need double help

kellenickle

Background: Our DD is Marlee Dale - Dale is a family name (DH's mn, FIL's mn, uncle, etc).

Our last name is very German, pronounced as Shis-ler (with a short i sound).

First - we are having another girl and are uninspired so far. I like more than 1 syllable, not too popular. The name I love is Penelope, but I haven't been able to get DH on board.

Second issue - I agreed to 'Dale' for DD's mn as long as I could have 'James' as a mn for a boy (we were team green). James is my g-pa and basically my favorite person on earth. This baby will be our last - so no boys in the future. I still want James as a mn.  DH thinks this is ridiculous - only boys should have that name. I think it could still sound really cute with a really feminine fn AND I want to honor my g-pa. WDYT?  Thanks!

saham07

DO IT! It is just a middle name.

Kendalight

I'm with DH on this one, only boys should have James. 
Why not do a variant of James? Jamie for example? Or, what's your grandfather's MIDDLE name? Perhaps that's usable, or there's a nice variant of that. 

My Grandfather is James as well, and I adore him, but I would never want James as my middle name.

 As for first name ideas: 

Phoebe came to mind when I saw that you liked Penelope.  

lauralew

I don't know, I'm kind of torn on this...  I kind of like the idea of James as a middle name for girl considering your reasons.  Another idea to honor your grandpa is to use his last name as a middle name, especially if it's your middle name.  I have no idea if that would work better than James, though...

Personally, I don't think Jamie is much better than James as a middle name...

I'm also not a super name nerd like a lot of the girls on here...they could probably list several feminine variants of James other than the obvious.  Maybe Jama? 

rach7883

I use to care for lil girl who name was Olivia James Lastname.... I thought it was adorable and they did it for a very similar reason. So I say go for it! It a middle name, dont sweat it. 

Kendalight

Also, I saw this blog post on another baby name site about "Naming a daughter the Pinkett-Smith way", so they have a list of male names and Female suggestions for naming after someone. 

James was there, and the female suggestion was Amy. And I think Jasha is a female form of James.  

roxane

DD's middle name is Ryan after my brother. I say it is a middle name that will hardly ever get used so it doesn't matter, and I think James could be feminine, like a nickname for Jamie.

maggie2324

Makes me think of Nip/Tuck and the woman named James.

Personally it's not for me. My maiden name is Gregory and my sister used it for her first daughters MN. Maylie Gregory. It unfortunately is her son's FN also. Gregory William. I wouldn't want a boys name as my MN growing up, especially my brothers name... However, I took my maiden name as my middle name, so I have a boys name now and I don't mind.

James isn't as bad as it is more feminine than Gregory. I think it's fine. Jamie would be even better. I know many boys who have girl middle names because of this same situation... And that's worse. Girls can get away with it.

JillyCA

How about Savannah James? Or Olivia James? 

I think James would be a cute and very versatile mn given your reasoning.  

FrecklesInside

I think James is just fine as a MN for a girl if you have a reason behind it. I say go for it.

Some names you might like based on suggestion of Penelope:

Gabrielle/Gabriella

Arianna

Daphne

Josephine

Adeline

Gemma

Gwendolyn

Rosalind

shootingstars00

Kendalight:

I'm with DH on this one, only boys should have James. 
Why not do a variant of James? Jamie for example? Or, what's your grandfather's MIDDLE name? Perhaps that's usable, or there's a nice variant of that. 

My Grandfather is James as well, and I adore him, but I would never want James as my middle name.

 As for first name ideas: 

Phoebe came to mind when I saw that you liked Penelope.  

This

Mrs.Teddy

I have a friend who's DD's mn is Jaymes for similar reasons. I think it's fine an IMO don't think it's any less feminine then Dale, if DH got The family name of his choice with your first I think it's fair yours is used this time.

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JesseKhloe&Me

Sydney James

Phoebe James

Daphne James

Chloe James

Vivian James

Meredith James

austenreader85

I think Dale is only a boy name and you did it with DD #1- so why not DD #2?  Also, James can be a last name so if people ask you can just say "it's a family name" and people will probably just think that you mean it as a surname so you can avoid unwanted opinions.  Finally, because it is a surname as well and many women either keep their maiden name as their middle name upon marriage or are given their mother's maiden name or someone's maiden name I don't think it's that unusual at all. I do agree that a very feminine FN might be better.  Really, I feel like Dale is less common, no offense.

Penelope James is cute!  Other very feminine names:  Aurelia, Aurora, Angelica, Annabelle, Catherine, Celestine, Celeste, Charmaine, Genevieve, Guinevere, Isadora, Isolde, Katherine, Kathleen, Lillian, Margaret, Mary, Matilda, Norah, Susannah

LuckyMissus

Please go with James, I think it's perfectly acceptable and meaningful.  And, the only female variants I can think of are Jamesina (yuck), Jaye (x2 yuck), and Jacobine (bit of a stretch, comes from Jacob, from which James was derived).

upton33107

A friend of mine has a 7 year old daughter.  She named her Madeline James for a similar reason.  I think that it is cute and completely acceptable.  You don't want to miss your chance to use this name.  I definitely say go for it! 

PenelopePond

I'm not sure how your husband can say that about James when your DD's middle name is Dale.  I think it's cute.  Do it!

MelleTX

It's a middle name so anything goes. I think you should definitely use James as her middle name. No different than your DD having Dale as a mn. I like it.

It think it would work well with:

Chloe James
Audrey James