Megan writes:
My husband and I have a 16 month old named Finnian. We absolutely love his name and want to find one we love as much for his sibling due in February. The gender is going to be a surprise, so we don’t know if Finn will have a brother or sister.
Here’s the thing, I have a list of girl names picked out that my husband and I both really like. I would be completely happy naming the baby any of them, so I’m not to worried on that account. We are having no luck with boy names, however.
There aren’t any family names that we would particularly like to use. We are Roman Catholic and prefer that the name have a saint associated with it, although my husband doesn’t really like the style of Old Testament names. I would love a name that sounds good with Finnian, but not too “matchy” (like Kieran, Cian, Brendan, or Killian).
Here are the names we’ve considered so far:
Peter Campion- I like Peter a lot, but don’t love the nn Pete, love the mn Campion, after Edmund Campion
Benedict- This one has gotten turned down because of the generally negative connotations of Eggs Benedict, Benedict Arnold, and the teasing potential in the ending (DH hates Benjamin so that’s a no go
Leo- I really like this name, but is becoming much too popular for my taste. I’m afraid of picking too trendy a name, because I was one of a what seems like a million Megans born in the late 80s
Blaise- I love this name, unusual but not unheard of. DH really can’t get on board with it, however
Beckett- I like this name a lot, but DH says only as a middle name.
Our last name sounds like “Roomy,” but with a “T.”
Can you and your readers give us some other boy name suggestions?p.s. Here are the girl names we like to give you a better idea of our style : Genevieve (nn Evie), Bridget, Gwendolyn, and Mariel
Thanks so much,
I’m not Roman Catholic, but I have the Saints section of The Baby Name Wizard. Without knowing any of the stories behind the names, I’d pick out:
Aidric
Bertrand
Brogan
Colman
Cormac
Darius
Declan
Edmund
Elias
Felix
Ivan
Marek
Ronan
Sebastian
Silas
Xavier
If you like Blaise, I wonder if you’d like Blaine.
If you like Beckett and Benedict, I wonder if you’d like Bennett—perhaps with a saint’s name as the middle name.
Would you want to consider Campion as the first name? Or using Edmund instead of (or in addition to) Campion?
Leo is somewhat more popular than Finn/Finnian (the Social Security Administration has Leo at #167 in 2011, near George, Alan, Maddox, Jonah, and Kenneth), but nowhere near the popularity of the name Megan—a Top 10 name in the 1980s. In 1985, there were over 20,000 new baby girls named Megan and another 4665 named Meghan; in 2011, there were 2226 new baby boys named Leo and 2631 named Leonardo. Even combining Leo and Leonardo and yet not counting Meagans and Meaghans and Megs (so, building up the Leos unfairly high, while reducing the Megans unfairly low), there were more than five times as many Megans per classroom in the 1980s than there are Leos per classroom now. My main hesitation about Leo would be not its popularity but rather that I think it’s a little awkward with the surname.
Name update! Megan writes:
I wanted to thank you and your readers for all of your advice and input on boys’ names. They gave us some great ideas for the future.. This time, however, we had a baby girl! Genevieve Noelle was born on Valentine’s day. Big brother Finnian loves his little sister Gigi!
Thanks again,
Here’s a link to a lengthy list of Irish saint names. Many have tricky spelling/pronunciations, but if any were to be used as a middle name, this would be less of an issue. Four already mentioned by Swistle are: Brogan, Cormac, Declan, and Ronan. With both your name, Megan, and Finnian’s name ending in “an” I’d probably avoid using another name with the same ending, except in the middle. Cormac, if you like it, is pretty near perfect. Another Irish saint name that might be really cool is Fergus, nn’d Gus.
http://www.namenerds.com/irish/saint.html
Of the names on your list, I do love Peter Campion. It’s totally possible that if you always called him Peter, the nn of Pete could be totally sidestepped. I also really like Gregory or Gregor Campion.
