Middle Name Challenge: Emerson ____ Greenwald

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Nicole writes:

We have two weeks left to name baby girl Greenwald, and I'm still stuck on a middle name.  We decided to go with Emerson as her first name, although it has NOT been well received by our families.  Apparently, everyone thinks it sounds like a boy's name.  But, I keep thinking about naming her something else, and then meeting a little Emerson weeks later, and I just know I'd be filled with regret.  Anyway, to balance out the "boyish" quality of the name, I want to go with something ultra feminine and sweet for the middle name.  We love Emerson Rose, but it feels like Rose is all over the place right now.  Do you have any names that are short and sweet like Rose?

The problem is nothing sounds right to me...  Here's our current list of middle names.  I was thinking maybe you could do a poll on your site? Or give us your honest opinion on these?  I think it would help... I've become obsessed and it's not helping me sleep any better!

Emerson Nicole (my name)
Emerson Sofia (hub's favorite)
Emerson Rose (overused middle name?)
Emerson Victoria (my favorite, but hub says it's too long)
Emerson Amelia

Here's my list:

Emerson Abigail (EAG)
Emerson Anne (EAG)
Emerson Claire (ECG)
Emerson Chloe (ECG)
Emerson Elena (EEG)
Emerson Ella (EEG)
Emerson Eve (EEG)
Emerson Faye (EFG) (fun three-in-a-row initials!)
Emerson Fiona (EFG)
Emerson Hope (EHG)
Emerson Jane (EJG)
Emerson Joy (EJG)
Emerson June (EJG)
Emerson Kate (EKG)
Emerson Kay (EKG)
Emerson Linnea (ELG)
Emerson Louise (ELG)
Emerson Lydia (ELG)
Emerson Mae (EMG)
Emerson Meredith (EMG)
Emerson Noelle (ENG)
Emerson Sabrina (ESG)


Emerson Victoria doesn't seem too long to me (it's only one syllable longer than your husband's first choice), but I like long girl names. I also like that 3-4-2 rhythm, and would add Emerson Felicity and Emerson Elizabeth.

I love the idea of using your name as her middle name. It bugs me a little that the tradition is so common with boy names and not with girl names.

If this helps, I will say that it doesn't matter very much what you choose. We had it down to three middle names for Henry, and I lay awake agonizing about it---and then I thought, "Does it make any difference in any of our lives which middle name we choose of those three?" and answered myself "No. We can just pick one." And indeed it didn't matter much: I have to think for a second to remember what his middle name is, because the subject comes up so rarely after the birth announcements are sent out. And with Elizabeth, I wanted an entirely different type of middle name than we ended up choosing (we went with Paul's favorite as part of a naming compromise), and that doesn't matter much either. In fact, I've come to like her middle name very much, and I just go ahead and call her Elizabeth Jane and and Elizabeth Louise (and Elizabeth Marie and Elizabeth St. Claire, even though those were never on the list---they're just fun to say) whenever I want to anyway.

Let's have a poll over to the right with your finalists. [Poll closed; see results below.]