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

Which of these two middle names for a girl?

19 replies

Thoughtlessinengland · 29/09/2019 09:53

DD due in winter and the first name will be from the culture of origin from which one of us comes (Eastern culture FYI). For middle name we would like a British name as this is the exact pattern we followed for DS. For the middle name we are after names from female stalwarts/key figures/name with a history of achievement and have two in mind - which would you go for when paired with a short/2 syllable first name starting with R- needless to say said first name would be quite unusual in the west but very easily pronounced

Emmeline - after Emmeline Pankhurst of suffragettes

Elizabeth- after Elizabeth Garett Anderson Britain’s first female doctor

Of course Elizabeth could be easily associated with the monarchy which we are totally not interested in!

Open to other suggestions too - if any significant female figures from science or politics or history come to mind?

Also thought of Rosalind inspired by Rosalind Franklin but first and second names would both start with R then :/

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Ricekrispie22 · 29/09/2019 10:50

I like both Elizabeth and Emmeline, although I’d be tempted to go with the latter because it’s more unheard of.

Florence (Nightingale)
Amelia (Earheart)

Ricekrispie22 · 29/09/2019 10:50

Also, Eleanor (Roosevelt).

Ricekrispie22 · 29/09/2019 10:51

Beatrix (Potter) and Charlotte (Bronte).

IggyAce · 29/09/2019 10:57

I prefer Emmeline and suggest:

Marie (Curie)

Thoughtlessinengland · 29/09/2019 11:01

Wow some superb superb suggestions here!!!

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MrsBertBibby · 29/09/2019 11:11

Emmeline rather than Elizabeth.

Ada (Lovelace)

daisypond · 29/09/2019 11:18

Eleanor of Aquitaine - an English queen. Victoria?

whatausername · 29/09/2019 16:48

Victoria after Victoria Drummond. A heck of a naval engineer at a time when women were "discouraged" (aka bullied and maligned) if they tried to do "men's" work.

whatausername · 29/09/2019 16:52

Although Elizabeth is cool - Elizabeth Mallett was the first newspaper founder/owner in England as far as we know. The Daily Courant was a regular newspaper started in 1702. This was huge in terms of distributing information and empowering the public to know what was happening.

BikeRunSki · 29/09/2019 16:55

Mary (Seacole or Anning)
Valentina (Terschkoca, first woman in space)

Proseccoinamug · 29/09/2019 19:17

Cicely (Saunders)

Astronica · 30/09/2019 02:29

Matilda, English queen and warrior.

AverageMummy · 30/09/2019 06:56

Emmeline is lovely although I don’t think two Rs is an issue
Ada is another fab one
@Ricekrispie22 I only discovered yesterday Beatrix Potter was really called Helen!

Pcosmama · 30/09/2019 10:37

Definitely in favour of Emmeline!

Thoughtlessinengland · 30/09/2019 12:29

Wow you all are super fab!!! Emmeline seems to be wining here although the others are so good too!

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bridgetreilly · 01/10/2019 12:34

I really like Emmeline and Rosalind. You could also consider Aphra (from Aphra Behn).

merryhouse · 01/10/2019 16:13

Elizabeth is one of those names that was popular across all classes for hundreds of years, so absolutely no-one will associate it with EGA unless you specifically tell them.

I only know of two Emmelines (the other in a silly sweet children's poem by AA Milne who wrote Winnie-the-Pooh) and suspect that Pankhurst will be what most people immediately think.

Rosalind falls somewhere in the middle of those - I'd be likely to wonder whether it was after anyone, and eventually come up with Franklin among others (probably after the Shakespearean character).

Marie and Mary are the same as Elizabeth. Valentina is not a British name. Victoria will definitely bring up monarchy associations. As will Matilda, obviously (a very strong-willed woman but prone to disastrous lapses of judgement).

I like Emmeline, but it may sound a little over-earnest. Rosalind is lovely (and you can put roses over everything! - sorry, that may sound dreadful Smile).

Spied · 01/10/2019 16:17

Florence (Nightingale)
Jane (Austin)

Thoughtlessinengland · 01/10/2019 17:07

Right !! Thanks everyone for such excellent suggestions. After taking everything into account have decided to go with Emmeline :)

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