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Baby names

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

Baby girl name - sister for Calliope

103 replies

NamingBabies · 31/03/2021 12:19

We have a 2 year old called Calliope (pronounced like Cal-Eye-O-P, think similar to how Penelope ends!) who goes by Callie most of the time. We fell in love with the name when I was pregnant with her and found out at 16 weeks I was having a girl and from then on she was Calliope. Really easy decision to make and we never queried our decision.

Pregnant again now with a second little girl and finding it SO much harder to find a name to go with it! Before we heard Calliope we quite liked Willow and DH thinks we should go with that for a girl but I’m not sure the two names go together very well.

I did a little Google and (I assume because of the Greek connection) Ophelia came up as an option. I absolutely love it, and think it would be a perfect sibling match and similar to Calliope has the option to shorten it. DH is not so sure and is worried it would be shortened to FiFi which makes him think of a dog (and I secretly love!).

My name is reasonably unusual. Not anything that would shock you but it’s unusual in that I’ve never met anyone else with the same spelling as mine, and I was the only one in school with this name but it’s definitely not super ‘out there’. DH has a consistently ‘top 100’ boys name and is worried it may look odd if we go with two quite unusual names (I mean it’s a bit late now for Calliope but oh well!).

If you heard Calliope and Ophelia, would it sound negative to you? Any alternative names you could suggest?

OP posts:
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Lalliella · 05/04/2021 00:26

Xanthe
Hermione
Aurelia
Iolanthe

Billandben444 · 04/04/2021 08:25

@bridgetreilly
Jane
Helen
Sarah
Rachel
Sophie
Olivia
Emily

We're on the same page with this one 😂😂😂

yellowlorry123 · 04/04/2021 08:02

Callie and Xanthe.

PolarnOPirate · 04/04/2021 07:14

Or if you want a REALLY wow Greek name - Oenone ! Eh-no-ne. LOVE IT. Although I’ve only ever heard it on an elderly customer when I was working in a call centre and she sounded very tired for a lifetime of name explanations 😄 lovely lady though.

PolarnOPirate · 04/04/2021 07:11

Odessa? Odette? I prefer those to Ophelia but I don’t know the stories/meanings behind them.

NamingBabies · 04/04/2021 06:50

I prefer Elodie over Melody as suggested but DH dislikes it. Naming is not fun Grin

OP posts:
clpsmum · 03/04/2021 22:29

Ps I think melody and Ophelia both work well.

Also
Persephone
Aurora
Isolde
Gabriella
Athena
Artemis
Cassiopeia

clpsmum · 03/04/2021 22:14

My aunt is melody and gets called Mel but you could shorten to dee/Dee dee/ mimi

Mollymalone123 · 03/04/2021 21:59

I know a Melody and it has never been shortened- and she’s 10 now

BellaVida · 03/04/2021 21:55

Ophelia is pretty, but I’m not keen of the association.

The first name which sprang to my mind is Calliope and Hermione.

On the same Greek Mythology theme, how about Ariadne, Delphine or Xanthe?

MySocalledLoaf · 03/04/2021 21:47

I love Thalia when pronounced with the Th sound, not like Talia.
The sisters of the Calliope I know are Niobe and Daphne.

MimiSunshine · 03/04/2021 21:44

If you choose to use a shortening from the get go then that will be it until she can decide much later on

MimiSunshine · 03/04/2021 21:44

I like Melody but have a Penelope so it was out.
It doesn’t have to be Mel, could be Lo or Lolo, Didi, Dee

daisypond · 03/04/2021 21:43

I like Calliope but Ophelia is an absolute no-no for me. The only known one is a put-upon girl who goes mad and drowns herself. Why would anyone pick that?

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 03/04/2021 21:42

@CatRamsey

Hmm I think Melody would get Mel for short. How about Elodie instead?
Agree with this, Elodie would be better imo.
parsnipsnotsprouts · 03/04/2021 21:37

Thea could work as well

inmyslippers · 03/04/2021 21:37

Calliope is a beautiful name! Why not go for another muse? Clio, Mnemosyne, Thalia?

parsnipsnotsprouts · 03/04/2021 21:36

Ophelia is pretty. Nothing wrong with fifi as a nickname. We called dd Fifi when she was tiny and I kind of miss it.
Other choices I would consider That go with Cordelia... Evanthe, Phoebe, Tabitha, Phaedra, Eleni, Athena

CatRamsey · 03/04/2021 21:29

Hmm I think Melody would get Mel for short. How about Elodie instead?

NamingBabies · 03/04/2021 19:13

DH put another option down today - Melody.

I don’t mind it! I don’t like ‘Mel’ though, Melody to me sounds really lovely to say whereas Mel feels a bit harsher. Do you think people would automatically shorten it to Mel?!

OP posts:
Twisique · 01/04/2021 10:18

How about Minerva?

Lillylola · 01/04/2021 00:30

Calliope and Jocasta

Calliope and Yolanda

Calliope and Valentina

Calliope and Andrea

Calliope and Iris

Calliope and Miranda

Calliope Nikita

Calliope and Odessa

Calliope and Tatiana

NaughtyNell · 01/04/2021 00:08

Callista

2bazookas · 31/03/2021 23:52

my sister was at school with a Merope (another Greek goddess)
Or there's Hera, Iris, Artemis, and Echo.

VenusClapTrap · 31/03/2021 23:30

I don’t like Ophelia. I love the suggestions of Artemis and Minerva, and my contribution is Nerina.