A sibset of Finn and Leo does read trendy, though with Swistle’s reasoning regarding popularity, if you love the name enough, it does fit quite well.
Benedict, Beckett and Blaise I’d pretty much forget about if they’d involve a major persuasion campaign with your husband.
A few other suggestions with Finnian: Dominic, Jonah, and Tobias.
Oops….Toby Roomy-with-a-T would be total no go, sorry!
I think Leo would be fine, and it doesn’t seem popular at all. In fact, I know more little Finn/Finley/Finnians than I do little Leos.
I do really like Swistle’s suggestions of Cormac, Darius & Declan for you. If you’d prefer not to go with an Irish theme, Sebastian is a really good choice. I might avoid things like Bennett, Benedict & Benjamin for fear of the nickname Ben. Finn & Ben just seem a bit too much together.
Or perhaps a more uncommon new testament name like Thaddeus.
“Too matchy” is so so subjective. Looking at your list of examples, may of them didn’t seem too matchy to me at all. I’d avoid a 3 syllable name ending in n (like Killian) but I would think Brendan was fine.
Assuming you really want to avoid the n ending, Cormac is a great choice. I also like Elias and Felix. But if you’re willing to consider some ends-in-n names, I like Declan and Ronan, too.
I think you could probably avoid Pete if you always introduce him as Peter. I’ve known a couple Peters (one adult and one child) who never go by Pete.
Would you like Gabriel or Henry or Jonas? Or maybe Theodore, nn Theo? That reminds me of Leo. Finn and Theo is cute and Theodore is a saint’s name, so that covers multiple bases.
I love the idea of Cormac – Finn and Cormac, or even Finn and Mac. I have a Mac, and I think it’s a wonderful name.
For some reason, Darius and Silas stand out to me from Swistle’s list. I guess I like the ‘s’ ending as something different and distinctive! I think Leo is great, and pairs really nicely with Finnian/Finn. I have noticed, as the mom of a Liam, that when we meet a Leo it sounds a lot like Liam (a name that’s pretty popular), which might make Leo feel more common than it is.
Have you considered Patrick? I think Patrick Roomy with a T sounds great and goes well with Finnian!
Swistle- Thank you so much for posting our question and for your advice! From your list I like: Cormac, Declan, Edmund, Sebastian, and Xavier.
Unfortunately, DH has on several occasions expressed his extreme dislike for Edmund, thus Campion as a middle name.
Thanks for the perspective on Leo, it’s still on our list. It’s hard to find one we both like!
Gail- Thanks for the advice and the link to the very thorough Irish saints list! We like Gregory too. And yup pretty much all T names are out. :(
Anonymous- I LOVE Patrick, but one of my husband’s cousins has a son named Patrick. We are very close with his extended family, so that would make it hard. We have considered John Patrick though (Calling him either his full name or may be Jack).
Thanks to all the other posters as well! I would love to get more feedback.
Regardless, we promise a picture and update in February!! Due three months from today!
I happen to love love love my son’s name (duh) and I think it would go well with Finn–his name is Emmett. It’s rare without being weird, easy to say, spell, and really agreeable to all ages. We even tried making fun of it….and that’s hard, making it a great name for school aged kids! It’s also close to Edmund, so maybe that is a contender?
What about Escher/Asher?
I haven’t read any of the fantastic comments above, so my apologies if this is a repeat: but I really really love the name Seamus! Seamus and Finnian. Finnian and Seamus. perfect. (also… Seamus is a form of James.)
I thought of the name Caius. Finn and Caius…LOVE it!!!
I also love Leo, how about Theodore or just Theo?
Or maybe:
Louis (I prefer lou-ee)
Max
Rowan
Leon
Geoffrey/Jeffrey
I think Blaine sounds great with Finnian. There is also a St Blane who was Irish I believe.
Finnian and Blaine
There is also a St Ruadhan (Rowan), who was not only a Saint, but also one of the 12 Irish Apostles like St Finnian.
Finnian and Rowan
I would also like to suggest:
Colman, Lucan, Brogan, Conall, Niall, Mannix, Madoc and Macsen.
