Kristin writes:
We are due Oct. 16th with our second child. Our daughter’s name is Charlotte Josephine Engel. I am a big fan of a formal name with a lot if nickname options. We often call our daughter Charlie Jo. If baby number two is a girl her name will be Eleanor Margaret. Margaret is my grandmother’s name. If this baby is a boy we will be saving this name for if/when we have another daughter.
Ok, so we are stumped on a boy’s names! We have several that we like, but nothing seems to be quite perfect. My husband has a boy naming tradition in his family where the father’s first name will become the son’s middle. We like this tradition, so the baby’s middle name will be Evan.
My favorite choice is Abraham Evan Engel. I think Avery would be a perfect nickname (a combo of the first and middle name just like we use with our daughter, but my husband doesn’t seem to love the name and thinks Avery is too girly these days…
My husband has always like Moses. But I hate Mo for a nn and we had friends recently name their baby this, so it doesn’t seem as fresh or special to us.
We both like the name Graham but it sounds like a nickname to me… of course I can’t think of a full name where Graham could be used as the nn AND it doesn’t lend itself to any of its own nicknames… It just doesn’t feel right to me, but I do really like the name…
Another one we both like is Elliot with the nickname Eli. Elliot is my grandmother’s maiden name, and I like that it has a family connection. I worry about the triple E sound Elliott Evan Engel, and it seems like this name is becoming more feminine too…
Recently I have been thinking about the names Lincoln (Linc, Colin), Malcolm (Mal – not too sure about this nn option), Sullivan, Robin/Rueben (Ben), and Oliver.
Other names we like or have considered but are totally out for a variety of reasons include Noah, Matthew, Samuel, and Zachary.
I can’t wait for your thoughts, I feel like we are going is circles and going nowhere!!
I think the trouble here is that you’d like to find a long name with lots of nicknames, but (1) this is more common for girl names than for boy names, and, more importantly, (2) your tastes run more toward boy names without nicknames (or with only one nickname, or with nicknames you dislike), so then the nicknames seem forced/unconnected (Colin for Lincoln, Avery for Abraham). AND, you’ve got a great double nickname for your daughter from using two nicknameful names, but your middle name for your son is not one with nicknames. Boy names that have double nicknames like Charlie Jo tend to be along the lines of Billy Bob or Bobby Joe—and I suspect that’s not your style in boy names.
I think there are two choices, then. One is to find some names that DO meet your specifications: first names with multiple nicknames you like, and perhaps a middle name with nickname options as well. The other is to give up on what you think you want and choose a name that you like despite it not meeting specifications.
One of the best boy names with nicknames is Alexander: Al, Alex, Xander, Sander, Lex. Another is Nicholas: Nick, Nicky, Nico, Cole. Another is Edward: Ed/Eddie, Ted/Teddy, Ned. Another is Robert: Rob/Robby, Bob/Bobby, Robin, Bert. As with girl names, the ones that tend to have a lot of nicknames are the ones that are OLD, from the days when more people shared names. A name such as Alexander Nicholas gives you Charlie Jo equivalents such as Xander Nick; Nicholas Robert would give you Nicky Bob.
My guess, though, is that as with many parents, your preferred style in boy names is different than your preferred style in girl names. And you WOULD like to use Evan as the middle name. So then it is a matter of changing what we’re looking for: not long names with lots of nickname options, but Names You Like, names that go with Evan as a middle name, names that have maybe one nickname option but a nickname option you LIKE.
I think of “Mose” as a more natural nickname for Moses—do you like Mose, or is it just as bad as Mo?
Eli (with its long E and long I) never seems right to me as a nickname for Elliot (short E, with I pronounced as long E), though I’ve seen it mentioned before. I think of it as a standalone name or as a nickname for Elias. Elias Evan Engel IS a lot of E, but I kind of like that! One issue is that Elliot/Elias are similar to Eleanor, if you later have another girl.
Similar to Elliot but with neither the used-for-girls problem nor the similar-to-Eleanor problem: Emmett. Emmett Evan Engel.
If you like Graham but it seems too nicknamey, I wonder if you’d like Bram as a nickname for Abraham? Or there’s the name Abram, although I find that a little difficult to say with Engel.
It seems like you like hip biblical names, in which case I suggest Ezra. Ezra Evan Engel: again, a lot of E, but I do like it.
Or Asher. I find it a little difficult to say with Engel, but not dealbreakingly so: Asher Evan Engel.
Or Judah: Judah Evan Engel, nickname Jude.
Levi Evan Engel, nickname Lee (which is also the initials).
Isaac Evan Engel, nickname Zac or Ike.
OK, I hate to suggest my son’s name, because I love that it is uncommon but not made up, but what about Ezekiel? Yes, EEE would be his initials, but you could call him Zeke. Otherwise, I really like Abraham from your list.
I feel like we live semi-parallel baby-naming lives. My first baby was a boy, named Evan after his father. I thought about suggesting his middle name (Richard) as a first name for Evan but I actually HATE the name Richard – mostly because I hate all the nicknames.
