Stacy writes:
I am due in April with our third child who is a boy. We have a 4 year old girl named Ella Lee (Lee after my mother) and a 16 month old boy named Brody Louis (Louis after my husbands middle name). Our last name is Fetterman. We had a very hard time with our first son’s name and are having an even harder time with this one. I want a name that is not too common or too trendy, and does not end in -on, -en, -in.
Names I like are Brooks, Bennett (Ben), and Decon. I love Cade, but it’s too popular now. We also both like Cole but have a friend with a son Cole. My husband doesn’t like any of my names and wants a name that is strong and not so different that he hasn’t heard it before. He likes Joel and Eli. We both like Joel but his mother’s side of the family is Hispanic and will most likely (even just to annoy me) pronounce the name Joe-el which will drive me crazy. We thought about using a different spelling like Jole but are afraid that it would be pronounced Jo-lee. I also thought about Johl, but am not sure if it looks too odd and one of the reasons we like Joel in the first place was because it was a biblical name. Eli is too close to Ella. I am thinking that we will be using Robert, Allen or Taylor for a middle name after family members. We are stuck and have no names on our list so any suggestions would be great! Thanks for your help!
Here are some biblical names I like with Ella and Brody (I used The Baby Name Wizard‘s biblical names section to help me out here, and didn’t check to see if any of them had negative biblical associations):
Asher
Caleb
Cyrus
Isaac
Joah
Judah
Jude
Saul
Titus
Joah is pretty unusual (I’d never heard of it) but I put it on the list because it’s similar to Joel. Saul, too, reminds me of Joel, but without the Jo-el problem.
And you know what name occurred to me when I was looking at your list? Cale. (I prefer the spelling Cael, but it has the Ca-el problem, and also it looks more feminine to me.) It’s like Joel, Cade, and Cole all wrapped into one. Cale Fetterman. Ella, Brody, and Cale. You could name him Caleb and nickname him Cale, too, if that would appeal more to your husband’s wish for a name he’s heard before.
Or Dane? Dane Fetterman. Ella, Brody, and Dane.
Keane? Keane Fetterman. Ella, Brody, and Keane.
Wade? Wade Fetterman. Ella, Brody, and Wade.
Name update 04-21-2009! Stacy writes:
Thanks so much for all of the wonderful suggestions! Brooks Allen Fetterman was born on April 15th. I got lucky and after not being able to agree on anything my husband decided Brooks had grown on him. I say the baby makes the name and although it wasn’t his first choice I know he will love it later.
If he likes Eli, how about Elijah? It’s a longer version of Eli and also Biblical? Ella, Brody and Elijah? I do like Cale, as recommended. The spelling and pronunciation is very straightforward, which is nice.
I don’t like Cale because it makes me think of Kale (like the food), and it isn’t nearly as nice as Ella and Brody. I think Joah is super cool, or what about Noah? Off the loop, yet not out there, and so strong! Good luck :)
How about Boaz? Or Ezra?
I second Ezra.
I vote for Jude. It’s a great, solid name, with biblical connotations. It’s a perfect fit for your family! (Also, Jude Taylor is adorable.)
I think that Asher goes so well with Ella and big bro Brody.
Also:
Micah
Zane
Seth
Gage
I love Decon or Dane!!
How about Ezekiel? Call him Zeke!
I vote for Asher
I like Seth or Jude.
I second Seth or Jude. Good luck!
How about Gabriel (Gabe)?
I love the name Cael….love it! In fact, like Switsle, this was the first name I thought of when reading your post. I think it meets all of your criteria and is fairly unique. (An interesting side note on the name Cael…..if you look at some of the name websites that put the popularity by state, you’ll see that Iowa is the only state where Cael ranks among the most popular names. That is because the best college wreastler ever went to school at Iowa State in the late 90’s and was named Cael. So for a few years there were lots of Cael’s, Cale’s, Kael’s, etc born in Iowa. I think it has slowed down some in the last few years, but it is interesting to see.)
I don’t think Cade is all that popular, and Ella is quite popular (Brody too) so I think it would match rather nicely with your other two. On the list, I like Izaac the best (Zac for short?) or a name ending in t or er, like Everett or Archer (see below post).
What about Cain? Its cool sounding…
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. Cade is actually pretty popular in our area. I know of 3 who are friend’s children or else I would use it in a heartbeat. We aren’t stuck on using a biblical name for sure, it was just part of the appeal of Joel that was lost with the other spellings. Dane is the name of my husbands Uncle and Cael just doesn’t sound all that strong to me. One of the recent names my husband has mentioned is Brax Allen. We both like it but aren’t sure if it’s too different.
I’m surprised by how much I like Asher and dislike Cael. And I’m digging on Caleb. I don’t know, this is a tough one.
I also still like Joel, but just to caution on non-standard spellings — As a German speaker I would pronounce “Johl” as “Yole.”