Baby name consultation: Rose’s twin sister!

sanctanomina Baby name consultant, , ,

Happy May everyone!! It’s Mary’s month, and it starts off with the feast of St. Joseph the Worker!! Love love love!!

Emily and her husband are expecting twin girls! These little ladies join big sisters:

Ellen Marie
Lila Gayle

Beautiful names!!

Emily writes,

“We are fairly set on one twin being named Rose Elizabeth, but we are having a hard time finding a good match. My husband likes Ruby, but I think that sounds too twinnish 😬 I like Fiona and Lucia but husband isn’t in love with either. We both like Sylvia, and for a short stint we both like Matilda, but I don’t like the nickname Maddie.

I am a recent convert so I would also love your opinion on connecting their names to a Saint or Marian reference or something of the like. Also, could you look into any saintly connection I could do for my Lila Gayle? Thank you for everything!“

Isn’t this all just wonderful?! So first off, I love her older girls’ names! Ellen is a form of Helen(a), and St. Helena’s a great patron saint! Of course Ellen’s middle name is a Marian name, which you know is always a win for me! And Lila Gayle is beautiful! I really really wanted to find a connection to Lily for Lila, and though I didn’t (it’s derived from the Arabic for “night,” which I’m not sure how to connect, faith-wise), I do think Emily could consider it to be related to Lily if she wanted it to, based on appearance. There’s precedence for doing so — like those who have considered Oliver because of olive-related meanings (Our Lady of Olives, or olive branches meaning “peace,” etc.), even though it’s not linguistically connected to olives — so if Emily wanted Lila to be related to Lily, then she could have a Marian connection, as lilies are a symbol of Our Lady. If that’s too distant for her though, then I’d look to Gayle — in origin, it’s a short form of Abigail, and Abigail the Matriarch in the Bible, wife of King David, is revered as a saint (feast day September 1); there’s also the Irish St. Gobnat, whose name is sometimes anglicized as Abigail.

As for the names Emily and her hubs are considering for their twin girls (so fun!!), I love Rose Elizabeth! Classy and classic and really faith-y. Rose is a Marian name, and there are so many great Sts. Elizabeth!

I’m not surprised Emily’s hubs likes Ruby, as it’s pretty consistent with their style! You all know I usually start consultations by looking up the names the parents have used and like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and Ruby is a style match for Rose and Ella (which I’m counting as close enough to Ellen!). Rose and Ruby would be amazing twin names for parents who like matchy names, but if Emily and her hubs don’t, then I agree—it’s too much. It made me think of Scarlett right away though—the color connection between Rose and Scarlett is pretty great and not overly obvious or matchy I don’t think, and I thought Scarlett might be approaching their style, as its length and obvious T’s remind me of Matilda. And it’s got a little southern flare, which Lila on its own and Lila Gayle as a combo also strike me as having. I actually spotlighted Ruby a while ago in order to make some faith connections, and I’d say some of the same ones can work for Scarlett. I also included Scarlett in my lists of names for the Luminous and Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

If they went with Scarlett as a first name, they might like to balance it with a super-faithy middle, maybe a Marian one? Then Rose would have a Marian first name and her sister would have a Marian middle, which is a nice balance.

As for the other names on their list:
— Fiona: I love. It’s classic but a little offbeat, and totally feminine. Like with Scarlett, I’d look to balance it with a super-faithy middle, which is easy to do.
— Lucia: Also love. And it’s very saintly!
— Sylvia: I’m a big fan of going with any name that both parents can agree on! I love Sylvia, as well as its French form Sylvie. This mom named her daughter Sylvie Regina, because of its similarity in sound to the Salve Regina (“Hail Holy Queen” in Latin), which is such a cool idea.
— Matilda: Another great name, and also saintly. If they don’t care for Maddie/Mattie, other traditional nicknames for it are Tilda and Tilly/Tillie, or they could do something like Molly (based on the M and L in Matilda), which is a Mary variant—a neat way to work in a Marian name, and Molly was actually a style match for Ruby! And speaking of Ruby … I kind of love the combo Matilda Ruby!

Okay, I looked up all the names Emily mentioned in the BNW when looking for more ideas, and came up with quite a few that I thought had potential:

(1) Eva
Eva was a style match for Lila, Rose, and Lucia, so I thought it was a great suggestion for this family! It can be considered a Marian name, as it’s a variant of Eve and Mary is the New Eve. But maybe they don’t care for repeating initials?

