Ashley writes:
I check your blog daily for insight on naming baby #2. It’s a boy and I’m due June 2nd. I’m Ashley, my husband is Patrick. And we have a very hard time agreeing on names. :)
Our first child is Benjamin {middle name Patrick} and it took forever to name him. But we love his name and it’s so perfect for him. Any chance that can happen twice?! Although, I think we’ve used up our one agreeable boy name with Benjamin!Our last name is McBride. Benjamin’s name is very strong and I want that for this sweet boy, too. I’ve been researching names and making lists and letting myself get pretty stressed out about naming a child! We have a girl name set, but these boy names are just too much for us! :) We would like several children, so here’s hoping at least one is a girl to cut down this stress of baby naming during pregnancy :)
Here is the {very short} list of names we agree on {as in we both like the names okay}:
Andrew {My husband is already calling this baby Andrew. I don’t mind it, I just don’t know if I love it. And I don’t like the nickname Andy at all. But I do like Drew. This name is so wishy-washy for me}
Jackson
Owen
Evan (Does this sound odd with Benjamin? Benjamin and Evan.)Names I like, but my husband does not like at all:
Levi
Ethan
Issac
Collin
Henry
Everett
Names my husband likes:
Calvin (which I don’t mind, really. But we’ve had so many people say negative things about this name. It’s tainted the name for me)Middle names:
Calvin
Shotwell (family name)
Knox
John (family name)
Reid (last name of close friends of ours)We tend to like more traditional names and also like having a family name in there – first or middle. Benjamin and Patrick are family names, which worked out nicely. But it didn’t happen on purpose. In fact, we just found out that Benjamin is a family name and he’s two.
Could you just name this baby for me?! :) Your help would be so appreciated!
Okay, I will! Wesley Reid McBride. Ben and Wes.
I would have used Wesley John (I love family names) except it seems like that takes the pleasing John Wesley association from a suggestion to a declaration. Shotwell would work too, but is Wesley Shotwell the perfect amount of cowboy or is it too MUCH cowboy? I wasn’t sure. Calvin would work as a middle name (this would decrease negative feedback while still letting you have the name), but then it seems like John Wesley AND John Calvin.
I wanted to suggest Callum as an alternative to Calvin, but I’m afraid the blend with your surname might sound like Calla McBride.
Would you be willing to consider John as a first name? It’s a name that I think seems “too plain/common” at first consideration, but then sounds surprisingly fresh and interesting on an actual child. There are so few children named John actually going by John. And John McBride sounds so wonderful to me, I can hardly stand it. Maybe John Shotwell McBride, so each boy has two family names?–or maybe it would be better to save some family names for future children. John Michael McBride has a nice crackling sound, or John….heh, I almost suggested Wesley. Maybe use your maiden name or another family surname (I think those tend to work particularly well with John as a first name), or use a name that you really like but wouldn’t want to consider as a first name.
If John seems too short, maybe Jonathan. Benjamin and Jonathan make a nice brother pair. Jonathan Reid McBride, maybe, or Jonathan Calvin McBride (I THINK that works without too much of a John Calvin reference).
If Andrew is “not quite,” do you like Anderson? Anderson McBride, Benjamin and Anderson. I’m not sure what to do about a middle name for it. Maybe Reid: Anderson Reid McBride. Oh, but then his initials spell ARM. Anderson John McBride?
Or do you like Anthony? Anthony R…oh, ARM again. Anthony Shotwell McBride. Anthony Knox McBride.
Or Joshua: to me, the name Joshua has the same “strong but kind” sound as the name Benjamin. Joshua Calvin McBride, Ben and Josh.
Nathaniel is in that group for me as well: Nathaniel Reid McBride, Ben and Nate. Strong but NICE.
Or Nicholas? I like the sound of Benjamin and Nicholas. Nicholas Reid McBride, or Nicholas Calvin McBride.
I once knew a Benjamin whose brother was Christopher. Christopher McBride. Christopher John McBride, or Christopher Reid McBride.
Name update! Ashley writes:
I am so grateful to you and everyone who commented about name suggestions! More so, though, I was so encouraged to hear all the positive things said about “Andrew”. Our sweet boy came early, on May 17th, and is so precious! We chose the name Andrew Reid McBride. Sure, his initials are ARM, but the name is so great for him and we love that we can tell him how special the name is to us! Big brother Benjamin loves his little brother and it’s pretty stinkin cute to hear him say, “Where’s An-dew?” :)
Thank you again for your help and suggestions!
I like your suggestions, Swistle. : )
For some reason, Benjamin and Anderson as a sibling set would make me think of paint. (Benjamin Moore and… Okay, I don’t know why. Anderson windows?) Anyway, it sounds hardware-store-y. Or something.
Good luck! Can’t wait to hear what you choose. : )
I definitely thought of Nicholas immediately. Sounds great with Benjamin.
I think Ben and John are great! You really don’t hear john any more- it’s an old name that people assume is common, but really is lacking luster!
