St. Patrick's Day Name Game

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! This is a Create-A-Family (CAF) game I posted on Behind the Name's Game Board. In honor of the day here are some Irish names to create a family with. Use the names in the namebanks to give the family members first names and middle names. Each name is linked so you can click on it and find out how the Gaelic names are pronounced and their meanings. You can add or subtract children if you want.

Note: DH = Dear Husband, DW = Dear Wife, DS = Dear Son, DS/DS = twin dear sons, DD = dear daughter

DH:
DW:

DS/DS:
DD:
DS:
DD:
DD:
DS:
DD:
DD:
DS:

Girls Namebank: 
Aideen Ailbhe Aileen Ailis Aine Aislin Aisling Aislinn Aithne Alannah Aoibhe Aoibheann Aoife Bebhinn Bedelia Bevin Biddy Bree Brianna Brid Bride Bridget Brigh Brighid Brogan Bronagh Caitlin Caitria Caitriona Caoimhe Cathleen Catriona Ciannait Ciara Cleena Cliodhna Cliona Clodagh Dairine Darina Dearbhail Deirbhile Deirdre Derval Dervila Dervla Devin Doireann Dorean Eabha Eadan Eavan Edna Eibhlin Eileen Eilis Eimear Eireann Eireen Eithne Emer Ennis Enya Erin Ethna Finnuala Finola Fiona FlannFlannan Gobnait Gobnet Gormlaith Grainne Grania Granya Honora Isibeal Kathleen Keavy Keelan Keelin Keeva Kelly Kennedy Kiera Laoise Liadan Lile Luiseach Maeve Maire Mairead Mairin Mallaidh Maura Maureen Mavourneen Meabh Moira Moirin Mona Mor Moreen Moyna Moyra Muireen Muirgel Muirgen Muriel Murphy Myrna Nainsi Naomh Neasa Nessa Neve Niamh Noirin Nola Nora Noreen Onora Oona Oonagh Orfhlaith Orla Orna Patsy Reagan Riona Rois Roisin Rosheen Sadb Sadbh Saoirse Saraid Searlait Shavonne Shea Sheila Shevon Sibeal Sile Sinead Siobhan Siofra Sive Slaine Sorcha Talulla Toireasa Treasa Una 

Boys Namebank: 
Abban Aengus Aidan Ailbhe Ailin Aindreas Alastar Alby Angus AodhAodhan Aonghus Aran Ardal Ardghal Bairre Barra Barrfind Barry Berach Braden Brady Brendan Brennan Brian Brodie Brody Brogan Cadogan Cainneach Cairbre Calvagh Caoimhin Caolan Carbrey Carey Carroll Carson Cathair Cathal Cathan Cavan Ceallach Cearbhall Cian Cianan Ciar Ciaran Cillian Cinaed Clancy Cody Coilean Coleman Colin Colm Colman Comhghall Conall Conan Conley Conn Connor Conor Cormac Cuan Cowal Daire Daley Dara Daragh Declan Dermot Desmond Devin Diarmaid Donal Donovan Doran Dougal Doyle Eamon Edan Eibhear Ennis Eoghan Eoin Faolan Farquhar Fearchar FergalFergus Fiachra Finbar Finbarr Finley Finnegan Finnian Fintan Fionn Gallagher Gilroy Grady Keane Keefe Keegan Keenan Kennedy Kevin Kieran Killian Laoghaire Leary Liam Lorcan Malachy Mannix Murphy Murdoch Naoise Neil Niall Ninian Nolan Oisin OrrinOsheen Padraig Patrick Riordan Ronan Rory Rowan Ryan Seamus Sean Seanan Searlas Shane Somhairle Sorley Sweeney Tadhg Teague Tiernan Tierney Tomas Torin Uilliam Uinseann


Example: This is the family I created.


DH: Ciaran Seamus 
DW: Orla Mairead 

DS/DS: Aodhan Daragh / Ardghal Diarmaid 
DD: Eimear Laoise 
DS: Oisin Tadgh 
DD: Caoimhe Roisin 
DD: Dearbhail Sadbh
DS: Colm Laoghaire 
DD: Saoirse Doireann 
DD: Meabh Caitriona 
DS: Finbarr Cillian 

Ciaran & Orla
Aodhan, Ardghal, Eimear, Oisin, Caoimhe, Dearbhail, Colm, Saoirse, Meabh and Finbarr




I hope someone might take the time to do this game on here. I love Irish names! :)
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Random Lovely Names

Here's a few names I've encountered today. 

I met a beautiful Christian young lady and her husband from France today, her name is Virginie. I've seen the name before but never met anyone with this name. I think it's lovely and I really like the sound! It's pronounced veer-jeh-nee. Any suggestions for middle names for Virgine? The girl pictured above looks a little like Virginie that's why I posted it. 