(2) Ivy
If Emily and her husband don’t like repeating initials but Eva appeals to them, maybe they’d like Ivy? It’s a match for Lila and Ruby, and is a plant name like Rose, but I don’t *think* Rose and Ivy are too theme-y. Maybe I’m wrong?

(3) Nora
I do like the idea of twins having some connection name-wise (not required of course! Just that I find it pleasant to see), and having the same number of letters in the first name is a cool and not-too-obvious one. Rose and Nora seemed like a good pairing (Nora’s a match for Fiona)—different sounds, different number of syllables, but visually sort of similar.

(4) Stella
Another nice idea between girl twins, as I’ve already mentioned, is for both to have a Marian name. I really like the idea of Rose and Stella—Rose is connected to Our Lady through the rosary and the various times she appeared with roses (Guadalupe, Lourdes, etc.); Stella is connected to Our Lady through her title Stella Maris (“Star of the Sea”). Stella’s a style match for both Sylvia and Ruby.

(5) Hazel
Hazel was a style match for Ruby, and I thought it struck the same vibe I’m getting from their name taste as a whole—a little different, a touch of vintage. I like that it’s a nature name too, which has that nice connection to Rose without being too matchy.

(6) Sadie
Sadie was another match for Ruby, and like with Hazel, it just really seemed to strike the right note. It’s a traditional nickname for Sarah, which is where a patron saint could be found (like with Abigail, Sarah the Matriarch, wife of Abraham, is revered as a saint, feast day August 19); there’s also a St. Sara of Antioch.

(7) Adelaide
Adelaide is a match for Matilda, and as soon as I saw it I thought it was a great idea for Rose’s sister. It’s not matchy with Rose at all, but it’s feminine and pretty like Rose is. It’s a long name, so I like the idea of a short middle name—then Rose would have a short first name and long middle, and her sister would have a long first name and a short middle. Very pleasing! (But not necessary, of course!) (This mama, who’s a reader of the blog, named one of her twins Adelaide).

(8) Mae
So what short middle name might I suggest for a longer first name? Mae is a style match for Rose and I LOVE the idea of it as a middle for some of their longer options: Scarlett Mae, Matilda Mae, Adelaide Mae. Not only does it seem to be their style, but it’s Marian! It’s a variant of May, which has long been used as a short variant of Mary, and the month of May—in which the girls are due—is the month dedicated to Our Lady. I love all the connections! I also love Mae as a first name idea—it’s one syllable like Rose, but not matchy. They both evoke springtime and flowers to me, but not in an over-the-top way.

And those are my ideas for Rose’s twin sister! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for Twin B, little sister of Ellen and Lila?

26 thoughts on “Baby name consultation: Rose’s twin sister!”

  1. I was totally going to suggest Mae for them until I saw that you already had it. It’s perfect for them!

    Hazel and Sadie are great too.

    Sophia might work, if they don’t mind popular. It could be for St. Sophia or for Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom.

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  2. Since Ellen and Rose are very classic, another “fun” name like lila would be nice.I like the suggestion of nora, and I would add cora to the list. rose and cora, so cute. I also love Ivy and stella. other options could be olive, pearl, juliet. for a middle name ruby or lucia would be super cute, but something classic like catherine (from the last twin post) would work well. ivy lucia, stella catherine, cora lucille, pearl catherine, juliet lucia.

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  3. Stella is a great suggestion. I’d also add Jane to the list. And I think any of the virtue names – Hope, Grace, Faith – would be a nice match.

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  4. I like Martha.

    Ellen, Lila, Rose and Martha. Maybe: Martha Faith?

    Or maybe Lucy, in place of Ruby. Lila and Lucy aren’t too close in sound.

    As for Lila, just think, you might be Mom to the first St. Lila! But the lillies-Mary connection is perfect. 🙂

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  5. I second Ruby and Lucia as middle names, & Sylvia, Matilda, Cora, Eva and Stella as first names.
    I’d suggest Nina, Adele, Greta, Petra, Sarah, Edith, Margo/Margot, Valerie, Renée, Iris, Agatha, Leah, Jodie, Miriam, Cecilia, Irene, Vera, Sibyl, Tessa, Serena, Georgia, Meredith, Vivian & Gwen.

