Clover writes:
My husband and I are in desperate need of your (and/or your clever readers) help in picking the perfect name for our baby boy who’s due March 2nd!
The trouble is that we have totally different tastes when it comes to boy’s names. I like more traditional(ish) yet not overly popular names (my top list includes Dexter, Sebastian, & Jasper) and he likes names that are…I don’t even know what category they fall into (but his top list includes Cable, Ender & Garson)!
And did I mention that this will be our 5th (& final) child together (the only boy of the bunch!) and that we also each have a daughter from a previous marriage? That’s a lot of names already, and I’d kind of like our son’s name to fit in with his sister’s if at all possible, which seems unlikely with the husband’s list of strangeness..*sigh*
Anyway, hubby’s daughter is the eldest and her name is Dorothea (called Thea), my daughter is next and is named Willa. All the girl names that we’ve come up with together and have totally agreed upon are; Charlotte (called Lottie) Katherine (called Kat) Rebbecca (called Bex) and Elanor (called Ella). Pretty traditional, yes? I don’t know why his taste in boy’s names is so out there, but it’s driving me nuts!
Some other names that I like but hubby isn’t sold on; Davis, Vincent, Edwin, Aleck. More names that he likes; Cage, Dock, Red, Blade (I keep telling him these are THINGS, not NAMES lol).
So you see our trouble? Are there any names that maybe combine out tastes, at least a little bit? We need to find something that we can both live with, even if it’s not exactly to our tastes. I am willing to compromise a bit, but I’d really like to find a name that is an actual NAME and not a THING. We are open to any and all suggestions here, and our last name is Holland so it’s pretty easy to find names that work with it.
Thank you so much for any help you can provide!
Okay, here is my list!
Gable. Close to his choice of Cable, and in fact gable is a noun which may please him, but also it’s a surname name with the name Gabe as a nickname.
Gage. Close to his choice of Cage.
Cade. Close to his choice of Cage.
Carson. Close to his choice of Garson.
Slade. Close to his choice of Blade.
Reed. Close to his choice of Red.
Anders/Anderson. Similar to his choice of Ender.
Mac/Mack. This is similar to current popular choices Jack and Max, but less common. His choice of Dock made me think of it.
Anyone have other suggestions?
Name update 03-14-2009! Clover writes:
Thanks so much for all of the great suggestions everyone! Gable Ender (had to give in to hubby on the middle name lol) Holland was born March 10th @ 8:09pm, a respectable 8lbs 9oz 22inches! The name is never something I would have come up with on my own, but I absoultly love it and it fits him perfectly! Thanks again Swistle!
I know a little boy named Canyon. It seems very unique, yet totally fits him and isn’t “weird” to me. It is a thing, but it’s similar to other nature names that are easily assimilated into our naming culture.
Of Swistle’s suggestions, Gable is my favorite!
I think Slade Holland sounds awesome. Then maybe you could go for a more traditional middle name?
I love Gable! LOVE. I think it goes with your daughters’ names (which are all beautiful) very well while still leaning toward the unusual.
btw, your husband’s list cracks me up. Red? Dock?
Oh, and I have a nephew named MacKallen, nn Mackey or Mack.
What about Lander? Maddox? Finn?
I like Slade in this case, too.
What about a longer traditional name with the nickname being one of your husband’s choices.
e.g.
Maddock (called Dock)
Redmond (called Red)
ok, that’s all I’ve got :)
I do like the name Finn, fwiw, and that’s a thing, yet also a somewhat popular name.
Wow, toughie. Nice suggestions, Swistle. I’m going to take a couple of different tracks, though.
I notice that the boys’ names dad likes are short and feel very powerful/bold/strong. So how about:
Rex
Rocco nn Rocky
Leo (maybe from Leon)
Conan
Damian/Damien/Damion
Jett
Caesar/Cesar
Drake
Troy
Magnus
At first, I thought that maybe a “real name” with an X, Q, or Z might satisfy dad’s desire for something on the exotic side. But I noticed that you’d suggested Dexter. Still, how about:
Rex
Felix
Xavier
Zachary
Quincy
Zeke
Ender is a science fiction name. Maybe some fantasy or mythology names might appeal to dad, especially warriors. A lot of Celtic and Gaelic names “feel” fantastic. Some possibilities
Odin
Buck
Thor
Ares
Aodh
Fionn
Diarmaid
Donagh
Eamonn
Keegan
Good luck! I can’t wait to see what the other commenters come up with.
What about Leo? I think it’s a good choice that fits with both styles, as well as your daughter’s names. (Unless you think it’s too rhymey next to Thea.)
Other suggestions:
Harris
Lucas
Finn
Quincy
Marcus
Nico (short for Nicolas/Nicholas?)
Gray (short for Grayson?)
Rex
Griffin
Hudson
Landon
Evander
Lysander
Nolan
Courtesy of Nymbler.com (which lets you plug in six names at a time and generates suggestions based on those 6):
First, with yours and his top picks:
Fletcher
Lincoln (nn Link?)
Archer (both a THING and a *real* name)
Mercer
Cash
From the sibling name list:
Archibald (nn Arch?)
Ezra
Atticus
Beckett
Dashiell (nn Dash?)
Griffith/Griffin
(BTW, every one of YOUR (Clover) top picks showed up in the suggestions)
From the so-so list:
Ace
Watts
Forrest
Blaise (like Blaze!)
Cole
Asher
And finally, plugging Swistle’s suggestions in, here’s what Nymbler suggested:
Rourke
Zane
Donovan
Teague
Rhys
My faves from these are:
Archer
Dashiell
Blaise
Teague
Good luck! Sounds like you have some work ahead of you.
