Here we are again.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were in a name-finding funk concerning our sweet Penelope.
I guess it wasn’t that long ago.
Anyway, we are here again. This time we do have the first name… which we are 100% set on.
It’s the middle name that has me in a tizzy.
See, it has to be a family name. That’s just how we roll around here… first name is a ‘chosen’ name. Middle name is a family name. And for our kiddos from China, we keep their Chinese name as a second middle name. So, they’re super-cool.
And while we do have some nice family names to use, they’re just not quite right.
One is Lillian. I like it, it’s lovely, but just doesn’t sound quite right with Esther…
Esther Lillian? Sort of reminds me of Easter Lily.
We also have Ann. A beautiful name, just a bit too short with Esther. Especially considering none of our other girlies have mono-syllabic names.
We thought about Annabelle. As an extension of Ann. Love the name, love the meaning, but too much like Isabelle, right?
And we have Elizabeth. It was my grandfather’s sister. It’s pretty, elegant and sounds nice with Esther. But is it the one?
I just don’t think so. Her initials would be EEYL.
Another one I loved, for which I was about to abandon our ‘rule’ of second name being a family name, was Violet. Or Violette.
LOVE Esther Violet.
But her initials, y’all? Would have been EVYL.
Oh my, no.
Other family names that we could use, but won’t:
Meta
Hulda
Lyda
Elda
Arnita
And then the family names I like, but don’t love:
May
Elsie
Hazel
Lou
August
Sooo, there we have it. And because it was y’all who helped us name our sweet Poppy G, we figured we’d ask again.
Y’all up for it?
My father in law's initials spell GAG. As far as I know, it has never been an issue. Besides, your daughter will likely marry someday, and her last name will change. I say,for what it's worth, go with Esther Elizabeth. That is just lovely.
I vote for Esther Annabelle – I wouldn't worry about her middle name being too similar to a siblings first name. I think it's beautiful. Can't wait to see your sweet Esther's face…
I like Esther Elizabeth and Esther Annabelle! What about Olivia?
I really like Esther Elsie and Esther Annabelle (:
You said that Lyda was out, are you open to changing it to Lydia??
I like Esther May but you could change the spelling to Mei because one character for Mei in Chinese means "beautiful" and I always imagined Queen Esther as a great beauty and you keep mentioning (but there's no photographic evidence of it YET) how beautiful she is.
I was totally going to say change Lyda to Lydia. I see someone already said it. I really like Esther Lydia! But Esther Elizabeth is awesome as well… who really cares about what the initials spell?
I like Esther Elizabeth…but then I do have a daughter named Elizabeth. My grandmother's name is Esther Anne…and I always did think that it was a beautiful name.
I like Esther May too. I like the idea of changing it to Mei. Of course, if you'd rather go Southern, you could go Mae. I like Esther Elizabeth too. And Esther Annabelle. Good luck with this! lol.
Are there any male family names in your family that you could adapt? Something like Esther Josephine (Joseph) or Esther Johanna (John)? Just an idea since it would be a shame to break with tradition one account of initials.
I know it isn't a name listed, but my grandmother's name is Elsie Alice and I thought Esther Alice sounded pretty and still a little old fashioned. Good luck!! Names are tough!
Maybe it's because I'm from Kentucky and it sounds a little country, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Esther May. I think it is just SO SWEET! And doesn't May (Mei) mean little sister? Awe, Esther May, seriously, gotta LOVE IT! :o)
What about Esther Rae? 🙂 since you aren't to crazy about May…my middle name is Mae..But I love Rae as a middle name too!
What about using May but changing the spelling to Mei? Mei, meaning beautiful, and Mei Mei, little sister? Just a thought! My mom's middle name is Mae and I'm naming our new little from Hong Kong Mei as her middle name. 🙂
# 1 Esther Elizabeth, # 2 Esther Annabelle. Any name you decide upon is going to be perfect and beautiful – just like your precious Esther.
My favorite is Esther Annabelle! So cute!
what about shortening one of your longer names… Elizabeth to Lizabeth…Annabelle to Belle? I LOVE LOVE LOVE Esther Mae and Esther Elizabeth is wicked cute too!
ohhhh Esther Josephine is super cute too! Hahaha… Good luck!
How about…
Esther Marie
Esther Mae
Esther Abigail
Esther Olivia
Esther Amelia
Esther Grace
Esther Joy
Well, girl, walk yourself outside and holler each of those names as if you were callin' her in from a ways off…always worked for us. 😉
I love Esther Mei (seriously cute!). I too think of Queen Esther being this beautiful strong woman so that name would rock it out!
