Lori writes:
My husband’s (deceased) father was named James Cornelius and my husband is James Christopher, so it important to him to name our son James C______. Our last name is two syllables that starts with an F and ends with an S, so an additional middle same that ends with an S is just too ssssssssss. I have combed through baby books trying to find the perfect C name and come up empty every time. We are partial to traditional names (even names that may feel stodgy to some people). For example, I love the name Augustus.Our daughter’s name is Abigail Elizabeth. I was not aware of the popularity of the name Abigail in 2000 when she was born and would like to avoid a repeat of having 3 – 4 children with the same name in his class. I like names that lend themselves to nicknames, but I don’t like nicknames as the legal name.
If you’ve already been through the baby name books, we might be of scant help—but we can at least get a C-name vote going, and perhaps it will tip you toward a candidate.
Let’s start by considering both Christopher and Cornelius. Perhaps you want to avoid making a Jr., in which case Christopher is out. But Cornelius is an unusual choice, and distinguished. It reminds me of Augustus. And it’s a nice way to honor your husband’s father. It does end in S, but I don’t think it’s overly hisssssy.
Some other contenders:
James Cabot
James Callahan
James Calvin
James Campbell
James Cedric
James Chapman
James Charleston
James Christian
James Clayton
James Clifton
James Conrad
James Currier
I think ANY of those would be nice. I avoided more contemporary C names like Caden and Carson and Carter and Coleman and Connor only because you said your tastes ran more towards unusual/traditional—but Caden etc. would be good, too.
Vote in the poll at right [poll closed; see below] to help James’s parents choose him a middle name, and leave your remarks in the comment section. I hate to split the vote into such small pieces, but I think we’d still better have a lot of choices. HOWEVER! I’ll make it so you can vote for more than one if you have several favorites.
Edit: I didn’t realize it when I wrote the post, but the baby will be called by his middle name.
[Poll results:
Cabot: 23 votes, roughly 11%
Callahan: 20 votes, roughly 9%
Calvin: 32 votes, roughly 15%
Campbell: 22 votes, roughly 10%
Cedric: 6 votes, roughly 3%
Chapman: 7 votes, roughly 3%
Charleston: 5 votes, roughly 2%
Christian: 34 votes, roughly 16%
Clayton: 22 votes, roughly 10%
Clifton: 6 votes, roughly 3%
Conrad: 22 votes, roughly 10%
Cornelius: 12 votes, roughly 6%
Currier: 5 votes, roughly 2%]
I have a question. Is this the name the child will go by or just a middle name that they want to start with a “c”? Regardless, I LOVE the name Calvin. I have a special affinity for it because it was my (recently) late grandfather’s name, but I also think it is just such a (currently) uncommon name that it is perfect if you want him to be the only kid in his class with it. It is at the top of our list if we have another boy.
Oh geez, I can’t believe I left this out: My grandfather’s name WAS James Calvin, and I always thought it just sounded so distinguished.
I love both Cornelius and Augustus! Very cool names with great nickname potential!
That said, I voted for Cornelius and Conrad. I like Cedric, too, but James Cedric sort of smooshes together a bit and I really dislike when names do that!
Also, Collin….or is that too trendy?
I’ll put in a plug for Carlton, which is DS’s middle name but not in danger of becoming trendy any time soon. We’ve always called him Carl, which everyone knows how to spell and pronounce and no one is actually named.
I spent the last month of my last pregnancy trying to sell my husband on Cabot. I think he would have caved, had the child actually turned out to be a boy. I love it and think it sounds great with James!
I voted for Callahan and for Christian. But Calvin is also a good choice, especially if you are going to use the C name as the name the child will go by (as clarabella said).
If the C name is only the middle name, then I like Callahan a lot.
Yes, baby will go by the middle name as I’ve never been a huge fan of James.
Thanks everyone! Keep those suggestions coming. :)
Christian is good. What about Caleb? James Caleb has a classic ring to it. But my favorite is James Connor. For some reason, I don’t consider Connor to be too trendy.
Oh! The child will be GOING BY the middle name? I didn’t know that when I wrote the post. Oh, dear. I might take the post down—I wrote it thinking of it only as the middle name.
Hang on, Swistle… no need to take it down! Just edit it to include that information or something… :-)
Oh! If he’s going by his middle name, I should change my vote. I think “James Cabot” sounds perfect, but I don’t think Cabot works well as a first name.
My son is “Karl” so I perked up at the comment about “Carl” being easy to spell and pronounce and no one has the name. I agree (and I don’t think the “K” vs. “C” is ever an issue). At the last minute before our son was born, I had doubts about the name — I wondered if it was too plain. But it’s been a great name. It is nice to say with that pleasing “l” sound rolling off the “r” at the end, and siblings can express displeasure by making it two syllables (“Car-ULLLLL!!!”)! My son tells me he has never been teased about his name, ever. So I strongly recommend the name!
I also vote for “James Collin,” Katie’s suggestion. “Collin” seems fresh while being classic, and at least in our area, it’s not a common name. (Though when one thinks, “Hmmm, THAT name is fresh,” it sometimes means it’s sneaking up!)
Steph- *wrings hands* But I wasn’t putting ANY of the name suggestions through the “first name” tests! I didn’t look for nicknames or ANYTHING! I only thought of how they sounded between the first and last names! *WRINGS HANDS EVEN MORE*
Swistle – What are the first name tests?!?
Of the choices, I like Christian the best. May I also suggest Clinton?
I know you said no s’s, but Claudius is also sort of like Augustus and I don’t think it’s popular at all.
Christy- I don’t have anything specific, but I mean like when you picture calling on the child in class, picture his friends calling him that name, picture him in various professions with that name, etc. Middle names can be practically anything and be fine, but with first names I might avoid, for example, Chap Man.
What about Cameron? You could call him Cam for short.
I like Cameron, but isn’t James Cameron a movie director? If so, I don’t know if I would like that name.
I vote for Connor. I don’t know how popular it is, but I like it.
LOL! Swistle, you might be a greater worrier than I am!!! And that’s saying something. ;-)
I think because of the style of names that Lori likes, you’ve still chosen great options! ;-)
Might I suggest James Collier? In my neck of the woods, we would pronounce it Col-YER.
Oh, poor Swistle. I feel like I’m responsible since I asked the controversial question immediately. I say let the post lie, and see what happens. If the namer (Lori, right?) isn’t satisfied, you can always post an amended post considering the first name tests. I, for one, won’t mind another post!
I like Clayton (call him Clay) or Charleston (call him Chaz).