Putit to a vote

I like all the gals names, and I hope we get to use one of those.

I think it's sad that such a nice name as Benedict got highjacked by Benedict Arnold.

Sophia Lily sounds perfect to me.

I like Gideon Athanasius for a boy. (Do you dare go with a name like Athanasius????)

Gemma gives me the willies - Kateri is beautiful but will give her kindergarten teacher fits (unless you homeschool, of course). Lillian is a very popular name right now - I am not sure about Lily though.
I think Benedict is a great name.

what happened to olivia!?! (i like benedict, it's so masculine)

alicia! i'll make sure to ask my beloved Saint Gemma to ignore your o'er hasty comment.

I like all the girl names, but the boy names don't do much for me. Not George - please don't call him George, he'll never live it down. ("Georgie-Porgie, Pudding and Pie . . .") Some of my favorite boy names are Thomas, Joseph, Michael, Gregory, James, David, Nathaniel, Simon, Philip, Stephen, Dominic, and Anthony. For what it's worth.

I just thought of another - I'm not crazy about the name John, but how about naming a boy John Paul after the Holy Father?

Dominic! I LOVE DOMINIC!

(And it's Zteen's confirmation name!)

If the new baby is a girl:

I'll vote for Claire Sophie. It's feminine, European, a little sophisticated. Claire is a perennial favorite and Sophie has a charming old-fashioned touch.

Lily is sweet, but, sad to say, it just doesn't sound very musical next to your family name; it's too bad.

Gemma and Kateri, since they are unusual, should not be given as the first name, but might be considered for a middle name. Although St. Gemma is wonderful, the name Gemma reminds English speakers of the name Emma, which has a strong connotation of plainness and sobriety.

The trouble with Kateri is that no one will ever know where to put the accent, and it'll be a permanent hassle. Do not give your dear child a permanent hassle, at least not in her first name.

----

Terry's suggestion for a boy (Gideon Athanasius) is quite pompous! Your child is not a fictional character. Forget that.

I'll recommend George Benedict, which sounds classic and American.

Since your last name has two syllables, that'll give a combination with a one-syllable name, a two-syllable name, and a three-syllable name: that makes for a "dignified" effect.

---

I'm glad you're choosing among fairly sane names; a lady I met through the 'net gave one of her girls the name Dionysia -- which, if you're familiar with the adjective "dionysian", meaning frenzied and orgiastic, is not an ideal choice for a Catholic baby.

Benedict Arnold
Gideon Bible
That leaves George. A bit of family history: My mother, Georgia, was named after a girl named George. Grandmother was employed by a man who had numerous daughters but no sons. When his wife was expecting again, he bet too much money that the child would be named "George." And thus his daughter Elizabeth received "George" for her middle name.

Claire is a perfectly lovely name, but I may be prejudiced as I have used it for my own little ray of clear light. I don't know about naming a child with a cat's name . . . but, then, I think Tess is a beautiful name, and if I am not blessed with another daughter, I'm going to use it for my next dog.

Whatever you choose, watch for repeating sounds. We "discovered" that all three of our littlest Tribemembers have first names that include the "air" sound. We didn't plan it that way, certainly, but when you call all three of their names in turn, it sounds like we were deliberately going for "air." When I am particularly flustered, I just shout "YOU, YOU AIRS, which*ever* one of you is currently doing that, stop it!"

It works, oddly enough.

Dearest Kirsten,

You can't use Claire (or Clare), it's OUR top choice.

Our real top choice is Lucy, but I have a niece Lucy and so it's been ruled out. Lucy Huber has a lyrical ring to it.

William Roper is an old alias kenny has used in the past.He's right though, we have pretty much decided on Claire although we don't have a middle name yet. We still like Olivia and Lucy. We want to wait and see what she looks like before we make our final decision. We learned before not to tell people what you plan on naming your kid cause you get all kinds of comments you might not want to hear. Like when people heard we were going with Augustine. But hey, can you really see Auggie with any other name? It just fits him.
I like Sophie and lily for girls I think they both fit with the rest of your clan. I think Benedict for a boy, it fits the best with the rest of your boys names. Just my opinion.

I like all the female names (except for Lily). Claire and Kateri and Sophie especially fetching.

As for the guys, George does bring us down with a thud doesn't it? Benedict is a nice name although for practical purposes he'll probably become "Ben" or "Benny". It resonates with me more as the saint's name than Mr. Arnold's name.
I recommend Thomas though.