I'm totally partial to Josephine…cause I just had a niece born and given that name! 🙂
Esther May has my vote.
Esther Elise (instead of Elsie). Just transpose the l and s 🙂
I think EEYL is fine- a.) girl will get married some day and b.) who ever writes out all their initials!?
🙂
i like esther may.
ps- we do the same here-one of the names (middle or first) has to be a family name:)
My gut reaction is Esther May. I love the way it sounds. I am with Emy though. A Southern gal :), so you just can't go wrong with "May" as a middle name with any first name, but I love Esther May.
It'll come to y'all though!
Oh and the initials. How often would that be an issue? I mean, if she marries, that will change. I am not into the cutesy initial bags and tops for girls, so … anyway, I don't recall seeing your girls in outfits like that … my post sounds awful! I'm just saying does it matter really if her initials are EEYL? I do like Esther Elizabeth too!
I'm partial to Esther Elizabeth…my middle name is Elizabeth and my Catherine's middle name is Elizabeth…with that said, however, here are some other suggestions…
Esther Elizabeth
Esther Mei (chiming in on that one…beautiful!)
Esther Christine or Christina (using your husband's name)
Esther Caroline (I know it's not one of your family names but I love the name Caroline)
Thank you for letting us get in on the fun!
Praying for your precious family in TN,
Suzanne
My favorite with your rule is Esther May/Mae/Mei… I think its a strong, yet beautiful southern name.
My personal favorites are Esther: Claire, Charlotte or Grace … I just like the way they sound together
I love Esther Elizabeth!!! My goodfriends initals are A.S.S. granted the last S is her married name. We just watch monongraming. LOL.
I haven't read all of the replies, but what about putting "Lou" and "Ann" together to make "Esther Louann"?
Well, I love Lillian (because I have one!), and I adore the name Hazel (but not as a middle), so …
What about a version of Elizabeth? …
Esther Beth
Esther Liza
Otherwise, my vote is for Esther May (or Mei) … sounds so cute!
(And I think that you should definitely save Violet for the first name of your next little one!)
Good luck!
All the best,
Nicole A., now in LA
I like Esther Ann and Esther Mei. What if you changed August to Augusta. Esther Augusta sounds pretty.
My baby nephew's initials spell "bar" and it didn't stop them!! Also, my son has two middle names and when you fill out papers or anytime I've found a need for a middle name, it only gives a spot for one initial, so we always use the first middle initial.
I like Esther Elizabeth. I was cracking up about the comment where someone said to yell the name!! We have all done that, right? Lol…Estherrrrrrr Elizabeeeeeeeeeth!!!! It could totally work!
But! I love the name Hazel!!!!! You have to use it eventually, okay??
Esther Elizabeth or Esther Hazel. They both have such a romantic nostalgic sound to it. It would totally buck the trend of hipster names. She would be the *cool* when she grows up.
cw
Ok- I am a bit partial but Hazel is def. my pick. Our number two is Hazel and it means "to conquer" or "conquerer". Love the meaning and it is a sweet name for a little. Although again…partial. 😉
I am completely out of ideas- and am not caught up on the latest news (jet lag) BUT it seems that another sweet little one is joining your family!! Yippee Jesus!!
So happy for all of you! Congratulations!! Only God!!
I may be the only one…but I love love love Hazel. I think Esther Hazel has a lot of charm to it. So Esther Hazel would be my pick!!!
Esther Mae! Yup, final answer.
All the above are beautiful. Esther Elizabeth
is very sweet. Nobody knows your initials unless you put them on a Thirty One purse..haha. And she will get married someday and it will probably change.
One thing we recently learned is that the IRS only counts their FIRST middle initial. We had errors because we put the third middle initial (yes he has three middle names) and had to send the IRS a letter..ugh. All our middle initials are 'B' so that is what we were hoping for him to use. But according to the IRS…ugh..he would have to put 'O'.
For a second, I thought about changing his name. 🙂
Can't wait to see Esther's picture!
Love Esther May, and someone suggested Esther Joy. Both are very sweet names, good luck!
Not sure I'll be much help or if I'm just making you even more confused 🙂 but what about taking Lou and Ann and making it LouAnn? I love Esther Elizabeth and I adore Esther Hazel.
