I think it’s right around when Joyce is born that Anne says they had “so many” people they wanted to name their children for, that they basically deferred their (in)decision, since they couldn’t arrive at one lmao. (Yes, here it is!: “There were so many we would have liked to name her for; we couldn't choose between them, so we decided on Joyce—”) And I know it doesn’t help or improve the matter but I think this pretty well demonstrates Anne and Gilbert’s intent, that they thought long and hard about naming their kids, and that a whole bunch of honour names (predictable as they maaaay be) were inevitably coming down the pipe. 🤓
Joy, the exception, was meanwhile specifically named so by Maud, as a type of symbol/device imo, because with the death of the baby Joy, also comes the (thankfully temporary) death of emotional/heart joy for Anne and Gilbert. The wee white lady’s name is loaded with double meaning, and her going signifies/pushes a lot of things (allows for Leslie to open up to Anne), and speaks to harrowing sorrow and recovery and also to Anne and Gilbert’s rock solid foundation (that they leaned into each other in their grief, instead of away – how else would Jem have appeared eleven months later, if not 🫢, and how about poor tear-blind Anne professing to love Gilbert ‘more than ever’ after?).
Elsewhere, I totally get it and agree that it seems like Gilbert’s family was left out of the honour namings but I personally make myself feel better about this by assuming that Gilbert himself would probably think it was enough that every single one of these children would wear his surname. And I think there was probably also consideration that Anne’s “line” disappears with her this way (as does Matthew and Marilla’s). There’s no one to remember Walter and Bertha Shirley by, for instance, if those names aren’t given precedence. Because they’re already gone (while Gilbert’s parents lived to see all but Rilla), and Anne was their only, and she’s a Blythe now. I also can’t be convinced that Shirley’s middle name isn’t John (since it sounds best lmao, and also because Gilbert reflects on how much Shirley reminds him of his dad), or that Nan or Di don’t have Gilbert’s mum’s mystery name as a middle name (least of all because she was at Ingleside when they were born, and are her favourites)! I also have a personal and utterly unproveable theory Gilbert named the twins, not Anne (who would’ve put her foot down at least about saddling the twin who already had her red hair with also her name) – who hated her own name, after all – and that he thought he was very funny for so doing (all this to basically say; I think he had the opportunity and probably ultimately passed on any Juniors).
ALSO agree about Rilla preferring Bertha, but tbh then I remember that Maud also named all her sexy man-stealers ‘Ethel,’ and I’m like… this is fine, Bertha is fine. 😅
Anyway, I do tend to get annoyed x2 when Anne and Gilbert’s grandkids double down on giving recycled names too! Holy cow. I guess the War lends some forgiveness to the sentiment but man does it make things even more confusing. Although it’s through this that we fiiinally get another Gilbert (Ford).
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