Megan writes:
My husband and I are due with our first baby (a boy!) on June 18. We are at a stand off when it comes to names. Our last name is Veselka. It’s a Czech name that sounds exactly like it is spelled, but it stumps so many people. We have to spell it for almost everyone. His family is very Czech (grandparents only spoke Czech in the home.) My family is mostly English and Irish and I seem to be kind of partial to the Irish names. We don’t want a name that is TOO common since we both grew up with pretty common names, but we don’t want anything off the wall either. I think that’s every parent’s wish (except those crazy few.)
My husband’s name is Steven Rey. His dad’s name is Reynold and he goes by Rey, that’s where the Rey comes in. My name is Megan Anne. Simple, normal names. I want our son to have a name that is easy to pronounce and spell since he will most likely have to spell his last name for everyone already. This is the first grandchild on Steve’s side and the 4th grandchild on mine, all boys. That doesn’t really make a big difference, but it does make me want to kind of honor his side of the family some since this is the first.
Originally, my husband REALLY wanted to name our son Riggins, as in John Riggins, the old Washington Reskins football player who was his idol growing up. He loves last names for first names. I vetoed Riggins because, well, just no. I told him it’s a great dog name. We have been calling the baby Riggins kind of like you’d call him Peanut or something as a fetus nickname.
I would like our son to have his dad’s middle name, Rey, but I am not set on that. I’m not opposed to using other family names as middle names, whether they are from his side or mine.
My favorite name for our son: Emerson Rey
My husband’s favorite name for our son: Quinn (he hasn’t suggested a suitable middle name and I think Quinn Rey just does not sound that great)We can’t seem to think of any other names we really like.
Here are some family names, both from his side and mine
Gordon, Emil, Robert, David, Henry, Jordan, AldenSo! Those are the details and I know I didn’t give you much to work with, but maybe you or your readers can help with some suggestions. Thanks so much!
Let’s start by taking a look at the name Emerson. I’m glad to have a chance to discuss it, because we received another letter awhile back asking if it was still a usable name for a boy, but I ran out of time that week and didn’t get to it; so if you’re thinking, “Wait, but I didn’t ask about this aspect of it,” that’s the explanation.
Here’s a look at the current usage of the name for girl (F) and boy (M) babies in the United States, and how it’s been changing over the last ten years:
2003: 324 F; 265 M
2004: 268 F; 266 M
2005: 683 F; 387 M
2006: 1068 F; 469 M
2007: 1079 F; 537 M
2008: 1161 F; 583 M
2009: 1016 F; 638 M
2010: 1009 F; 635 M
2011: 1149 F; 734 M
2012: 1301 F; 828 M
As you can see, the current usage of the name Emerson is unisex, rising for both girls and boys, with about half-again more girls given the name than boys. In 2012 in the U.S., it was the 364th most popular name for boys and the 244th most popular name for girls.
Alternate spellings should be factored in as well; there are more spellings than this, but I stuck to the ones with at least 20 babies given the name:
Emersen: 56 F; 12 M
Emersyn: 455 F; 8 M
Emmerson: 134 F; 9 M
Emmersyn: 57 F; – M
If we add those numbers to the 2012 numbers for the spelling Emerson, we have 2003 female babies and 828 male babies: more than double the number of girls than boys. The name Emerson fits well with the Madison/Addison trend, as well as with the recent popularity of Em- names for girls; for boys, it fits well with surname names such as Mason and Grayson.
Now that I’ve written out all this data, what is my point? It’s not that you shouldn’t use the name for a boy: tons of boys are still being given the name, and the usage is still unisex. But it’s good to know the numbers going into it. I have an acquaintance who named her son Mackenzie without realizing the current usage was primarily for girls (the only Mackenzie she knew was a male family member). It’s turned out fine (he goes by Mack), and she likely would have used the name anyway—but she didn’t enjoy the surprise of finding out after the fact.
