Baby name consultation: Uebbing Baby Cinque/Cinq

sanctanomina Baby name consultant, , , ,

I’m super excited to post today’s consultation!! Our girl Jenny Uebbing — so called because I had the privilege of doing a consultation for her when she was expecting her fourth baby, and then posting his birth announcement, and she interviewed me for this post on her blog Mama Needs Coffee over at the Catholic News Agency last spring — is expecting her fifth baby in only a few weeks, a little green bean (=gender unknown)!

This little bebe will join big sibs:

Joseph Kolbe
John Paul Francis
Genevieve Therese nicked Evie
Luke Maximilian

Which, I love, of course. So many great names! So many amazing saints represented!

An interesting development between last time, when I really focused on Italian-ish names, because I know Jenny loves all things Italian (and Francesca Rose was a serious contender if Luke had been a girl), is this:

“[W]e’ve refined our naming style to be ‘super manly traditional saint names’ for boys and over the top girly, exotic French names (bonus points if it’s a saint we have a devotion to).”

I love the Italian vibe, but I love the French vibe too! Not a problem at all! And it’s very common for parents to have a different taste in names for boys vs. girls, so “super manly traditional saint names” for boys and “over the top girly, exotic French names” for girls is awesome. I love both of those styles!

Jenny continues,

“This baby is sex unknown, so for a boy we’ve tossed around Anthony, Benedict, Nicholas, for first names and Blaise, Reid, or Augustine for middles.

For a girl it’s harder. Yesterday I was dead set on Cosette (a feminized diminutive for Nicholas, swoon) Marie-Azelie, but it was a bridge too far for Dave. He suggested Colette as a compromise, but I don’t love it. Other girl possibilities: Isobel/Isabel/Isabelle, Elizabeth/Elisabeth, Zelie, Azelie, Caroline, Grace, Emilia/Emiliana, or some form of Julia/na/ette (for Denver’s own Servant of God, Julia Greeley).

Here are our remaining favorite saints we’ve either yet to use, or whose names we just aren’t crazy about: Mother Angelica, Rose of Lima, Catherine of Siena, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Calcutta, Augustine, Scanlan (some kind of nod to Fr. Mike), and Patrick. oh, and Our Lady, of course!

Names we can’t use:

Gianna
Josephine
Margaret
Mary
Philomena
anything that starts with an F, last name probs 🙂
Gabriel
Veronica
Stephen
Mark
James
Leah
Anne“

I LOVE Cosette, and Cosette Marie-Azelie is amazing! Oh what names we’d all use if we didn’t have to deal with husbands!! Haha! 😀 My very first thought was, “What about Colette?” as it’s also a feminine diminutive of Nicholas, but then of course Jenny addressed it in the next sentence! I wanted to make an argument in favor of Colette anyway, though. A friend of mine named her daughter Maria Colette a while ago because she had a devotion to St. Colette — it was the first time I’d heard of her, so I had to look her up, and I was really taken with her story. Here are a couple that are good: here and here, but neither mention what I really love about her (and why my friend has the devotion to her), which is that she’s the patron of stillbirth, women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers, and sick children, due to her role in stories related here. Anyway, if Jenny doesn’t care for it, then she doesn’t care for it! But it does check off her boxes of “over the top girly” and “French.”

I also love her and her hubs’ ideas of Isobel/Isabel/Isabelle and Elizabeth/Elisabeth (I’m a huge fan of the Elisabeth spelling, both because it’s just a little more unusual than Elizabeth and more French, and also because of Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur), Zelie and Azelie, Caroline (more JP2 love!), Grace, Emilia/Emiliana (for JP2 also, I believe, as his mom’s name was Emilia), and Julia/na/ette (Juliet is one of my all-time faves, and Juliette is so French and lovely! I did a Juliet(te) spotlight here). I’m also still loving the idea we discussed last time of Zelie as a nickname for Elizabeth! And they also might like to consider Elise (a French short form of Elizabeth) or Lisette, which is basically “little Elisabeth,” which is so sweet — really, all the -ette names are just so darling, and so French!

