(no subject)

[arbus.livejournal.com]

the husband and i have been tossing around our love of the name josie.

its our absolute number one girls name now. we both absolutely ADORE it. however, we cannot decide if we would like to just name our first girl josie, or something longer. i am normally all for that, and he feels that way too. i dont know, i am just feeling a bit off about it i guess because i am not particularly in love with any of the longer versions.

i do LOVE LOVE LOVE josephine, however middle name will be colleen. so obviously thats an issue.

i hate the name jocelyn.

recently, he brought up josette. i like josette. i have already agreed to josette. the husband loves it, and cosette was actually always on our list, so i already liked a name very similar. however, i am NOT in love with it.

kind of rambling (sorry) but has anyone here named their child a name they werent in love with, because they loved the nickname? did you grow to love it? or will i regret it enormously?

ETA: for those wondering, its not made up

Comments

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

I don't have any kids, but have you considered Josephina?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

that is something to consider, thanks. at first sight, i am not a fan, but i will keep it in mind.

[sugar-aplomb.livejournal.com]

I know this wasn't your question, but what about Josanna (or a variant)?

I think Josie can stand alone and be carried from infancy through adulthood, but Josette is pretty, and may grow on you. Best wishes, whatever you choose.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i feel like it can stand alone too, but my husband doesnt. how is josanna pronounced?

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

Josepha?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i hadnt thought of that one, thanks.

[lustdumpster.livejournal.com]

eh i'd just use josie. reasoning being that it's one of those -ie names that can stand alone, whereas josette is sort of uncommon (i think, anyway. i've never heard it before your post) so if i saw it on a business card, my attention would still focus like "josette? that's new."

[arbus.livejournal.com]

ive heard it before, though im not sure where, it just doesnt seem made up to me, i mean like something we made up. im pretty sure ive seen it before, maybe just in baby books.

i am a fan of just using josie as well.

[celestinenox]

I've always been the type of person to say if you're going to call your child something, you might as well just legally name them that. It can be very confusing for a child to grow up being called one thing, and then suddenly be taught to spell something else when they're old enough to learn to spell their name and write it. Or, worse, they're taught to spell a shortened version, then when they grow up and have to sign legal documents, they're technically committing fraud by not signing their full name, because they were never taught to. I actually ran into a kid in my job last week who was literally unable to spell his full name, Christopher.

I dunno. Beyond the legal issues, it's just never name much sense to me to name your child something when you fully intend to call them something else.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i am a big nicknamer, so its bound to be the case. i doubt i would ever call her josette.

[penguiny7.livejournal.com]

I kind of had this problem. I loved Ben and while I liked Benjamin, I didn't love it. But we named our son Benjamin anyway and it's perfect for him and I'd never change it.

I think Josie is much too cutesy and insubstantial to be a name on its own. Is it possible to add a second middle name to throw off the rhyminess of Josephine Colleen? That's what I'd do if I were in your shoes.

Otherwise, some more ideas:
Josephina, Josepha, Josiane, and maybe Jocasta or Joyce? I think Josephina is a good option. It's almost the same as Josephine, but gets rid of the rhyming problem.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i am glad to hear that it worked out for you and it gives me hope! :)

i thought about the possibility of adding a second middle, but colleen is my mother, who died five years ago, and i would rather leave it by itself, if that makes sense.

how would josiane be pronounced? like josie-anne?

thanks for the suggestions!

[pegasus2o5.livejournal.com]

I'm not normally a proponent of nicknames as full names, but in this case I think it might be your best option. Josie stands on its own pretty well, and she'll think of Josie as her "real" name anyway, probably.

On the other hand, instead of Josephine Colleen, what about Josephine Colette?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

thanks for the input. i think i feel the same way about josie being one of those names thats able to stand on its own.

colleen is a non-negotiable. its the name of my mother, who died five years ago. thanks for the suggestion though. :)

[tinylegacies.livejournal.com]

I think Josie can stand well enough on its own, but I think Josette Colleen would work nicely if you're dead set on not using it alone.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

thank you! :)

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

I've heard Colleen pronounced as COLL-een not Coll-EEN, so maybe that way it wouldn't rhyme as much?
I'm personally a big fan of Josephine, but not Colleen.
Josephina Colleen is a really nice suggestion and I second it.

Josette is really awkward and if you're not even totally sold on it, I woulnd't advise it.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

like i said above, colleen is a non-negotiable. its my mothers name, who died five years ago. also, i love the name, i find it really pretty and uncommon (unlike similar names catherine / kathleen)

josephina i think is a little too frilly for me, but i am putting it on the to-consider list.

just curious why you find josette awkward?

thanks for the suggestions! :)

[loanwords.livejournal.com]

I agree with an above poster about Josepha. Or maybe even Josephina. The added a makes it less eeeeeeeeeeeeeee sounding with the middle name.

