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Nora or Maeve
Hello! Been a member for a long time and a life-long lover of names. My DH and I are expecting and we already have a boy’s name picked out; Basil.We’ve narrowed down our girl’s list to Maeve (his choice) and Nora (mine) though we both like the other name as well. I’m curious to your thoughts on both and which you prefer. Here are some middle name ideas - we’re going to go with two. One of the middle names needs to be a Russian Orthodox Saint name as well; we are open to other suggestions that may or may not fit that. Last name is three syllables and starts with an S.Juniper
Sabrina
Olive
Aurora
Sophia
Anna
Holly
Marion
Petra
Marina
Elsa (Honoring for Elsie, a family name. DH only likes Elsa though)
Wilhelmina (Honoring for William, a family name on both sides)Thank you!
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Maeve is a bit trendy now, but I like it. It sounds sharp and clear
Nora feels a bit dusty and rough to me, especially since it means den, hole, or burrow in Polish.Ideas for saints name:
Adelaide
Agatha
Anna
Ariadne
Aurelia
Beatrix
Catherine
Cecilia
Emilia
Felicity
Gwen
Hermione
Irene
Lucy
Lydia
Magdalene
Mary
Miriam
Sophia
Susanna
Theodora
Xenia
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Why not Nora Maeve since you both like those names? I think they sound nice together and you both get your names.
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I prefer Maeve, mainly just because it seems more pleasant to say out loud, for me. Or it's more jaunty sounding?
These are the Russian Orthodox saints' names that I saw
Anna
Sophia
Barbara
Eudoxia
Juliana
Maria
Xenia
Olga
Some with Nora & Maeve together -
Nora Maeve Xenia
Nora Maeve Juliana
Nora Maeve Eudoxia
Maeve Nora Juliana
Maeve Nora Maria
Maeve Nora XeniaI think I prefer the middle two.
Also I did a long list of combinations; here's 10 I liked -
Nora Juliana Holly
Nora Juniper Sophia
Maeve Olga Sabrina
Maeve Olive Eudoxia
Maeve Olive Maria
Maeve Olive Juliana
Maeve Olga Holly
Maeve Barbara Holly

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This message was edited 4/17/2020, 10:22 PM

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Congrats!!
I love Maeve and think its much lovelier than Nora. Juniper and Petra are gorgeous and my favorites for middle names, and I also like Elsa and the fact that it honors. I don't know anything about Russian Orthodox saint names, so I cant be much help there, but its a solid list of names so you can't go wrong. Good luck!
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Thank you for your input! I think Maeve is winning out so far and I agree that it has a lovely sound. Juniper and Petra are two of my favorites as well but we'll see! And I think Elsa will be a probable middle name.
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Congrats! I prefer Maeve, it’s just softer and more friendly to me. Maeve Juniper, Maeve Sabrina and Maeve Elsa are all lovely. I prefer Elsie to Elsa though ;)
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Thank you for your input - I like all the combos you listed and agree with the preference for Elsie. But Elsa is DH's preference and I like both names/the person I'm honoring with the name so I'm willing to go with Elsa. Disney be damned, haha!
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I love both names - we recently named our baby Nora Maeve!!From your list my favourite combos are
Nora Wilhelmina
Nora Sabrina - I prefer SabineMaeve Elsa
Maeve Marion (This sounds a little bit like Maid Marion. With the second middle flow might be better?)Although not very familiar with Russian Orthodox saints, I did a quick search and I really like:
Xenia
Barbara
EudoxiaI adore and would definitely use Nora Xenia Sabine
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Congrats on your Nora Maeve! Great names!I love your combos - if I could get DH onboard with Sabine/Sabina I would but he's firm Sabrina guy. Xenia is one I love but he's not sure about, I like Barbara but he doesn't, and Eudoxia is so cool! Thank you for looking/thinking about Saint names.
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I love both Nora and Maeve and actually think “Nora Maeve” works really well as a combo.I’m not well versed in Russian Orthodox saint names so I don’t really have anything to add there, but since both you and your husband like both Nora and Maeve, why not just call her Nora Maeve Middlename S... That sounds beautiful to me, anyway :) (BTW. Basil is an amazing name too. And congratulations with the baby.)
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Nora Maeve does sound good together and I didn't even think of that! The Russian Saint thing is more important to his family and their traditions so I will continue to brainstorm that one. A few of the middle name possibilities we have can honor a Saint with a similar sounding name (who knew?) so we might go with another from the list to satisfy that requirement. Thank you so much! And I'm glad you like Basil as well! I get more negative reactions than positive but we love it so much.
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Maeve Elsa, I prefer Elsie too. I like children to have family names. Otherwise Sophia, then SabrinaI just don't like the sound of Nora, naw-ra
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Maeve Elsa is a real contender. Thank you for your thoughts!
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I love Maeve Wilhelmina! Thank you for the suggestion.
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Congrats!I’m growing to like Basil, would love to hear it used in real life.
I love the combo Maeve Juniper.ETA more comments:
Nora is fine, but I also find it a little nicknamey.
I prefer Maeve - it’s fresher and has more spunk imo. And Maeve seems easier to pair with most of your middle name choices. Although I don’t mind Nora Sophia and Nora Sabrina.

This message was edited 4/17/2020, 12:29 AM

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Maeve Juniper and Nora Sabrina are great!Thank you for your thoughts and combo ideas!
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