Good Luck!!!
I few more ideas for you:
Padriac
Simon
Max/Mack/Macklin (Finn & Max is almost too cute to be real)
Felix
Theodore…I think Finnian & Theodore nn Finn & Teddy or Theo is an adorable mismatch
Milo
Barnaby
Cedric
Hugo
Otis
Henry
Love Finnian btw!
Looking at your girls list it sounds like you like Welsh and Irish names that have three syllables, Finnian and Gwendolyn, Finnian and Genevieve. Would this be your last child? If not, I think going for another slightly longer name, with a short nickname would stylistically look and sound well.
What about
Llewellyn, Llywelyn, or Lewis – nn Leo
Eoghan (Owen)
Ruadan
Elias
Lawrence
Wulfric
I LOVE John Patrick called “Jack”! Finn and Jack are great together. Pairing another strongly Irish name like Declan or Cormac with Finnian might be too ‘cliche’, while John Patrick “Jack” still has an Irish sound but pairs up more uniquely with Finnian.
Joh Patrick nn Jack is pure genius! Look no further! But if you do, Dominic, nn Nick with Finn is great.
Of the girls names Gwendolyn is the least trendy (there are Evies everywhere, short for everything from Evangeline to Evelyn to Eva to Genevieve to Yvette to Evanna etcetc). Gwen and Finn are gorgeous together!! Gwendolyn and Finnian.
Oh, shoot. It looks like my very long comment is not here. I must have failed to check if I got the word verification right. This will be shorter…
I think “too matchy” is fairly subjective. For instance, a 3 syllable ends-in-n name like Killian does seem to matchy to me, but Brendan, which you put in that category as well, doesn’t. So if you are willing to consider some ends-in-n names I like Declan and Ronan from Swistle’s suggestions. If not, I like Cormac, Elias and Felix.
I think you could avoid the nn Pete. I know two Peters, one adult and one child, who always go by Peter.
I also like Theodore for you, with the nn Theo. Theo reminds of Leo, sounds cute with Finn and Theodore is a saint’s name. Lot of bases covered there.
Peter! This is my nephew’s name, and he’s the only one in his high school. It’s amazing how fresh this name sounds among kids, yet everyone knows how to spell and pronounce it.
I have a Leo and a Peter and would have loved a Genevieve.
I was most worried about popularity about Leo (over his brothers’ Peter and Timothy) although all 3 boys have names between #100 and #150, I think. I get more comments about Leo but I think it’s because it was absent from 1940-1990 so it’s more memorable now. Everyone says it was either their great-uncle or their nephew.
At my kids’ Catholic school, there were only a handful of Leos in the pre-k – 12th school, but probably an average of a Peter per grade. Jack was the most common.
Is there a list somewhere of American Roman Catholic name popularity? Being #130 doesn’t help if it’s #10 among the Catholics we see all the time.
A goofy thing has been that my Leo, age 6, has been really bummed that the rest of our family members’ names keep showing up in his math sheets but his is never there. He has taken to crossing out our names and replacing them with his. So although I worried about his being too common, he’s been wishing he had a top 10 name or something. I told him he could us his middle name (William) if he wanted something more common. We also can’t find Christmas ornaments and whatnot with Leo on them.
Oh also, my Peter has never been Pete and we didn’t even try to avoid it.
I like Leo a lot. Of swistle’s list, I’d pick Elias [nn Eli], Marek, Xavier, or Darius. I also like Felix or Sebastian a lot but they might be too matchy for your taste.
We’re Catholic as well. I have a Blaise and he always gets great comments/reactions all the time.
A few suggestions:
Ambrose
Conrad
Isidore (Izzy and Finn)
Martin (Marty and Finn)
They aren’t matchy style wise, but I think are they work well as sibling pairs.
I have a son named Finnian. We named his younger brother Cian (key-in). Finnian Michael, and Cian Patrick. I like the name Caius as well