Hi there!
I’ve been reading your blog for years, long before marriage and kids. My husband and I will be welcoming our first child in July. We will not be finding out the sex of our child prior to delivery.
My husband’s name is Karl, and his father is Carl. My name is Maribelle (pronounced like the Spanish Maribel or phonetically Ma-ree-bell in English.) Our child’s and my husband’s last name sounds like Tolland without the T.
If we have a girl we plan to name her one of the following names:
Mariana
Marielena
MariellaWe firmed our girl names rather quickly as it is a family tradition to name girls with an M name in my family, and my husband was quick to jump on board. We feel the girls names we have selected work in English, Spanish, and Italian- the three languages spoken in our home.
Now, for boy names we can’t agree decide. We are struggling to come up with boys names we both like.
My husband wants a Karl-like name that isn’t Carl or Karl. I want to incorporate my dad’s very Hispanic name Jaime (Hi-me) into our potential son’s name but not necessarily as a first name. Ideally the name would also sound good in Italian and Spanish but at this point those requirements aren’t too high on my list.
My husband likes only the following names which I dislike for one reason or another but mostly because I already mentally associate someone in my life with them and/or find the name too Hispanic.
Charles
CarlosI like the following names and my husband strongly dislikes them.
Lucas (he has agreed to using it as a middle name)
James (similar to Jaime)
Carlson or Karlson
Claudio
Gabriel (our niece is Aubrielle and he feels this would be too matchy)I have searched exhaustedly for different variations of Carl or a name that sounds remotely similar to satisfy my husband to no avail.
Can you suggest some boys names that may satisfy his desire to have a son named Karl without being Karl, sound good with a last name similar to Tolland but without the T, and potentially is well suited with the middle name Lucas?
Thanks a million,
Maribelle
The only other options I can think of are Carlo and Carlton; I’m hoping commenters will have more ideas.
Oh, another possibility would be a double name, such as John-Carl or James-Carlos.
I wonder if there is any way you could come around to the name Charles. It depends, of course, on your particular association with the name. But sometimes associations can be weakened: one way is to dilute it by finding a whole bunch more people with the name:
Charles Babbage
Charles Barkley
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickins
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Schulz
And so on.
It’s one of the hardest things in baby-naming, I think, when a strong preference (in this case, for a Karl-like name) doesn’t result in any names the parents particularly like or can agree on. At this point, the search for The Name That Satisfies the Preference and Also We Both Love It is very likely a search that’s going to leave you stuck in a never-ending loop. Instead it comes down to weighing the merits of two incompatible preferences: do you want to go with the preference for a Karl-like name, or do you want to go with the preference for a name you both like? Hardest of all will be if the two of you disagree on which preference should take precedence.
One possibility for compromise is this: if your husband is getting his way on a Karl-like name, perhaps he could be more open to your suggestions of how to get there. It seems as if right now he wants the Karl-like name AND he wants it to be only a name from his two-name list. Carlson seems like the best possibility for a name that would please both parents: he gets a Karl-like name, and you get a name you like. If he really can’t tolerate Carlson, and you really can’t tolerate Charles or Carlos, it may be time to concede defeat. Perhaps Carl/Karl/Charles/Carlos could be used as a middle name instead.
Name update!
Hi Swistle!
After more than 72 hours of labor, choosing a name didn’t seem as difficult as it once was for my husband and me. We recently welcomed a boy to our family and named him Lucas Carl which satisfied both my husband and my preferences. So far we haven’t had too many problems with pronunciation in any of three languages spoken by our friends and families.
Thanks again to you and all your followers for your suggestions as they were instrumental in helping my husband switch from “must have Karl like first name” to maybe it’s better as a second name.
I can understand your husband wanting a boy’s name to reflect his name, as your name for a girl will be similar to yours. I did a quick look at SSA’s list of all names given to baby boys in 2013 and here’s the list of more standard options, in order of number of baby boys given them:
Carlos — 3657
Carl — 348
Giancarlo — 287
Carlton — 81
Carlin — 37
Carlisle –28
Carlyle –19
Carlson –10
I like Carlton James for you. Carl and Carlton would be nice together for father and son (and more subtle than Carl and his son Carlson) and would carryon the name Karl/Carl from his paternal grandfather; James — or Jaime if you prefer — would include your dad’s name too.
