Jenny writes:
My husband and I are struggling to come up with a name for our first baby. We know the middle name will be Wayne (four generations of that) and that we don’t want the first name to rhyme with our last name, which ends in “son”. We originally liked Zeke, but feel that it doesn’t sound good with Wayne, and we don’t like Ezekial. We are now considering Carver or Adler, both of which we like but not completely sold on. I was really hoping to have a name that could be shortened for a nick name. I am due at the beginning of April. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
My first and favorite suggestion is Isaac: Isaac Wayne Surnameson. An Isaac can be nicknamed Zack or Ike, so I don’t think Zeke is too much of a stretch.
Carver and Adler are both surname names, so I’m rooting around in The Baby Name Wizard‘s surname section. A favorite of mine from this section is Archer: Archer Wayne Surnameson, nickname Archie.
Another possibility is Callahan: Callahan Wayne Surnameson, nickname Cal.
Or Kendrick: Kendrick Wayne Surnameson, nickname Ken.
Or Tobin: Tobin Wayne Surnameson, nickname Toby.
Let’s put a poll to the right, and also hope for more ideas in the comment section. [Poll closed; see results below.]
Poll results (275 votes total):
Carver: 16 votes, roughly 6%
Adler: 15 votes, roughly 5%
Isaac: 133 votes, roughly 48%
Archer: 69 votes, roughly 25%
Callahan: 17 votes, roughly 6%
Kendrick: 6 votes, roughly 2%
Tobin: 19 votes, roughly 7%
I can’t decide between Isaac, Callahan, and Tobin. My only hesitation on Tobin is that Toby isn’t any shorter.
I like Isaac Wayne.
Hmm… what about:
Asher Wayne
Meritt / Merill Wayne
Bradford Wayne “Brad”
Holden Wayne
Stanton Wayne
Winston Wayne
Roscoe Wayne
Colby Wayne
Darcy Wayne
Darren Wayne
Chandler Wayne
Cooper Wayne
Spencer Wayne
Any of these appeal to you? I know some of them are a little out there, but I like them nonetheless. :)
With Wayne and ___son, I would go for a more traditional first name (like Issac) just to avoid the “Law Firm” effect. (all those surnames can sound like you are being served court papers)
There are lots of boy names that don’t rhyme with “son”- Luke, James, Thomas, Conner, Pierce, Alexander, Christopher, Michael, Joeseph, Matthew, Eli, Seth, David, Daniel, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Andrew, Jeffery, Samuel, Joshua, Jonah, etc.
It doesn’t have to be common, (like Jacob) but I’d go with something that is obviously a first name.
I love Isaac, with Archer as my close second.
Here are some other ideas that I think sound good with Wayne:
Howard (nn Howie or Hal)
Calvin (nn Cal)
Miles
The first name that comes to mind was “Samuel” I kind of like the way that looks:
Samuel Wayne Lastnameson
Sam Lastnameson
Since “Wayne” is a four-generations’ old name in your family, I also like that Samuel is an ancient name, not “new” like the surname-as-firstname phenomenon. I also just think Sam is a great name. If any one cares…
Issac Wayne sounds like a good suggestion for what you are looking for, but I am not a fan of Issac. I love Archer and thought Tobin was a really good suggestion too. A name I thought of was Asa. Can have the nn Ace. Asa Wayne Surnameson, I think that’s a pretty cool boys name.
when I hear Isaac Wayne, all I can think of is Newton. Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Isaac Wayne Newton, etc.
So, if that doesn’t bother you than cool. Otherwise, alot of the above suggestions were great, Spencer Wayne, I like Tobias Wayne instead of Tobin, but either works, or why not Zachary Wayne and call him Zack instead of Isaac?
Good luck.
I had also considered Calvin, but note this is one of my personal favorites that I couldn’t use for a boy so I suggest it often. I don’t feel Calvin works with my Italian last name. But when I saw Callahan, called Cal, my immediate thought was why not Calvin? I like how it has both pop-culture and historical references, and it seems classic and more “name-like” than Callahan, without being over done.
I also like Isaac, Tobin (I like Toby, and don’t feel nicknames need to shorten names that only have 5 letters to begin with, but rather give the name a more informal feel), Chandler, Cooper, and Spencer – I think all of these would go with Wayne.
For nicknames of some of the names I like:
Chadler – Chaz – love this
Cooper – well Cooper
Spencer – Spence
Of course I already mentioned them but to add to the list:
Calvin – Cal
Tobin – Toby
Timothy Wayne Nameson.
Tim. Timmy.
Isaac is a great suggestion. I also want to add Elias into the mix.
Good luck!
Carver makes it sound like your son either is a butcher or some kind of serial killer wielding a knife.
Isaac is great, Archer is good as well as Tobin . . . what about Xavier, i think Xavier Wayne works really well! you could call him Xav/”Zave” and you could either pronounce the first name as “Zavier” or “Ex-avier” (i’ve heard both)