Baby name consultation: Baby no. 9/girl no. 7 needs a saintly K name

sanctanomina Baby name consultant,

First off, you guys! I’m so sorry I was so quiet last week! All week I kept thinking of posts I wanted to do, but it was one of those weeks where I was just trying to make sure each day had what it needed and then it was bedtime and what happened to the day? And I just caught up on the comments from last week’s consultation now! You guys are amazing!! I intend to be better this week — I have a bunch of birth announcements I want to post (so many of you have had babies!!) and a name spotlight … it’ll be a fun week, as long as my life cooperates!

Alrighty, for today: Amber and her husband are expecting their ninth baby — their seventh girl! This little lady joins big sibs:

Kaydra Dean
Houston Michael
Kaitlyn Nichole
Kaydence Leigh
Carter Joseph
Kourtney Renae
Kimberly Elizabeth
Karly Jean

It’s clear they have a theme! I love seeing big families with an all-one-letter theme, or a certain-letter-for-certain gender theme (like this one) — it’s so fun to see what names they come up with! In high school I babysat a family with eight children whose names all began with C, and friends from college have eight children with all J names — I was always excited to hear what the new baby’s name was!

Amber writes,

“Names I like:
Kateri Marie
Khloe Marie

My husband likes the name Kerry but I’m not totally sold on that name. We would like to use Marie as the middle name and the first name has to start with an K. We thought we would like to use a name of a Saint but my husband thinks Kateri doesn’t roll off his tongue very well. I thought we could call her ‘Kari’ for short.”

Also, Amber told me Katherine is not an option for them.

I think one of the most fun things about a one-letter theme is that the one letter trumps all other stylistic considerations, you know? You don’t have to worry about whether the names have the same style/feel/popularity, because their only requirement is that they begin with the same letter. And I’m amazed at all the ideas Amber and her hubs have come up with so far!

In general I would say that Kateri, Khloe, and Kerry are good possibilities for this baby girl — I especially like Kateri, and I think Amber’s idea of using Kari as a nickname for it, similar to her hubby’s pick of Kerry, is genius! But in looking through their older girls’ names, since they have a Kourtney already I would advise crossing Khloe off the list, otherwise they come across as very Kardashian. Of course, the fact that they have so many girls would water down the Kardashian connection, but I do think it would still be pretty obvious.

Also — and this is a bit nitpicky, but sometimes crossing names off the list helps to make the choice easier — Kaitlyn is a form of Katherine (Irish), as is Kateri (Mohawk). I know a Kateri who goes by Kate, and another who says Kateri as “KAY-ter-ee” so the similarity between Kaitlyn and Kateri is extra obvious to me. Maybe that doesn’t matter to this family, and that’s totally fine! I just wanted to be sure they knew so they could make an informed decision.

Re: Kerry, I wonder if the similar Kelly might appeal to them? I did a spotlight on it not too long ago.

Normally for a consultation I would start by looking up the names that 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, but since the here style is a certain letter rather than a “feel,” I just tried to come up with as many K names as I thought Amber and her hubs might like and would go well with their older kids. These are my ideas:

(1) Karoline
On the one hand, Karoline has some pretty great patron saints, so it’s a great option for a family who wants a saint’s name beginning with K. And, Kari/Karrie can be a nickname for it, so that might encourage Amber’s husband agree to it as well! On the other hand, I just offered that fact that Kaitlyn and Kateri are related as a possible reason to not choose Kateri, so it’s weird that I’m suggesting Karoline now even though it’s related to Karly! They’re both feminine forms of the Carl/Karl/Charles family of names, and in fact Karly can be a nickname for Karoline. So maybe Karoline’s not a great idea, but it seemed worthwhile to mention it.

(2) Kalista
I recently did a spotlight on the male name Callixtus, and Kalista is a feminine form of it. It means “most beautiful” in Greek, which makes it a really nice name for a little girl. Kali and Kallie are sweet nicknames too — maybe similar enough to Kerry/Kari that Amber’s hubs will be okay with it?

(3) Karis
This is another idea that could yield the nickname Kari. It’s similar to Karly in the fact that they share the first three letters, but they already have that with Kaydra and Kaydence, so I’m guessing that’s okay with them. Karis could be a variant of Carys, which is a Welsh name derived from the Welsh word for “love,” which is quite nice. Or, it could be a variant of Charis, which is derived from the Greek for “grace, kindness” and is contained within the word Eucharist.

(4) Kasey
Fr. Solanus Casey was a Capuchin Franciscan who was recently beatified — he’s very special to my family, as I wrote about here, and seems to be wildly popular in general. Such a wonderful man! I’ve seen people name their children Casey (and even one little Case) in his honor, so Kasey could be a great idea for this family.

(5) Kristina, Kristy
I have a friend from college named Kristina, and I’ve always thought her name is a pretty spelling. And you all know our reader Amy who has a daughter named Kristy Marie — those names specifically chosen to honor Jesus and Mary. I love that!

(6) Klara
I went back and forth on whether I thought this was too similar to Karly, and decided to leave it on the list. Karly and Klara aren’t at all related, which helps — Karly’s a member of the Charles family, while Klara/Clare/Claire mean “clear, bright.”

(7) Kara
This is another that’s similar to Kerry, so that hopefully Amber’s husband might like it. It’s from the Italian for “beloved,” which is a great meaning for a little one.