Can't wait to see sweet Esther's picture! Good luck
what if you turned august into augusta?
I vote for Esther Elizabeth. Can't wait to see her picture. 🙂
I actually love Esther Lou! But Esther May would be my second pick. 🙂 btw…..Lou means "famed warrior." Hmmmmmm……I think she's a fighter!
Martha
My family did the same as yours with a chosen first name and family middle name. Although I could throw out several names that work well with Esther, I would suggest that if at all possible you keep with the family name rule so that Esther won't feel left out of the family name game in the future.
As far as the names go I really like Esther Elizabeth. I also liked the suggestion of combining two family names for Esther LouAnn. Maybe a form of Ann with May for Esther AnnaMay would work as well.
No matter what is decided there is no doubt little Esther is cherished by your family. God has chosen her as your child. As his child. Her name is already written in his book.
Oooooh….I just saw the suggestion to change August to Augusta…Esther Augusta–that has a ring to it! It means 'great.' 🙂
Hmmm – if you're wanting a 'longer' version of Anne, how about Esther Anneliese? *I* think initials are important – my sister's initials are BADB, and we always *always* teased her that she was the BAD B—— sibling, etc. I don't, however, think that EEYL is that bad. EVYL, not so much, even though Esther Violet is admittedly beautiful.
Esther Elizabeth and Esther Hazel are lovely. Esther Louise? Esther Lucille? Esther Lucy (though this one reminds of of Easter Lily too – probs just the number of letters…)? (Playing with the Lou sound now…) Esther Lilia? Esther Liliana? Esther Lily-Ann?
I like Esther Ann as well (though probs would prefer Anne). I think it's short, sweet and spunky, and rolls off the tongue nicely.
If you don't want to use August or May, you could always loosely honour two individuals for the price of one by going with the month theme – Esther June? Esther March? Esther January?
I rarely comment, but I looove names, so I had to jump in 😀
Are there any last names in your family tree you could use to honour someone?
How about a middle name that starts with the letter of the person you are trying to honor in your family–for example, instead of using the actually name of the person in your family substitute a name that just starts with that first initial and sounds good with Esther and then the rest of her Chinese name as well? This could help with all the initials looking good together as well.
I really liked Esther May but then I read the comment about Esther Mei and that is perfect.
My son and I love Esther Mei! To cute and Esther Elizabeth, or Esther Grace (did I mention he is 16 and HAD to chime in he love mei btw) But he wanted me to share that with you. He is gonna be a great ge ge someday 🙂 can't wait. Good luck sweetie. Can't wait to hear the whole name 🙂 and see beautiful pictures of your beautiful Esther! So excited!!
Your fan club from Hong Kong votes for Esther Mei!
It is just beautiful!
I love name picking! So my number 2 picks are Esther Anabelle and Esther Elizabeth.
How about Esther Elianna, Eli for Elizabeth and Anna for Ann?? I just love the name Elianna.
Good luck, can't wait to see her picture!
Esther Mei is too cute!
Esther Mei is adorable! ♥
I love Esther Elisabeth,
But
The best sound is …….
Esther Annabelle
wondering if you are into geneaology – I have found lots of good names several generations back. Do like Violet.
I hear ya, on the family name deal! I'm totally partial to May… but only because both my bio daughter & adopted daughter have it as a middle name!!! (bio daughter got it because its Nanna's middle name and adopted babe got it because Mei was her chinese given name!) That said, Lu was on my list of middle names – Esther L(o)u?
You could alter May – to Macy? Esther Macy is pretty cool?! Or Maya?
What about a variation of Elizabeth (there are dozens!) Eliza, Liza, Libby, Beth Or what about Esther Li (just take the Li out of Elizabeth?!)
Or what about the variation of Lyda to Lyla? (I love the name Lyla?!!)
Not sure what Poppy's middle name is but I think Esther Grace is very pretty (particularly since the Grace of God brought you to Esther in the first place?!!)
I actually don't mind Esther Ann! (she will have her Chinese name as well!) Our baby girl's name is Tari Mei… very short – very sweet!
Ahhh… names… you could just think about them all day long, eh?!
I vote for using a girlified male name. My Fathers name was Elwood (gasp) and I wanted to use it as a middle name for Sophia because we use "family names" as middle as well. Her name ended up as Sophia Elle and we LOVE it. Fits her perfectly 🙂
I'm in Alabama. I just have to speak out for Esther May (or Mei or Mae) or Esther LouAnn. I also liked Lydia. And having a daughter with Grace as a middle name, I think Esther Grace sounds beautiful (and Southern) too.
