[H]ow do I find a strong unique vintage name for this second precious girlie that will not wilt next to a strong name like Copeland Rhine?

And here are some other questions and points Lisa brought up:

• “Our goal is not to have their names competing for placement but complimenting each other.”
• “We do not want to be boxed in on unisex or surname first names.”
• “I have been gravitating towards Sojourner Bliss or Sojourner Mercy (Sophie for short) but that is all I have and my husband is not sold on it nor on a stronger masculine name.”
• “My husband really loves Evangeline yet he is not wanting to use it because it is becoming so popular. We both love the idea of Evie as a nickname.”
• “I really want to honor three people in my family but all three would not wish their name on anyone: Leona, Gertrude and Lorraine. Are there any derived names that I could use?” [Other family names she mentioned are Cornelia, Josephine, Ester, Rosemary, Carmelita, Trinia (Trijntje), Johannes, Sophia, Evelientje, Alice (called Ollie), Francis, Felicia and Blanche.]

The baby’s surname will be a 2-syllable name that starts with D and also includes a z-sound. It’s somewhat similar to De Souza.

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So the challenge is to find “strong unique vintage” names that work with Copeland, but that won’t lock Lisa’s family into surnames or unisex names. And to try to get a family connection in there as well.

I think Evangeline is a great idea, actually. It’s strong, vintage, and neither a surname nor a unisex name. And both Lisa and her husband like the nickname Evie. Seems like the only thing holding them back is the popularity.

Yes, Evangeline has become slightly popular recently. It’s been back in the top 1,000 since 2006. But let’s put that into context. Over 2,000,000 baby girls were born last year, and only 735 of them were named Evangeline. That’s a very small percentage. (But if it’s really that bothersome, there’s always Evangelina, which is still well out of the top 1,000.)

I’m not a big fan of Sojourner. It’s strong, and unique, and not a surname…but it’s not feminine, and it’s not what I’d call vintage, even if Sojourner Truth was a well-known 19th-century woman. I’d worry about teasing, especially with a noun-middle like Bliss or Mercy. And I think naming a third child (of either gender) after Copeland and Sojourner would be tricky.

Sophie seems like it would be an awkward nickname for Sojourner. It’s so different from Sojourner that it strikes me as more of a cover-name than a nickname–as if Sojourner were just too strong or strange to work as an everyday name.

Leona, Gertrude and Lorraine…the most interesting way I could think of to combine them was to look for names that feature their first letters (L, G, L) such as Nigella, Allegra and Gillian.

Here are a few other name ideas that came to mind:

Some are related to the family names Lisa mentioned (e.g. Adelaide/Alice, Sophronia/Sophia).

Which of the above names do you like best for the sister of Copeland? What other names would you suggest to Lisa?

I’m having quads (!!!) in 4 weeks and I need names! I’m having one boy and three girls. My 4 year old son’s name is Cosmo. My husband and I like spacey, whimsical and weird names.

In fact, they “don’t have any limits on how weird a name can be.”

One girl name they’re considering is Ione, which is a family name.

The combination of Cosmo and the adjective “spacey” made me think of star and constellation names right off the bat:

One nice thing about these is that several together probably wouldn’t scream “star names” to the average person. Unlike, say, a group of flower names. (Though I’m sure stargazers would catch on pretty quickly.)

And here’s what we have for non-galactic suggestions:

Those were the girl names, these are the boy names:

What other whimsical names can you come up with for Estelle? And, can you put together any good combinations of 1 boy and 3 girl names?

Update: The babies have arrived! Scroll down to see what names Estelle selected.

