A. writes:
I’m so glad I stumbled on this site and am sure hoping you can give us some ideas here! We’re expecting our first child, a boy, at the end of March. We’re having a hard time picking something that suits our varies preferences, including: not overly common; not too “whitebread” (forgive the expression); perhaps offers a bit of international or back-in-style hipness, without being too unusual or ethnic in a way that just doesn’t match who we are (or perceive ourselves to be). I’ve got an old country Jewish half, and a German half, and my husband has a Scandanavian background with some English and German in the mix too I think. We consider ourselves urban types who value the modern yet natural in our lives. Also, a bonus would be a name that offers baby/toddler nickname-ability… like Owie is to Owen. If we had ended up with a girl, we were already both very happy with the name Nadia or Nadya.
So, for instance, names we’ve liked but can’t use (because someone else close to us has used them): Julian and Luca (I know, we’re not Italian, but I was willing to overlook that for Luca). I was curious about Judah but that was was too biblical for my husband’s taste. We each like well enough Ethan but find it way too overused now. As my only back up, I like Noah, which feels like a decent fit though my husband thinks Noah is too biblical. But, I feel guilty about the idea of giving him a top ten name (I hated how unusual my name was as a child but am so grateful as an adult that it’s so uncommon) – I think it’s currently #6 at the SSA! That alone makes me hesitant to fight for the only name I feel I could live with so far. We’ve considered Sebastian, but it feels a little too blue blood or something. I’ve thought about Jude, but we’re not jumping up and down about it (and it spells “Jew” in German, which could be a bit weird for one half of my family). We recently started thinking about Noel, but since it means Christmas, and it’s likely to get wrongly two-syllabled all his life (AND, we’re not Irish), we haven’t been able to settle with it either.
Can you offer us any feedback or suggestions?? I feel so horrible not having picked a name yet- I feel like he deserves to have an identity already. I know we have time, but after going through surely thousands of names each, I’m just feeling defeated.
Many, many thanks!
If you like Noel, what about Nolan?
Do any of these seem like a fit?
Otto (lacks a nn but doesn’t really need one!)
Frederick
Magnus (lacks a good nn)
Anders
Casper (nn Caz)
Threw Julian, Luca, and Ethan into Nymbler and got:
Jonas
Simon
Eli
Silas
Oliver
Caleb
Austin
Roman
Gabriel
Elias
Alban
Lucian
Luke
Jesse
Asher
Bennett
Jasper
Tobias
Micah!
My husband and I just named our son Callum, and I love the name so much that I now pretty much think everyone else should use that name too! In your case I think it’s great: it’s fresh and unusual but not made up, it has a nickname option (Cal), and it’s Scottish which gives you that international feeling. Of course you yourself aren’t Scottish (neither are we), so that might be a dealbreaker–but maybe since you’re both part English that’s close enough?
Also the name means “dove” which I think is the best name meaning ever.
What about Spencer (Spence), Wilfred (Will! Freddie!), Asher (Ash), or August/Augustus (Auggie or Gus/Gussie)? I really like Judah and Noah from your list. I’m not religious, but I don’t think of them as being overtly biblical. I kind of see them going the way of Seth.
A problem that you may have (that I’m seeing with my friends) is that in the desire to choose a baby name that is pleasing, old-fashioned, uncommon, or not too “white”/yuppie sounding, they inevitably have all chosen names that are in the exact same group. Meaning: all those names now fit the very things they were trying to avoid. :/ My advice would be to first choose a few names with cute nicknames that honour your heritages (ex: Judah, Anders, and Friedrich), then narrow it from there. Good luck!
Noah + Judah remind me of Jonah
Noel makes me think of Rowan
But I really want to suggest Soren for you- Scandinavian, uncommon, but still easy to pronounce.
Ruben/Reuben
Rafael/Raphael
Ivan
Joel
Eli
Carson/Karsten
From the commenter’s suggestions, I like Magnus (I’ve heard it w/nn Gus), Silas, Augustus, Rowan and Ivan for you. And I LOVE Soren! Is it easy for Americans to pronounce, though? I know of the name through my husband, who’s Swedish, and he pronounces it kind of like a one and a half syllable “Szern.” But every time I hear Americans say it, it’s “SssOAR-in.”
I am going to give you some of my favorites off of my list:
Oscar
George
Harrison
Walter (maybe too whitebread but so underused!)
Or:
Ezra
Milo
Stellan
Bjorn
Simon
Samuel
Ezra
Emmett
Desmond
I came here to suggest Jonas or Jonah since you like Jude and Judah but didn’t quite think it would work.