Carlton James (T)olland
I really like that name!
Carlo – 166 — should be in the list of names above
It has occurred to me that you might want to coordinate a “Carl name” with your three girl’s name favorites – Mariana, Marielena, or Mariella. With that in mind, Carlo might be a better choice:
Carlo James
Carlo Jaime
Carlo Lucas
Carl, Maribelle and Mariana
or
Carl, Maribelle and Carlo
and perhaps someday
Carlo and Mariana (Marielena or Mariella)
HI there!
I am not sure what the SSA list of all names given is. Can you provide more information? Perhaps this can be another resource to search for names.
Maribelle, amazing and much appreciated that you took the time to respond to so many of the suggestions. To answer your question to me, every May the United States Social Security Administration publishes a list of all names given to babies born in this country the previous year and tabulates the popularity rating of each name to come up with the Top 1000 Names for that year. For 2013, 3657 American-born baby boys were named Carlos, giving the name the ranking of 105th most popular baby boy name in the U.S. for that year. Carl ranked at #580 (438 baby boys given the name). You can find the SSA baby name information here: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html
The rest of the names I listed above, including Giancarlo and Carlo, did not place in the Top 1000 baby boys names for 2013. I found them and the number of boys each was given to in the SSA “Beyond the Top 1000 Names”: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html.
The SSA baby name data can be useful to expectant parents in several ways: giving them information on which names are the most popular (some parents want to avoid giving their baby an extremely popular name); as a source of names currently being given to babies — the rest of the Top 1000; as a source of unusual names that are more unique/unusual — Beyond the Top 1000; for ideas of names that begin with a certain letter or letters, such as your situation of wanting a name “like Carl”, etc.
Because this is a country of immigrants, many English-speaking Americans are familiar with some Spanish and Italian names, particularly those names that have a form in all three languages. Carlos would be a case in point; I image most English speakers have heard it. Because of that, I think Carlo also would easily be accepted by speakers of your three target languages.
After reading all your comments, I’m wondering if Carlo Jaime would be the perfect name if your baby is a boy. Karl, Carl, Carlo – father to son to son, and Jaime for your dad.
Best wishes!
I meant, Carl, Karl, Carlo, father to son to son…
Thanks so much for the explanation. Interesting collection of data. I will have a look at it in May to see the stats for 2014.
Thanks again, Patricia.
Would you like Calogero (nn Carlo)?
That’s an interesting suggestion! Not one I have ever considered. Thanks for the suggestion, Alaina.
I know an adult Carlo and I really like it. It is Italian, which fits your criteria, and has that well liked “o” ending too.
The only other name I can think of is Carlitos. Bit of a mouthful perhaps?
Like Swistle’s suggestion of Carlton. What about Charlton?
Good luck!
I like Charlton myself although it reminds me of a coworker who had a very rough couple of years prior to ending his life. I tend to steer away from it as it constantly reminds me of his unfortunate path he took in life. Otherwise, it would be an awesome name.
What about Jameson? Or Arlo (Carlo without the C)?
Kale?
Chas/Chaz? Which makes me think of Chad.
Which makes me think of Cade or Caden? Maybe that’s too removed. Cade Lucas sounds nice.
Or incorporate a double. Jameson Cade Lucas Tolland? It could be JC as a nick name. That makes me think of Jace, too. Jace Carlo Lucas?
I agree about Arlo.
Thanks for the suggestions. They reminded me of many things from food to alcohol. :)
Cade is a lovely name in English in Spanish and Italian it’s a bit strange sounding as sounds like a mispronounced word in both languages.
What about Calvin, Callum, Callan or Caleb with the nickname Cal. Not quite the same as Carl/Karl but very similar in sound.
There is the italian name Calvino too.
