Danielle writes:
I love your blog and am hoping for help in naming our second son due to arrive November 10th.
My name is Danielle and my husband’s name is Caleb. Our last name begins with a B and ends with O.
We have an 18 month old son, Brody. His middle name is Timothy after my father.
I was hesitant to name him Brody because of our last name beginning with a B,
but my husband loved it and now I can’t imagine him being anything but Brody.
We love names that are unique without sounding too crazy. The main problem we are having is that we have a handful of names we like but nothing we love…yet.Here is the very short list of names we both like:
- Foster (I would say this is our number one name right now…how do you feel about it?)
- Grayson (We both love it but I am hesitant to use it as I know it is now being used for girls as well)
- Levi (I love it, hubby doesn’t at all)
To get a better feel for names we like here are some names that we liked but for various reasons are not going to be in the running….. Asher, Abram, Trey, Gage and Roman.
As for a middle name…We would like to use David (my father in laws name), Caleb, or Anderson.
What do you think the best combination is? And what other first name suggestions do you or any other readers have that you think we would like? I am ready to hear a new name to fall in love with!
I like Foster, and particularly I like Foster Anderson. But the initials are FAB. And Foster Caleb and Foster David both sound choppy to me, as if Foster is a title along the lines of Mister or Brother.
I also like Grayson. I’ve heard, too, that it’s being used for girls. I don’t know if this is a Worrying Trend, like when the name Mackenzie went full-on Girl Name, or a Clear Minority thing where the name will occasionally used for girls but will still be considered a Boy Name. I don’t have a favorite middle name of the three options. Grayson Anderson is double -son and also spells GAB, and, again, Grayson Caleb and Grayson David both sound choppy to me, though fine.
I think the trouble with the middle name options is that Caleb and David are both strongly first-nameish (two syllables, emphasis on the first syllable) and sound odd in the middle name slot. The problem is accentuated by the very different style of first names: Andrew David would sound okay to me, but Foster David sounds odd. Anderson fits much better with the style of first names, but it spells a word with many first-name consonant choices (CAB, DAB, FAB, GAB, JAB, etc.). I kept thinking of first name possibilities such as Turner, and then getting stuck: it spells TAB with the name that sounds good with it, and it clunks with both David and Caleb.
Here are some more possibilities to consider:
Archer Anderson
Cason David
Carson David
Coleman David
Harris Anderson
Keegan Anderson
Lawson David
Lincoln Caleb
Miller Anderson
Wilson David
I think my favorite is Archer Anderson. I just really like the sound of it.
How would you feel about calling him by his middle name? Anderson Foster sounds good to me and eliminates the problem with the initials. I think David Foster works too, oh or David Anderson!
I’ve gone by my middle name my whole life and it hasn’t been a big deal.
Good luck!
Colson? Just thought it fit nicely with the other names you like. Maybe Colson David.
What about using Davidson as the middle name? It breaks up the choppiness and gives you more options for the first name.
I have never really minded the spelling of things by initials, unless it’s just ridiculous, like ASS or something, so the small words with “A” in the middle don’t bother me. Thus, I like Anderson the most of your middle name choices. That said, I tried, for the most part to avoid spelling anything. Of Swistle’s suggestions, I like Archer the best. It is just a super swell, not-too popular, classy boy’s name. (Yes, I just said swell.) And it goes well with Brody. Here are my suggestions, courtesy of the help of Nymbler.com:
Ellis: Ellis Anderson B…o; EAB; Brody & Ellis
Fletcher: Fletcher Anderson B…o; FAB; Brody & Fletcher
Jude: Jude Caleb B…o; JCB; Brody & Jude (LOVE)
Walker; Walker David B…o; WDB; Brody & Walker
Rhys (or Reese); Rhys Anderson B…o; RAB; Brody & Rhys
Finally, have you considered just using Gray instead of Grayson? It’s a lovely stand-alone, and than you could use Gray Anderson B…o, which sounds great (ignoring the GAB) & Brody & Gray sounds awesome together. Just some thoughts. Good luck.
I personally don’t think there is anything wrong with the initials spelling FAB. It wouldn’t be a deal breaker to me at all.
I love Foster Anderson and think it sounds great together. Foster David doesn’t have quite the same flow to me but it still sounds nice and I would use if if you really want to honour your father in law. One point of interest is that David Foster is a famous Canadian musician and music producer.
I agree that Archer Anderson has a great sound. I wonder if it’s due to its similarity to the former accounting firm Arthur Anderson? Not that this would be a deal-breaker for me. In the generation that your son will be part of, most people probably won’t have heard of it.
Foster Anderson
Grayson David (Or Gray David. I liked that suggestion.)
Some new ones:
Josiah Caleb (nn Joss?)
Matthias Caleb
I like Foster David B. I think when you go with a more uncommon first name, it’s nice to have a more traditional name to pair it with.
