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Baby names

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Original poster

Twin name help!

106 replies

TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 17:32

Hi! Our twin girls could make an appearance anyday now and we are still struggling on finalising their names! I've posted on a couple of other sites but we need all the help we can get lol.

We will be naming one of our girls Violet but we're still undecided on her sister's name. It will either be Darcey/Darcy or Penelope. Nicknames will be LettY (Violet), Cece (Darcey) and Penny or Poppy (Penelope)

We then have these full name options to chose from...

Violet Cecilia Terese & Penelope Margot Kate, Penelope Beatrix Kate or Penelope Winter Kate

Violet Cecilia Kate & Penelope Hazel Terese

Violet Penelope Kate & Darcey Ophelia Terese

Violet Penelope Terese & Darcey Aurora Kate or Darcey Aurora Caitlin

Which do you prefer; Darcey or Penelope? Also, which full names would you go with? We're not wanting matchy names for our girls but we would prefer for them to sound nice together and be similar in style.

A bit of background: We're using two middle names; one of our choice and our honor names, Kate and Terese. Using two middle names is set. Our surname is short, one syllable and begins with Y. Our surname has been very difficult to work with! We had settled on Violet and Aurora for first names since finding out we were having two girls, we then realised Aurora sounded awful with our surname. We then went through a very long list of potential names and decided on Cecilia to again have to give it up because of our surname. That left us with Penelope which we love and couldn't imagine not using somewhere now. Losing Cecilia, with the nickname Cece, was really tough however so we decided to play around with our other options and decided to either use it as Violet's middle name or debated using Felicity (Cici) or Darcey instead of Penelope. We recently gave up Felicity as it didn't work for us and with our other options. Ophelia is the middle name we always thought we'd use with Violet but bumped it for Cecilia when we couldn't use it as a first.

Sorry for that long winded post! Thank you so much for all your help.

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Original poster
TillyLucille · 21/02/2018 02:59

@MTA Violet and Poppy would be too matchy for our liking. We also have to watch out with Hazel and Wren actually, now I'm looking back at it. We also have to be careful with one syllable middles being placed directly before our very short, one syllable surname.

I'll have to see what I can come up with after yet another play around although I really have done nothing but that for 3 weeks. Even looking back at it now... Terese is 2 letters and 1 syllable longer than Tess. There's also only 1 letter difference in Margot and Hazel/Winter. I'm not sure if it really makes THAT much of a difference lol.

That is exactly my point with the nickname thing. People naturally shorten names especially with a longer one like Penelope. I don't understand why it's such a crime or labelled ridiculous to discuss your options/preference before they arrive.

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MakeTodayAmazing · 21/02/2018 02:12

Sorry, my mistake, I've just noticed it's either Kate or Wren rather than both to be used together Blush

MakeTodayAmazing · 21/02/2018 02:10

Violet Cecilia Kate and Penelope Hazel Wren get my vote! Grin I really like Wren but I don't think I've ever heard it before. In my opinion the shorter middle names flow much better. When I see those written down, the focus is on the lovely first names which get lost a little bit with 2 longer middle names.

I think it's normal to consider nicknames- every name book/website I read said to consider nicknames other kids might use before finalising a name choice so I think you're doing the right thing! The problem is that if you pick a nickname, other people might not necessarily use the same one. My DH spent months trying to get the nickname he'd decided on for DD to catch on but it hasn't with anyone except him. Grin I think he's on the verge of giving up..hopefully. If you love Poppy & would mind if people don't use it as a NN, what about using it as a first name instead of Penelope? Or a middle name for Violet?

Original poster
TillyLucille · 21/02/2018 00:19

just thought of... Not sure where hair came from! That's not even a regular typo lol.

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Original poster
TillyLucille · 21/02/2018 00:18

@Elmo303 Thanks! I do understand the length thing as it was a concern of mine and believe me I've been through 1001 different names to try and help it. The flow of the names and using ones we love just became more of a priority because we couldn't find anything that felt right.

I prefer Kate with both the Violet and Penelope options but we can obviously only go with one lol. Cecilia is staying no matter what even if it is 3 syllables lol. The only thing we could do is go with Tess instead of Terese or Teresa. I honestly just feel like we're not really honoring that grandma as she's never gone by Tess or Tessa in her life. I felt Terese was close enough to pass but not them. My mother in law chose to only go by Kate so that works.

I even thought about using their middle names instead but they don't work. One does not sound right with our surname at all and the other does not work with Cecilia and does nothing to shorten the length of Penelope's name.

One thing I have literally hair thought of as I type is maybe using Wren instead of Kate. Kath-Ren, does that work? That way Wren and Tess are still taken from their names but it doesn't seem so one sided. I'm not 100% though, I still feel like it's not really honoring them. I may just be over thinking it however.

I guess it we'd go with one of these if so...

Violet Cecilia Kate & Penelope Margot Tess
Violet Cecilia Wren & Penelope Margot Tess
Violet Cecilia Tess & Penelope Hazel Wren

I don't get showy or aspirational however from using two middle names however. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be putting on my daughters by giving them three names.

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Elmo303 · 20/02/2018 23:38

Violet and Penelope are stunning together for twins. We loved Penelope too but went with a different name in the end, but we would have used Nell as a nn if that’s something you might consider. My daughter has two middles as well, although they’re both quite short, one was our second name choice that I couldn’t let go of altogether and one a grandmother’s name. Good luck choosing!

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 23:25

@MNBT Neither had I! I was outnumbered on the other sites I've posted on though lol. If you listen to the song carefully they do say Seh-Seel-Yah though lol.

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Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 23:23

@Jammycustard How could you? 😱😂 I'm sure your little ones have gorgeous names. Thank you for help!

