Baby Boy or Girl Benson

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Emmyline writes:

My husband and I (Nick and Emmyline Benson) are expecting our third child end of June (due date: 28th of June), the sex of the baby will be a susprise.
Our sons are Alexander Kurt Benson (5) and Mathias Jack Benson (3). We had no trouble deciding on their names but with baby number 3 we’re having some difficulties on the naming side of things!

I (Emmyline) am a Dutch-speaking Belgian and speak Dutch with our children, my husband is American and speaks English with them. Alexander and Mathias are names that are pronouncable in both languages, also for our new baby we are looking for a name that will work in Dutch as well as in English.

My husband and I have some names in mind but we can’t seem to settle on a name that we both love, these are the names that we’ve been considering:

For a boy:
– Maximilian: My favorite, my husband thinks Maximilian is too long, he would prefer Maxwell but this is a name that is never used in Dutch and I generally don’t like it very much.
– Noah: A name we both like a lot but I love ‘Norah’ for a girl and if this baby is a boy I would like to be able to use ‘Norah’ on a possible future daughter.
– Vincent: My husband’s favorite. I don’t dislike the name and it works in Dutch but I knew a lot of Vincents my age growing up and it’s hard for me to picture a little boy named Vincent.
– Sebastian: A name we both like but I feel like it doesn’t flow well with Benson…
– Casper: Also a name we both like but does it sound too much like Alexander?

Possible middle names for a boy: Andreas (after both of my grandfathers who were called Andre), Robert (Nick’s grandfather), Nicolas and Nathan (my brother)

For a girl:
– Norah: I love this name but Nick is not too sure about it, he feels it’s too old-fashioned.
– Nell: We both like this name but think it is too short compared to Alexander and Mathias.
– Flo: We both like the nickname ‘Flo’ but can’t find a good formal name that we both love.

Possible middle names for a girl: Rachel (my grandmother and own middle name), Lillian (Nick’s mother), Margaret (my mother’s middle name) and Sophie (Nick’s sister)

Any suggestions are very welcome. We prefer classic names that are not too popular.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help us name our baby.

13 thoughts on “Baby Boy or Girl Benson

  1. Shannon

    I really like Casper Benson and just about any of the middle names you suggested were good – although I like Andreas best. And I don’t think Casper and Alexander are too similar at all.

    I think it’s interesting that your husband thinks that Norah is the most old-fashioned of the choices you suggested for girls names when Nell and Flo are much more “old-fashioned” (not that that is a bad thing!). Norah is actually rising in popularity now. But it is a beautiful name and it sounds good with Benson so if you like it, you should use it. Good luck!

    Reply
  2. Megz

    You don’t say if you live in Belgium or America?

    Anyway, if your husband isn’t sold on Norah, then why not use Noah now. Even if you have a girl later he may still not like the name. Noah Andreas Benson.

    For a girl, why not choose Eleanor. You could have either Norah or Nell as nicknames. I don’t know how Dutch it is though. How about Lenore?

    I agree with the previous poster, Norah is much less old fashioned than Nell or Flo. Good luck.

    Reply
  3. beyond

    I love Sebastian, and I don’t think it clashes with your last name. Casper comes in a close second. (To me, Casper does not sound like Alexander. Do you mean because they both end in -er?) Alexander, Mathias and Sebastian; Casper Andreas Benson.
    For a girl I really really love Norah, and to me it doesn’t feel old-fashioned or out-dated at all.)
    I like Flo too. Have you considered Florina as a full name? Norah Rachel Benson (Alex, Matt and Flo)
    Good luck!

    Reply
  4. Peace

    I also really love the sound of Casper! I can really picture a cute little boy named Casper. I also like Vincent a lot though, they are both great choices. Norah is a fantastic girls name, I’d definitely keep it for the future. It doesn’t sound old-fashioned at all, and in fact it is quite popular in the U.S.

    Reply
  5. StephLove

    I started by narrowing down the boy names to the ones you both like: Noah, Sebastian and Casper.

    Since only one of you likes Norah maybe you could use it as a middle name if you ever have a girl. That eliminates the problem with Noah. I think Sebastian Benson sounds fine and that Casper’s not too close to Alexander, but your perception is the one that matters, so maybe Noah is the best bet. I think it sounds good with all the potential middles but Noah Andreas Benson is my favorite.

    Full names for Nell could include Eleanor, Ellen or Penelope. I don’t know how they work in Dutch, but I bet there are cognates. The only full name for Flo I know is Florence. Overall, I prefer the Nell names. I especially like Eleanor Rachel and Ellen Margaret.

    A side note: I know a family named Benson. Their kids are Talia Yvonne Benson and Nathaniel Micah Benson.

    Reply
  6. Erin

    Ah, you are due on my birthday, so I’m already feeling a special kinship there. For girls, I feel like Flo and Nell are way more old fashioned than Norah, which I love, so I vote Norah. Also, you could get Nell from Penelope, pretty greek, and Flo I think of Florence/Florentine, but there is also Floris/Flora which both sound fresher to me. My own friends who’s parents were both dutch and lived in the states and speak both languages are named Roosje (Rose) Eva and Marike. Love all of them.

    For what its worth, I don’t think Maximillian is too long (with Alexander and Mathias) and if hes going to go by Max most of the time, its a nonissue. Do you like Diederik, Hendrik (I know a newborn named this, and hes adorable)Theodore or Lucas?

    Good luck!

    Reply
  7. M.Amanda

    I like Norah. Eleanor is a good way to get either Norah or Nell as a nickname. Norah Lillian Benson is lovely.

    Casper is nice, but saying it out loud I find it a little awkward going from the P sound to the B, making it Casper Penson. Maybe it’s my fumble tongue…. I had a much easier time saying Sebastian Benson. But Andreas Robert Benson is my favorite if you are willing to give a family name the first position.

    Reply
  8. Carla

    I know of a woman named Neleen that goes by Nell and she is of Dutch background so that is a possibility. Or Nellia?
    For a boy I like Noah or Sebastian.
    Good luck!

    Reply
  9. Katie

    Do you like Nola for a girl? Sort of a cross between Norah and Nell.

    How about Willem for a boy? Also I think your husband’s suggestion of Vincent is adorable and goes well with your older boys.

    Best of luck!

    Reply
  10. Catharina

    How about Flora? Sounds a lot like Norah and has the nickname Flo :-)

    I also love Elenora. You could call her Nora or maybe even get away with the nickmname Nell. There’s also Lenora.

    Also had to think of the name Cora. If you think it’s too short next to the boys’ name, you could give her a nice long middle name.

    For what it’s worth, I think Sebastian Benson sounds great and goes really well with Mathias and Alexander.

    Reply
  11. Adey

    For girls – I think that Norah isn’t too old fashioned and is really pretty.
    I love the idea of Nell paired with a longer middle name would be really nice.

    You may like the name we chose for our daughter – Nolana. It’s pronounced like No-Lawna and we call her Lana (Lawna) for short.

    For boys – I thought of Maximus right away but I’m not sure what you’ll think of that. It’s shorter than Maximilan but sounds awesome haha
    I am not a fan of both Casper or Sebastian …

    Reply

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