Seraphina

There are so many lovely 4+ syllable names for girls; narrowing it down to one was difficult but I decided on beautiful Seraphina.

Seraphina is the feminine form of the Late Latin male name Seraphinus. This name comes from the biblical, Hebrew word seraphim meaning "fiery ones" and referring to an order of angels that had six wings each. The Seraphim were described by the prophet Isaiah in the bible. 

Seraphina was also the name of a 13th century saint from Italy who was known for making clothing for the poor. 

As a name, Seraphina was never really favored in the past. However, it is starting to take off as an usual but pretty name. Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner named their second daughter Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck in 2009 which put the name on people's radars more, but yet it still remains mostly unused.

The celebrity endorsement bumped Seraphina from having only 50 births in 2008 to having 88 in 2009 and 107 in 2010. However, it has still only reached as high as 168 births in 2013 for a ranking of #1373. It may not popular, but that isn't a bad thing. Since it still lingers below the Top 1000 chart, it is actually quite a beautiful and rare gem, which makes it a great, unique name.

Sister-name Serafina (with an F) has surprisingly had more usage! Serafina first appeared on American babies in 1901 whereas Seraphina didn't pop up until 1981.  Serafina had 117 births in 2013 ranking it at #1751.  The spellings Saraphina (18 births) and Sarafina (25 births) are even less popular, but still viable options if you want Sara as a nickname.  Other possible nicknames could include Phina/Fina, Sera, Fifi, and Sephy. 

Why do you think this name is so unheard of? Do parents shy away from the association with angels? Putting that aside, Seraphina sounds and looks so beautiful and elegant, it's a wonder it hasn't caught on yet. Perhaps it makes a better middle name and has more usage in that spot. Any thoughts?

If you are considering using Seraphina or Serafina, here are some potential sibling and middle name ideas:

Sibling Name Ideas:

Sisters: Anastasia, Arabella, Evangeline, Francesca, Gabriella, Genevieve, Madeleine, Penelope, Vivienne

Brothers: Alexander, Augustin, Elijah, Gabriel, Maximilian, Raphael, Sebastian, Theodore, Valentino

Middle Name Ideas:

Seraphina Alexis

Seraphina Grace

Seraphina Maeve

Seraphina Rose

Seraphina Wren

As a Middle Name:

Audrey Seraphina

Daphne Seraphina

Harper Seraphina

Lily Seraphina

Violet Seraphina

I think Seraphina and Evangeline would be beautiful for sisters since both have a nod toward a biblical association. What do you think? Perfect or too much?

Beyond Elizabeth: 4+ Syllable Girl Names

In the past, I wrote an article about Elizabeth and her consistent popularity since 1880: she has always ranked within the Top 30 as a first name.

As a middle name, she's also a popular choice because of how extremely well Elizabeth flows with most first names.

I listed four specific reasons why Elizabeth has remained so popular and works so well with other names. I also listed other 4 syllable names that might also work well as a middle name.

If none of those strike your fancy, you're sure to find a great selection in the following list of 4+ syllable girl names.

Which of these are your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Abilena           Abriana Abrianna Abriella Abryanna Acadia Acelina Adelaida Adelia Adelina Adelita Adriana Adrianna Aemilia Afrodite Agostina Agustina Albertina Alejandra Alejandrina Aleksandra Alessandra Alessia Alethea Aletheia Alexandra Alexandrea Alexandria Alexia Alexxia Alicia Alivia Aloisia Altagracia Amalia Amaranta Amarantha Amarilla Amelia Amelina America Analia Analilia Analina Anamaria Anastacia Anastasia Anastasija Anastassia Andromeda Angelia Angelica Angelina Angelita Anjelica Annabella Annalia Annaliese Annalina Annalisa Annamaria Annamarie Anneliese Annelise Antigone Antonella Antonia Antonieta Antonina Aphrodite Arabella Araceli Aracely Araminta Aranzazu Arcadia Arcelia Argelia Argentina Ariadne Ariana Arianna Ariela Ariella

Artemisa           Artemisia Aryana Aryanna Astoria Atalanta Aubriana Aubrianna Aubriella Audriana Aurelia Avelina Azalea Azalia Azaria Azucena Belladonna Bibiana California Calliope Calogera Camelia Candelaria Carmelita Carolina Cataleya Catalina Catarina Catharina Cecelia Cecilia Celestina Christabella Christiana Christiane Clementina Cleopatra Coralina Cordelia Corinthia Dayanara Delgadina Delphinia Deyanira Domenica Donatella Dorotea Dorothea Edelmira Eduwiges Ekaterina Eleanora Elenora Eleora Eliana Elidia Eliora Elisabeth Elizabella Elizabelle Elizabeth Eloisa Emelina Emilia Emiliana Emmalina Emmanuelle Enedelia Enedina Enriqueta Epiphany Erendira Ernestina Esmeralda Esperanza Estefana Estefani Estefania Estefany Estibaliz Eugenia Eulalia Eurydice Eusebia

