Our choices

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for some more 'old school' names, like those your great-grandparents had... Suggestions? Comments?

Gage is my last, Brenton is partner's last. We are very commited to two middle names (because we don't want to hyphenate anything but want to include both our last names-- whatever if it isn't used that often), and the inclusion of family history/lineage.

Boy
Leonard Annwyn Gage Brenton (Leonard: family name, German for lion strength; AHN-win: Celtic/Welsh for strongest oak in the forest)
Leonard Adair Gage Brenton (a-DARE: family name, German for wealthy spear, or noble and exhalted)
Leonard Jonah Gage Brenton (Jonah: cuz we like it, Hebrew for dove but connotes bad luck) :(

We laughed about potentially naming the kid "Leonard Owen". My partner likes 'Elijah' but I can't get over the meaning of "Lord is my God"... too much for me.

Girl
Ramona Annwyn Brenton Gage (Ramona: family name, German for protecting hands)
Mathilda Annwyn Brenton Gage (after Mathilda Jocelyn Gage, family history of suffragist movement, German for mighty in battle)
Annwyn Adair Brenton Gage

Or combinations thereof... I think we have great family history and names to choose from!

Comments

[checkingmypulse.livejournal.com]

i loveeeeeeeeeee Mathilda!!! use that for a girl:-)

i love henry for a boy.

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

Your last names sound very good together. What is your reasoning for putting Gage first for girls, and Brenton for boys? Would a daughter be contuining your family name, as it were?

I like Leonard - with the nickname Lenny!
LOL at Leonard Owen.


I think Annwyn Adair Brenton Gage is WAY over the top. It looks like a long confusing series of last names and there's no way to tell she's female. I think that at least one widely recognizable, familiar first name should be included! The other two are OK, although I don't personally like Mathilda. I think I'd choose Ramona, although it makes me think of the children's books!

For boys, I like your first one best, although it sounds a bit... regal? Pretentious? I don't know... I get that feeling a lot when there are two middle names. It's a good name though.

I like the idea of Jonah too, but if you read the book of the prophet Jonah, he wasn't the most positive character! As for Elijah, I like it a lot; most Biblical male names have God in there somewhere, so it's hard to get away :) I'm not sure how the sound of Elijah flows with Gage right after it, though.

OK - I'm done babbling :)

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yeah, we axed Elijah and Jonah both after thinking about them more carefully.

[bree019.livejournal.com]

I really, really like Adair but I'm bothered by the spelling of "Annwyn". To me, it's similar to when people are trying to be creative with, say, Kaitlyn (Cayttlien, Kaytlyn, etc...blech!). If I'm pronouncing it correctly, though, it sounds pretty. Same with Mathilda. Cute name, bothered by the spelling. It might be old school, but I'd hate to see her called "Math-ill-duh" her entire life.

How about Mat(h)ilda Adair Brenton Gage?

[bree019.livejournal.com]

Oops! Forgot about the boy names. I'm planning on giving my future son an "older" name as well!

I like Leonard. Though right now it's making me think of James Frey, I think it's a good name with lots of possible nicknames. Another "older" name you might like is Edward. How about Charles? Gregory?

[checkingmypulse.livejournal.com]

leonard made me think of james frey too, which just left a bad taste in my mouth!

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Who's James Frey?

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

I didn't monkey with the spelling of Annwyn at all. It's just Celtic :)

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Oh, and we're considering dropping the "H" in Mathilda, but I just think it makes the name appear softer. I'm Carolyn and people have called me Caroline my entire life. It happens with names no matter how they're spelled, IMO.

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

Although some of those are really pretty and regal sounding, they're too much of a mouthful for my tastes...
Considering "Gage" is also a boys name, why don't you use it as one middle name, or as a first name even? I personally like "Elijah" the best...
Elijah Gage Brenton ... that'd be my pick.

Your girl names are cute and come with TONS of nicknames... that's always a plus... :)!