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Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 23:22

@Jjpeston That really is helpful and great to hear. One of the many things I love about Penelope is all the nickname options you get with it. You have so much choice, I'm sure it's easy to find something to go by that suits you. I feel like Violet can stick with the slightly more cutesy Letty or Ettie or go with Vee, Vy or Etta instead when she's older too.

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MyNewBearTotoro · 20/02/2018 23:15

I would definitely say Seh-see-lee-uh (4 syllables) with emphasis on the lee. Never heard anyone say it as seh-seel-ya with 3 syllables but then I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody called Cecilia - I only know the name from the song. It is a very pretty name.

I also like Penelope, I know a baby Penelope (nn Penny) and although I originally thought it was a bit of a mouthful of a name it’s grown on me and it suits her very well.

Jjpeston · 20/02/2018 23:13

Yeah, funnily enough the reason I know this is because I asked the Greek friend why there were lots of boats in the harbour named Poppy and she explained that it's a popular nickname (and that she really liked it). I remembered it as my lovely aunt is called Penelope so I told her that, and she'd never known it as a nickname either.

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 23:10

@Jjpeston Thanks lovely! I honestly had never heard of Poppy being used as a NN for Penelope but I figured it must be if multiple people were suggesting it lol. Good to know it's legit and widely used in it's country of origin!

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Jammycustard · 20/02/2018 23:09

All my kids have two middle names...
Anyway: Penelope.

Jjpeston · 20/02/2018 23:03

Tilly, Penelope and Violet are lovely. Really fun, classy and vintage at the same time. I also like Poppy for a nickname for Penelope, I met a Greek girl on holiday who told me that it was a popular nickname there so it's perfectly 'legit'. Very good luck with the birth and wish you much happiness with your little girls! x

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 22:56

Yeah unfortunately the ending of Cecilia runs into our surname. I've always pronounced it Seh-See-Lee-Uh so didn't see the issue at first but I seem to be of the few who doesn't say Seh-Seel-Yah lol.

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Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 22:53

Well this has been fun lol. It's given me a laugh when I've been pretty bored and miserable.

I've posted on 2 other sites over the past few weeks and had a few people tell me they don't like 2 middle names, fine. Nobody has acted like I'm setting my children up for failure and felt so personally offended by it though lol. I don't think we're the only people in the world to have discussed what nicknames we prefer when choosing names either. We don't like some of the options out there so we're only attempting to stop people from shortening their names to them. When the girls are old enough they can chose what names they'd like to go by, as their opinion outranks ours, but they're unable to give it at the moment. Oh well, I know which sites to stick to if I need any advice going forward as a first time parent lol.

Thanks to those you actually helped. I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking with Penelope. I quite like the idea of having an animated child so fingers crossed she lives up to her name. I really hope Violet's favorite color is purple too... It would be quite rude of her if it isn't! And we've settled on 3 middles names now too so no longer need the help.

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fannyanddick · 20/02/2018 22:53

I know you were joking But I also like violet and Anastasia.

fannyanddick · 20/02/2018 22:50

I love Cecilia and with Violet. They are both lovely and match perfectly. Are you sure it doesn't 'go' with your surname? Does it matter how well they go?

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 22:24

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it's not going to change anything. You can either accept it and move on or you can chose to post and not change anything. You could even pick apart my list of names one by one if you're really 'witty'... Only one of those options wastes your time is all I'm saying.

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Pittcuecothecookbook · 20/02/2018 22:13

You could say it 20 times Tilly, but you've put up your plans on a public forum and people will comment on what appears to be a very OTT decision to have multiple names with several syllables in. Does seem a bit ridic to plan the nicknames in advance too, just my opinion!

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 22:04

Thanks for your helpful reply, @ALAMBS

We did consider some of those options for first names and narrowed them down to Penelope.

I do understand what you mean about Darcy/Darcey. I personally don't think of it as chavvy (obviously lol) but maybe the unisex thing makes it feel a bit trendy against Violet. I would describe Violet in the exact way you have so it's trying to find that balance with our other girl name. I'm glad you think Penelope works well, we've just been second guessing ourselves lol.

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Awwlookatmybabyspider · 20/02/2018 21:53

I wouldn't put Violet with Darcey. Violet is classic vintage but modern at the same time. However Darcey as pretty as it is important feel its faddy and do I dare say a if i had to swear under oath a tad chavvy. I don't feel it's a name that ages particularly well.
I know not everyone is looking for matchy names.
However they're still got to be of the same style. Well I think.
Violet (Letty) and Penelope (Penny) are a perfect combination.
Also do you not like Beatrix as a first name
Violet (Letty) and Beatrix (Beatie) would be gorgeous together
Other ideas that you may not have thought of.
Violet and Florence
Violet and Mabel
Violet and Laura
Violet and Abigail
Violet and Evelyn
Violet and Hannah

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 21:38

After this post we've been inspired to add a third middle name to our combos. We're thinking Anastasia and Evangeline. We're also changing Kate to Catherine, My mother in law always goes by Kate but she should go by her full name really.

They will be...
Violet Cecilia Evangeline Teresa
Penelope Anastasia Darcey Katherine

Our surname is only 3 letters long so length shouldn't be an issue.

We're also insisting that all 5 of their names are used to address them at all times.

Thanks for your help guys 😘

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Ohyesiam · 20/02/2018 21:32

I've only cone across Penelope in cartoons, Lady Penelope, Penelope Pitstop.

The overall effect to me is fussy, showy and aspirational.
Sorry, but you did ask.

Original poster
TillyLucille · 20/02/2018 21:09

Oh dear. Someone can't handle not getting their way... 😂😂

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