I can’t tell from the letter how each of you feels about the other one’s top name choice. If the issue is that you each have your own favorite name and neither one of you wants to use the other one’s favorite, the most likely (and painful) solution is that both favorites will need to be scrapped and the search will need to start again—not for names you like as well as the names that had to be scrapped, but for the names you like best out of the choices that remain. Or maybe one of you would accept being the middle name choice: Emerson Quinn or Quinn Emerson. Or if you’re planning to have more children, and since both names work for both sexes, one name could be used for this child and the other for the next—though this is risky, as parents often feel differently about names with each baby. Or one of you might give up a favorite in exchange for another desired name: for example, would your husband agree to Emerson if Riggins could be the middle name? Would you agree to Quinn if you had more choice in the middle name?
One way to get more ideas for a shortish list is to chop up a name into the reasons you might like it, and then look for other names that match any of those pieces. Maybe you like the Em- sound of Emerson, in which case I might suggest Emmett and Jeremy and Remy and Emory—or Emil from your middle name list. Maybe you like the -son sound, in which case I might suggest Carson, Hudson, Lawson, Wilson, Samson, or Greyson. Maybe you like the unisex nature of the name, in which case I might suggest Avery, Rory, Rhys, Rowan, Finley, Casey, or Ellis—or Jordan from the middle name list, or your husband’s choice of Quinn. Maybe it’s something more general about the sound of the name, in which case I might suggest Anderson, Garrison, Harrison, Edison, or Davison. Maybe you like surname names, in which case I might add Davis, Bennett, Miller, Redford, Thompson, or Wells. Maybe it’s the poetry connection, in which case I might suggest Byron, Whitman, Blake, Tennyson, or Eliot. Maybe the name has another sentimental association for you, in which case I’d look for more names with similar associations.
We can do the same with Quinn. Finn, Quentin, Finnegan, Finnian, Griffin, Quincy, Zane, Flynn, Teague, Dean, Sullivan, Tiernan, Keane, Ian, Bryce, Kieran, Sean, Felix, Briggs, Seth, John, Casey.
Or there’s the game of baby-name-book surfing I like to play with The Baby Name Wizard: start with Emerson, and look at the suggested brother names: Everett, Paxton, Whitman, Beckett, Miles, Truman. Pick your favorite of those (even if you’re only so-so about all of them), and then look up THAT name and ITS brother names, and pick your favorite of THOSE. If you hit a dead end (for example, the name you like best doesn’t have its own entry), go back and choose again. Keep going until you feel like you’re narrowing in on a circle of preferred names or a preferred TYPE of name. Or maybe you’ll find that every name you choose belongs to the same one or two categories, so you can flip to the back and look more carefully through those categories. Another type of success is to think, “I really don’t like ANY of these names”—which may mean the name you’re looking at is an outlier for your style.
I keep finding treasures on your middle name list. Would you rather not use a family name as the first name? If you don’t mind it, I love Alden and Gordon especially. Alden would probably need to be spelled—but I think that’s okay. Both my maiden and married surnames have needed to be spelled every single time (and often more than once), and my first name also needs to be spelled every single time, but I wouldn’t say it’s been a big deal. Most first names (even easy ones) need to be spelled.
I think I’d add Riggins to the middle name list: I like Quinn Riggins, though then the name is very heavily chosen by your husband; I’d want to have an agreement in place to try to even that out with the next child.
Would your husband like to use John Riggins’s first name instead of his last name? Depending on where you live, John as a first name can be quite a fresh and surprising choice—like Mary for a girl, where it feels like such a common name but it’s not common at all for current babies. John has a similar sound to Quinn, and John Emerson Veselka would be a very handsome choice.
Name update! Megan writes:
Hi Swistle! On June 5, 2014 at 7:42pm, my husband and I welcomed Cameron Rey! He was 7lbs, 3oz, 20.5inches long, and perfect!
We decided against using Emerson and Quinn. After seeing all of the comments, we realized that even though WE might not consider them female names, the majority of people do. Cameron was suggested by someone on Twitter and we added it to the list. It wasn’t until I was in early labor that we decided for sure. We like that we can shorten it to Cam or also use the full name.
Thanks for your help and the input of your readers!!
