Alice, Caroline or Rose?

I like all three so find it almost impossible to choose without knowing more about you, your family, your hopes for your kid, etc. However, the way I'd decide is by free associating a bit around each name and seeing which associations most spoke to me. Here are my associations:

Rose: beautiful but a little intimidating with their thorns. Could be warm and open, or tightly closed. A symbol of not only the natural world but of many religious and man-made ideas and inventions. I think of a compass rose, the rose window at Notre Dame and other great cathedrals, or the roses Frida Kahlo wore in her flower crowns. I also think that roses are plentiful and common, and that speaks to their universality and flexibility. People send roses when they are in love, and when they are grieving (a form of love). Rose bushes can be hard to cultivate but are hardy once established, a lovely metaphor for raising a child well.

Alice: means "noble" in German, though I also love the French pronunciation. A strong and simple classic. It was my grandmother's name. I think of Alice in Wonderland, her curiosity and willfulness, her contrariness. I think also of my high school English teacher, another independent woman in my own life. She was a poet and Alice is a good name for a poet.

Caroline: it's the feminine form of Charles, but unlike many feminized names, I feel it stands on its own as an individual instead of a derivative. Nameberry tells me it means "free man" and that is a wonderful wish of independence for a daughter. But mostly when I hear the name Caroline I simply hear it's musicality, the way the syllables roll around in your mouth in a pleasing way. I think too of the Carolinas, of natural beauty and of water and peace. I met a woman named Caroline a few years ago and she was very quiet but not in a shy way. In a calm way. That's what I think of when I think of Caroline now -- calm, like a tide rolling in and out gently over a beach.

Congratulations on your baby and good luck!

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04/12/2022 15:59

Subject: Re:Alice, Caroline or Rose?

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Anonymous

Lovely reply. OP, I hope you are inspired to have three girls!

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04/12/2022 16:01

Subject: Re:Alice, Caroline or Rose?

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Anonymous

Caroline and Rose are also contenders for me. Alice is 100% not. Reminds me of the Brady Bunch.