Alliterative Baby Names: A-H

It's been so long since I've written a post, I've almost forgotten how to do it. Oops! 

Over the last year I've written quite a bit, but almost entirely in an actual, physical notebook. Weird, I know. My plan is to write on here more this year. More personal posts, but also fun stuff, like, ahem... names?! Yes. Good. In the next few days I want to get some goals and resolutions up here, as well as bookish stuff. It's been so long since I've written anything about books, and I made the colossal mistake of not keeping a solid list of the books I read in 2018. 

So - more posts to come. But I thought I'd start with a fun one, first. To get my momentum going! :) 

Y'all know I'm a massive fan of all things name-related. And a lot of you do, too - the name posts are among the most popular on this site! With that in mind, a few months ago my friend (hey Liz, wassup?!) talked about how it might be fun to do name-game type of posts; challenges like "come up with matchy nature names for twins" or "come up with two names using characters in your favorite book" - that kind of stuff. (And if you find this as fun as I do, you should check out Swistle, Sancta Nomina, and Appellation Mountain! All three sites receive letters from expectant parents and offer advice on baby names, whether it's trying to find a name that sounds great with the siblings' names, or looking for names related to a specific holiday, or offering solutions to parents trying to name a baby after a family member with a less-than-ideal name.) 

Anyway! First game up is alliteration! Some folks avoid repeating initials, but I think there's something charming about alliterative names. Sometimes they just sound fantastic - it's also nice because, to my ear anyway, alliterative names give you the opportunity to merge two different styles. Buzz and Benjamin? Very different names - it'd be startling to meet brothers named Benjamin and Buzz. But put those names together, into a first and middle name? It suddenly works; I suppose the letters tying into each other will do that for a name. Alliteration can build bridges, it can work for any style, for any parents seeking any vibe. Some of these names have a Catholic flair, some have more of a (very slight) hipster vibe. Some have both. (Plus, a lot of old, vintage names are being used by parents of all ages and lifestyles.) And unisex names can work, too! (For names that I think fit particularly well into those categories, I'll mark them by using those colors!) To me, this can often be a really good solution if one parent likes boyish names for a daughter and the other likes frilly names - or if one likes a soft, worldly name for a son and the other prefers a harder, "strong" name. 

And truly, I think alliterative names are often just plain delightful to read and to say aloud.

So, that brings us to... a list of possible alliterative names for each letter of the alphabet! Today's list is A-H. I-O and P-Z will be posted over the next couple of days.  