Swistle, I like your suggestion of Mac/Mack. I think that a good compromise name might be Cormac, nn Mac.
Good luck!
I agree with the commenter who said it looks like the husband likes “manly”/ bold names… other one syllable ones I came up with:
Finn
Quinn
Cale
Grant
Kai
Kent
Trent
Ty
My fave of the suggestions so far is Gage. It has a great sound to it, and you never hear it, though everyone knows how to pronounce/spell it.
Cole?
First of all, I must say Dorothea / Thea is such a pleasant surprise! Alrighty, I’m disappointed that your hubs won’t go with Dexter and it would work so well with this family. But then again, I realized Dexter would become Dex and Bex and Dex just rhymes a bit too much, me thinks. Same with Bex and Rex, otherwise I would be echoing other’s suggestions for Rex. I think Bex is a really clever nickname for Rebecca btw. I actually really love Rebecca but find Becky off-putting. What a great alternative.
Okay. I find Gable / Gabe would be the perfect choice for your family. I really like both, and would go the Gabe nickname rout because all of your daughter’s have nicknames. My actual favorite of Swistle’s names is Mack, but since there is no nickname, I don’t feel it is as perfect as Gable / Gabe for your family.
Out if Swistle’s suggestions and suggestions from above, I like:
Gable
Slade
Archer (Love this suggestion!)
Redmond (nn Red = great name,great compromise)
I like “unique” names, but have to agree, some of your hubby’s suggestions are out there! Good Luck!
Dexter Holland is the lead singer of the band The Offspring. His given name is Brian, but he’s been going by Dexter with the band for 20+ years, might want to stay away from that. I also like X, Z, and Q names.
Quinton
Baxter nn Bax
Zephyr (I know 2!) nn Zeph
I first thought of Ford, but I’m not sure it would fit in with your traditional, person-not-thing preference. Then I thought of Wesley, but while your picks are softer, your husband’s picks all seem to have harder sounds with Ds and hard Gs and long consonants.
How about Garrett? I also like the previously mentioned Zane, Gage, and possibly Zeke/Ezekiel, though I’m not sure that flows as nicely with your last name as the others.
I think Gage or Zane are very nice with your last name and fit pretty well with his list (but have the additional quality of actually being names!). That said, I’m really writing to just tell you how amazingly beautiful your daughters’ names are. I’m amazed that your two daughters from before the marriage have such harmonious and like-minded names – it’s a match in naming heaven!
I have a friend who’s husband wants to name their first son Ender. The compromise they came up with is Andrew, with Ender as a nn.
Oh, man. I really, really hope Clover sends in an update, because I will need to know what this boy ends up being names.
My suggestions: Ezra, Erik, Gage/Gable, Finn, Fallon, Jackson (nn Jax), Knox.
Oh, “named.” Not “names.” Oops.
What about Boyd? Short strong old fashioned and unusual. We have a Holland branch in my family and nicknames don’t have much to do with given names. Marvin = nn Bus.
What about Henry? It is so classic, and you get the nickname Hank. It sounds a bit like Dock, even.
Hank Holland. What a great name!
What about Declan. Goes well with the girls names (in my opinion) but can be shortened to Dec (which sounds like Deck) which a “thing”. :) I am also partial since that is my son’s name.
My fav is from one of the commenters: Cormac, nn Mac.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned and I have been having some trouble getting to the comments so forgive me if I don’t read all the previouslys but I thought of Garrison, and also Enda, which is a lovely Irish name but I don’t know what nickname you could use for it.
I read this post and comments earlier in the day, then went for a walk and saw an art gallery showing someone, last name Murdock. Murdock=Dock! Though I prefer spelling Murdoch. Anyhoo just a thought…similar to previous suggestion of Maddoc!
Cool boy name…. Cullen
Your girls’ names are so beautiful and such SOLID names as well (a tough balance I think! well done). To find a boy’s name that “conforms” in the best way possible, what about using one of your husband’s suggestions as a nickname for a traditional boys’ name. I know a 60something y/o “Doc” which could be short for Dillon, Dennis or some other name. I also know a “Red” whose real name is Robert (a junior -so “red” distinguished him from his father).
I like the suggestion of Garrett, and it could even have the nickname of Rhett, which sounds similar to Red.
Also, Rhett by itself conjures up images of Gone With the Wind and dashing heroes, so maybe that could work.
My husband wanted to name our son Kanyon (he suggested the K)! I couldn’t do it, although I liked the sound and feel of the name my first thought was that his nickname would be “Ditch.” We live in a rural area :-).
Of Swistle’s suggestions I love Gable. It makes me think of Clark Gable and classic Hollywood royalty.
It sounds like your husband is a fan of the fantasy/sci-fi genre. So am I. Some of the names we considered for our son were Riker, Caelum (which is a constellation)and we also had Archer and Dexter on our list, I loved the idea of Dex as a nn. We ended up going with Greyden (Canadian) but it took me awhile to really feel like that was his name. I think I regretted following the Aiden/Hayden Kaden trend. I plan on calling him Grey when he’s older, but for now I’ve been calling him a myriad of cutsie baby nicknames with Ponkers/Ponks and Bubs being used most commonly. :-) Good luck with your choice!
p.s. Wasn’t Teague (or Teag maybe?) the name of the bad guy in Teddy Ruxpin? LOL
So I had the same problem with my husband. We wanted something that you didnt hear all the time, So although you guys have been disagreeing you need something strong and unique. I think you should consider the name Asher