A. writes:
Hi, we are expecting BBG triplets in a couple months and are debating between (1)Andrew, Wyatt & Everly or (2) Sawyer, Wyatt & Everly. Could you please tell me which name set you prefer?
Thank you!
I prefer Sawyer, Wyatt, and Everly, for four reasons:
1. Andrew and Wyatt together bring Andrew Wyeth immediately to my mind.
2. [Edited after parents requested surname be removed from post:] With your surname, Andrew makes me think of a sound-alike celebrity’s name.
3. I think Sawyer and Wyatt are particularly well-coordinated brother names, better coordinated in style than Andrew and Wyatt.
4. I like how Sawyer, Wyatt, and Everly are all surname names and all have a Y—but without seeming at all matchy.
Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what everyone else’s favorite set is! [Poll closed; see results below.]
I voted for Sawyer, too – I also had the Andrew Wyeth connection.
Great names and many congratulations!
Swistle’s points 1 & 2 don’t bother me, but I agree with points 3 & 4. I like Andrew so much I’m wavering, but I think Sawyer does fit better in the sibling set.
When I read the query, I had a very slight preference for Sawyer because of #3. But Swistle’s reasons are very persuasive! #4 – nice.
Another reason I’d prefer Sawyer is that while Wyatt and Everly can have nicknames, they aren’t as inevitable as Andy or Drew. Not that I have a problem with those nicknames, just that I’d go for all or none on nicknames, since I’d loathe insisting on the full name.
I actually like Andrew, Wyatt & Everly better…
because Andrew and Wyatt are both clearly masculine and when you pair Sawyer with Everly (which I would see as feminine, but it’s not a ‘traditional girls name’) it makes me think that Sawyer is a girls name. So then I think you have BGG triplets instead of BBG triplets.
That being said, I’ve never heard of Andrew Wyeth, so I don’t have a problem with that – there’s no scandal with him, right? I also missed the earlier version with your surname in there, so I don’t know how much of a problem the celebrity soundalike is.
I think Sawyer and Everly are both seeming vaguely androgynous, and that makes me want to steer clear of using one on a boy and one on a girl, at least if their brother is named Wyatt. I realize that Everly isn’t actually terribly androgynous (it’s given to 159 girls and less than 5 boys last year), but it’s new enough to the charts that I wouldn’t expect it to be well known that it’s a girls’ name, and the similarity to Everett, etc., is perhaps what is tipping me towards the “androgynous” perception even though that’s not actually true. Likewise, Sawyer is tilting pretty male (2198 boys to 348 girls last year), so it’s not really very unisex in use as far as unisex names go.
Other than that, I really think Sawyer, Wyatt and Everly go really well together… so I think it just matters how much you mind clarifying that you have a second boy and not a second girl.
I would find Andrew Surname to be problematic due to the Oscar winning actress (the one who is now a single mom to an adorable toddler after her partner was embroiled in a lot of scandal). She’s been in the news a lot and is very much a household name.
I also thought of Andrew Wyeth, but I don’t think that’s particularly problematic an association, and not one most people would make, since it’s not like your sons will actually be spending most of their lives as a package.
I WANT to like Sawyer best because it is such a great name, but my vote is for Andrew. At first glance, it was the combination I liked the most, and as much as I love Sawyer, it feels like it has a totally different vibe from Everly, and especially from Wyatt. The androgyny also sort of digs at me, but if you are planning to call Everly by a nickname (such as Evie) then it wouldn’t bother me at all. But then, I think I would like Andrew, Wyatt, and Evie EVEN MORE.
I don’t know, the Andrew combo sort of sings at me in a way that it doesn’t with Sawyer…
It’s hard without any hint of a last name whatsoever, but given the limited information, I’d go with Andrew, since I think Andrew and Wyatt are more masculine, and if you’re going with something so androgynous as Everly, I think you should do the boys a favor and make more of a distinction. (I didn’t think it sounded like Andrew Wyeth, and actually had to google Andrew Wyeth to find out why his name was vaguely familiar to me – I wouldn’t be worried about connotations to a dead artist, personally). I guess a lot of people are on board with Everly being a girl’s name, but when I first read the question (too quickly to notice the BBG part) – I assumed you were naming three boys. I think if you do go with Sawyer for the other brother, it might be kind to give her something more distinctly feminine.
I also at first glance thought you were having 3 boys. Everly is androdgenous, as is Sawyer. I would go with a more feminine girl name or more masculine boy name.
This is kinda tough!
I must say that I adore Everly for a girl – it’s one of my favorite names.
My knee jerk selection for a set is Sawyer, Wyatt and Everly. I like the common “y” without them being too matchy. They also feel more similar in style to me.
Andrew is a fabulous name as well. I don’t mind it with Everly (both ring “vintage-y” to me) but then Wyatt seems a bit of an outlier. Not so much so that it’s glaring however.