Evangelina           Evangeline Evanthia Evelina Eyana Fabiana Fabiola Feliciana Felicidad Felicitas Felicity Filomena Florentina Floriana Frederica Gabriela Gabriella Galilea Gavriella Genoveva Geraldina Giuliana Gladiola Gloriana Graciana Graciela Gratiana Guadalupe Guillermina Henrietta Hermelinda Hermione Hilaria Honoria Ilaria Ileana Iliana Inocencia Iolanthe Iracema Irasema Isabela Isabella Isabelline Isadora Israella Izabella Jesenia Josalina Josefina Josephina Juliana Julianna Julieta Julietta Kalliope Kamaria Katarina Katerina Katiana Lavinia Leocadia Leonarda Leonora Leticia Liboria Liduvina Lieselotte Liliana Lilliana Lillyana Lilyana Liselotte Liviana Livianna Louisiana Luciana Madalena Maddalena Magdalena Magnolia Mahalia Marcelina Margarita

Margherita Mariamne Mariana Maricela Mariela Mariella Marietta Marinella Marisela Maryellen Maximina Mehitabel Meridian Miabella Milania Miroslava Monalisa Natalia Natalina Natividad Nicolasa Nicoletta Noelani Octavia Octaviana Olimpia Olivia Oliviana Olympia Orabela Orabella Oriana Orianna Panagiota Patricia Penelope Persephone Petronella Petronilla Philomena Rafaela Raffaela Raffaella Raphaela Refugio Rosabella Rosaleah Rosalia Rosalicia Rosalina Rosalinda Rosamaria Rosangelica Rosario Samaria Sanjuanita Serafina Seraphina Serenity Severina Shenandoah Tatiara Teresita Theodora Thomasina Urania Valencia Valentina Valeria Verenice Veronica Veronika Victoria Viridiana Viviana Vivianna Wilhelmina Xenobia Xiomara Yesenia Yessenia Ysabella Zenobia Zinovia

Whew! That's quite a list!  If you're looking for the complete opposite, short names, I can help with that! Here is a list of One-Syllable Girl Names and also Four Letter Girl Names.  Don't forget to check out last week's list of 4+ Syllable Boy Names too!

Jeremiah

After looking at all of the 4+ syllable boy names available, I wanted to pick one that was legitimately 4 syllables on its own as opposed to a name that earned 4 syllables by adding an -o to the end of a name that is usually 3-syllables. With this criteria, it was actually rather tough to find a good one that hasn't already been featured. I settled on the biblical Jeremiah.

Jeremiah comes from the Hebrew name יִרְמְיָהוּ (Yirmiyahu) meaning "Yahweh has uplifted". In the bible, he was one of the major prophets in the Old Testament who wrote the Book of Jeremiah as well as the Book of Lamentations. He lived in the 6th century BC during the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.

In England, the Protestant Reformation brought about the usage of a lot of names that were later carried to Colonial America with the pilgrims. Jeremiah was one of those names. However, the shorter variation Jeremy was sometimes used since the 13th century in England.

Overall, Jeremy has had much more usage in the US than Jeremiah, but currently, their roles have swapped. Jeremiah has climbed the charts to #58 in 2013 while Jeremy's popularity of the 1970s-1980s has declined. Jeremy ranked at #159 in 2013 whereas it once ranked as high as #14 in 1976.

Jeremiah had a small peak of popularity in the late 70s during Jeremy's heyday but it is currently seeing its highest numbers ever, even though it has been in solid usage since 1880.  Possible nicknames could include Jere/Jer, Jerry, Jem, Jeremy, Miah.

What do you think of Jeremiah? Or would you prefer Jeremy? If you're in the market for some sibling or middle name ideas, here's some I came up with:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Elizabeth, Hadassah, Leah, Michaela, Ruth, Simone
Brothers: Benjamin, Ezra, Isaac, Jonathan, Malachi, Noah

Middle Name Ideas:
Jeremiah Blake
Jeremiah Carter
Jeremiah James
Jeremiah Parker
Jeremiah Robert

As a Middle Name:
Colton Jeremiah
Henry Jeremiah
Lucas Jeremiah
Tyler Jeremiah
Wesley Jeremiah

What middle names would you pair with Jeremiah? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Beyond Alexander: 4+ Syllable Boy Names

Say you're looking for a long name for your baby boy and you can't think of much beyond Alexander or Maximilian.

