Gabi writes:
We are expecting baby #1 in a couple of weeks (actual due date is November 19th) and I would love some feedback on the names that have made our “short lists”. Sex of the baby is unknown. Although we’ve all been referring to the kid in-utero as Baby Edge, our last name is actually Edgerton. The middle names have been set from the beginning: if boy, the middle name has to be Dow (a family name); if girl the middle name will be Cynthia. Other than that there are no restrictions on the names although I would prefer not to name the kid something that is too associated with Catholicism or some other religion that we are not. I am of Eastern European Jewish heritage and my husband’s family has been in the States since colonial times, from the British Isles before that. We have narrowed our lists to 6-7 for each, I can’t see any pattern in the names we like, though I would be interested in any you can decipher. I am open to suggestions of pretty variations on any of these as well as completely new suggestions that we may not have thought of. Here are the lists (in no particular order):
Girl: Mikayla (would call her Ayla for short); Eliza; Anika; Madelyn; Lyla; Anya; Samantha (would call her Sam for short)
Boy: Henry; Andrew; Asa; Ryan; Owen; Jonah
Thanks!!
I love Eliza Edgerton so much, I am having trouble drumming up motivation to look further. Well, although I also like the initials you get from Anika or Anya: ACE seems like a fun nickname she could access in her high school years if she wanted to.
For a boy, my favorite is Henry Dow Edgerton. I also wonder if you’d like Isaac Edgerton.
What does everyone else think? Favorites? Additional suggestions?
Name update! Gabi writes:
Your blog helped us name our first daughter, Eliza Cynthia, now 3, and we have been extremely happy. It was a hands down favorite of yours and your commenters, and that was all the encouragement we needed to pull the trigger. We get compliments on her name all the time.
Although I don’t love Mikayla, I do love Ayla for short. I also think Cynthia would be a beautiful first name, but it sounds like you’re pretty set to have it as a middle name, in which case all those girl names that end in “a” sound a little to rhymey for me when paired with Cynthia. Therefore, I think Madelyn Cynthia Edgerton is my favorite on your girl list.
As for your boy names, I love them all and can give no help in that area. Boy names are much harder to come up with than girl names in my opinion. I do love Henry, but they’re all good!
From the girl list, I like Anya best and Anika second best and from the boy list Jonah best with Andrew, Owen and Ryan and close behind (in that order).
Eliza is divine, to die for, absolutely out of this universe. I just love that name with your last name.
For the boy, I love love love love Asa. Total class.
But all of the names are beautiful! Those names just really jump out for me.
~Jenny in MD
I’m with Swistle on this one…Eliza and Henry.
I’m with Swistle, too. Alliteration can sometimes be tricky in a name, but Eliza Edgerton is just spectacularly gorgeous!!!!
For boys, Henry is my favorite, followed by Isaac and Asa. Best of luck!
I am usually not a fan of alliteration, but Eliza Edgerton is leaps and bounds above the rest. The name flows beautifully even though they both have 3 syllables – I think the snazzy Z in Eliza is making all the difference for me.
Henry Dow Edgerton sounds very distinguished. Love it.
eliza and asa! great list of names!
Another vote for Eliza Edgerton. Love the sound of it. I will also recommend the name Aven. Aven Cynthia Edgerton sounds nice. All the boys names are great picks. I like Asa, Ryan & Owen best. And I will also recommend the name Tobin, which according to the BNW is a British surname, derived from Tobias which is Hebrew for “God is good.”
I too love Eliza, its on my own shortlist. Anika also has a certain edge to it (no pun intended) that I like. For the boys, Henry Dow is nice together, but I prefer Owen or Jonah on a purely first name basis. Although, Owen Dow has a lot of repeats (same with Andrew – lots of Ws), so for you maybe Henry or Jonah would be the best pic. I don’t care for Ryan – nothing wrong with it, just a little plain. Your girl names for the most part are not plain which is what is fun about them. Great choices, although most seem to be more British Isle-y then Eastern European so you could always expand in that direction. Eliza of course is Hebrew in origin but very English as well, so a great choice for you guys. Good luck!
