May Arrivals: Phoebe Wren & Susannah Sparrow
By Linda Rosenkrantz
May was a month of stunning sibsets on the Birth Announcements Forum. First prize has to go to adorable twin girls Susannah Sparrow and Sylvie Elisabeth, with adorable nicknames Zuzu and Zibby, and loving the sister name Minta Mae. You’ll also see among the May arrivals some great middles (Valentine, Wren, Everest, Fitzwilliam), and some other novel nicknames.
Here’s the full list.
GIRLS
June Lyra, sister of Ivy Coraline, Martin Jake and Oscar Truman
Margot Valentine, sister of Desmond
“She’s named for my sweet grandmother Marjorie. We chose her middle name because her dad’s family has a tradition of using names that start with V.”
Phoebe Wren, sister of Beatrice Rose
“We couldn’t agree on another vintage (AKA: old lady) girl’s name to match Beatrice…So we found a name we both liked that wasn’t too popular or common, and had a fun spunk to it. Phoebe means bright and radiant, and it is the name of one of Saturn’s moons! Nicknames (current or potential): Fee, Pheebs, Bird, P and Effie. Middle name Wren was a nature themed name like Bea’s mn Rose. It’s also a plump little bird with a great big voice!’
Susannah Sparrow, twin of Sylvie Elisabeth
“We chose the name Susannah for a couple of reasons. First, it was to honor my grandmother whose middle name is Sue. Second, it’s a biblical name that you don’t hear very often. I considered many middle names, but in the end I felt that her middle name was Sparrow, a name that was on my guilty pleasures list for a long time, when we found out that she was growth restricted. There are many verses in the Bible about God caring even for sparrows…”His Eye is on the Sparrow” is a special song we sing to her. We plan to use the nickname Zuzu along with Susannah in it full form….Many people would avoid choosing the same first initial for twins, but I shared an initial with my sisters and I always considered it to be a positive connection.”
Sylvie Elisabeth, twin of Susannah Sparrow
“The inspiration for Sylvie’s name came from doing genealogy research on my husband’s side of the family. He had an ancestor named Sylvain who immigrated from Belgium. I thought Sylvain was an intriguing name, and I liked the female form Sylvie too. Elisabeth is another name with family connections on my husband’s side, and I wanted all of our girls names to have family connections and biblical connections. I went with the Elisabeth spelling because Elisabeth Elliot is a hero of mine. We plan to use the nickname Zibby along with Sylvie.”
Thea Claire, sister of Minta Mae
Willa Quinn, sister of Piper Joy
“Willa was a name we just fell in love wit during my pregnancy. Quinn is after daddy’s full name, Joaquin.”
BOYS
Alistair Everest, brother of Ezra Joseph
“We chose his middle name to remind him that like climbing Mount Everest, nothing is impossible. It is also a nod to my husband and our new life stage because he grew up in the mountains and we’re moving back to his childhood home in the mountains this summer.”
“Atticus because we loved the name and reference to Atticus Finch and Rohan because we wanted a Sanskrit name that was also passible in Japanese to reflect our family backgrounds. Plus Lord of the Rings reference was a bonus!”
Charles James Pellinore Fitzwilliam
Dean Samuel, brother of Grant Michael
Jasper Hugo Frederick, brother of Sebastian Henry Arlo
Lucas Henry, brother of Sebastian James
Rowan Jude, brother of Emerson and Wilder
“He was named for the fiery Rowan tree but his name actually means little redhead, which is crazy because he was born a ginger! Jude is for the saint for hope in desperate times. We are full of hope for his future, He suffered a minor brain injury in utero so this is one very prayed for and blessed little guy!”