A big thank you to my readers Kristen and Debbie for urging a return to this topic:
Rebecca Woolfe is just taunting us! After our speculative Girl’s Gone Child post I really wanted to let her completely surprise us, but she has alluded to twins “Rhythm and Blues”– their pseudonyms, and even bought the letters “R” and “B” for their room! So it seems a second shot at this is inevitable.
The question remains, after son Archer and daughter Fable, will she stick to word names for her twin daughters? My gut tells me yes. How will the names relate to one another?
Here are a few “R” and “B” names that to me, feel very her. We’ll have to wait until October to find out what they choose for sure!
B: Babette, Bijou, Boheme, Bronwen, Briar, Blythe (on the discarded list, sadly), Bryony, Bronwen, Bard, Bright, Bloom, Bliss, Ballad, Bellamy, Brio
R: Reve, Reverie, Ray, Rhea, Rain, Raven, Rhapsody, Roxanne, Roxy/ie, Regina, Renata, Rio, Romy, Rowena, Rue, Runa, Ruth, Rune, Rowan
I absolutely love the way Reverie flows, its dreamy connotations, and the nickname “Rev” feels very rock and roll. Rune, a name I was previously unfamiliar with, has a layered meaning I can see appealing to them: according to Behind the Name, it’s derived from the Old Norse and means “secret lore.” Pronounced with two syllables, it’s a common name in Norway, though the Irish have a word with similar meaning, rùn.
For the Bs, Bloom keeps calling to me, as does Bijou. It’s so hard to speculate beyond this. I do love how R and B honor the mother (Rebecca nicknamed Bec), and wonder if this was subliminal or intentional. What do you think Bec and Hal will name their baby girls? What do you like paired together? Renata and Bloom ? Rune and Bijou . . .?
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I love love love her blog and have been going over possible R & B names myself trying to figure out what they are going with. These choices are all awesome and would work really well but I have the feeling that neither name will appear on our radar until she has them and then we’ll all say “Ohhh X, of course! Why didn’t I guess that?!”
i like reverie and ballad or rain and bloom . also, i believe bijou was on her “discarded” list for fable. does that mean it’s out of the running?
Was just thinking Rain and Bloom or River and Blossom. Think she’ll stick with two syllables?
I can totally see a little Reverie fitting in with Archer and Fable! I think Renata or Rowan would be lovely as well. I also like Briar and Bliss on the B side. I wonder if there’s a possibility of two more two syllable names? If that’s the case, Briar and Rowan all the way!
From this list I think my guess would be Raven and Briar or Bright. I think Nichole has a good point, whatever GGC chooses will be a total surprise but seem perfectly natural.
Oooooo….yum! Love this. Although the phrase “rhythm & blues” hints at something musical, if analyzed separately maybe one is musical (rhythm) and the other is color related (blues)? And then maybe I’m reading too far into it.
I’m sure whatever they choose will be awesome. Here are my guesses:
Reverie and Ballad (yummy yum yum)
Raven and Bloom (kind of sounds like rhythm and blues when you say it)
Forgot about Bright. I really like this for them. Don’t know what “r” name to pair it with, though.
I love your guesses! I would love it if you were right.
I’m going to guess:
Rowan and Briar
I’ve been thinking recently about the Japanese name Ren, meaning water lily. Wonder if that’s a contender . . .
I’m going to go ahead and log my guesses as Reverie and Bliss.
Don’t want to try and guess *too* hard, though, and ruin the surprise come Fall.
Hmm..
I’ve also been trying to guess at these and got as far as Raven but got stumped with the B.
I think “Rhythm” will be either called Raven or Romy/Romilly and “Blues” will be called Briar or Bliss.
Raven and Briar or Romy and Bliss
thank god you came back to this! i have been obsessing too! i love bliss and think it is perfect for one of her twins, i keep coming back to it for my own baby. the r is tough though. i’m not feeling any of your guesses… the wait will soon be over!
My First thought for her was Reverie. I’m not certain on the B name though. Bloom is so sweet and I love it with Reverie. Is Ballad too similar in meaning to Fable? Is Bliss too happy to pair with any other name?
River and Blaise?
Raven and Bright?
Remy and Belen?
I can’t believe that we have to wait until October to find out! Talk about suspense!
Completely forgot about River. Wow. What else might we not have thought of? I’m about ready to pull out my dictionaries in four languages.
I’m betting on Bliss & Reverie.
Love her blog!
