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Help[Opinions] Xanthe & Magdalene
My sister gave birth to twin daughters just over a week ago, and is just now finalising her name choices. She wanted the gender to be kept a secret, but always thought it was a boy and a girl. Her husband wanted daughters [there's not many men I've met who'd want to raise two daughters at once, for some reason], strangely enough, but she wanted one of each [of course, they're both delighted and would have been delighted either way]. The names she's currently considering are Xanthe and Magdalene. Xanthe's a bit obscure, but it is, in my opinion, a beautiful name and a bit of a family tradition. Magdalene was her husband's choice. What do you think?
Of course, I've been asked for opinions and I like them both, but they're stumped for name ideas, especially for middle names. My brother in law likes Xanthe Anne. My sister hates that, but, hey, if people think it's nice she might consider warming to it? It's just that Xanthe's so exotic, Anne seems a bit rediculously plain. Errr... so...any suggestions? Also, feedback on what you think of the names would be nice.
Also, do you think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce? It wouldn't be a problem this side, but I don't know if my sister's in-laws would really have a clue, let alone schoolfriends and teachers. Spelling could be a problem, and is it -too big- a name for, say, a five year old girl or something? Name suggestions and nickname suggestions for either Xanthe, Magdalene [Lena's been suggested here? Maggie and Magda aren't appreciated, sadly] or any name suggestions are -more- than welcome.
I hate to bother you with these questions, but my sister and brother in law are finding finding a name pretty tiring and so far have lists and nothing, no combos or anything, that they've really fallen in love with. My suggestions aren't appreciated either :P Anyway, we're all sick of calling them 'Baby 1' and 'Baby 2', so... help? :P
Of course, I've been asked for opinions and I like them both, but they're stumped for name ideas, especially for middle names. My brother in law likes Xanthe Anne. My sister hates that, but, hey, if people think it's nice she might consider warming to it? It's just that Xanthe's so exotic, Anne seems a bit rediculously plain. Errr... so...any suggestions? Also, feedback on what you think of the names would be nice.
Also, do you think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce? It wouldn't be a problem this side, but I don't know if my sister's in-laws would really have a clue, let alone schoolfriends and teachers. Spelling could be a problem, and is it -too big- a name for, say, a five year old girl or something? Name suggestions and nickname suggestions for either Xanthe, Magdalene [Lena's been suggested here? Maggie and Magda aren't appreciated, sadly] or any name suggestions are -more- than welcome.
I hate to bother you with these questions, but my sister and brother in law are finding finding a name pretty tiring and so far have lists and nothing, no combos or anything, that they've really fallen in love with. My suggestions aren't appreciated either :P Anyway, we're all sick of calling them 'Baby 1' and 'Baby 2', so... help? :P
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Replies
I love the Xanthe. It does sound O.K with Anne but I would prefer it with something slightly more underused like Annika.
Magdalene in my opinion sounds a bit too stuffy in comparison to Xanthe. I think Magda sounds much better and would be a lovely combination with Delphine.
My choices are:
Xanthe Annika
Magda Delphine
Magdalene in my opinion sounds a bit too stuffy in comparison to Xanthe. I think Magda sounds much better and would be a lovely combination with Delphine.
My choices are:
Xanthe Annika
Magda Delphine
This message was edited 9/15/2008, 11:56 PM
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I'm not crazy about the names. Xanthe sounds strange, and Magdalene sounds depressing.