(8) Keira, Kira, Kyra
I say these three names the same way, and I think they’d all be great options for this family.

(9) Kyteria
My last idea is Kyteria, which I first learned about from this family — it’s an alternate spelling of Quiteria, which is the name of a saint! It’s a pretty great story!

And those are my ideas for Amber and her husband! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little sister of Kaydra, Houston, Kaitlyn, Kaydence, Carter, Kourtney, Kimberly, and Karly?

49 thoughts on “Baby name consultation: Baby no. 9/girl no. 7 needs a saintly K name”

  2. I want to pronounce Kira/Kyra/Keira as K-ear-ah, however, my brother just married a Kira who pronounces it K-eye-rah. Something to think about.

    I firmly believe I used the K spelling of Kristy as a small tribute to my friend Kyla, who passed away while I was pregnant with her. So there is that idea too.

    I considered Callie for my 2nd daughter (nick name for Calabria, could go with Bria too, that is Bree-ah or Bray-ah) and my husband wanted Katie. He has sisters Karin and Kristen who go by Kari and Krissy (twins).

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  6. I love Keira for them!
    Maybe Kendra, Kassidy, Krystal, Kassia, Klarissa, Korinne, Kacy, Kandice or Karmen?

    Since all the girls’ names are spelled with Y, I’d go with Kassidy, Kelly, Kacy or Krystal.

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  11. I have a 4 year old niece named Katrina, she has yet to run into another her age. Although I’m not sure if that matches their style.

    If they want to stick with the “K” and “y” theme Kayla seems like a natural fit.

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  15. I have always loved Kelleigh/Kelley for a girl.
    Kennedy is lovely but might be too masculine/gender neutral for them compared to the other girls names?
    I know someone called Krystyna which I like
    Kyra/h Marie is gorgeous
    What about Kerryann Marie?

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  16. I had a college friend called Cammy, which could also be spelled Kami, Kammie, etc. it could be short for Kamilla. Kassandra is the original Greek spelling of that name and Kassie is very cute. There’s also Kambree, Keely, Korina, Keilani, Koko. I saw Kavanna on an honor roll today.

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  17. I don’t pronounce Keira, Kira, and Kyra the same way. Keira is definitely kee-AIR-uh, like Keira Knightly. Kira is like KEAR-uh, similar to Mira. And I could go either way with Kyra–I’d want to prounounce it KAI-ruh, but it could be KEAR-uh too. So some of these might have pronunciation/spelling confusion later. I love Kateri. I have a cousin Kesley who is part of a large K sibling set. It’s not saintly, but it’s a nice different sound from your other girls, and Kesley Marie sound great!

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    • Keira Knightley’s first name is pronounced Keer-uh, not Key-air-uh, as far as I know. I’ve heard her do interviews on TV. I would pronounce Kyra, Kira and Keira all like Keer-uh. Ciara would also be Keer-uh in Ireland, though I’ve met kids who pronounce Ciara like Sierra. Kiara or Kierra could be either Keer-uh or Key-air-uh or maybe Key-AR-uh for the first one. The multiple spellings and pronunciation confusion might be something to consider before using the name.

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  18. Keina or Kayna is the name of a Cornish saint. It means “jewel” I also thought of Kolbe for St. Maximilian Kolbe and Klervie is a Breton saint, pronounced Claire vee

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  19. Kalina, Kylah, Kaia (rhymes with sky-a) and Kohanna (nick named Koko). I’m not sure if there are any saintly connections with these K names, but I do know actual women/girls who have these names, and they are all lovely.

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  20. My first thought was Karoline (Kari/Kara), but I think it’s a little too similar to Karly as the previous name. I also love Karis and Kiara because of the virtue/saint association. And I’ve always liked Kassie and Kirsten (KEER-sten). K is a fun letter!

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  22. So many great suggestions! I really love Kira (pronounced K-ear-ah). Kyanna (pronounced Kee-ah-na or Kye (rhymes with sky) -anna) would work well too! I think Kirsten, Kalista and Kaia would all be great in this set. I really like their idea of Kari too!

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  24. How about Kinnia or Kennera? They are both female saints whose names starts with “K.” Or if they want to take female saints whose names start with “C” but change it to a “K” there’s: Kamilla, Karissima, Karitas, Karmel, Karmen, Kasilda, Kristina, Kristine, Karitina, Klare, Klaudia, Klaudine, Kleopatra, Kolette, and Kolumba.

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  25. I feel like they have a lot of “Ka” starts, so I was thinking they should try a different second letter for balance. My first thought was Kelsey.

    Also Kennedy and Kinsley crossed my mind. My daughter’s name is Cora, and after we named her, we found a Korah in an Old Testament genealogy. It is probably a male name in that use, but hey, it’s biblical!

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  29. @Sebatiane I was just going to post the EXACT suggestions! Job’s daughter and Abraham’s wife/”the most ignored significant person in the Bible”?! Pretty great!

    Klare
    Klaudia
    Karmella
    Klementine
    Konstance
    Kassandra
    Kalla
    Kapri
    Kamille/Kamilla
    Katalina
    Kambria
    Klea
    Kleo
    Klover
    Kora
    Kordelia
    Kornelia
    Kosette
    Kressida
    Kerensa

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