Adrienne writes:
I’m due September 24 with our fifth baby – gender unknown. Our others are Liberty Skye, Eden Rayne, Sterling Blaine, and Ruby Alexandra. Ruby and Sterling have family names for middle names, the others we picked because we liked. But this time around – my husband likes Charles (family name) but I do not, and Gideon – also one I really do not care for. He hasn’t mentioned finding anything he remotely appreciated for a girl. (Three girls and one boy later, probably because he’s just hoping it’s a boy!) I love River Elliot for a boy but my husband isn’t crazy about it and we’ve tried thus far to avoid the same first initials among kids. My choice for a girl is Colleen Brooke – but it’s been cast aside by my dear husband as well. Chloe was in the running for Ruby, but was cast out because it’s quite popular these days. Asher, Galen, and Sawyer are some of my favorites for boys, and Greta, Nina, Josie and Ainsley for girls – but all have gotten “the frown”.
Reuben was a favorite when Ruby was due, but would be awkward to say the least at this point. Another name we both somewhat like is Silas. Brynne is one of my favorites for girls’ middle names – I like one syllable for the middle since our last name is three syllables. It begins with F so we’ve left all the names also beginning with F alone, and it ends in “uh”, making Dahlia and Deliah – both past considerations – sound a bit repetitive and not necessarily in a good way.
Getting my husband involved in the naming process is difficult – mostly, he reads through the 20,000 names book we have and doesn’t like any of them. Frustrating! Any ideas or suggestions? We like names that aren’t terribly popular that are spelled “normal”. I really would like to find a name with a great meaning, but several times through the baby name book later, I’m not finding anything we can agree on.
Thanks!
So far all of your children have word names; I’m inclined to continue that. This is more difficult for boy names:
Archer
August
Clay
Deacon
Forest (repeats surname initial)
Gable
Grant
Grey
Heath
Mason
Merit
Miles
Miller
Pierce
Reed (repeats sibling initial)
Roman (repeats sibling initial)
Shepherd (repeats sibling initial)
Wade
Walker
You’ll notice I did some REACHING: the names Pierce and Wade, for example, are not considered word names in the same way Liberty and Ruby are word names—but it’s enough of a tie-in to feel like they fit in, without being an overwhelming theme. And Shepherd is usually spelled Shepard when used as a name, but I got a little carried away with my self-imposed Must! Be! Words! theme.
Girl word names are so MUCH easier, they pass into being HARDER: there are so many choices, it’s hard to even sort through them. Flowers! Jewels! Virtues! Emotions! Birds! Colors! But ruling out -uh endings will help, and we can also rule out names that would make other names too word-like: no Garnet or Pearl or Scarlett with a Ruby, for example.
April
Autumn
Briar
Clarity
Clover
Constance
Harper
Haven
Hazel
Holly
Honor
Iris
Joy
June
Juniper
Laurel (repeats sibling initial)
Melody
Olive
Paisley
Patience
Piper
Verity
Violet
Some of these are iffy: the V of Verity might be too close to the F of your surname, and both Verity and Clarity might be too close to Liberty; Haven may be too similar in flavor to Eden; Honor might go too wordishly well with Liberty; Joy and June might work better as middle names.
For non-word names, your husband might like Galen better for a girl than for a boy, and I wonder if he’d like Gibson instead of Gideon? Nolan comes to mind, too.
I really like Silas. For boy names, I’m drawn to the style and era of Sterling. Perhaps…
Hugh
Walter
Angus/August (nn Gus)
Branson
Bennett
George
Royce (repeats sibling initial)
And from Swistle’s list- I love August (previously mentioned), Grant, and Grey.
For girls, I love your Colleen Brooke suggestion. Perhaps reversing the order (Brooke Colleen) to fit with your other names more seamlessly will sell it to your husband? I love Swistle’s suggestions of Hazel, June, Violet, and Constance. What about…
Mabel
Bonnie
May
Ruth
Story
Audrey
For a boy I think August or Mason would be perfect.And for a girl I like Piper or Violet.
I like Swistle’s suggestions of Archer, Grant, or Heath for a boy and Hazel or Joy for a girl. If you want non “thing” suggestions how about Derek or for a girl another “een” name like Maxine, Pauline, etc.
I like Gibson & Deacon for the boys and I liked Silas but thought of a character with the same name who wasn’t so nice.
Honor or Story (aren’t those celebrity kids names?) are beautiful for the girl names!
I know a bay Gideon and although it seemed unusual at first now I LOVE it. I think you should push for it if you really like it, but Gibson is a good second choice.
For girls my favorite combos are:
Clover Joy
Piper June
I also love Melody but can’t think of a good middle name. Maybe something in your family?
I really like Sawyer and Greta from your list, and Miller and Olive from Swistle’s.
How about:
Amity
Celeste
Hope (mn?)
Ivy
Joyce (mn?)
Justine
Sage (mn?)
Willow
Barnaby
Chance (mn?)
Graham
Justin
Kingston
Storm (mn?)
Tristan
Zander
Good luck!
Oh, wow – what a fun one, and some great suggestions! I agree with Swistle…I think it would be difficult to go the Non-word” name route now. Some additional suggestions….
Boys:
Aspen
Cash
Colton
Flint
Vance
Girls:
Georgia
Jessamine
Cricket
Paige
Best wishes!
~ Annie
I really like Swistle’s suggestion list for you, almost all the names really.
But I like these best: Heath for a boy and Autumn, Hazel or Violet for a girl.
I will throw in Cedar for boy and Ivy for a girl.
Arden, Cherry, January, or Golden might be nice for a girl.
Ford (same inital as last name, I know), Cash, Cord, or Griffin could work for a boy.
You’ve done such a great job with your other four that this is tricky business! Wishing the seven of you the best!
My favorite is Swistle’s suggestion of Iris for a girl and Grey for a boy (although maybe too much with a Sterling?)
I think you might need to have your husband give you a list of ten names that he likes on both sides so that way you can figure one out. It’s so hard when someone isn’t involved, especially if they are going to veto any and all suggestions.
Good luck!
I was using google to find girls names that go with Liberty my daughter is Liberty Ann and having trouble with a girl name that goes with that so i had to read this, all of the post were very awsome and i got a ton of great ideas!
Just checking back in because I loved your reply. I posted my question when I was due with #5, who ended up being Charlotte Serenity. I came back to this list when due with #6, and Pierce Allan was named. #7 is Elliot Adelaide, and now… #8, a boy, is due in January. Thanks for your blog! Your insight is spot on. We obviously didn’t stick only with word names in the end and yet, I’m drawn to them still.
Thank you for the update! I love seeing the result of all the suggestions. I have a Sterling, too, so this post was especially intriguing for me.