Husband is trying to back out of naming agreement

You can't call your child a name that its father hates.

Cece is absolutely lovely and fine for Francesca. I teach a Cece whose full name is Celeste, which I always think is beautiful.

Good luck whatever happens. You're in the right!

Did you miss that they had an agreement he insisted on naming their first child something she didn't like and she got to name the second. Now he is changing his mind

I bet you and DD have his surname, too.

The names you both chose are recognisable names and not crazy although Ithink it's much nicer not to have the hyphen
I think both Mary and Francesca go well with Olive so you he should compromise and agree to Mary, Kate (or Catherine) Francesca.. or Francesca Mary Kate
It sounds though as though he won't accept any name you choose. His choices are very different

Is he particularly into Greek mythology or something? Is it very important to him? Were the boys names he wanted or suggested Greek themed?

Is this why he’s so insistent on naming the children his choice?

All the posters giving their opinions on the suggested names are completely missing the point. Nothing extreme has been suggested by the OP, yet he believes he has the right to renege on the agreement after getting his own way the first time. Huge red flag

Oh dear.
I don't understand why on earth you didn't choose the middle name for your first child? Why did you let him choose both?!
I think the agreement was/is stupid but you should at least have chosen one name each.
FWIW, I much prefer Francesca to Mary-Kate.

Surely, it's irrelevant whether posters like OP's DH's and OP's choices of names or not? Posters who like DH's choice of names but not OP's are supporting DH's wish to renege on the agreement that they made when OP was expecting their first child.

The whole point of the agreement is that they each get to choose the name of one child, even if the other parent absolutely hates the name. It's not something most people would agree to as couples can normally reach a compromise but OP's DH is definitely in the wrong. He can't back out now, having got his own way with their first child.

She's completely fair. She was railroaded into allowing him to choose their first daughter's name with the agreement that she chooses this one.

He wants his cake and wants to eat it too. He gets no say this time. If he gets his way on this then I'd be questioning the balance in the relationship. Marriage is about mutual support and compromise. He hasn't got that memo by the looks of it.

The actual names are for OP to like, especially as she now has a daughter with a name she doesn't like.

Calliope will never get her name pronounced correctly, she will constantly be correcting people.

For all of you saying that do you veto all the Irish names, many of which are lovely, but often the pronunciation bears no resemblance to the spelling from an English speaker's point of view?

This

BrownRedPink

I honestly think most people would assume when it came to the time it would get resolved either through them both finding a name or something like that. Also I don’t think dictate is the word here, neither of them seems exactly ready to figure it out together (the agreement was crazy in the first place!!)

I know I am being super unhelpful, but I don't really see the difference in style for either or your selections. I find them both extreme, over the top and dramatic. It seems the two of you have very similar tastes and yet you hate each other's choices.

Is the naming thing the only thing going on in the relationship or is there more? Could it be that you hate each other's choices, because you didn't choose it yourselves? I am just reaching here, but I find this whole situation bizarre.

It's really not that difficult. Anyone with any knowledge of Greek mythology will know the name. Calliope is also a character in Netflix's Sandman series.

His choices are bloody awful in my opinion

Yours are OK but I wouldn't put them all together i would have mary-kate OR francesca both seems a bit much for a name if I'm honest

My son has three name surname combo its a nightmare for form filling but it was my ex husbands choice

It's really convenient that he didn't change his mind before he named their 1st child. He willingly forfeited his say in naming the 2nd child at the moment that the 1st child was officially named. He went forward with it because he was getting his own way. Now he wants to dictate what OP can name their 2nd child because naming his 1st child entirely on his own wasn't good enough for him. It's very selfish.

I think Mary-Kate seems to be a love/hate name.

He shouldn't be trying to go back on the agreement but I get why he really doesn't want Mary-Kate tbh.

It is sounding as if he just wants his choice again.

Has he not even said that he would prefer Francesca to Mary-Kate?

He just doesn't want to entertain your choices at all?

I think it's unbelievable that two adults can't manage to find two names for their children that they can actually agree on.

It sounds like this relationship is doomed because of two people who cannot manage to discuss and compromise together.

I suspect there's far more issues in the relationship than this.

I’m sorry OP, I know a deal’s a deal, but I’m with your DH. I don’t k like the names you’ve chosen and they really don’t marry well with your first daughter’s name.

It certainly a waste of a lovely name to reduce it to Fran (or Frankie).

Regardless of whether we like the names or not, the (rather daft imho) agreement was that OP has the say this time, and there’s nothing remotely extreme about her choices. At least Mary-Kate won’t have to go through life correcting spelling and pronunciation on a daily basis, as Calliope would.

As for Mary-Kate being associated with the Olsens, that won’t be an issue when the child is older. As shown by the fact that Olive will be forever linked in the mind of us oldies to Olive from On the Buses, and I think you’d all have to google her. 😊

Give him the chance to veto 2 names after which the final choice is yours, if you must, but continuing to look for one you both like would be better.
Sorry but you sound a rather contentious couple! Are all your joint decisions so loaded?

Calliope will never get her name pronounced correctly, she will constantly be correcting people.

Your H needs to realise that although you don’t like ‘Olive’ you accepted it as part of the deal. He now needs to do the same for you. He can’t claim an exception when you didn’t get an exception.

As soon as you can after the birth, get yourself to the registry office and register Mary-Kate’s name!

You need to tell your husband that he's an absolute cretin for trying to renege on your agreement and you won't stand for his.

His opinions are no more important than your opinions.