E. writes:
I’m due with our first baby–a boy–in less than a week. For a first name we’re thinking Liam (or we might make the full name William and just call him Liam), after my grandfather who recently passed away, but we still haven’t decided on a middle name.
We want a name that is somewhat traditional (i.e., not weird), but not too common, because our last name (Thompson) is so common.
My husband likes Strider, Aaron, Carter, Jackson, Philip and Eric. I’m not in love with Strider because I think people will instantly connect it with Lord of the Rings. I like Jackson a lot, but I think the son-son rhyming thing with our last name sounds weird. Do you? I suggested Jameson (pronounced JAY-mih-son) as an alternative because it is similar to Jackson but I thought breaking it into three syllables helped the rhyming thing a little.
Other than Jameson, I like Thatcher, Ethan, Richmond, Camden and Kent. My husband isn’t super keen on any of these names, though he would consider Jameson or Ethan.
Can you help us? We’re pretty much open to all suggestions at this point. :)
If you use the name Liam, my favorites are Liam Carter Thompson (LCT) and Liam Richmond Thompson (LRT). If you use the name William, my favorites are William Carter Thompson (WCT) and William Richmond Thompson (WRT), so it appears I am consistent.
Because I prefer initials not to spell anything, I’d avoid Eric and Ethan (LET/WET).
What do the rest of you think? Which are your favorite combinations? Do you have any other middle name candidates to suggest?
I’m not sure that the Strider connection is that obvious. I didn’t even think about it until you pointed it out. When I think of the character from Lord of the Rings, I don’t think “Strider,” I think “Aragorn,” so that might have something to do with it. Of course, I’ve only seen the movies and never read the books, so someone else who has read them might make that connection faster. All that to say, I wouldn’t let the LOTR connection keep you from using Strider.
On the other hand, I like some of your other options better, particularly William nn Liam, which is on my short list for if I ever have a boy. :)
My new favorite name is Seth. William Seth Thompson. I like it.
I love love love RICHMOND!
Congratulations on your little boy! I think both William and Liam are lovely names. For middle names, I do think any of the choices ending in “-son” do sound too repetitive with Thompson, sorry. In fact, I’d go so far as to avoid any name ending in an “n” sound, but maybe that’s just me. I also agree about trying to avoid initials that spell words.
I put a few of your name choices into Nymbler, and after playing with it a while, here are a few alternatives:
Andrew
Caleb
Alexander
Brady
Connor
Daniel
Jack
Eli
Ford
Forrest
Merritt
Fletcher
Cole
Oh, and I do like the suggestion of Seth made earlier, too.
Best of luck!!!
Strider didn’t make me think of LOR. It made me think of the PBS cartoon Cyberchase. What does this say about my life?
Anyway, here are some ideas:
William Ian Thompson
William Joshua Thompson
William Taylor Thompson
William Zachary Thompson
From your lists I like Aaron and Ethan best.
Good luck deciding!
I have no Strider connections but am also of the “only movies and not the books” camp.
I would go for a name without an m or n ending.
Since you both like Jackson how about William Jack Thompson instead?
I also like William Carter, William Thatcher, William Kent.
If you go with Liam I would go with a longer middle name like Liam Christopher, Liam Alexander, Liam Gabriel.
I love the sound and flow of Thatcher either way you go with the first name.