Hi Duana, I am due in December with my first, a girl. We were pretty set with boys names, our father's names in the middle, with Remi as the first name. (I am French Canadian, so I favour French names. Hubby is Polish Canadian and has no real preferences towards names.)

Now that we know it's a girl, hubby won't really budge on my favourite name, which is Louise (Loulou as a nickname). It is my middle name and also my grandmother's name and he thinks it comes too close to naming the baby after me. I love the name and fell in love with it all over again thanks to Bob's Burgers (haha, I know!).

His compromise is Eloise, with Elle and Loulou as nicknames. I like it, but I don't love it like I love Louise. Last name will be Hub's, which is the name of a city ending in N. And I don't love Eloise with his last name. It sounds too try-hard to me.

Other names that have been shot down by hub: Marion, Margot (he doesn't like Marg as a nickname, and neither do I), Frances, Delphine.

Lastly, we are pretty set for middle name. Our father's names combine into Pearl (Pierre and Earl).

Is there time/anyway to change his mind? Should I wait to see if Baby Girl is more an Eloise than a Louise?

We have time, but this is stressing me out!! 

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People go to such extreme lengths to try to tell me all the relevant details, and so sometimes when there’s one that isn’t included, I wonder if there’s a reason why, you know what I mean?  In this case, that detail is…why not Louisa?

I mean, it’s not that far from Louise, obviously, and maybe still too close for your husband. But if Eloise is too try-hard, Louisa, or Luisa if that does something for you, might seem a little bit more achievable, and it also gives you some rhythm with ‘Pearl’? Louisa Pearl is not only lyrical, it gives you something to actually need a nickname for…or am I the only one who thinks two syllables, shortened to two syllables, is not that much of a ‘shorthand’? (Related  -  I personally don’t think anyone ever needs to nickname ‘Margot’, but if you do, ‘Go’ is not an appropriate option, Gillian Flynn…)

Having said that, if it’s not for you, I really appreciate the other names you’ve included here because they give me some ideas of your tastes. Like, how about Yvonne? Could that be a place to go? What about Nadine or Eliza? I sometimes think that, in the parents who have turned away from Emma because it’s too popular, there are some who would be delighted by the British-seeming ‘Gemma’, which I’m pointed to because you love Louise. Other names in that corridor are Daphne or Annabel or even Agatha?

I tried to see if there was anything else in a Bob’s Burger’s jumping-off point but I don’t think that ‘Tina’ is ready to come back just yet – it seems like it’s one of those names that’s going to be super popular in about fifteen years – so what was fifteen years before that? Maybe Susan? There is almost something retro-chic in ‘Susan’. What about Helena?

I feel like you know what you like, and I think you may be unconsciously steering away from Eloise even as it grows in popularity -- but I do feel like there are a couple of options left on the table that you might find suit your fancy. Let us know!