(Today I have several posts I ran out of time to answer at usual length in the week after they arrived, but I’d jotted down a single suggestion in the spreadsheet. I’m going to post several in a row today with my extremely brief response, so that others can work on them further if they want to.)
K. writes:
My husband and I are really struggling to name our baby boy, due January 3rd. This is our first baby. Our last name is Kelly.
For a little background, I think we mostly like strong, traditional names. We have decided on the middle name of Michael, since that is both of our fathers names. I know you say that you shouldn’t pick a middle name before the first, but in this case, I think it goes with most first names and frankly, middle name flow isn’t that important to me – I’d rather use an honor name.
We have one name that we both love – Owen. I think that we would have decided on this name weeks ago if it weren’t for one problem. My best friend is due any day now with a baby boy they are naming Rowan. I am the godmother. We don’t live in the same city now and.only see them 4-6 times per year, but I talk to her almost daily and I don’t know if it’s too weird to have baby names that rhyme. I tried to bring it up casually, but she didn’t really say anything either way.
For the time being, we have decided that Owen is our first choice and we might go with that if we don’t come up with something else. Our second choice is Patrick, a name I love and my husband’s grandfather’s name.
Other names on my list (my husband has vetoed most): Henry, Jack, Charlie, Sam, Max, Oliver, Elliot, Everett, Milo, Finn, Bennett, Will, Mason, John (the only one my husband doesn’t hate).
My husbands list: Sean, Evan, Chase. I don’t like any of those.
Names we like that are out for family reasons: Aidan, Liam, Andrew
I don’t know if we should just go with the name we like or if we should keep looking. Owen has been the only name we can even come close to agreeing on so far. Maybe there’s something we haven’t thought of?
If Rowen were the name of a friend’s child, I would say go ahead and use Owen. Since Rowan is your godchild, I’d avoid Owen—although I don’t think it’s any kind of disaster if you go ahead and use it. I suggest Nolan instead.
Or I do love the name John tremendously, and I love it with Michael. Since your husband likes the very similar name Sean, it seems like an excellent compromise name.
I do generally suggest not choosing the middle name first, but only to make the naming process easier. Of course if there is a very important honor name and the parents are willing to make compromises in their preferences in order to use it, the suggestion does not apply in that particular situation.
Name update! K. writes:
In the end, we decided to go with Owen, since it was the one name that we both loved and agreed on. Your readers’ advice was so helpful and really gave me the courage to go with the name that I loved.
We had our baby on January 8th and we couldn’t be any happier with his name. Thanks so much!
I don’t think it’s a huge deal since you don’t live near each other and don’t see each other that often. So I say go with Owen because you both love it. If not, John is also great. Other suggestions are Ian, Colin, Callum, and Graham. Good luck!!
Sorry two more suggestions. Gavin or Garrett? Everything goes so well with your last name, I am jealous!
I don’t think it’s a problem since you don’t live in the same town, but I’d suggest directly asking your friend before going forward with it, just to clear the air.
Can I suggest Seamus? It’s the Irish of James and some of your names reminded me of it. Goes nicely with Michael.
I think since Rowan and Owen are such different styles, it’s fine. I would use it.
I say use it. You said your friend didn’t comment either way, so I’d say it’s fair game. For fun, I could see myself making up a little nursery rhyme with the boys names, talking about their adventures together. Seems like a fun way to encourage a closeness between them, even though they’ll only see each other a few times a year.
If you decide you just can’t pull the trigger on Owen, I’ll also suggest (or 2nd) Ethan, Ian, Liam & Collin.
If you name him John Michael Kelly you can call him Jack! Jack Kelly sounds like a roguish adventure hero.
Patrick Kelly is also such a nice Irish name
I just had a friend name one of her twins first and middle name the same as the first names of two brothers of another good friend. The air was cleared ages ago between the families but the babies will only be two months apart, live in the same city, be friends, and have the same first name. They both loved that particular first name and went with it. So I say go with Owen!
Go with Owen! It’s a different name than Rowan, and I don’t think the rhyming thing is a big deal at all.
You won’t regret going with your first choice.
I have no issue at all with Rowan/Owen connection. They do technically rhyme but I think of them SO differently. If that is what you truly love, use it!!
If you decide that you just cant go there, what about Brandon, Braydon, Ryan, Dylan, Declan, Griffin, or Benjamin?
If you think there is a problem with Owen, which I don’t think there is btw, what about Ewan/Ewen?
Like a combination of Owen and Evan.
Other suggestions: Bran, Eamon, Logan, Morgan, Shea, Sloan, Vaughn.
Good luck!
Lachlan and Haydn are great names too.
And let’s add Winston to the list, too.
Love the previous suggestion of Euan/Ewan instead of Owen. It’s less popular a bit more mysterious, IMHO.
Patrick is also a great underused name. I guess I’d side with maybe not using Owen, because of the double-barreled best friend plus god mother connection….Plus the fact that the few short months between the boys’ birthdays will quickly evaporate as they grow.
Don’t let what others have named their children to dictate how you name yours just because they had theirs first.
Go with Owen!
All of the names on your list are my favorites as well so I will suggest Leo. Similar to Milo and Liam.
Good luck.
What about Adam? Very similar to Owen in sound, but different enough from Rowan.
I’d stick with Owen, since you both love it. If you decide to switch, though, Ian was a nice suggestion, or maybe Evan. Noah is a different style name but has a lot of the same sounds. Jonah, too.
It seems like the sound of John-Sean-Owen is something both you and your husband like.
In a similar vein, and I think these are variations of John:
Ewan
Yann
Ian
Ioan
Or even a name like Jones.
To answer your original question, I think Owen is perfectly fine in this situation.
Patrick is also great and Patrick Michael sounds like a winner!
Some more ideas (just thinking of sound and ‘strong names’:
Holden
Noah/Noam
Ronan
Nolan
Jonah
Joel
Cormac
Owen is perfectly fine in my opinion – they are not siblings and won’t spend that much time together. In fact it’s kind of nice that they have a “similar name”.
If you love it so much, use it! Owen Patrick Kelly -or Patrick Owen Kelly for that matter- is a dashing name.
OK, I just suggested this name on another post here, and now I’m a little embarrassed, like I’m spamming Swistle’s blog with my son’s name, but if you like Caleb but it’s too Biblical, what about Callum? Or maybe Colin?