I think the names will relate to Archer and Fable, but also have some sort of connection to each other.
My guesses are Ruby + Bijou (both jewels).
Or Rune + Briar: Loosely connected…maybe? They both seem to have a magic to them. Briar is a tangled, thorny bush that produces lovely pink roses…. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit…
Remember is another R name that might be pretty….
Interesting thought on Rune and Briar. I’m willing to go with you on this one.
Does Rune or Runa feel more them I wonder?
Rosemary and Briar
Ruby and Beryl
Rhea and Bathsheba
Rose and Bee
Raina and Bliss
Ramona and Beezus
Ramona and Beezus! We were just watching that movie and how I obsessed with Ramona as a girl. Love.
Rose and Bee would be wonderful– can’t get much more of a symbiotic relationship than that! Archer, Fable, Rose, and Bee. I like, but it won’t be Rose.
Then Rosebud maybe? I love it, even though I cannot help thinking of “Citizen Kane” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (does anyone remember the episode in which “Rosebud” was revealed on one episode to be Laura and Rob’s son Richie’s middle name!). If not Rosebud), Reverie and Bliss or Reverie and Bloom would be so lovely.
It turns out Archer’s name would have been Colette Reverie. Maybe that’s why Reverie feels so “right” to many of us. She’s mentioned it before:
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2008/04/quit-playin-names-with-my.html
I agree that she will probably choose something none of us have even thought of, but it will feel perfectly seemless when we hear it. No pressure Rebecca!
and here I was *just* about to say that I kind of hope she doesn’t use Reverie b/c I thought we were the only family out there with this name! I have googled and googled and googled some more to try and find others with the name and haven’t found any. Of course, I should guess that she went there years ago!
I am so happy that you come back to this!
I knew that Archer was supposed to be Colette, but forgot about Colette Reverie. That’s a good guess then! I do remember a post about how she wanted each of her childrens names to be completely their own though, so maybe she wouldn’t use that since it is associated with her past pregnancy? I don’t know.
Also, I’m curious if Blythe is completely off the list.. she used Luella as a middle for Fable after putting it on the discard list! I would love for them to have a little Blythe.
I think Bloom, Bliss and Bright are all lovely for them, but I’ve been really stuck on R names. Rio and Romy would both fit nicely I think!
I say Reverie or Rowan and Bloom. Those are my favorites
Rune is actually a boy name in Scandinavia, Runa being the female version, but it sounds really pretty as a girls name in the English language.
This has me in a state of anticipation too. Poor Bec and Hal, the whole blogiverse has been going nuts over these names! Hehe
Of your list Bloom is really sticking out for me. ‘R’ names on the other hand: I keep thinking Romilly or Roma.
My guess going in is Ballad and Remember. Ballad because it just seems to fit with Archer and Fable and Remember because it seems totally cool and hip and Bec-y. Plus, it’s an old Puritan name, so it’s not completely unheard of. I’m probably wrong, but I’m loving the combination of Remember and Ballad!
My original guesses, prior to being pushed into more thought on the matter by the other comments (and now I have some more things to consider):
**Rune and Bijou (but I couldn’t remember If I read Bijou as a discarded name in the link you provided, Elisabeth?)
**Rhapsody and Ballad (or some other music B name)
**Romillda (warrior name) and… a B warrior-esque name (Luella is a warrior name, no?) or perhaps a B peace name to counter it, but then who would give one daughter a peace name and the other a warrior? them? I don’t know. Maybe the B name would be more like Archer’s, a sort of human profession or action name? Ideas? But then talk about a sort of 50/50 split of gimmicks…they won’t do that.
**Reve or Reverie (we have one here) and Ballad. I guessed Ballad on the original YCCII post for this family, but I’ve since thought more about it, which makes me doubt it:
Will she use word names? I’m not sure. It’s tricky, b/c you want the kids’ names to flow together, but you want them to each have their own thing, too. While Archer is technically a word name, it’s sort of a human profession name (like Hunter), where as Fable is… not. So if she were to pick something like Ballad and Reverie, would Archer be sort of out on his own and the three girls be sort of…gimmicky, or at least be all from the same bag of tricks? I can see her wanting to go in a new direction, which makes Rune and Bijou more likely. When we were naming our second daughter, we loved some fruit names but didn’t want to develop a theme, as our first daughter has a fruit name; we wanted them each to have their own thing. So a fable, a ballad and a dream? I don’t know. An archer, a fable, and two rocks– all word names, but each it’s own type, though we’d still have humans and non humans. Maybe the whole human/not human distinction isn’t such a big deal; I *may* be over thinking it!