I hadn’t considered the previous posters comment about the androgyny of Sawyer …
On the SS administration site – For boys, Sawyer ranked 173 in 2010; for girls Sawyer ranked 784 in 2010. Statistically it still belongs to the boys, so I suppose it would depend on where you live and if you may know any little girl Sawyers.
Ultimately, I think either selection would be a great sib-set! Go with your instincts! Very best wishes.
I prefer Andrew, Wyatt and Everly for these reasons:
I find Sawyer very ambiguous — is that a girl or a boy? — while Andrew and Wyatt are clearly boys and Everly, a girl.
I personally don’t love Sawyer — the sound of the name or it’s meaning: occupational name meaning “sawer of wood”. Too, I don’t find Sawyer and Wyatt, a name that was a personal name before it became a surname, more compatible than Andrew and Wyatt. (“Origin of the name Wyatt: Transferred use of the English surname derived from the Anglo-French personal name Wyot and the French personal name Guyot…” http://www.babynamewizard.com/namipedia/boy/wyatt)
I have no problem with the similarity of Andrew and Wyatt to the name of artist Andrew Wyeth, because I know of nothing negative about Andy Wyeth and also I wonder how many people would make that connect with brothers called Andrew and Wyatt.
I wonder if the parents have a special reason for considering the name Andrew. Andrew is a fine name. It pairs well with Wyatt, as both Andrew and Wyatt are fairly popular names and have the all-American boy sound. Everly is more unusual, but I think that’s fine since she’s the only girl of the trio.
I think all four names are lovley but my vote goes to Sawyer!! Sawyer, Wyatt and Everly sound perfect together! I love the name Everly!!
Congrats and all the best x
For some reason, Sawyer doesn’t strike me as androgynous at all–I guess I’ve only known boy Sawyers, and it doesn’t have a feminine sound to me in any way. I like Sawyer, Wyatt, and Everly best because Andrew, while a GREAT name that I love, seems too traditional/classic with the other two, and Sawyer fits the vibe of Wyatt and Everly so much better to me. Whoa, triplets! Good luck (with naming and beyond!)
I immediately made the connection to Andrew Wyeth, and while he’s not a bad association, my vote still goes to Sawyer. Sawyer, Wyatt, and Everly are wonderful names, and they sound great together! After reading Swistle’s reasoning, I like them even better.
Best of luck with everything, and congratulations on your growing family!
My gut says that Sawyer is a girl’s name. With a daughter’s name of Everly (lovely but slightly ambiguous), I forsee you explaining/differentiating which one is your son or daughter. “No, our sons are Sawyer and Wyatt, our daughter is Everly.” Me thinks that 13 year old Sawyer or Everly would not like that very much.
Andrew is a wonderful name. If you like surnames, maybe you’d consider Anderson instead of Andrew?
Sawyer is certainly a name that can be used for boys and for girls, and it’s hard to know which way it will go. But someone else “feeling like” it’s a girl name (despite it’s 7:1 boy name usage) doesn’t affect the data and make it a girl name, and I think that point is getting lost in this comment section.
I immediately thought of Andrew Wyeth. As the Wikipedia article mentions, he’s one of the most famous American artists of all time. It’s definitely not a negative association, but Georgia and O’Keefe wouldn’t be either.
I found the same question posed on several other baby name websites, but sometimes the parents said they planned to call Andrew “Drew”: “My husband & I are torn between 2 options for our BBG triplets: (1) Andrew (“Drew”), Wyatt, Everly or (2) Sawyer, Wyatt, Everly. ” http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parenting-boards/baby-names-advice/146716
It would have been helpful for readers here to have the information that Andrew would be called Drew. That removes Swistle’s concerns about Andrew Wyeth and Andrew with whatever the surname is.
I would suggest that the parents put aside the results from the many polls they’ve asked for and just go with the names they like best.
I think Andrew is a misfit with a Wyatt. They’re both in the top 100, but Wyatt is a recent fly-up and Andrew has been there for ages. Their dissimilarity emphasizes the aspects of both names, making one of them sounds like a prince and the other like a cowboy.
But Sawyer and Wyatt is such a perfect combination, I almost can’t get over it. The compatibility of the two names softens the cowboy aspect of Wyatt and makes them both sound more like just boys.
It sounds to me like you should find another name to go with Wyatt and Everly, if deciding between Andrew and Sawyer is giving you such a struggle.
Sawyer for sure. I have always loved that name, and I think it would be perfect in that sib set. Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well!!! Good luck with the name choosing!
Thanks so much for all the well-reasoned advice! We are pretty set on Everly for the girl, but vacillate daily between Andrew (“Drew” as a nickname) & Sawyer; Andrew and Wyatt; and Sawyer & Wyatt for the 2 boys. Do you think Sawyer & Wyatt also goes together better than Andrew & Sawyer?