[winninghearts.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if you really love Josephine, I think naming your baby Josephine Colleen is not the worst thing in the world. I don't think it sounds too bad, actually. And she won't go by her firstnamemiddlename, so I think you should go with the first name you like best.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

thank you! :) i think i was probably secretly hoping someone would say this. i keep repeating "josephine colleen" in my head and thinking "ok its really not THAT bad" the husband isnt sold, however. we will have to wait and see what happens, but thanks for that vote of confidence! :)

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

How about adding another middle name in there? So instead of just Josephine Colleen, it could be something like Josephine Mary Colleen LastName. It's kind of a lot of name, but it wouldn't rhyme so much.

[hwar.livejournal.com]

I also think Josie is fine on its own. However, Josette is actually really cute and unique. I like it a lot. Also has additional nickname potential with Etta, if she grew up and didn't like Josie.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

ooooooh i had not even thought of the possibility of etta! that just makes it a bit more meaningful since our wedding first dance was to 'at last' by etta james :)

(not that we would call her that, but it would be nice for her to have another option, and it helps that its an option that i quite like!)

glad you like josette too. thank you!

this was really helpful! :)

[lipsty.livejournal.com]

Josie is kind of a family name for me - there's a Josie is each of the last five generations - and it's always just been Josie, not short for anything. It's a legitimate name, so I don't think that you need to go with a longer version that you don't love.

[pianokitten.livejournal.com]

i loooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeeeeee Josie! a ridiculous amount. We're having a boy currently, but Josie is on my list for sure.

[rockstargrrrlie.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Josette- I like the suggestion a few comments up of Josephina.

I do think Josie should be short for something, and I think it's not too much of a stretch if you like something like Johanna and called her Josie for short.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

johanna is a name i really like and hadnt thought of, thanks!

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

i think it'd be kind of dumb to name her something you're not in love with if you're just going to call her josie anyway..?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

well i dont think its "dumb" since naming our child isnt about US... its about HIM or HER. i would like her to have options.

my birth name is carrie and when i was in college, i changed it to caroline. i still go by both.

[frost.livejournal.com]

I don't like Josie at all, but I think it's perfectly fine on its own.

If you're so in love with it that you're just going to end up using it anyway (versus her full name), then why not just use it to begin with?

[arbus.livejournal.com]

because we would like her to have options once she gets older.

[maine-girl.livejournal.com]

I had a very good friend named Josette in elemantary school; I like the name. I also know several girls named Josiane (I'm french, and it's fairly common).

I think Colleen is lovely, and you know what, it's not like anyone's ever going to call her Josephine Colleen except for you occasionally, and whomever processes her social security card.... so if that's what you love, go for it.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i really appreciate your thoughtful response, thank you so much! :)

how do you pronounce josiane?

[pixietangerine.livejournal.com]

josette is pretty but sounds made up to me (not saying it is, i've just never heard of it before) and if i were you, i'd go with josephine colleen. you love josephine, and i think the rhyming issue isn't a big deal at all! i think it's actually a really nice combo. :) josie is a really cute nickname, but i don't think it can stand alone. one of the things that bothers me most about my own name is the lack of nickname options. you'd be doing your daughter a favor by naming her a more formal version, so she can go by josephine/josette/whatever you pick if she doesn't want to be called josie.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Ooh I feel exactly the same about Josie. I love it as a nickname, I don't really like any longer versions much, but for me that kind of rules it out... I don't want a nickname as a full name, although I'm fine with other people doing that if they want.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Oops - I totally missed the part where you said you love Josephine. I would just use it then. Too bad if Josephine Colleen kind of rhymes, it's not that bad... in this situation something has to be compromised so I'd go with compromising "flow" rather than using a less-than-favourite first name iykwim

[sweetest-asylum.livejournal.com]

love the name josephine AND the song by the black crows.
it's my grandmas name, so maybe i'm partial to it.

she goes by "toots"

[serendipitous13.livejournal.com]

My grandma is Vivian and goes by Toots!

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

I really like Josephina and Josette. I know you'll call your daughter Josie but I think it's always a good idea to give them a full name to have as back up.

For instance, I'm Jennifer. Growing up, I was ALWAYS Jenny. I mean, you call me anything else and my grandparents are like WHO? But once I got out of High School I decided that Jenny just felt too young. I now go by Jenn most of the time and Jennifer too.

And I agree that Josephine Colleen isn't terrible, but if it's not perfect or near it, I don't like it. I tend to really love names ending in A but I'm not going to name my child Neva Lena (two of my favorite names) because it doesn't go well together.

[serendipitous13.livejournal.com]

I like Josette AND I think that Josephine Colleen is fine.

[qalanjo.livejournal.com]

I think Josie sounds just fine on its own (and sounds good with Colleen) but if it makes you feel more comfortable to use a longer name I totally think Josephine Colleen is just fine...