A: Girl Names

Agatha Anne

Amalia Adelaide

Alice Antonia

Anastasia Adair 

Azelie Anne

Agnes Adele

Anna Aliz

Adeline Avery

Ava Abigail

Astrid Adelaide 

A: Boy Names

Adrian Augustine

Albert Ambrose

Arthur Abraham

Anthony Alistair

Anthony Aldo 

Andre Atticus

Alfred Aquinas

Arlo Alexander

B: Girl Names

Bronwen Briella

Beatrix Blair

Bernadette Bloom

Bridget Belphoebe 

Belen Blythe 

Beryl Brianne

Bo Beatrice

Bridget Bellamy 

B: Boy Names

Bennett Bryce

Barnaby Bram

Benedict Baz

Bruno Boyd

Benjamin Buzz

Beckett Blase

Basil Bernard

Bellamy Bruce

C: Girl Names

Caroline Claire

Catherine Cosima

Clara Clementine 

Cecily Cate

Constance Colette

Charlotte Claire 

Caris Cordelia

Cecilia Clare

Cleo Chiara

Cara Cornelia

Calliope Clair 

Catherine Cosette

Cora Christine

Cowen Clarice

Coralie Cate

C: Boy Names

Christopher Clark

Charles Cooper

Caleb Cassius 

Clement Cuthbert*

Christopher Cuthbert

Crosby Cole

Conrad Cornelius

Christopher Cowen

Cornelius Conrad

Cedric Cyprus

Cosmo Carrington 

Cary Calloway

Christopher Cosimo

D: Girl Names

Della Diane

Darcy Doreen

Daphne Dolores 

Darcy Delphine

Dara Delphine

Dorcas Diana 

Dorothy Day 

D: Boy Names

Daniel Dimitri

Desmond Diego

Damian Drew

Donovan Dax

David Dashiell

Dominic Dean

Dale Davis

E: Girl Names

Elizabeth Elwell

Evangeline Elle

Eleanor Eliza

Edith Ellery

Em Eloise

Elowen Elizabeth

Elisabeth Evangeline

Edith Evangelina

Eliza Elm

Elodie Emilia

Eleanor Elspeth

Esther Evangeline

Erin Esmeralda

Etta Elisabeth

Edie Estrella 

Everly Elizabeth

Evelyn Elizabeth

Emma Estelle 

Elizabeth Eve

E: Boy Names

Eric Ezekiel

Edward Elijah

Errol Elijah

Elliot Edmund

Eli Ephraim

Enzo Elijah

Everett Eli

Emerson Echo

Erwin Ezekiel

Enzo Elias

Elwyn Everett 

Edwin Emmanuel

Emmanuel Edward

F: Girl Names

Felicity Faye

Frances Felicity

Freya Faustine

Flannery Faye

Fiona Faye

Frances Fern

Finley Francine

Frankie Fiona

Florence Fiona

Flora Felicity

F: Boy Names

Frederick Fitzgerald

Francis Felix

Francis Finnegan

Franklin Flavio

Forest Ferdinand

G: Girl Names

Gemma Gianna

Gemma Genevieve

Georgia Grace

Gloria Gwen

Gwen Guadalupe

Greta Georgette

Gia Geraldine

Gabrielle Gwen

Gemma Grace

G: Boy Names

George Gerard

Gabriel Gilbert

Gregory Giles

Gideon George

Gus Grover

Gino Giuseppe

Gideon Good

Gil Gideon

Garrett Gregory

Gregory Gilbert

Gavin Gabriel 

Grayson George

Graham Gilbert

Garrett Gunther

George Gibson

H: Girl Names

Harriet Hildegard

Helen Henrietta

Harriet Harper

Helena Happy

Hazel Helaine 

Helga Henrietta

Hollis Harriet

Heidi Helena

Hattie Hildegard 

Holly Hester 

Hero Helene

Hillary Harper

Haley Helaine

Harley Heloise 

Hadley Harper

H: Boy Names

Hal Harrison

Henry Huck

Henry Harper

Henry Hunter

Hugo Harrison

Henry Hamish

Hector Hudson

Harry Hawthorne

Harvey Howard

Harvey Herbert

Harvey Hamish

Harrison Heath

Harold Hayes

Hugo Harper

Harley Hector

Hadley Hamish

And that's all for the A-H list... though I'm sure I missed some! I think my personal favorites here are Agatha Anne, Agnes Adele, Albert Ambrose, Bridget Bellamy, Barnaby Bram, Basil Bernard, Clara Clementine, Cecily Cate, Conrad Cornelius, Darcy Delphine, Desmond Diego, Eleanor Eliza, Edwin Emmanuel, Florence Fiona, Felicity Faye, Francis Felix, Gwen Guadalupe, Gregory Gilbert, Gideon George, Harriet Hildegard, Harvey Hamish, and Henry Harper.    

*While making this list I remembered that Cuthbert is a literary name via Anne of Green Gables and now I am obsessed.

Harry Potter Baby Names - Part 2

Okay guys. This is the (shorter, God willing) second part of the Harry Potter Baby Names series. And probably last. For now. It's about two weeks late, naturally. I had to work at a farmer's market for a few days and I did absolutely nothing when I got home (exhaustion) and I was a bit sick - found out I need surgery in two weeks, so.. my mind has been a little preoccupied.

The first post lists about a trillion ways to come up with Harry Potter-inspired baby names, including rearranging letters from characters' names, using letters from the House names, using character names as middle names for babies, and... a lot more. (Hop on over if you haven't yet.) I also mentioned some other ways: Roxy, because it means "dawn," calling to mind the moment Harry triumphed over Voldemort; Alasdair, because it means "defender of mankind;" and probably my favorite of the entire post, Forest, inspired by possibly my favorite chapter in the series: The Forest Again.

There are more ways, though! Here are some ideas:

Use characters' middle names. James and Jean are "normal" names, and no one will assume you've named your baby after Harry or Hermione. Want a nod to Dumbledore in your baby's name? Use Brian. In this post I wrote last year, I talked about ways to subtly name a kid after Dobby or Dumbledore.

