Amy writes:
I hope you can help us with all of this bizarre criteria. We’re expecting twin boys mid-October. Our last name is Hunt. We have a 3-year-old named Lillian (we call her Lilly).
My main objective is to find names that are uncommon but familiar. Nothing “made up” sounding. I also like names that are undeniably BOY. I don’t like matchy-matchy twin names but I want them to be similar styles. I’m running into trouble finding names that aren’t TOO out there, and I don’t know what’s best to do with twins: have one more mainstream name and one more unusual, or both unusual, or what? For example, we like Wyatt, and Arlo, and Marshall, but Wyatt and Marshall don’t really go together in my opinion (also, wasn’t Wyatt Earp a Marshall?) and neither do Wyatt and Arlo (using both makes it seem like we’re intentionally naming after famous people). I like Davis a lot but don’t know if Davis goes with the others (Davis and Wyatt are totally different styles). Anyway, here’s the current list of possibilities:
Wyatt (my husband loves it, I’m on the fence)
Marshall (I love it, my husband’s on the fence)
Arlo (so cute but is it too unusual?)
Carson (we’re both on the fence)
Wilson (mainly I just like the nickname Will)Names that have been crossed off the list:
Griffin (I love it, husband doesn’t)
Bennett (I like Ben as a nickname, husband is iffy)Please also remember that our last name precludes (in our opinion!) any names ending in a -ck sound (go ahead, say Mike Hunt out loud a few times!) and also any open vowel sounds (I love Luca and Noah, but not with Hunt).
We’re totally open to names not on the list, obviously.
Thank you so much!
I like the name Arlo a lot (Arlo’s Theme Song is what brought to my attention what a great name it is), and in fact it’s on my now-almost-certainly-unnecessary list of “if I have another baby boy,” along with Simon and Oliver and Frederick. I think Arlo is good with Marshall: both are gentle-ending names, and the shared “ar” sound ties them together without making them at all matchy.
I wouldn’t have thought of this name except I saw it in The Baby Name Wizard as a sibling name for Arlo: Haskell. It’s similar to Marshall, and maybe your husband will like it better.
Another name The Baby Name Wizard suggests with Arlo is Ezra. Both have gentle endings; both are old-timey in a currently-appealing way; and they both have four letters, which gives them just a TIDGE of the kind of twinniness I’m fond of.
A suggestion from me this time: Harvey. I came to really like that name after seeing it for the super-cute, super-nice boyfriend on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (YES, I watched it as an adult, BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME). Arlo and Harvey have gentle endings and the shared “ar” sound. I don’t know if you’ll like the alliteration of Harvey Hunt; I usually steer away from it, but in this case I kind of like it.
Another suggestion: Miller. That’s another highly-unusual name from my own list (I hadn’t noticed it until Stella McCartney used it for her son), and I think it goes well with the also-highly-unusual Arlo. Arlo and Miller.
Davis is more common than Arlo, but I think they go well together: Arlo and Davis.
If you instead go the Wyatt route, I like Wilson with it. On a recent post about twin names, several people expressed a dislike of matching initials for twins; I like it for fraternal twins, less for identical twins.
Or you could use one of Wyatt Earp’s actual brother names, except Virgil is probably unusable, and Morgan is used steadily more for girls and steadily less for boys, and Warren is perhaps too different in style (though Warren would be another good possibility with Arlo). James would be good, though. Wyatt also had a half-brother named Newton.
I think my two favorite combinations are Arlo & Miller and Arlo & Ezra, but I also like Wyatt & Wilson and Wyatt & James.
I think you have a great list, and I think all the names go together well. Is that strange? (Not a big fan of Wyatt and Wilson together though.)
my favorite combinations are:
Wyatt and Griffin
Arlo and Bennett
Arlo and Carson
(How about Benson, Dawson or Warner)
Good luck!
I really like Wyatt and Marshall, but not together because of the Earp thing. Two I like as a brother for either of them are Sterling and Grady.
I like Ezra and Arlo a lot.
