Rachel writes:
We’re expecting our second child, a boy on February 11th. Our older daughter is Audrey Josephine, initials AJK, a tradition from my husband’s side of the family for the first born to have those initials. She was super easy to name, my Grandmother had passed away before I was pregnant, and since her name was Josephine that was easy… and believe it or not I had a dream that I was having a daughter and that she would be named Audrey when I was about 20 weeks, and after that there was no question about it.
This time, it’s not been so easy. Boys seem much harder to name! I want to use my father’s name as a middle name, Randall, which (although my dad is great!) is not my favorite name. I really like James for a first name, my husband doesn’t. We both kind of like Daniel, but that sounds awful with Randall as a middle name. My husband likes Jonah, and I do, except that it reminds me of the Jonas Brothers. I’m not sure if that is a deal breaker or not. Other names that I’ve liked that my husband hasn’t been too excited about: Owen, Milo, Samuel, and Adam. He likes Eli and Atticus a lot, and I do not. It would be nice to get some other names in the mix for us to consider, any suggestions would help a lot!
To me, the Jonas Brothers wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for the name Jonah. I think it’s because the Jonas Brothers are more like Thejonasbrothers, as if it’s all one word—the way Mel Gibson is Melgibson and I don’t think of his name as actually being Mel.
The Baby Name Wizard lists Owen as a brother name for Eli, which makes me feel as if your tastes are very close together and we just need to find the one name that works. Other brother names for Eli: Noah (similar to Jonah but no Jonas Brothers association), Levi, Jake, and Caleb.
Oh, and look! The brother names for Jonah also include Eli and Noah and Caleb! The other two brother names are Micah and Asher.
Noah Randall K.
Levi Randall K.
Jacob Randall K.
Caleb Randall K.
Micah Randall K.
Asher Randall K.
Do any of those appeal?
Brother names for Noah are Eli, Owen, Jonah, and Caleb, and only one new option: Ethan. Caleb has an interesting brother option: Elijah. That’s sort of Eli merged with Jonah. And Elijah’s brother names include Isaiah and Josiah. Samuel’s brothers include Benjamin and Simon.
Ethan Randall K.
Elijah Randall K.
Isaiah Randall K.
Josiah Randall K.
Benjamin Randall K.
Simon Randall K.
I particularly like Simon with Audrey. I think Simon has the intellectual image of Atticus, and also improves the name Randall. So Simon would be my first choice. But I think a lot of the others work very well too: Audrey and Benjamin, Audrey and Ethan, Audrey and Caleb.
Name update 02-07-2010! Rachel writes:
Thanks for the advice and feedback!! Jonah Randall was born at 3:02am on February 4th. He was 8 lbs, 11 ounces, and he was 21 1/2 inches long. I think I just needed to hear from people who weren’t related to me!
Thanks again!
I would not rule out Jonah because of the Jonas Bros. It’s a good pick. I like Swistle’s suggestions of Noah, Micah and Simon. Here are some more:
Eliott
Evan
Ezra (this name has become a fave of mine)
Gabriel
Gideon
Luke/Lucas (love this w/Audrey for some reason and sounds great w/Randall too)
Oliver (also adorable w/Audrey)
And Randall is not a bad mn at all. Good Luck!
I also wonder, if you do want to use Daniel, if you could use your dad’s middle name in the middle name slot as a way to honor him. Of course, not knowing what his middle name is, I have no idea if that would work, but it might offer some more flexibility.
I have a niece named Audrey and her brother is Noah. Their names are very good together. If you don’t like your dad’s first name, what about his middle name? Or could your maiden name be used in some form?
I wouldn’t connect Jonah with the Jonas brothers, so I think you’re safe there.
Some other ideas are:
Henry, nn Hank
Thomas
Charles, nn Charlie
Isaac
Zachary (which would be cute because you’d have the initial A for the oldest and Z for the youngest–assuming he’s the last child, that is)
I think all your choices are great and I think we have exactly the same tastes in names, especially for boys. Those are all my faves too. I really like Jonah though, and only paused once to consider the Jonas brothers. I think if the name was Jonas, that would be one thing. Jonah is old and biblical and strong sounding and completely separate, so I would vote for using it. And hopefully by the time your boy can watch tv or listen to music, the Jonas brothers will be on VH1s remember the 2000s….It also goes great with Audrey.