It's hard to pick favorite characters from the series, but Dumbledore is definitely one of my top five (he's actually probably my first or second favorite). Using him for inspiration in naming makes sense to me. Dumbledore means white and wise, so names with similar meanings work well: Albert means "noble and bright," Alfred means "wise counselor," and Aldo means "old and wise." All have similar meanings to "Dumbledore" and all describe his character perfectly. With Arlo getting so popular, I think Aldo has potential.

My favorite Dumbledore name is probably Conrad. It means "brave counsel," which sums up Dumbledore's role pretty nicely (it would make a good Gryffindor name, as well). Shanahan is another - it means "the wise one." Of course, there are girl versions like Alberta and Alfreda/Alfrida. But if you don't dig those, I'd go back to the Ravenclaw names that mean "wisdom." Sofie, Sophie/a, Minerva, Athena, even Aubrey. I think Alba works really well, too.

There are a hundred more ways to do this/things like this for every character - go ahead and name a girl Iris for Sirius or Eva for Minerva.

Other really random ideas:

Wesley if you really love the Weasley family (who doesn't?)

Susie/Susy means "Lily." A perfect name, since much of the series revolves around Lily's sacrifice for her son.

Edgy surnames are in right now. Go ahead and use Rowling.

Do the stretchiest of stretches and use Dora for Dumbledore. The she could go as this for Halloween every year.

I could go on forever and ever. But don't worry, I won't! That's it.

...........for now.
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Charlotte

Harry Potter Baby Names - Part 1

Yep, another baby name post. The other day I found out that the blogette was mentioned in a Mommy Blogger post and I just laughed. Getting a reputation as a mom blogger before I experience motherhood... I joked with my friends that I should probably start writing posts about Starbucks and leggings and flower crowns just to establish that I'm in my twenties and very much single. Not that there's anything wrong with being a mom - it's just not my reality yet. ;) I sometimes worry that all the baby name stuff will make my friends think I'm crazy, but none of them have ditched me just yet and I'm slowly learning to just roll with it. I like the things I like. Pouring over names happens to be one of those things.  

Harry Potter is another. 

It's now common knowledge for all my blog readers that I love Harry Potter. The book series. (Though also the character.) While I wouldn't be so brazen as to name my future kid Harry Potter Allen, I would give subtle nods to the book when picking out names.

Much as we all have (I think) a soft spot for Draco Malfoy, I'm not going to include Voldemort or any loyal Death Eaters. 

Sorry, Voldy.

I'm also breaking this up into two parts because it was getting WAY too long. Today will mainly be about names inspired by the houses, with a nice sprinkling of names based on specific moments, chapters, and themes throughout. (My favorites are at the bottom.) Tomorrow (or, because I procrastinate, more likely next Saturday) will be names based on characters.

Let's start with obvious choices, yes? You could just name your bebe Harry. If I did this, everyone would assume I was naming my baby after the character. So I'd avoid it. But it is a great name, so there's one option. Other ways: throw it in the middle spot. It'd still be incredibly obvious that you love HP if you gave your kind the middle name Nymphadora, Sirius, Albus, Rubeus, etc. Maybe you're cool with that, maybe you aren't. Hermione as a middle name would still be a pretty obvious nod to the brightest witch of her age, but it's also a really beautiful name. If not for the popularity of HP, I think Hermione would be exactly the kind of name parents today love. Old but quirky. But yes. You could also use Harry, Ronald, Arthur, Molly, Minerva, Fred, George, Ginny or Ginevra, the list goes on. Any of those would sound totally normal. Look at some HP names paired with the current top baby names:

Jacob Arthur
Liam George
Sophia Hermione
Zoe Ginevra
Emily Minerva

I also think it's safe to use characters that aren't Ron, Harry, or Hermione or characters who don't have super rare names. Think Luna, Ginny (or a name that shortens to Ginny - Regina, Virginia, Genevieve, etc), Neville, Alice or Franks (Neville's parents), Kingsley, Ted, Angelina, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Molly, Seamus, Dean, etc.

You COULD name your kid(s) after your favorite house in a few different ways LIKE:

Rearranging some of the letters:

Gryffindor 
Finn (add an n)
Dory 
Rory
Ford 

Ravenclaw 
Raven
Rae
Arwen (bonus points for LotR connection)
Carla 
Cal 
Clare 
Clara 
Wren
Lawrence (add an e)
Charles (add an h, s)
Carl
Wallace (add an l)
old names are coming back.

