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To be honest, I don't think Willow Ophelia has an ideal flow at all with the repeating 'o' sound back to back, but hey, it's not my kid. I will tell you this: my second dd (Victoria Brooke) goes by her mn. People have ALWAYS called her by her fn even though she has corrected them. In fact, some teachers never have gotten it and have always called her Victoria. She has accepted it although it gets on her nerves from time to time. It has never bothered me because I love Victoria, however, my advice is just to expect from the outset that your child would be called Willow some of the time. If you know it's going to tick you off, then I'd put it in the middle. BTW, my dh's father, mother, brother and niece all go by their mns and they've experienced the same thing.

My friend is named Louise Jocelin and goes by Jocelin, I don't think she's had many problems. I think it would be fine.
I actually think Ophelia Willow flows better, but it's not my opinion that counts.

I think it's fine. I know a whole family of boys who all go by their middle names (which are much weirder than their first names). For instance, John Ocean goes by Ocean, David Willow goes by Will, and the other boys (whose first names I can't remember) go by Brahma and Coyote. As long as she introduces herself as Ophelia (lovely combo, BTW), she'll be Ophelia.

Before I read through your entire post, I was actually struck by the feeling that Willow Ophelia doesn't flow very well. The Os really blend together. I think Ophelia Willow actually flows terrifically--it makes me like the combo SO much more.

This message was edited 12/18/2008, 4:34 PM

I think it sounds pretty either way. Ophelia is slightly a mouthful for a kindergartener, so is there a nn (maybe Lia?) that she could use to "grow into"? Willow is definitely flowy, borderline hippie, but perfect! Other "W" names? (Maybe for little sister?) Winifred & Winter (nn Winnie)-Winter and Willow would be too pretty! Maybe even Winsome, which would be a stretch, but has a lot of charm. Winslet/Winslett? I don't know about you, but I like it. Comments?
Overall: choose a name YOU like & think your daughter will like. Go with your instinct. (:

Oh my gosh it's beautiful.

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Seriously, the combo Willow Ophelia is beautiful. I really wouldn't change a thing. If you want to call her Ophelia, then just go ahead and do it! You won'd be the only parent in the history of the world to call their child by their middle name. And once she's older, she'll just write "Ophelia" on her papers instead of Willow, so it'll really be second-nature to her and the people addressing her. There's nothing wrong with using the middle name primarily instead of the first name. Especially when the combo is as stunningly beautiful as Willow Ophelia.

It might be a pain but I know a lot of people who always have gone by their middle names.

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I knew twins who both went by their middle names

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Paige and Ashby ...their fns were much more old fashioned (I want to say that one was named Dorothy but I can't be sure.)

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One of my students is named James Mason and goes by Mason.
My dad worked with a guy names Felix Anthony and he went by Tony.

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Therefore I say go for it!

Yeah, it's fine to do that, but it just always seemed rather odd to me. If you want to call someone by their MN, why not just use it as the FN? Ophelia Willow dosen't sound bad at all.

It's fine. My mother-in-law and father-in-law both go by their middle names. They both have since they were born.

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My mother-in-law has the mn Virginia so she always went by Ginger. My father-in-law goes by Jake since his middle name is Jacob.

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They have no problem with it. They use their first name on documents and stuff. But as far as to what people call them they always go by their mn's. So it's fine.

This message was edited 12/18/2008, 12:45 PM

As the mom of two kids who go by their mn's, I can tell you it's fine. Sometimes you'll have to explain to people, especially the first time, like registering for school or the doctor's office, but, meh, so what? We've done fine. My mother and three of her six sibs all go exclusively by their mn's. Lots of people I know do. Come to think of it, it might even be a Southern thing (I'm in Texas with family all over the Southern US). In any case, honestly, I think it's perfectly okay.

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And Willow Ophelia is lovely (I have a daughter named Sophia Ophelia), though I do have to admit I trip over the two O's next to each other. For myself, I would probably have chosen the reverse order, Ophelia Willow; I think it has a nicer rhythm; but maybe that's just me. Either way I'm pleased she'll be called Ophelia!

No, as long as that's what she/you introduce(s) her(self) as. I know a guy who's first name is Jonathon but he goes by his middle name. Ophelia Willow wouldn't be bad, either, even though Willow Ophelia has a nicer flow.