Their boy ideas are great too! Anthony, Benedict, and Nicholas are all wonderful and fit their “super manly traditional saint names” criteria perfectly, and I like the more unusual Blaise, Reid, and Augustine for middles.

As for their saints whose names they maybe aren’t crazy about, some ideas I had include:

  • Though Anthony is on their list is because of St. Anthony of Padua, I thought they could possibly think of it nodding to Mother Angelica as well, since her birth name was Rita Antoinette. Additionally, her Order is a branch of the Poor Clares, founded by Marie Claire Bouillevaux, so Clare/Claire could possibly be used in Mother’s honor as well?
  • You all probably already know that St. Rose of Lima’s birth name was Isabel, so that would of course be a great way to nod to her! She also had a great devotion to St. Catherine of Siena, so maybe a name in honor of her could also be considered in honor of St. Catherine?
  • This could be considered a really huge stretch for Cosette, or it might be just perfect to convince Jenny’s hubby: Cosette in Les Miserables’ name was actually Euphrasie (Cosette was a nickname, meaning “little thing,” separate from its use as a variant of Nicholas; Euphrasie is the French form of the Greek name meaning “joyful”), and St. Catherine of Siena was nicknamed Euphrosyne because she was so joyful, sooo … maybe Cosette could be for St. Catherine of Siena?? (It’s this kind of convoluted thinking that makes husbands nervous to hear my ideas I think! Haha!) As a bonus, I actually included Catherine in a list of Advent names I put together last year because of the “joy” connection, so using this same crazy train of thought, Cosette could be good for an Advent baby?
  • I know Therese usually makes people think of St. Therese, but since it’s simply the French form of T(h)eresa, maybe Jenny could think of Evie’s middle name as already nodding to Mother Teresa? And so be able to cross her off the list? Otherwise, her birth name was Agnes, which doesn’t strike me as Jenny’s style for a first name, but would make a smashing middle name
  • Patrick is interesting — it’s definitely a “super manly traditional saint name”! I wonder if Jenny and her hubs would consider it for a first name?
  • Re: Fr. Mike Scanlan and Our Lady, I wonder if they would ever consider something like Marie-Scanlan for a girl? Jenny said they can’t use Mary as a first name (otherwise I would have suggested Mary Scanlan, which really skews very Irish, so probably not a great suggestion anyway), but Marie-Scanlan retains the French tradition of hyphenating, and using Scanlan as the second part of it is so unexpected! If I were to do Marie-Scanlan, I’d consider something like Maisie as a nickname, looove!!

And speaking of hyphenating names, an additional thought about girl’s names before getting into my suggestions: in my opinion, it’s so easy to come up with “over the top girly, exotic French names” by hyphenating one’s favorites! It’s such a French thing to do! Something like Grace-Azelie, for example, would be amazing, and Grace or Gracie could be the everyday call name. It’s fun to come up with different combinations! (Some included below.) And specifically using Marie- as the first part just cements the Frenchiness. Marie-Grace, Marie-Caroline, Marie-Emilia, Marie-Juliette are so beautiful, AND they could consider doing so as a way of nodding to St. Zelie since she herself was Marie-Azelie and she named all her daughters Marie-[something]. Oh, and Marie-Elise could be for St. Elizabeth+SOG Elisabeth Leseur+St. Rose of Lima (Isabel)! I’ve also seen it rendered Marielise, which is beautiful and unusual and maybe easier to deal with than a hyphenated name?

