Birth Announcements: New Berrybabes in March
by Linda Rosenkrantz
March proved to be one of the most fantastic months yet for brilliant berrybaby birth announcement name choices. From twins Callista Io and Orion Rigel and two boys named Atticus, to first names Keturah and Ciaran and middles Waterlily, Zinnia and Guinevere. And with many intriguing back stories!
Dig in!
Birth Announcements — GIRLS
Augu**sta Ursula Geraldine,** sister of Benedikte Eva Nichola, Konrad Rupert Leopold, and Theodosia Cecilie Josephine
“August is a family name in both paternal streams. It has significant family history and as we did for both her sisters, we used the female version instead of the male. Ursula and Geraldine are her grandmothers. We have used only family names for all 12 given names we have used for our children.”
Callista Io, twin of Orion Rigel and sister of Serenity Faith and Eva Genevieve
Dahlia Alina, sister of Elliott Steven, Silas Reuben and Miles Lincoln
Eliza Waterlily, sister of Peter Nightingale, Sabina Mayflower, Dorothy Wildrose and Bruno Hummingbird
I particularly struggled to finalize and come to terms with this choice, since she’s our last baby. Eliza has been one of my husband’s favorite names for years and it never really ‘spoke to me and it did to him. I had the upper hand in naming all of our kids and so I figured I owed him Eliza, just because he loved it more than I loved any of the names on my list. Now that baby is here and we’ve met, I have a feeling that her name couldn’t be anything but Eliza. Out of all the whimsical, compound middle names on my list Waterlily became the most meaningful after my father died at the end of last year. My dad was a big fan of Monet, and his home calendar, cards and a lot of his puzzles and posters were representations of Monet’s art. Waterlily brought him to the forefront of my mind, especially as I remembered the special father-daughter trip we took when I was 23 to France and we spent an entire day in Monet’s gardens in Giverny, which includes the lake with the water lilies…”
Flora Evelina Lucie, sister of Lukas Benedict, Ivo William, Isabel Marjorie Anna and Odile Catherine Colette
“This time around it was challenging to find names we liked that worked both in English and Czech as we have moved…I think we landed on a perfect one though, and Flora seems to suit her very well. We came across Evelina as we scoured the lists for names and it really intrigued me for how it looked and sounded. A short search on NB informed me that it meant “wished for child” and it felt just right…Lucie is a family name and is very, very common where we live, it is also a sweet nod to St. Lucy and the legend surrounding her.”
Keira–Faye Florence, sister of Helena Diane
“12 days before our baby was here I had a dream that her name was not what we had already told family and friends but instead Keira–Faye Florence (Florence for my husband’s grandmother, whom we adore)…We decided to look up what it means, which was “dark haired one’. In that moment we decided if our daughter was born with dark hair, it was her way of naming herself. Since her older sister was born with strawberry blonde hair, we figured she would probably have the same…On March 20 our little girl came into the world with brown hair and named herself!”
Keturah “Tutu” Mallardee
“We wanted a unique name from the Bible and Keturah fit the bill. Mallardee (rhymes with Mallory) was the name of a quaint bed and breakfast where we stayed on our honeymoon. Needless to say, her name has a lot of special meaning to us.”
Lola Muriel, sister of Kay Riley
“Lola is a name I always found super girly and cute, and Muriel is the name of my grandmother.”
Louisa Bea, sister of Jacob, Colin, Maxwell and Henry.
“The name Louisa was not only a favorite of ours, but it is also the name of my great-great-grandmother, whose story is near and dear to my heart. Bea was chosen because of the meaning “she who brings happiness” as well as a nod to my husband’s and my names, which both start with B, as well as a grandmother (name is Debi—which means “queen bee”) and a great grandfather just had a middle initial “B”. I love how connected her name makes all of us.”
“We had agreed on Mabel early on, and I had posted in the forum for middle name suggestions—thanks to all those who gave their feedback but whenever I discussed potential options with my husband he always came back to preferring Zinnia…and this name for our ‘lovable flower’ fits her perfectly!”
