Mother Talkers

Mother's Day for Peace

by Erin

Sun May 13, 2007 at 04:57:31 PM PDT

This is not a Hallmark holiday!  It is an anti-war holiday, founded by women who had lost sons in the civil war.  Their hope was that there would come a time when we would all teach our children to hold other human beings in too high of a regard to kill them.  I'm short on time, but Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation is very inspiring.

We're thinking of naming #2 Julia if it's a girl (we find out Thursday!), but we're worried it might be too common.  What do you all think?  Any Julias out there?

Well, I found out Friday that the written part of my comps that I thought I had until mid or late June to due is actually due May 23, so I'm off!

Tags: Mother's Day (all tags)

Permalink | 26 comments

  • I love the name Julia... (0 / 0)

    I met one in the 5th grade RE class I was teaching about 10 years ago (when my son was in 6th grade).  I remember thinking at the time:  this Julia is my future daughter-in-law.  :-)

    They started dating when my son was a junior in high school, but broke up (on Mother's Day!) during his senior year.  My son was heartbroken, and I remember him crying in my arms about it. (He's 23 now.)

    They are good friends now - I believe she just graduated from BU with a degree in theology.  (Like Juila Ward Howe, she is also a UU.)  But I still think she would be a wonderful daughter-in-law. ;-)

    IMHO:  you can't go wrong with the name Julia.  And good luck on the comps!

    by ChristineB on Sun May 13, 2007 at 06:41:26 PM PDT

    • How romantic (0 / 0)

      Bittersweet. My family loved my brother's high school girlfriend, too.  He's 26 now, and I've yet to have a particular fondness for another woman he's dated.  SIL from hell?  I hope not.

      We're too lazy to attend church right now, but I believe in all the UU principles.

      by Erin on Sun May 13, 2007 at 09:59:52 PM PDT

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  • I like Julia as well (0 / 0)

    it sounds elegant but strong. Go for it.

    According to the Baby Name Wizard, Julia is seeing an uptick, but not as bad as, say, Emma. So there.

    by Rachel on Sun May 13, 2007 at 07:03:24 PM PDT

  • No Julia's around here (0 / 0)

    Go for it, it's a lovely name, strong and elegant as mentioned above. My doc and my ds's pediatrician are named Julienne and Julia, coincidentially, but they are in their 40s.

    But no little girls named Julia or even Julie have crossed my path in the few years since I've been paying attention.

    RachelD

    by RachelD on Sun May 13, 2007 at 07:12:27 PM PDT

  • good luck with comps (0 / 0)

    They'll be over sooner!  Yay!

    I haven't come across a Julia in a long, long time.  I love that name.  I see a fair number of Julians, but I think you're safe with the girl's name.  

    by mamacita on Sun May 13, 2007 at 07:25:24 PM PDT

  • Julia is beautiful (0 / 0)

    Since Julie has fallen out of style (although I still like it because it's my best friend's name), Julia is uncommon but not weird.  And she'll fit in anywhere in the world with a name like that.  We call my friend Jules, but to DS she is Auntie JuJu...so there's lot of interesting nicknames if necessary.

    by cynmill on Sun May 13, 2007 at 08:26:40 PM PDT

  • three Julia's in my daughter's group. (0 / 0)

    It's pretty common here (NYC suburb).  My oldest daughter wanted us to name our second Julia.  It was a nice name, so we used it as a middle name.  I was glad we didn't choose it as a first name because several girls were named that shortly thereafter.

    by wornoutstroller on Sun May 13, 2007 at 08:47:41 PM PDT

  • Julia all around? (0 / 0)

    It is beautiful, and I have this absurd idea that if I don't give my second daughter a name equally as beautiful as Simone (which naturally I think is the best name in the world!)that it will ruin their relationship with each other.  There are  lots of names I love, but the only three we love in common are Julia, Flavia and Ilsa, and I think we both like Julia best.

    We chose Milo for a boy.

    by Erin on Sun May 13, 2007 at 10:03:26 PM PDT

    • oh (0 / 0)

      well, Ilsa is a lovely name too. Flavia? Very Roman aristocratic - you may get a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy there!

      I absolutely adore Milo as a boy's name. Or the more Slavic versions of Milo. Love it. Love it.

      I've been thinking about girls' names for if/when we're blessed with number 2. I've always loved Irene (my middle name and paternal grandmother's name), but sworn I wouldn't use it because of the way it sounds with an Aussie accent. But I think I'm getting over that annoyance and just love the name again. We had Jacob James picked out as a boy's name first time around, but I also really love Oliver as a name, too.

      by Rachel on Sun May 13, 2007 at 11:11:58 PM PDT

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      • I love Oliver (0 / 0)

        almost as much as Milo.  I wanted my nephew named Oliver, but I didn't get a vote!  Irene is pretty, but the accent is to be taken into account.  I's trying to imagine it with an Aussie accent, but I can't.  My grandma's name was Georgina, which sounds beautiful with an English accent but not so great rolling off an American tongue.

        by Erin on Mon May 14, 2007 at 07:30:45 PM PDT

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        • Irene with an Aussie accent (0 / 0)

          Have you ever seen Crocodile Dundee, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, or Muriel's Wedding? If yes to any, get a good mental earprint of the accent, especially the really twangy vowels. Irene comes out "OiREYne." (in extremis; the accent in Melbourne and Sydney is a bit smoother, more muted.)

          Georgina is such a lovely, elegant name; there are a few English names that I love, such as Honoria and Gemma and Beryl, but they just don't sound the same without the English accent!

          by Rachel on Mon May 14, 2007 at 08:54:57 PM PDT

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          • giggling (0 / 0)

            Hysterically over here. I've got this image of Kath and Kim (Aussie show with bad accents, for all you Americans) saying "OyRENE! Look at moyee! Look at moyee!"). I had never considered it before, but I have to agree. Irene with an Okka accent is just bloomin awful.