Fear not! Let this be your handy resource for long boy names!

Every name on this list is 4 syllables long or more. There are definitely plenty of interesting, unusual choices and some international ideas borrowed from origins around the world.

Which of these names are your favorites? Can you think of any that could be added?

Share your favorites in the comment section below!

Abelardo                     Adalberto Agapito Aleczander Alejandro Aleksander Alessandro Alexander Alexandro Alexzander Amadeo Amadeus Ambrosio Anacleto Ananias Aniceto Antonino Antonio Apolinar Archimedes Aristides Arsenio Bartholomew Bartolomé Bartolomeo Calogero Candelario Casimiro Catarino Cayetano Celestino Cipriano Ciriaco Constantino Constantinos Cornelius Damarion Deangelo Demetrius Dionisio Domitilo Dumisani

Ebenezer                   Eleazar Eliseo Emanuel               Emiliano Emmanuel Epifanio Espiridion Estanislao Eugenio Evaristo Everardo Ezekiel Federico Feliciano Filiberto Florencio Florentino Fortunato Gamaliel Geronimo Guadalupe Heriberto Hipolito Horacio Horatio Ildefonso Inocencio Isidoro Jedidiah Jeremiah Jeronimo Joselito Josemaria Juventino Leonardo Leonides Leopoldo Liborio Macallister Malaquias Marcelino

Margarito Mauricio Maximilian Maximiliano Maximillian Maximino Moctezuma Napoleon Natividad Nehemiah Nicodemus Obadiah Octavian Olajuwan Oleander Omarion Patricio Policarpo Porfirio Primitivo Refugio Rigoberto Rosalio Rosario Salvatore Santiago Saturnino Silverio Teodoro Teodulo Thelonius Theodoric Theophilus Tiberius Timoteo Valentino Victorino Vittorio Zacarias Zachariah Zebediah Zechariah

If you're looking for some shorter names too, I got you covered! Here are some One-Syllable Boy Names as well as some Four Letter Boy Names!  Next week, we'll explore long girl name possibilities!

One-Syllable Given Names for Girls

Names that are "short and sweet" are often very desirable for a girl, especially in the middle name spot to complement a long first name. What are some viable names that only have one-syllable? I'm sure you can think of a few, but how many are full names and not nicknames?

Let's see if we can list as many one-syllable full-names as possible! Let me know if I have missed any or if any should be removed because they are just too nicknamey. Although some may double as a nickname and a stand-alone name. This is where it gets tricky! For instance, you can be just "Gwen" but that could potentially be a nickname for Gwendolyn. I will include it anyway.

Here is a short list of girl names for those who want the more common choices pointed out among the more unusual names on the list:

Anne, Bea, Belle, Beth, Blanche, Blythe, Bree, Brooke, Claire, Dawn, Elle, Eve, Faith, Fawn, Faye, Gail, Gwen, Hope, Jade, Jane, Jean, Jill, Joy, June, Kay, Lane, Leigh, Lux, Maeve, Maude, May, Moon, Naomh, Niamh, Paige, Pearl, Rae, Raine, Rose, Ruth, Sage, Shea, Skye, Snow, Tess, True, Wren, Wynne

These are names that would work on a girl, whether they're feminine or unisex. Click here to view the list of one-syllable boy names! However, there may be duplicates on both lists.

Ames                           Ann Anne Ash Aure Bay Banks Bea Belle Bern Bess Beth Blaine Blair Blaise Blake Blanche Blaze Bliss Blue Blythe Bree Brett Bridge Britt Bronx Brook Brooke Bryce Brynn Cade Cael Cain Cane Case Claire Clove Coeur Coy Crane Cree Dawn Drew Elle Eve Faith Fauve Fawn Faye Fern Fleur Fran Gail Gene Gift Glenn Greer Grey Gwen Hilde Hope Ives Jade Jan Jane Jax Jean Jem Jiles Jill Jin Joan Joss Joy Joyce Jules June Kade Kai Kate Kay Keane Kern Kerr Kieve Kit Kris Kyle Lane Lee Lei Leigh Len Lis Liv