• St. Emmelia, Anatolian, 4th century. Feast day: May 30.
• Sts. Melania, both Roman, both 5th century. Melania the Elder is the paternal grandmother of Melania the Younger. Feast days: June 8 and December 31.
• Sts. Julitta, both Anatolian, both 4th century. Julitta is a diminutive of Julia. Feast days: June 16 and July 30.
• Sts. Marina, various places and centuries. Feast days include June 18, July 17, and July 18.
• St. Demetria, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: June 21.
• St. Lucina, Roman, 1st century. Feast day: June 30. (Several other saints were also named Lucina.)
• Sts. Cyrilla, one Egyptian, 4th century, the other Roman, 3rd century. Feast days: July 5 and October 28.
• St. Triphina, Breton, 6th century. Feast day: July 5.
• St. Sunniva, Irish (but associated with Norway), 10th century. The name has become moderately popular in Norway within the past decade or so. Feast day: July 8.
• St. Severa, Frankish, 7th century. Feast day: July 20. (Several other saints were also named Severa.)
• St. Liliosa, Spanish, 9th century. Feast day: July 27.
• St. Serapia, Roman, 2nd century. She was a slave belonging to St. Sabina, who will be on tomorrow’s list. Feast day: July 29.

But what if you’re looking for a name that’s a little less ordinary?

Well, things get tricky. Many other female saint names range from simply unstylish (e.g. Agnes, Gertrude) to basically unusable (e.g. Eustochium, Sexburga).

But some lady saints do have cool, unusual names. To prove it, I’ve gone through the entire Roman Martyrology (and a few other sources) and collected sixty names that I think might appeal to modern parents. I’ll post a dozen a day, starting right now…

• St. Geneviève, Frankish, 6th century. Feast day: January 3.
• St. Talida, Egyptian, 4th century. Feast day: January 5.
• St. Genoveva Torres Morales, Spanish, 1870-1956. Her name is the Spanish form of Geneviève. Feast day: January 5.
• St. Marciana, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: January 9.
• St. Savina, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: January 30.
• St. Marcella, Roman, 5th century. Feast day: January 31.
• St. Viridiana, Italian, 13th century. Feast day: February 1.
• St. Cinnia, Irish, 5th century. In Irish, the letter C is always hard (i.e. pronounced like a K). Feast day: February 1.
• Sts. Maura, various places and centuries. Feast days include February 13, May 3, and November 30.
• St. Belina, French, 12th century. Feast day: February 19.
• St. Romana, Roman, 4th century. She may be merely legendary. Feast day: February 23.
• Bl. Villana de’Botti, Italian, 1332-1361. Feast day: February 28.

Stay tuned for the next four installments!

If you look at each of the 6,692 names that have ever ranked among the most popular U.S. (1880-2006), you’ll notice that only 233 two-letter combinations have ever been used at the beginning of the names (e.g., “Na-” for Nancy, or “Ev-” for Evan).

So…what’s the most common pair of starting letters?

Ma- is the clear winner. It starts nearly twice as many names as Ja-, the second most common starting letter-pair.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of all the two-letter combinations that have started at least 100 ranked baby names:

• 331 “Ma-” names (Mark, Mandy, Matthias, Marylouise)
• 177 “Ja-” names (Jane, Jacob, Jaleesa, Jamarion)
• 174 “Al-” names (Alf, Alice, Alphonso, Albertina)
• 167 “De-” names (Dean, Della, Devontae, Demetria)
• 157 “Ka-” names (Karl, Katie, Kameron, Katharina)
• 144 “Sh-” names (Shane, Sherman, Shanice, Sheridan)
• 143 “Ca-” names (Cash, Cadence, Carmella, Casimiro)
• 139 “Da-” names (Dave, Daisy, Damarcus, Dayanara)
• 125 “El-” names (Elmo, Elyse, Elijah, Eleanora)
• 121 “Ro-” names (Ross, Roxie, Roosevelt, Rosalinda)
• 118 “Br-” names (Bruce, Brenda, Bryson, Brittany)
• 118 “Ch-” names (Chad, Chantal, Christopher, Christiana)
• 117 “La-” names (Lane, Laura, Lafayette, Lakeshia)
• 113 “Le-” names (Les, Leah, Leandra, Leopoldo)
• 102 “Je-” names (Jeff, Jewel, Jennifer, Jeremiah)
• 101 “Jo-” names (John, Joanna, Joshua, Josefina)
• 100 “Ar-” names (Art, Arla, Armani, Araceli)