Can You Contract Longer Names to Form Shorter Ones?

Lately, I've been loving the name Thea. However, when I thought about longer, proper names, I just don't like Theodora or Dorothea enough to consider using those on the birth certificate with Thea as just a nickname. Some people like to skip that middle step and put nicknames or shortened forms directly on the paperwork.

It occurred to me that shortening or contracting names could work for those wishing to honor a relative. You love grandma Wilhelmina but don't wish to use her exact name, so you contract it and go with Willa. Easy, right?

Are there any names that you can think of that could be shortened to create interesting short forms? Maybe some that are a bit more unexpected than traditional? Sure, there's Thea from Theodora, and Tessa from Theresa. Are there any others that aren't as obvious? Just pick a name, drop a few letters and see what you're left with. Maybe it'll be the next big thing! Here are a few I came up with:

Adelaide > Ada, Adlai, Adele, Aida

Alexandra > Alexa, Andra, Alandra, Axara, Alara
Angelica > Anelia
Arianna > Aria
Aurora > Aura, Ara
Beatrix > Bix
Bianca > Bia
Brianna > Brina
Carolina > Cara, Carla, Calia, Calla
Cassandra > Candra, Casara
Cassidy > Cady
Cecilia > Celia
Dorothea > Dora, Dot
Eleanora > Elora
Elodie > Edie
Emilia > Elia
Esmeralda > Esme, Elda, Esra, Emerald
Estella > Ella, Esta
Evangeline > Evaline, Eline
Galilea > Gala
Georgiana > Gia, Gina, Gera, Giana
Giovanna > Gia, Gina, Gianna
Isabella > Isla, Isela
Juliet > Jet
Julietta > Jetta
Katherine > Karine
Leonora > Lena, Lora, Lea, Leona
Lillian > Lian
Lorraine > Laine
Louisa > Lia, Lisa
Marilyn > Maryn
Margaret > Maret
Margareta > Meta, Mara
Matilda > Mila
Meredith > Merith
Minerva > Mina, Meva
Miranda > Mira, Manda, Mandy, Mindy, Mina
Miriam > Mira
Natalia > Nala
Noelle > Nell
Penelope > Pelle, Penny, Poppy
Rebecca > Reba
Romilly > Romy
Rosalie > Rosie
Rosemary > Romy, Remy, Rory, Roma
Savannah > Sanna
Theodora > Thea, Thora, Theda, Thera, Tora, Téa
Theresa > Tess, Tessa, Téa, Tera, Tressa
Valentina > Vala, Valentia, Vena,
Veronica > Vera, Vona
Victoria > Vita, Vira, Via
Wilhelmina > Willa, Wilma, Wima

What other names can you come up with? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

10 Names That Are Super Fun To Write In Cursive

Kids today have so much technology at their disposal that most of them probably don't write nearly as often as us older folks did. I don't know about you but when I grew up, cursive was still very much a thing. I remember having to practice each letter over and over again until I got them right.

My favorite letters, of course, were the loopiest ones like f, g, l,  p, and y. I remember doodling all over my binders wishing that my name had loopier letters in it. When my name didn't satisfy, I began writing the names of my friends, my classmates, my family members and my crushes instead.

These days, everything is so digital that I can't remember the last time I actually pulled out a pen and paper and got my loop on. Since I was thinking about it, I started to wonder which names would be the most fun to write.

I'm sure there are tons of great options out there but I picked my 10 favorite names to write:

1. 

This interesting and rare boy name has so much going for it in the way of cursiveness. The ll, the g-to-h, the b and the y... I'm dying to write this down right now! Aren't you?  Willoughby was sometimes used a century ago for males but it's very rare now. This spelling had 6 births for boys and 7 for girls in 2014.

2.

This nature name looks beautiful in cursive. You really can't beat going from a drop-down-loop to an upper loop like this y to double-l transition. And there's something adorable about a lowercase S. Amaryllis has never been popular but it has been used since 1926 in the US. There were 49 births for girls in 2014. 

3. 

My favorite cursive letter of all is the capital L! There are so many loops in Loulabelle that it's impossible to not want to write it a dozen times! Plus it sounds beautiful too! This spelling of Loulabelle has no usage on record in the US as a name.

4 .

Honestly, the longer the name, the better! With four syllables and eleven letters, Cadwallader offers so much in the way of cursive writing. Even just eyeballing it made me dizzy! Cadwallader has no usage as a name in the US but it would be a quirky choice. 

5 . 

I may have added an extra L to this beautiful guilty pleasure name but Tigerlilly really is a pleasure to write! I mean, check out that capital T!  According to records, this spelling of Tigerlilly has only been used for 5 girls in 2001 and 5 girls in 2010.

6 .

It would be a shame to exclude the marvelous lowercase letters Z and Q.  Plus, capital E's are so curvy and fun to write!  Used since 1912, Ezequiel has ranked in the Top 1000 since the early 1980s and had 485 births for boys in 2014.

7. 

Don't forget about those loopy F's! Rafferty excellently displays plenty of fun letters that you'll love to doodle absentmindedly. Cross that T with style! As a name, Rafferty is rare. Used in the US since 1989, it only had 11 births for boys in 2014.

8.  

Another satisfying letter is the capital D. This lovely name will take you on a roller coaster ride of cursive goodness! Plus, it's rare and lovely as a name! It has been around since 1902 but it has never gained steam. There were only 8 girls named Delphina in 2014.

9.  

Gorgeous Gwendolyn also has an amazing capital letter along with some lowercase loopiness and an l-to-y combo. What's not to love? This name had a popularity peak in 1953, declined after that but is starting to climb the charts again. There were 756 girls given this name in 2014 for a rank of #420.

10. 

Last but not least, Jumpin' Jehoshaphat may not be used at all as an actual name in the US, but it's definitely full of excellent cursive loopiness. Look at that capital J! It even has three H's! I dare you not to doodle this one throughout your next class or business meeting. 

What do you think of my collection of cursive-friendly names? I know there are way more names out there that would inspire anyone to pull out a pen and paper. Can you think of any?

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!

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!