Okay! These are the ideas I came up with (making a point not to duplicate ideas I offered last time, which meant I had to cross Bernadette off my list, which otherwise would have been my no. 1 idea for them this time! Or maybe, in light of the previous paragraph, Marie-Bernarde? Which, as I understand it, was St. Bernadette’s actual given name? Bernadette could be a nickname, or a different nickname altogether); also I did my usual research in the Baby Name Wizard, but for the girl’s names I found myself going through the list of French names at the back of it rather than sticking to actual style matches for the names Jenny and Dave have used so far:

Girl
(1) Madeleine and/or Sophie
I have these names together in one idea because of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (also called St. Sophie). I have always loved “Madeleine Sophie” (first + middle) or “Madeleine-Sophie” (double first name) because of her, and like with my idea of Marie-Scanlan above, I would have so much fun coming up with nicknames for it, like Maisie. Evie and Maisie! I also love both Madeleine and Sophie on their own for the Uebbings — they’re both gorgeous, girly, saintly French names (though admittedly not very exotic). Madeleine Azelie, Madeleine Grace, Madeleine Isabel, Madeleine Julia, Sophie Eliz/sabeth, Sophie Emilia(na), Sophie Caroline are all just so lovely. And Sophie lends itself so easily to the hyphenated idea! Sophie-Grace (for Grace on their list, which is Marian, as is Sophie — Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom!) or Sophie-Claire (Mother Mary and Mother Angelica together in one!) are amazing! Also, fun fact: the Sophie the Giraffe teether was named for St. Madeleine Sophie!!

(2) Nat(h)alie (or Noelle or Emmanuelle)
How about Natalie (or the extra-French-spelling-but-same-pronunciation Nathalie)? So perfect for a Christmas baby, since Natalie literally refers to Christmas! (Latin natale domini: birth of the Lord.) I also thought maybe they’d like to consider Noelle for the same reason. The Maria Colette I mentioned above has a sister named Noelle, and she’s the sweetest. I also really like the idea of Marie-Noelle or even Marie-Emmanuelle — both so feminine, French, Marian, and Christmasy!

(3) Corinne
Corinne doesn’t come across as super saintly as some other names, but it’s the French form of Corinna, which comes from the Greek for “maiden,” which is kore, which to me screams “Marian”! Also, we’ve seen families using Cora in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and/or the Sacred Heart of Jesus (like this little lady, whose middle name and sisters’ names are right up Jenny’s alley! Also this sweet girl, who also has three big brothers on earth and whose French middle name is also amazing and a great idea for Jenny), so Corinne can be for that as well.

(4) Elodie
Maybe Evie and Elodie is too much E+ee? But I love the name Elodie, it’s so beautiful! It’s the French form of Alodia, and St. Alodia is a pretty great saint for our times.

(5) Rosalie
I offered some other Rose ideas last time (Rosa, Rosanna) as a nod to St. Rose of Lima, but I didn’t suggest Rosalie and I’m thinking it might be a great idea! It’s the French form of Rosalia, which of course is derived from Rose, and it’s one of my current favorite Rose names.

I also thought these posts, which focus on or discuss really French girl names, might be helpful: here, here, here, here.

Boy
(1) Michael
So Michael was specifically listed as a style match for Anthony and Joseph, but I also know a ton of Nicholas and Michael brothers, so I’d say it’s definitely a match for Nicholas too. I know it was the no. 1 boy name every year but one from 1954 to 1998, and it’s still in the top ten and has been since 1943, but it’s certainly a “super manly traditional saint” name, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately because of St. Michael and how very powerful he is and how very needed his protection is needed these days. In fact, even though I prefer less popular names, I’ve added Michael to my own list specifically for that reason. Though I don’t think Jenny and her hubs are into unusual nicknames for boys, since I am I’ve been thinking of options for Michael, and Miles and Milo are my favorites. This post by Abby at Appellation Mountain acknowledges a possible connection between Miles and an Old French form of Michael (Mihel), as well as possible connections to words meaning “soldier” and “gracious,” which add some great layers of meaning. In addition, as I’ve mentioned a bunch of times here on the blog, Miles (and Myles and Milo) has traditional usage in Ireland as an anglicization of Maolmhuire, which means, “servant of the Virgin Mary,” which I think is amazing. So! Lots to think about it, much of which may not be appealing to the Uebbings, but I can see them liking Michael.