Claire -- very, very trendy right now. Suggest you avoid.

Gemma, Kateri -- ditto RC's comments about their being unusual and hard to spell/ pronounce.

Sophie -- I like it. I like the full name, Sophia, even better -- you can always call her Sophie as a nickname.

I like Lily! BTW, be warned, Olivia is becoming trendy again, as is Emma.

George -- four stars!
Benedict -- a great name too, but I would not combine it with George.
Gideon -- please do not do this to your son.

John Paul -- be warned, a lot of other Catholic families have done the same thing. I have encountered five little boys -- and that was before I became a mommy! Be a rebel. Name him Pius. ;) There are also a lot of little Catholic girls getting named Teresa/ Therese and its variants.

How about Charles, Louis, Peter, Timothy? Perhaps Rose for a girl? Athanasia? Helen? If you like Claire, perhaps Clara to set her apart a bit?

They're all nice, so I'm not much help. But...

I agree that Kateri invites a lot of mispronunciation, misspelling, etc.
I record the baptismal records at my parish and I'm seeing a lot of Olivias and quite a few Sophies. Just to warn you....
I guess my final vote would be for CLAIRE. Beautiful, inspiring and not too popular. (May I also put in a plug for Charlotte.....the girl name I never got around to using.

For a boy.......I'd go with George. Always a good choice. (Don't listen if my husband should tap in here. I've spent a lot of energy arguing him out of good ol' family names like Friedrich and Urs.....)

I definitely vote for Claire for a girl. I know two Kateris and the pronunciation thing is a pain since the two families pronounce it differently! Definitely not your former cat's name, although it is a nice name. I know a Gemma, too; no troubles with that name. And St. Clare is a strong lady so she'll have a good prayer warrior automatically!

For a boy, of your limited choices, I would hands down vote for Ben. St. Benedict is awesome. And Ben is a great name. Benedict Arnold is not pat of our lives except the few months we learn about him in history class so I really don't see it as a problematic name. I agree with the above comments on Gideon and George.

We also wait to meet our children before finalising the name. We have adjusted our name selections accordingly. I encourage you to do this, too. Thanks for letting us "vote."

what happened to olivia?

I'm with Smockmomma.

I think Clare Olivia would be lovely. (Note, I like this spelling of Claire best.)

And it's one of the few names that sounds just as good the other way round

Olivia Clare. Like that, too.

Use it! It was my picked out girl name, and I never got to use it!

P.S. I still stand in opposition of everyone else and I still like Gideon for a boy. BUT my first choice has changed to Dominic. And it would fit in with the rest of your boys' names.

I am at 30 weeks. "Julia Kathleen" is our gal name, but we have no "pal" name. Our two other kids think "Sean" and dh thinks "Seamus". NO WAY! I like either Sean Michael or James Joseph.

As regards your selections I like Kateri And Benedict. Claire is common around here.

All the best,
Cathy

Claire is pretty and not heard too often.
I like Gideon for the boy. However, I also like
Caleb and Seth. My boys are Aaron and Noah. You have
to think of ways kids will nickname them when they get to school.

How about Katherine? ;-)

Omigosh! I will respond a bit later today. I am making some chicken, coleslaw and mashed pertaters...Looks like I have some tallying to do...

Dunno your last name, but Gemma seems least likely to be or become overused. Except maybe Kateri, but I can never remember how to pronounce that, and I guess I favor easily pronounceable names.

I have less strong feelings about boy names. Gideon certainly seems most unique. I even considered putting it on our list but wasn't brave enough.

Writing this w/o viewing other votes first.

well, (olivia) i think (olivia)your best bet (olivia)is to think (olivia)it over (olivia)and don't come to any (olivia) conclusions (olivia) too (olivia) hastily. i do like olivia, though.

OK, the other two Mamas love.....

Now what was that name again?.....

It's on the tip of my tongue.....

Oh, yeah!

OLIVIA!!!!

(And MommaT STILL votes for Olivia Clare or Clare Olivia.)

Olivia does not sound good next to Kirsten's family name. Just try to pronounce it a few times!
You have to sound these things out in context, smockmomma and Terry.

RC, methinks thou doth protest too much. olivia will be a fine and fair rose for our lady kirsten's married name.