Eliza and Jonah would be my picks.
I like Elizabeth Cynthia, with Eliza as the nn. As a previous commenter said, the 2 “a” endings sound rhymey to me.
Otherwise, Ayla has always been a favorite due to the movie Clan of the Cave Bear. In fact, I don’t think Ayla has to be a nn, it could just be used on it’s own.
You’ve got some great picks, so I think anything you choose will sound nice.
Good luck!
I love Eliza Edgerton – the two names just fit together so nicely! Eliza has always seemed to be a spunky and spirited name to me (maybe because of My Fair Lady). I love the alliteration. My sister in law’s first and last name are very unique and both begin with M, and everyone always remembers her name! I think Eliza Edgerton could be just as lucky.
If you are open to suggestions, one of my top names is Raissa. The name has origins and Yiddish and Hebrew, and means rose.
For a boy, I love Henry, Issac (as per Swistle’s suggestion) and Charles.
I know sisters named Madeline and Anika (not sure of the spelling of Anika, as she is only 2 weeks old; it might be Annika) and therefore someone else also thought those names had a similar enough style. Just sharing that. I’m not sure it helps you.
I also knew someone with the initials ACE (Alexis Cara E) and that was her nickname Ace. She seemed to like it. I don’t really think any of the A names on your list go with Cynthia though – too rhyme-y.
Of your girls names I like Eliza and Anika the best, and since I don’t think Anika really flows with Cynthia, I would go with Eliza by process of elimination.
Of your boys names I like Owen the best. I guess Owen Dow sounds ok. I would go with it despite the repeating W’s because I just like Owen so much more than any of your boy names.
I particularly like Eliza because it goes so well with all of the boys’ names. Eliza Cynthia doesn’t flow terribly well, but Eliza Edgerton is a knock-out.
I like your boys’ names but I agree with others that Owen Dow or Jonah Dow might be a bit much W and also think that Andrew Dow Edgerton has a lot of D in it. I notice that there are very few hard consonants in your boys’ list and all but Asa have an N. Some more ideas:
Ian
Julian
Rhys
Eli or Elias (Does Eli Dow Edgerton sound like an instruction to Lie Down? and would you bemoan the loss of Eliza for a future girl?)
Aaron (ooooh. I like that!)
Alan
All your girls except Madelyn end in a theres a pattern :) I like Anika the best I love how it sounds :) From the boys Henry is my favourite!
Good luck :)
If your not a fan of religion related names, stay away from Jonah, its a biblical name.
I agree that Henry Dow sounds beautiful, it flows really well.I also think that Ryan would make a great choice for first name as it has a good amount of sylables to go with Dow.
Other boys perhaps Alexnder, Michael, Peter or Louis.
Girls I like Eliza, why no Elizabeth, with Eliza for the nickname? also Anya is sweet. Others perhaps Amalia or Amala?
Good luck with your decisions!
I agree that your favorite names are of very different styles. I don’t see that as a problem when naming a first child, but it could cause a dilemma when naming a subsequent baby if you want your children’s names to be somewhat in the same style. That’s why I’d suggest grouping these names by how they seem to you style-wise, deciding which group most appeals to you, and then choosing a name from that group or another name that would fit into that group.
I’d probably group your names like this:
Classic/timeless
Henry
Andrew
Eliza
OT biblical
Jonah
Asa
Celtic
Ryan
Owen
Modern classics
Ryan
Samantha
International
Anika (Annika)– Nordic
Anya — Slavic
Recent spellings of “antique charm” (BNW) names
Mikayla (Michaela)
Madelyn (Madeline)
Lyla (from Delilah?)
My favorites from your lists are:
Eliza Cynthia and Andrew Dow. I think both Eliza and Andrew sound fine with the chosen middle names, and I love the names Eliza and Andrew.