Xanthe Anne is NOT a good combo; as someone already mentioned, it repeats the "An" sound, and it sounds silly. Some MN replacements:
Xanthe Alina
Xanthe Helena
Xanthe Anneliese
Xanthe Anora
Xanthe Elena
Xanthe Ophelia
Xanthe Sophia
MN's for Magdalene:
Magdalene Rose
Magdalene Elise
Magdalene Daria
Magdalene Ruth
Magdalene Genevieve
Magdalene Yvonne
Magdalene Claudette
Magdalene Katherine
Magdalene Susannah
Magdalene Corrine
Xanthe Anne is NOT a good combo; as someone already mentioned, it repeats the "An" sound, and it sounds silly. Some MN replacements:
Xanthe Alina
Xanthe Helena
Xanthe Anneliese
Xanthe Anora
Xanthe Elena
Xanthe Ophelia
Xanthe Sophia
MN's for Magdalene:
Magdalene Rose
Magdalene Elise
Magdalene Daria
Magdalene Ruth
Magdalene Genevieve
Magdalene Yvonne
Magdalene Claudette
Magdalene Katherine
Magdalene Susannah
Magdalene Corrine
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Haha. Well those are cool twin names. Anne is bad with Xanthe I think.
Xanthe Elizabeth would be better even
Xanthe Irene (peace!)
Xanthe Polymnia because it means Much Song
Xanthe ... Marcheline
Xanthe Vivienne
Xanthe Fiona
Magdalene Lily
Magdalene Phoebe
Magdalene Elaine
Magdalene Niamh
Magdalene Vera
My sister was almost Magdalena "Lena." So that is natural to me. There's also Maddie which would ruin everything.
Xanthe Elizabeth would be better even
Xanthe Irene (peace!)
Xanthe Polymnia because it means Much Song
Xanthe ... Marcheline
Xanthe Vivienne
Xanthe Fiona
Magdalene Lily
Magdalene Phoebe
Magdalene Elaine
Magdalene Niamh
Magdalene Vera
My sister was almost Magdalena "Lena." So that is natural to me. There's also Maddie which would ruin everything.
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Xanthe and Magdalene are both lovely. Xanthe is unusual to most people, so the pronounciation and spelling would have to be learned. If they like these names then they should use them.
Xanthe Anne is fine if that's what they are happy with. If they are wanting to honour or use Anne, but not quite set on it, perhaps another form of it or a name with 'Ann' in it?
Mn or other name suggestions:
Adriana
Lavinia
Ophelia
Thalia
Aemilia
Callista
Vivienne
Cressida
Gertrude
Roxanne
Viola
Hermia
Ginevra
Katerina
Lucia
Silvie
Lorelei
Nyssa
Minerva
Xanthe Anne is fine if that's what they are happy with. If they are wanting to honour or use Anne, but not quite set on it, perhaps another form of it or a name with 'Ann' in it?
Mn or other name suggestions:
Adriana
Lavinia
Ophelia
Thalia
Aemilia
Callista
Vivienne
Cressida
Gertrude
Roxanne
Viola
Hermia
Ginevra
Katerina
Lucia
Silvie
Lorelei
Nyssa
Minerva
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I love Xanthe but not Magdalene. I don't think they go together but then again twin names don't *have* to be the same right? I'd prefer Xanthe and Madeleine or Xanthe and Matilda though.
I don't think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce its only two syllables and once people are told how to say it then will know.
Lena would be good as a nn for Magdalene.
I don't think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce its only two syllables and once people are told how to say it then will know.
Lena would be good as a nn for Magdalene.
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I like Xanthe. I think it's really cute. I also like Magdalene. A nice alternative to the overused Madeline. They don't go that well together but I think that's okay.
I don't really like Xanthe Anne. It repeats the "An" "Anne" sound which isn't a bad thing but Anne is so filler though very pretty. Does her husband want to honor a family member by using Anne ? Maybe Xanthe Anna would be better. Or Xanthe Anneliese, Xanthe Annabelle (prefer Annabel but Annabelle looks better with Xanthe) or something Greek like Xanthe Anastasia or Xanthe Andromeda.
I don't think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce. I do think however that some other people who aren't so interested in names might have problems with both pronunciation and spelling. But I would use it anyway. Most people will learn how to say and write it pretty quickly. And it's nice to have an underused name. It reminds me of Chloe and Zoe only that I don't think it will ever become as popular. If she likes Xanthe she may also like Ione or Iona.
