A little bit stuck

[takethatlady]

Hi!

I just had my 12 week scan (at 12+4) and all was gorgeous and fine :), so am thrilled to bits at the moment.

DH and I have two girls' names we really love and the middle name is going to be after his grandmother who died shortly after we were married. So if it's a girl, she'll be called either/or

Tess Edith
Isobel Edith

(at this stage Tess is the front runner).

I tell you these because we're stuck for a boy's name. Since being pregnant I have fallen in love with the name Charlie (nn for Charles which would be on bc). I know it's really really common but when I imagine holding my baby and calling him Charlie it feels like it makes sense.

DH doesn't like Charlie much (though not dead against) and likes Freddie (short for Frederick). I am 100% meh about this name. The middle name will be (wait for it) Clive after DH's dad, who is still alive (and only 50!) but it's a very sweet tribute to him and I'm very happy to do this because he's a really lovely man and a brilliant father, and it sort of makes me all weepy that he and DH have such a lovely bond but hardly express it except in ways like this!

So anyway, this leaves us with either/or

Charles Clive (nn Charlie)
Frederick Clive (nn Fred)

Our surname begins with B and has two syllables. It's quite a classic, English-sounding surname.

What do you think of these two names and can you think of any alternatives? So stuck!

Thanks in advance.

[AllieW]

Charles is lovely. If you don't like Frederick, how about Alfred or possibly Wilfred?

[takethatlady]

PS - a naughty little part of me thinks of saying that, as both the middle names come from DH's part of the family, plus I'm the one who has to give birth ... but I'm resisting the temptation!

[takethatlady]

Wow allie that was fast! Thanks. Think I prefer Frederick to both Alfred and Wilfred. I can see that Fred/Freddie is a really nice name but I just can't make it 'fit' in my head, IYSWIM ...

Maybe I'll try to let it grow on me and ask DH to do the same with Charlie. There's still 6 months to go!

[mathanxiety]

Congratulations. Lovely names (I even like Clive and know one a little younger than me) Charles Clive pips Frederick Clive imo. I love Tess (lots and lots of Isabelles/Isobels)

[AllieW]

I've got a cold so I'm just loitering over the keyboard atm! Hence the speed.

Perhaps you could combine things and have two middles? Charles Frederick Clive, for example, breaks up the alliteration and means that both your names are included.

[takethatlady]

Oooh good idea allie, and a little bit sneaky as it would mean I got my name

Thanks mathanxiety :)

Tess and Charlie feel like names that go together to me too, though I really didn't want to go for names that were really popular and if you add up Charles, Charley and Charlie it's 3rd I think... and obviously I'm only pregnant with one so I need to have another and for it to be the opposite sex for this plan to work out !!!

Glad someone likes Clive! It's not a name I'd go anywhere near if it didn't have lovely personal meaning for us, but I think there were only 14 Clives last year so there are no worries about popularity there! It might counterbalance Charlie just a little bit ...

[Northernrose]

Congrats takethat! I love Charlie and think Allie has a good idea there with having Charles Frederick Clive

I used to know a Clive that was lovely too and think that it is lovely to use a name that has special meaning..our DD has a middle name after my grandmother and I love it for that reason, it's not a name I would have chosen if it didn't have such a special meaning for us

Good idea to mull it over for a few months regardless, and both Tess and Isobel are lovely too..please don't worry too much it being popular - you're not choosing it because it's popular, you are choosing it because you love it! My daughter has a name which is relatively popular and whenever I meet other wee girls with her name i just think it's a lovely name! And I would honestly say the same about lots of wee babies I know who have "popular" names like Lewis, Isla, Lucy, Bella..

[takethatlady]

Thanks northernrose that's a lovely post :)

I have a very unusual name (I've never personally met another, though my friend went for a job interview the other day and the interviewer had the same name as me. They bonded over it!). I love having an unusual name - it's not pretentious-sounding or strange, and it just feels like it's all my own. So I always thought I'd probably pick less commonly-used names for my children. But somehow these names feel right and I feel sure I won't regret them in years to come, which is always the trouble with a name you suddenly love for its quirkiness ... there are so many names I would have called children had I got pregnant in the past that I now shudder at!

So anyway, the upshot is I agree with you - just have to pick the name you love and stick with it regardless.

How to twist DH's arm about Charlie ... sexual favours? Guilt tripping? (only kidding )

[AllieW]

Stick the names on the fridge, perhaps and see if Charlie grows on him? (Or, conversely, Frederick on you?).

[ShoppingDays]

I'd go for...

Isobel Edith B...

Frederick Clive B...

Tess is very nice but personally I'd only use it as a nickname for a longer name. Also think it doesn't flow so well with Edith.

I also like Charles but think Charles Clive doesn't sound so good as they're both just one syllable each.

[takethatlady]

Ooh allie you have great ideas. Sounds like you've got practice at this baby naming thing!

shoppingdays I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the Charles Clive syllable thing. It's a bit of a tongue twister unless you go with the nn Charlie (and wouldn't want that on a birth cert as want full names). It doesn't bother me but it is the one point DH has in his favour (the flow between the names). Agree too about the flow of Isobel Edith being better than Tess Edith. But figured that it's rare anyone bothers to say their whole entire name so it doesn't matter too much.

Tess is a full name in its own right and I'm really not keen on Theresa or Tessa ...

[putthekettleon]

Aaaahhhh, Tess is the name of my imaginary 3rd daughter that I'm never going to have!

I loved it the whole time I was pregnant with DD2 but we were stuck with May as a MN, and Tess May just didn't work. I suggested Teresa May then realised that was the name of the home secretary!

Anyway, why not wait and try and find a boys' name you both love? We went through lots of compromise names and only hit on DD2's name a couple of weeks before the birth.

[takethatlady]

Thanks putthekettleon, although your MN name is tempting me and I've already had two cups of tea today which is my absolute upper limit in pregnancy! (I did throw one straight back up though). Most days I have none but before I was pregnant I was on 6 or 7 a day!

Anyway, yes you're right - we need to find a name we both like. Just can't think of it at the moment! Glad you like Tess! at Teresa May though!

[takethatlady]

PS - DH said he only doesn't like Charlie because it's so commonly used. He's a teacher so that does have consequences ... doesn't want to be confronted by 20 naughty Charlies when he's got his own to deal with!! But still ...

[3nearly4]

Tess and Frederick!!

I really don't like Charlie and see it as a naughty boys name.

[growing3rdbump]

Allie I like the idea of sticking the names on the fridge! My DH isn't agreeing to any of my names and I've fallen in love with the name Esme Elizabeth or Esme Charlotte for DC3! I shall give that a go!

I like Charlie best!

[takethatlady]

Lovely names growing3rdbump :) What is wrong with these DH's? Don't they realise we should Get. Our. Way??!

[Komondor]

I prefer Freddie.

[CharlieBoo]

Ooh yes Charlie all the way but love Freddie too... I have a Charlie and my best friend has a Freddie!! You have ages to decide...

[CuppaTeaJanice]

Hi takethatlady - great to see most of the Jue in June crew are successfully into the second trimester now!!

How about...

Jason?
Gary?
Mark?
Robbie?
Howard?