We’re expecting our fifth baby – a girl – very soon, and we’re still completely stuck between two names: Mathilde and Thérèse. I’m honestly starting to panic a little because the due date is very soon, and we just can’t seem to settle on one.
Our other children are Théodore (Théo), Adeline, Frédéric (Freddy), and Arthur. We’re a French-American/Irishfamily currently living in England, but we have family in both England and France (and the US), and there’s a good chance we’ll move to France at some point in the next few years. Our surname is French, and all of our children’s first names have a distinctly French feel. We'd really like to keep that naming style consistent with this baby as well.
Until now, our children’s first names were chosen because we simply loved them (none are honour names) but their middle names are.
(Théo and Freddy have middle names from their grandfathers, Arthur has his father’s name, Adeline’s middle name honours both grandmothers (they happen to share the same name)). For this baby, we’d like to follow that tradition with the middle name.
We're currently choosing between:
Thérèse Elizabeth - would honour both of my grandmothers and echoes my own full name (Elizabeth Theresa), but that’s also what makes it feel too close to me. AND it then would be the only meaningful first name of our children plus then there would be more names that honourable my side of the family, which he dosen’t mind but I do.
Thérèse Elise - would create a better balance between our families (Elise is my husbands grandmother), and we both like how it sounds, but the meaningful first name again.
Mathilde Elizabeth - has no strong ties to either side, but it dosen’t feel completely right an my husband prefers the Name Thérèse.
Mathilde Elise - feels kinda soft (maybe too soft?) and just dosen’t feel so good. Plus then there would be more names from my husbands side…
My husband really likes Thérèse. I agree that it’s a strong name, and I do love the sound of it, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s too close to my own name, and I’m worried it might feel uneven that only one of our children ends up with a direct honour name as their first name. He genuinely doesn’t mind and would be very relaxed about it, but I do. It just doesn’t feel quite balanced, and I’d like to be fair.
Mathilde, on the other hand, doesn’t have a family connection, and we both really like it. It fits the sibling set well, works nicely in French and English. It also avoids all the complications Thérèse brings up for me. My husband still prefers Thérèse slightly, but he agrees Mathilde is a lovely name too. I honestly find them equally beautiful.
So we’re stuck.
– Which name fits best with the sibling names?
– Would it be strange if one child has a meaningful first name, while the others only have them as middles?
– Is the imbalance between the two sides of the family something that matters long-term, or am I overthinking it?- Probably…
And finally while we’re mostly deciding between these two names, we’re not totally closed off to other ideas. If anyone has a suggestion that fits our style. I’d love to hear it.
Thanks so much if you’ve made it this far (Sorry for such a kong text). We really need fresh eyes and honest opinions at this point!😅