Jennifer writes:
Okay, I am at the end of my rope with this name game thing.
My husband and I are expecting a boy around March 5th. When I was pregnant with my daughter we had two boy names picked out before we found out she was a girl. For months we argued about what to name her. Eventually we decided on Avelyn Isa.bel, a combination of Evelyn (my husband’s choice) and Ava (not exactly on my list but a very pretty name I liked). I LOVE my daughter’s name, and it fits her perfectly.
Now that we are having a boy, I hate every name I hear. I don’t want something so common like John or Michael (hello, I am a Jennifer) but I don’t want something ridiculous that sounds like it’s trying too hard either. The names we thought we loved the first time around for boys were Cabe Alexander (a name husband thought up before we even married) and Orion Bruce (the latter being a combination of both our fathers names). However neither name is anywhere near the top of my list right now and I have contributed nothing to the name pool. Seriously, I have found nothing I like. My husband had a list of names most of which I think are awful (for my baby anyway) and from those I remember something like Isaiah, Malachi, Jude, Isaac…
The only one I like from his list has been Noah. Middle names considered were James or Bruce (family names) however, 1) I’m not sold 100% that this is THE NAME and most importantly to me right now 2) it is a pretty popular name right now. I hate that. With both parents being Jennifer and Kevin I don’t want our boy to be one of four Noah’s in every class.
Our last name sounds like belch (sorry!) but starts with a ‘W’. With one girl at home and one boy on the way I really don’t plan to have any more children. I just want to find something as unique and beautiful and fitting for this baby as Avelyn turned out to be for my first born.
P.S. I feel like I should quickly clarify that my husband and I are not very religious, he even less than me, so it was surprising that so many of his names are biblical in nature. This is not an important part of choosing a name to us, just so that is clear :) Also, one of the things that draws me to the name Noah is the sound, it just seems to roll off the tongue, very calm and subtle-like. Thanks for any ideas you can offer!
I’m trying to make a list of boy names I think of as similar to Noah (with that sort of GENTLE sound). But of course a lot of this is purely subjective: I might think Asher has a similar sound, and someone else could say “ASHER?? But that’s so HARSH!” Nevertheless!
Asher
Callum
Casey
Cole
Donnelly
Eli
Elias
Finley
Henry
Jeremy
Julian
Karl
Leo
Levi
Miller
Milo
Oliver
Owen
Perry
Seth
Silas
Theo
I particularly like Milo _elch—maybe Milo James _elch. Avelyn and Milo. That’s my favorite.
I also love the friendly sound of Casey _elch. Casey James _elch; Avelyn and Casey. For something a little more formal than Casey, I might use Charles/Charlie. Charles Bruce _elch; Charlie _elch; Avelyn and Charlie.
Elias _elch has a very appealing old-fashioned sound, and I love Avelyn and Elias together.
You liked Cabe the first time around, so I suggest Gabriel. Avelyn and Gabriel is a wonderful set, and you have Gabe as a nickname.
I suggest Caleb. Similar to Cabe, but much softer and “tongue rolling” like Noah, and biblical for your husband’s tastes!
I like your Cabe, Swistle’s Owen and Theo and I would add Toby or Tobias.
I like the gentle strength ideas — I’d add Simon, perhaps, and Gideon.
I also wanted to note that the last name of the family in question is concealed in the heading, but not in your response, Swistle. I only mention this because the question asker put a period into her daughter’s name to cloak it from google. Maybe that’s not actually the spelling of Like-belch-with-a-W, though in which case, ignore that comment!
If you like cabe, what about cade? Or Cole?
I LOVE Seth. Very nice!
I like the suggestions of Gabriel and Tobias for you!
How about:
Adrian
Archer
Jason
Liam
Nathan
I think either James or Bruce would make a fine mn; i like the family connection..
Good luck!
Guinevere- THANK YOU. Fixed it!
I immediately thought of the name Micah when I read this post.
Nolan
If Nolan is still too common (*133 in 2009), then maybe Noam would work. It is not even in the top thousand.
Swistle’s suggestions are so great! Of her suggestions, I like
Cole
Leo
Owen
(and especially) Gabriel, nn Gabe
Other ideas:
Brogan
Gable
Dorian
Roman
I like the other suggestions here as well (esp. Caleb + Gabriel (Gabe) – but Noah makes me think of Jonah which has a very similar sound but is less popular. (it’s also my favorite boy name, though we never got a chance to use it!)
Or Joshua? Matthias?
My first thought was Jonah, like the previous poster. I also like the suggestion of Micah. And I’ll add Arlo.. Same softness as Noah and much less common. Good luck!
I know of a Casey, short for Cassidy. That would go really nicely with Avelyn and is a nice name on its own.
I’ll put in a plug for Noah, now, since you’re not liking many names and you do like it. It’s my son’s name and he’s never had another Noah in one of his classes (from daycare through 4th grade). Granted it has gotten a smidge more popular since we named him, but it was in the 20s then and it’s #9 now. I think Noah James is a lovely name.
People have made a lot of good sounds-like suggestions for Noah, Cabe and Orion. I like Jonah, Micah, Nolan, Noam, Caleb, Gabriel, and Owen.
How about Ian? Ian James _elch.
My daughter goes to school with a boy named Cade which I love. very, very close to Cabe but to me somehow a little less unusual. I would use it if it worked with our last name!
I wonder if you would consider honouring your father/father-in-law with Bryce? Very similar to Bruce, but to me sounds more current. Bryce Orion instead of Orion Bruce…? It also uses soft consonants like Noah.
As other posts have said I think Jonah would be an excellent substitute for Noah if you like the sound, but are keen to avoid overly popular names.
My boys are Seth and Caleb and we get a lot of compliments on their names and love how gentle sounding yet masculine both names are.
Other names I like:
Jonah
Nathan
Adam
Tobias
Jonah
Matthias
Micah
Cade
Samuel
Japheth
Gabriel
I like a lot of the suggestions so far.
One that I would like to suggest is Bryan – being a kind of combination of Orion and Bruce (assuming that Orion and Bruce are your fathers’ names and not a combination of Bryan and something else).
Bryan Alexander W.
Good luck.
Arro (pronounced arrow)? A friend’s sil just named her baby Aro. But I seriously think Noah has a beautiful sound and if you like it, use it.
i’m loving previous suggestions of nolan, micah and jonah, but what about rowan? very similar sound to noah, and i love the tree association.
also, there’s something about avelyn that makes me think of avalon… misty rains, gray skies, foggy islands, and strong, handsome trees.
rowan james _elch. rowan and avelyn.
i like it. :)
I like Elias and Milo from Swistle’s list.
Another one that comes to mind is…
Latham
Avelyn and Latham.
I like Elias and Milo from Swistle’s list.
Another one that comes to mind is…
Latham
Avelyn and Latham.