Slytherin
Ren?
Rhys (not my style, but it IS a real name)
Sylvie (cheat and add the v)
Elise (add an e)

Hufflepuff
Sorry, Hufflepuffs. I've got nothing. (My second favorite house, too!!)
....maybe Sue, if you add an S. Or Phil, if you add an i.

If you're not down for rearranging the house letters, how about using the founders' names for inspiration? I actually thing Helga, Helena, Rowena, and Godric would all wear well today. Older names are becoming more popular, as are names from myths, legends, and fables. Godric isn't out of place with all the Gideons. Rowena is at home with Fiona. Helena is pretty normal, and Helga fits in with the Margarets (and the Margarets going by "Greta). (There's also Gale [boy or girl] from Helga and Wren or Ren or Rowan from Rowena.)

I don't think Salazar flies. (Nor do I think he's worth using for inspiration for baby naming, what with the muggle-hating and the whole housing a deadly monster in the castle thing. Though "Zuzu" as a nick would be AMAZING.)

And then there's the option to choose names based on the animals and/or traits of each house.

Of course, Gryffindor is represented by a lion. Which means there's great boy options like Lionel, Leo, Leonardo, and Leonard, all of which mean "lion" (brave lion, young lion, etc). For girls, there's Leonie, which seems like it fits in with all the Sylvies today. There are some names that don't mean "lion" but that have "leo" in them just like all those lion names: Leopold (which means "brave people" so it still works well for Gryffindor), Leonore, Leonora.

There's also a whole host of "brave" names. Andrew means "manly," but it's also said to mean brave (which makes Andrea/Andi a nice choice for girls, too). Bernadette means "brave as a bear." Not a lion, but still it's got that brave meaning. Casey is a nice unisex name that means "brave in battle." Valentina means "strength." Anders is a variant of Andrew, so that works nicely. Archie, which seems to be gaining in popularity a lot (maybe thanks to Amy Poehler, who named her son Archie?), means "truly brave" - the perfect Gryffindor-inspired name. Bernard means "strong; brave as a bear." Perhaps my favorite because of the excellent meaning, there's Everett, which means "brave as a wild boar!" Brave! A nice Gryffindor connection! And BOAR! Like a pig! Like a hog! Like HOGWARTS. Swoony swoon. Prewitt means "brave little one" and according to Nameberry, it's French. *I* feel like French names are in right now. Also, our beloved Mrs. Weasley's maiden name was Prewett! Double connection!

You see where I'm going with this. Pick a name that means "brave" or one of the other traits of the house! Easy, subtle, and fantastic.

Ravenclaw ideas: Anne (okay, okay. Anne means "grace" according to Nameberry. But according to Behind the Name, it's "the short form of names beginning with the Germanic element arn "eagle" so I'm counting it!!!) Arnold means "strong as an eagle" - perfect. (And apparently, Arnette???) Arden means "valley of the eagle." I've heard that "Aubrey" means "wise," though Nameberry says it means "elf ruler" - in LotR elves are pretty wise though, so this could work, albeit a nice stretch. My total favorite: Minerva. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, so the name is a nice nod to Ravenclaw. But there's also the wonderful Minerva McGonagall, so it's a nod to Gryffindor as well! I happen to love the name so I've discussed it with friends and we've decided it's wearable, especially with a good middle name and/or cute nicknames. There's the popular Sofia/Sophia. or the less popular but also lovely Sonia. Alfred and Aldo mean wise/wisdom/wise leader. Shanahan is an Irish surname (popular now) that means "wise one" and Sage means "wise and knowing." So many options for Ravenclaw!!!

Slytherin: I don't think there are many names that mean "snake," (and any names that I could think of as being connected to snakes also happen to be connected to Adam and Eve and our fallen world, so...) but Behind the Name does say that Phinehas might mean "serpent's mouth." It also mentions Drake. Names that mean "ambitious" are also kind of hard to find. There are specific Slytherins that can inspire names, though:

Severus Snape, Horace Slughorn, and Regulus Black.

Snape was a bully, so I don't see him as quite the hero that everyone else does. But I do still think he was brave and ultimately good. That said, I wouldn't name a kid Severus. I don't even like that Harry used the name Severus, though I understand it. I would play that same letter-arranging game as before. Eve appears in the name Severus, making it perfect. There's also Rue (double literary meaning for Hunger Games!) If we use his first and last name we've got even more options. Vera, Sean, Sera, and if we add a letter or two there's Pearl, Seamus, Everly. You get it.

