when I hear the name)

[mrsduryee.livejournal.com]

That's good about Rosie. :) I love it.

I do agree with you - I think of little kids when I hear Maizie or Madison too. But the moment I MEET an adult with this name, I guess the image goes away, because that's the person's name.

INTERESTING point about employers wondering if you know to put your full name on an application. o_O

[barbles.livejournal.com]

I love the name Maizie! I named my daughter Mackenzie with full intentions of calling her Maizie but be darned, EVERYONE else would only call her Kenzie.

[mrsduryee.livejournal.com]

I like the names for the most part. I really like Matthew Sylvan, although Sylvan makes me think of the learning center.

[lneef.livejournal.com]

I can get on board with Maizie as a nickname only. How about a Margaret, or just about anything else starting with M?

I think Ruby Charlotte is an excellent combo.

I don't like Edison as a name unless it's a family name. Too surnamey.

And I'd vote Sylvia or Sylvie for a girl instead of Sylvan for a boy. Ruby Sylvia?

[poohbaby.livejournal.com]

I love Henry Foster! It sounds like a good strong name!

My husband's middle name is Foster and I think it's a great name (it's a family name on his side) and we're definitely using it if we have another boy.

[pixietangerine.livejournal.com]

all of your names are very nice. i love ruby charlotte. i knew a girl named ruby frances, and i've always loved that combination as well.

[neverstarsburn.livejournal.com]

i've always seen maizie spelled maisy or maisie before, but i dont mind it with a z at all, and i think its a very cute name, and with elizabeth as a middle, if she grew up and wanted a more serious sounding name, she could use elizabeth.


i adore the name Ruby so much. I think it sounds nice with Charlotte, but could also work with Catherine or Elizabeth

[todaydream.livejournal.com]

Don't change Ruby Charlotte, I love it!

[thephoeb.livejournal.com]

My great grandmother's name was Ruby Lee Olive :)