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Like I said, this whole “having another girl” situation completely threw me for a loop. I was so convinced we were having a boy! We picked out an awesome boy name that we both loved. (But no, I won’t tell you what it was in case you are sleuthing the internet for the world’s best baby boy name and try to snag it before (if) we’re blessed with another boy. Because that’s the sort of folks my readers probably are: baby name thieves! Just kidding. But no, still not telling!) And then….voila! Baby #3 is a wee lass! So, what to do!?
Picking out names is such a delight but finding names that Daniel and I both love that have real and beautiful meaning is such a colossal task. Anyhow, we revisited the girl name that we had tossed about: Gwendolyn Clara. Settled, I thought! And I liked it. And Daniel liked it. But….it didn’t feel like home. So Daniel brought up the point that he would probably always call her “Gwen” because “Gwendolyn” is so formal.
And although we both think it’s lovely, we decided it might be a bit too English-Manor-House-Importance-of-Being-Earnesty for the daughter of urban chicken farmers with a moldy bathtub who haven’t taken their Christmas tree down yet. (If you’re my mother and you’re reading this, ignore that note about our bathtub. I keep it spotless, just like you taught me.) Moving on.
So, we settled on just “Gwen.” (Welsh for “fair,” “blessed,” “holy”). St. Gwen is my confirmation saint (a 6th century Breton martyr) and Daniel and I both think the name is so beautiful. But, Clara just didn’t sound right as a middle name any more so we decided on Stellamaris (“Star of the Sea” pronounced Stella-Mah-Ris) in honor of Our Lady. I’ve always wanted to name a child Stellamaris as a first name but Stellamaris Stewart just has so many “s”s (what if the poor child has a lisp?!) and most of my favorite first names for girls are too long to have Stellamaris as a reasonable middle name. But it’s perfect next to Gwen! So:
Gwen Stellamaris, our fair star of the sea. May she be a shining light for Our Lady.
(And, if you remember, Lucy’s full name means “Bright Star Flower” so it just seems perfect.)
Case closed. Commence monogramming.
We have the most terrible time coming up with nmes for our kids. With this last baby(tho hopefully not the last!), we were finally getting a girl. Husband had always liked the name Eliot – like the girl from Scrubs.. (The plan was always to call her Ellie, which I love because its down-to-Earth and regardless of what other people say, I would love for her to be like Ellie Mae Clampett. Loves animals and is strong.)I was going to spell it Elliotte to look a little more feminine, bit then it hit me that we were finally having a girl and it may be my only girl so I had to have the perfect name. Elliotte was just too trendy tofor a girl when her brother’s were Paul and Owen (Welsh meaning Well Born, whichI love because he was my first VBAC baby). I also wanted a name with meaning. I finally came up with Elaina. My grandmother’s are named Helen and Eleanor and Elaina is another form of the name.
Her middle name is Renee because my Papaw always wanted a Renee and he called me Ashley Renee (even though my middle name is Nicole!). So I’ve got my little Ellie ‘Nee!
Precious! I love Elaina, Paul and especially Owen. And Helen and Eleanor are two of my favorites, as well. We considered calling Baby Gwen “Helena” but a close friend is adopting a baby girl from Burundi and when they told us they were planning to name her Helena, we decided to save the name for down the road (God willing we have more girls).
Love your name too, btw! Very classic and yet has some flair. Everyone will know that this chicken farmer’s daughter will be interesting!
You’re all good on the Christmas tree through this weekend, for sure! Ours is still up, too. Hoping to get it down by Sunday…but we won’t discuss the state of the bathtubs. I didn’t know about St. Gwen before- thanks for the introduction! (still sighing over Stellamaris)
I had a bizarre (and unprecedented) pregnant cleaning frenzy in the living room yesterday (we’re talking vacuuming out vents, dusting crown molding and baseboards, washing windows madness) and suddenly the Christmas tree had to go. I miss it, though.
Pretty!
Thanks!
What a beautiful name! We have Stella Lucia
Stella for Stellamaris too and Lucia for St Lucy.
Stella Lucia! That’s lovely. And, as you probably know, I am very partial to Lucy
I laughed so much about the fancy name/moldy bathtub-chicken farmer contradiction. I feel like I’m in the same boat. (Our children have sort of fancy names, I think: Eleonora, especially….) But it’s a family name, and we call her Noni almost 99% of the time, and we’re not fancy, know what I mean?
