Katie writes:
Please help us! My husband and I are expecting our first baby on April 23, 2011. It is a boy and OF COURSE I have a sturdy hand full of girl names that I love, but boy names are hard. Jones is such a plain last name that I want something different to make it unique. I think his name should have more than one syllable and definitely not start with a J. Anytime we ask for suggestions people find plenty of names that DON’T work, but rarely do we find names we like. We also have to be careful that his name doesn’t make him sound like an NFL linebacker!
I like the middle name David, after my Dad, but I’m not sold on it.
Some names we like are:
Liam
Henry
LandonSome newer contenders are:
Rhys or Reece
Addison
Sawyer
Oliver (?)
BenjaminWe would LOVE some suggestions!
Thanks so much!
I would like to swiftly steer you away from Addison. In 2009, there were 10,567 new baby girls named Addison in the U.S., and only 240 boys—and I can almost guarantee that every one of those 240 boys has a teeth-clenching road of “No, I’m a boy” ahead of him. The nickname Addy/Addie, the similarity to the names Madison and Allison…I suspect this name is going fully to the girls.
I suggest Anderson instead. Or Dawson, or Edison, or Erickson, or Harrison, or Lawson, or Tennyson, or Wilson. I think Anderson and Wilson are my favorites from that list. (Normally Lawson is a favorite of mine, but Lawson Jones has a little too much cowboy in it for my tastes.)
Because you have two of my own favorites (Oliver and Henry) on your list, I’ll mention a few of my other favorites: Milo and Leo and Isaac. I like the repeating O sound better with Milo than with Leo: Milo David Jones is wonderful. Or Isaac David Jones. (Isaac might be getting too common for what you want, but I’m encouraged to keep it in the list anyway by Benjamin, which is even higher in the ranks.)
Another name I like is Everett, and I think Everett Jones is a very handsome name. Elliot Jones would also work well.
One way to help narrow things down is to look at your list of girl names and choose one or two that right now you DEFINITELY want to use, and see which of your boy name choices are best with those girl names. Also, check to make sure that none of your boy name choices eliminate any of your girl name choices: for example, if you wanted to use Eva, you’d want to avoid using Evan.
How about Atticus?
I like Henry and Liam the best!
I also like Benjamin or Bennet, Noah, Devon, Kevin, Isaiah and I really like Everett that swistle suggested.
Henry would be great, and I love Swistle’s suggestion of Everett.
You also might like Preston, Mason, or Camden.
I also really like the Everett suggestion! Perhaps, like Swistle suggested, you could share some of your top girl names to help us with your choice.
Other boy names might be Hudson or Kingston? Good luck!
I like Henry David Jones & Benjamin David Jones best from your list. How about Ian David Jones or Owen David Jones?
From your list I think Landon and Sawyer best fit the bill of “something different” to make Jones more unique. I personally prefer the sound of Landon Jones.
I would normally be a vote for Rhys (one of my own boys’ names), but I’m not sure I like the repeating “s” sound at the end of both names. Rhys Jones.
While I love the name Liam, I find it’s the awkward one out of your top three choices when I pair it with Jones. Henry and Landon are lovely! Something you may want to consider is the popularity of the name, since Jones is such a common surname. I’m not quoting figures on this, so I may be way off, but Landon seems alot less popular than Henry or Liam…meaning less likely he’d run into 5 million others with his same name.
Elliot, Anderson, Harrison and your own choice of Sawyer are all names that I think fit well with Jones- AND the middle name David! The first three all have nickname possibilities, too, if that’s something you’d be looking at (Eli, Andy/Anders, Harry).
Here are some names that come to mind when thinking of your others:
William
Donovan
Ashton
Wolcott
Alcott
Wolfram
Holden
Hollis
Ford
Locke
Saul
Love love Leo Jones! Leo David Jones. I agree that Addison is a girl’s name and I would say the same of Reese/ce
If you like Landon, maybe you’ll like one of my favorites, Langston? Langston David Jones. Emmett might work too.
1
Good luck
I love Harrison suggested by swistle! Harrison Divid Jones! also think Everett is very cool and a little different! My little boys name is Lincoln which of course i love for me its a little differant but not to different! Lincoln David Jones!
Other names you may like
Cooper
Mason
Ryder
Parker
Dunt’e
Asher
all the best xx
Hi Everyone! I am the original poster, Katie…thanks for the great suggestions. I also find myself enjoying the name Reed, but was looking for more than one syllable. Liam and Sawyer are still favorites of mine. Liam Frederick is a new favorite…but I’m still looking.
Our favorite girl names are Caroline and Amelia (Mia). Although there are more!
Keep posting, we only have a few more weeks to make our decision!
I love Liam Fredrick Jones!
Some more suggestions: Theo, Colin, Patrick, Conor, Logan, Declan, Carter, Keagan, Blake, Charlie, Evan.
I really like Evan Jones!
i like and have traditional but unique names for my boys…Reid and Brooks.
I really like Lawson David Jones. Lawson Jones
I also suggest…
Bennett David
Harrison David
Caleb David
Sutton David
Fyi, Henry Jones is the given name of Indiana Jones. Which if funny, because if you name him Harrison Jones, which I ADORE, there’s an actor/character association.
Whichever you choose, I think you’ll do well. So many of these are great sounding names!
Landon reminds me of Logan… Logan David Jones. The repeating ‘OH’ sound seems somehow reassuring. (Same with Norman).
A poster above suggested Ford. THAT sounds great, too! Ford Jones. Manly, huh?
Do you like Ruston? Ruston David Jones… he could have the nickname of Russ or Rusty, too.
Swistle’s suggestions of Anderson and Wilson are excellent as well.
You’re smart to avoid the crowd with popular names; Jones gives such wonderful room for identity in a first name. Really excited to hear what you pick! Best wishes to you!
Just curious: do you pronounce Sawyer “SAW-yer” or “SOY-yer”? The first pronunciation (saw-) sounds adorable to me with Jones: all-boy, classic Southern, with a little bit of cowboy thrown in. The second (soy-), though, takes on a different image for me. I actually don’t care as much for Soy-yer Jones, but I LOVE Saw-yer Jones!
Also, thinking of Sawyer and names associated with it- I heard of ‘Huck’ as a nn for Henry/Harrison the other day (instead of Hank) and loved it. If you choose Henry over Sawyer, then a Huck Jones is pretty damn cute, and still a little nod to Samuel Clemmens. :)
The names Anderson and Harrison make me think of Garrett, which I love! Garrett David Jones.
Garrett also makes me think of Gavin, another familiar name that still surprises me. Gavin David Jones.
(I’m use David in the mn slot just for a filler, but I see you used Frederick in your response. Good name. I love Garret Frederick Jones. Strong!)
While I like the name Sawyer, the name Sawyer Jones gives me images of a cowboy… Not a bad thing, just thought it was worth mentioning.
I wonder if Henry James is too close to Henry Jones?
I like Sawyer Henry Jones, Oliver Henry Jones, Milo Elliot Jones (like the repeating o’s)…
My Grandad is called Leonard Clifford Jones, that’s what I am going to call my 1st born son when i eventually have kids…. it goes so well together me thinks!! :-)