If our second (due Dec 26th) was a boy we were going to use Lincoln (Linc), which is my absolute favorite boys name right now. But I’m afraid Lincoln Evan has too much “nnnnn” in it.
I think my favorites from the post are:
Levi Evan Engel
Malcolm Evan Engel
Robert Evan Engel
P.S. I think “Mal” is a fantastic nickname, for awesome dorky reasons, but I’m not sure “Hi I’m Mal Engel” is very easy to say.
How about Malcolm nn Mac instead (I love love this and suggest it all the time)
Or Abraham nn Abe. Also love.
How about Solomon (Sol) or Gabriel (Gabe)? Or Benjamin?
Good luck!
From Swistle’s suggestions, I love Judah Evan Engel. I like Levi and Isaac, as well. But, I just adore Judah, nn Jude. Jude Engel. Love it! Alas, if you don’t love it as much as I do, I suggest:
Malachi Evan Engel. nn: Mac Evan. How cute is that?!
Excellent analysis and suggestions, Swistle.
Kristin, I can see why you feel like you’re “going in circles and going nowhere!!” ;-)
I would suggest that you either choose a boy’s name without a usual nn (as appears to be the case for your husband Evan) or a longer male name and use one of the usual nns.
I would remove the nn “Avery” (far too trendy for girls now) from your list and reserve Elliot (I agree that it’s a nice family connection) for a possible second son. (That way Eleanor would still be an option for a 3rd baby, but if it were a boy, then maybe Elliot.)
Names with nicknames suggestions (each with Evan as the middle name):
Benjamin or Bennett — Ben
Edward or Edmund — Teddy/Ted
Theodore — Teddy or Theo
Archer — Archie
But most of all, I like Graham Evan Engel. I don’t think Graham needs a nn. Evan and son Graham sound excellent together. Graham would not only have his father’s name as his middle name, but a strong, no-nickname name like his dad.
I thought Benjamin and Theodore might fit with your girl name, and the possibility of Eleanor while offering lots of nickname potential.
I also like Malcolm with the nn “Mac”.
Good luck!
I wanted to add some nicknames for Alexander: Sasha and Sandy. Also William’s got Bill, Billy, Liam, Will and Willy.
But if you decide you can forgo a nickname Graham Evan Engel is a good name.
I also meant to chime in with those who like Judah Evan Engel. Very nice.
Have you considered the name Josiah? It has the same roots as Moses and Abraham, sounds good with your last name, and has some nickname potential:
Joe
Joey
Si
Siah
It might be too close to your daughter’s Charlie Jo, though.
Another suggestion might be Titus if you like the nickname Ti/Ty
I do like Swistle’s suggestion of Judah, nn Jude.
Good luck!
I don’t think “hip biblical names”, including Judah (Jude), go well with Charlotte (and Eleanor); stylistically, I think the following names are a better match:
Henry
Sebastian
Edward
Thomas
Frederick
William
Edmund
Gilbert
Oliver
Robert
James
Benjamin
Oliver
Theodore
Graham seems to work because both Charlotte and Graham are timeless, English names.
Love the name Abraham with Abe & Bram as nicknames!
Otherwise, Isaac is great with Ike & Zac.
Have you considered Reuben? It has Reub & Ben.
All the best!
I agree that girls style in names and boys style in names can be different. Girls can have cutesy nicknames whereas boys don’t need/want to be seen as cute.
My suggestion is:
Daniel Evan Engel
Nicknames that use both names could be Dev, Devan, Danny Ev or Danny Evan.
He could be Danny when he’s little and cute, and Dan or Daniel when he’s older. Plus it’s Biblical.
Good luck.
Elijah? Eli is a more natural nn for Elijah than for Elliot (like Swistle said, the E and I sounds don’t match in Elliot and Eli).
I also like someone other people’s suggestions of Benjamin: Ben, Benny, Benji.
Okay, I know you said you hate the nickname Mo, but that just made me think of a little boy I know who goes by Mo, but his name is Amos. If you decide to give up the nickname route, Amos and Malachi are both cool (in my opinion), Biblical names!
I love the name Graham. It’s my BIL’s name & if it weren’t (it’s a family surname on my husband’s side) I would totally use it for a boy of my own. I like Graham Evan and I don’t think Graham sounds nicknamey at all.
I also really love Swistle’s suggestion of Levi Evan Engle nn Lee. That’s very cute.
Love all of the suggestions! But just wanted to throw one more longish name into the mix: Nathaniel. Nate and Nathan are both good nicknames for it, and I think “Nathaniel Evan Engle” sounds lovely!
Congrats and good luck!
I love the nickname Mac for little boys. I knew a Matthew who went by Mac and I think it would also work as a nn for Malcolm.
Oh, and I forgot to say that I think it’s easier to give a boy a non-name related nickname, like Buddy or Rocky or Tuffy or many, many other cases that I can think of but won’t list here. So perhaps you needn’t feel too burdened by “matching” a given name with a nickname?
And I like initial nicknames on little boys, too. (Although this is made harder by the middle name initial of “e”.)
Good luck!
I’m totally digging Ezekiel, Ezra or Alexander for you! Good luck!