I never knew she had considered Reverie to go with Colette! Aside from Reverie being our second daughter’s second middle name, we also considered Cosette as a first! My husband wanted to use a name such that he could call her Coco, but I was convinced that Coco was going to get even more popular after the recent movie, so we moved away from that one. She did say that she doesn’t recycle names at all, so maybe Reverie is safe a bit longer for our family only ; ) However, I can see her going with Reve, in stead, which is technically not recycling.
**Here are name categories I’d love to get more R names from: plants/spices (I don’t think she’ll use Rosemary or any Rose name), and heavenly bodies.
**B names that would be great, except I can’t think of R counterparts:
Bluebell and Bellona (Belle was on discarded list as important family name, so maybe?)
I think we might just have to start going through the dictionary.
I also wanted to add that I can totally see her *actually* using Rhythm (and maybe Blues.) I mean, why use Rhythm as a pseudonym for Rhapsody or Reverie? Maybe it’s Rhythm and Bluebell?
Banyan and a not-Rowan R-tree name? Banyan really strikes masculine with me, though?
or something that means rooting into in the ground (for one) and sprouting up (for the other)? both equally important in the plants survival and beauty.
Bloom and Root? too similar sounding.
Revel or Ripple? To similar in sound to Fable?
Beacon
hmm Ripple and Beacon
Balance? Okay… I clearly need to think these out and *then* just do one comment. ; ) sorry.
What about Rhapsody??? Rhapsody and Blue?
Nevermind. I see you already got there Kristen.
Bellamy, meaning “good friend” is a great name for a twin!
I like Bellamy for a boy, but I can see it being fantastic on a girl if you like girls-names-that-are-not-too-girly. I can see it working well with Archer and Fable, too! Add it to the list!!
My bet is on River/Raven and Blaise/Bliss/Bloom. That said, I had a dream last night that she went with Bethany and Reine!
I am not at all convinced that Rebecca will necessarily choose word names. I know of so many people whose children’s names don’t fit into one style. Human taste is not so predictable that it can be easily categorised – which is why I find that site Nymbler a waste of time. From what I can see, Rebecca’s tastes, like many of us, have a broad range: Archer, Fable, Reverie, Colette and Luella. These are not names that I would expect the same person to have on their shortlist, but this kind of varied taste/style seems to occur in many of us. For example, I have a friend with daughters named Taylor and Lucy, and another friend with sons named Michael, Arvo and Valentine. Yay for human unpredictability!
I originally thought she would go the opposite direction this time, until I started reading the hints. Maybe they are red herrings, or I am reading them wrong? Would love it too if she surprised us and went in a different direction.
What are R and B names like Luella and Colette?
Bernadine or Bernadette– brave as a bear
Bernadine and Rhea or Robbin?
Bernadette Prudence and Romilda Rhapsody (Bernie and Ro.)
ooh, Ralphina or Ralphine has to do with wolves, no? Bernadette and Ralphine? She loves Delphine, so why not?
I am also very curious to see the following in other languages or to know names that might include these in their meanings: storm, thunder, rain, lightening, hurricane, tide, current, rapids, etc. Could one of her hints (or red herrings) have been calling them “forces of nature”. And I, too, love the element of unpredictability, but darn it, guessing is way too much fun to take a pass!
R and B names like Luella and Colette are hard to think of, aren’t they?!! But even if we can think of the “category” that these names fall into, it doesn’t mean that Rebecca would like the other names in the same category, which is the point I’m making. Name choices are hard to predict!
That said, ’tis not always the case. I have a friend with 4 boys, all with unusual names, and she recently met a family with 4 boys, all with the same 4 unusual names. Freaky!!
I was just thinking Bellamy, good call! You have Reve.. what about Reeves? I’ve actually heard that on a girl before, but both are pretty unisex, so thats a tie. Archer, Fable, Bellamy and Reeves. I like it!
More rambling thoughts. Man has this been fun! It’s also really just a game for us to play. GGC provides the context with a few guidelines, hints and things to consider, and we get to name twins. girl twins. and with that…
**Bijou and …. Rita (pearl). And let me just say now that should I ever be pregnant with girl twins, some version of this combination will come to pass in this house. Rita was my mother’s name. I think it’s lovely and I can see them going for this name.