(2) Vincent
Vincent’s a style match for Anthony AND it was Fr. Mike’s real first name! It’s super manly, traditional, and saintly, and thought it’s not necessarily explicitly Italian, it has that feel (like Anthony and Nicholas can also have), which is kind of cool since Jenny likes the Italian vibe.

(3) Thomas
Thomas is a natural brother to Jenny’s older boys! Sts. Thomas More, Aquinas, a Becket, and the Apostle are all amazing, and it’s because of them (and the scads of other holy Thomases) that the name is so traditional and saintly.

(4) Nathan
I really liked the idea of tying in the baby’s name with the fact that he or she is due during the Christmas season. They already have Nicholas on their list, and I would have suggested Andrew (I saw on Facebook that Jenny’s a fan of his novena, which started Nov. 30 and goes until Christmas Eve, the first Sunday of Advent is set according to his feast day) except that sound-wise it’s just not different enough from Anthony (who I know her family has a special devotion to), so I went and scoured my posts on Advent and Christmas names for ideas and while most of them were no good (not their style, or already used by them, or on their “no list”), Nathan jumped out at me from this post I’d done on Jesus’ genealogy as presented in the Gospel of Luke (different than that presented in Matthew, and it’s suggested that Matthew’s might be Joseph’s lineage while Luke’s is Mary’s!). Nathan is one of the ancestors of Jesus who’s not included in Matthew’s list, and the reason it jumped out at me is because Nathaniel was listed as a style match for Nicholas in the BNW and Nathan was listed as a match for Luke. So I definitely thought Nathan was a good idea! It’s certainly manly and traditional and biblical, and it’s SO cool to be able to say he was an ancestor of Jesus, as well as the possible Marian connection.

(5) Miscellaneous
I had a hard time coming up with a fifth boy idea for this little one! I considered Peter, Martin, and Robert, but they all seemed to lack … *something.* I’m not sure what and maybe I’m way off — maybe Jenny and Dave would love one of those names! So I thought I’d put them together as my fifth idea.

And those are all my ideas for Jenny’s fifth baby! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Joseph, John Paul, Genevieve/Evie, and Luke, taking into account their criteria?

60 thoughts on “Baby name consultation: Uebbing Baby Cinque/Cinq”

  1. Ooh, great ideas as always, Kate! For the girls, I think either Bernadette or Marie-Noelle has to be my favorite. Vincent is my favorite out of the boys.

    I’ve always liked the French form of Victoria and Amelia– Victorine and Amélie (although perhaps without the accent?)

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  3. Corinne! I was thinking that for them before I read your suggestion. I’m basically trying to get everyone to use Corinne because I love it!

    For a boy…Theodore? Ambrose? Maybe those were suggested. I was interrupted 18 times while reading.

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  5. Leonie is french, a SOG and the sister of St.Therese so that would be an awesome connection for sisters to have. And Cosette!!!!! That name is amazing. Other ideas are Amélie( with or without the accent), Adele,Rosemarie could be for St.Rose of Lima and Our Lady. Lisuex, Lourdes, Vianney are stunning. Can’t wait to hear what they pick!

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  6. I have a similar taste in girls’ names and some names that are on my own list should we ever be blessed with a child are: Isabel, Rosemary (Rory?), Vivian/Vivienne, Beatrice, Cecilia, Helena (Nell/Nellie?), Louisa, and Virginia (Ginny). I also love a good Mary name with Mary Elisabeth being my favorite for this family.

    Jenny ruled out Margaret so I’m assuming that means Marguerite is off the table – otherwise that is easily my #1 suggestion. I just love the nickname Rita!

    For boys, I strongly support the suggestion of Vincent and Jenny’s own suggestion of Benedict. Following the papal theme, Leo and Gregory come to mind.

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  7. These are so fun to read. The name Antoinette came to mind, which I see could be a nod to Mother Angelica since it was her given middle name. Or maybe Yvonne. Juliette is gorgeous as well, which could be a nod to Julia Greeley. Juliette Therese? Juliette Noelle? Vivienne also seems to go well too!

