7 replies to this topic

[Kristi18]

OK, DH and I are seriously considering adopting again. We found out the country of Congo will allow us to adopt - even with me being a cancer survivor. (Most other countries won't allow cancer survivors to adopt.) Anyway, we are praying about it and plan to make a decision in the next month or so. If we decide to go with it, we will start our paper chase and will be looking at a time frame of 9-12 months. So, we started talking names tonight.

DH tends to like traditional names. My taste lends to traditional, but I like some other names as well. More important to me is the name needs to have a good meaning. We have two kids already...

Kayli Dawn - Kayli means laurel or crown. Her name is also a combo of the family names Kay and Lee. DH insisted the name end with an "I" to match my name as well as my sister's (Ami and Kelli) names. The mn is Dawn is my mn and after my dad - Don.

Luke Thomas - Luke means bringer of light. His name is a variation of my mil's mn - Lou and my grandmother's mn - Louise. His mn is my dh's mn as well as his grandfather's mn.

So, here is what we have so far. At least we know the middle name!

Girls
Emily Jean - Emily means industrious; to strive or excel. Jean is after my FIL.
Lyndi Jean or LIndy - Lyndi or Lindy means beautiful; pretty.


Boys
Levi Travis - Levi means joined in harmony. Travis is after my mom and her great aunt.
Ethan Travis - Ethan means firm; strong
Jonathan Travis - Jonathan means God has given
Samuel Travis - Samuel means His name is God
Zachary Travis - Zachary means God has remembered

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Puppylover12397]

Adoption is a wonderful thing, so, I hope you go through with it. Children are a blessing. I like Emily and Levi best from your options although, for twins I think Emily and Ethan sound cute together.

[flying-person]

Well, from the girls I think Emily goes best with your two other children. But I would spell it Emeli (or something like that) to go with Kayli and all your names- that way the little one doesn't feel left out. The only reason I'm not a fan of Lyndi is because you already have a Luke, and I'm picky with having two siblings with names starting with the same letter and one who has a completely different one. Again, that's just me and that might not concern you

Ethan Travis is my favourite from your boys, because I just love Ethan

Some other suggestions for girls:

Naomi- Pleasant
Ameli/Amelie- means the same as Emily
Joani/Joni- God is gracious
Danni- God is my judge
Maci- Weapon
Demi- Half (not a fan of this meaning, lol)

Good luck with your adoption, and I hope my suggestions/comments helped

[PaperHeart]

First of all, congratulations on this huge decision! It's a wonderful thing and I'm so glad that there are people out there who do it.

We are here for whatever help you might need, naming or otherwise!

I like the sound of Kayli Dawn, Luke Thomas and Emily Jean/Ethan Travis.

it's probably unintentional but I think it's cute that both girls would then have names ending in "Lee" and the boys would have a "T" middle name!

Lyndi/Lindy is cute, but not really my style. I think Kayli and Luke are more.. trendy per say and Lyndi is much more old-fashioned and dated (Not in a bad way!).

I do love Levi and Samuel, but dislike Levi Travis because of the prominent "v" sound in both first and middle name - and that it would mean both Luke and Levi begin with an L and Kayli could possibly feel left out (but that's not a big deal at all and simply my OCD talking).

Have you thought of the following?

Grace (Blessing)

Abigail (The father's joy)

Lucia (Light)

Joanna (Gift of the Lord)

Mary (Wished for child/Bitter - the latter is not too great a meaning)

Ruby (Gem/Red)

Eve/Eva (Enlivening)

Phoebe (Pure)

Vivienne (Alive)

Carys (Love)

Lillian (Beauty)

Gwyneth (Blessed)

Bridget (Strength)

Clara (Bright)

Maeve (The cause of great joy)

Anna -Luke 2:36 .. it could be cute to have that connection- (Gracious, one who gives)

Diana (Luminous, perfect)

Hadassah (A myrtle/joy)

Sofia (Wisdom)

Nadia (Hope)

Katherine (Pure)

Elizabeth (The oath/faithfulness of God)

Irene (Peace)

Kyra (Lady)

Audrey (Noble strength)

Caroline (Song of happiness)

Ella (Bright light)

Naomi (Beautiful)

Lydia (Noble kind)

Jade (Precious/Stone/Green)

Zoey (Life)

Fiona (Beautiful/Fair)

Sarai (My princess)

Alyssa (Noble/Kind)

Claire (Clear/Bright)

Lucy (Light)

Kara (Friend)

Eliana (The Lord has responded)

Sadie (Princess)

Callie (Most beautiful)

Shelby (Sheltered/A place where willows grow)

Juliet (Youth)

Alexia (Defender)

Evangeline (Bearer of good news)

Karina (Pure)

Celeste (Heavenly/Divine)

Bethany (House of song)

Noelle (Day of birth/Christs birthday)

Ruth (Friend)

Daphne (Laurel)

Jane (God is gracious)

Serena (Peaceful/Cheer)

Reed (Clear)

Trent (Traveller/Journey across)

Saul (Prayed for)

Gideon (Mighty warrior)

Davis (Beloved)

Porter (Gate keeper)

Aidan (Little fire)

Jesse (Gift)

Malachi (My messenger)

Jude (Praise/Thanks)

Declan (Full of goodness)

Paul (Humble)

Ezekiel (God will strengthen)

Chance (Good fortune)

Spencer (Giver of goods)

Emmett (Strength)

Theodore (Gift of God)

Abel (Breath)

Bennett (Blessed)

Corey (God's peace)

Finley (Warrior)

Rafael (God has healed)

Jasper (Treasurer)

Dean (Valley)

Simon (Listening)

Brendan (Prince)

Elliott (My God is the Lord)

Asher (Blessed/Happy)

Felix (Lucky/Fortunate)

Ruben (Behold a son)

Colin (Dove/Peace?)

