Which one?

[mayna.livejournal.com]

I think I've narrowed down name choices to these two. Unfortunately the middle name is pretty unchangeable because of my husband's desire to name a child after his grandmother, so I know it doesn't flow that well, and I don't really care that much, I just want a first name that I like (hence why he gets to insert Virginia for a middle name). Last name is Narotski (also unchangeable, ha ha).

[Poll #934924]

Comments

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Really, that's what I thought was kind of cool about it. The initials VV and the nickname Vivvie...

My sister's name is Margaret Elaine Gregory and I thought it would be cool to call her Meg (also a nickname of Margaret) but my mom said no and made it Maggie so she's Maggie.

[cluckydude.livejournal.com]

I despise Vivian Virginia - too many Vs. I think Rebecca Virginia is Ok.

Not my style, but it doesn't make me cringe! And it's nice that you have significance for the middle name, IMO.

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

I like Rebecca better, but Rebecca Virginia just rhymes too much for me.

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

I like Vivian ALOT and Vivian Virginia isn't too many Vs for me
Vivian Virginia Narotski is quite nice I think.

[bree019.livejournal.com]

I don't like that Rebecca and Virginia end in the same "uh" sound.

Besides, I like Vivian a lot more than Rebecca. And I think Vivian Virginia sounds fine!

[elemmennope.livejournal.com]

I don't think either name flows great, but I'm also of the opinion that flow is totally overrated and it's more important to use a name you like. Honestly, I think the fun alliteration and double meaning behind a nn of Vivi far outweighs the just plain poor flow of Rebecca Virgina. Plus, I just don't like Rebecca that much (a bit too plain, especially in comparison to Vivian).

[bloomingtulip.livejournal.com]

I think Vivian Virginia is quite lovely actually.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

i like vivian better as a name but think virgina sounds better with rebecca.
i actually love the french spelling vivienne, looks more feminine to me for some reason.

[super-bitch06.livejournal.com]

I like Vivian better than Rebecca, but I'm not a huge fan of the VV thing. Of course, she wont be called by her middle name on a daily basis, so I think it'd be fine.

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

Vivian Virginia sounds cool. Rebecca Virginia are too similar in syllables and stress.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Wow, I was suprised how many people thought Rebecca Virginia had a poor flow. I see it as fairly "average" sort of flow. I really like Rebecca, and I think Rebecca and Virginia complement each other because they're quite different names... in my opinion Vivian and Virginia have way too much in common.. you've got three VI's in a row - VI-VI-an VI-rginia.... and their rhythm is much more similar... VI-Vi-un vir-GI-Ni-uh... (haha my rhythm thing probably doesn't make sense to anyone else)... whereas - yes Rebecca and Virginia both end with A, but I'm just surprised that anyone would consider that worse repetition than VIVIVI... especially cos rebecca and virginia have different syllables, it's not like Rebecca Maria or something.

Anyway... I think Vivian is a lovely name too but I prefer Rebecca. Besides, Vivian can always have the nickname Vivvie, the middle name doesn't need to also start with V for that to be a potential nickname.

[decembermalice.livejournal.com]

I love Vivian Virginia. I love the Vs together.

I know you said your husband is set on Virginia as a mn, but would he consider Ginger, Ginnie, or another nickname for it instead?

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Yeah I kind of like how Vivienne looks but not sure if she'd have to spell out her name constantly if I did that (not that it's that hard to spell). With a last name like Narotski I kind of want an easy first name (also another reason to go for nicknames IMO). That's the reason I spelled my daughter's name Maylie instead of Meili (which is beautiful but not obviously phonetic and people already can't spell Narotski which really is phonetic)

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Oh if it was up to me, we wouldn't have the middle name of Virginia at all... I like Ruth much better (which is my husband's mom's name; my mom's name is Barbara which flows about as well as Virginia does with the longer first names). My husband is just obsessed with the name Virginia, ever since he got it stuck in his head of the possibility of "honoring" his grandmother, in his mind it's either got to be a first name or a middle name. Vivian Ruth and Rebecca Ruth both sound lovely, fie on having a husband, ha ha. ;-)

Ginny is really not a bad name and a bit cute but the clincher for me is that I have a speech impediment that makes it hard to say J and CH sounds and I have to clear my mouth of spit (basically planning what I'm going to say ahead of time if I don't want to sound spitty), and having to say the name Ginny all the time and deal with that would just be too much for me. My brother also has the same speech impediment. I hate reading the Curious George stories because every other word is George, ha ha. ;-) Oh and any other nicknames for Virginia I don't like. So at least we're compromising and he is ok with it being a middle name and giving me more control over the first name.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

No... I tried that tactic when we were discussing first names and he said that it's NOT his grandmother's name. (I suggested Genevieve which is similar to Virginia but a lot prettier and can have the nickname Vivi instead of Ginny/Genny - I have a speech impediment for the J and CH sounds and would prefer not to name a kid with that sound in the name, at least for what I'd be saying on a daily basis)

[lavandersparkle.livejournal.com]

Rebecca Virginia is cute.
Vivian Virginia has too many Vs for my liking.

[mooie-ziel.livejournal.com]

unless you're going to be calling your kid by both first and middle name, i dont think it matters how well the names "flow."

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

I love Rebecca... it's a name that I feel works on anyone of any age and has countless nicknames.
Plus, it sounds gorgeous with your other daughters name.

Rebecca Virgina... kind of rhymey, but really, I've heard TONS worse.

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

oh, and I was going to say - if you want it to flow a bit better would you consider adding a second 1-syl. middle name to the end?

