The Art of the Smoosh: The Next Generation of Compound Names

I’m rarely a fan of smooshed names, but I love Annalora, as a fresh take on Eleonora.

On the boy side I’ve met a Henrijames, all one word, I thought it was odd at the time but it’s growing on me

I’d like Zaraleigh and Saranna more if they were spelled Zaralie and Sarana. Zaralie looks more legit, like Coralie or Rosalie, and lopping the second N off Saranna makes it sound and look less like the sandwich wrap.

No way, I really can’t stand compound names. Other than misspelled and made up names, they’re my biggest pet peeves.

Also, why isn’t Renesmee on this list?

Wow! You’ve unearthed a lot I’ve never seen before.

I generally think the best use for smoosh/portmanteau/compound names is in the middle slot, especially if you are trying to honor more than one person at a time. We might use Anneliese for that reason — it’s a blend of my mother-in-law’s and my mother’s middle names. I’ve also considered using Ruthanna as a middle name in honor of my mother-in-law (she’s Ruth Anne).

You know the type of smoosh I think I see the most? Names ending in “-anna.” Some of these are legitimate non-smooshes, but others seem very pieced together. A friend of mine has daughters named Julianna and Elianna (both legitimate names) — for her third daughter, she was considering Emilianna and Karianna before finally settling on Suzianna (I’m not sure whether that qualifies as a smoosh of “Suzy + Anna” or an elaboration of Susanna.)

I also see a lot of “-lyn” names. Winterlyn is an odd one I’ve run across on message boards. Makes me think of a gum flavor.

Ha! How could I forget Renesmee? She’s the Smoosh of the Moment.

Jackieblue, Annalora is lovely. Henrijames … betcha his parents wanted to make sure he was never called just Henry. Or Hank.

And Bekkah, Zaralie does make for an appealing name!

Emmy Jo, I think you’re right about -anna names. I haven’t tallied them up, but off the top of my head, I can think of Avianna, Aubrianna, Callianna …

Oh dear, Winterlyn really does sound like gum! That reminds, For Real Baby Names linked to a Cloverlyn a few months ago: http://names4real.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/cloverlyn/ I love Clover, but the -lyn somehow dulls it for me.

I don’t mind smooshed names for girls, but boys just look ridiculous.
I have heard/seen the following:
Abilynn, Isabeau, Elizabetta, Stellarae and Saralie

I love compound names, especially girl’s names that end with Beth. Right now I love Clarabeth and Lilabeth they both honor several family members.

I have met both an Annakate and an Annabeth, both of which I think are nice. I also like Clarabelle. My favorite compound name is Anna Celine, which is a close friends name And everyone calls her Anna Celine because her records say Anna Celine O. Lastname.

Lillyanna (lily-ah-nuh) is a new baby in my cousins family. So many nickname possibilities, but professional for college and job applications of the future.

I’m loving Sophianna at the moment!

I love compound names! I mean some do end up just sounding stupid sometimes, but when they work I love them. My daughter is Anneliese, and if it didn’t clash so bad with my last name I would love to name a child Mary Ruth after my two grandmothers.

Thanks for another great post, Abby. It occurs to me reading through these that the Isabella craze might be fueling the trend toward smooshies (love that word), along with the two-for-one trend we talked about in our 2011 baby name predictions. These names offer built-in fascinating short forms and are obviously two-for-one names in themselves.

Not a fan of smooshed names. I saw the name Brynlyn a few days ago. That’s a little too much for me. I love Mary Catherine, Mary Elizabeth, Mary Rose, Sarah Elizabeth, and Sarah Jane, but none of them as one word instead of two.

Smooshed names typically aren’t my styles (except for the more mainstream ones such as Marianne, Annabeth, etc.) but I DID create one for my youngest daughter’s middle name (Emmamarie). I wanted to honor two family members but wasn’t sure I’d have more children (and if so, if they’d be female)…and I didn’t want to give two separate middle names/initials. And, thus, Emmamarie was created (my husband still doesn’t care for it).

Love compound names and find they work so long as the parents use them! We are using Minnie Tyler though we are definitely not smooshing it together …

I love Zoebelle, I think it is cute. I have a cousin Carrie Ann, but I know a woman named Kerianne.

I think some of the compound names are beautiful and creative… Zoebelle, Avalee, Gracelyn, even Cloverlyn appeal to me.