@Janet — isn’t “Gus” a nickname for Magnus?
We have also had great luck with Callum!
Looking at names you like (Julian, Ethan, Luca and Nadia), and thinking about possibilities that have an international feel, I suggest (and apologize for repeats):
Adam
Adrian
Archer
Calvin
Clement
Gabriel
Leonard Leo
Marcel
Milo
Thomas
Good luck!
I like Nolan. Since you thike Noel, it might solve the mispronunciation deal. It unusual enough but still familiar
Felix! My son is Felix, and we’ve had great response to his name- uncommon, but not unheard of. Phonetic spelling, and a little bit quirky- it’s great!
My first thought was Oscar.
I like Henrich–kind of a mix of Henry and Eric, and also Karl.
Lennon and call him Lenny for a nickname.
I’ll throw my vote in behind Magnus (Gus), Otto (Otts), and Oscar (Ozzy).
Frank and Carl (Karl) are pretty international, too.
For something REALLY different, there’s Bert (Bertram).
George is underused (for the English heritage side), so are Alfred (Al or Fred for nicknames) and Simon and Bruce.
Have you considered Knox? It has the ever-interesting ‘x’ in it and was a prominent last name in European history.
Best wishes as you anticipate the birth of your great little guy!
From others’ comments I like Magnus, Oscar, Felix, and August. I also like Maximilian, Lennox, and Linus.
Elias (Eli
Jordan (Jordie)
Isaac
Desmond (Des)
Rowan (Row? Or you could use the suggestion of Owie, as in your original email)
I like Elias, Jordan, and Rowan for you, especially if you are going to use Nadia (Nadya) in the future.
Elias and Nadia / Eli and Nadia
Jordan and Nadia / Jordie and Nadia
Rowan and Nadia / Owie and Nadia
I know a 1 year old Noel and he wasn’t born at Christmas time and they’re not Irish. His Mom did have to explain on Facebook that it’s “Noel like Joel and not ‘No-elle’ like Christmas”. After that I don’t think they’ve had much of an issue with mispronunciation. So I think you could make it work, if you do really like the name – though you don’t seem so sure on it either.
I especially like Oscar and Otto from the suggestions here.
I’m confused as to why you think Noel is an Irish name- because the Noels you’ve heard of or known are Irish? Because as far as I know, it’s French in origin. Maybe it’s just me, but when I hear the name, I definitely don’t assume the person is of Irish heritage. Honestly, I think of Noel from Felicity.
It seems you like softer boy names. Here are a few more:
Elijah
Evan
Hayden
Lucas
Nicholas
Tristan
Samuel
I want to suggest my son’s name, Duncan. It’s uncommon, yet totally familiar, and we’ve gotten only great responses to it (Everyone KNOWS the name, but no one knows someone who HAS the name). I’ll also suggest Graeme/Graham. It’s soft like the names you like but still strong, and not common.
Good luck!
I agree that if you like Noah and Noel, Nolan might be the name for you.
Here are a few more ideas, some of which I think have been mentioned already:
Caleb
Grant
Isaac
Linus
Nicholas
Mason
my favorites from above:
soren
oscar
joel
ezra
and a few to add:
sullivan (sully!)
cole
xander
With the Scandanavian background you could consider Karsten. I had a friend in college with this name and it was just perfect. Fun nickname Kars too. Which reminds me of a friend with a three year old named Larsen. Love it. -M
someone above said Anders and that seems perfect! nn Andy? My daughter went to preschool with an Anders and I love it.
You’ve got great suggestions above! Also… Julius? Justus? Anselm?
My little boy is Lincoln which of course i love Linc for short! might not be for you though!
I also love Luca but if you cant use that what about Lucus or Mikah which are similiar!
I think Callum as said above is a perfect choice such a nice name!
I think at the end of the day you pick a name you like and dont worry about meaning or where it came from as long as you both love it! here are some names that i have come across you might like
Cayleb
Dion
Mason
Connor
Elliot
Ari
hamish
Isaiah
Good luck x
What about Axel or Mattias?
I also love Sebastian, nn Seb or Bas.
Another name I see people use more often now, because of its international feel, is Kai.
I like the first suggestion of Nolan for you.
From your shared German heritage how about Carsten or Kellen? I also like Dane for you.
I just want to thank you all for so many wonderful, interesting suggestions. We’ve decided on Noah as a first name, despite it’s popularity, and now we are stumped as to middle name – but you’ve given us lots to work with in that department too.
-A