I also heard this morning sibling set on the radio today. Their last name McClellan:
Sophia (g)
Maria (g) [pronounced mah-ry-uh like Mariah]
Asher (b)

I really like their names with the last name, especially Asher McClellan. I don't really like Asher in general but I love this!


What do you think of these names?




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Funny Quote

“The young man waited impatiently for the lady to finish with the drugstore telephone directory. After she had turned page after page he said, “Madam, can I help you find the number you want?” “Oh, I don’t want a number,” she replied, “I’m looking for a pretty name for my baby.”
— Bell Telephone News




Well that's one way to find a nice name! It would probably just be easier to buy a name book from that same drugstore. This sounds like an older quote, I thought it was cute!

Another Reworking - Complete

 

Last night I changed some of the combos and their rankings. These names are listen in order of my favorites and I've added info for each combo.

Girls:

• Eleanor Sally - Amy has been my favorite for a long time but now whenever I think about my firstborn daughter I think of the name Eleanor. I've taken the plunge and listed it first on my list and changed the middle name from Mary (my great-grandmother's name) to Sally which honors my grandmother. The flow might be a little off but I really love this combo! 
• Amy Irene - I know the flow of this combo is a little off, I don't usually like vowels together but these both honor family members. 
• Julia Mary - I just adore the sweet sound of this combo isn't it just darling? Mary honors my great-grandmother and I love how the two names are old-fashioned yet timeless.
• Lena Beatrice - Lena honors my great-great-grandmother and Beatrice honors her daughter. I used to have Elena Beatrice on my list but I love Lena so much more and don't want to use it just as a nickname. 
• Lydia Pearl - just two sweet names that I've always loved.
• Sadie Arabella - I adore Sadie and Arabella and am not sure they work together but Arabella is more interesting than Elizabeth.
• Clara Adelaide - Clara is a name that recently my mom and I have both said we love. Adelaide is so sweet and I think the names sound nice together.
• Emma Claire - this is a combo I have loved for a long time. Claire is not my favorite but I think it goes very well with sweet Emma. 
• Jane Sophia - I love Jane to honor my dear Jane Austen and Sophia has really grown on me recently. In an attempt to name to three name combos I changed this from sweet Jane Sophia Elinor. 
• Evangeline Mercy - I love Evangeline and the different sound it adds to my list. Mercy is a family name that I love and I like how these two virtue names fit together. I'd use the nicknames Eve, Eva or even Evie - love them all!

Boys:

• Edmund Laurence - I've liked Edmund for a while now but recently after seeing a photo of a baby named Edmund I fell in love with the name all over again! I've also realized recently that Laurence is a name I really want to use because it honors my grandfather who I was named after. I love how handsome and old-fashioned this combos it!
• Simon Henry - two names that honors family. I love how it flows.
• Nathaniel Welcome - I love both names and they honor ancestors on my family tree. Welcome is a bit odd but it's also such a great name.
• Ciaran Michael - I used to have this at the top of my list but I'm not sure I'll actually use it. Because Michael is my surname I'd really like to use it even though this it's popular.
• Colin Stone - My dad's name mixed with my grandmother's maiden name which was also a surname on my family tree. I like the way this combo flows. Colin really belongs to my brother because it's his name too so he'll get to use it first. 
• Ian Matthias - I love both names equally but thought having Ian first flowed better.
• Jack Kenneth - Kenneth honors several family members in both of my parents families including my grandfather, great-grandfather, two uncles and a great uncle. It's growing on me and I actually like it with Jack.
• Silas Jasper - I just love both of these names and they sound nice together.
• Gideon Levi - I love Gideon and wanted Levi on the list. 
• William Ezra - William is a family name. I don't think I'd actually use this but it's a nice combo to bring my list to 10. 

What do you think? 

Reworking My Favorites

I've been doing a lot of work on my favorite names and have been forming combos with my absolute favorite names. These are names I would actually use and I've tried to put them in order of my favorites.

Top 10 Boys Combos:

Edmund Laurence

Simon Henry

Nathaniel Welcome

Ciaran Michael

Colin Stone

Silas Gideon

Matthias Ian

Jack Kenneth

William Ezra

Titus Jasper

I've really been in love with Edmund lately and Laurence is my grandfather's name, the grandfather who I'm named after so it's a name I really want to use. I've loved Ciaran for so long but I probably won't use it. The Simon and Nathaniel combos are two that I've loved for a long time and do hope to use.