But when I see Henrijames, everything comes screeching to a halt and I think, “What was so wrong with Henry James?” Even give him two middle names if it’s a matter of quantity.

Maybe it’s the pronunciation? I wouldn’t know how else to pronounce Henrijames except for “Henry James,” so it seems silly to me. But I would say Avalee a bit differently than I would “Ava Lee,” so it seems like something new and real. Splitting hairs?

AnnaMae is little girl I know. I think it is really cute, but I always have a problem with remember if smooshed names are one word, two words or hyphenated. And capping the second part of the smooshed name makes it even harder to remember.

I love Annabeth – it has always been a favorite, but it isn’t listed on Nameberry.

I like some, not all, of the smooshies. However, am I the only one who thinks some would be more visually appealing with a capital letter to connect the names? (Ex. AnnaBell, SaraBeth, etc.) ZoeEve seems easier on the eyes to me.

Until I read this article I hadn’t thought of the name Clarabelle in a long time, and I find that I really love it! It is a vintage name that could definitely be reused.

Lastly, I knew a girl in high school named Anna Ross Lastname. She went by Anna Ross and no one thought it was odd or masculine or anything other than normal. I do live in the south though so double names are common.

Spotted a toddler Gracelyn when we were out today. Personally I prefer Grace on its own.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an Aubriana. She was with her Mom and Grandma and I was surprised at how often they were using her full 4-syllable name. I’d expect it the get shortened to Aubrey more often.

I’ve also spotted toddler girls called Adilyn and Belynn. (They weren’t related.)

I know a couple of girls named “Emma Leigh”, though that’s technically not smooshed. The boys I know with two names also have the space in there: “Johnathan Paul” (known as John Paul) and “James-William”.

Those are all American children. I know of a couple of British smooshes, but they have the ‘dash’ in there: L0tti-Mai and Ellie-D0t.

I really can’t decide if smoosh names sound too created or adorably Southern-esque. That said, there is a smoosh name we are actually seriously considering. I have a colleague in her 30s named Analena and both my husband and I love it!

Lena has been at the top of our list for years but it just feels a little incomplete to me. Hubby has vetoed Magdalena because of the strong Christian conotation and we’re not Christian. So when I met Analena, I thought, perfect! I do think long smoosh names like Analena go better with one-syllable last names (ours is 2) but you can’t win em all

Thanks for another great post Abby!

I honestly don’t like smoosh names and prefer hyphenated or double names. However, I do like the smooshed name Sarabel. I think it’s very cute.

Marcia, I think the caps help. But it is sort of like accent marks in English – there is no guarantee they’ll appear correctly, if at all.

How could I forget Annabeth? She’s the daughter of Athena in the Percy Jackson series.

Sophianna, Elizabetta, Analena … such great names!

I’m not a huge fan of the smoosh names, but I do have a guilty pleasure for some [fn + mn = nn] names, such as:

Margaret Isabelle = Maybelle (my favorite!)
Emma Louise = Emmylou (or, I suppose, also Malise)
Juliet Annora = Julianne
Lillian Dorothea = Lilladora
Eleanor Theresa = Ellaresa
Agnes Victoria = Nestora (which is a legitimate name, actually)

Too frilly for me to use myself, I think, but especially if you like the old Southern Belle sound, I think that these could be cute nn’s that you wouldn’t necessarily have to go by for the rest of your life.

(And they could also be used to get more traditional combo’s, such as:
Anais Isabella = Anabella/Anna Belinda = Annabel, Miranda Arabelle = Mirabelle.)

I’d say that I’m fine with most smooshes, though, as long as the second part isn’t a -leigh or -lynn variant. -belle and -anna are whimsical, but those just sound like unneeded fillers. At least use -line (Emmeline, anyone?) to make it look and/or sound better.

Also, as a side note, I do know both a Mary Morgan (in fact, my school has a TON of Mary Fill-in-the-Blanks) and a Sara Kathryn. They don’t seem to get much trouble with their names.

And, I thought I ought to make mention, if no one else has yet, of the minor Harry Potter character Elladora and the Wicked character Nessarose.

Post Script: Does anyone else think that if Bluebell wasn’t an ice cream, it might be a kind of cool name?

I think this was more of a feminization than a smoosh, but I know someone who named her daughter Eirelyn. Eire was a family name she really wanted to honor. It’s pretty, but I thought it was Ireland the first time I heard it out loud.

