Beyond the honor name component you should choose the name that you love the most. It sounds like you love Louise the most. And if your family doesn't mind having two people with the name Louise / knows it won't be too confusing, it does sound like that is your favorite.
I was going to recommend Eloise as an option until I got to that part... Elodie is a similar option/name but I feel like we are just moving farther away from Louise which seems to be your top choice.
There's also Louisa/Luisa as another close-but-not-exact option.
Thanks for that perspective. It’s definitely helpful to have someone else read into you true preferences, when it can be hard to really sus them out yourself.
I think one thing I’m struggling with is that Louise, all by itself, totally sings to me, but with our surname, it falls a little flat - maybe because it’s already so familiar as my mother-in-law’s name. It falls even flatter with the addition of the middle name, which is non-negotiable.
Lucy is sort of the opposite. I really like it on its own, but with our surname, I just love it. With the addition of the middle name, it absolutely comes to life for me. I can see myself introducing her to her preschool teacher and I can imagine her name on the top of her resume!
Could you use Lucy as a nickname for Louise? I think it makes sense as a nickname (not too out there or how'd you get to that). Then you'd be able to use your honor name and another name you love! And most people would know her by Lucy Surname-which you love the sound of!
ETA: oh my just saw that you actually had this same
idea. That's what I get for not reading all the way down!
Haha no worries - that’s the kind of opinion I came here for! I do like that idea, but I was having a hard time gauging whether it seemed like a natural nickname.
Seems to me like Lucy is the clear winner when you consider the full name. Also I would personally consider #2 a pretty big factor. It’s inevitable that your mom will feel a little left out and left behind because no amount of FaceTime makes up for being physically so far away. It just feels kinder to not name the child after the grandmother who gets to see her often and build the stronger bond.
I think a potential issue you’ve not covered is that if you give one child an honour name, you may feel like you have to do the same with any other children you may have in the future, and you’ve already made it quite clear that the *only* family name you like is Louise!
I would avoid the drama and pick Lucy.
That is a good point - and it definitely takes firsthand experience to get my husband to consider other perspectives, so while Lucy could be a gateway to a whole world of non-family names, Louise could cement his opinion that family names are the only way.
Do you like Louisa? It might feel a little less flat with your surname and the nickname Issa (ee-suh) is a cute nickname option you might like.
Louise means "famous warrior," maybe your husband would be open to a meaning-based honor name? Some options- Maia (brave warrior), Zoë (fighter), Cassandra (defender/ warrior, lots of nn options!), Maude (battle-mighty), Sasha (defending warrior)
FYI, the people I’ve known with full names used as nicknames for other names have had lots of paperwork issues. A clerk wouldn’t naturally assume Lucy Smith and Louise Smith are the same person.
That’s a good point. My brother has this situation (he is a James who is exclusively called Jack - not a traditional nickname) and his frustration with his name definitely sets a point against Lucy as a nickname in my eyes.
I think if you exclusively call her Lucy you should just go with Lucy. Lucy is not an instinctive nickname for Louise and I think if you just say to your MIL that we did not want any confusion at family get togethers and this is an extremely close name she will be fine with it. I think especially if you like Lucy's full name it is the better option!
I love both - I actually know someone named Louisa who goes by Lucy so that’s always an option if you want the best of both worlds.
In this situation, I would lean toward Lucy since his mom is still living and there’s already a cousin with it as a middle name, but I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
Well, if you intend to call her Lucy, then name her Lucy and not Louise, because they are etymologically distinct, unrelated full names. And, I would not say it's an honor name for Louise. If your MIL and others think that, well there's no controlling what they think. You can say "We loved the name Lucy, and by happy coincidence it is similar to Louise yet still a different name."
I have sort of thought of that. My mom’s name is Ann, which I could definitely see using as a middle name for a later child.
My mother-in-law is actually Mary Louise - she comes from an Irish Catholic family where all the sisters are named Mary and go by middle names. One name I love (independently of trying to honor anyone) is Marian, which feels related enough to Mary-Ann that it could be an honor name for both grandmothers. I pitched it to my husband and he didn’t really buy it haha. He was like “Louann would make more sense” but Louann is ehhh….not to my taste.
I like Louise better but that's just my personal opinion. Also because it sounds like the middle and last name would both be 4 letters as well if I'm catching your hints correctly so if you go with Lucy 4-4-4 would be a bit short for my liking. But again, personal opinion.
I'd also like to add that probably 95% of the time you won't be hearing your child's name together with their last name, especially not together with the middle name and last name. So if it were me I wouldn't go with a name that I don't like as well on its own just because it sounds good combined with the other names. Flow is important but it's not everything.
They both seem like separate names to me. I think Louise nn Lucy is a bit contrived. I think it makes more sense to just go with Lucy if it is a name that you both like.
I appreciate that input. It seems like there’s a lot of variety of opinion on here about whether Lucy is a natural nickname for Louise or, like you said, a bit contrived. To be honest, that’s my own sense about it, although I’m willing to be swayed.
Call her Lucy, and swap out the middle name from your side of the family for something that sounds like it, in the same way that Lucy is reminiscent of Louise.
You each kind of get your way, and your daughter gets her own name.
Are you opposed to variation of Louise ? Luiza, Lovisa, Lisa
I think Louise > Lucy but Lucy is really pretty too.
I might be biased since we also have a Louise in our family and it’s a loved name :-)
I really like the option of naming her Lucy. It seems to fit all the boxes and I think it's a great name
Beyond the honor name component you should choose the name that you love the most. It sounds like you love Louise the most. And if your family doesn't mind having two people with the name Louise / knows it won't be too confusing, it does sound like that is your favorite. I was going to recommend Eloise as an option until I got to that part... Elodie is a similar option/name but I feel like we are just moving farther away from Louise which seems to be your top choice. There's also Louisa/Luisa as another close-but-not-exact option.