Yes, Calvino is an Italian name. It is more vastly known as an Italian surname rather than a given name.
Cole?
Like many others, I’m digging Carlo. I am not actually a fan of the names Carl, Carlos, or Charles… but for me, Carlo has something those others don’t have. There’s some edge to it. It’s “cool”. It certainly fits your criteria by being pronounceable in all the languages. It’s not too Hispanic, like your feeling about Carlos. In fact, I think it errs on the side of Italian.
I live in the States (I’m not sure you do), and I don’t know if this is practiced anywhere else: sometimes kids are called by their initials. If you didn’t like Carlo, you could name him Carlo James and call him CJ.
I agree, Carlo is pretty cool! So far it is a new name I am considering myself. I will have to pass it along to my husband tonight.
The idea of using initials as a name is interesting. While it works in English, in that it flows, in Italian and Spanish it doesn’t have the same effect. Hear for yourself: CJ in Italian would be “Chi-i lunga”, which would actually be “Chi d’i lunga” as two vowels never follow one another, and in Spanish it would be kind of like “sae-jota”. It just doesn’t sound as pleasing as it does in English.
Carol/Karel? It strikes the American English ear as feminine/mom BUT perhaps from an international perspective, it is just another variant of Charles.
Polish Karol
Romanian Carol
Czech Karel
I think one of the hardest things is knowing our child’s name potentially will be butchered in at least one language. While I speak all three languages, my husband speaks only two, and we have family members on both sides who only speak one of the three languages we speak. So the potential for having our potential son’s name mispronounced is quite high. For this, perhaps it would be simpler for us to find a name that is easy to pronounced between the three or not too internationally influenced to avoid further complications with pronunciation within our families.
I liked Giancarlo from an earlier poster- it offers a subtle nod to your father and adds a Carl in there as well.
I would also suggest you think about what “like Karl/Carl” means. Does it mean sounds like the name Carl, or could it mean a four letter name, a name starting with C/K a name with a AR sound? If so then you might be able to widen the list without giving up on like Carl/Karl. I still like Giancarlo best of the stated options.
Good question, and one I haven’t asked my husband to get a better understanding of what “like Karl/Carl” means. I will be sure to ask!
I too love Giancarlo as it appears others do too. My husband isn’t a fan. He deemed it too Italian for the anglophones in our families. Too bad, as I do fancy it quite a bit!
I have the same problem with boy names…my husband would like a variation of Charles to honor a family tradition, I keep scouring the globe thinking there must be one more that I haven’t thought of yet that I would actually like. But the truth is, they all pretty much sound like Charles.
The only one I don’t see on your list are Cary, which I suspect your husband will not like. But maybe Carson would appeal to him more than Charlson. It looks like your husband is rejecting names that seem too prep school. Or there’s Cal/Caleb/Calvin.
Have you thought about Charlie? The nickname Charlie makes me think I could almost live with Charles…although then I start scheming how I could call a little boy Lee exclusively.
To honor a Jaime, my off-the-wall suggestion is Hiram. Although I also really like Jaime, or anglicized Jamie, just as is.
Ah, another Charles variation seeker! We unite! :) At work meetings, I scribble on my notepads the various different variations of Charles that come to mind. I too think there must be one more that I haven’t thought of. If only I could find it, and if only my husband would fall in love with it too!
He is indeed turning away from what you consider prep school names. I do like the nickname Charlie (even if Charles and Charles aren’t in any way easy for Italians or Spanish speakers to pronounce easily); but my husband thinks Charlie can only be a nickname for so long. I wish he would agree to an official name of Charlie, I’d settle for that over Charles any day.
My dad died suddenly and quickly when I was a teenager. I was very close to him, so using this name as it was Jaime is truly the only choice I would seriously consider. Hiram sounds nice. It sounds a bit exotic to me. Perhaps even Arabic. In Spanish it sounds a bit like Ibraham to me.
I immediately thought of Carlton for you as well.
I personally love Charles and think you should revisit whether you could ever like it.
