C. writes:

My husband and I can’t seem to agree on the best name for our 2nd son (due 12/29/08). Our first son will be 2&1/2 when the new baby is born and his name is Julian Jay. We both LOVE Julian’s name and agreed on it right away but we haven’t been able to find that same excitement again for baby #2. We want a name that goes with our last name Mendez and sounds good with Julian, and it would be great if it was Spanish but not too ethnic or hard to pronounce in English.

Names that we are considering are Samuel Alberto (it’s kind of our back-up name, we think it’s nice but kind of ordinary, btw- my father-in-law’s name is Alberto but it’s not imperative that we use that name), and Sebastian- we both like this name alot but we are concerned that there isn’t really a good nick-name (I would really like it to be Sebastian Leif, Leif as in Leif Erikson- my grandmother was born in Norway and I’ve always loved that name and think it would be nice to give a little nod to that part of my heritage however my husband doesn’t like Leif). My current favorite is Roman b/c it is strong, simple, and not too common but also not too weird. My husband’s current favorite is Javier, which is okay I guess but I’d really like to sway him to Roman. Some other names that I’ve liked but my husband hasn’t are: Oliver, Elliot, Benicio, and Matteo. Some names that my husband likes but I don’t are: Alejandro, Santiago, Nicholas, and Guillermo.

Thanks for your help!

I knew a Sebastian back in my school days. He went by Bas, pronounced more like Baz. It looks kind of contrived when I type it out, but it felt perfectly natural at the time—and also seemed like a cool nickname. If you went with Sebastian Alberto Mendez, you could also call him by his initials: SAM. That would be confusing, though, so perhaps better to do Samuel Alberto Mendez and get the same cute initials with less confusion.

What do you think of the name Hugo? It’s gradually coming back into style, and it’s growing on me more and more. It’s relatively easy to spell and pronounce. Hugo Mendez. Julian and Hugo.

Ooo! You could use Ruben! The instant an acquaintance used the name Ruben for her baby boy, I thought that was one of the best baby names I had ever heard. Unfortunately for me, it is hideous with my surname. It’s good with yours, though! Ruben Mendez. Julian and Ruben. It’s similar to your choice of Roman, but maybe your husband would like it better.

Xavier seems like another good option. Xavier Mendez. Julian and Xavier. It’s similar to your husband’s choice of Javier, but maybe you’d like it better.

Well, let’s put it to a vote. I’ll put a poll over to the right [poll closed; see below], but also feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comment section.

Poll Results (238 votes total):
Samuel: 32 votes, roughly 13%
Sebastian: 67 votes, roughly 28%
Roman: 37 votes, roughly 16%
Javier: 6 votes, roughly 3%
Hugo: 23 votes, roughly 10%
Ruben: 43 votes, roughly 18%
Xavier: 30 votes, roughly 13%