I can't think of any nicknames for Xanthe. Annie maybe but I don't really like that. It's a no nickname name to me. I'm not a big fan of nicknames anyway. I really dislike Magda. Lena is so common here so it seems boring to me. I think Leni would be kind of cute.
Maggie and Xanthe ? hehe no way. Xanthe is so Greek, it reminds me of a Greek goddess and Maggie is so 50s housewife. They just don't go together. I think they should just stick with Magdalene.
I don't really like Xanthe Anne. It repeats the "An" "Anne" sound which isn't a bad thing but Anne is so filler though very pretty. Does her husband want to honor a family member by using Anne ? Maybe Xanthe Anna would be better. Or Xanthe Anneliese, Xanthe Annabelle (prefer Annabel but Annabelle looks better with Xanthe) or something Greek like Xanthe Anastasia or Xanthe Andromeda.
I don't think Xanthe is too hard to pronounce. I do think however that some other people who aren't so interested in names might have problems with both pronunciation and spelling. But I would use it anyway. Most people will learn how to say and write it pretty quickly. And it's nice to have an underused name. It reminds me of Chloe and Zoe only that I don't think it will ever become as popular. If she likes Xanthe she may also like Ione or Iona.
I can't think of any nicknames for Xanthe. Annie maybe but I don't really like that. It's a no nickname name to me. I'm not a big fan of nicknames anyway. I really dislike Magda. Lena is so common here so it seems boring to me. I think Leni would be kind of cute.
Maggie and Xanthe ? hehe no way. Xanthe is so Greek, it reminds me of a Greek goddess and Maggie is so 50s housewife. They just don't go together. I think they should just stick with Magdalene.
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Xanthe and Magdalene are rather unusual for twins.
Aw, I'm sad they don't like Maggie.
Magdalene and Ophelia
Magdalene and Evangeline
Magdalene and Genevieve
Magdalene and Regina
Magdalene and Helena
Magdalene and Virginia
Magdalene and Cassandra
Magdalene and Eugenie
Magdalene and Jane
Xanthe and Calandra
Xanthe and Persephone
Xanthe and Evadne
I think Xanthe could be a difficult name to carry off, because of the 'x' it seems sort of 'sci-fi' to me!
Aw, I'm sad they don't like Maggie.
Magdalene and Ophelia
Magdalene and Evangeline
Magdalene and Genevieve
Magdalene and Regina
Magdalene and Helena
Magdalene and Virginia
Magdalene and Cassandra
Magdalene and Eugenie
Magdalene and Jane
Xanthe and Calandra
Xanthe and Persephone
Xanthe and Evadne
I think Xanthe could be a difficult name to carry off, because of the 'x' it seems sort of 'sci-fi' to me!
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Hmmm, yeah. I can see the sci-fi aspect of it, but I think my sister's pretty set on including it somewhere. I think it could be a hard name to pull off in many ways while you're a kid. It's unusual and kids can be mean, and it's always awful being the kid with the name people can't say or spell, isn't it? I like:
Magdalene and Cassandra
Xanthe and Persephone
Xanthe and Evadne
I guess it's not my choice but I'll suggest those to them, since I, at least, like them :P. I think Cassandra got trashed pretty early in the name choosing process, but I could be wrong, eh?
Magdalene and Cassandra
Xanthe and Persephone
Xanthe and Evadne
I guess it's not my choice but I'll suggest those to them, since I, at least, like them :P. I think Cassandra got trashed pretty early in the name choosing process, but I could be wrong, eh?
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I'm afraid that Xanthe, woululd be called Xantham gum in school.
That's what popped into my mind. sorry. I do like how it sounds though.
That's what popped into my mind. sorry. I do like how it sounds though.
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I don't know what Xanthum Gum is, so.
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Me neither, so I don't know how likely it is that school kids will know. I had to look it up, so I'd be very embarrased if a lot of seven years olds knew more than me about that, haha. :P
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