help! my unnamed baby girl is 4 weeks old!!

[muminmuddle]

I need help! my baby girl is 4 weeks old and we still can't decide on her name. in a real dilemma between Martha and Josie. Any thoughts on either name? which shall we go for?

There is one Martha in DD's girls school (about 90 girls). None in the schoo I teach in (prob about 135 girls in infants). None of our friends have girls caled Martha.

I do think it si beautiful and top o my ist, aong with Matida and Florence, fr if I ever have another girl.

Martha is going up the list in popularity but I dont know any. (DD2 would have been Martha) depends on what you deem popular, think its still outside top 30 names so hardly the same as Ruby etc the area you live in tends to be more reflective than the 'list' as trends seem to be localised.

My mum's name is Josie shortened from Josephine. Her middle name is Mary. She was born in 1950 and her best friend at secondary school for 7 years was also Josie, but preferred to be called Jo.

My mum-in-law is called Christine. I like that and also Christina. Sounds a little bit holy.

I have always loved the name, Kieira as in Knightley but i think "Kieira Curtis" would be a bit much!!!! For the same reason I won't be using Christie or Kirsty!!!!!! It wouldn't be fair on the poor child. You need to say the name allowed lots of times to see if the names work together.

I have girl cousins named Lorna, Jodi, Abbie and Jane, their kids are called Charlotte, Rebecca, Maria, Ellie and Eva. I have male cousins named Glyn, Anthony and Ian.

Hope this helps you.

I love Martha but then am biased as my dd2 is called that.
She has just turned 1 and i don't know of any others around here. None at dd1 pre school or ds school either.

Martha is old fashioned without being old lady! It's lovely.

I adore Martha. We chose it for our girl's name when pg 5 years ago, out popped a boy. It was our girl's name 2 years ago, another boy! And it's STILL our #1 choice if this baby turns out to be a girl in June

I have never actually come across a Martha IRL, I am not convinced about the whole possible top 10 popularity theory.....stats weren't produced last year but the official stats for the year before had Martha at 87

I love Martha. I'm not keen on Josie personally, no particular reason why though.

Are you any closer to deciding?

I like Martha better, plus it's like Martha in Doctor Who who is very cool - and then her initials would be MN too

But really if she is 4 weeks old already, you must be getting a bit of a feel for her personality (as far as tiny babies have one), so I would go with whichever seems to suit her best, or if you can't imagine calling her either one, then something else altogether. If it doesn't feel "right" to you, you might end up feeling you picked the wrong name.

dotty I really hope you get a girl this time.

Mum in a muddle have you and DH decided yet? How about Kerry-Anne? My brother's girlfriend's name. I think it's suitable sutiable for a child and adult alike.

Also. I love the name Connie.

one very large vote for Josie! I do also like Martha - but i think Josie pips it for me.
Look forward to hearing your final decision for your little one.

A little (hopefully helpful!) cut and paste from a baby name website - if you did decide on josie and did want a "longer" or more formal version.......
Jo [Jobelle, Jobeth, Jodean, Jodelle,Jodie Joetta, Joette, Jolana, Joleesa, Jolene, Jolinda, Jolisa, Jolise, Jolissa, Jolyn, Jolynn, Jo-Marie, Jonell, Jonelle, Jonessa, Jonetia, Joniece, Jonique, Jonisa, Joquise, Jorene, Josanna, Josanne, Jovelle, Jozette]Jane [Joan, Joana, Joanna, Johanna, Johnetta, Johnna, Jonella, Jonelle]

Not that you're trying to persuade her or anything Raeray

Thanks KC11 but maybe I should confess here that I already have 3 girls They are just that bit older and none of them is a Martha!

Now becoming more than a little embarrassed to say that we still haven't settled on the name..... very much appreciating all your thoughts and views though.

I'm really struck by how many Josie-supporters there are on here. When we mention the name Josie to anyone in person - friends, family, random well-wishers in the street - we've had the strangest reactions. Most people seem to react negatively and I honestly don't know why - is there something I am missing about the name Josie?

(no offence to anyone who is called Josie...obviously I love the name, but it just seems that the people I speak to don't... and I want to understand why....)

No but people have wierd reactions to all sorts of things.

(My vote is for Martha - my headmistress at secondary school was called Martha and she was an amazing, elegant woman who was swimming in the sea off North East Scotland into her 70s. Proper woman she is.)

I think the "is it Jozee or Josee" conversation is offputting. It means she might have to explain her pronunciation for ever...

My friend recently called her DD Martha. I love it and she's the only Martha I know

I too would opt for Martha, Josie just doesn't do it for me, but that is probably because I knew of a smelly girl at school called Josie. You could always choose both, I likde both Ella and Rose for my daughter, so she is Ella-Rose.....problem solved. I also like Grace if the next one is a girl (after my grandma)

Good job you don't live in Scotland - baby would have had to be names a week ago!

Both names are nice.

muminamuddle - perhaps you should choose something completely different and use those as middle names. If you were certain of either of them you would have made a decision.

How about combining the two - Marcie?

Ooh good idea Bettymum, Marcie is nice.

I really empathise with your dilemma - I had the same problem when I had my DS. We didn't register him until the very last minute, and even sitting in the Register Office I still didn't know which name was going to be his first name and which was going to be his middle name.

I think both names are really lovely - both names were on my fave names list for girls, although Josie would have been short for Josephine.

Is your heart telling you Josie deep down??
Don't think about other people's opinions - it's only yours that matters. No one else cares what you call your child really, and it's not something that anyone else will dwell on. But you've got to live with it. Take your time I say. Good luck - I'm feeling for you! XXX

I prefer Martha. I quite like Josie though. That's a lot of help I bet

Martha Jocelyn/Josie is adorable.

I know two Marthas who are under 3. But not little Josies.
I think i prefer Josie, but like boht names.
I agree go for the name you really want and feels right, not what others tell you or what makes most sense.

hijack time - Walking Primrose - did you get your name dilemna sorted in the end? And are you finally happy with your choice now?

Hi Concordia,

Well, its kind of sorted out (he's nearly 18 months now)...what happened was this...we had him baptised at 5 months and when the priest read out the name order we'd chosen (xy) and kept refering to him as x I suddenly realised it wasn't right and he should be called y. I didn't have the courage to stop the ceremony so when we got back to our house for the 'do' I just told everyone to call him y instead of x afterall. Thankfully it was only immediate family and closest friends and they all knew I'd been having this huge name dilemma since he was born, so they weren't really that shocked at my behaviour! So, anyway he's registered and baptised as xy but we call him y.
x