I know of a Britlyn (or Brittlynn) – not sure which consonants are doubled, but it sounds harsh to my ears.

I’m not a big fan of smooshed names….
But awhile ago a had a dream that I had a friend named Sarabelle (or Sarah-Belle) and I kind of fell in love with that.
Even though my subconcious made it up, it’s definitely one of my guilty pleasures.

Oh, jeez. Some of these positively frighten me! Zoeeve, I’m talkin’ to you! Ha. But, I do see some appeal in a few of these guys!

Anneliese is a favorite of mine because my middle name is Elyse and Annie is too cute. Speaking of Elyse, that Wrenelise is a unique one, but why not just Wren Elise? It’s gorgeous. Marianne is about as classic as I’d go in terms of these joint names, if only for the Austen connection…

A couple I think are streamlined enough to work are the frilly Mirabelle and the cutesy Claribel.

Great topic, Abby!

Bluebell should be appealing, but I just think of Geri Halliwell’s daughter. Maybe Bluebell Elizabeth would be fine, but Bluebell Madonna strikes me as over-the-top and then some.

Mary Morgan has a really cool sound – old-fashioned and modern all at once. I think Anna Ross – mentioned above – has that same vibe.

Ellaresa is cool – so is Nestora! And Nessarose – how could I forget Elphaba’s sister?

I’ve heard/know Annalyn, Amberlin, Kaialyn, Adalyn, Gracelyn, Jazlyn, Raelynn and Kenley.

I love double names lately! I Really love the sound of Lou Celie.

I like some smooshes, but they are the more traditional ones-
Annabel/Annabella
Annaliese
Rosemary
Rosemarie
Mariana
Mariella
I also like Annabeth because if Percy Jackson. I also know a Katie Ann and and a Keri Ann. I kind of like Katie Beth. I don’t know if I could make myself spell it all as one word, though. It seems grammatically incorrect to me.

There are some smooshies in my extended family, since it’s quite common in Scandinavian countries. Some ideas that might work in English:
Maibritt (Maria + Britt)
Annastina (Anna + Christina)
Malou (Maria + Louise)
Adelina (Adele + Lina)
Lillibet (lily + Elizabeth)
Silvana (Sylvia + Anna)
Once upon a time I dated a guy named Davidjohn, I can’t really recommend that one.

Great post Abby!

I never thought I’d use a smoosh name, but when Mark and I discovered that we were pregnant with a girl, I agreed to naming her after his deceased mother. In some ways it’s now hard to imagine Roseanna with any other name, although I still sometimes wistfully think about the more established Rosamund I’d put on my [ignored] top ten list.

We don’t plan on using a smoosh for our other children — yet, but who knows what will happen? Belphoebe and Hannalore are my favourites from the list provided, but thanks to my beautiful daughter, Roseanna is still my favourite smoosh name.

Julie–
I love some of those Scandinavian smooshies, especially Malou.

I know a little girl names Saraluna and I thought it was cute.

My absolute favourite has to be Nessarose from Wicked! That will be my daughter’s name someday

I love Malou! And Saraluna is really cute.

Stephanie – Rosemary is my #1 name if we ever had a second daughter, nickname Romy. But that’s for my grandmother, Rose Marie.

Some double/smooshes I’ve been running across:

Westanna
Desiana
Anna Reese (there are two little girls down the street named Rachel and Anna Reese. My name is Rachel and my daughter is Anneliese. It’s kinda weird to play with them! LOL)
Holly Elizabeth called Holly Beth
AbbiAnn
Leighanna (and all the various spellings of Lee Anne)
Faithanne

Gianmarco (the only boy I can think of)
David Lee (oh wait, he’s in my daughter’s class, so two boys)

And anytime I think of smooshes, I think of Gone With the Wind and Scarlett’s two sisters — Susan Elinor called Suellen and Caroline Irene called Careen.

Why don’t you just use a hyphen?
Mary-Anne shows that it’s two names connected in the first name spot. Not a first name and a second name

And in addition to Gianmarco, Abby, I’ve always loved all the other Italian ones–Pierluigi, Giancarlo, Gianpaolo etc etc

In Mexico I sometimes see a combo on older women that I can’t imagine anyone choosing today – Marijuana.

