Baby name consultant: Baby Girl Johnson

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Natalie and Christopher Johnson are expecting their third baby and second girl. Their other children are:

Fiona Emma

Arthur Christopher

*Swoon!*

Natalie writes,

“I’m due with a girl in [early May] and we cannot think of a good name! … Our last name is Johnson, so we like names that are not too popular, but also classic and not ‘made up’. We’ve been seriously considering Alice and Eleanor, but I feel like it’s weird to use two ‘A’ names (Arthur then Alice) and I think Eleanor is nice, but I’m not a huge fan of nicknames and I’m worried too many nicknames would come out … I would like to use a family name for her middle … either Olivia or Eugenie [Natalie’s middle name is Eugenie]. I would love some help!“

I love Natalie and Christopher’s taste! Regarding Alice and Eleanor, I can see why another ‘A’ name might seem less than ideal, especially being directly after an A-named sibling, and Eleanor certainly does have a bunch of nicknames, but they’re both really beautiful names — I don’t think they could go wrong with either one. However, I can always come up with suggestions! And though I always shoot to offer three, I came up with four for the Johnsons:

(1) Nora

Thought it can be a nickname for Eleanor, my top suggestion is to consider just Nora. It’s a full name in and of itself. It totally seems well matched to Fiona and Arthur in my opinion. I also love the idea of Nora Eugenie — not only does it flow nicely, and Eugenie’s Natalie’s middle name, but she’d also have Natalie’s initials, which is a sweet connection between Mom and daughter.

(2) Beatrice

You all know by now that I love looking for patterns and connections between already-born kids’ names and the names in consideration in the Baby Name Wizard book, and Beatrice emerged as similar to both Alice and Eleanor. I thought it was a great suggestion for the Johnsons, not only because of its similarity in style to the names they’re considering, but also because, as I recently found out from another of my trusty sources (Behind the Name), its origin/early usage is fairly religious (as Beatrix, which of course Beatrice is a form of): “Probably from Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator whic meant ‘voyager, traveller’. It was common amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin beatus ‘blessed.'” I thought that was pretty cool! But I would definitely recommend Olivia over Eugenie as the middle name — Beatrice Eugenie is too Royal Family (Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s girls). (Unless of course Natalie and Christopher like the royal connection — Beatrice Eugenie is quite beautiful together!)

(3) Molly

I know of a little Arthur who has a sister Molly, and I love it with Fiona as well. Molly is Marian too, being originally a nickname for Mary, and its Irish/Celtic feel is so spot on as a sister to Arthur and Fiona in my opinion. I’m loving Molly Olivia!

(4) Other awesome names that seem similar to the Johnson’s style and don’t nickname easily

I came across a bunch of other names, both in my head and my research, that I thought would work well for the Johnsons, so I thought I’d mention them just in case: Iris, Juliet, Clara, Lucy, Aine or Anya, Carys or Charis.

So those are my ideas! What do you all think? Have I hit the right note, or am I totally off? What name(s) would you suggest for the sister of Fiona and Arthur?

I love to do name consultations! If you’d like me to give your name dilemma a go, check out my Baby name consultant tab.

12 thoughts on “Baby name consultant: Baby Girl Johnson”

  2. Natalie & Christopher seem to be my naming twins! (I have a Fiona and very nearly have had an Arthur, and may yet!) I love both Alice and Eleanor (Alice more so). We have two “J” children and I have mixed feelings about it. Sometimes I don’t like the shared initial at all, but most of the time it doesn’t bother me and I think the names suit my two boys well. The fact that their two “A” children would not be the same gender and that the “a” sound is different in Arthur and Alice makes me think it would be fine.

    I am not that enthusiastic about Nora or Molly (at least, I wouldn’t name my own child either of those names as they feel to nicknamey to me), but love Beatrice! And of course, Iris is one of my very, very favorite names, so I love that for this family, too! Clara also seems right on the money.

    Other suggestions I have are Edith, Pearl, Rosalind, Josephine, and Winifred, although the last two may be more likely to be nicknamed than the Johnsons prefer.

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  3. My friend Molly has a Margaret and a Fiona so that name came to mind instantly. It sounds great with either middle name. They occasionally call her Meg, but most people call her Margaret.
    Also: Bridget, Magdalene (or variations), Cecilia, or Helena.

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  4. I think Alice sounds fine after Arthur, or you could avoid Eleanor nicknames.

    Otherwise, I like Irene or Celia for this family.

    Or Adelaide, Frances, Lydia, Muriel, Gloria, Mae, Elise, Maura, or Astrid.

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  5. I love Beatrice for this family. Anya is lovely too, as is Clara and Lucy. Gosh, it never occurred to me how many lovely names go with Fiona and Arthur. I also agree that Alice would be nice and not too matchy.

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  6. My husband is Arthur Christopher – I love, love, love his name! My mother-in-law really is an excellent namer.

    Beatrice seems perfect as a sister for Fiona and Arthur!

    Anya and Iris were both on our shortlist, so I’m drawn to them, too. But I had another thought: Rose. It’s short, simple, mostly nickname-proof. (Except that she’d probably be Rosie sometimes, but that seems like it’s in a different category than Eleanor called Ellie.)

    Also love eclare’s suggestion of Frances – but then, there’s Fiona and Frances, so they’d repeat the initial again.

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