I mean -
Rebecca Virgina Mae
Rebecca Virgina Rose
Rebecca Virgina Lee
etc..

You see, I was a "similar problem" when I was born. My dad got to chose my middle name and he thought it was quite important that I have my mothers first name as my middle name. Well, "Trista Debra" sounded really, well, bad, so it became "Trista Debra-Lee". The hyphen isn't necessary, but honestly I love my middle name hyphen, haha.

[museofmyself.livejournal.com]

I prefer Vivian Virginia. Flow be damned. Vivian is a lovely name, and hopefully won't become overly popular any time soon. Rebecca is nice, but not as unique as Vivian. Congrats to you! :)

[elemmennope.livejournal.com]

I think Vivian sounds better because the syllable stress pattern is exactly the same in both Virginia and Rebecca. At least Vivian has the stress on the first syllable.

re-BEC-ca vir-GIN-ia

vs

VI-vee-an vir-GIN-ia

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Ahh i see!
I pronounce Virginia with 4 syllables.. vir-GIN-ee-uh.

[jenniferdunn.livejournal.com]

To me Virginia as a MN sounds awkward with those 2 names. The double A sound at the end of the first set, and the double V in the 2nd.

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I chose Vivian for the first and Vivian Virginia for the second. I really don't like either of the combos, but to me saying a -ca name followed by an -ia name doesn't roll off the tongue so well. And it feels like it should be an alliteration, but isn't. I don't like the double of Vi-Vi of Vivian Virginia, but it's easier to say and the name is prettier. Also, if you think about it 'Vivi' could technically be short for Vivian or Vivian Virginia, which is cute and would give additional/obvious honor to the namesake. :)

Of course, I personally love the name Virginia and would just go with that for a first name. ;)

Are you down to these two or do oyu have others in mind?

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

Are you saying it out loud? When I say Rebecca Virginia, by tongue just gets all garbled. My mouth wants to say Rebeccar Virginia because when you're moving your mouth/tongue from the 'uh' sound to the 'vuh' sound, 'ar' is in between and I can't help it unless I really try not to... if that makes any sense.

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I like Virgnia Ruth! Or are you just against Virginia as a first name?

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I'm not opposed to the double vi-vi thing just because I don't like he doubling, it just sounded a little odd to me. It would be overkill if your last name was Velasquez or something, though! :)

[serendipitous13.livejournal.com]

I love both names!
My name is Rebecca and my grandmother's name is Vivian. :)
I think you're great with either choice.
Maybe wait until you see her?

[mayna.livejournal.com]

We're in Ohio and pronounce Virginia like "ver-GIN-ya" ;-)

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Well I had a longer list, and did a poll, and then talked to my husband... eliminated all the ones he HATED and then pondered the ones that he either liked or at least was OK with ("I wouldn't pick it but it's not horrible" which was the case with our son's name, Gregory William that he chose), and I was left with Vivian and Rebecca. He loves Rebecca and is just "ok" with Vivian. But then again I'm just "OK" with Virginia at least for a MN so I don't feel bad if he's not in love with the first name. ;-)

I've got a ton of criteria for a name so I'm happy to at least have a shorter list...
1. Can't rhyme with any other family member's name (Kaylee, Craig, Jill, Brianna would rhyme with Maylie, Bill, Greg, and Dianna so those are out)
2. Can't sound similar to our other daughter's name (Maylie... so no Mallory, no Molly, etc)
3. Can't sound horrid with our last name, last name flow is really important for a boy, not as important for a girl but Nimue Narotski would be out since that sounds kind of hard to pronounce
4. Should have a short nickname if it's not short to begin with (and I like nicknames)

I also preferred it not to end in an N, but a name like Gwen or John would be bad with Narotski, but a longer first name ending in N isn't as bad (doesn't disappear) and if the nickname is fine then it's ok. Like Vivian is longer so even though it ends in N it's not too horrible, but Vivi or Viv for a nickname would sound fine with Narotski.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's a regional thing because I don't have that problem...? In fact, I have problem trying to say Rebeccar Virginia. :-)

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Well yes beccause the only nice sounding nickname for Virginia is Ginny which (IMO) has bad alliteration with Narotski (lots of N's) but more importantly it's got the J sound which my mouth doesn't like. That's pretty much why I nixed it for a first name but my husband has it in his head that he HAS to honor his grandma (even though that wasn't important for children #'s 1 and 2!) so... whatever... middle name it will be. It's a compromise anyway.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

I just realized last night that her initials would be VVN which would be car license plate-ese for Vivian. ha ha. ;-) I think that's kind of cool actually. Without being stupid like naming someone Chanda Lear or Alice Wunderland or something like that.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have an Australian accent.. it probably makes all the difference.

I don't pronounce the R in Virginia.

so it's like...

re-BEC-ca vuh-JIN-ee-uh

I don't find it hard to say at all. Vivian Virginia seems worse for me, I know that Virginia has more syllables, but in my accent if you just let the first syllable of virginia kind of bridge the middle of the two words, you get like a repeated 3-syllable pattern

VIV-ee-uhn (vuh)-GIN-ee-uh.

it's like I-ee-uh, repeated... plus VIVIVI.. makes it ULTRA repetitive.

But it looks like this is just because of my accent and so I suppose all my comments on this thread should be ignored because it's not all that relevant!!! (unless you want to move to Australia)

[ex-bluebonn.livejournal.com]

I prefer Rebecca, but must admit I like Vivian Virgian better.