**Bakura (ripe fruit) and Rimona (pomegranate)
**Rue (the herb) and Balm (also herb and poetry connections)
**Bertrade (bright advisor… to go with Sage), and Radiance (too much…no)
**Bedelia (exalted) and Rudelle (renowned)
**Begonia (flower) and Rue
**Blimah (blossom) or Bloom and Radicle (the first root from a plant, plus it’s other meanings)
**Branch or Briar and Rhoda (rose)
Other possible B names (that haven’t already been mentioned): Bathilda or Bertilde (woman warrior), Bow (both the thing guiding the arrow and playing the instrument), Bright, Badger, Bael (citrus tree), Baez, Bay, Brave, Beata (blessed), Bao (bundle/package, precious treasure), Bedelia (exhaulted one), Berdine (bright), Birdie, Bergen (mountain), Birdena (little bird), Blodwedd (flower face), Branch
Other possible R names(that haven’t already been mentioned): Rapid, Ravine, Riva or Rive (from the shore), Robinette, Riverine, Rosalba, Roshan (shining light), Rocio (dew), Rufina (red haired),
***I’d really, really, really love to see Bernadine and Romilda or Begonia and Rue. Oh man, oh man, I’d love to see those.
and I’m out. promise. unless I’m woken in the night with name flashes.
I’m obsessed. In the car today I began to think Revelry? Rebel? Birch?
Is Brooke too popular? Brooke and River too matching?? I had thought of Bellamy previously, what about Bellamy and Romilly? Ah I can’t wait to find out
Ooh! Bellamy and Romilly are pretty together. She won’t go for Brooke– too many people our age named Brooke, doesn’t feel like her style.
I’m loving Reverie and Bliss. Or Reverie and Bright. Those are my favorites!
Bellamy is great too though…but with what. It matches Archer and Fable in feeling, but then I don’t think that R would be another word. So I’ll go with Renata. But then that doesn’t feel as much like her style. Bellamy and Renata is great though.
Nope, still Reverie and Bliss. That’s my pick.
Oh, and I’m so glad that there are others out there who lay awake at night thinking about what other people may name their children. I keep scoping her house decorations for any potential slips in further hints into names. Ridiculous. You guys are all crazy!
Has anyone mentioned Robin? Fable, Archer, Robin and Bluebird?
Rosette. Rana. Reina. Reine. Renita. Roma. Rolanda. Ronalda. Riva. Rosalie. Rosalia. Rosalind. Rosaline. Roseline. Rosalinde. Rosalinda. Rosamond. Rosamund. Rosabel. Roshamel. Ruperta. Rosina. Rosita. Rosarita, Rhododendron!
Belinda. Blenda. Bernadette. Blessing. Blanche. Blanca. Bettina. Bonita. Bina. Bimah. Bonnie. Blodwen. Beulah, Bianca, Binaca, Brunhilda…
And on and on it goes. I think I might be losing my mind.
Um… so I said unless I was woken with name flashes. And I was.
I had the idea to look at the names of recent cyclones/storms. She said these babes are “forces of nature.” They recycle through the alphabet each year. I looked at all the recent R names and B names. The most recent:
**Rina
**Beryl
**Rina has multiple meanings depending on culture, but once source says that the Hebrew (could be meaningful for this reason, also) meaning is a “SONG of joy”. Another source says it’s a version of Irene, meaning….. PEACE.
**Beryl is of Greek origin, which we know she loves, and means “light green gemstone”. It also has various esoteric religious stuff going on with it, I think.
They related to each other in that they are both storms. Storms are meaningful metaphors for their coming: they’re powerful, beautiful, reforming, cleansing, and okay somewhat rattling (R’s name is also a storm name.) They related to sibs names syllabically. One is a jewel. One is peace and a song…check and check. Each twin is related, but gets it’s own thing. perfect. except for the whole association to damage done by storms. hmmm. But Beryl wasn’t really that damaging, I don’t think. and Rina… not sure. But if neither reeked havoc (a lot of these storms just fizzle out), but are just powerful storms, then I think they flow well with the brother and sister and are lovely together, too.
And let me just say… storm namers…. whoa! Me thinks they might be name nerds: Agnes, Cleo, Ione, Iris, Isadore, Opal, Ophelia, Oscar, Cristobal, Odette, Dolly, Florence, Hermine, Eloise, Fifi, Flora, Frederic, Gilbert, Hattie, Hugo…. tempted to check them out yet?