Quinn Riggins is so reminiscent of Tim Riggins for me – though that’s a good thing. I am not sure Friday Night Lights, as awesome as it was, had wide enough appeal for most people to make the connection.
I immediately thought of Tim Riggins as well. I love the show and his character especially so for me it’s a good thing.
Me too! I immediately thought of Tim Riggins (although I couldn’t even think of his first name as I only think of him as “Riggins”) and it brought a smile to my face : )
For me Quinn has the same issue as Emerson: it’s leaning strongly toward girls. In 2012 (last SSA stats) Quinn ranked #153 for girls, #321 for boys.
I think you’re on the right track with your criteria of “Simple, normal names. I want our son to have a name that is easy to pronounce and spell”, and I very much like your idea of giving him Rey as his middle name if you possibly can.
David Rey Veselka
Carson Rey Veselka
Not necessarily those particular names but something along that line seems to be a good pairing with your surname.
Ditto to all of these observations. I also really like Swistle’s suggestion of John Emerson Veselka.
I like Emerson Quinn or Quinn Emerson, or if you use Quinn and Quinn Rey seems too abrupt, maybe going back to the full form would work– Quinn Reynold. Swistle had a good point about being able to save one of the names for a future child. It’s a less risky strategy for you than it often is because both names are unisex.
I think both Quinn and Emerson are very unisex and lean more towards girl for me (but then almost all unisex names seem slightly more girl to me it seems).
I really like Emil from your list.. I’m 50% Czech.. Great Grandfather was Pavel.. then Americanized to Paul if either of those interest you. Great Uncle is John.. so could use John for John Riggins as well.
I like the suggestion of Finn.. maybe also Merritt.
For what it’s worth, where I am in the Northeast, both Quinn and Emerson lean more towards girl in usage. It’s not a big deal to me (we named our son Julian who has been the recipient of a few pink items from my husband’s clients who apparently were not familiar with the name and if we have a second boy I’m pushing for Elliot) but it might be important to you or your husband. It’s hard for me to get a feel for other names you might like, so I think Swistle’s suggestions of going into the books may be a good one so you can suss out your naming style.
I like the idea of using Riggins or John as a middle name if you don’t use Rey(nold), especially if you end up picking a name off of your list. But then I usually like honoring the mother’s side of the family when the kids are getting dad’s last name.
Good luck!
It sounds like maybe your problem with Quinn is that it doesn’t flow well with your preferred middle name. In that case, I think Quentin & Quincy would make really nice options. Quincy Rey.
The unisex issue of Emerson does bother me, more so than the unisex feel of Quinn. To me, Emerson is a unisex name leaning girl. I could see it crossing over and becoming exclusively girl-similar to Shannon or Courtney. Quinn still sounds like a boys name that gets used on girls sometimes.
The 2012 numbers for the name Quinn: 972 M, 2095 F.
Ack! I was way off base with that one.
Love the suggestion of Finn. Similar to Quinn but has that Irish feel you are looking for and sounds great with your surname.
Finn Emerson
Finn Riggins
Finn Reynold
You could have Finnegan, Finley or Fintan nn Finn too.
Finnegan Rey
Finley David
Fintan Emil
I’d also like to suggest Ruben. Loving this name right now!
Ruben David or Ruben Emil perhaps?
All the best!
You could also get to Finn with Griffin. And Griffin has a similar sound to Riggins.
I don’t know if this tidbit of information would be alarming to you or not: when I hear Quinn Rey, I immediately think of the character “Quinn Febrey” on the TV show “Glee”.
That was my first thought too.
My brother was very good friends with John Riggins’ kids growing up. For the record, one of his son was named Emil Andrew (or Andrew Emil) and went by Emil. Since Emil is one of the names you have on your list and it is also one of Riggins’ kids, that might satisfy you both! (PS, his other kids were Robert Crafton (Bobby), Portia (can’t remember her middle name) and Liberty Rose. Now you’ve got them in case you want to use them in the future!) :-)
Surprising that someone following this blog has a connection to John Riggins and knows his kids’ names — first and middle! I googled him just now and read that he has two more children (names not given) by his second wife. I also noticed that John Riggens’ given name is Robert John, so it would seem that his son Robert (Bobby) was named after him.
