September Babyberries: Harriet Harper and Julian James
By Linda Rosenkrantz
It’s time for the always gratifying task of gathering up the birth announcements of the month, and September’s harvest did not disappoint, with an abundance of great September baby names, creative first and middle combos and interesting sibsets.
Outstanding among the girls, there is the floral first name Zinnia and both Darling and Lova (based on a typo for Love) as middles. The boys’ list includes the imposing Ignatius and the hero-name Beckham, as well as distinctive middle names Wellington and Adair. And one girl inherited her dad’s name, while a boy got his father’s name in reverse.
There were two sets of twins reported, each happening to contain an Oscar/Oskar:
THE GIRLS
Beatrice Caroline, sister of Asher and Eleanor
Catherine “Cate” Ophelia, sister of William Balthazar
“We chose Ophelia as the middle partly in honor of my husband’s love of Hamlet, but mainly because I think it’s one of the most beautiful names in the world—even more so, now that it is attached to our precious little girl.”
Elaina Belle, sister of William Alexander and Kara Gail
“I fell in love with the name Elsie long before I was pregnant and I couldn’t find any names I liked more…Lillian was named after her Great great grandma and my family loved the tribute. Also turns out DH’s side of the family has 2 Elsie, so she’s the third.”
Gwen Juliana, sister of Flora Presley
Harriet Harper, sister of Eloise, Beatrix and Foster
Ivy Edith, sister of Sebastian James, Oliver Morris and Harriet Dawn
“I really struggled to find the perfect name for this fourth baby, and make sure it ‘matched’ her siblings. We came up with Ivy for IV (or fourth) and I loved that it flowed with Edith so well. Edith was for my grandmother who was very special to me.”
Lakelin Grace, sister of Willa
“Rafaela Grace ended up being a Lakelin Grace.”
Lola Rebecca, twin of Oscar Alfred, sister of Mia Annabel and Logan Edward
Margot Darling, sister of Kasper Richard
“Her second name derives from a typo. My husband once typed “lova” instead of love and that’s how he’s ended all text-messages to me ever since. Once we found out “Lova” actually is a name, it was set. That “lova” means “promise” in Swedish is just the icing on the cake.”
“We gave my daughter the same name as her daddy.. She’s called “Junie”–short for Junior. We love nicknames but wanted to give her a less cute-sy name with meaning for when she is older. We both love the nickname Junie…A slight twist on the more classic Julie, Janie, or Joanie. We avoided June for being too plain with our last name and Juniper for being too trendy.”
“Phoebe means shining and she is the light after a very dark journey to have our last baby; Eliza is her great, great, great, great grandma on DH’s side; Grace was after my dad’s mum who had Amazing Grace played at her funeral…her initials are PEGY—after my maternal grandma Peggy, who was like a second mother to me. Her nickname is Bee and she often gets Honeybee.”
Rosalind Eva Louise, sister of Florence Afton Eugenia
Sawyer K**athryn**
Violet Whitney, sister of Reed Townsend
“Her middle name, Whitney, is for The Whitney—an old mansion in Michigan where my husband & I were married. Reed’s middle name, Townsend, is for The Townsend Hotel—an old, upscale, boutique hotel where our wedding reception was held.”
“Willa is a name that I have been rooting for for months. I think it is simple yet unique, classic yet has a modern feel. My husband was not sold at first so I let him pick her middle name if we decided to go with Willa. He chose Marcella after his grandmother. When we saw her we knew she was a Willa Marcella.”
Zinnia Rhiannon Rook, sister of Felix Malcolm
…”is quite the little firecracker already, so she lives up to her name!”
THE BOYS
August Owen, brother of Sebastian Dee, Oliver Lee, and Elliott Wilford
Beckham Ellis James, brother of Jasper Allan Fox
“We went with Beckham after a dream I had a few weeks before I got pregnant. In the dream Jasper had a little brother named Beckham. We had never once talked about that name—it stuck!”
Emmett Levi, brother of Jonah Ellis
Evan Theodore, brother of Karisa Rose and Kalena Grace
“With Daddy and Mommy each having one Hebrew and one Greek name, we were looking for a handsome combination rich in meaning from those origins. Evan is the Welsh version of John meaning “God is gracious” and Theodore is Greek meaning “Gift of God.”
“I love mythology so I wanted a name that expressed the enduring power of lore. The noble mythical creature griffin is symbolic of equal strength and intelligence, both of which are qualities I want my son to have. It is also a myth that is broad and crosses over many different cultures.”
Ignatius Frederic, brother of Theodore Henry and Augustus Jack
Joseph Adam, brother of Avery Jane
“…He is so similar to his father in looks and personality that we chose to use his father’s name (Adam Joseph) with a little twist.
Nicholas Adair, brother of Campbell Dean
Oscar Alfred, twin of Lola Rebecca, brother of Mia Annabel and Logan Edward
“We just took a look at Ozzie and knew he had to be an Oscar, Alfred is after my grandad.”
Oskar James, twin of Rorke Julian, brother of Bruno Henry
River Jameson–Dallas, brother of Rosalyn Anastasia–Josephine, Arlo Ray–Baxter ans Wren Evangeline–Lorelei
Rorke Julian, twin of Oskar James, brother of Bruno Henry
“After spending copious amounts of time on Nameberry, we decided we preferred classic names that honour family; we named our darling boy after all four of his great grandfathers, two of whom were Thomas, one whose middle name was Wellington, and the fourth an Arnold.”