As for some old-school names you may have never heard:
Girls:Apriana, Sabrisah, Aliveine, Arbella, Cecily, Verity, Phyllis, Iris
Boys:Arcen, Mathias, Diedrich, Ambrus, Lucien, Cassius

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

My partner doesn't want to use Gage as a first. He thinks it will be confusing for some reason. "Your mom's last name and your dad's first name...?" I don't see it that way, but I'm conceding.

Can you think of nicknames for Ramona?

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

The most obvious two that stick out are: Rae & Mona ... but I'm sure you can make your own cute variations of those.

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

oh, and "Romy" too

[kati-d.livejournal.com]

I just posted practically the same thing except I asked everyone to share their family lineage and that way I can get more ideas of cool traditional names!

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i dont really like leonard. why not use gage as the first name for a boy, or is that too wierd? if you cant get over the meaning of elijah, but like the sound, have you considered elias?

ramona is really cute, but i dont like the other girls names. sorry. you can have old classic names without being stodgy and elderly sounding.

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

But can you have them without also sounding prissy? Like what?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

oh i was thinking names like mary, ruby, lillian (lily), violet, hazel, alice, louise, elsie, beatrice, stella and nellie.

and for boys, names like: henry (hank), cassius, lucien, theodore, oscar, samuel, rufus and felix.

i dont know if those sound prissy to you?

[krazyhippie.livejournal.com]

My old relatives' names:

Herbert
Theodore
Vivian
Bertha
John
Mary
Andrew
Robert

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

I just found out that I have a Theodore in my family. Yay! (Thanks for the feedback).

[krazyhippie.livejournal.com]

My mom named my brother after him, Adam Theodore. I LOVE the nn Teddy for a kid. So cute!

[lipsandhips.livejournal.com]

my american grandparents were henry and rita.
my persian ones are too hard to spell.

not sure about great grandparents. i don't know why i never asked.

[quiet-recluse.livejournal.com]

Boy

Leonard Adair Gage Brenton


Girl

Ramona Annwyn Brenton Gage (Ramona: family name, German for protecting hands)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

You may want to enlist a native Welsh-speaker for verification, but Anwen would be the girl's spelling (wyn for boys and wen for girls), and Annwyn is not a Welsh name. Annwn means 'otherworld' but is pronounced Annoon and is not a name; various places on the internet seem to have confused it with one, including the Kabalarian sites. If you tell these sites your name is Teapot they will produce a fake etymology and history for it, so I wouldn't trust anything I found there!

Annwen (note ending again) is a Breton girls name and would be pronounced the same way as Anwen. It means 'white Ann'.

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

I found it like 10 years ago in a witchcraft book and have been stuck on it ever since. Of course, I can't find the book now... Thank you for the spelling thing. I'm going to check it out. I know about the 'otherworldness' of it too, and the fact that it isn't used for a name doesn't bother me. Autumn is also not a name... know what I mean?

Kabalara=Kabala? Like the religion?

What is a Breton girl?

[dionysia.livejournal.com]

A girl from Brittany.

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

What's Brittany? Great Britain? Or a Brittany Spears cult?

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

Um. Bretagne. A region in France

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Ummm... I have heard of Bretagne, but not Brittany. I even know how to pronounce it. No need to be condescending.

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

Brittany is English for Bretagne.

I didn't mean to be condescending, I read your question about Britain/Spears as sarcastic to the other poster, whose answer was correct. If not, sorry. Ah, the intrawebs.

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Ok, thanks. Sorry to be defensive, in turn.

[dingo83.livejournal.com]

So your children would have different last names?

[sweetpeathebaby.livejournal.com]

Yes, theoretically, but we're only having one.

[ladyjp.livejournal.com]

Adair is my mother's maiden name and I have never ever heard of it meaning "wealthy spear". My great aunt has done a lot of research on the name and all she's found is that it's a Scottish/Irish name (the Adairs come from Galloway which is very close to Ireland so it's six and half a dozen as to where it came from!).