Kelly writes:
Ever since we found out that we’re having a boy, my husband and I have had a few name battles. I would LOVE to pick a name and have a peaceful pregnancy from here on out! I am due Jan 25. We have a daughter, first name Arden, middle name Grace, who is 3. It was so easy with her, we picked Arden years before we were even engaged, married, pregnant…it was a done deal. Now, it seems so difficult to find a good boy name! We would love a name that sounds nice with Arden. It would be too much, though, to choose a name that ends in “den”. Our last name is like Tempulltin, so it would be better to avoid suffixes of “ton” and “son”.
My daughter names all of her babies Noah since she could talk (and they’re all girls, so cute!). We like that name, it’s a contender but not our fave. We had picked Finn as a boy name the first time around, and considered Griffin, with a nickname of Finn, but ever since Glee, it seems like it might get to be overused. We don’t love it like we once did. Other names I have considered are Evan, Cooper, Hudson. Hubby has vetoed all of those. On his list, in no particular order, were Lane, Trey, Cormac, Levi, Lee, Bo and Abram. I don’t like ANY of those names. I went through old family archives on Ancestry.com and found some family names: Boden, Conrad, Grayson, Kern, Ezra, Salvatore. The only one of these that hubby liked was Ezra, and I am just not that crazy about Ezra. Then I came up with Emmett, and really like it. Hubby is “thinking about it”. Something with the “feel” of Arden…. but for a boy…. would be PERFECT!!
I am just at a loss– we both are.
If Emmett is “almost but not quite,” other possibilities are Elliot and Everett. I especially like Everett with Arden: Everett Tempulltin, Arden and Everett.
If you like Evan, I wonder if you’d like Ian. Ian Tempulltin, Arden and Ian. That’s a little hard to say, but I still think they go well together. I think part of the problem is merely that “Arden and” is a little hard to say no matter what.
Ezra IS really good with your surname and with the sibling name. One thing I particularly like about it is that I think of it as “the new Noah”: a name that went from almost-unused-biblical to mainstream. Ezra Tempulltin is a pretty hip name. Arden and Ezra is wonderful. And I am very fond of family names.
Wyatt is another possibility: it is sort of like Ezra and Levi and Lee and Bo, but also sort of like Emmett.
I wonder if you’d like the name Redford? Redford Tempulltin, Arden and Redford.
Or Harris: Harris Tempulltin, Arden and Harris.
Or Ruben: Ruben Tempulltin, Arden and Ruben.
Or Silas: Silas Tempulltin, Arden and Silas.
Or Lucas, potential nickname Luke: Lucas Tempulltin, Arden and Lucas.
Or Joss: Joss Tempulltin, Arden and Joss.
Or Isaac, potential nicknames Zac and Ike: Isaac Tempulltin, Arden and Isaac.
Name update! Kelly writes:
Thank you for your help! We went with Noah Hudson. He’s a doll!
I am a HUGE fan of Conrad. My husband didn’t like it so I never had the opportunity to use it but I think it’s a fantastic masculine name!
What do you think about the name Grant? I like that it is a little unusual, like Arden, but still a familiar name. I also like that Grant is unambiguously male. Arden is certainly a girl’s name, but it’s not ultra-feminine like, say, Angelina, so I think Grant provides the desired contrast.
If you want something softer, try Graham. Sure, you’ve got the “Graham Cracker” tease, but my husband is named Peter and he survived “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-Eater” with few emotional scars. We nearly did Graham ourselves.
But I think Grant or Graham Templeton is full of win.
I do like Ezra and Emmett and Ian.
How about Simon, Linus or Felix?
First name that comes to mind is Elias. Arden and Elias?
If you love Finn or Griffin, I would go with it. In a couple of years Glee will be part of tv history and it won’t be the number one association. Also, Finn is rising in popularity but it’s still not very popular (around the 300th place I think).
Ezra is also very nice and goes well with Arden.
Some other suggestions: Dashiell, Roman, Flynn, Evan
Great advice, Swistle! I agree that Glee has knocked Finn out of the running for lots of parents, but I bet it put that name on the radar for other parents! Not for us anymore though!
I think Ezra and Emmett are great names, especially with middle names like Harris and Silas or most of the others you selected.
What is Arden’s middle name?
I vote for Ezra. It’s a name I’ve recently fallen in love with (although it’s a good thing I’m done naming kids because my husband would never go for it), and it sounds great with both the last name and Arden.
(Of course, as the mother of a Grant, I can’t argue with that suggestion either!)
Ooh, I like the suggestion of Linus above. I do like Noah for you. Arden and Noah; that’s a really lovely sibset, I think.
Dylan? Lennox? Morris?
Good luck!
I like Ezra! Also Emmett and Everett.
Boden from your family name list would give your husband the nickname Bo from his list. Though I think it’s a little too rhymey-matchy with Arden.
Also the suggestion of Grant is good.
How about:
Burke
Grady
Dane
Maybe you could use Noah as a middle name.
I’m not a fan of Emmett. I do really like Ezra, Evan or Silas with Arden.
I have a son Conrad so I’m biased…but Conrad and Arden sound really good together! I have a Nolan otherwise I would put Arden on our girl-names list! (I avoid names for siblings that either start or end the same)
Evan, Cooper and Hudson make me think of Connor and Hunter.
Lane and Trey make me think of Cole and Ryder.
Ezra always makes me think of the author Ezra Jack Keats.
Lee and Bo make me think of the Dukes of Hazzard. Which makes me think that Duke Templeton would be an AWESOME name. Arden and Duke, Duke and Arden. Surname-ish like you seem to like. Uncommon.
Arden is not a name I’m familiar with but conjures up images of a Celtic princess (or maybe that’s because it seems like Arwen). Names that could go with it would be Connor or Callum.
My personal favourites would be Evan (maybe too similar to Arden though), Cooper and Connor.
Good luck.
I think you have a really good list of names to work with. I think Emmett is great, love it with your daughter’s name. From your husband’s list I like Levi the best.
Our son helped picked our baby’s name and it still feels special…. maybe your daughter is onto something with Noah…
Best of luck!
Nymbler’s giving me: Colin, Declan, Brennan, Eamon, Caleb, Jasper, Malachi, Asher, Emanuel, Gideon, Dean, Silas.
Also love the suggestion of Elias.
My 11 year old’s name is Evan and it has served him well :). It works well with a longer last name like you have as well.
Congratulations to big sister Arden for suggesting her brother’s first name. Noah Hudson is an excellent name. Thanks for letting us know.
My name is Arden!
I just wanted to add in my two cents about having this name and picking a sibling to go with it.
It IS true that “Arden and ____” always will sound weird. My whole life, my sister’s name has always come first when people say our names together. It sounds positively bizarre to start with my name. When I got married and people say my name and my husband’s together — his name always comes first too.
So if anyone else is looking for a sibling name for an “Arden” just know that it’s perfectly fine to switch around the order that you say the names. You won’t *always* be calling your kids in order of age, so saying “_____ and Arden” and seeing how that sounds is okay. And if it’s your first kid and you really like Arden and you DO want to mostly say your kids names in order of age, then maybe save it for the second kid, because it definitely sounds better if it doesn’t come right before the word “and.”