The Silver Screen Oasis

Hey Klonnie,

You know how I feel without saying it so I won't. All my best to you and yours.

As always,

Your Friend Hollis

Congratulations Klondike! One less worry for you!

The latest scoop on the twin granddaughters names is Emma and Annabelle, or Annabel. Depends on which way you choose to spell it. Emma is of English origin meaning: Whole, and Annabel is of Gaelic or Scottish origin meaning : Joy or Beautiful Grace. Now I like that! You could always shorten it to Anna, and Anna and Emma make a nice combination for twins.

silentscreen wrote:The latest scoop on the twin granddaughters names is Emma and Annabelle, or Annabel. Depends on which way you choose to spell it. Emma is of English origin meaning: Whole, and Annabel is of Gaelic or Scottish origin meaning : Joy or Beautiful Grace. Now I like that! You could always shorten it to Anna, and Anna and Emma make a nice combination for twins.

Huzzah!
Wonderful choices!
Yep, "Annabel" is indeed Scottish Gaelic*, and spelt with one n, was very popular in Scotland & Northern England throughout the 1800's, particularly in balance with sisters named "Isobel".

* Incredibly, there are 5 other "native" dialectic tongues spoken in Scotland besides English, so I always try to be specific!

Yes indeed Klonnie, Annabel is my favorite of the two. It's not in such common useage as Emma, plus it makes me think of the haunting love poem by Poe, "Annabel Lee." I like Isobel, and wish they would choose that instead of Emma, but they seem dead set on that one.

I like the name Emma and Annabel. I'd have considered both myself but I knew two Emma's, it's funny how knowing people already with the name can give you preconceived ideas. We did consider Anna but we had a boy second time.

Very nice and classy names

Dear Silentscreen, (sorry I don't know your given name)

When I was thirteen years old, in a very informal ceremony, my mom and dad added the middle name "Alan" to the "Hollis Gilbert" I had already been "blessed" with at birth. The funny thing was that its purpose was to honor my Grandmother "Anna" who had passed on several years earlier. It just goes to show that there's nothing in a name except for letters! In any event, the two names you've selected are equally lovely and not heard often enough these days! At any rate, Congratulations!

As always,

Your friend,

Hollis

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

Hollis: There's the old phrase, "What's in a name?" Mine is Brenda.

"Possibly from the Old Norse word 'brand' meaning 'sword', or a feminine form of Brendan. The name was used first in Scotland, and has since spread to the rest of the world." It's Scottish, Celtic, Norwegian in origin.

Also Hollis, I think it rather sweet that your parents sought to honor your grandmother. All of your names are good ones.

If I had ten daughters I could easily find names for them and names that my husband would agree with. If I had another son, to reach agreement would take us ages. IMO it's easier to name girls. Just some of my list

Grace
Alexandra
Rose
Catherine
Victoria
Alice
Anna
Eleanor

I suppose you could call me traditional.

Those are all lovely names Alison! We already have an Emma in our family too. That's my neice's daughter's name. I tried to dissuade Josh and Danielle from picking it, but that is the one that they are both insistent on. My grandneice is named Emma Grace. Her Mom picked "Emma" because all the Emma's she knew were sweet. Well Emma Grace is a darling little girl, but hardly sweet. She's pretty spoiled in fact. Plus "Emma" was the third most common girls name in the U.S. in 2007. The only difference is that my granddaughter will be named Emma Jean, and Jean is not a common name any more. My Mom will have two great granddaughters named Emma now.

They are thinking of Annabel Marie or Annabel Ruth. It's such a long name on it's own that I told my son it's like two names already and doesn't really need a middle name. But I have no influence in this matter. As long as they're both healthy, it doesn't matter.

I liked Ruth but I have an Auntie with the name. I think they are wise to chose two names for both, Annabel won't feel left out by having only one name. Emma isn't as popular here, it was more popular in my generation. I have both a friend and a friend's daughter with the name.

One of the reasons naming boys is so difficult is that the majority of my friends have boys. I loved Sean as a name but hubby was having noneof it. It shows my Irish roots, as if he didn't have any himself, it is Lancashire afterall

I liked Sean as well, but I lost someone quite dear to me, so I ended up with a Joshua Bruce in their honor. Sean is the same as John is it not?

Alison: "Noble kind; of the noble sort." Suits you Alison!

Thank you Brenda, I've never thought of myself as noble. I very much liked Alice as a name but it is so close to my name, it might have created confusion, so Libby has it as a middle name. It was very common at the beginning of the last century, both my Grandma's had the name.

I thought Sean was the Irish equivalent to James but I'm no expert. I think your son's name is a lovely tribute to the person you lost.

Brenda, I think both Emma and Annabel are really lovely names. They are old-fashioned, in a good way.

Re. Brenda's origin, I don't think this has anything to do with anything but in modern Swedish, brand means fire. It would be interesting to look up the evolution of that word.

Hedvig, I seem to remember that "Brenda" meant "firebrand" somewhere a long time ago. More than likely my memory is incorrect, and I read that "Brenda" could come from the word "brand" which means "fire" in Sweden. Lately, I've read that it's from Scottish, Celtic, Norwegian sources meaning "sword." Oddly enough, my brother's name is "Lance" , which is another weapon.