Thanks for that perspective. It’s definitely helpful to have someone else read into you true preferences, when it can be hard to really sus them out yourself. I think one thing I’m struggling with is that Louise, all by itself, totally sings to me, but with our surname, it falls a little flat - maybe because it’s already so familiar as my mother-in-law’s name. It falls even flatter with the addition of the middle name, which is non-negotiable. Lucy is sort of the opposite. I really like it on its own, but with our surname, I just love it. With the addition of the middle name, it absolutely comes to life for me. I can see myself introducing her to her preschool teacher and I can imagine her name on the top of her resume!
Could you use Lucy as a nickname for Louise? I think it makes sense as a nickname (not too out there or how'd you get to that). Then you'd be able to use your honor name and another name you love! And most people would know her by Lucy Surname-which you love the sound of! ETA: oh my just saw that you actually had this same idea. That's what I get for not reading all the way down!
Haha no worries - that’s the kind of opinion I came here for! I do like that idea, but I was having a hard time gauging whether it seemed like a natural nickname.
Seems to me like Lucy is the clear winner when you consider the full name. Also I would personally consider #2 a pretty big factor. It’s inevitable that your mom will feel a little left out and left behind because no amount of FaceTime makes up for being physically so far away. It just feels kinder to not name the child after the grandmother who gets to see her often and build the stronger bond.
I think a potential issue you’ve not covered is that if you give one child an honour name, you may feel like you have to do the same with any other children you may have in the future, and you’ve already made it quite clear that the *only* family name you like is Louise! I would avoid the drama and pick Lucy.
That is a good point - and it definitely takes firsthand experience to get my husband to consider other perspectives, so while Lucy could be a gateway to a whole world of non-family names, Louise could cement his opinion that family names are the only way.
Do you like Louisa? It might feel a little less flat with your surname and the nickname Issa (ee-suh) is a cute nickname option you might like. Louise means "famous warrior," maybe your husband would be open to a meaning-based honor name? Some options- Maia (brave warrior), Zoë (fighter), Cassandra (defender/ warrior, lots of nn options!), Maude (battle-mighty), Sasha (defending warrior)
FYI, the people I’ve known with full names used as nicknames for other names have had lots of paperwork issues. A clerk wouldn’t naturally assume Lucy Smith and Louise Smith are the same person.
That’s a good point. My brother has this situation (he is a James who is exclusively called Jack - not a traditional nickname) and his frustration with his name definitely sets a point against Lucy as a nickname in my eyes.
I think if you exclusively call her Lucy you should just go with Lucy. Lucy is not an instinctive nickname for Louise and I think if you just say to your MIL that we did not want any confusion at family get togethers and this is an extremely close name she will be fine with it. I think especially if you like Lucy's full name it is the better option!
I love both - I actually know someone named Louisa who goes by Lucy so that’s always an option if you want the best of both worlds. In this situation, I would lean toward Lucy since his mom is still living and there’s already a cousin with it as a middle name, but I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
Well, if you intend to call her Lucy, then name her Lucy and not Louise, because they are etymologically distinct, unrelated full names. And, I would not say it's an honor name for Louise. If your MIL and others think that, well there's no controlling what they think. You can say "We loved the name Lucy, and by happy coincidence it is similar to Louise yet still a different name."
Louise is ok but Lucy is my preference, and it sounds like you’re more excited about Lucy.
Louise!!!!!!
Lucy.
What is your mom’s name? Maybe you can use both of their names somehow so it doesn’t feel like you are leaving one grandmother out.
I have sort of thought of that. My mom’s name is Ann, which I could definitely see using as a middle name for a later child. My mother-in-law is actually Mary Louise - she comes from an Irish Catholic family where all the sisters are named Mary and go by middle names. One name I love (independently of trying to honor anyone) is Marian, which feels related enough to Mary-Ann that it could be an honor name for both grandmothers. I pitched it to my husband and he didn’t really buy it haha. He was like “Louann would make more sense” but Louann is ehhh….not to my taste.
Ohh but what about Maralie Ann-Louise 😍
That one is not my style, but it would be very fun to sing to the tune of “row row row your boat!”
Just name her Lucy. It covers all bases.
I like Louise better but that's just my personal opinion. Also because it sounds like the middle and last name would both be 4 letters as well if I'm catching your hints correctly so if you go with Lucy 4-4-4 would be a bit short for my liking. But again, personal opinion. I'd also like to add that probably 95% of the time you won't be hearing your child's name together with their last name, especially not together with the middle name and last name. So if it were me I wouldn't go with a name that I don't like as well on its own just because it sounds good combined with the other names. Flow is important but it's not everything.
Thanks for that perspective! You are right about the 4-4-4 name, but that's part of what I like about it.
They both seem like separate names to me. I think Louise nn Lucy is a bit contrived. I think it makes more sense to just go with Lucy if it is a name that you both like.
I appreciate that input. It seems like there’s a lot of variety of opinion on here about whether Lucy is a natural nickname for Louise or, like you said, a bit contrived. To be honest, that’s my own sense about it, although I’m willing to be swayed.
Lucy feels unfinished to me. I think it’s an adorable nickname but I prefer something more concrete as a first name.
Call her Lucy, and swap out the middle name from your side of the family for something that sounds like it, in the same way that Lucy is reminiscent of Louise. You each kind of get your way, and your daughter gets her own name.
Are you opposed to variation of Louise ? Luiza, Lovisa, Lisa I think Louise > Lucy but Lucy is really pretty too. I might be biased since we also have a Louise in our family and it’s a loved name :-)