By Linda Rosenkrantz

　　Some especially gorgeous name choices were announced by berries in March.

　　I don’t like to play favorites, but I just have to single out twins Pomeline Fay and Perseus Robin, and singletons Jethro Valor and Iolanthe Zelda Irene (sister of Caspian, Zephan, Eve, Peregrine, Dulcinea and Georgia.) Wowie!

　　There were two other really nicely-named sets of twins:

　　Josephine Adair and Rosamund Margot and

　　Ina Reese and Micah St. Leo

　　Here’s the complete list, together with snippets of their stories:

　　GIRLS

　　Adell Margaret, sister of Arthur Wendell

　　“We spent a few days calling baby Freya, but it never felt right.  It’s lovely, but it’s not our daughter’s name. It took us calling her by the wrong name to realize she really is an Adell.”

　　Anna Josephine, sister of Jane Darling

　　Cordelia Avery, sister of Riley Oliver

　　“We chose her name because we really like the nickname Cora, and my husband loves that one possible meaning of Cordelia is “Daughter of the sea” since his family loves fishing and being on the water.”

　　Georgia Geraldine, sister of Simon Kelly and Henrietta (Hattie) Jane

　　Georgia’s named in honor of her great-grandfather George and great-great-grandmother Geraldine—a strong-willed Irishwoman born in 1880 and lived to be 101 and to hold her first great-grandchild (me) in the last year of her life…We love how sweet and spunky and old-fashioned Georgia is, just like Hattie. We also love how traditional and elegant it is, like Simon and Henrietta.”

　　Ina Reese, twin of Micah St. Leo and sister to Ross

　　Iolanthe Zelda Irene, sister of Caspian, Zephan, Eve, Peregrine, Dulcinea and Georgia

　　“Iolanthe is a Greek name of Gilbert & Sullivan fame, being the name of the title character in their 1882 operetta. My husband and I are pretty big G&S fans, and musical nerds in general. This pick gives our three-daughters in a row each a song bearing their name, as well as a floral reference….” To read lots more from saracita00 on her wonderful pick, go to the forum here.

　　Josephine “Effie” Adair, twin of Rosamund Margot, sister of Matilda Kate

　　“…shares her middle name with her grandma, great-grandma, and great-great-grandma on her father’s side.”

　　Josette Eloise, sister of Lilla Clare, Vivienne Grace and Tess Magnolia

　　“We wanted another double letter name like her big sisters and I wanted a double tt as a nod to my maiden name that ended in tt as well.”

　　Pomeline “Apple” Fay, twin of Perseus Robin and sister of Viviane Iris and Althea River

　　“…husband suggested Avalon because he knows I’ve been obsessed with Arthurian legends since I was little…etymologically Avalon means “the isle of the apple trees” and that got me thinking of going maybe Gwyneth Paltrow-y and naming my daughter Apple…but decided we couldn’t pull it off, it wasn’t substantial enough and we’re not Hollywood celebrities….researching names related to Apples we came across Pomona and then Pomeline which completely won our hearts. Fay, obviously inspired by Morgan Le Fay who is perhaps alongside Merlin the greatest link to Avalon and that beautiful pre-Christian mystical place of the adoration of the Goddess.”

　　Rosamund “Rosie” Margot, twin of Josephine Adair and sister of Matilda Kate

　　“My grandma hates her name, so I had to get creative and chose Margot as both names are considered nicknames for Margaret.”

　　BOYS

　　Freddie John Gregory

　　We had not even thought of this name at all and were looking at completely different sounding names, but this was out of the blue and just felt right.”

　　Gibson Michael

　　Jethro “Jett” Valor, brother to William Ray, Verity Sakura and Alastair Ingram

　　Lee Sorrel, brother of Gabriel Jody

　　“I like a lot of real-life Lees (Bruce Lee, Lee Hazelwood, Lee Krasner),…but more importantly it’s the name of a river I swam in as a child. We like how simple the name is, its sound, and that it’s easily unisex.”

　　Micah St. Leo, twin of Ina Reese and brother to Ross

　　“We got married in the church of St. Leo and that’s where Micah’s middle name comes from. After we settled on that, we found out that St. Leo is also Usain Bolt’s middle name, and I find that such a cool association!”

　　Perseus (“Percy”) Robin, twin of Pomeline Fay, brother of Viviane Iris and Althea River

　　“Perseus was along with Theseus and Lysander favorites of my husband, but won out in the end because Percy completely conquered my heart. Robin is literary, sweet and is the name of an adorable little bird, but most of all it feels adventurous (because of Robin Hood), boyish and also carries a lot of mythology and old world charm.

　　Rufus (‘Rue’) Henry Jonathan

　　Rufus is a name that I have liked for years and it was one of the first to get hubby’s stamp of approval…I never thought I’d choose a name as popular as Henry, but near the end of my pregnancy I felt drawn to more popular classic names.”

　　Thatcher Emmett Wilder, brother of Beckett Wyndham Kincaide, Adelaide Waverly Evangeline and Charlotte Windsor Beatrice

　　“We chose Thatcher because we both love surnames…Emmett is from a children’s book I loved when I was a child and we chose Wilder because I “Little House on the Prairie” and we needed another W name, like his brother and sisters.”

　　Walter Everett, brother to Effie Mae and Conner James

　　*****And here are this week’s best Forum findings, thanks to Katinka.

　　— From Sofia to Sydney, Dakota to Dallas, place names are all the rage right now. Here are dozens of great uncharted options from around the world.

　　— Beautiful, unusual boys’ names that are both elaborate and easy to pronounce… Oh, and no nature names. Easy peasy.

　　— What would you choose for Finnick’s twin brother? Lots of lovely ideas for “sweet spot” boy names here: strong, uncommon, unfussy, and with great nickname potential.

　　— And some more suggestions in a similar vein for girls, inspired by Atlas for a boy. Artemis, Astrid and Zelda seem spot on — what else would you add?

　　— Lastly, here’s an interesting question for you: can positive associations be problematic too, if not intended?