Rebecca and her husband are expecting their fourth baby on earth — their third girl! This little lady joins big sibs:
Sophia Kathryn (“Holy Wisdom and Catherine of Siena as well as a nod to my sister Kathryn“)
Chloe Patricia (“first green plant of spring, Saint Patrick, and her great grandmother is Patricia“)
Theodore Robert “Theo” (“God’s gift, Robert Bellarmine, and my dad is Robert“)
Jude Raphael (with Jesus) (“we prayed a novena for the intercession of Saint Jude when we realized we might lose him, and Raphael ‘God heals’“)
Albert Alphonsus (with Jesus) (“2 saints we love“)
Rebecca was sure to note that their miscarried babies were given names of saints they love, but they “would be less likely to name children who join us on this Earth after birth” with those names.
I love Sophia, Chloe, and Theo(dore) together, such a great group of names — sweet and sophisticated at the same time.
Rebecca writes,
“We would sort of like to stick with the Greek theme we’ve stumbled into and have a few names we do like but none that we’re fully attached to. Saints/biblical names are a plus but not essential as first names. Our list includes Phoebe, Daphne, Elia, Eliana, and to a lesser degree Emma and Olivia. I’m hoping for Margaret (Mary, Margaret of Scotland, my mom’s middle name) or Rose (saint Rose of Lima and I just love it but [my hubs] doesn’t as a first name) for a middle name.”
Alrighty, so first, I wanted to offer some thoughts on the names Rebecca and her hubs are considering:
— I like both Phoebe and Daphne, they’re interesting picks and not terribly common
— Elia and Eliana are both lovely, and they made me think of Elena and Eleni—both are Greek forms of Helen, and I know a Greek family who has a little Eleni, it’s such a sweet name
— Emma and Olivia are great names, and very popular these days because of it. If popularity bothers them, the similar-but-longer Emmeline was listed as a style match for Theodore in the Baby Name Wizard (which, as you all know, I always consult when I start a consultation, as it lists for each entry boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity). I also found Emmeleia on the Greek Name Days site — such a pretty name! (That web site is such a great resource — I would definitely recommend taking a look through it)
As for new ideas, these are based on my research in the BNW (including its listing of Greek names in the back of the book) as well as a search through behindthename.com for Greek girl names and the list provided on Nameberry of Greek names, all of which resulted in some good ideas of Greek origin, but I also included some non-Greek names that I thought they might also like:
(1) Evangeline or Eva
I really like Evangeline for this family. Though it’s totally not a big deal at all, I like that Sophia, Chloe, and Evangeline all have different endings, and I like that Evangeline is long like Theodore. I also LOVE the sweet nickname Evie! I’ve also seen Lina used as a nickname for it. If they prefer something shorter, Eva is the Greek version of Eve, and is quite lovely itself.
(2) Georgia, Georgiana
I was surprised by Georgia, as I wouldn’t have thought of it as a Greek name, but indeed it’s categorized as such — not only was it included in the lists of Greek names I looked at, but the BNW also says that it’s “more common in England and Greece than in the U.S.” It also caught my eye because it’s a style match for Theodore! I also love the longer Georgiana.
(3) Anastasia or Stasia
Anastasia is such a gorgeous name that, like Evangeline, has a nice length. But if they thought it was too long, I love both Ana and Stasia as nicknames, and I love Stasia as a given name on its own as well. (I don’t know if Rebecca and her hubs care about repeating initials though?)
(4) Anna or Annabel(le)
Speaking of Ana, what about Anna? I love Anna, and it’s got that pan-European usage that Sophia has, which is so great, and it’s biblical like Chloe and has Greek usage like all of them, including Theodore. But actually, Annabel(le) was my first thought for them Ann-wise after Anastasia — it was listed as a style match for both Theo and Olivia in the BNW, which I thought was pretty amazing (though it loses the Greek).
(5) Irene
A reader emailed just the other day to tell me of the increase she’s been seeing in the number of little girls named Irene. Those of you who follow Simcha Fisher know that she also has a little Irene. It’s Greek for peace, and though it’s been more of an “old lady” name until recently, those names are coming back!
(6) Lucy
Lucy’s another that isn’t Greek, but it is a style match for Theo and Emma and it has that sweetness that I get from their other kiddos’ names, I love it!
(7) Lydia
I love Lydia for this little girl!! It’s Greek, and biblical like Sophia and Chloe, and a style match for some names that also match up with Theo!
(8) Thais or Tessa
Thais is a bit out there as a suggestion, but it’s one of my very favorite husband-would-never-agree names! When I saw it on one of the Greek lists, I had to include it. Pronunciation could be an issue — those familiar with the opera, or from a non-English-speaking country, will be familiar with the pronunciation tie-EES (which is made more obvious if you use the diaresis: Thaïs); I’ve seen TAY-iss, TACE, and THAY-iss as other pronunciations that people use and go by. (I did a spotlight on Thais here.) Tessa is similar but much easier, and though it was listed on Nameberry’s Greek list, it isn’t actually Greek or of Greek origin as far as I can tell. But I love Tessa as a sister to Sophia, Chloe, and Theo (the full T(h)eresa is lovely too! And Tessa is a great nickname, if they prefer that route).