            Of course, the other thing you have to consider when living here is that Australians give everyone nicknames. No matter how many syllables your name is, it will be shortened in some way. And if it's one syllable, it will be lengthened, oddly enough. Case in point: my name is Carina, but I have "friends" that insist upon calling me Cazza. Let's see...Irene. That would be Reenie.

            by aussieyank on Tue May 15, 2007 at 03:41:04 AM PDT

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            • not for nothing (0 / 0)

              K&K are based in Melbourne. So you know exactly where I'm coming from with shying away from Irene.

              Fortunately, the Aussies have only been able to come up with the same nickname very close friends and family have always called me - Rach. But my friend Lori? Yup - Lozza.

              (I wonder when K&K are going to make it stateside. It was on the BBC just as we were leaving London. How funny is that show? "Kim, you are effluent."

              by Rachel on Tue May 15, 2007 at 05:57:24 AM PDT

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              • No one has called you Rae? (0 / 0)

                No one ever calls me that either, but if peeps came up with Lozza, then Rae isn't too strange. It's the "actual" shortened version of Rachel anyway.

                Razza?

                Rach

                by RachelD on Tue May 15, 2007 at 09:58:31 AM PDT

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                • well (0 / 0)

                  yes, my really, really close family nickname (ie, my parents, my sister and my BFF) call me Rae. But Aussies, if they nickname me, call me Rach. Strangely, though, my husband is the only person in my "innermost circle" who only ever calls me Rachel. Never anything shortened.

                  by Rachel on Tue May 15, 2007 at 04:21:42 PM PDT

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                  • funny (0 / 0)

                    All my husband's family calls him Ty. I call him Tyler. It's a great name and I like using the whole thing. I'm not big on nicknames in general; the way I see it, if you're going to give someone a name, shouldn't it be the one you use on a regular basis?

                    I will say I'm more forgiving of names that are logically shortened to their first syllable. Those make sense and are usually cute. But Latinos are the worst when it comes to nicknames. EVERYTHING is shortened-- even when it makes no sense.

                    Hence, Francisco=Paco, Jesus=Chuy, Jose Maria=Chema, Salvador=Chava, Maria Elena=Nena, Alberto=Beto, Guillermo=Memo. These are just a few examples from my own family. My dad is Chava.

                    I just don't get it...

                    by Erika on Tue May 15, 2007 at 04:59:53 PM PDT

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                    • damn (0 / 0)

                      I was hoping someone could explain it. I never got "Paco."

                      I suppose part of the reason that DH calls me "Rachel" and nothing shorter is that he is "Anthony" and never, ever "Tony".

                      But we go back and forth between Jess and Jessie for Little Madam.

                      by Rachel on Tue May 15, 2007 at 05:08:42 PM PDT

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                      • the best way to explain... (0 / 0)

                        ...is these nicknames are a mix of baby/pidgin Spanish.

                        Take Paco, for instance...The first syllable of Francisco is "Fra." If you were a baby who couldn't quite pronounce Fs or Rs, you might pronounce it "Pa." Then you combine it with the last syllable, "co". Hence, Paco.

                        Jose Maria takes the last syllable of Jose, turns it into "Che," then combines it with the first syllable of Maria. Hence, Chema.

                        Still makes very little sense to me...

                        by Erika on Tue May 15, 2007 at 05:15:15 PM PDT

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              • I've seen Kath & Kim (0 / 0)

                so I guess it's already made it stateside.  Can't remember any details like where or when -- the DVR means I don't even have to know what channel something is on, much less what time.

                by mamacita on Tue May 15, 2007 at 02:40:29 PM PDT

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    • thumbs up! (0 / 0)

      Julia is lovely. I went through a period, when I was a young teen, of wishing I had a different name...Julia was my fantasy name. :-)

      I know just one Julia, she is 18 months old and she's a joy.

      I think naming a second child can be hard...Maya was our pick for a girl name since before we were married, if you can believe it. Now when we think of the possibility of a second daughter, there is no name that we love as much.

      by Erika on Mon May 14, 2007 at 11:47:19 AM PDT

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  • asdf (0 / 0)

    Still can't get Tyler on the Ruby train?  I love Ruby.  They only reason we're not considering it is because there are so many Rubies in our neck of the woods right now.  I look on the social security website often.  Julia is number 34 in the nation, but actually doesn't even make it into the top 100 in WA, so we might be okay.

    by Erin on Mon May 14, 2007 at 07:34:14 PM PDT

  • Congrats (0 / 0)

    on finding out on Thursday (my first Ultrasound is that day)!  I like the name Julia (have known a few and liked them all)!

    What do you mean, uh-oh? Toddler & baby pictures

    by round peg inna square hole on Mon May 14, 2007 at 07:42:19 PM PDT

  • Julia is pretty popular here (0 / 0)

    We were considering it with our first child but so far I have 2 boys.  I've taught plenty of Julias in elementary school.  It seems to be tapering off in popularity now but it was a pretty big name around here within the past 10 years or so.  Incidentally I love the Beatles song "Julia" so that influences my thinking on the matter.

    I have a Joseph and a Joshua so I haven't totally ruled out a Julia if this one ends up being a girl.  I think we may as well keep the J names going at this point.  Mary Rose is the other girl's name that I would love to use.  Mary is definitely much less common than Julia around here.  I don't find out at the u/s so we will have a long wait for that.  It's probably another boy anyway.

    by music teacher on Tue May 15, 2007 at 10:39:31 AM PDT

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