Laura G. mentioned on Twitter that she knew a family with three girls: a Reagan, a Kennedy, and a McKinley. “That’s hardcore presidential dedication,” she commented.
I tried to make a jokey reply about what that family ought to name a boy—but goodness, there are a lot of genuinely good presidential names available:
Abraham
Andrew
Benjamin
Calvin
Carter
Cleveland
Clinton
Ford
Franklin
George
Grant
Harrison
Hayes
Jackson
James
Jefferson
John
Lincoln
Madison
Monroe
Pierce
Quincy
Taylor
Theodore
Thomas
Truman
Tyler
Roosevelt
Warren
Washington
William
Wilson
Zachary
I have friends who have a Grant and a Harrison – they didn’t intend to go presidential, it just happened, but they have said that they will probably continue the trend with a third (and final) child.
Adam (as in Addams) might work if one wanted a subtle presidential nod.
And Delano could be an interesting choice, possibly Delaney for a girl, although that is a stretch. But if one was a fan of FDR and wanted a subtle nod, it might work.
Our current Canadian Prime Minister is Stephen Harper, of the Conservative party, which some consider unfortunate for all those adopting the name Harper for sweet little girls!
I have a friend who has a Robert(nn Bobby) and a Kennedy. Her family is hard core Republican, and I think her Dad had a coronary the first time she hollared, “Robert!Kennedy! Come here!”
I also have a friend with a Carter and a Grant, and the presidential connection never occurred to her until they were like 3 and 5. She always joked that she’d have to name the 3rd one Lincoln. But you’re right…there are so many options!
There is a family of 8 kiddos (7 boys, 1 girl) at our church and they all have president names- middle names included!! I wish I knew them all to list out here for everyone.
There are some names that I like in that list, but mostly the ones that don’t scream President to me–Harrison, Grant, Truman, Tyler etc. I do not like Reagan (awful president, that’s probably part of it!) but I also don’t especially like Clinton, Cleveland, Ford, Jefferson, etc–names that remind me too much of the president. In other words, those names only have one association for me, and even if it’s a positive one I like for names to have more context.
And Swistle you forgot Barack Obama!
My daughter’s name is Caroline and we want to keep the “C” sound for our second if we have a girl. As much as I like the name Kennedy, I just couldn’t see having a Caroline and a Kennedy.
Our boys have “presidential names” as well but not purposely. We have a Buchanan and a Theodore. Now that we are having a girl I am not sure if the presidential names are a good fit…maybe I will look at first lady names.
An acquaintance from college and her husband met as poli sci majors. They now have four boys – Harrison, Pierce, Jackson and Grant! I didn’t notice the pattern until #3 :-) Individually they’d never strike me as “a president name” but together, it’s pretty obvious!