Ashley writes:
I am currently pregnant with baby #3. Due late May 2014. We have decided to keep the gender a delivery room surprise, and have also decided to keep our name choices a secret. We have a 3 year old daughter, Gracyn Merr*tt (an i goes there), and a 1 year old son, J@meson Lane (he goes by Lane). Our last name is Shan!ever.
We decided to use Gracyn just because we liked it. Though I have since realized that it is a combo of two different grandmother’s names (Grace and Carolyn). Merr*tt is my husband’s middle name and was also his grandfather’s middle name.
J@meson Lane was named after his grandfather James who passed away, and Lane is my maiden name.
Our real dilemma is the girl name. I am convinced this baby will be a girl. My firstborn daughter and I almost share the same late May birthdate, and this baby is due to arrive the same week. Our problem is there’s just nothing we both love except for Merr*tt. But, we have decided that using it for a first name seems like we are taking it from our firstborn and giving it to the baby. Therefore, we have decided to use it as a middle name again. It will be a family middle name that the girls will share with their daddy. I still have no idea why we didn’t use it as a first name with our first born, but I guess we were swimming in a sea of names back then :)
My name is Ashley, and I want a name that isn’t too popular. I grew up being called by my last name, and with a last name like Shan!ever I don’t want that same fate for our kids. I tend to like unisex names, but I’m not limited to those.
We have picked a boy name -Knox. It’s rich with meaning for us. Our only dilemma is the middle name. Is it weird to use Merr*tt for a boy after using it for our firstborn girl? If the answer is yes, we have a list of other names waiting. We just really don’t know the answer to this one.
List of girl names we like ranked in order:
Keighley (Kee-Lee We both really like it, but I’m just not sure if it’s THE ONE. I am worried about people mispronouncing it, but simpler spellings like Keeley don’t appeal to my husband)
Harper (if our son would have been a girl this would have been the name we chose, but as an Ashley, I think it’s too popular for me now)
Blakely (another name we really like, but are unsure about)
Isley (great grandmother’s maiden name – pronounced eyes-lee, but our 3 year old pronounces it as Ashley.)
Reese (husband hates it, and it’s gaining popularity)
Berkley (3 year old pronounces it as Broccoli)
Leighton (It’s very popular in our area, and I don’t think I want two different gender kids to share the letter L)We have always picked our baby names very early on, and so I have found myself worrying about this more and more. I’m ready to pick a girl name and stop thinking about it so much!
Thanks so much swistle! I love reading your blog, and I can’t wait to hear your suggestions.
If you use Merr*tt as the middle name for a second daughter, that doesn’t seem strange to me: it seems like a fun tradition for the girls in the family. If you use it as the middle name for a second son, it does seem a little strange to me: suddenly it feels as if your first son is left out of the club. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s at a level of strangeness that means it needs to be ruled out, especially considering how infrequently middle names are used, and because your son has your maiden name as his middle name. If your son weren’t going by his middle name, I might suggest having all the girls use the middle name Merr*tt and all the boys use the middle name Lane.
For a boy, would you want to consider the same pattern as your first son’s name? ______ Knox Shan!ever, called Knox.
When I saw Keighley, I read it as if it were Kiley (rhymes with Riley). I don’t know why, since -eigh is usually pronounced “ee” (Leigh, Ryleigh, Kayleigh) or “ay” (sleigh, weigh, neigh, eight, deign, reign, freight, Leighton). I think it might be a visual confusion with the surname Knightley. In fact, I’m going to go put up a poll right now to get a more accurate survey—I can’t even THINK of another example where “eigh” would be pronounced like long-I [oh, good, Rachel mentioned the word “height”—but I think for me it was the Knightley thing].
I would advise against this spelling, even if it means ruling out the name. I looked through the Social Security database with the search term “eigh,” and here are the times those letters are used for United States baby names:
1. After an L and at the end of the name, to sound like ee (Hayleigh, Marleigh)
2. After a letter at the beginning of a name, to sound like ay (Leighton, Peighton)
3. In ways that make the pronunciation unclear to me even though I know what the parents must have intended (Aubreigh, which makes me think “Aubray—no wait, it must be Aubrey”)
With the name pronounced Keeley, I might expect to see the -eigh on the END, but not in the middle: Keeleigh is clear to me, but Keighley doesn’t feel right. I feel like I can’t remember how to pronounce it OR how to spell it.
