Baby Name News: March Babyberry Report–Elsbeth, Ernest & Escher

Baby Name News: March Babyberry Report–Elsbeth, Ernest & Escher

By Linda Rosenkrantz

The month of March has brought a real bonanza of beauteous Berrybaby names—including two sets of twins, some gorgeous sibsets, and several highly creative middles.  And we’re lucky enough to be able to share the stories behind many of the choices. (Remember: these were babies announced on the Forums in March, even if they were born earlier.) Congrats to everyone for the wonderful crop of March baby names!

There was one set of girl twins and one of boys:

Florence Abigail and Georgiana Kathleen, sisters of Oswald John

Keegan Nathaniel and Sebastian Miller, brothers of Weston Christopher

Only two names were used more than once: the boy classics Jack and Peter

The first-initial E definitely seems to be pulling ahead of the long-running A, for both girls and boys

Interesting gender-bender of the month: Gable Juliette

Most distinctive first—Escher; most unusual middle: Tesla

And here’s the full list: 

GIRLS

Adelaide Winifred. sister of Isla and Henry

Alyxandria Genesis

Amelia Jane

Astrid Harley Scarlett

Dulcinea Tesla (nn Daisy), sister of Caspian Jonathan, Zephan James Myron, Eve Anastasia, and Peregrine Wesley Donald, nn Pippin.

Dulcinea was inspired by the delightful song from the musical, “Man of La Mancha,” which is based on Cervantes’ Don QuixoteMy husband and I are quite musical so this seems like a fully appropriate name for our girl.  ..We chose Daisy in honor of my mom: a pro florist, gardening enthusiast, and long-time daisy lover—who declared her own given name ”too horrible” to pass down to grandchildren.  She seems pretty thrilled with this roundabout approach to an honor name….The middle name was negotiated and reconsidered for weeks, and we finally settled on Tesla because of the meaning.  The first and middle name together mean “sweet carpenter,” which we love because we are Christians.  My techy husband is all about the bonus nod to the inventor.” For more of the story, look here.

Elise Claire (nn Ellie)

Elsbeth Mattea, nn Betsy, sister of MaxwellMaxMurphy, TheodoreTheoNeal and AnnikaAnnieMarie

Estella Ruby, sister of Saskia Rose

Everly Isabel

Fiona Isobel Rose, sister of Lisette Mary

Florence Abigail, twin of Georgiana Kathleen, sister of Oswald John

Florence and Georgiana suit them beautifully and both have deep meanings to my husband and me—we got married in Florence and George is my grandfather’s name and Georgina and Georgia just seemed a little dull.”

Francine Celestia Estrella

Gable Juliette

Georgiana Kathleen, twin of Florence Abigail, sister of Oswald John

Gwendolyn Alice Rose, sister of Madeline Grace Marie and Norah Jane Amelia

Holland Viola Valentina

Katerina Ariadne

“Her middle name is tribute to her Cretan heritage.”

Katharine Scarlett, sister of Zachary John, Ryan Michael and Reece Matthew

Lydia Frances, sister of Luke Michael

Maeve Willow Jade, sister of Sienna Jasper Rose and Declan Timothy

Maggie Aveline

“We loved the name Maggie from the beginning, and we couldn’t find a more formal version that we liked as much, so we just went with MaggieAveline was another name we stumbled upon on Nameberry that we loved the sound and meaning of (it’s French for hazelnut) and we thought it flowed well with Maggie….Truthfully, it was terrifying to decide on a name after decades of being a name enthusiast…But I think her name suits her and we’re very happy with our choices.”

Magnolia Faith, sister of Rosemary Jean, Judah Daniel, Adelaide Lorrainne, Boaz John, Levi Peter, Gideon James, and Cyr
us Isaiah

Rosalie Jane, sister of Emmeline and Felicity

Sabrina Wren

Sage Marie, sister of Marley Marianne and Solomon (Solo) James

Sage was so named at my beloved sister’s suggestion.  The name was a gentle hybrid of our hippie side (like our Marley) and wisdom (like our Solomon).

Theodora Plum, nn Teddy

Vivienne (‘Viv’) Frances, sister of Matilda Rose and Simon Patrick

“We felt that we needed a moniker with a nickname as spunky as Tillie—and Viv seemed the perfect choice.  I can just picture them in their 80s, cruising around in a vintage convertible.”

BOYS

Alexander James David, brother of twins Andrew Robert and Benjamin Ryan

Archer Fox Martin

“We were never able to just lay down a name for him before birth like most parents do—I felt we needed to meet him and see his little face first.  Fortunately, the name we liked most (Archer) seemed like a good fit…Strong, classic, uncommon, and a tiny bit quirky.  Archer is easy to spell and pronounce and has a great built-in nickname.  He is already Archie to almost everyone except his Yaya who hated “All in the Family”… We chose Fox as his middle name because we wanted something fun and zippy, and one-syllable words sounded best…and his adorable elfin ears are decidedly “foxy.”  To make it even cooler, it’s (sort of) a family name, dating back to my husband’s Choctaw ancestors…To top it off, my favorite movie in childhood was Disney’s “Robin Hood.”

Caspar John, brother of Vitalia and Laurel

Cassidy Nash Paul, brother of Spencer James 

Cato Bennett, brother of Mila Arden

Crusoe Scott Morgan

Edgar John Robert, brother of Mhairi Elizabeth and Fiona Lilidh

Ernest Henry, nn Ernie, brother of Everett Curtis

My husband and I hadn’t agreed on boys names, but when he was born he just looked like an Ernest/ErnieErnie really fits his name description as he looks so serious sometimes.”

Escher Reed Willem, brother of Aeralyn Sage

Frederick Luke

“To us Frederick is dashing, spunky and vintage.  Freddy is loveable and friendly.  The meaning peaceful ruler spoke to us: A quiet confidence, a stronghold.”

Gentry Robert

“We chose Gentry because it was a name that my husband and I had heard growing up from a guy he played basketball against in high school and loved it!  Have never heard of another Gentry.  We wanted something unique but not too out there.””

Ira Theodore, brother of Thaddeus Carroll.

Ira‘s middle name is inspired by my favorite book, “Little Women” (as big brother’s is also a literary reference) and we liked that the “Th” was a shared connection between our boys.”

Jack Britten, brother of Eleanor Faye

Jack William, brother of Callum Rhys

Keegan Nathaniel, twin of Sebastian Miller and brother of Weston Christopher

Here is the link to their birth story: http:/inthelandoferin.blogspot.com/

Kingston Samuel, brother of Xander Emerson

Lennox Jay, brother of Setra Reign

Leo Alexander

Miles Theodore, brother of Isaac Daniel

Peter Francis, brother of Anne Josephine

Peter Leon Gerard, brother of Ruby Mae Anastasia

Sebastian Miller, twin of Keegan Nathaniel and brother of Weston Christopher

Of all these beauties, do you have a favorite sibset?

And thanks again to Denise Potter for her help.

About the Author

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at InstagramTwitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.