Jennifer,

My fiancee and I are already considering names for when we decide to start a family. We both love Beatrice (especially me due to the name’s wonderful association with Dante’s poetry), however, my last name starts with an S and our fear is that Beatrice S**** will be too cumbersome to pronounce because the two S-sounds will run together. We’ve already looked at alternative forms such as Beatrix, Beatricia, Beatriz, etc., but we prefer Beatrice. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Cole

Dear Cole,

Having a first name that ends with the same sound as the beginning of the last name does put a little burden on the child. For example, if you were considering Taran Nagel – people wouldn’t know if you were saying “Tara Nagel” “Taran Egel” or “Taran Nagel.”  The child would be doomed to spell it his/her entire life.

However seeing that Beatrice and your last name (which I saw on your email) are both common and cannot be confused with other names, I don’t see it being a problem with spelling or pronunciation.  I’ve said the name several times out loud and it’s not a tongue twister.

I say if you love Beatrice, go for it!

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.

Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.