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[Opinions] May (Mae?)
I am really enjoying the simplicity of May as a short form of Mary and Maia and Margaret. Of course, it is also a month name. WDYT of it?Do you think it can be separated from the birth month "May"? It is necessary for me to ask this as I've miscalculated this before. My son is named August, but born in July. Everyone asks if he was born in August. I'd still pick "August" again, but it happens more commonly than I expected. Child 2 will likely be born in June.
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May is so pretty and works as either a full-name or a nickname for Mary, Margaret or Maia. Especially because you plan on using it as a nickname, I don't see any issue with children called May & August. And anyone who thinks a child named May or August is named after the month in which she or he was born, knows nothing about the history of names.Best of luck to you!
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I love Mae. And May is good too. And yes, it can definitely be separated from the month. At first people will comment "Oh, was she born in May" but slowly the kiddo becomes the name and the name becomes the kid and it's no big deal, like you said. How old is August? My daughter's name is Wynter and while people often ask if she was born in winter, it's getting less and less. She is two now. However, there I would not say that May/Mae can be separated from the month when paired with August. That adds a whole other level to the theme-y-ness. Not that you can't use it, but the comments will be endless.
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I like May. I think Mae is too old-fashioned. It's cute but not as fresh/timeless as May, and for some reason it doesn't have the same obvious Maya/Maia connection and springtime feel that May does. (My middle name is May and I was born in June :P It was my grandma's middle name but I don't think she was born in May either)
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Personally I think siblings named May / Mae and August is a bit tacky to be honest... But I don't think someone has to be born in the month they were named for, that seems silly.
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Yeah, I think I agree that winding up with an August / May pairing is dangerous. Probably less so if we make it a middle name. But the beauty of a classic middle name is that could be useable as a nick name or alternate name, so ....I promised to add it to our list after my son suggested it (he got the idea from the Avatar cartoon series, which has a character named Mei). Then I thought: Well, it is such a classic and simple name. (I also like Fay.) I'd probably be lobbying hard for it if not for the sibling matchiness.
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I like May a lot and Mae not at all. May never seems like a month name to me, for some reason - I'm more likely to think of the flowering shrub.I'd certainly avoid June as a name for a June baby with an August brother! One way around the issue would be to name the baby something that May can comfortably be a nn for: Mary, Maia and Margaret, as you say, and also Mabel.
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I don't usually have a preference between May and Mae.But if your son's name is August, and you don't want to draw more attention to the month (as choosing May would, creating a month theme), I'd go with Mae. You might still get some comments, but the association seems less glaring/intentional if you disconnect it from the month a little.
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Mae was one of my mother's mns and she despised it to the point of leaving it off my birth certificate! Her feelings on the name colored mine for awhile, however, now I really like it. I don't care for the May spelling because it looks like the verb. OTOH, Mae is sweetly and gently old fashioned. I'm not sure I'd ever use it since there are so many mns I like better yet I agree with you that the simplicity of the name is stunning. I feel the same about Eve.I've known people named Autumn who weren't born in the autumn and people named Summer who weren't born in the summer. It's not the end of the world although I have to admit, it would bug me if people kept asking me about when I was born. I think May/Mae is different in that it has been a name for such a long time that people may not associate it with the month. Still, I'm dying to use Maia for a kitten so if I ever come across one born in the month of May, you can guess what her name would be!My main thought with August and May for siblings is that they're noticeably month names. That would bother me more than them being born outside August and May.

This message was edited 4/2/2018, 8:13 AM

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For me, May is enough of a name in its own right that I don't automatically connect it to the month.But I think there would probably be some people who would keep asking that question - maybe not as many, O feel like May is more known, but nonetheless. Spelled Mae, I doubt you'd have any problems.
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