Locke Lorne Lux Luz Lyle Lynn Lyre Madge Mae Maeve Maine Mair March Mare Marge Mars Maude Mauve May Mayes Mead Merle Mills Milne Mint Mist Moon Mose Myrrh Naomh Neith Neve Niamh Nile Noor North Nowles Nox Oakes Page Paige Park Pax Paz Pearl Pier Quinn Rae Raine Rea Reed Reese Reign Ren Rhodes Rome Rose Rue Ruth Sage Sean Shae Shane Shay Shea Shields Sky Skye Snow Sol Star Storm Tait Tate Teal Tess Thais Thane Trace Tress Trish True Twain Tyme Tyne Vail Voss Wren Wynne Yale Yates Yule Zane Zeal Zen

Let me know if I have missed any or if some should not be included (and why!) If you're interested in short names, you may also love this list of 3-Letter Names or this list of 4-Letter Names for girls!

If you need help coming up with first and middle name combinations that flow well, take a look at some of the naming services I currently offer!

One-Syllable Given Names for Boys

What are some viable names that only have one-syllable? I'm sure you can think of a few, but how many are full names and not nicknames?

Let's see if we can list as many one-syllable full-names as possible! Let me know if I have missed any or if any should be removed because they are actually a nickname. Although some may double as a nickname and a stand-alone name. This is where it gets tricky! For instance, you can be just "Abe" but that could potentially be a nickname for Abel or Abraham. I will include it anyway.

These are names that would work on a boy, whether they're masculine or unisex. You can find the list of one syllable girl names here, but there may be duplicates on both lists.

Short list of semi-common names for those of you that don't want to browse through so many options: 

Blaine, Blake, Boone, Brant, Brent, Brice, Brock, Cade, Cane, Chance, Charles, Chase, Clarke, Craig, Dean, Drake, Dwayne, Earl, Finn, Ford, Gage, Graham, Grant, Gray, Hayes, Heath, Hugh, Jack, James, John, Jude, Keane, Keith, Lance, Lee, Luke, Kyle, Max, Miles, Nash, Neil, North, Page, Paul, Pierce, Quinn, Ray, Reece, Reid, Rex, Rhett, Rhodes, Ross, Scott, Seth, Shawn, Sloan, Stone, Tate, Thorne, Todd, Troy, Vaughn, Wade, Wolf, Yale

Have fun browsing through the rest of them and let me know if there are any that you'd like me to add or delete.  

Abe         Ace Ames Arch Ash Aure Baird Banks Bart Bash Bay Beale Bear Beau Beck Berne Bert Birch Blade Blaine Blair Blaise Blake Blaze Bliss Blue Bond Boone Booth Boyce Boyd Bram Brant Breck Brent Brett Brice Brick Bridge Brit Brock Bronx Brook Brooks Brown Bruce Bryce Brynn Burke Burt Butch Buzz Byrd Byrne Cade Cael Cain Cale Cane Carl Carr Case Cash Chad Chance Charles Chas Chase Chaz Chet Cid Clark Claude Claus Clay Cleave Clem Cliff Clint Clive Cloud Clove Clyde Coeur Cole Colt Coy Craig Crane Creed Crew

Cruz         Curt Cyd Czar Dale Dane Darth Dash Dax Dean Dirk Doug Doyle Drake Drew Duane Duke Dunn Dwayne Dwight Earl Falk Field Finn Fionn Fisk Flint Floyd Flynn Forbes Ford Fox Frank Franz Fred Fritz Frost Gael Gage Gale Garth Gates Gene Geoff George Gil Giles Glenn Graham Grant Gray Greer Grey Gregg Gus Guy Haines Hank Hayes Heath Herb Holt Howe Huck Hugh Hume Ives Jace Jack Jacques Jake Jam James Jan Jarl Jase Javes Jax Jay Jazz Jean Jem Jett Jiles Job John Jon Jones Joss Juan Judd

Jude Judge       Juke Jules Kade Kael Kai Kale Kane Karl Keefe Keane Keith Ken Kent Kern Kerr King Kipp Kirk Kit Klaus Knox Knute Kris Kurt Kyle Laird Lance Lane Lee Leif Lev Link Lisle Lloyd Locke Lorne Luce Luke Lux Luz Lyle Lynn Lyre Mace Maine March Mark Max Mayes Mead Merle Miles Mills Milne Mitch Mitt Moon Mose Nash Neal Neil Niles Noor North Nowles Nox Nye Oak Oakes Orde Page Park Patch Paul Pax Paz Penn Perth Pier Pierce Platt Price Prince Quade Quinn Rafe Rain Ralph Ray

