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Iris is a really pretty name and a nice change from traditional Lily, Poppy and Rose (Love these names but when you hear people using them all the time...)

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Personally think Arabella is a bit too long for Iris but if you love it go for it!

I love Iris, and would have used it if our second had been a girl. I love all three meanings - rainbow, flower, and body part. I think the association with the eye is wonderful. The eyes are the window to the soul and the colored part is called Iris because it comes in a beautiful array of colors and patterns. So that's only a plus for me.

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I prefer the spunky sound of Iris over bland Lily or cutesy Poppy. I like Rose alright though.

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Having the same initials is not a big deal. Iris Arabella is lovely. My favorite combo is Iris Josephine.

I love Iris - it is (and might still be?) very high on our name list for the child we're hoping to have in the next year or two.

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I might have to demote it, because we just welcoming a cousin Lily - which may make Iris a little matchy.

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But I love it. It seems literary and intellectual, as well as pretty; a flower name that isn't over cute.

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Love the mythology reference.

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More people than you think may think of an eye -- we named our first child August, and *everyone* thinks its a month name, even though I just think of the Romans and Augustus.

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But eyes are good body parts, so little is lost.

I like Iris and am not bothered by the body part connection. To me, it's also the flower.

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If you do go with IA initial for the daughter, it would start a theme for future children, imo. So do you like other IA combos?

I love Iris. I also love the combo because Arabella is one of my biggest crushes right now. The only minor problem I have is that it seems to close to Isis.

I love it and the eye thing doesn't bother me in the least. And it's really fine that the initials happen to match...I rarely think of my own initials, let alone my brother's.

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Iris Arabella is awesome!

Iris is a lovely name. Floral without being boring or far too girly. And I think Iris Arabella is great and I don't think it matters at all about having the same initials

Yeah, it's really nice. Iris Arabella is pretty.

I think it's nice. So does pretty much everyone else here, haha.

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I don't get why the body part would be a bad thing, I think eyes are pretty - but I think of the flower and rainbows anyway.

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I wouldn't worry about initials!

I don't think body part. I do think of the flower but I've never liked the name Iris much. I just find it ugly. It's definitely an improvement over Poppy, which I find utterly ridiculous, but not over any other flower name, IMO, especially not Rose.

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As far as the initials go, two of my sisters had the same initials. They both had first names that start with a P and middle names that start with a J. I started to say the initials don't matter, but when I stopped to think about it, I remembered that they were both a little embarrassed by that. Not a huge deal or anything, but maybe something to avoid if you can. But if that would mean forgoing a name you like better for another that you don't like as well, probably not worth doing.

This message was edited 9/17/2016, 6:56 AM

I really like Iris. I say go for it!

I like Iris and would use it. Body part, indeed! It's not as if you were naming her Toe or Earlobe. Iris is almost my favourite flower name, just shaded into second place by Daisy, which I have personal reasons for loving.

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Iris Arabella is fine, and matchy initials could be a nice link between the siblings, but they can also be a nuisance, especially for banks and government institutions. Perhaps an extra mn might help - Iris Arabella Jane, Iris Arabella Lucy ...

I like Iris, cool, and vintage. I can imagine it getting very popular though, but that might just be where I live; it's very on trend.

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Iris Arabella is lovely. And I don't think two IA initials are too much if you have other children with different initials too. I was thinking about Iris Calliope earlier as well.

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ETA: Not too close to Isis, they're clearly different names, and it hasn't put many off from what I can see.

This message was edited 9/17/2016, 3:40 AM

I love the name Iris. I've grown more and more in love with it through the years. It is definitely my favorite flower name. And as you can see it is currently one of my favorite girl's names.

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I've known a pet rabbit with this name, a young neighbor girl who is now a high school Junior, and someone in high school two years older than me who was pretty cool. The neighbor girl was sweet and very shy with stunning blue eyes. I always liked her mothers. My little sister used to baby sit Iris. The other Iris I knew was outspoken and very creative. She was also a little bit of a nerd who played DnD. The name suited both of them well.

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I've also been watching the Flash lately and a main character is named Iris.

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I used to have some tribulation with Iris being a part of our bodies but I've decided that it isn't a bad association. Elegant flowers, stunning eyes, and a Rainbow Goddess are all great associations.

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Iris is cute, elegant, spunky, and shy. Iris feels retro and classic, like Rose and Violet's less common sister.

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Also Iris Arabella is a really cute common.

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I wouldn't worry about my kids having the same initials if I only had two kids. Otherwise I'd personally prefer them to have different initials. I wouldn't worry about them but it would feel wrong to me unless it was a pattern. A child's name breaking the pattern would greatly bother me. So either all of them would have I. A. initials or no more than one of them would. But I am almost certainly OCD and I don't know if it's healthy or normal to be bothered so much by little things like that. Maybe it is just a pet peeve and nothing to do with my probable OCD. I sometimes have a hard time telling.

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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 1:24 AM

I really like Iris. I associate it with the Greek goddess of the rainbow more than anything else, but it's also a great alternative to more popular flower names. Also, even if it's associated with the body part, it's a cool body part at least!

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Iris Arabella is a beautiful combo and I really don't think it would be weird to have the same initials.

I think Iris is lovely, and Iris Arabella is a great combo. I agree its better than Lily and Rose which are overused, which I suppose also applies to Poppy in the UK.

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I don't think having the same initials is weird.

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P.S. Try not to use the term "OCD" to refer to "very particular." One is a mental illness that ruins lives and the other is a personality trait.

I've heard Iris on young girls a few times lately. It just seems like a normal, fashionable name. It's similar to Lily and Poppy ... a current style, and will be dated again after a few decades. But it's also sort of a standard, like Hope or Eve or Rose, that isn't ever a big fad the way Lily and Poppy have been lately. I personally really like Iris. But I don't feel sure that I always will. I think of the flower, only - it's a flower-name to me, even though I'm aware of the meaning.

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I do think you're being silly about the initials matching. It doesn't matter. Unless your family tells whose stuff is whose by monogramming it, I guess.

I'm more bothered by its sounding similar to Isis (as in the organization, not the goddess) more than the part of the eye. But I still think it's a nice name, and has the great namesake of Iris Murdoch.