Category: Sibling and Multiple Names
By Sophie Kihm
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren are expecting their third child, and they have a strict set of requirements for this baby’s name. Jessica recently gave Jimmy Fallon the run-down, but I’ll summarize for you here:
First of all, the name has to be a word name that starts with H, to match their two daughters, Honor and Haven. Secondly, the name can only be one or two syllables (which means Holiday, the name I was originally pulling for, is off the list). Finally, and perhaps trickiest of all, the name has to be “unusual, but not too weird.” I took on the challenge and came up with ten names Jessica and Cash should consider for their baby.
In case you’re not familiar with the term, a rainbow baby is one born soon after the loss of a previous baby due to miscarriage or stillbirth, the word used because a rainbow typically follows a storm, indicating optimism and hope.
By Melissa Willets
Since suffering a recent pregnancy loss, my family has done everything we can to honor the baby we so desperately wanted. From planting a tree, to naming a star after her, to creating angel baby necklaces, even in the midst of our grief, we find deep comfort by channeling our myriad of painful feelings in positive ways.
We hope to conceive again soon, which I have come to believe is the greatest opportunity to honor our beloved baby. For she would be gifting us with a life we would never have known, had we not been forced to say goodbye to her far too soon.
We’ve started to think about how to use the name we picked for our angel as inspiration for a rainbow baby name. Of course, we’d never reuse her exact name; I think I speak for all parents who have experienced loss that this feels beyond wrong.
Instead, we are considering these ideas:
By Linda Rosenkrantz
July was a really rich month for berrybaby name choices, with boys name Hawthorne and Wren and two girls with the middle name of Marigold. Other particularly interesting middles for girls included St. Louis and Zélie. And there was a multitude of multiples as well. Here’s the full list, with some of the intriguing reasons behind the choices.
They have a well-established formula for naming a son, but this time nothing feels quite right. Is there something they’ve overlooked? Or is it time to break the rules?
Rachel writes:
We are expecting our third child and I am stumped on a name if it’s a boy. Our two oldest are Alexander Adlai, called Xander, and Ezekiel Bryce, called Zeke.
I love classic, multi-syllable first names with an easy nickname and the Z/X/K sound.
We have considered Dominic/Nic, Nikolai/Kole, Malachi/Kai, and Maximilian/Max but none of them seem to be the one.
What have we not thought of or considered?
We also take into account name meaning, so bonus points if it’s more significant.
The Name Sage replies:
Update: Cora’s brother has a name!
They gave their first two daughters traditional, feminine A names. Should they stick with that style – and letter! – or try something new if their next baby is a girl?
Holly writes:
My husband and I are happily expecting our third (and last) child in October of this year. We have two girls, Amelia (Mia) Noelle and Alexandra (Lexi) Seeley. While we don’t know the gender of this little one, I have a strong inclination that we will have three girls in our future.
If we do have a boy, we’re all set. We’ve had our boy name picked out for nearly a decade.
Girl names however, turn into a word association game. I’m not convinced we need to go with another name that starts with A, though my husband seems to think that this little one will be left out if we don’t. I can’t find any that I absolutely adore; like yes, but not enough to say “That’s the name!”
We have Aurora, Anastacia & Audrey. Other names we’ve discussed are McKenna (DH likes McKenzie which I don’t), Julianna, Teagan, Tarryn, Lochlyn, Grey (a variation on our chosen boy name), Oriana (DH says it reminds him of Oreos), and Leigha/Leighton.
I know our girl names both start & end with A’s as well as they are princess/royal names. Middle names always come from somewhere in the family.
Please help! I feel like this little one will be nameless forever.
The Name Sage replies: