Baby Name: Marlena

A reader named Maisie is expecting her fourth child (gender unknown) and she’d like some help coming up with names. Her first three children are named Lorna, Zacharias (Zach) and Louis. Here are the names Maisie and her husband have been considering:

An intriguing mix, isn’t it?

Even before reading the list, though, my very first thought was: L-names should probably be avoided. I like the four L-names on the shortlist–Laurence especially–but I would hate for Zach to feel like the odd one out.

Another thought I had was: How about an A-name or a B-name? The current first letters come from the middle, end, and middle of the alphabet, respectively, so why not swing back to the beginning? A pendular name pattern. It might be a silly idea, but there it is. Along these lines I like Anastasia, Alfred and Arthur (all great names) and maybe also: Abraham (Abe), Ada, Alice, Amelia, Antonia, Archibald (Archie), Barney, Benjamin, Bernadette and Bernard.

Now, getting past this talk of patterns…

I really like Marlena, Caitlin, Winefred and Freddie. But I prefer the spelling Winifred, and I think Freddie would be even better as a nickname for something like Frederick or Alfred (which is already on the list). I’m so-so on Joshua in this case.

I was caught off guard by Willa-May, Eva-May, Catya and Myro. The first two stood out because of the hyphens, but as soon as I got over the punctuation I realized they’re both very cute. Catya and Myro, though, I’m not as excited about. Catya sounds rather exotic as the sister of, say, Lorna. (I’m also not used to seeing it spelled with a C.) And Myro is just exotic in general. I could see Myron or Milo working with this group, but I don’t think Myro fits as well.

Here are a few other ideas:

Which of the above names do you like best with Lorna, Zach and Louis? What other advice or suggestions would you offer to Maisie?

Update: The baby is here! Scroll down to see what name Maisie chose.