I really like Reid Mcbride ….the single syllable with your double last name sounds great. What about Reid Shotwell Mcbride ! love it…i have a 3 yr old reid so i am biased to the name…but Ben and Reid sound great together!
i agree that evan and benjamin sound funny together….how about ETHAN and benjamin….!!!!
what about another classic like james….
James Calvin Mcbride- wow. that looks handsome!
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Of the suggestions made so far, I really like Andrew (or even plain Drew) with Benjamin. I also agree with Swistle that John or Jonathan would make an excellent first name.
I thought of Owen when all I had read was the title of your post and then I saw you had it on your list. It’s my favorite of your choices. Owen Reid McBride, Benjamin & Owen. I almost want to stop right there but I do like a lot of Swistle’s suggestions: Christopher, Jonathan, Joshua, Nathaniel, Nicholas…
Or how about Ian, Isaiah, Jonah, Micah or William?
Benjamin Patrick & Zachary Andrew
Benjamin Patrick & Zachary John
Benjamin Patrick & Emmett Knox
Benjamin Patrick & Oliver Shotwell
I love Nathan with Benjamin.
Nathan John McBride or Nathan Reid McBride. Love it!
Name your baby Andrew John McBride.
Andrew is a great name on its own, yet has the appealing short form Drew if you want a nn. Andrew is a biblical classic that goes very well with Benjamin, also a biblical classic. Andrew sounds great with your gaelic surname McBride due to the name’s longtime popularity in Scotland, where St Andrew is the patron saint.
I agree that it’s nice to use a family name as the mn, and especially so when your first child has a family name as his middle name. Of the two family names you mentioned as possible middle names for this baby, John is perfect with Andrew.
Andrew John sounds equally as strong as Benjamin Patrick and goes very well with your older son’s name. Your husband appears to love the name Andrew, and I think you will too once it becomes the name of your second son.
Benjamin Patrick McBride
Andrew John McBride
I love both names, separately and together!
(I don’t think the nn Andy is much in use among young boys these days. The Andrew (age 8) in our family is always called Andrew.)
Thank you so much! All the suggestions so far have been SUPER helpful! My husband has already said he loves a few. Whew! I can’t wait to share what we decide! Thanks, again! *Ashley
I like the sound of Andrew McBride, but less so with Drew McBride. Something to consider if you are planning to use a nickname most of the time.
I like Swistle’s suggestions of Nathaniel and Nicholas. Both go well with Benjamin and your surname. Nathaniel McBride/Nate McBride. Nicholas McBride/Nick McBride.
Other names to consider …
Samuel. Samuel McBride/Sam McBride
Bradley. Bradley McBride/Brad McBride
I think if I were you and you call your other son Ben I’d go with another nicknamable name. With Ben I like Samuel a lot: Ben and Sam, Samuel Reid McBride. I also like Matthew or Maxwell Reid McBride, because (and here’s my OCD!) both boys have a repeating sound in the last name: Ben McBride, Matt McBride, Max McBride.
Christopher is nice, Ben and Chris. Christopher Calvin? maybe too much C. Christopher John is nice. Or Samuel John, maybe? Samuel Calvin also works.
Since your husband’s name is Patrick would you use your name as mn? I think it would work since Ashley was originally a male name. I like Samuel Ashley McBride and the initials amuse me.
Oooo I want to hear what you decide!
I definitely like Andrew and feel if you let people know “Drew” is the nickname right away then you could avoid the Andy nn you don’t like.
I actually thought of Conrad for you – something about Calvin made me think of that.
We named our son Carson – perhaps you would like that?
I like the suggestion of Wesley and Nicholas as well!
Love Nathaniel and Anthony is great too.
My favourite middle names were Knox, Shotwell or Reid.
I think “Drew” McBride sounds fine. On the other hand, Sam McBride — with the m’s running together — is a bit difficult to say. Nick McBride — which could sound like Nick Mick-bride — also doesn’t flow very well.
I liked the sound of Owen McBride from your original list until I noticed that Ben and Owen rhyme.
Thus I continue to think that Andrew John McBride would be an excellent name choice for your family.
just wanted to chime in and say my bf’s name is jake (jacob), and he has 3 brothers: Ben (benjamin), nick (nicholas), and sam(samuel).
all are great together i think, and work with your last name! good luck :)
How about Sebastian, Reuben, Sammuel, Nicholas, Thomas, Peter, Hugh, Joel …
I think Andrew fits your style well! also
I think “McBride” is such a great-sounding name. I love the way strong, classic names like Benjamin, John, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Nicholas and Christopher sound with it. I find myself saying the names out loud — and thinking they sound wonderful. They all work so well, both with McBride and with Benjamin, that it’s hard to pick one that sounds better than the others, but if I were forced to pick, I’d take either Nathaniel or Jonathan. Jonathan sounds particularly good with Benjamin to my ears — as does Jon with Ben.
Oh my goodness, I just love this website so much. You are so sweet, Swistle! And have wonderful taste in names, of course.