And the advice about going outside to "holler" it? Totally. Great. Advice.
What about Annalise as an extension of Ann – Esther Annalise …. it means "graced" or "God's bounty"…
My husband wanted to name our Sophie Sophie Esther. Sounded too much like Polyester to me. Esther is just hard to work with. BUT, I love May. Esther May is my favorite of the options you've given.
As for EVYL: I believe her initials would actually be ELVY if you're getting a monogram. I have an idea, because I get what you mean on EVYL — we think alike here. Could you maybe, just this once, take her Chinese name and switch places with Violet? I mean, Violet is really, really awesome!
Last idea: do you have any family last names that would work Esther? 🙂
Esther May for sure. I think Mae, Mei or May all work fine and keep with tradition
I also love Elizabeth it is my middle name and my daughters. You could also spell it with an "A" Alizabeth. That might help with the initials. I totally forgot about the initials with my son. At school they use their first and last name initials all the time and his are NO. He is not very happy about that!!!
My vote is Esther Elizabeth. Beautiful. I don't think the initials are that big a deal. Mine are LRK, which could sound like "lark" or "lurk". 😉 Or how about making some of those family names a little frillier? Esther Mayzie, for example. Or changing Lou to Lucy? But my vote is still Esther Elizabeth.
Oh my! I have to vote Esther Mei!!! We named our daughter Darrah Kate MeiLi for our ties to China too…Mei is so perfect b/c it's for "beautiful" and "little sister" and it's the same Mei in "meiguo" (which is America)!!! 🙂
I like Esther Elizabeth or Esther Hazel.
I like Mei/May. You could also go to the males on the family tree & switch it up a little. Or go a little farther out on the family tree. Add an A to Lyda – Alyda. ?? I'm sure whatever you choose, will be the "right" one & you can save all those others for the next one. 😉
Meta is short for "Margaret," which means "pearl." Esther Margaret is really steadfast sounding. "Esther Pearl" is more feminine and a favorite of mine (it was my Great-grandma's name–and with grandma names being cool again . . .). I think the idea of "pearl" (beauty formed through adversity) fits so well with the Esther's biblical namesake. Also Matthew 13: 45-46. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly (fine) pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." It sounds like that fits what your family is seeking to do:)
I also think that Esther Lou is super cute-or Esther Luisa, Esther Luise–and the Lou family of names all mean famous warrior, which certainly fits with the Biblical allusion as well. That would be one strong girl with that name!
Well, I like Esther August. To me, Esther is an "old" name, but adding August to it makes it much more contemporary……Just my preference & my 2cents…
Ooooh, I love Esther! (Seeing as I have a beautiful Esther born in China as well! 🙂 We didn't give her a European middle name, though, so I'm not much help with that. Your discovery of the EVYL initials cracked me up!! Eels, now–eels are cool! (But who knows if she'll think that!)
Does it have to be THE name or close or a close combo? You mentioned Meta and Hulda…Love Matilda/Mathilda…
Otherwise, I vote for Esther Lillian.
Are you thining of Any nicknames for Esther, like Penelope has Poppy?…I saw someone sign a post with Essie. I thought maybe it was short for Esther. Essie or Estie?
I thought of Esther Annabelle as a form of Ann before I read that you considered it 🙂 Annelise is super pretty with Esther too!
it'll be fun to see what you choose! i LOVE girls names!
xo ellie
My grandma Esther's middle name was Helen 😉
nothin' like raising a little Helen … now if your last name was just a noun, HA!
Just kidding–That being said, I like Lillian, Elizabeth, Louise and Augustine
MANY good suggestions up there though!
I actually like Esther May, even though it's monosyllabic. It has a lovely sound to it.
RE: Her initials, while I would steer clear of EVYYL (there would just be too many jokes in school), she'll probably get married, as some people have already pointed out. So her initials could change eventually.
I have an unusual "made-up" name, and it wasn't life-shattering, although there was the usual joke. So I don't think odd initials would be so bad either, especially if you love the names. 🙂
I actually like a couple of the 'mono' syllable names, too. "Esther May" and "Esther Lou" are my favorites of that bunch. But I also really like "Esther Annabelle" and "Esther Elizabeth" …if you're keeping with the 'tradition' that is.
Otherwise I totally LOVE "Esther Violette" ~ it sounds just beautiful together!