I also like:
Eli
Owen
Noah
Micah
Josiah
Use Jonah! It’s such a great name, you both like it and it works well with the middle name (JR are great, nicknamey intials too!)
Use Jonah!
I like Evan Randall and Julian Randall.
Audrey and Evan
Audrey and Julian
Or how about Audrey and August? August Randall sounds cool.
Audrey and Gus
Or you could be really daring and go with Jude. Audry and Jude. Kinda cool! -M
I love all your names, but I think Simon goes the best with Randall. You might also consider Joel, Phillip, and Thomas.
I wouldn’t rule out Jonah because of the Jonas brothers. From Swistle’s suggestions I like:
Benjamin
Elijah
Isaiah
Jacob
Micah
Noah
Here are a few more ideas:
Adam
Andrew
Ian
Joshua
Nathaniel
Nicholas
William
Zachary
What about Nicholas? Lots of other great ideas from Swistle and the other posters, and I don’t think you’ll go wrong with any of them.
But Nicholas is my favorite! Nicholas Randall sounds great, as does Nick Randall, Audrey & Nicholas, Audrey & Nick.
My cousin has a daughter named Audrey, and for their next child, they’re considering the names Elijah and Isaac if it’s a boy. I know you vetoed Eli, so maybe Isaac? (As long as it didn’t run into your last name with the K sound.)
i love asher! or what about foster? i think foster and audrey sound great together!
i love randall as a middle name. it’s justin timberlakes middle name :)
Randall is SUCH a good middle name. Strong, family name, unusual but normal, I just LOVE Randall. And SO many of your choices go so well with it. I really like Nathan Randall K, Noah Randall K, Simon Randall K. I don’t like Jonah, but I don’t like J names in general, so whatevs.
If you like Jonah, go for it, it’s a great name. Thejonasbrothers will fade into obscurity sooner or later. I also really like James and Samuel from your list, and Simon from Swistle’s.
Here are a few more to inspire you.
Adam
Andrew
Charles
Eliot
Gabriel
Henry
Jacob
Joshua
Liam
Nathan
All of the names above have already been suggested by other posters except for Liam and Nathan. They are all names you cannot go wrong with.
I like the sound of Audrey and Nathan.
I’d be leery of anything beginning with J–with middle name Randall, you’re looking at JRK initials. I know it’s not as bad as PMS or ASS or what-have-you, but I look at JRK and I see “jerk.” Not great.
Definitely think “Jonah” doesn’t lead to The Jonas Brothers; totally agree with Swistle in her assessment that it’s sort of a package deal for them. I mean, if Jonah were the middle name and you decided on “Joe Jonah K” or “Nick Jonah K” then THAT would be a little Jonas-y, but with Jonah as a first name, it’s totally separate and not related to them at all. Jonah and Audrey are great together.
My other favourite suggestions are the ones from Swistle’s last paragraph there — Caleb, Benjamin, Ethan and Simon.
And SWISTLE! I am very excited by this post, because Martin and I (though not yet on the baby-making track, yet we DO talk baby names because HELLO, this is ME) know our first boy will be Owen, and right now I’m so into the name “Elijah” with “Eli” as the nickname; it’s nice to see Owen and Elijah as brother names come up (Isaac is the other one I love right now). Now all I need to do is convince Martin that he likes Elijah/Eli too — but luckily we have lots of time for that since we’re not even close to having our Owen yet and don’t even know if we’ll have another boy to worry about (this is just how I think though, I like having two girls and two boys names already chosen, LOL). (I’m such a planner! LOL)(Now how do I secure my engagement ring slash pathway-to-babies!-squee!-babies! ???).
HA Steph! I’ve got the engagement ring and wedding ring even, but not into the babymaking thing quite yet but even still I can’t help but have all of my favorites picked out. I feel like if I wait until I’m pregnant, I’ll never pick the *right* one. Owen was (one of) our picks too…
good luck with the pathway to babies securing! LOL
No suggestions, but I just want to say that I think the name Audrey Josephine is GORGEOUS. I might have to save it for if I have another girl. Bonus, it would also honor some cherished family members.
Randall is my maiden name and also the middle name of my 1 year old son Luke :) And, my nephew’s (brother’s son) name is Asher Randall :)
Jonah Randall is gorgeous! Congratulations! :) All the best to the little one and your whole family.