Monica writes:
With baby number two due on 12/25 (yes Christmas Day!) we are still searching for a perfect boy’s name. We have a great girl’s name picked out, but no boy’s name. And even though I have a serious favorite name for a boy, the vote is not unanimous (yet). And it has to be a vote of 2-0 you see.
Here are our requirements. Potential names have to sound good in both German and Spanish (Su’s family is German and she and I both speak Spanish).
Our two year old son’s name is Daniel (see, it fit’s our criteria—just try saying it in German or Spanish!)
His middle name is actually a family name that rhymes with “Zorn” and the baby’s will be too.
Our last name is something Irish. Let’s say Fitzscribble (cuz that’s what it looks like anyway when I write it.)
My serious number one pick is the name August.
August (Gus) Zorn Fitzscribble — Danny and Gus
Another name under consideration is:
Lucas Zorn Fitzscribble – Danny and Luke
Swistle and friends, can you help us?
Oh dear, I am always on shaky ground when names have to sound good in other languages. I only know the most basic of basics, such as that LL sounds like Y in Spanish, and W sounds like V in German.
I think Lucas is closer in style to Daniel than August is, but that either one works. The name Angus seems closer to Daniel while still giving the nickname Gus.
Another name that comes to mind is Benjamin. Danny and Ben—sweet! Or Nathan: Danny and Nate. Or Charles: Danny and Charlie. Those all sound like Brothers to me.
Everyone else: Which name do you like better, August or Lucas? I’ll put a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.] And do you have more name possibilities to suggest?
Poll results (147 votes total):
August (Gus): 52 votes, roughly 35%
Lucas (Luke): 95 votes, roughly 65%
Name update 12-31-2009! Monica writes:
Hi Swistle. Thanks so much for all your the great name suggestions you made, as well as the suggestions that came from commenters. Just wanted to let everyone know that we had our second child, another little boy, on December 17, 2009. We loved watching the polling between the names Gus and Lucas, but in the end we decided to go with one of your suggestions Swistle. We are pleased to introduce our second son, Benjamin who is 8 lbs. 1 oz and 21 inches long. He is a living doll, and the spitting image of 2 year old brother Daniel! Thanks again and Happy New Year!
I have always loved the name Lucas (nn:Luke) and it fits the criteria. I like Augustus better than August but it does have some memory association in both forms (Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove is a good association but Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory not so much. Then there’s August which is what they named the mayor of Whoville in the Jim Carrey Grinch movie). Also Augustus Fitzscribble is quite a mouthful and I always think about a 5 year old needing to know how to spell and write their names….
What about:
Gabriel
Christian
David
Hugo
Oliver
All fall under spanish and german at the website I was looking at, and all would go well with Daniel (David might be a bit matchy) and “Zorn Fitzscribble” I think.
I want to second both name choices you already have, while August is a little out there compared to Daniel its pretty cool, and Lucas fits nicely as well – but hopefully you both can find a name you love!
I also prefer Lucas to August in this situation. Although I love Augustus very much (more than August), I think Lucas works better with Daniel and with the last name. It’s not flashy but it’s a nice name and it fits well. I think Benjamin (also mentioned) would fit nicely. I’m struggling to think of names that work well in English, German and Spanish, but if I can think of any I’ll post again!
I love Evan with Daniel. Is that one hard to say in Spanish or German though? Evan Fitzscribble. Danny and Evan. I really like it!
I like August better, but I think Lucas works better with the sibset. On the topic of August, a name I love is Augustin (the “in” makes an “een” sound). Maybe you’ll like it, too. :]
Lucas is pronounced the same in just about every language, I think. It’d be a pretty safe bet for an international name.
August would, in some languages, be pronounced with ow, like in “cow”. Maybe you should check how it is in German, I think it might actually be the ow pronounciation. That doesn’t necessarily sound bad, but it’s something to consider.
Other names… hmm…
Thomas is used in German and sounds the same as in English. Woudl that be something you’d consider? I’m not sure how it sounds in Spanish though.
Oh I like Lucas and I think it works well in both languages. I imagine a Spanish speaking family might actually have trouble with August, or at least pronounce phonetically as “Ow-gust”). Not necessarily bad, but maybe not what you were going for. I know nothing of German pronunciation, so I’m at a loss there.
I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Nathan.
I love Lucas (it is my son’s name).
Here are some other suggestions:
Marcus/Marko/Marco
David
Gabriel
Elias
Funny, I love August in English but hate Augusto (ow-GOOS-toh) in Spanish and Portuguese. If you like Gus, maybe Gustav/Gustavo? I like the suggestion of Benjamin myself.
I thought of Edmund when you mentioned German. Don’t know if it will work in Spanish, but Daniel and Edmund are divine together, if I do say so myself!
How about a form of Matthew? Mateo? Mathias?
Leo always seems to go with many languages as well.
I was also going to suggest Gustav (I know a family that is Brazilian and German and their son is Gustav)
Sebastian would also work well in both Spanish and German, although it doesn’t have too many nickname options.
I don’t think you can go wrong with either Lucas or August. I prefer Lucas. I thought of Samuel, but I guess it rhymes with Daniel, Danny & Sammy sounds cute though. Oh but if their middle names are going to be the same, that would probably be too much. The above suggestion of Marcus is a good one too, I like that a lot. Good Luck!
I prefer Lucas. Love the suggestions of Sebastian, Marcus and a form of Matthew.
Someone mentioned that Sebastian doesn’t have many nickname options – I’m going to have to disagree! I can think of a few that are used fairly commonly: Seb, Bas (pron. more like “baz”), and Bastian.
My favorite is Seb – so, so, so cute! Say it a few times, picture it on a cute little boy, say it again – darling, isn’t it?
I’m a German married to an American living in the US, and we both also speak Spanish. We also have a long last name.
So, yeah. To answer Christine’s suggestion, August is pronounced “OW-gust” in German as well. If you enjoy that pronunciation, I think it would be great.
I think the German Augustin is lovely as well, and should be fairly managable in Spanish… except the spelling changes to Agustín. But, it’s currently on the charts in Argentina and Uruguay, so definitely familiar in parts.
I also like Gustav.
I personally prefer August over Lukas, but I think Lukas goes great with your sibling name and I also think it meets your criteria more completely.
What wonderful suggestions everybody! Keep them coming. Some names will actually be different words in the different languages which is okay (August woud be Gustavo probably). We’ve defintely considered Mateo and Matias as well as Benjamin, Marcus and others. Thanks so much. Looking forward to hearing any more suggestions you may have! -Monica
I really love Lucas. Here are a few other suggestions that fit your criteria – Victor and Micah (alternate spelling Mikah). Mikah would work in all of the cultures mentioned. As another plus, if you spell it backwards, you get Hakim, a name that’s popular all over the middle east.
I think the international naming style has taken off in Germany as elsewhere, so really, you could go ahead and just have a look at the current German popularity lists for things that work well for you. Nearly each of the names is familiar in the US, and most have Spanish versions, even if there is a slight adjustment in spelling and pronunciation that is made then.
You can find graphs of popularity of first names in Germany at: http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de