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  8. A few thoughts:

    I have a goddaughter named Colette Christine that goes by CiCi. That might work with its similarity to Evie. And doesn’t necessarily need a “c” mn to be used. It could help Dh come around to Cosette.

    I know it was in their last consultation, but we gave are daughter the middle name of Charlotte for JP2 and the French Revolution martyrs of Compiègne who had an older sister named Charlotte of the Resurrection.

    Another Marian name with a French and Advent connection is Immaculée.

    We like Emmelia but Emmeline is another French option. I like this route for the Evie and Emmie nickname pair. In the Russian Church she shares a feast day with her son Basil on January 3rd.

    For the boy names they offered I like the symmetry of these pairs: Anthony Augustine (A,T,N), Nicholas Blaise (L,I,A,S), and Benedict Reid (E,I,D).

    P.S. I blame all probable typos on the flu…

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  9. Bernadette, Marielle, Beatrice, or Christine.
    For boys, I can see they have a lot of Marian saints and Biblical first names, so Gabriel is my favorite idea. But I like Henry for them, too.

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  10. You suggested two of my favourites, Bernadette (Birdie, Betty, Betsy), and Emmanuelle (Emmy, Ellie, Nellie). I’d also suggest Isadora, Adelaide, Clementine, maybe Matilda?

    I like Vincent and Michael, and their picks of Nicholas and Benedict. I’d add – Christian, Ambrose, George, Alexander, Theodore?

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  11. All great suggestions! I know she is not a huge fan, but I gotta say, I love Colette 🙂
    I named my 3rd Colette Lucille. At first I wasn’t so sure about it, but one year later I absolutely love it! It helps that she is the sweetest baby ever. I’m really glad I chose it even though I wasn’t 100% in love with it at the time.
    Oh, and I really like Rosalie too 🙂

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  12. Magdalena, Valentina, and Mathilda are my favorites for girls! Middle name Clare! For a boy I’m feeling Anthony, Jacob, Leo, and Matthew. I can’t wait to see what they decide on!

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  13. So many great possibilities/ suggestions! I’m loving Madeleine Isabel, Elodie, Emilia, and Marie-Emmanuelle, and Cosette Marie-Azelie is gorgeous!
    And Jenny, if baby #5 is named after Fr. Mike, that would be all kinds of amazing. 🙂

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  14. What about using Nicolette or Nicola for a girl instead? They could still use both Nicholas and Colette as patrons. And your suggestion of Rosalie is just darling!

    Your boy name list is great too! As you were mentioning the Gospel of Matthew, I realized that Matthew might be a contender for this family, especially something stately like Matthew Scanlan. Also, it seems like they’re leaning towards a three syllable first name for boys this time around.. I wonder how they’d feel about Dominic, Sebastian, or Gregory.

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  16. Marie-Noelle is hands down my favourite!!!!! Fantastic suggestion for a Christmas baby.

    My grandpapa was Guy Noël, so I have a soft spot for the way it sounds. 🙂

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  17. If she likes Joan of Arc, but doesn’t like the English name Joan, Jean is one way around that. Jeanette, maybe?

    Another elegant French name to throw into the mix: Agathe (pronounced A-get). Sounds so much more sophisticated that Agatha. Elisabeth Agathe or Agathe-Marie. I also love Claire, for an option that is French, saintly, and accessible to English speakers.

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  18. Ooh, French-y girl names…you got me! The trouble with French names is that the pronunciation that English speakers trend to is never quite the same as the French one! For example, I love the sound of Clementine as ClemenTEEN and Agnes as Ahn-Yess but no one would ever say them that way!

    I wonder if you’d like Ines? It’s not exactly French, but heavily used in France as a variant of Agnes, which I believe was Mother Teresa’s given name.