I would like to suggest names with Wyatt
Wyatt and Charlie
Wyatt and Waylon (might be too matchy for you)
Wyatt and Jasper (Arlo and Jasper is nice too.)
Wyatt and Levi
I like swistle’s suggestion for Miller.
I like Miller and Davis. Both surnames/place names so they go together in my head. Davis could go by Dave.
I like Arlo & Wilson both as names and together, also Swistle’s suggestion of Arlo & Ezra and Arlo & Warren. I think Warren & Wilson pair nicely, too. I’m going to throw Louis into the pot. Louis & Arlo, Louis & Wilson.
I think Wyatt and Warren are great together.
Of the names on your list, I think Wilson (Will) and Bennett (Ben) would be excellent for twins and would also coordinate well with Lillian (Lillie). I’m undecided, though, if Will and Lillie sound too similar or are fine together. Davis has been suggested and that *might* be a better choice for your family: Bennett (Ben) and Davis (Dave or Davey). I think any two of the three — Wilson, Bennett, Davis — would make a subtle pairing for twins: each is a surname that sounds similar to a classic male name; each name begins with a different first letter.
How about these:
Wyatt & Wilson (same starting initial with two syllables)
Ezra & Amos (Both begin with a vowel, were Old Testament prophets, and have two syllables)
Sam & Gus (Both easy-going names with one syllable each)
Wilson & Davis (Both have ‘s’ sound and are two syllables)
You’ve got a good list there! Hope these help, too.
Best wishes to your growing family!
If you like Arlo, would you consider Arvin? I think the combo of Arvin (1000+) and Gideon (534) is adorable and not overly matchy. All of your children would have the same “ahn” sound at the end of their names, all spelled differently. These names are prette nickname proof.
I like Wilson (537). Would you consider pairing it with Wallace (1000+)? Wallace has the same “all” sound in Marshall. The nn’s of Will and Ace could work.
If you don’t like Wyatt, would you consider Dalton (218)? It has the same Wild West feel but with a prep school spin that Wyatt doesn’t have. I think it pairs well with Conrad (758).
– Arvin and Gideon. (similar sounding endings)
– Wilson and Wallace. Will and Ace. (same first initial)
– Dalton and Conrad (both have six letters)
Oscar & Wyatt?
Stuart & Wyatt?
Arlo & Otis?
Arlo & Earl?
Davis & Otis?
Marshall & Wallace?
All of these twin boy names would be compatible with Lillian (Lillie):
Henry and Charles (Charley/Charlie)
Henry and Oliver
Bennett and Davis
Arlo and Hugo
Benjamin (classic) and Wyatt
Benjamin and Hugh
Wilson and Charles
I rather like Carson; how about Wyatt and Carson? Beckett is also nice /w Hunt, Lily, and Carson. I would be careful in a twin situation about mixing sort of cool hip names w/ older style or biblical names (the Ezra or Warren or Amos, or even Arlo). So either both older style (Ezra and Adam) or both cool (Carson and Beckett), etc. Good luck!
If you like Ezra, I “know” in blogland of two brothers named Ezra and Calvin. I thought you might consider Calvin since you’ve got Carson on the maybe list.
Isn’t it funny how important names are? I think you have a lovely list of names too. We have a little boy called Arlo. He is 2 1/2 now and every day I am glad we called him that – we get such great feedback on it, nobody seems to dislike it and even single men with no children say ‘what a great name, I’ve never heard that before’. I am now pregnant with our 2nd child and we’re trying to work out names that go with Arlo. I’ll give you our list and hopefully some / one will be useful (although I think you’ll end up picking from your own list): Sol / Harris / Caleb / Richie / Isaac / Zak (I liked the idea of A – Z) and our current favourite – Riley. Riley Hunt sounds great!!! Good luck! x
Great post! We are also expecting twins. We don’t yet know the genders, but have two boys named Oliver & Charlie, so I’m working on a list of boys’ names that will go well with those names. I was trying out Truman on the Baby Name Wizard and it suggested Arlo, which is what led me to your blog. I love this discussion! Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions!