October Babyberry Announcements: Winnie Pearl to Cedar Roscoe
By Linda Rosenkrantz
This is one of those months when every Berry choice seems to be sheer perfection—down to each name, first/middle combo and sibset. And some wonderful naming backstories to boot.
One set of twins in November: the lovely Azure Olivia and India Miriam.
Also of note: two Olives and an Olivet,, and the fact that Pearl seems to be becoming a middle name du jour.
Here’s the complete rundown of October baby names chosen by our Berries.
GIRLS
Alice Pearl, sister of Edan Fletcher and Emmy Rose
Anna Jules Marlowe, sister of Lia Enmely Carys
Azalea Pearl, brother of Jameson
“There hasn’t been any negative connotation (that we’re aware of) with Iggy Azalea lol. We decided we loved the name too much to care but no one has said a word. We also introduced her name with the Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong song, Azalea, this way if an association was to be made hopefully it would be with that. Her middle name, Pearl, is on its own just lovely but each letter of Pearl represents one person in each of our families who we wanted to name the baby after.”
Azure Olivia, twin of India Miriam
Carrie Diana, sister of Alice Josephine
Clara Sloane, sister of Ivy Juliet.
Clio Lucille, sister of Daphne Carolina
“We chose Clio based on the Greek muse of history, which we felt provided a subtle connection to Daphne.”
“At the beginning, I had really wanted Georgiana and my husband wanted Aurora. It took a lot of searching, negotiating, and Post-It Note gaming for each of us to come around to this compromise option. Her middle name is a third-generation honor name that gets an update each time it’s used: stand-alone 1950s name Niki was changed to Nicole in the 1980s, and now it becomes Nivika in 2015…..We added Rose…because the big brothers desperately wanted to name her for the Doctor Who character.”
“Helena pronounced HEL-en-a, like the capital of Montana, with nicknames Nell or Nellie. We knew the various pronunciations might cause some confusion, but so far it hasn’t been too much trouble.”
India Miriam, twin of Azure Olivia
“DH and I had a really tough time with names. We couldn’t find a name that we loved and still nodded to my husband’s heritage. We were about to give up on the heritage thing, but a miracle occurred! We found a girls name that ticked all our boxes.”
Morwenna Jubilee, sister of Waverly Ren, Gideon James and Haddon Rory
Olive Claire, sister of Abel Benjamin
Olivet Autumn, sister of Asher Joseph, Acacia Lily, Micah Paul, Eliora Grace and Matthias William
“We finally chose Olivet as the perfect balance between a biblical name (“Olivet” refers to the Mount of Olives, in the New Testament, where many significant events in Jesus’ life happened), and a botanical name. We fell in love with its simple, unpretentious beauty, and it suits our daughter very well.”
Winnie Pearl, sister of Vance Herbert
“Winnie was a name we just liked and thought it went well with our son’s name. It felt fe_minine, an_d fresh as a “nickname name,” but with ties to the past. It wasn’t until her birth and name announcement that we discovered that my grandfather’s mother was named Winifred and had always hoped that someone would name their daughter after her.”
BOYS
Alastair Rhys, brother of Vivienne Rose and Gemma Louise
Cashel Carr, brother of Zeller Baird.
“Cashel was chosen to honor my husband’s Irish heritage and Carr is a name that generations of my family’s men have used as a middle.”
“My boy arrived in September—in the car, with gorgeous fall leaves all around, so we HAD to go with a botanical name. Roscoe wasn’t my top choice, but is a family name, and with the meaning “of the deer forest” it seems to go pretty well with Cedar.”
“Lorenzo is the name of his paternal Italian grandfather—an Italian naming tradition of naming sons after their grandfather that dates back to medieval time. Everett is a family name representing his American heritage. It means “Wild Boar” which also is the nickname for men in my husband’s Italian hometown. Oliver represents his British birth. It happens that both of his grandfathers grow olive trees in their respective countries of Italy and America. We are calling him by his initials LEO.”
Robin Yves, brother of Julius Tate, Eden Sophia and Laurel Vivienne
“I get lots of comments from people, especially 20- and 30-somethings, that they really like the name. I was afraid before he was born that it was too unusual, but I wanted something unique. Now I realize this fear was unfounded. People get the name and I have heard numerous instances of other babies (but not many older children) with the same first name.”