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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Torn on this name

72 replies

BruceAndMarley · 23/06/2020 08:06

My husband and I are having a girl due in about 8 weeks time. It’s our first child.
It’s been a very rough pregnancy , things are getting better but I’m high risk and it’s just been hard. She is perfect but my mental health has been very bad (I won’t bore you with that though).

We love the name Grace. I know some people may say it’s very bland , or boring or common, but we love it-The thing we are torn with is her middle name and whether to either double barrel or to even name her Gracie rather than grace ?
So here’s what we have:
Gracie May
Gracie Mae
Gracie-Mae
Obviously Grace Mae doesn’t really go as it’s two one syllable names and doesn’t sound right to us, but what would you do? Or would you drop that all together and have another middle name ? We initially thought Grace Elizabeth Mary as those are two family names but it’s too long and too much of a mouthful !
Any advise ?
Thanks :)

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Fifthtimelucky · 24/06/2020 07:09

Personally I'd go for Elizabeth Grace, but I do think Grace Elizabeth Mary would be nice, and in that case I would use Gem as a nickname.

resm · 23/06/2020 23:38

Grace Elizabeth is beautiful - congratulations on your pregnancy!

user1493494961 · 23/06/2020 22:24

Grace Elizabeth Mary is a beautiful name, hope all goes well.

Pinkypink · 23/06/2020 21:53

I would go with Grace Elizabeth Mary.
Grace is lovely and honouring both sides of the family will be so meaningful.
Hope it all goes smoothly

17caterpillars1mouse · 23/06/2020 18:26

Grace Elizabeth Mary is lovely and classic. It sounds sophisticated

Gracie Mae / May is not and sounds downmarket

finallychangedmyusername · 23/06/2020 18:23

Grace Elizabeth Mary is wonderful, and GEM is a great bonus.

MikeUniformMike · 23/06/2020 12:36

Gracie May - Just Grace and use Mary as a middle name
Gracie Mae - Mae is awful
Gracie-Mae - No.

Sorry about you not being well, and I hope things are better for you. now.

May/Mae is overused as a name, and your DD will be born in August probably. May was used as a form of Mary, a lovely underused name, so I suggest it as a MN. Please don't add -Mae.

Grace Elizabeth is nice too.

Grace Elizabeth Mary Surname is GEM Surname, which is quite sweet.

CodenameVillanelle · 23/06/2020 12:35

So glad you decided on just Grace! Diminutive names on birth certificates are naff and anything-Mae is literally the worst.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 23/06/2020 12:31

I'll be looking forward to getting the good news of her arrival :) yes, I hadn't thought about the initials of G.E.M. !

TimeWastingButFun · 23/06/2020 12:30

Grace Elizabeth as someone suggested is beautiful.

TimeWastingButFun · 23/06/2020 12:29

I would go for just classic and timeless Grace - you can always nickname her Gracie. Anything with Mae after it sounds and is very common imo - it seems to be the one name I hear shrieked in a supermarket more than any other!

Leakinglikeacolander · 23/06/2020 12:28

Another one echoing Grace Elizabeth Mary, Grace is such an elegant name.
Wishing you all the best with her arrival and I hope things get considerably easier for you.

fei0131 · 23/06/2020 12:20

Grace Elizabeth Mary is beautiful... and nice initials too!

Original poster
BruceAndMarley · 23/06/2020 12:14

@IsFuzzyBeagMise thank you so much, I will be sure to check back and let you know when she’s arrived . I have a growth scan next week which will be lovely x

OP posts:
Gazelda · 23/06/2020 12:13

Grace Elizabeth Mary sounds beautiful! Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy, she'll soon be here to cuddle

AnotherCupple · 23/06/2020 12:13

I think just Grace on the birth certificate and you can Nickname her Gracie. The 2 middle names are also lovely with it. Very elegant name.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 23/06/2020 12:09

Go for it, @BruceandMarley. It's so beautiful, Grace Elizabeth Mary. As you say, she will be called Grace on a day to day basis.

I would have used the name Grace for one of my girls, but it didn't go well with our surname. I also made a connection to relatives with our children's middle names. It is a lovely thing to do. In your case, all three names are beautiful classical names, so the combination works perfectly.

Let us know when she gets here. Take care and very best wishes!

Original poster
BruceAndMarley · 23/06/2020 11:58

@IsFuzzyBeagMise thank you! So close to the end now !
Yes Mary is my husbands Grandmas name and Elizabeth’s is my grandmas name. It would be a lot more meaningful than Mae/May to be honest !

OP posts:
Original poster
BruceAndMarley · 23/06/2020 11:57

Might have to go for our original choice of Elizabeth Mary as middle names as the feedback is so lovely , I wasn’t sure if it seemed too long but it would be wonderful to be able to honour our grandparents with the two middle names . And you’re right when you say we won’t be saying her full name so even if it is a tad long , it’s not like she’ll be called it day to day.
I’m so glad I asked for advise on here thank you!

OP posts:
IsFuzzyBeagMise · 23/06/2020 09:00

Best of luck with the final stretch.

I love the name Grace. Grace Elizabeth or Grace Elizabeth Mary are beautiful names and go well together. If Mary is significant to you, I would use it. It's okay to have two middle names.

DemelzaRobins · 23/06/2020 08:59

Just saw your update, Grace Elizabeth is a great choice Smile

DemelzaRobins · 23/06/2020 08:59

My niece is Grace so I'm biased Smile. We called her Gracie for a short while as a toddler, but she soon grew out of it and became Grace again.

Don't put Gracie on the BC, as a Grace she can use Gracie instead if she prefers it.

It's a lovely classic name. Grace Elizabeth is absolutely gorgeous, as is Grace Elizabeth Mary. Mary is only four letters so I don't think it makes it too long, and nice to honour both grandmothers.

I know a Grace Mary Rose, Mary and Rose for both grandmothers which I think is a fabulous name.

SoupDragon · 23/06/2020 08:53

@BruceAndMarley

Thanks everyone , some really lovely positive feedback - we will go with Grace Elizabeth then and at least we can call her Gracie at home but she won’t be stuck as a 40yo women with a name that seemed cute at the time ! Thank you so much 🌺 you’ve all been lovely . It’s been rough but we are on the home stretch now .
Hurrah!

Good luck :)

CaptainMyCaptain · 23/06/2020 08:47

Grace is a lovely name on its own. I echo what another teacher posted above [name]-May/Mae is extremely common.

Alfaxan · 23/06/2020 08:45

Grace Elizabeth Mary is perfect. Beautiful and timeless. You will only be calling her by her first name anyway day to day, so I don't think it matters that all of her names together are long. They will really only ever be written.
You can call her Gracie as a nickname, but I would definitely keep her official name as Grace. The -Mae thing is a fad and I would rather avoid unless it has very special meaning to you. Congratulations by the way!