And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little sister of Sophia, Chloe, and Theo(dore)?
Sancta Nomina 
Time for me to plug my fave name and the name of my oldest–Petra!
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Love the suggestions! I went to college with a girl named Thaisa (tie-EES-a) and though it is definitely an uncommon name, she owned it! Just a quick additional selection to your number 8 🙂
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Yes!
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All the name books I’ve ever read say that Tessa is a Greek name meaning 4th child or a form of Teresa, which they say is Greek for reaper.
Tessa immediately came to mind when I saw that they wanted a Greek girl name. It goes really well with their other very feminine girl names.
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Interesting! I admit I just looked it up on behindthename, which only has it listed as a diminutive of Theresa, and the Theresa meanings seemed unsure, but all the possibilites that are listed are Greek, so you’re right!
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Oooh, that is great. I love Tessa.
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I love this sib set!
Alexandra/Alexis or Gianna (Behind the name says it’s a variant of Ioanna). But my favorite is Phoebe, from their list.
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I know a little Lydia Rose IRL and I think it’s just the sweetest!
Another option would be Isadora, Dora would be an adorable nn.
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Don’t forget Zoe! It means “life” in Greek.
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Such a cute name. I know a little Catholic baby Zoe. For this family though, I think it is too close to Chloe – the rhyme-y thing.
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Two interesting things about Irene.
I’m pretty sure Erin comes from the same Greek word.
I heard it in a movie pronounced I-ree-nee instead of I-reen. That is closer to what the Greek would be.
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Do you mean an additional meaning of Erin? I only know it as deriving for the Irish word for Ireland … and I’m pretty sure you’re right about I-ree-nee!
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This is a beautiful consultation – so many great names to choose from!
I vote for Irene with this sib set. My Irene is 4 and I loooove her name the best of my girls’ names (don’t tell!).
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Stella is a Greek name. It has a different root in Greek than the one most of us are familiar with. I had a college friend named Stella whose parents were from Greece.
Athena is another name I really like. My grandmother’s best friend was Athena, from Greece.
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Well, this consultation is right up my alley! We are Greek Orthodox and name after mostly Greek-speaking saints, so these names are quite familiar in our community. I also have a Sophia Catherine, and I have either used or considered the majority of Kate’s suggestions! I have one middle named Eleni, another Anna, and any future girls are a toss-up between Emmelia Rose which is the same name as Emmeleia) or Lydia. And my godson is Theodore/Theo! I agree that Phoebe, Zoe, Eleni, or Irene/Ireni would all work well, since she seems to like what I think of as the “short, cute, modern” types of Greek names. Like, not Theodora, Sophronia, or Evphemia 🙂 Even though it’s Latin and not Greek, I also think Lucia would be cute with this set.
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All the names in this consultation are lovely. My favourite has to be Irene, since it’s in my own top 5, but I find I like the suggestion of Evangeline a lot too. Eve or Evie for short would go with Theo I think.
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Also, Anastasia is most definitely a a Greek name. It is used to name both after the saint or Pascha (Easter) because it means resurrection. In Gteek it would be pronounced An-AH-sta-SEE-ah, and Greeks use the super-cute nickname Tassa for it.
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Tassa!! I love that!!
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There are so many nice names here! I like Evangeline & Lydia particularly. They could try a variant of Rose perhaps? Roslyn or Rosina. Best wishes!
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I am an Anastatia (Irish spelling of Anastasia), and my name day is Easter, which is huge in the Greek community.
I love Eva/Evangeline, Zoe and Eleni (Helen ) for this family.
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According to Behind the Name, Gianna is a modern Greek variant of Ioanna: https://www.behindthename.com/name/gianna
If baby is due around Christmas, what about Natalia or Nicola?
I also love Xenia, which is less common!
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They seem to like long O sounds too!
Ione is Greek and means “violet flower” so it could be a connection to Our Lady. Violet itself might check a couple boxes too for that matter.
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Has anyone suggested the name Maria?! I work with quite a few Greek women and many of them are named Maria but hey all use different nicknames. For a fresher take on Maria, may I suggest Marissa. As a nod to Stella Maris, Our Lady Star of the Sea.
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I second Irene and I also love Corinna, a diminutive of Greek core, which means maiden. So it basically means “little girl,” which reminds me of Jesus’s raising of the little girl in the Gospel. Also it was the name of a Greek lyric poet.
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I third Irene — ; )
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Thalia! It is a bit too close to Theodore maybe? Sophia, Chloe and Thalia though! I love Evangeline or Emmaline for them too! How about Agatha, Althea, IRIS (after two lost babies, the meaning of rainbow would be just beautiful), Xanthe? I vote Iris!
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Actually my very first thoughts were similar to what you mentioned on variations of names they are already considering – Elena or Eleni. I love those. Also the names from hence they derive – Helen or Helene.
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I know I’m a little late to the game, but for this family I like the long “O” theme they seem to have going. I like Flora, Elodie, Alodia, Josephine, Philomena, Dorothy/Dorothea, Dominica, Antonia, Victoria, and Modesta. I think they also all have a Greek sound to them. I also love Kate’s suggestion of Georgia.
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