fitting in a middle name

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

My husband and I are adopting two children, and we have been talking a lot lately with them about names.  Legally, they are named Mastor Ishmael (5 years old) and Bryanna (3 years old, no middle name).  Mastor decided long ago that he does not like his name and wants to go by Matthew.  We have been calling him Matthew since the 3rd day he has lived with us.  Bryanna's name fits her, but I would like her to have a middle name, and I see this as my opportunity to have a little bit of say over my own child's name (yay!) I have spent years poring over what I would name my biological children if I ever had them, but now that I have a real, live 3-year-old in front of me with an established first name, I can't for the life of me settle on a middle name.  When the adoption is finalized, they will have our last name, so they will be:

Matthew Ishmael B----- (rhymes with beacon)
Bryanna _______ B-----

I am looking for suggestions for Bryanna's middle name.  I had always wanted my first daughter to have the middle name Betsy (it is a family name), but it just feels too cutesy and kind of weird with so many Bs.  I am leaning towards Alice right now, as Bryanna loves Alice in Wonderland (and so do I!), but I'm not sold on it the way it sounds.  I guess I am looking for something that sounds "right" between her first and last name, and something that fits in style with her brother's name. I am at a total loss!

Comments

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

I think Bryanna Alice sounds fine! And I say go with it since it has meaning for both you & your daughter. Honestly, IMO middle names are not used often enough to be rejected due to the way they sound w/ the first name, unless it's something absurd like Huge Jass. :P

Congrats on the impending adoption! My husband and I are going to licensed foster parents in a couple of months ... let me know if you're in the market for new LJ friends ... :)

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

I think Bryanna Alice sounds fine! And I say go with it since it has meaning for both you & your daughter. Honestly, IMO middle names are not used often enough to be rejected due to the way they sound w/ the first name, unless it's something absurd like Hugh Jass. :P

Congrats on the impending adoption! My husband and I are going to licensed foster parents in a couple of months ... let me know if you're in the market for new LJ friends ... :)

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

I'm always up for new LJ friends. :) I don't update too often these days though, now that we have the kids.
We started off getting licensed for foster care, and then at our very last homestudy before they sent in our paperwork for licensing, our worker asked what our thoughts were on adoption and told us about these kids who really needed an adoptive placement. We got our foster care license in the mail the day after the kids came to live with us. lol

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

We are open to adoption, too (in our state, it's the same license for both). We're currently getting certified for 1 child ages 0-2, but we may expand that. :)

I added you! I post maybe once a week (at most) and often about this process.

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

We were licensed for up to 3 children ages 0-7, and we were really more interested in adopting but were told that starting off with foster care provides the best chance for having the opportunity to adopt younger children. They were 3 and 4 when they came to us, 3 and 5 now, and I'm already ready to take on more. ;)

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

Yes, we were told the same thing about foster to adopt younger children.

We currently have a crib/toddler bed, but were we to buy a twin bed, our license would expand to two kids (which would be our max, and it would have to be siblings of the same gender so they could share a room).

[dynamicgirl.livejournal.com]

Congrats! Also a foster parent here.

I like Alice

[dynamicgirl.livejournal.com]

Foster parent here, too... :)

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

I'm adding you! Hope that's OK. :)

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

Bryanna Caitlyn I think sounds nice :)

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

I do like that. :) My sister's name is Kaitlyn though, so I wouldn't be able to use it without feeling like we were leaving out my husband's sisters.

[dynamicgirl.livejournal.com]

Caelan? Irish name

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

I think Alice maybe clashes a little bit with the A at the end of Bryanna for my tastes but if it means something to you I'd say go for it :D I actually quite like Bryanna Betsy, she could be called BB 8D

Also many internet wins for you and your hubby for adopting. I have oodles of respect for people who do that and I'd love to do it some day myself :)

[coquine.livejournal.com]

I like Bryanna Alice. It's something that the two of you have bonded over. My other response was Brynna Marie, but I definitely like Alice better.

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

I really like Alice. I also think it's really nice that she gets to have a say, and since it's a common interest (Alice in Wonderland) between you two it just makes it all the better!
Also, congrats on adopting! :D

[so-there.livejournal.com]

you could go with Elizabeth, as that's what Betsy is usually short for. it'd break up the B's but you could call her Bryanna Betsy as a nickname.

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

We have some hangups about Elizabeth (husband has an ex-girlfriend by that name), and the Betsys we would be naming after are both named just Betsy, not short for Elizabeth, so if we ever get the chance to honor them in a name, it will be just Betsy. I think this just might not be the right time to use the name. :\

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

First of all congratulations on your new family additions, second I like the sound of Bryanna Alice. I say, go with it.

[aimeewins.livejournal.com]

How about Bryanna Elise? It flows better imo, Elise sounds similar to Alice and is derived from Elizabeth (borrowing from the comment above about Betsy/Elizabeth).

[mrsduryee.livejournal.com]

How about Bryanna Elizabeth, which is less cutesy than Betsy?

I also liked the suggestion above of Bryanna Elise.

Congrats to you and to the kiddos for getting a happy, healthy forever home. :)

[wolf-shadow.livejournal.com]

FWIW, when my younger sister was adopted, she chose her own middle name (like yours she kept her birth first name). She chose Mary, and that was that, but was also cool since her biological mother is called Maria which we felt gave her a link to the mother she'd barely known*.

Alice has a meaning for Bryanna so that's important, but what does she think - does she care which/either name?

* My sister was a fourth child born to a VERY poor mother under the compelled maternity programme in Romania, Said mother was unable to bring any of them up due to poverty and C was in a handicapped orphanage until she was 14, when she came to us (we already had been working with her and others for about 4-5 years by then). Although we'd tried to give her some sort of relationship with her mother, in the end her mother was still far too poor to care for a teenager with physical and learning difficulties.

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

I thought about that, but I don't think she really "gets it". lol we have tried asking her about her name, what names does she like, if she could have any name, what would it be, etc., but she never comes up with an answer.

[bluedano.livejournal.com]

I also really like Bryanna Alice. I think it's lovely that it has meaning for both you and your daughter, and I don't think there's really a problem with the way the names "flow". :)

[roseofjuly.livejournal.com]

I like Bryanna Alice. What does Bryanna think? Maybe you could page through a name book with her.