Now, these are just North Atlantic storms. I think there may be cause for digging more here, just based on the caliber of names in this bunch. The name savvy would definitely be attracted to this set!
I love Rina. Love her meanings, love her sound. Rina makes me think of Rima the bird girl in the novel Green Mansions. Hmm….
Wow, what a list! I agree, it looks like the work of a fantastic name nerd! Love it. I’m not sure that I love Rina or Beryl though, despite their lovely meanings.
Ok, so while we are all twiddling our thumbs waiting for October to arrive, how about this:
What would you name YOUR twins, if you were having girls and had to name them R………. and B………..?
I’d go for:
Rosalind and Bethany, nn Rosie and Beth.
Would also be tempted to use Briar, if our children didn’t have the botanical surname they are stuck with in real life!
You?
Ritabelle Agnes and Bijou Nightingale (for family)
or
Ritabelle Ondine and Bedelia Bijou Artemis
If I had to name my twins “R&B” then I would name them Rosalie and Briar or Rowena and Beatrix.
And I would choose Rosalie + Beatrix.
Rosalie and Beatrix are gorgeous!!
I can’t believe it! That is the very first time I have ever heard anyone besides myself suggest the name Briar. I love it!
I’m rooting for B to be Brio.
I have to say, I think Rhythm would be an awesome complementary name, but I don’t think she’ll go for it. Maybe Rhyme or Reason? (Confession: I’ve liked those two as names since reading The Phantom Tollbooth in sixth grade.) I also like the above suggestions of Beacon and Reverie.
On the other hand, I could see her surprising us all by choosing something like Rosalind and Beatrix.
Now Brio is a stroke of genius. Archer, Fable, Brio and…?
There is a European children’s brand called Brio, but they’re not being imported at the moment. I see this one as a real contender! An “O” ending for at least one of them fits.
Brio and Romance. But I do think of Brio toys. Plus she said they’re names with shorter nickname options. Been really reading her blog lately…addictive. And I’ve had more ideas! I’ll be back!
Names with shorter nickname options! That’s interesting. So maybe they are quite long names. I might have to rethink my River/Raven and Blaise/Bliss/Bloom guess! Hmmmm maybe Reverie (Rev) and Ballad (Belle). Sheesh, we have to wait until OCTOBER to find out??!!!!
Late to the party, obviously, but had to chime in! I tried to start at thread on Nameberry a few weeks ago to guess the names as well, but no takers. Anyway, I’m with you on Reverie. That was also my first thought. For the B name, nothing feels quite as ideal, but my money is on Bliss after reading her comments about what she loved about some of the discarded names.
Archer, Fable, Reverie and Bliss.
I am in love with a lot of these names and your blog!
I have to agree with you on Ramona & Beezus. It was such a wonderful movie!
What about:
Remi & Briar
Rhapsody & Ballad
Reverie & Bliss
Renate & Bronwyn
Rumer & Bright
I think another possible set:
Billow and Rapid.
Though I can’t see two water related names; maybe a strong force in the earth/cosmos…
Billow and Radiance?
More tomorrow. This is an all out riddle, which I can’t resist! Ooh…Riddle? Too close to Fable.
My money is on Reverie & Bijou.
Raven is the only other R name I can see her using, but I feel confident in Bijou. And Reverie.
Adding, that they’re both French, and Rev and Bi (Bee) is what she’s suggested as nicknames in the past. Plus, different endings to each other and Archer & Fable.
When did she suggest nicknames? Seriously? WTF have I been?
I’ve been “feeling” Reve and Reverie since she announced R&B. Bijou also feels very her. Did she SAY they were French? Off to Google, since Madame Bec is missing a search bar…
She suggested the names she chose were longer names with short nicknames.
And Reverie and Bijou were on past “disgarded” lists for Archer and/or Fable (can’t recall), where she suggested those nicknames.
And I think she’s said she loves French names, which is why I think she’d feel they’d “go” together as twin names.
Obviously its all just a guess on my part, too! We’ll find out soon!
Just read on GGC that had the twins been boys, these would have been their names:
Vox Shepherd (“the voice that guides”)
Revere Blaze (“deeply admired light”)
Do you think this would rule out Reverie – or only make it more likely?
and we have it! Reverie Lux and Boheme Shalom
I had a feeling Shalom would be a middle name, when she suggested a peace name! I like them! (And how did you find out?!?)
I would have expected Pax as a “peace” middle name, to match Lux!
Renata Nicole has worked for me. No one was ever creative enough to find a negative nick name
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