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  6. Rose is one of my favorites that I hope to convince my husband on one day! I tend to like twin names that are similar in style and length. So I’d lean towards names like: Mary, Anne/Anna, Jane, Grace, or Claire/Clare. And nicknames like “Rosie and Annie/Gracie” sound really cute! I like Catherine as a middle name to mimic Elizabeth. Another idea would be to have a St Therese theme with Therese/Theresa (“Tess” or “Reese”) as a twin to Rose 🌹 I’ve always loved the idea of naming twin girls; so fun!

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  7. I love the idea of Adelaide Mae for them! Going off of Stella, may I suggest Estelle? Stella seems, at least to me, to feel a little more common, but Estelle strikes me as fresh and cute and different. One cute but subtle twin thing might be Rose Elizabeth and Estelle R–. Both very Marian with a slight connection from the inverted initials. Maybe Rey, like Cristo Rey?

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  9. I would never default to Maddy as a nickname for Matilda. Do you find that people give your other daughters nicknames? I’ve found that people outside of family are super cautious about using nicknames without express permission nowadays. It was even a requirement on the pre-school form before they would use a nickname. We left that part of the form blank. The daycare asked us about it because we used a nickname during drop offs/pickups; they wouldn’t use it unless it was on the form.

    I love Matilda Mae or Matilda Jane for you. Rose would be the only on who didn’t have an “L” in her name, though, if that bothers you.

    I really like Jane. This does leave Ellen out as the only 5 letter name, though.

    Fiona and Sylvia make me think of Phoebe.

    Tessa is my favorite option for you. Ellen, Lila, Rose, and Tessa.

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  10. What about Maud as nn. for Mathilda?

    Lila can be derived from Lillian and there is a saint Lillan.

    This is what I found out about St. Lilian :

    “Saint Lilian was a laywoman in an area controlled by the Moors. At first she hid het Christianity, so that her Muslim neigbors would not find out. But stories of fearless Christians being persecuted shamed her into living her faith openly. She was happy to be martyred with her husband.” (feast July 27)

    St. Mary or Amalia > nn. Maya
    St. Mary of Amalia > nn. Mia
    St. Mary > nn Moira
    St. Ava > Ava
    St. Ada > Ada
    St. Agnes > nn. Ines
    St. Faith > nn. Fay
    St. Joan of Arc > Joan
    St. Margaret of Antioch > nn. Margo, Margot
    St. Mildred > nn. Milly
    St. Theodor > > Theodora > Doris

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  11. I love your ideas of Stella and Eve/Evie for them. I think another flowery name like Camille might work too. Or Caeli . Best wishes!

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    • I also like Evie..which seems to be quite popular here where I live at the moment. One of those was named Evie to honour her grandmother Yvonne which I thought was really lovely

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  12. My niece recently named her wee girl Ivy Rose…I think it’s really sweet. So I was thinking Ivy as a twin to Rose would work. .and then you suggested it lol. Ivy’s aunt is Elizabeth Rose.
    I also like Martha with this sibling group.
    As far as Matilda goes I certainly wouldn’t automatically go to Maddie (which I also don’t like as a nn for Madison) but would instead use Tilly or Tilda.

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  15. About Mathilda, what about Hilda or Hildi as a nickname?

    On the color theme:
    – Ellen for yellow? (because it is related to light)
    – Lila for purple (in Dutch)
    – Rose for pink
    So, names like Gwen, Whitney, Phoebe, Clare and Fiona (for white), or Ruby, Siena and Scarlett (for red), or Chloe and Laura (for green), or even Melanie (for black) are all great options.

    But since Rose is an obvious name saint, I like another obvious name saint for her twin: Lucy, Joan, Rita, Bridget, Anna and Clare.

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  18. Further options:
    Agnes, Amy, Angela (Rosie & Angie!), Audrey, Carmel, Celia (with St. Cecilia as her patron saint, or Regina Caeli), Christine, Colette, Daisy, Esme, Etta, Gloria, Hannah, Holly, Ida, Isobel, Jemima, Mabel, Nadine, Naomi, Ottilie, Paula, Rachel, Simone, Susanna, Thea

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  19. In addition to being a Marian name, Rose is the name of the American saint Rose Philippine Duchesne. I was just thinking that they could pick another American saint for her twin. Frances jumps to mind for St. Frances Cabrini. I think Rose and Frances would be so charming for twins.

    St. Katharine Drexel and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton are two other American saints who’s names could also work with Rose although they both seem a bit long for this family.

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