Top 10 Girls Combos:

Eleanor Mary

Amy Irene

Sadie Arabella

Lena Beatrice

Lydia Pearl

Jane Sophia

Emma Claire

Clara Adelaide

Julia Sally

Evangeline Mercy

Amy has been my favorite name for so long but now when I think of having a daughter Eleanor is the first name that comes to mind. I just adore it! I changed my Elena Beatrice combo and put in Lena which I really love. I've also recently added Clara to my top ten; it's a name my mom and I both like and thought it went alright with Adelaide. I love the name Sadie because it's a form of my late grandmother's name, Sally. I'm not sure about Sadie Arabella but it's pretty close to being something I'd use. I love both names. 

So, what are your thoughts? opinions? Which are your favorites? Any changes you'd recommend? 

Sweet Girls Names!

Little girls can be so sweet and adorable! I hope one day to have a couple of sweet daughters on my own, preferably with blond or red curly hair. I have a few lovely names picked out already that I hope to use. I love girls names that are feminine and old-fashioned, beautiful old names!

Here are some of my favorite girls names:

Adelaide

Amy

Anneliese

Arabella

Beatrice

Catherine

Eleanor

Elena

Evangeline

Felicity

Grace

Irene

Isabella

Jane

Juliana 

Juliet

Leah

Lillias

Lydia

Marjorie

Mary

Phoebe

Rosalie

Sadie

Sophia

Recently a blogging friend posted some of her favorite girls names on her blog and I just loved them! 

• Amelia Claire
• Ariella Elise
• Eloise Charlotte
• Marilyn Floressa
• Annabelle Elaine
• and also she likes Lisette

Aren't they beautiful girly-girl names?

What are your favorite girls names?

Recent Names I've Encountered

Here were several births among my acquaintances in December and January and a few other names I've encountered recently:

• Natalia Hope - my friends had their 9th child a week before Christmas and chose this beautiful name meaning "Christmas hope" for their sixth daughter!
• Abide Ackroyd - my dear friend Jon and Ann had their first child, a boy on December 14th and gave him this unusual name. This summer Ann intimated to me that they were choosing a first name that honored an African Christian friend of their's but had changed the name a bit so the meaning wasn't something to do with the Muslin religion. Ann's maiden name serves as the middle name. I do love virtue names and this one is quite unique!
• Clifford Martin Jr. - My friend Roxanne and her husband Cliff also welcomed their first child just after Christmas. The baby was named after his father and it seems he is to be called "Little Cliff". I must say that in general I pity Juniors who have to share their father's names but Clifford and Martin do stand out as old-fashioned names among the work of Dakotas and Braydens that I can't help admiring their boldness! 
• Christopher Michael Jr. "C.J." - my little cousin was born in March and named after his father. His parents call him C.J. I do sort of wish they had used Matthias which was a family name they had considered but he is so adorable and the name actually suits him very well!

• Esslyn - Encounterd while watching the TV series Midsomer Murders. Masculine, the character it was used on was a British stage actor full name Esslyn Carmichael. It looks a bit Welsh to me but I can't find any info, the closest my searches came were Jesslyn. I posted about this on Behind the Name's Name Fact Board and came up with this: "Esslyn is probably made up. There's not one single result for it as a first name or a surname in UK records from 1837 to last year, and the only male Welsh name I can think of that even sounds like it is Iestyn." I actually like the name quite a bit.
• Cully - Also encountered whild watching Midsomer Murders. Feminine, the character is the daughter of the main police detective. Cully Barnaby is her full name. I assume "Cully" is short for a longer name but throughout the series she's only called by that one name. My own searches brought up Cully, Switzerland and the word Cully meaning "A fool or dupe" also "Slang pal; mate". After posting this also on Behind the Name I came up with this come conclusive info: "I found this on http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Satellite/9476/news.htm: ''Cully's name John (Nettles) has also jokingly reiterated the story of how Cully got her name. In our younger days we spent our honeymoon in a place called Cully by Lake Geneva and it was there that Cully was conceived – and it was in relation to that experience that she got her name.'' I thought perhaps that was how the story ran (from Cully, Switzerland) but I couldn't remember hearing that explained in any of the episodes.

What new names have you encountered recently?

Name-a-gram Game

I got the game Bananagrams for Christmas and have really been enjoying this Scrabble type game. Being a name enthusiast I couldn't resist using the letter tiles to form names!

In each photo below the letter tiles form at least one name I was thinking of. Using all the tiles unscramble the letters to form a common name. All photos are my own, sorry for the poor color/lighting in some of them.

Example:

Equals:



See how many names you can get. I'll post the answers soon. Have fun!


1. _____________


2. ____________


3. _____________


4. _______


5. ____________


6. ____________


7. _______________


8. _____________


9. _____________


10. ____________


11. ________________


12. ______________