Baby Boy Hilton

17 Replies

Natalie writes:

I need help! We are expecting our first child, a boy, Feb. 27, and we are nowhere near choosing the name. I’ve given my husband several choices, but he doesn’t really like any of them. I thought we had our list narrowed down to three, but I asked him about the names the other day, and he didn’t really seem too excited about any of them. First, a couple rules:
– No names that begin with N. Both our first names start with N, and I don’t want to be stuck using that letter with all our kids.
– Our last name is Hilton, so I don’t want any names that end with -ten, -tan, -ton. Nothing rhymey.
– Names I like but we won’t use for various reasons: Noah, Eli, Luke/Lucas, Max, Sam, Jack.

One problem I seem to keep having is I like the name until I say it with our last name. I don’t like the way anything sounds with Hilton! One day I thought, “I really like the name Harris Hilton.” But I couldn’t figure out why it sounded so familiar. Then I remembered Paris…

We had my list of names narrowed down to:
Oliver James or Oliver Hays
Sawyer James
Levi James

James does not have to be the middle name, but it is a family name that seems to go well with everything. Hays is my maiden name, so I’ve considered using that too. My husband wants to use Jaxon as a middle name (I don’t).

I had decided I liked Levi best of those names, but my husband tells me last night he doesn’t think it sounds like our baby’s name (with no other explanation). The only name he has suggested is Malachi. I like Malachi, but I think it’s too different for us.

Other names I’ve suggested, but he says no (or “I’ll think about it”) to:
Abram
Milo
Trace (I really like the way Trace Hilton sounds)
Jase
Theo
Leo

The thing with all these names is that I don’t know anyone named them, so I have a hard time imagining what the name will look like on an adult. Please help us, we are both so indecisive and hate making big decisions. I just feel like I need someone else’s opinion. Thanks!

 
If you both like Malachi but it seems too different to use, I wonder if you’d like Micah or Malcolm?

I like S-sound-ending names with Hilton: Bryce Hilton, Charles Hilton, Marcus Hilton, Miles Hilton, Rhys Hilton, Ross Hilton. But I’m worried that some of them sound a bit uppercrust.

Some more possibilities:

Dane Hilton
Gage Hilton
Joel Hilton
Reid Hilton
Seth Hilton
Wade Hilton
Wesley Hilton

I think my favorites are Charles (Charlie) Hilton, Wesley (Wes) Hilton, Joel Hilton, Ross Hilton, and Seth Hilton.

 

 

Name update!

So, it’s been almost five years since this:  https://www.swistle.com/babynames/2010/02/04/baby-boy-hilton/.  But I’m recommending your site to a friend, and realized I never sent an update!

Our son was born the next day after the blog post.  Many readers recommended Micah, but that was another name we couldn’t use – we have a niece named Myca.  Malachi and Eli were also both suggested, and we did go with an old testament name.  I also liked Trace and Chase, and we went in that direction for a middle name.

So I’m being induced and we have all day to sit in the hospital room, I have my Baby Name Wizard book in hand.  And it just hits me, I say, “I like Isaac.”  My husband says, “I do too.”  And that was that.  For the middle name we chose Jase.  Isaac Jase has worked out well for our little bundle of joy, I mean strong-willed preschooler.

And then, two years later, we had a girl.  There was no dilemma with her name; from early on we both agreed on Sarah Addison.  We call her Sadie.  And honestly, I wish I had just named her Sadie.  I worried about Sadie being too nicknamey and she might not like it when she’s older. But Sadie needs something after it.  She is always called Sadie May, Sadie Joe, Sadie Bug, Sadie Girl.  If she had a middle name after Sadie, it would make it easier to know what to call her:)

Thanks for your great blog!
Natalie

17 thoughts on “Baby Boy Hilton”

  2. Carla

    I love the name Trace too – it was on my list except that our last name is only one syllable with an ‘s’ and in the end just couldn’t use it.

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  3. Tracy H.

    Too bad you can’t use Eli, I was going to suggest it until i re-read! I like Oliver & Sawyer. I might suggest to use Hays as a mn for Sawyer to avoid the LOST connection or maybe just a tv junkie like me would make that connection. I like both mn choices though for other names. I also like the sound of Trace Hilton and love Swistle’s suggestion of Micah. A few other suggestions:
    Brady
    Kyle
    Spencer
    Sullivan
    Tanner
    Travis
    Trevor
    I still like Eli the best, too bad you can’t use it! Good luck!

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  4. Clare

    FWIW, I love the name Malachi! We considered it for our second son, even. (We named him Ezekiel nn Zeke). In my opinion, it has the same feel that Elijah, Noah, Gabriel, etc had a few years ago: unusual, Biblical, and really really cool. People may do a double take at first for a little while (that happened to us with Ezekiel), but I’m betting the overall reaction would be positive.

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  5. Tracy H.

    I cannot hear the name Malachi and not think of that creepy kid from the Children of Corn movie. See also Swistle’s suggestion of Gage. The movie Pet Sematary ruined it forever for me. I think I need to stop watching horror movies, LOL!

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  6. beyond

    I like Sawyer best. And James is such a great name! Perhaps you might consider giving James the first name position? James Sawyer Hilton. Perfect.
    How about these?
    Archer
    Bennett
    Gabriel
    Hudson
    Jackson (Jack)
    Jasper
    Tobias
    Archer James Hilton. Gabriel Hayes Hilton. Jasper Hilton.
    Good luck!

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  8. Jeni Q

    Another name suggested in the Baby Name Wizard book that might fit with your current choices is “Case”. Case James Hilton.

    I think that if you don’t know anyone with the name you like, I’d consider it an advantage. There are too many names on one spouse’s list that get nixed by the other spouse because of a person association. If the name is a blank slate for both of you, that means neither of you has any lingering impressions about what a person who is named such will be like. And that is a good thing with your kid.

    However, you could name your darling baby Paris or Adolph or even Jesus, and after about one to two weeks, you would never even think about that other famous person who shares their name – the name would only have associations in your mind with your child.

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  11. StephLove

    I like Oliver best from your original list. Oliver Hays Hilton. Seth is a nice suggestion from Swistle.

    Here are a few more:

    Andrew Hilton
    Isaiah Hilton
    Phillip Hilton
    Ryan Hilton
    Simon Hilton

    I think Hays or James would work with any of these but I like the idea of carrying on Hays.

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  15. M.Amanda

    I like beyond’s suggestion of Gabriel. Gabriel Hays Hilton. Gabe Hilton. Second is Levi. I think long vowels sound best with the last name.

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  16. Anonymous

    My name is Ross Hilton.

    its is pretty simple, and has a ring about it, but can be hard to pronounce.

    The family tradition was Frank, and the family often used Braithwait as a middle name!

    Reply ↓

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