Reece Reed Reese Reeves Reid Reign Ren Rex Rhett Rhodes Rhys Rock Rogue Rolf Rome Ross Roy Royce Rush Sage Saul Scott Scout Sean Serge Seth Shae Shane Shaun Shaw Shawn Shay Shea Shields Sky Slade Sloan Smith Spence Sprague Stone Storm Strom Sven Sain Tadhg Tate Tave Teague Teal Teige Thai Thane Thor Thorne Todd Trace Trent Trey Tripp Troy Twain Tyme Tyne Vail Vance Vaughn Verne Vlad Voss Vox Wade Ward Wayne Webb West Wolf Woods Worth Wright Wynn Xan Xarles Yale Yates York Yule Yves Zane Zeal Zeus

If it is short and sweet names that you're looking for, you may also like this article: The Very Best 4-Letter Boys Names!  If you need help coming up with first and middle name combinations that flow well, take a look at some of the naming services I currently offer!

Why is Elizabeth Perpetually Popular?

Baby Profile by Vera Kratochvil

When pondering classic and even regal names, there is one that almost always comes to mind: Elizabeth. This perpetually popular name surely has a good reason for remaining as such! But what is that reason? Beyond its elegance and beauty, Elizabeth tends to flow very well with many names. This is one of the reasons that it has remained within the Top 30 every single year since 1880.

But why does it pair so well? Elizabeth is used for both a first and middle name. People love Elizabeth as a first name because of how versatile the nicknames are, ranging from Ellie to Liz to Betsy to Beth, and many many more in between.

In this instance, we shall investigate why Elizabeth works so well as a middle name. Many people clump it in with all the other "filler" or "connector" middle names that simply fill an empty spot between the first and last names, such as Anne, Grace, Marie, Claire, etc. However, many argue that Elizabeth doesn't deserve to be classified as such. Rather, despite its popularity, it is somewhat one-of-a-kind.

1.) It starts with a vowel, which is appealing, but the "L" tends to get most of the sound emphasis which allows Elizabeth to flow with names that end with a vowel.

2.) The overall stress of the full name is put on the second syllable which helps to connect it to the first with a beautiful flow.

3.) The four-syllable length of Elizabeth makes it long-but-not-too-long. In many cases, four syllables is the perfect length to differentiate it from the first name before introducing you to the last name. For example, Clara Elizabeth Miller tends to roll off the tongue slightly better than a shorter middle name like Clara Leigh Miller. One might hear it incorrectly as "Claralee or Claraly." Whereas Elizabeth makes a bold but graceful stance in its own place.

4.) The name ends with a consonant sound that isn't often heard in other names. (How many can you think of that end with -th?)  Most first names used today end with -a, -e, -n, -r or -y, which pair perfectly with the different beginning AND ending of Elizabeth.

Much of Elizabeth's success is undoubtedly due to the reasons listed above. The combination of them makes this name very versatile yet unique.

If you are looking for other options instead of Elizabeth, you'd do well to examine other four-syllable names with the stress on the second syllable. Most of these will also flow very beautifully with almost any first name.Test out your favorite first names with the names below as the middle name, and then try it with Elizabeth. Which do you prefer?

Amelia
Aurelia
Bidelia
Calliope
Camellia
Cecelia
Cordelia
Evangeline
Eulalia
Hermione
Hortensia
Ignacia
Leticia
Magnolia
Natalia
Octavia
Olivia
Ophelia
Penelope
Persephone
Valencia
Veronica
Victoria
Zenobia

If you notice, the majority of these names end with A. If you refer back to my fourth point above, many feminine first names seem to end with A as well. While some parents find the rhyming to be cute, most will agree that Sarah Octavia, for example, is too much A sound. Whereas Sadie Octavia sounds much better. However, because of Elizabeth's different ending, Sarah Elizabeth and Sadie Elizabeth both work.

If you are interested in using one of the names listed above, one way to avoid the repetitious endings (like Sarah Octavia) is to end the first and middle names with different vowel sounds. For example, Stella Calliope or Lily Veronica.

Also, ending the first name with a consonant helps, like Piper Cordelia or Caitlin Amelia.  Or use a middle name that ends in a consonant-sound like Evangeline. Sophia Evangeline or Hadley Evangeline work very well!

It is clearly all up to interpretation and personal taste. Even different accents may throw this theory off. But there has to be a reason why Elizabeth has remained so consistently used over the past 132 recorded years. Elizabeth has never ranked higher than #26, and even then there were upwards of 10,000 babies who bore the name.

Very few other names in history have stats like this.

Do you like the name Elizabeth or would you opt for one of the other options instead?