How about
Sawyer
Becker
Brett
Blake
ANd you have Caleb as a middle name, but I think Brody and Caleb make a great sibling set!
Caleb David
Caleb Foster
Caleb Anderson (CAB?)
What about using Anderson as the first name? I think Anderson Caleb B…o sound great and pairs nicely with Brody. If you don’t want to use Anderson as the first name, here are a few more:
Bennet Anderson B….o (BAB, Brody & Bennet)
Thatcher Caleb B….o (TCB, Brody & Thatcher)
Atticus David B….o (ADB, Brody & Atticus)
Nolan Caleb B….o (NCB, Brody & Nolan)
Wyatt Anderson B….o (WAB, Brody & Wyatt)
Elias Caleb B….o (ECB, Brody & Elias)
Harrison David B….o (HDB, Brody & Harrison)
Vaughn Anderson B…o (VAB, Brody & Vaughn)
Quentin David B….o (QDB, Brody & Quentin)
Marcus David B….o (MDB, Brody & Marcus)
Cole Anderson B….o (CAB, Brody & Cole)
Hopefully these avoid the initial problem and flow nicely with David and Caleb. Any you like?
What about using Anderson as the first name? I think Anderson Caleb B…o sound great and pairs nicely with Brody. If you don’t want to use Anderson as the first name, here are a few more:
Bennet Anderson B….o (BAB, Brody & Bennet)
Thatcher Caleb B….o (TCB, Brody & Thatcher)
Atticus David B….o (ADB, Brody & Atticus)
Nolan Caleb B….o (NCB, Brody & Nolan)
Wyatt Anderson B….o (WAB, Brody & Wyatt)
Elias Caleb B….o (ECB, Brody & Elias)
Harrison David B….o (HDB, Brody & Harrison)
Vaughn Anderson B…o (VAB, Brody & Vaughn)
Quentin David B….o (QDB, Brody & Quentin)
Marcus David B….o (MDB, Brody & Marcus)
Cole Anderson B….o (CAB, Brody & Cole)
Hopefully these avoid the initial problem and flow nicely with David and Caleb. Any you like?
Since the first son has the maternal grandfather’s name as his middle name, it would be really nice if the second son were named for the paternal grandfather.
Swistle wrote: “I think the trouble with the middle name options is that Caleb and David are both strongly first-nameish (two syllables, emphasis on the first syllable) and sound odd in the middle name slot. The problem is accentuated by the very different style of first names: Andrew David would sound okay to me, but Foster David sounds odd.”
I personally find David a very easy name to use as a middle name. I see David as similar in style to Timothy (both are traditional, biblical-origin names). Just as Brody and Timothy are very different styles of names and yet work for this family, I think David could be paired with about any first name.
Foster David
Grayson David
I think they both sound fine. I also like Blake David with Brody Timothy.
Just a quick note about the name Caleb. I would consider not using it with a last name that starts with B, because it’ll blend together and end up sounding like Kayla B…o. Something to keep in mind!
Danielle’s husband’s name is Caleb, and it sounds like they’re considering that name only as a middle name.
Yeah, like anonymous point out, only one first name Caleb in the house!
I think if Foster is the number 1 name on both your lists, you should absolutely go for it. It sounds great with Brody. Grayson doesn’t sound girly to me either. I do like Foster with Anderson and Grayson with David and I definitely don’t think that FAB is an issue at all. My best friend growing up was GAS – and she never got made fun of for it. Most kids don’t even know other kids middle names. Good luck!
I know that they would only be using Caleb for the middle name slot, but it still runs into the same problem when the full name is said aloud. In this case, it just makes it sound like the middle name is Kayla instead of the first name.
I suppose it’s better in the middle name slot than it would be as a first name, but it’s still something I would try to avoid, or at least keep in mind. (And in fact, I love the name Caleb, but wouldn’t use it, because my child will also have a last name that starts with B! But maybe I’m just picky.)
I don’t like Foster or Greyson at all sorry.
Brody Timothy &
Noah David
Jasper David
Ezekiel David (Zeke for short)
Elijah David
Keaton David
Rowan Caleb
Heath David
Reuben Caleb
Here are a bunch of names:
Noah
Colton
Caden
Henry
Adam
Bennett
Emmett
Jack
James
Grayer
Alistair
Ashton
Blaise
Blaine
Braxton
Brice
Cameron
Colby
Corbin
Donovan
Dexter
Douglas
Easton
Emerson
Finlay
Gavin
Grady
Hunter
Jaxon
Jeremy
Kellen
Kieran
Kendall
Landon
Lucas
Milo
Maxwell
Monroe
Paxton
Payton
Preston
Quinn
Ramsey
Sawyer
Seeley
Sheldon
Sumner
Tanner
Tyson
Wade