I also immediately thought of Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights. I know this has nothing to do with what you were asking but another character on Friday Nights Lights is named Landry. Perhaps you might like that name?
Landry Quinn Veselka.
Quinton Rey Veselka (you’re still getting the Quinn sound), I actually love this!
Easton Rey
Emmett Jordan
Emeric
What about Briggs? That gets you the double “g” as in Riggins
Briggs Alden Veselka
Can’t wait to hear what you choose with this one!
I really love Ashli’s suggestion of Briggs! So cute!
For me, Quinn and Emerson sound very much like girls. I would definitely assume a child was a girl if I heard either of these names. This is certainly because of where I live. I know three Emerson’s, all girls, one being my daughter. I also know 4 people who have used the name Quinn, all girls, one using it as a middle name.
It is hard to determine what types of names you like but I do think the idea of John is really fresh and adorable on a little boy.
Also, before we had our daughter I loved the name Emmett for a boy and although my husband vetoed it, I still love the soft, handsome sound of it. You get the sounds of Emerson but this is a more masculine name (only in my opinion)!
Best of luck to you, can’t wait to hear what you choose!
I have to give a shout out to Riggins that it might deserve a second look. I know a baby named Riggins and I have to stay that it is ADORABLE and most definitely not just a dog name (as someone that got called a Brittany Spaniel, an actual dog breed, it really didn’t matter anyway) . He goes by Riggs a lot and it is so cute. I love the name and think the association is great.
I love the name Gordon and think it is totally underused and ready for a revival.
There seems to be a lot of consternation about boys being confused for girls on this blog, but I kind of like the ambiguity. I wouldn’t let that sway you from the unisex names you like. Emerson in particular is uncommon enough that people will be unlikely to make assumptions based on prior experiences.
Among my dad’s family, the tradition is to give a son the father’s first name as a middle name. So maybe you could also consider Steven as a middle name in addition to Rey.
I think it might be good to focus on surname names since your husband likes them – Quinn and Emerson, each of your favorites, fit the bill but seem to have become feminized. Here are some other surnames names that have remained masculine and may work.
Lincoln Rey
Dawson Rey
Winston Rey
Donovan Rey
Nolan Rey
Clay Reynold
BTW, i really like Gordon Rey from you list of family names.
I’m going to second the suggestion to use Quentin (it’s almost a mix of Quinn and Emerson in sound) or Quincy.
Quentin(or Quinton) Rey
Quincy Rey
Either of these options sound good with most of the family middle name options too!
I really like the suggestion of Quentin- it breaks up the choppiness of “Quinn Rey” and you can still call him Quinn as a nick name. I know a few boys name Quinn and I really like the name on them.
I don’t know if you’ve considered it but I really like the name Harrison for your situation. Harrison Rey is a great first name/middle name combo and I think it works with your surname.
I agree with others, it’s tough to get a feel for what your and your husbands’ tastes in names are. I think Swistle nailed it with figuring out what type of style you like, what sounds you prefer, etc. and going from there.
I love Emil for you. It’s a family name, not common but yet it is not made up. Using a more modern/fun middle name keeps it feeling super fresh and spunky, such as Emil Rey or Emil Riggins. Plus, the tie in with Riggins naming one of his kids that is also super cool!
I also like Alden from your list. It is different and uncommon.
I have to say that I’m not a fan of Emerson for a boy… in my mind it is very “girl”. I was very surprised to see the numbers for Quinn leaning much more to girls then boys, I’ve never come across a girl Quinn before. I do like the previous suggestions of Quincy though.
I love the suggestions of Briggs and Griffin and Finn (and variations)
Other Celtic/Irish names:
Lacklan
Declan
Hugh
Seamus
Jack
Callum
Campbell
Cormac
Reide or Reed
Sullivan
Reilly
Good luck and congrats!
Thanks for writing about Emerson as a name for boys!