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  19. Love so many of these names! Any of the boy names will work since you can’t go wrong with manly and traditional. The suggestions you make are great, Kate!!! Rosalie is a personal favorite, as is Vincent.

    If I were naming a baby girl in this group of siblings, I’d go with Victoria nicknamed Cora. Beautiful on its own of course, but the way it sounds with a sister Genevieve is swoon worthy. Genevieve and Victoria; Evie and Cora. Swoooon. (Both are on my hypothetical baby name list! 😉 )

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    • Gosh, *another* comment. I like to toe the line of obnoxious. But anyway – I wonder if Jenny and/or her husband like the name Etta? Because it can be used as a nickname for either Colette or Cosette – so maybe using the nickname Etta will bring her husband around to Cosette (or bring Jenny around to Colette! 🙂 ).

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    • Okay, last one for tonight! Really!!

      Wanted to throw out a few more ideas: Margot/Margaux (I think aux is the French spelling?), Evangeline, and Henrietta. (Side note real quick – I once met a woman whose initials were H.H.H. Her name was Helen Henrietta H_____. I LOVED it. Alliteration gets me every time.)

      I think we probably like a lot of the same names, so I’ll list my top few hypothetical baby names since I don’t mind that kind of thing (…don’t really think “stealing names” is a thing…).

      Evangeline Marie Frances (I would use Annie as the nickname for Evangeline.)
      Margot-Marie Elanor
      Miriam Elisabeth Day
      Stella-Louise Magdalene
      Agatha Jane Eloise

      There are more of course because I am a nut, but those are the ones I think *feel* like Jenny’s style. 🙂

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  21. We have a Grace Marie as a nod to St Maria Goretti (hubs nixed Marie/Maria for a first name) – so my vote is for Grace or even a hyphenated variation of it.

    I can see Andrew as a first name for another boy in this family. Andrew Scanlan? Andrew Michael?

    ….I’m realizing my taste is quite traditional/bland/plain when it comes to kid names!

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  25. Madeleine seems to be a slam dunk for this family! I think it goes perfectly with sister Genevieve, as well as being saintly. Lots of cute nickname options. Evie and Maisie. Evie and Millie. Evie and Madge. Evie and Maddie.
    I also love love love Thomas for a boy.
    Can’t wait to see what they choose!

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  26. Cosette X Colette: I love both names, however I must admit that Cosette has something “extra”, it shines brighter… At the same time, my rational side says that Colette is better option – more nicknames (not just Coco and Ette, but also Cole and Letty); easier spelling (I can totally imagine people writing Cozette; also Colette ranked #468 in 2016 according to ssa.gov, while there are no signs of Cosette); and I always ruminate over the “little thing” meaning of Cosette which is a bit obvious in my first language (is it too cute? is it weird? is it too childish to be named “little thing”?). I see why your husband cannot agree with Cosette Marie-Azelie. My ideal combos are the ones with balance: short name/long name, unusual/common etc and Cosette Marie-Azelie is two unusual names (wonderful combo btw). Of course, Marie is quite normal, but Marie-Azelie? Completely different name. Isabelle/Elisabeth/Caroline/Emilia/Julia/Juliette Marie-Azelie are more balanced pairings.

    Elisabeth – this spelling is beautiful; Elisabeth nn Lisette is…. WOW! Evie and Lisette. More nns – Bette, Else, Lili, Lise.
    Zelie – !!! Everyday, I love the Zélie Guérin and her name more! My favorite pronunciation is this https://forvo.com/word/z%C3%A9lie/#fr . If this is also your preferred one, maybe the full given name Azelie or Zeline, which have pronunciations that are more intuitive (I guess….).
    Caroline + French nickname (too make it more Francophone -ish)? Line (LEEN) or Carole ???
    Grace – Gracianne? Gracienne?
    Emilia – Emilienne?
    Julia nicknamed Juliette; Julienne.