Horace Slughorn: Okay, my very favorite ways, using some letters from both the first and last names, are Arlo and Hugo. Two of my favorite names in general, but if you're fond of Slytherins, this is a good route. (Double points for Hugo, Ron and Hermione's son!) There's Grace (especially great because it shares the consecutive "race" with Horace), Clare, Argo, Sera, Lora, Lorne, Hans, Olsen, Nora, Olga, Helga (double points), and more. And if we add a y there's Henry, which is popular now.

And everyone loves a good story of redemption, so Regulus Black: Clare, Gus, Cal, and of course, Reggie.

And Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff is proving harder than the others so far, but here are some ideas. Hufflepuffs are known for their hard work. So how about Amelia, which means "work." There's also Emmeline, Ida, and Idette. Hufflepuffs also love truth, loyalty, fair play, kindness and tolerance. For truth and loyalty there's Emmett and Dillon and Truman. Or there's Alethea or Verity (v names are huge right now). Tolerance is itself a name. For kindness there's Benen or Agatha (a nod to Agatha Christie, too!). And since Hufflepuffs make the best friends, there's Alden, Bellamy, Edwin, and Amity.

Wow this post is not ending.

Alright so a few more ideas.

Forest/Forrest. Possibly my favorite chapter in the entire series is The Forest Again.

Another favorite is King's Cross. So I'm going to steal Kate's (from Sancta Nomina) idea and propose Ryan. (And actually, with all the Christian symbols and themes... a lot of those and other Christian names can be used.)

There's also Roxy. Roxy means "dawn," calling to mind the moment when Harry finally beats Voldemort. (Of course, Dawn works, but I think Roxy is more current.)

Any of the "defender or lover of mankind" names (Alasdair, Alessandra, and more).

My favorites of all of these are Genevieve nn Ginny, Alice, Molly, Finn, Rowan, Leonie, Everett, Prewitt, Minerva, Shanahan, Everly, Hugo, Arlo, Reggie, Bellamy, Forest, and Roxy. (Those aren’t necessarily names I’d use, because they don’t all fit my tastes and style. But they’re names I think work really well to connect to Harry Potter.)

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we get to find names from favorite characters!!
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Charlotte

Rethinking Saints' Names

I hesitated to write this because most of my readers (hey Liz) aren’t parents and aren’t soon-to-be parents and aren’t Catholic so… ya’ll might think I’m crazy to enjoy talking about names so much. But I got over it. I like talking about names.

Kate over at Sancta Nomina often writes about patron saints and different ways to honor saints through baby names. Yesterday she wrote a great post about Caroline and Charlotte being potential ways to honor John Paul II (his given name was Karol) and I thought it was funny because I recently started reading Lives of the Saints. I’m not far into it at all, but just looking at the index made me stop and think. Some of the names are long and unfamiliar today, and you might need to get creative to honor them. I commented saying so, and Kate asked what some of my ideas were. I hadn’t thought about it too much (just a few names) but I thought it’d be fun to think about it some more. Yay for blogs.

Most of these are stretches, for sure. Coming up with names by scrambling letters or leaning heavily on certain sounds, etc. These aren’t actual forms of the names or anything like that – but I think if you name a kid with the intention of using a saint, that’s enough. (Funnily enough, Kate wrote about a possible connection between Theresa and Patricia, and I said I thought the names were too different to use as honor names to me. But this feels different – trying to come up with a way to honor a Saint named Porphyry doesn’t feel the same as naming a baby after your great aunt Therese. Of course, it’s different for everyone.)

Here are some ideas:

Saint Flavian

I actually think Flavian is semi-wearable today. People seem to be getting bolder with names, and Flavia wouldn’t be crazy. Flavian and Flavia would also work well as middle names. It’s not my style, though, and it reminds me of The Hunger Games (Flavius was one of the makeup team members, if I remember correctly). I think it’s really cool to name a baby after literary characters, but Flavius wasn’t my favorite and I associate the name with the Capitol. Okay now that I’ve geeked out a substantial amount…

Fiona – Fiona’s letters are almost all found in Flavian, and there are similar sounds in there.

Flora – More of a stretch than Fiona, for sure. That said, Flora adds another layer to the name. It means flower, and there are so many holy connections – Mary is often symbolized by flowers: roses, lilies, etc. With sounds lent from Flavian and meaning for Mary, Flora could be a really meaningful name with two patrons.

