B. writes:
We have no idea what to name our son. We have a 3 year old daughter named Eleanor Claire, who we call “Ellie Claire.” We came upon her name very easily, as it is a family name that we liked. With the boy name, our ideas have been all over the map. We think we will use the name Allen as a middle name, as it is a family name in both our families.
Mom has liked names such as Lachlan, Archer, Teague. Dad dislikes Lachlan, accepts Archer, and is lukewarm on Teague. Dad’s choices have been all over the place: Fred, Prescott, Graham. Mom liked Graham, but finds it too common among her social circle. Mom does not like Fred. Prescott seems too much like a last name to use as a first name unless you had some good reason.
To make matters more difficult, our last name is a common first name. Dad has a first name that is a very common last name, so he has had trouble his whole life with people switching his first and last name. He is ok with a last name-sounding first name, as long as it’s not as common as his. (His is about as common as Smith.) Also, our last name ends in “en”, so “en, an, in” sounding names are out.
Mom is leaning towards Archer Allen W___en at this point, but wonders if Archer is the new Aiden? Is it getting too popular all the sudden? I’ve never heard of anyone having the name, but I see it mentioned on your blog quite a bit. We actually found it in a book and liked it. I never knew others were doing the same thing!
Do you have any other names that we might consider?
Thanks for all your help in our situation!!
Archer does have potential to get popular: it’s not yet in the Top 1000, but sometimes names climb fast, and this is one a lot of people are mentioning as on their lists. Still, I think it’s worth considering, if you both like it. It’s hard to avoid names that are getting more popular: name fashions seem to affect almost all of us.
Jasper is another name that could get a lot more popular—but it’s another one I think is worth considering.
Do you like Frederick better than Fred? Ellie Claire and Freddy Allen, perhaps.
Milo would be cute. Ellie and Milo.
Gosh, I feel stumped on this one. And you’re due so soon, you may have already had the baby, so let’s just post this and let everyone else have a chance to tackle it.
Name update 04-27-2009! Bess writes:
We ended up naming him Archer. We were in the delivery room, 10 minutes after he was born, and we couldn’t think of anything we liked better. Now, we are very happy with his name! Thanks for all the comments. I didn’t get to read this until he was born, but I appreciate that most of you like the name. Hopefully it won’t be too trendy. I agree with the person who said that a lot of people have it on their list but don’t use it.
I love Archer and Teague!
Others to consider:
Garrett,
Vaughn
Riordan
Keane
Rourke
Tavish (or Tavis)
Good luck!
Wow, tough one. Really tough one. I really can’t get a handle on dad’s tastes other than “more common than mom’s.” I aimed for a compromise on rarity/familiarity. Maybe less common “word names”, like Archer, would satisfy mom’s penchant for uniqueness and dad’s for familiarity, although, I couldn’t think of many. Most of the names I could think of are last-name-as-first-name, e.g. Sinclair or Stirling, which I’d want to avoid if I were you but I’ll tack them at the end of my list.
Kendall
Donovan
Kenneth
Damian
Malcolm
Everett
August
Marshall
Sawyer
Sinclair
Stirling
I’m not too thrilled with how some of these flow with Allen as a mn, but flow is subjective.
Another name I’d consider in the same category as Archer and Jasper is Declan.
I’m looking forward to reading the other comments. I like Riordan and Vaughn from Anon 8:28pm.
I like both Archer and Graham. Other names to consider:
Charles
Reid
Forrest
Finn
Gareth
Porter
Shepard
Kenneth
Baxter
Griffith
Asher
Grant
Fletcher
Dempsey
Foster
Cole
Pierce
Bennett
I like Archer, Malcolm and Sawyer!
About Archer, I would ask myself, will popularity ruin this name? Some names sound good ONLY because they are rare, but don’t stand up to wide-spread usage, while other names remain special no matter how many times they are used. For example, popularity has completely ruined Aidan and Connor for me, but hasn’t ruined Owen or Colin – both names seem to have that mix of substance and style that make them new classics. This is all subjective of course. You have to try to imagine the name becomming more popular and decide for yourself.
I like the suggestions of Milo, Vaughn, and Malcolm. And I’ll suggest: Gideon, Arlo, Desmond, Vance.
OH, Gideon ends in n – forget that. Not sure about Arlo Allen, but it migth be ok.
I’m a little confused, are her parents naming her kid? Or is she referring to herself and her husband as mom and dad? I hope the latter, and will assume that is the case. Anyway, if they like Prescott but think it sounds a bit too last-namey (which I like with boys in particular), how about Scott? Scott Allen LastName flows well and Scott and Ellie Claire seem to go together. Also, Scott doesn’t seem to be used much these days.
I am a huge fan of classic names that go in and out of style.
But I totally vote Gregory (or Greggory).
Gregory Allen W__en
Gregg and Ellie Claire. Cute.
I like Archer, and it is not common at all where I live.
The only additional name I thought of is Henry, which I also really like.
Regarding Archer: I think it has the potential to be trendy, but I don’t think it will become overly popular. I think a lot of people have it on their “lists” but won’t end up using it. That’s just my opinion! I love Archer and if it’s what you both agree on, then go with it. May I also suggest Tanner? I think that is such a cute little boys name and sounds great with Ellie.
Is the last name Warren? I don’t like Archer Allen Warren. The repeating “a” of Archer and Allen and the repeating “en” of Allen and Warren is too rhymey/sing songy too me. I do love Gregory Allen Warren or Frederick Allen Warren. Tanner from the above post is cute too.
I was going to suggest Preston as an alternative to Prescott, but I’m not sure that would work with Allen and W__en.
It’s very distracting, Swistle, when you list sibling and potential baby names various times throughout an entry:
Milo, Ed and Tom.
Archer, Ed and Tom.
Dan, Ed and Tom.
Bungus, Ed and Tom.
Tom, Ed and Martin.
Louis, Ed and Tom.
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What about Reece or Reese? I also love Everett as someone else mentioned.
My vote is for Graham but that is because that is the name of my son. People thought I was crazy before he was born but now it just fits him perfectly. I also like Archer for a little boy, it is different without being so far out there. Congrats on your little one!
We ended up naming him Archer. We were in the delivery room, 10 minutes after he was born, and we couldn’t think of anything we liked better. Now, we are very happy with his name! Thanks for all the comments. I didn’t get to read this until he was born, but I appreciate that most of you like the name. Hopefully it won’t be too trendy. I agree with the person who said that a lot of people have it on their list but don’t use it.
Congrats!! Archer is a great name, and I agree, won’t become too popular.
congratulations! love the name Archer (my cousin had it on her list, and it had my vote – but they went with Griffin nn Finn instead – which I also love and it fits him perfectly) Enjoy your new little bundle!!