Stephanie writes:
We’re having our second baby, a son, who is due February 1st and we are completely stuck for a name! We gave our daughter a name that feels special to us, and now are having a hard time finding something to fit the new baby. I thought I’d email since we’re running out of time…
Our daughter is a year and a half, and her name is Ryan Aubrey. We settled on ‘Ryan’ pretty early on – although we did keep it a secret until she was born. We didn’t decide on her middle name until we were at the hospital. The name, ‘Aubrey’ didn’t have any special significance for us, we just thought it was pretty, and were looking for something feminine for balance.
But now that we’re having a son, we can’t think of anything we love. We agree that we want something distinctly masculine, but not common. We have an evolving list, but are not sure that any of these names are the one. I’m hoping someone could suggest something great we may not have thought of yet! Here are a few we haven’t vetoed yet:
Brady
Carver
Cole
Colton
Conrad
Dalton
Donovan
Garrett
Grayson
Holden
Kellen
Landon
WestPlease let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks so much!
Name update! Stephanie writes:
Thanks for posting our question, and we appreciate all the great comments ;)
Our son, Garrett Conrad Queen was born on Thursday morning, and we’re all doing great!
Thanks again
I agree, a clearly masculine name will be important with Ryan Aubrey, both relatively traditionally male names. I’d stay away from names ending in y. Also, if I’d know Ryan is a girl I would be more inclined to think Kellen was a girl too, but not Colton.
I like West(on) off of your list most, followed by Garrett, which I suspect will go up in popularity with the actor now.
Some ideas:
Trevor
Vaughn
Mq
Magnus
Sullivan
Bennett
Nathaniel
Mitchell
Since I went to school with a girl named Donovan I think of it as a girl name (she was named after a stripper – true story! – so that’s 2 girls named Donovan).
I love Landon but think that when you say “my kids, Ryan and Landon” the similar “an/on” sounds will make people assume they are both boys. I don’t know why exactly I think that but I do.
I like:
Brady
Brody
West
Cole
I like Donovan best from your list.
I like Donavan and Conrad from your list. I find that those are the one that are unmistakeably masculine.
I think Brady, Kellen, and Grayson seem more feminine, but definitely agree Conrad, West, Dalton or Carver would be great.
I especially like Dalton with Ryan. Since Ryan has a soft sound to it, Dalton’s hard /d/ and /t/ are nice features that make it very different.
I like Conrad!
What about
Malcolm
Mason
Cade
and a different style but still great (IMO)
Harvey
Walter
Thanks everyone, for the great comments!
My husband wants to add ‘Seth’ to the list as another contender…
Perhaps Austin or Brennan?
Seth is masculine enough, but if I were you, I would want to consider that Ryan and Seth were brothers on The OC.
I think your hubby’s suggestion of Seth could be a winner. It is definitely masculine and pairs nicely with Ryan.
From your original list I liked Holden the best. I would eliminate Grayson and Kellen for their similarity to popular female names.
FWIW – I wouldn’t be concerned about an OC reference with sibling pairings. I don’t think that show will go down as one of the “classics”.
Conrad Queen sounds like one cool guy.
Conrad Dalton Queen sounds like he could be a brilliant leader, an educator, an athlete.
Besides, if you have ‘rad’ in your name, it’s hard to go wrong. :)
Best wishes as you anticipate your new little wonder!
Ryan is a definite boys name where I live, so if I heard say Ryan and Peter I would think they were brothers. I think you need to go with a strongly masculine name. Problem is most of the names I think of sound like things people would call their dogs. Some ideas:
Ford
Steele
Sargent
Drake
Lennox
Talon
Caesar
Hercules
Ajax
Washington
Hope you find the right one for you somewhere. I probably like Carver best out of your names.
Maybe you’d like Langston?
Of your list I think Conrad and Donovan are pretty masculine.
Good luck and congratulations!
I know a Kellen (spelled Kellyn) that is a female, so I think of this as a feminine name.
I really like Cole and Conrad, from your list.
A few other ideas: Jack, Greer, Connor, Collin, Grady