Harper doesn’t seem too common to me. There were 7,154 new baby girls named Harper in 2012; I’m comparing that to the 54,831 new baby girls named Ashley in 1987. (I wish I could compare as percentages of the number of babies born in those years, but that feature of the Social Security site hasn’t been working for me. [It’s working again! The name Ashley was given to 2.93% of baby girls in 1987; the name Harper was given to .37% of baby girls in 2012.]) Would you prefer Piper (3,038 new baby girls in 2012) or Juniper (296 new baby girls in 2012)? Or wait—I’m not sure I like the repeated -er with the surname.
Blakely Shan!ever is a bit of a tongue-tangler for me.
Isley appeals to me, but has spelling and pronunciation issues: I had to scroll up twice to get the spelling for this paragraph (though it clicked as soon as I noticed it’s the word isle with a Y), and the word isle and the popularity of Isla (no S-sound) may confuse things. I’m not concerned with the three-year-old’s pronunciation: that’s a temporary situation, and seems like it results in nothing but cute stories and affectionate nicknames.
I notice the first two children share an end-sound; it’s less of an issue since J@meson goes by Lane, but it’s something I’d take into account. For some, “taking it into account” would mean avoiding a third matched ending; for others, it would mean finding a third matched ending.
More possibilities:
Braelyn
Brinley/Brynleigh
Campbell
Devany
Ellery
Ellison
Emery
Evanie
Everly/Everleigh
Finley
Hadley/Hadleigh
Holland
Keelyn
Kinley/Kinleigh
Kinsley (I wouldn’t do Kinsleigh, because of sleigh)
Maelyn
Marley
Merrin (instead of using middle name Merr*tt)
Mirren (instead of using middle name Merr*tt)
Teagan
Name update! Ashley writes:
It’s a girl!
Meet Finley Merr*tt Shan!ever
(My husband and I had our first date at an NC State football game at Carter-Finley stadium. We loved that we could tie that in with Finley!)
Thanks for the naming help and suggestions!
I really like the name Harper. It’s strong without being too trendy and all of the famous Harper’s I can think of are women- it has a unisex appeal without being confusing.
Keighley sounds a little “made up” to me. I think it would end up being a burden for your daughter- there doesn’t seem to be an intuitive pronunciation of that spelling and she would end up having to explain constantly.
I also wouldn’t worry at all about how your other kids pronounce the names right now- they’re still small children and they’ll eventually figure it out as they get older.
Good luck with your choice!
Isley also seems like it would get confused with your name, Ashley. What about using it as the middle name? Or dad’s first name for boy’s middle?
For a girl, I wonder if you’d like Bree–. Like Breelyn or Breean or Breeley? Bree and Grace? Both Gracyn and Lane have other gender versions (Grayson and Laine) so that might be something you either want to repeat or not (or maybe just consider).
Good luck and congrats!
I don’t like creative spellings. They are just not my jam at all. I find “Keighley” to be particularly difficult, because there’s no clear model to get you to “Kee-Lee”, and because “Keelee” isn’t an enjoyable name-sound for me.
I am not a big fan of “-ly” names that are very trendy. To my ear, they sound exactly pinpointed in place/era/social class in a way I don’t love. (See: Bentley.) A traditional name with a -ly ending tends to sound different to me than the on-trend constructed names, which often sound to my ear like they’ve had the -ly ending randomly tacked on in a way that makes them hard to say.
I wouldn’t worry about Harper being too popular. To be honest, I think a name like Keighly, while less popular in a technical sense, will really stamp “born in the mid-2010s!” the way Harper, which has a much longer history of use, will not. Are there going to be more Harpers than Keighlys? Yes, almost certainly. But your child would be more likely to meet Harpers of different ages and backgrounds, whereas with an on-trend name like Keighly, you’d probably bump into fewer of them total, but they would all be her exact age.
*Blakely – confuses my ear. I don’t like the hard-K +-ly sound, personally. It combines a hard click with the long lee sound, and I find it hard to say, especially with the last name. Blakely Shan!ever is a lot of full-stop consonants.
*Isley – I like this in theory, but I think you’re going to have a hard time getting people to pronounce it “Eyes-lee”, because it maps to “Isle” (“aisle”) and Isla (“Ila”) so neatly. I think you’ll get a lot of “Iley”. On the other hand, Isley would let you say “Like Mos Isley from Star Wars”, which would be awesome. :p
*Berkley – this has the same hard-K+-ly thing that impedes flow, and I suspect you’ll have a lifetime of trying to get people to spell it this way, and not like the university.
