Heather writes:

I am expecting # three soon. I have a 13 year old Grant Anthony Fink and an 18 month old Brady Tann Fink (family name, Tann is short for Jonathan). I am at a loss for names I think this time around.

My husband likes Savannah and Delaney. I say no to both Jimmy Buffet names. He also loves Delilah which I can do because I love Lilah. I love Grace, Claire, Mary Claire, and Lila/h.

For boys I love Tate and Finn. Finn is out due to our last name. I LOVE Henry but DH says no. I also love Carter and Travis, both used up by friends of ours. My husband likes Liam and John. I could do Liam but not so much with John.

Please help! What other names sound great with Grant and Brady? I am stuck this time when it was so easy they last two times! I want something different but not super trendy (don’t we all!). I like classic and different. DH is just different. Please help.

Thank you!!!!

I am just dying for the new edition of The Baby Name Wizard to come out! DYING! Well, we’ll use what we’ve got. The book suggests these sibling names for Grant: Paige, Hope, Elena, Victoria, Claire; Reid, Miles, Bond, Spencer, Preston. And these sibling names for Brady: Avery, Payton, Macy, Brenna, Madelyn; Parker, Riley, Carter, Bryson, Drake. Do any of those (other than Claire and Carter, which were already on your list) seem like candidates?

Elena and Miles and Brenna are all names from my own baby name lists, so of course I’m in favor of those—but I think Brenna is too close to Brady. I’ll add Lena, which is similar to Elena. I like Elena best, though: it’s similar in sound and rhythm to Delaney, which your husband likes, but is more in line with your choices of Claire and Lila. And I like it with your surname: Elena Fink. Maybe Elena Claire Fink or Elena Grace Fink.

Carter is a name I keep putting on my baby name list but having to scratch out because surname names are bad with my surname, but I think it’s great with yours. Friends are different about whether it’s okay to use the same name: if you’re going with “no,” then I suggest Carson. Another surname name I like is Turner. Carson Fink is my favorite, though, if Carter is out of the running. Maybe Carson Travis Fink, or Carson John Fink.

I’m never sure how to do the polls when there are both girl and boy names to choose from. Usually I put all the names in one poll and let people choose one boy name and one girl name—but this time let’s try it a different way. I’m going to make TWO polls [polls closed; see below], one for if Baby Fink is a girl, and one for if Baby Fink is a boy. We’ll see if that works better.

[Poll results:

Girl names (236 votes total):
Delilah: 39 votes, roughly 17%
Grace: 10 votes, roughly 4%
Claire: 24 votes, roughly 10%
Mary Claire: 18 votes, roughly 8%
Lila/Lilah: 71 votes, roughly 30%
Elena: 63 votes, roughly 27%
Lena: 11 votes, roughly 5%

Boy names (240 votes total):
Tate: 23 votes, roughly 10%
Liam: 55 votes, roughly 22%
Miles: 38 votes, roughly 16%
Carter: 33 votes, roughly 14%
Carson: 83 votes, roughly 35%
Turner: 8 votes, roughly 3%]

Name update 02-17-2009. Heather writes:

We have not had baby boy #3 yet but we have selected his name. My father in law passed away very unexpectedly on January 20th after complications due to a hospital stay for minor out patient surgery. He was only 62 and very healthy so it was a shock to us. My FIL loved Harley motorcycles, riding them and being outdoors. I am not a fan of the name Harley so we decided to go with the name Ryder as our own inside tribute to the great man “Paw Paw” was.

Baby #3 will be named Ryder Donald Fink. First name at tribute to the hobby Paw Paw loved and the middle name Paw Paw’s first name. We love it as our personal tribute to him and now our baby will carry on a piece of the grandpa he will not be able to know.

Thank you so much for the name ideas and the polls. Carter had been our choice until we lost Paw Paw.

Thank you again!

Second name update 06-06-2009! Heather writes:

I wrote in a few months ago about our name issues. We had decided on Ryder Donald Fink but once our little guy was born (4/29/09) we knew he was a Matthew just like his dad. Matthew Donald joins big brother Grant Anthony and Brady Tann. We are so in love with our new little man. Thank you for your baby naming help. Just goes to show it can all change once you meet the little person :)