Help! My Dad has poisoned our name......

[ineedanewmiddlename]

I need a new middle name. We had the first name Ava, middle name Florence. We both loved the name Ava Florence. I committed the cardinal sin, and told my parents our girls name. My Dad said Ava Flo, followed by Over-Flow. Dad has spoilt the name for me. My husband would still use the name, as he does not think middle names are ever used, and nobody else would come up with Over-Flow. I?m not taking the risk, the name has been tarnished.

It?s 35 weeks and we?re back to the drawing board. I should mention it took us 30 weeks to finally decide on Ava Florence, and I?m particularly difficult when it comes to names.

I have a few rules when it comes to the middle name:

• It must not end in an - a (Ava ends in an a)
• It must not end in an ?ie or ?y. I don?t like ie or y names.
• It must not start with a vowel, a G, or a T.
• It must be more than two syllables. Ideally I?d like a longer middle name, as we have chosen a short first name.

My husband is an inverted snob, and his rules are:

• It must not be posh or pretentious (it took me ages to convince him that Florence is a common name)
• It must not be more than three syllables

So far, we have ruled out the following names:

Ava Juliet
Ava Primrose
Ava Delphine
Ava Seraphine
Ava Constance
Ava Clarice

Your help would be hugely appreciated.

Ava Charlotte
Ava Petrina
Ava Galatea
Ava Rachel

Names very easily have associations for me, and I have a lot of relations. Rachel, Charlotte and Catherine are all cousins names for instance. It makes it much more difficult.

Tempted to just play safe with Ava Frances.

Noooooo - it has to be Ava Jane - honest :o it sounds the best!

I had a great aunt who was called Frances, and she was very nice. Hmm.

No, my sister's called Jane.

Ava Marie or is that to close to Ava Maria?

Rosalind, or rosemary? Camille, violet?

I like Florence and jokers like your dad will come up with some unfunny forced 'joke' about any name, unfortunately.

Hey Im using Ava as a name if i have a girl, its such a difficult name to choose something that fits in nice. I personally am torn between:
Ava Lily
Ava Grace
Ava Imogen
Ava Joyce
Ava Rosalie
Ava Willow

But still I think even one of those aren't perfect. Such a pretty name aswell :(

OP, you have your name already, you spent 30 weeks choosing it and you are very pregnant which messes with your emotions. I reckon you will regret not using Florence if you do replace it. Ava Florence is her name it looks like to me, people will chastise you for a million reasons, I would not change her name because of one (very)) silly comment. That's all!

If your dad is the type who thinks he is terribly funny, don't go for Ava Marie or he will sing Ava Maria in a "taking the piss out of you" way. Just don't give him ammunition!

Thing is if you have a cousin or sister with a name that you want for the middle name, say that you are giving your DD that name in their honour. You don't have to be actually doing it, but it stops people thinking you've nicked a name !

Is a middle name really worth this much angst? I don't have one and have never felt deprived. If you love Florence stick with it and surely you could just introduce her to everyone as Ava when she arrives? Or just don't even bother with a middle name.

If you like the "ence" ending how about Ava Cadence

If you like the -ence ending, then Ava Constance sounds lovely I think. I also love Ava Catherine - it's a very classless name so might work for both you and your husband. To differentiate either from your relative use either the C or K spelling, whichever they don't.

Having said that, I agree that it's a real shame to let your dad put you off the name you have set your heart on. Keep thinking of alternatives but I wouldn't write off Ava Florence altogether.

I think
Ava Gift is great or Ava Mechellen.

Argh, just read your OP back and you've ruled out Constance already! Oh well.

Frances is very pretty. It makes a good middle name I think - I would consider Catherine Frances if having a girl.

I think Ava Frances sounds beautiful

I'm sorry your dad ruined the name for you. As soon as we announced our daughters name, Fern, my uncle thought it was the most hilarious name ever.. I'm sure he would have found a common name like Anne hilarious too, the knob.

Anyway!
Ava Beatrice
Ava harriet
Ava Eleanor
Ava Bethany
Ava Marie

All the best! Xx

Ava Cadence
Ava Marie
Ava Sunshine
Ava Helen
Ava Heather
Ava Ruby

Ava Charlotte
Ava Lucy
Ava Harriet
Ava Josephine

I would use Florence too.. You are full of crazy hormones right now and over flow is nothing like Ava Florence at all IMO. I think it will always be in your mind if you don't use it. All the best.

I still don't get how Ava translates to 'over'. Are you pronouncing it Ay-va, or Avva?

I also think it will always be in your mind if you don't use it.

I love Ava Michelle.

Ava Clementine