Gwen is a really wonderful name. My grandmother’s name was Gwendolyn, actually, and we’ve often considered it for a girl. What is it with grandmother’s names? I’ve got an Eleonora, and a Lillian, as well. Good pickings.
I love Gwendolyn and Eleonora and Lillian!
My mother’s name was Gwendolyn Clare. Growing up I thought it was awfully old fashioned, but now I love it. Gwen Stellamaris is a beautiful name!
I’m such a fan of old-fashioned names! I almost hate that they’re becoming more popular. And thank you!
You know what they say when people make public their baby name choices before the baby is born? They say bystanders try to get them to change their minds. So true to that…
My name is Gwendolyn Clare, which isn’t exactly your rejected name, but pretty darn close. My parents did mostly call me “Gwen” growing up, but I am thankful they did not give me a diminutive for a name because as an adult, I have so many more options. “Gwendolyn” can also be “Gwen” or “Gwenny.” Even “Wendy” is the diminutive of “Gwendolyn.” Now that I am an adult, I ask acquaintances to call me “Gwendolyn” because while “Gwen” sounded just fine with my maiden name, I do not like how it sounds with my married name. And close friends call me “Gwenny.”
I am also extremely thankful my parents did not choose my name based on who they were or who they thought they were when I was born. Trust me when I say they were completely different when I turned ten, and even more different than that when I turned twenty. And now that I’m one year away from thirty (today is my birthday!), who my parents were thirty years ago has not a whole lot to do with who I imagine myself to be today.
All that said, Gwen Stellamaris is lovely. Cheers!
I particularly like the name Wendy and hadn’t even thought about how it comes from Gwendolyn! And I still adore Clare, Claire, and Clara and if we’re blessed with more little gals, one of the variations will probably show up. One of my best friends and bridesmaids is named Claire and I love St. Clare. I also love the way it feels to say “Clare.” Loverly.
But I feel like “Gwen Stellamaris” is tattoed over my belly! It feels exactly right for this little person.
My full name is Gwendolyn too! And I hated how long and unusual it was at 10…thought it was exotic at 16…and now at 26 it goes beautifully with my married name.
And goodness…my parents also expected a boy. And Gwendolyn Jane was sort of a last minute decision when they found out a girl was coming.
And I second that Gwen Stellamaris is lovely!
Gwen is such a good choice, and heaps better than Gwendolyn, without making the mistake of naming your kid a nickname like “Jim” or “Kate.” Love it!
And now I suppose Pip has the choice of two lovely brides, Gwen or Lucy. Difficult decisions!
Does wee Pip prefer older or younger women…I mean as far as you can tell?
Loved the photobooth pics!
Absolutely gorgeous name!! I have attended mass at a beautiful beach church named Stella Maris. I think your daughter will be very appreciative of such a splendid name.
Thank you, Steph! I hope so
Oh! I think that is so pretty! I can’t believe you guys have your act together so well, we’re hopeless at agreeing so all our children have gone days before getting named…but don’t tell them!
Well at least that way you don’t run the risk of seeing your baby and realizing that the name you settled on doesn’t fit them at all! I’m always worried about that…
Oh Haley, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I love it.
Thank you!
That is a beautiful name. I have been blessed with 3 girls and 1 boy. My 1st is Alyssa Rae Dawn , named for the alyssum flower and the Rae is for my dad (raymond, amd sister raylene) the dawn is again after my dad (Raymond donald) and my other sister Donna. My 2nd is Hollie Marie (after the holly plant) she was SUPPOSED to be a Xmas day baby. My 3rd is Emma Nicole. The Nicole is after my 3rd sister who is emmas godmother and my best friend. Emma literally came to me in a dream. But the final say on their names came when i held them in my arms for the first time. that first moment when you make eye contact with your creation. Thats when you know for sure. My Hollie was almost named Eliza Grace. (altho that is, i think, a stunning name still..it just wasnt her.) I plan to share this piece of information someday with Hollie, and who knows, someday in the future (she is only 15 now) i may have a granddaughter with a familiar name.
Thank you, Cheryl! Lovely names all for your sweet girls