Name help

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I'm nowhere near having kids, but I have lots of lists of names that I like, and combinations with some middle names (mostly family).

I'm having trouble, though, with the name of one person I'd really like to honour - Barbara. I just don't like the name. Can you help me think of names that have similar sounds, or start with the same letter? I've also thought about looking at similar meanings, but Barbara doesn't have the greatest meaning either...

I really like Bee/Bea as a nickname for a person whose name starts with B, but I'm not fond of most of the B names that I've come across. Brigitte (pronounced Bridget) is already on my list, but it's to honour someone else.

Thanks for any suggestions you can think of!

Comments

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

B names off the top of my head: Basha, Basia, Bianca, Birgit, Blake, Blythe, Bonnie, Bree, Briony, Brynn

Does she have a nickname or middle name you could work off of?

[iftherainstops.livejournal.com]

A B name I've always liked is Beatrice

[blosmbee.livejournal.com]

My favorite B name of the moment is Beatrix, and Bea is a natural nickname for that.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

I know the name's taboo for most people, but the only B name on my list is Bella. I think I'm just a bit against B names since that's the letter mine starts with.

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

Beverly
Beatrix
Bea (I like it too)
Belle
Bianca
Bethany
Blair
Blanche
Brea

Bobbie/Bobby can be a nn or a "form" of Barbara.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Her middle name is Jean, which I love, actually (and which would work because it would honour multiple people at the same time). Thanks for making me think of it!

I do also like Bianca, Blythe, Bonnie and Briony, but possibly not enough to use them? Then again, I'm a writer, and I'm always collecting names for stories.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I used to really dislike this name. I still don't love it, but it's grown on me a lot in the last few years, especially since I became a fan of Bea Arthur hehe.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Not really my style, but thanks for the suggestion. It always makes me think of Trixie Belden hehe.

The problem is that I like Bea infinitely more than I like Beatrice or Beatrix, but I can't decide whether I like it enough to actually use it on its own, since I usually prefer the full forms of names.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I used to be pretty neutral to this name, or liked it okay, but I think Twilight and the name's popularity in general have really ruined it for me. Which is too bad, because for the longest time I could associate the name with Bellatrix Lestrange, who I like!

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I like Bianca and Bethany, and Bobbie's kind of cute too.

[hwar.livejournal.com]

Lately I'm a fan of Bellamy.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really love both the sound of this name and how it looks, but I always think of it as a boy's name.

[hwar.livejournal.com]

i think these days it is firmly in the girl camp since it has the "bella" unit that is pretty much always female (in english anyway). :)

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

A list of names related to Barbara is here, unfortunately they are mostly variants: http://www.behindthename.com/php/related.php?name=barbara

Even though I don't usually go for this, I tried spelling Barbara backwards. It's Arabrab... which is not a viable name but what about Arabella?

[chadwah.livejournal.com]

Beatrice? It means happy or blessed.

Also, I've never seen Brigitte pronounced Bridget -- is that relatively common? I was just wondering if she'd always have to correct people who call her "bri-ZHEET."

[chadwah.livejournal.com]

Oh! I really love Bethany; a close friend's daughter is named that -- they call her "Bethy" for short.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of anyone using it as a first name, so I have trouble thinking of it as firmly one or the other, but I would still think of it as a boy's name, despite the "bella" part, because it's also a surname, and I don't like surnames as girls names.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had seen a list like that, and they all seem to contain the same sounds that I dislike about Barbara.

I do love Arabella, though - thanks! I always forget about it, somehow. I'll have to add it to my list.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I don't love Beatrice, but it's growing on me. I like Bea more on its own, but I'm not a fan of giving the short form of names.

Brigitte is my grandmother, and she's German, so it's not even pronounced the same way there - it's more like Brih-GIH-teh. But when she moved to Canada, nobody here would be able to say it that way. She has a niece with the same name who lives here (spelled and pronounced the same way), and I've only heard them mention one person saying the name the wrong way. I don't think I really knew until I was in high school that there was another way to spell/pronounce the name!

[hwar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the surname thing too.

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

My favorite B name is the Spanish name Belén (Bell-LAYN). It might not be your style...but I wanted to throw it out there because it's so pretty.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of it! It is pretty, but it definitely wouldn't go with the rest of my names. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[nothingtolose19.livejournal.com]

I also think Bea/Bee is really cute. I also love Bea Arthur :)

I'm not an overly big fan of B names, but I think my favorite is Brenna. I also like Briar, Bianca, Bethany, and Blaire. Okay, maybe I like B names a little more than I thought ;)

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

Biljana (Bee-AH-nuh)? It probably wouldn't fit with the rest of your names, but I figured I'd throw it out there.