I have a problem with Annalee, Annaleigh, Analee, Analeigh that some might not notice, but I feel it should be pointed out. These names are all quite close sound-wise to anally, and several of them actually start with the word anal. Just saying, I wouldn’t want somebody to point this out to me after my kid was named.

The Maryblair suggestion is soo eerie and funny especially to choose Blair as the modern middle suggestion! That my maternal grandmother was first name Mary and her married last name was Blair hence my first name Blair (moms maiden name) and my middle is Mary after her.

My whole life everyone thought it was cute to pint out to acquaintances shes Mary Blair and she is Blair Mary and then my 8 yr old self would roll her eyes. Haha. Just wanted to share the randomness with my fellow berries.

In response to the italian name smooshes I know of someone with the last name Gi@ngregorio (John Gregory) 6 (!) syllables though!

I know a girl called Pollyanna. I love double names.

Not usually a double name fan, but I’m loving Annasophia. Simple, but still works in my opinion. I also love Annalena, Nessarose (WICKED!), Lulamae and (guilty pleasure name I’d never actually use) Bellerose.

Kiki, I’m not sure why this is true, but hyphens are not universally honored in the US. No hyphenated names appear in the Social Security Administration data, so I assume most databases haven’t been built to accommodate them. You can soldier on, and probably convince most of the world to include the hyphen in Ava-Jane, but if you smoosh ‘em up, well … Avajane it is.

All those Italian boys’ names are wonderful!

Blair, that is fun!

And Heather Elaine, I tend to agree. Annalee, sure. Analee … maybe not.

RachelChristine, how could I forget GwTW? I was fascinated by the names Suellen and Careen when I first read the book.

I too love Rosemary. Yesterday I met someone named Marialyce (Mary Alice), and although I love Mary Alice, I don’t care for her smooshed version. Another of my favorite doubles is Annemarie, which I never see anymore. In the December issue of Martha Stewart magazine there was a little girl called Pippa Dot, which hooked me right away. I can’t think of anything cuter.

I knew a little boy named John David, and he was always called that.
I’m noticing more and more the emphasis that is being placed on nicknames, even in this list. For a time, parents I knew were NOT using nicknames, and were quite offended if you slipped and called Annabelle “Annie.” I guess that’s changing.

I know someone who just named their daughter Avarae.
I really don’t like “smooshed” names.

Mariangela it’s actually a used name in Mexico, it’s also used as Mariangel, its a common regular name here.

I worked with a young lady years ago named Ruthlea (lea pronounced lee).

I have never met anyone with this name but I really like Islabelle! I know it looks like Isabelle just spelled wrong but I really like the sound of it! Maybe I could just use Isla ( fn ) Belle ( mn ) but it’s not the same! *sigh*

Of the ones above I like Lulamae and Bellerose and I know I’m forgetting many others I like too! Oh and also Adalena!

I used to babysit a little John Paul. Lukewarm on that.

I love Cleobelle so much. I have an old copy of Alice in Wonderland which is inscribed to Cleobelle from her grandmother. The name makes me so happy and sometimes I wish I could bring myself to use it, but I dont know if I could. I like Lulabelle too.

I love Mary Scarlett as a double first name, but I’m wondering now if I used it, would it officially be Maryscarlett?

Becca- Islabelle has a gorgeous sound (better than Isabelle if you ask me!), but yeah, unfortunately it looks like a misspelling of Isabelle. You could use Isla Belle as the first name, though!

Gingersnap, Pippa Dot is darling!

Oooh … Lyndsay, what a GREAT find.

I’m a smoosh. Hollyann

I love some smooshes but some of the more modern ones seem really forced to me. My favourite smoosh is one I don’t think anyone has mentioned here- Elizabella. I don’t know whether I could ever use it, but I love the Eliza part of Elizabeth with a more extravagent ending (I am an extravagant person )

I also love Cleobelle, and I am very envious of Lyndsay! But again, not sure if I would be brave enough to use it. Marianne is gorgeous and I would definitely consider using that, especially as I love Jane Austen!

I know a girl called Emily Jane, and most people call her that but it does sometimes get shortened to Emily.

I like compound names like Eva-Claire, something updated and not out of a 1950′s primary school book like Mary Lou, no offense to any one named Mary Lou

I guess some are okay… I like Annalee and Maryblake is sort of growing on me. But a lot of these are really bad… they just don’t sound graceful together.