Can't wait to hear what you decide!!
Hugs,
Tanya
Actually, I think a lot of the time, her initials would be shortened from EEYL to EEL because a lot of forms, etc. have a space only for one middle initial. That's what happens to my kids. The initial for their second (and ethnic) middle name gets dropped.
I really like Esther Anais (pronounced Ah-na-EESE). It's french, but otherwise has the same meaning as Ann, so it's kind of still a family name.
My best friends girlie is named Esther Lucille- and I (along with many others) call her Esther Lu. It fits. It is so sweet. So my vote is Esther Lou. 🙂
Why not switch it around Lillian Esther and still call her Esther. She has a chosen name and a family name like everyone else.
Just a thought.
Blessings,
Jennifer
What about Esther Louise?
Okay, chiming in… you know I LOVE. LOVE. the name Violet. And another I love is Rose. How about Esther Rose… cute. 🙂
Jess
I love love love LOVE Esther Violet, I think her initals don't matter, she'll marry someday and they'll change, right? lol and I love Esther May!!! It sounds really cute =)
Ok, I love Esther May, but you don't seem to love it. I think you need a 1 or 3 syllable middle name, 2 sounds weird. And as much as I love the name Elizabeth (I am SO naming a daughter after myself if I ever have one), it is just to many Es. What about Ester Hazelene/Hazeline/Hazelynn (Ha-ze-leen or Ha-ze-lynn)? I like Hazel, but the 2 syllable thing isn't working for me.
Esther Augustina or…
Esther Augusta
Both Augustina and August meant "great, magnificent"
What about Esther Lillianna?
Esther Lisette means my god my vow
Esther grace
So many good choices, not sure if this one has been mentioned, but I have to get back to work and just skimmed the comments 🙂
What about Esther Leanne (or Leann), it gets Ann in there, but with an extra syllable. Best of luck choosing!
There are a lot of names with Ann in them that would be lovely and still fit in with your family name tradition (which I love!)
Andrea
Annika
Arianna
Annette
Bethany
Carrigann
Keegan
Juliann
Jillian
Leann
Louann
Megan
Raegan
Suzanne
Savannah
And I agree with the comment about using a male name from the family, like Harriett or Willow (from Harrison and William)
I still love Ester May and Ester Lou though, but I'm a southern girl 😉 and obsessed with sweet double names for little girls.
How about Esther Anneliese? You've got a nod to Ann and to Elizabeth (I believe the "Liese" is a german or dutch form of Elizabeth).
It means "grace" and "favour" — which sounds so lovely!
Good luck on your name hunt. Looks like you've got plenty to mull over.
And best wishes on bringing your baby girls home safe, sound and SOON!
Julia
What if you changed the spelling of Lou to Lu? It just updates it immediately. How about Esther Lu, or even Esther Lulu?
Queen Esther's given name was Hadassah….
What about Esther Hadassah It's a beautiful Jewish name and still used a lot in Israel. Plus if you've read the Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers you'd love that name as well.
Or Esther translated from the original is "morning Star"
Esther Star
Or if you translate Star into chinese it sounds like Sing
Esther Sing
OK maybe those are weird but a few more things to think about
How about Esther Beth or Esther Klaire or Esther Grace?
Ester Anneliese (or Annelise, or Annelize, Anneliza) We almost used Anneliese for Josie's middle name, but kept it simply her surname, An.
Ester Elizabeth
Ester Elise (change the letters of Elsie)
Can wait to hear your decision but especially can't wait to see her photos!!!
I haven't read all the comments, but how about Stephanie? Fits under the family name category for sure. I don't remember your husband's name, but does it have a feminine version? If some of the family names don't work, could there be another name with the same meaning as a family name that works better? I never had to deal with it. My girls were both about 3 at adoption and I was told in no uncertain terms by them that their names were names, so I never had to deal with the name picking thing.
Love Ester Elizabeth and I think it fits her!!
I am cracking up! Ester is s fav name for us for a future girl. I kept a little girl and her nickname was Essie. It was a really sweet name. I have also heard someone call their Ester Esi, or Ese with long E's.
Anyway, middle name. Elizabeth from what you said…however you didn't mention any male family names. I have a friend who has a Caitlin James and another sweet girl named Miller Anne. Perhaps there is a unique or special masculine name that needs to be passed down in a new way? Just a thought.
I think Esther Elizabeth is beautiful. So what's so wrong w/ EEYL as initials?