Rachel writes:
My husband and I are expecting a baby boy (our first baby!) on August 15th and would love some help picking out a name.
In the Jewish tradition we would like to honor the grandparents we’ve lost by using their first initials for the baby’s name. We’d like to honor both his side and my side. The letters we have to work with from my side of the family is: J or M. And the letters from my husbands side are: E or A. Our last name is Greenfield and is pretty easy to match.
So far we haven’t been able to get beyond two front runners names: Evan and Max. But I’m a little worried about how popular they are or are becoming and I’m having trouble matching middle names. I also don’t love the formal names for Max (my husband like Maxwell, but I’m not a huge fan). We considered using both names together, but are afraid of having another boy the second time around and using up both names we like in one fell swoop! It may be worth noting that I really like the name Alex/Alexander also, but my husband vetoed this since we have a close friend named Alex. The girl names I would considered are Livia and Sasha.
The few names I’ve brainstormed are:
Max Cooper(Cooper is a family name on my husband’s side, so we wouldn’t need the E/A).
Max Evan (or Maxwell Evan)
Evan Merek (or Merik?)
Jack EthanWe would love your input/suggestions!!!
Ooo, you have good letters to work with! Let’s see…A, E, J, or M.
A Name Suggestions:
Aaron Greenfield
Adam Greenfield
Alec Greenfield
Anderson Greenfield
E Name Suggestions:
Edmund Greenfield
Elias Greenfield
Elliot Greenfield
Emmett Greenfield
Everett Greenfield
J Name Suggestions:
James Greenfield
Jared Greenfield
Jeremy Greenfield
Joel Greenfield
Jon Greenfield
M Name Suggestions:
Malcolm Greenfield
Micah Greenfield
Miles Greenfield
Milo Greenfield
Some possible both-sides-of-family pairings:
Elliot Michael Greenfield
Everett Max Greenfield
Jon Alexander Greenfield
Malcolm Cooper Greenfield
Milo Anderson Greenfield
But my top favorite is your choice of Evan Merek. Or maybe Evan Merrit? I also like Evan Cooper Greenfield, Evan Malcolm Greenfield, and Evan Miller Greenfield.
Name update! Rachel writes:
I’m just realizing now that I asked for name help back in July 2010 and forgot to send you an update. It may have been because our little boy was born 3 1/2 weeks early, only four days after you responded with your post!
We ended up naming our son Evan Maxwell Greenfield. He was going to be Max right up until the eve of my scheduled emergency c-section, but somehow Evan started to feel much more “right”. We didn’t settle on his full name until he was born. Several hours after his birth and (my parents begging to know the baby’s name!), we decided to risk it and use both favorite boys names we loved in one fell swoop. I let my husband “win” by using the more formal Maxwell instead of Max.
I love Cooper in the middle spot and it sounds great with either Max or Evan.
I love the name Elliott, or the nickname Eli. I think it goes great with Cooper and Greenfield.
And if it weren’t for the current Twilight phenomenon you could do Edward.
I really like Max(well) Cooper for you.
How about:
Evan Michael
Evan Justin
Maxwell Andrew
Maxwell Ethan
Good luck!
I know a toddler boy named Merrick Alexander. I like that spelling and it would get in two of your initials. Maybe your husband wouldn’t mind Alexander in the middle name slot. Evan Merrick would be nice, too.
My A/E/J/M favorites are Andrew, Elijah, Elliott, Jonathan, Jonah, Joshua and Micah.
How about:
Andrew Jonathan Greenfield (possible nn A.J.)
Elijah Jonathan Greenfield
Jonah Elliott Greenfield
Jonathan Micah Greenfield
Joshua Elliott Greenfield
I forgot Jeremiah. I like that one, too.
I really like Evan Marek!
I was going to say Evan Marek too! My son is Evan and one of our oldest friend’s son is Marek and both names get tons of compliments so together they’re even better.
My second favorite is Everett, maybe with Max (no formal version) as a middle name. Or Elliot, although I would use Maxwell in that case.
For J names, I love Judson (Judd) and Jedd. Good luck!
Wow, how dashing is James Greenfield? I love it. And can I just say how lucky you are to have such an easy last name to work with? Greenfield goes with almost everything!
I am a bit worried that Maxwell Greenfield sounds a bit like it has four seperate words: Max-well Green-field. I prefer the name in the middle name slot or as just Max.
You could just as easily have all girls after this as you could use all the names you love. I think you should go with the names that you love now.
I love Evan Maxwell Greenfield. So distinguished. Only one of my friends has an Evan (so I wouldn’t worry about the popularity) and he is hands-down the cutest little boy I know. Very good name.
The next time around, Swistle readers can help find a whole lot of lovely J and A names!
I like Evan James best.
I don’t think there would be an issue with the popularity of Evan, but if you were worried about it you could also do Ewan / Euan instead.
What about Ezra?? One of my favourite names and I’m loving it with Merrick/Merik.
Ezra Merrick Greenfield
Ezra Merik Greenfield
I am sure you know this, but using the first initial is not actually a traditional Jewish way of doing namesakes. That’s an invention of American Jews who wanted to honor Grandpa Murray but couldn’t stand to actually go ahead and name the baby Murray. Other options that are equally valid as far as honoring relatives include: giving the baby the same Hebrew name as the relative in question (or the appropriate-gender equivalent); giving the baby a name with the same meaning as the relative’s secular OR Hebrew name (Leo for Uncle Aryeh, for instance, or baby Pearl for Grandma Marguerite); or working outwards from the relative’s secular or Hebrew name in some other way (middle names? etc.). There’s nothing talismanic about the first initial, is all, and certainly not about the first initial of the secular name. Don’t let it limit you if there’s a name you like, or even some you just haven’t considered!