Vienna – The stretchiest of all Flavian stretches. Place names seem to be popular now, and the first syllable of “Vienna” sounds an awful lot like the last syllable of “Flavian,” unless I’m pronouncing it wrong (very, very possible).

Finn – I know Finn is sometimes used for girls now, but I much prefer it for boys. To me it sounds like a natural nickname for Flavian, and since a lot of people choose to forego formal names and put shortened names on birth certificates instead, I think Finn is a great way to honor St. Flavian. It’d totally work if you used a formal like Finnian or Finnegan, too.

Other ideas: Names that can be nicknamed Effie, Fifi, Alfie

Saint Apollinaris

Apollo – The obvious choice for parents of boys who want to honor this saint. Apollo is a hip and cool name, super wearable today, though it’s too out there for my own taste.

Polly – Another clear choice to honor Apollinaris. Also possible for another double: Molly Maris. According to this, Polly is also a form of Mary and Molly is super similar in sound, and Maris is often associated with Our Lady. Polly Maris is nice too - either way, you can honor both Saint Apollinaris and the Virgin Mary. (Also, I'm digging the "aris" found in both.) 

Oliver/Olive nn Ollie – Similar to Finn for Flavian, Ollie seems like a natural nickname for Apollinaris.

Paul/Paula/Pauline have some similar sounds and so might work.   

Short names that are spelled with letters mostly found in Apollinaris: Lara, Sara, Silas/Linus, Nora, Arlo, Risa, Orin

Saint Aelred

I liked this one too much, probably. It reminded me of this super fun post I wrote of non-obvious ways to name your baby after a character. In that, I found this when looking at Alfred: Derived from the Old English Ælfred, a compounding of the elements ælf (elf) and ræd (counsel). 

Aelred and Alfred aren't exactly the same, of course, but they're similar, and according to Behind the Name, Aelred is a variant of ÆÐELRÆD, which, like Alfred, includes  ræd. (Again, meaning "counsel.") So that's fun (and... does this mean all of the suggestions for "Albus" in that post could work for Aelred??? :D ) So: 

Alfred - A bit different, but very similar meaning, and a few letters in common.

Albert - Doesn't have quite the same meaning, but again, stretching is okay here, and a lot of the letters and sounds are shared. 

Aldo - With Arlo gaining steam (I love it), Aldo might be next. 

Darla - With Harvey and Alfie and Calvin being used again, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that Darla comes back, and it has a lot of the same letters as Aelred, making it a good possible honor name. 

Rae - A huge stretch, but if paired with another meaningful name to make it especially clear that baby is being named for the saint? Dorothea Rae is a possibility - Dorothea means "gift of God" and paired with Rae as a short (short!) nn from Saint Aelred, that's a really holy name. Ella is similar in that it shares some sounds/letters but might need to be paired with another name to really solidify the meaning.

I haven't given too much thought to the rest, but at first glance, these are names I can see being used to honor saints with really unfamiliar names: 

Saint Romuald

Romy - Romy would be my favorite way to name a girl after Saint Romuald. 

Rudy - Likewise, Rudy would be my favorite way to name a boy after Saint Romuald.

There's also Ronald, Rue, Aldo, Arlo, and Maud/e. 

Saint Porphyry

Rory - To me, Rory seems like the most obvious choice (I prefer Rory for a girl, though I know it's used for boys as well). 

Fiero - Though I'd never use it, I've seen this name floated around by others. 

Poppy - I've heard that this name is coming back, and it seems like a sensible way to name a baby girl with Saint Porphyry in mind. 

Names that can be shortened as nicknames to Pip or Rye.

Saint Soter 

Rose - Rose is made entirely of letters found in "Soter" and so I think, combined with intention to name a baby after the saint, works as an honor name. 

Otis - Many of the same letters, plus similar sound. Since Soter was a Pope, maybe combining Otis with Peter would add extra clarity to the significance of the name. Otis Peter/Peter Otis. 

Names that can be shortened to Ret. 

Saint Etheldreda

Of course, there's Ethel. But other names that might work if Ethel isn't your style: 

Esmeralda - It's got similar sounds, a lot of letters in common, and it looks very similar. 

Adele/Edele/Edel - All letters found in the original name. (If I was naming a girl after Saint Etheldreda I'd likely go with Adele.)