From Swistle’s list, I really like Marley. Marley Shan!ever flows well – I like it a lot more than Brinley or Kinley, which have those harder consonants that interrupt the flow. I like how the softer consonants in Marley flow into the last name, I think.
At high school I knew a girl called Keziah, nn Kizzy. Maybe that would work if you want another unisex K name?
What about Keene? Or Ceil? I like Swistle’s suggestion of Teagan. Or Tynley. Or Kyrie (Key ree ay) or just Kyra (Key ra).
If you like Isley, what about Ilene (similar sound, easier to the uninitiated).
Unisex names that I like that include the ending “en” sound, if you want to continue that, are Morgan and Jordan.
From Swistle’s list, my favorite is Finley, hands down. Easy to pronounce, and totally on trend with Gracyn and Jameson. Second choice would be Mirren….
I know a woman named Isley, but the “s” is silent so it sounds like the name Aisleigh. I knew a woman long ago whose name was Eilidh, and pronounced it I-lee. I think Isley has as much potential to be mispronounced as Keighley does.
(For some reason, Keighley reminds me of the surname Quigley–irrationally I almost want to pronounce the “g”).
Of your suggestions, my favorite would be Harper–really cute with Gracyn and Lane.
Congratulations to you and your family.
I would suggest using Keeley as I too would find Keighley way too creative and confusing for my liking and just looks like too much on paper. if you have to be creative then use Keeleigh or what if you swapped the spelling around to be Keyleigh! this would work much better! And looks the sameness your husbands preference! I think Keeley is a lovely sounding name and fits well with your sibset.
I wouldn’t use Merritt again as my personal thought would be that there are so many wonderful and meaningful names out there why would you use the same name again? Although if you kept it as a middle name for both girls and lane as a middle for any future boys I can understand it.
Keagan – was my first thought for you. It has that masculine/surname/Irish style going for it that you seem to like. Then I saw Swistle suggest Teagan and thought yep Keagan is definitely on the right track
Then I just tried to think of surnamey or unisex names that seem to suit your style especially K ones
Hadley – a lot like Harper maybe less popular?( I don’t have access to SSA in Australia it kills me! and in oz we only ever get the top 100 list of names. I really wish we had a site like SSA or that I could have access to it)
Delaney
Shelby and Selby
Kinsley and Kinsey
Kelsey
Rowan
Sydney
Sloane
Quinn
Kendall
Kelton
Kennedy
Cameron
Kestrel – ooh I like this one
Kenzie – like the popular Mackenzie which I also think would work for you but thought it might be too popular to your liking
Ainsley
Emerson
Bellamy
Kelda
Ellis
Elliot
Raleigh
Regan
Quinton
Brightly
Caraway- I recently watched the Great Gatsby endless source of good names
Spencer- I went to school with a girls called Spencer and one called Blake!
Kieran- I know a bit crazy but I have always liked it for a girl or you could use the Irish spelling Ciaran
Knightly – thanks Swistle
But perhaps seeing as you seem to like creative names you could try to create your own by combining two names as it was a happy accident for Gracyn. I don’t know the names in your family so I can’t play too much with this idea but what about something like Merleigh (Merritt and Ashley/Leigh ).
All the best
If it’s a girl, what about Blake? Just Blake not Blakely. I don’t know if the connotation to Blake Lively (the female actress) matters, but it’s a cute name.
– Blake Merritt Shan!ever. Gracyn, Lane and Blake.
Or, more for girls…
–> Hadley Merritt. Gracyn, Lane and Hadley.
–> Ainsely Merritt. Gracyn, Lane and Ainsley.
–> Kendall Merritt. Gracyn, Lane and Kendall.
–> Kinsey or Kensi. Gracyn, Lane and Kensi.
–> Embry Merritt. Gracyn, Lane and Embry.
For middle names, I think it would fine to use Merritt for all girls in the family. On the other hand, I would not use it as a middle name for a boy, since it has already been taken by his sister. For some reason, to me, it seems okay for the girls to have that common bond, but not for two of three siblings to have a name that the third does not share.
Best of luck!
I think Harper fits well into the sibling group, and has the bonus of being easy to say and spell. As Swistle points out, it’s not as popular as Ashley was when you were a child.