    Mother Angelica: ANGELIQUE (#toopretty), Angele is nice too
    Rose of Lima: Roselle (over the top girly) and ***Rosette*** – Evie and Rosie
    Catherine of Siena: Carine. It can be a short form for Catherine or the French variation of Carina, which means “dear, beloved” #swoon
    Joan of Arc: well… I think Jeanne (her actual name) is wonderful, but maybe is too dull for the family? Jeanne-Grace, Juliette Marie-Jeanne, Elisabeth-Jeanne
    Teresa of Calcutta: Marie-Tess, Tess-Marie (I’m going to calm down now…. 🙂 ). Although, I do agree that if you want, Madre Teresa has already been honored.

    Marie-Scanlan: nice idea, Kate! My first thought for nn was Mariska (a la Mariska Hargitay). Over the top girly and exotic, though not French (Hungarian and Dutch, apparently).

    Do you know what my favorite part of the Maria-names is? The Nicknames. Just SO. MANY. OPTIONS.
    Let’s start with Manon which is…. I have no words (#toowonderful); Marion and Mariette are lovely as well (and French!). Maybe Marinette? Some non-French nns for Marie/ Maria that I like are Mia, Maia, Mari, Marin, Maiken and Polly <3.

    From Kate's list, I really like Noelle and Emmanuelle (nn Emi, Noelle?). I don’t know if you – the Uebbings – redefined your name style out of necessity (because Genevieve is not Italian as expected) or simply because you noticed that *French* is more your style. If it’s out of necessity, I think it’s a nice idea for the boys to have “super manly traditional names”, while the girls have “over the top, exotic Neo Latin [languages] names” as Genevieve (French) and Francesca (Italian). 😛

    Other suggestions and re-suggestions (hehe):
    Isabeau (variant of Isabel; movie Ladyhawke)
    Charline – Charlie, Charley or just CHAR
    Magali – Maggie
    Elisabeth nicknamed Lisette or Bette
    Zeline
    Julia nicknamed Juliette
    Angelique – Angie, Annie
    Roselle – Rosie
    Rosette – Rosie, Ettie
    Carine – Cara, Carrie

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  27. Congrats Jenny!

    We live in Quebec so I have a lot of ideas for beautiful French girl names. I’m sorry if I repeat any of the other suggestions. Here they are in no particular order… Coralie, Marianne, Maryse (kind of rhymes with Elise), Jacqueline, Florence, Beatrice, Annette, Gabrielle, Delphine and Olivia (Liv as a nickname). I am going to stop there before I start to ramble on and on and on.

    My boy name suggestions are William, Christopher, George, Edmund and Arthur.

    I pray you have a not-too-quick but quick and uncomplicated delivery!

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  28. Our oldest daughter is Mary Colette, and goes by Colette and I adore her name, which was given to me in a dream! Now I offer up my labors for those longing to conceive and am bold asking St. Colette for her prayers too and that the couple can rejoice on her feast day. (She is four for four!) St. Colette is really our little family gem and we feel so honored that God named our little curly brown hair sweetest little girl after her.

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  29. I like some of the ultra frilly, exotic names in royal family trees: Alexandrine, Feodore, Leopoldine, Victoire, Victoire. There’s also Anastasie, Clotilde, Estelle, Helene, Ines, Isabeau, Manon, Mireille, Nanette, Virginie.

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  30. Florette (or Fleurette) sounds a bit like Cosette, is super frilly and means “little flower” to totally work to honor St. Therese or her mom!

    Jean de Florette is a pretty amazing classic French film, too, by the way. Even my husband liked it and he’s not into reading subtitles. Bonus names in the sequel, Manon (!!) des Sources, which stars Emmanuelle (!!) Seigner. I’m a bit partial to Emmanuelle since it is my daughter’s name. 🙂

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  31. In my case it’s also classical manly names for boys and something more unusual (even not necessarily a saint’s name) for girls.
    For this little girl I like your ideas of Madeleine and Noelle, and out of the others Henriette and Lisette. For a boy, Michael would be my husband’s choice but I don’t think it matches the names of the other boys. Maybe Peter?

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