Della - I've come to really like the name Della. I found it when my friend was expecting and wanted a name that was rare, but wouldn't be completely unfamiliar. With all the Ellas and Stellas, Della is familiar but not heard often. It's got similar look and feel and letters as Etheldreda. Also, "del/l" means "the," "of," or "of the" in a few languages, which lends itself to a lot of great possibilities. But dell also means valley, which seems like a possible way to honor Mary and Jesus, especially if paired with other specific names. (I've heard of "lily of the valley" as a symbol of Mary, as a symbol of Jesus, and as a symbol of the coming of spring, symbolizing the coming of Jesus.) Della paired with a Christ-name, Mary/Marie/Maria/Maris, Rose, or a Lily-name (that'd be hard though) would be loaded with a ton of significance. Della Maria would be my favorite, but there's also Della Rose, Della Cristina, or, if you don't mind the repeating sounds, Della Liliana. (Or any other combo you might think of.) Della has potential to honor Saint Etheldreda, Mary, and Jesus all at once.    

Others: Andrea, Rae, Ella, Lea, Drella, Dare (I've seen it used as a middle), etc.

I think another great way to really make it clear that a baby is being named for a saint is to pair it with meaningful middles - names that mean "gift" or "gift of God" or "like God" or even "happy," since happiness stems from God. Gabriel means "God is my strength." So something like Alfred Gabriel (for Saint Aelred) or Abigail Fiona (for Saint Flavian, and Abigail means "my father is joyful) would honor the saint clearly - I mean, the saints do point us to God.

That's all I've got (for now ;). If you know more about names and languages (and root words and meanings and all that) I imagine there are even more possibilities to honor these saints. Such fun.     

Any ideas? 

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Charlotte 

Nickname-able

My name, obviously, is Charlotte.  

It's unclear what my full first name is, though.  On some birth-related documents, "Charlotte Patricia" is listed as my first name with "Anne" (with an e ;) as my middle, others have "Charlotte" as my first name with "Patricia Anne" as my middle name.  My family, including my parents, aren't clear on this either.  (How?  I don't know.)  

Of course, Charlotte is what I normally go by.  As a kid I badly wanted a nickname because I'm named after someone, so I was always called "Little Charlotte" or "Baby Charlotte."  Alas, I never had a real nickname.  

That said, there are a lot of names I answer to.    

"Char" and "Charl" are used frequently, but neither are nicknames so much as shortened for ease.  (Like "Em" when addressing an Emily or "Cher" when talking to a Cheryl.) 

"CP" is used occasionally, for Charlotte Patricia.  It was used much more often in my pre-college years.

"Charlotte Patricia" is used by certain friends.  Especially Olivia and Stephanie.  I think they just like the sound of it.  I actually like it, too, but it's so long and cumbersome that I never refer to myself as this.  Stephanie swears I introduced myself as this, but I have no recollection of doing so.  (Maybe I did in an attempt to get away from the "Baby Charlotte" dilemma?)

"Char Patty" was used for a bit while I was in school and... I don't miss it. 

I had an uncle who genuinely thought my name was "Scarlet" and........ no one ever corrected him.

I'm also called "Red" frequently (my hair).  

Olivia calls me "Charlie" a lot.  Others have used it, but she does so consistently.  

"Char Char" is used by two friends, but again, not exclusively.  (As in, they call me Charlotte, but sometimes fondly [I think?] go with this instead.) 

In fifth grade - and I know this because a few years ago I looked at my old yearbook and the notes were almost all addressed with it - I was, apparently, called "Chestnut."  I'm not mad that this moniker didn't last. 

For a while, "Charla" was huuuuge.  I'm indifferent to it, but no one really calls me this anymore.

*Edited to add* "Sippee" - Liz read this post and decided she's calling me "Sippee," like for "CP."  She then asked me if I get it, so I'm assuming she wants to know if you, dear reader, also get it?  C-P, Si-ppee.  

And because everyone's got a sense of humor, I'm called "Annie" from time to time: 

Source

Rant: There are different shades of red hair and mine is not the same as orphan Annie's and, STOP CALLING ME THIS. 

Also, I get called "Red Headed Step Child" too often for my liking and while it's fine now, as a kid I hated it because, uh, I was a red headed step child.  So. 

BUT those are the main variations of Charlotte and Charlotte Patricia that people have used for me.

Other nicknames I've heard used for Charlotte are Lottie, Harley, Arlo (in the trend of using boy nicks for girls), and Carla/Carly.  Of those, I like "Lottie" best.

I'm always a fan of hearing new nicknames!

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Charlotte