Pearl Guinevere, sister of Walter Leo, Josephine Lily and Max Benjamin
“We are in love with her name, which is a bit outside of our comfort zone, especially Guinevere, and have been receiving many compliments.”
“We chose the name Phoebe because we love the mix of sweetness and gravity it has. Phoebe has so much history (goddess/titan of the moon in Greek mythology, a Shakespeare name, a bird name) and we could picture the name suiting a little girl as well as a grown woman. I really love the moon connection, and before we settled on Phoebe as a first name I was really considering moon as a middle, so finding Phoebe ended up being perfect. Iris was the very first middle name we thought of, but over the months of brainstorming, we came up with so many that we loved…For a few days leading up to her birth, we had settled on Winter, but then she was born on the first spring-like day, and it just felt wrong….What I love about Iris is that it’s also a Greek name and in Greek mythology Iris was a messenger goddess who delivered messages via rainbow. I also love that it’s a nature name…With an I as her middle initial, her initials spell Pip which we think is so sweet as a nickname. Lastly…she was born on 3.14, which is “pi” day. It seemed meant to be that she was born on Pi day and serendipitously has the initials P.I. I’d been looking for the perfect name for so long, and it really seems that it found us in the end.”
Birth Announcements – BOYS
Asher Daniel, brother of Magnolia Eleanor
“Asher has been my favorite name since I read The Giver as a child and (thankfully!) my husband loved the name too. The meaning is beautiful, and we love the nickname Ash. Daniel is to honor my father, who also passed his name on to me (Danielle).”
Atticus Jon, brother of Rosalie Lyra
“In the weeks leading up to the due date we decided we would go with Theodore, despite my daughter’s insistence that his name was Atticus. He was Theodore on the way to the hospital and he was Theodore when I was in labor, but when he came out he just didn’t look like a Theodore! My husband turned to me and said, ‘That’s Atticus.’…We have gotten lots of compliments on his name and a few raised eyebrows from the older generations but their voices have been lost in the crowd.”
Atticus Jude Llewellyn, brother of Madeleine Rose, Gabriel James, Nathaniel Ray, Primrose Sadie Frances and Marigold Louisa Claire
“I have always loved the name Atticus, and the book To Kill a Mockingbird was my favourite as a teenager. His middle names are in honour of my mother-in-law and a close family friend. It’s a big name for a baby, so he’s mostly known as Atti for now.”
“It took us the entire 9 months (plus a day after he arrived) to decide on a name, but it suits him perfectly and honors our Irish heritage!”
Evan Robert, brother of Wesley Adam
“Our final three names were Benjamin, Evan, and Jack, all with the middle name Robert in honor of my father. We chose Jack a couple days before my water broke, but he just didn’t look like a Jack when he was born. He is definitely an Evan! Thank you all so much for helping us find the perfect name for our little one.”
“Gideon has been his name since the moment we found out we were having a little boy. I’ve always had an affinity for foxes and Fox as a middle name seemed so perfect for our handsome little guy.”
“Hunter was a first name that my husband and I decided we loved before I was even pregnant. We are nature people and Hunter green is my favorite color so we thought it was cute. Jack is an honor name for my father-in-law.”
Orion Rigel, twin of Callista Io and brother of Serenity Faith and Eve Genevieve
“…they came very early and I wasn’t completely set on Orion’s middle but my sister brought it up and it fits with the astronomical theme and I loved the way it sounds.”
Pax Homer Leodis, brother of Bodhi
“While his middle names are the names of our paternal grandfathers, men who have made great impressions on our lives, his first name is my true love. Our oldest son is Bodhi, which means ‘awakening, enlightenment’ and Pax is literally the Latin word for peace. I simply can’t think of two names that complement each other more! I am beyond pleased to have my ‘peace’ and ‘enlightenment’.”
Please let us know in the comments which are your favorite names, combos and sibsets!