I’ve always liked Sarah Avery, but I’d prefer it as a first-middle name combo with the girl being called both. From the list I like Annaleigh and Maryblaire. Speaking of the Mary-combos I know a family with three daughters- Mary Catherine, Mary Grace, and Mary Bridget. I knew a MaryElise, but the double ‘e’ sound was combined into MaryLise.

my daughter Chloe (mn zara) was born a few days before his article. has i known about this trend i might have gone and named her Chloebella ( i thought of it but didnt realize this was a name-bible-writer-ok’d trend !) but anyways, chloebella looks kind of silly to me now.

i like miasara from this article

I think some smooshed names are cute such as:

Annalisa *My aunts name*
Everleigh *i am in love with the name Ever but everyone else hates it*
Annabeth *total Percy Jackson geek*
Arissa *A smoosh of Marissa and Alyssa*

But their are others that I hate so much:

Melica *Melanie and Erica*
Janessa
Zoelle
Jenella
Amberleigh
Zoraleigh
Britleigh

From this article I liked Miasara and Cleobella. From the comments, I liked Melica.
I also have to say, I tend to like some double names. I actually really like Carrie-Lynn, Anna-Lynn and even Jenna-Lynn. I also know a girl who spelled her name Kate-Lyn.

When my sister in-law was preggers with her last little girl she was obsessed with finding the perfect baby name. She kept coming back to Ava, but hated how popular it is. Alexandra was another name on her list. I suggested Alexava. If the boys have Alexavier then the girls should have Alexava. She ended up naming the little one Ava Alexandra.

There are some double names that I like:

Mary-Jane
Annabella
Anna-Sophia
Zoella
Calianna
Aubrielle and Aubriella
Leanne
Coralie (Cora and Rosalie)
Rosemary and Rosemarie
Mary-Kate
Avagail
Avabelle and Avabella
Anne-Marie

[...] bit too cute to wear.  But with the Lily epidemic, Lilibet, Lilibeth, or Lilabet all seem like intriguing smooshes that might attract parents who love Lily, but want something different on the birth certificate.  [...]

I really like Annalise, Cleobella and Mirabelle. Also Annabel.

And I have a friend named Tattina, whose parents smooshed together Tina and Tatiana, since they couldn’t agree on one.

Johnpaul seems a good option to honor the late Pope. Spanish version is Juan Pablo, and that is a combo with strong Catholic connotation that gets popularized since 1980 in Mexico after the Pope, that combo is still widely used for babies today. In Spanish, most Juan Pablos get called by their 2 names (Juan Pablo has a good sound in Spanish). I have even known a Mexican boy (5 years old) named Juanpablo, their parents told me they created this combo to make sure everybody called the boy “Juan Pablo” always.
Maria Isabel nn Marissa
Love Italian boys’ smooshed names. The only thing that makes me sad about them is that some are great, but I am not sure if many of them can work for not-Italian speakers. I would like to know a Gianpaolo =D. I would love to read about well-known Italian smooshed names, and if they exist some that can sound “new” to us, but are taking some good reputation.

At first I though Maeve was a smooshed name- Mae and Eve combined. I still always wonder if it was, originally.

my cousin named her daughter Quinn Amberlee… I love love love Amberlee!

I’m an Emmylou NN though – not sure how well it would wear as a full name!

My aunt’s name was Sally Jo with no middle name however she went by Sally but the time I was bor

Marie Luise = Mariele
Maria Elisabeth = Marli
Anna Elisabeth = Anneliese

Then I know:

Annalena
Annamaria

Karlheinz
Hansjörg
Hansjürgen
Hanspeter

and:
Annemarie

Can’t say I’m a big fan of the smooshed names. I’d rather separate them with a space. I know an Annalise and Marianne, but I’ve never thought about them as being two names put together. I like combo’s like:

Mary Beth
Mary Kate
Mary Claire or Clara

Although, I’d really like to get away from Mary.

As far as records and documents go, would giving a separate middle name help this problem? Also, most forms have separate fields for first, middle and last name, so hopefully it would be pretty clear what the first name was.

I’m not a big fan but I do like Ellarose.

I have a JohnPaul born right after the Pope died. He got the nn Pope. Maybe I am just really southern belle but my daughter will have a smooshie either in the first or second spot. My current favorite is KayElla Blue. I also love Caroline though and that’s a lot of name to have a smooshie in the middle