Richard (Strong power)

Noah (Comfort)

Andrew (Warrior)

Nolan (Champion)

Derek (Ruler)

Evan (God is gracious)

Wyatt (Brave/Strong)

Benjamin (Son of my right hand)

Jonah (Dove)

Gabriel (God is my might)

Nathaniel (Gift of God)

Caleb (Heart)

Isaac (He will laugh)

John (God is gracious)

Mateo (Gift of God)

Ezra (Aid)

David (Beloved)

Joshua (God rescues)

[Kristi18]

Thanks for the suggestions! There are a few I am going to add to our list. Some are just not our style or dh has vetoed (he does that a LOT!) Some are names already in use in our family (we have an Abby, Allie and Addie!) Others we are not too fond of the meaning or they just don't seem to flow with the middle names we are set on *Jean and *Travis. A few, I need some more opinions on....

Adding to the list of possibilities

Carys

- Love

Anna - Gracious, one who gives

Elizabeth - The oath/faithfulness of God

*would it be odd to have one child go by a nn and not the other two?

Caroline - Song of happiness

*ok, I love this name and meaning!

what, if any nn's do you see coming from Caroline?

not sure about Caroline Jean, wdyt?

we would pronounce it (CARE - o - line)

Ella - Bright light

Bethany - House of song

Andrew - Warrior

Benjamin - Son of my right hand

*Again, with Andrew and Benjamin, would it be odd to have him use a nn when the other two kids do not?

*Also, some of the names above have different meanings listed than I have seen before (ie, I thought Bethany meant house of figs). Does anyone know where I can find accurate meanings? Is some of it left up to translation / interpretation?

Thanks! As you can see, we need lots of help - we are a bit (ok maybe a whole lot) picky!

[flying-person]

I dunno about accurate, but I always go to www.thinkbabynames.com when I think of a new name

And I love the name Ella Jean. Very cute

[Kristi18]

Update on where we are with names...

DH really likes the name Caroline. I like it as well. Trying to figure out what we could do on a middle name. Jean is after his dad - Delbert Eugene - but he goes by Gene. The other option is naming after my mom - Travis June - yes, my grandmother used Travis for a girl! (In her defense, it was after her AUNT Travis!) Anyway, we can not figure out a middle name that goes well with Caroline and honors one of these two. Suggestions??? Thanks!

Oh, and no, we are not set on "this is the name", please keep the suggestions coming!

[PaperHeart]

Your first question was our thoughts on the following.

Carys (love) I personally adore this one. I think it's sweet but I can see it on a baby and a grown woman.

Anna (Gracious, one who gives) Anna is one of my top first names. I like it's simplicity but ability to remain elegant over time.

Elizabeth (The oath/faithfulness of God) Elizabeth has always been a name I liked. I've also had variants on my list, but I always go back to this one. There's something charming and delicate about it, but also a more harsh quality to it. I think it would be fine for it to go by a nickname even though your other children don't. In my family, most of us go by our full names and my little brother is always Ben, never Benjamin. It just stuck that way. More and more me and my sister get called by shorter versions of our names, but that's more recent. One of my brothers though, there's no possible nickname, except one that would make his name longer. I don't see it as a problem.

Caroline (Song of happiness) I can see a bunch of nn options. Cara, Carly, Callie, Linny, Ollie, Lina, Carrie... I love it.

Ella (Bright light) I really like Ella, though I prefer it as a nickname to longer options like Eliza or Eloise (Or more quirky nicknames for Lorelai and Penelope). I think Kayli, Luke and Ella work great together.

Bethany (House of song) This was the meaning I got, but I could be wrong. I have heard both meanings but obviously prefer this one. I'm not sure if it's up to translation, though that could be the reason for there being such big differences in meaning. I'm also not sure where you could get an "accurate" meaning because I think interpretation is a big part of it.

I love both of these, though Benjamin is close to my heart - Andrew (Warrior) and Benjamin (Son of my right hand). Like I said before though, I don't see one child having a nickname while the rest don't a big problem.

Now, I think Caroline Jean is fine, but if you're unsure, here's a few ideas as to how you could work both honouring names in to the mix.

You could use the letters in both names to create a new name e.g.

DELBERT EUGENE & TRAVIS JUNE

Dana

Jade

Ann

Virginia (An extra "i" in there though)

Dean

Blane

Steve

etc.

Or even a slight twist on their names:

Delbert - Della, Adele, Bertram (Or any "Elle" name really)

Eugene - Gina, Eugenie (I think Jean is great because it works with Eugene and June)

Travis - Ava, Tracy, Avis, Avril

June - Juniper, Jane, Juno, Joan

Just a few suggestions.

Using their initials could also work.