Out of your suggestions, I vote Harper for sure. I also love Swistle’s suggestion of Finley and I also like Teagen. I’ll make a pitch for Darby or Darcy. I love those names. Let us know what you choose!
I love the name but prefer it spelled Kealy, like a girl I grew up with. I do also love Isley.
I like this spelling the best
I like Isley the best on first reading, but I also agree that Harper will not have the same level of popularity as Ashley did in the 80s.
I also wanted to say “Yay!” for seeing Evanie on Swistle’s list. This was one of the options for our second daughter (albeit a distant third), and when I mentioned it to friends, I got some weird looks and had to spell it out (at the time, I was thinking “Evany,” but like it both ways). Made me want to shout, “It’s a name, I swear!”
The blogger at yourwishcake.com named her girl Eisley, pronounced eyes-lee and wrote a post about it here: http://www.yourwishcake.com/2011/07/on-her-name.html
Think this spelling might be better as I keep thinking the name is Isle lee not eyes lee
I like Harper or Hadley best. Finley is a good choice for you too. I saw the comment with the Kealy spelling. I like that so much better & the least confusing.
I was wondering why I had “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” stuck in my head all evening yesterday and I just realized it’s because of Keeley.
“You just drop off the key, Lee, and set yourself free”
Sorry.
i was also going to suggest Ainsley. What about Ayla?
Other suggestions:
Farron
Elsey (sort of like Isley!), Gracyn, Jameson and Elsey
Jorryn
Reegan
I know a little girl named Aili (pronounced EYE-lee), and I’ve always thought it’s an adorable name, and it sounds like it may fit your style.
I like Harper- as others have said, it feels more classic and less trendy. I’m not a fan of isley or Blakely. I wouldn’t give Merritt to a kid as a first name when it is already a middle.
What about Keelia? Maybe it’s too girly, but maybe something about it makes you like the spelling of it better (despite not having the ‘eigh’)? Personally, I still think Keighley is totally acceptable if you love it ..and I actually prefer it (since I love the name “Keeley” …especially since it has nautical associations. But, for some reason, I can’t get “keel over” out of my head when it’s spelled that way–and Keighley takes care of that issue). Like I said in the poll, it simply sounded British to me .. not made up. But, I guess it would give me pause if everyone thought it was made up or “trying too hard” (as frustrating as that is, especially when it’s possibly/probably not true!).
I was going to suggest changing the spelling of Isley to Eisley also.
Both Keighley and Isley are going to have pronunciation and spelling issues. I had to copy and paste them here to get the correct spelling. It does not come naturally. The most usable name from your list seems to be Berkley, since the pronunciation issues will be a short-lived thing.
My favorites from Swistle’s list are Braelyn and Emery.
Do you like any of these? Gracyn, Lane, and…
– Shea (Would this work with Shan!ever?)
– Shelby
– Kyra
– Quinn
– Paisley
– Arwen
Also, in The Hobbit, one of the dwarves is called “Kíli” and the name is pronounced the same way I believe you wish to signify with Keighley. Yup, yup, I just went up to the original post to check the pronunciation. I’m not sure Kili is any more intuitive, but it is certainly more widely known because of The Hobbit.
What about Evan? Normally I don’t like unisex names, but I think Evan Rachel wood pulls it off.
I think I’d go with: Isley Merr*tt. I like that it is close to your name. Gives her a connection to you and her sister.
I personally LOVE Isley. I would go with Isley Merr!t.
I agree with Swistle, that I would keep the middle name Merr!t for the girl set and choose a different, yet meaningful mn if this babe turns out to be a boy.
I think if you love the Keighley spelling, go for it! I think it’s a pretty name, and any way you choose to spell it is perfectly acceptable. I knew what pronunciation you were going for as soon as I read it.
I also like Isley, although I wasn’t sure how to pronounce it at first. I would use the spelling Eisley, which is the name of a band I used to listen to!
From the other suggestions, I really like Ainsley and Hadley. They seem to fit your style and I think they are both super cute without being too popular.
Just remembered that Mos Eisley is a city in Star Wars! Think it was because some one else mentioned the hobbit that it triggered my mind, the following from Wikipedia…
“Mos Eisley is a setting in the fictional Star Wars universe. It is introduced as a spaceport on the planet Tatooine. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi describes Mos Eisley as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.” Wikipedia
Really doubt that many people will think of the connection, I am a fan but it has taken me a second reading of this thread to think of the connection.
And I still like the name Eisley, it is lovely and I do love a good family connection