I second (or third or fourth…) Carlo. It gives a much different feel then Carlos for some reason plus, you could use Arlo as a shortened name if you wanted to get away from the everyday Carlo.
I also really like a previous suggestion of Carlyle.
As for middle names, I like the idea of using your dads name.
Good luck and keep us posted!! I also really like all your girl names too!!
Thanks! I love our girls names. In fact, I love them so that if I had to the choice of only selecting one of the two potential sex names I’d chose any of the girls names over having input in a boy’s name. I am grateful, to have input in both sexes names.
Arlo is not a name I have ever heard. It does sound fantastic in all three languages.
Thanks for your suggestions.
According to Nameberry Arlo is Spanish and means “barberry tree”
I thought of Carlo first, too. I like that or Giancarlo. Or how about Charles with the nn Chase? That might dilute your Charles associations if they go by Charles or Charlie.
Chase is a name? I have not heard of it. In fact other than the verb, to chase, I had never heard of it. If it wasn’t clear already English is not my first language.
I deeply love Giancarlo.
Clark seems similar to Karl/Carl. Sort of a slight remix of sounds.
Very nice suggestion!
I like the suggestions of Carlo and Arlo! I was also going to suggest Calvin, and I see someone else did. I think Carlson is very neat, since he will be Karl’s son!
I also was going to suggest Larkin since “Karl” is mixed up in the name :)
Larkin is a new suggestion to me.
Thanks for the suggestions. So far, Carlo is added to my short list of name potentials to share with my husband.
Giancarlo is super handsome, it’s always been a guilty pleasure of mine – and if we spoke Italian at my house it would definitely be under consideration!
We needed a name that worked in English and Spanish and went with Victor for our first, and now Francisco with our second. We like how very international they are (work in French, Italian too) and maybe your husband would go for the Chico nickname for Francisco?
FWIW, I love Carlos and Carlo, but I understand completely if you don’t!
Tradition is important (we are naming our second after my husband’s father!) but your husband shouldn’t have you exhaustively searching for a name while he sticks to a list of two and only two names he’s willing to consider. I assume your kiddo will have his last name, so that is enough of an honor and a tradition that he could stand to open up and be a little more flexible, in my opinion. What would happen if you told him neither Charles nor Carlos were an option for you? Are there other men in his family he’d like to honor? maybe Charles or Carlo could move to the middle and he and his family could use either liberally as a nickname with a different first that you both agree on? I bet the tradition would have a MUCH better chance of continuing into future generations if you moved Karl style names into the middle – maybe point that out to him? Not that meddling in your marriage is ANY of my business, forgive me for making a bunch of suggestions for which you didn’t ask. :)
Don’t worry your suggestions are causing me to feel you are meddling in my marriage.
Giancarlo is an awesome name! I, too, love it.
I have never heard of Chico as a nickname for Francisco.
As for my husband, I did tell him Charles was not an option for me at all! The other men in our family whom we would consider honouring have names that we do not wish to use for our child. These names, Theodore, Selvin, Desmond, Roberto, Jiacopo, are just not our style and/or do not sound good in all three languages we speak.
Thanks for replying!
That was supposed to say are NOT… ha!
Behindthename.com has a list of names related to Carl/Charles. Perhaps something there will appeal to you both? http://www.behindthename.com/name/carl/related
Another way to get around the association you have with Charles would be to use a nickname, particularly if there is a less-common nickname you can agree on. Chaz, Chuck, Chip?
I do like Swistle’s suggestion of double name. I will add that it’s a shame your husband can’t get on board with Gabriel. Visually it seems close to your niece’s name, but when I say it, not so much. Gabe-ree-il and Aww-bree-ehl. The nickname Gabe would add even more distinction in just day to day use.
It is a shame! I love Gabriel.
I love your choices for girls names! For boys, I really like Arlo. It’s similar enough to Karl, without actually being Karl. Arlo Jaime sounds nice to me! Even Arlo Lucas has a nice ring to it. I do like Carlo, but I feel that Arlo offers a more modern twist. Not a huge fan of Carlton, as I instantly think of the show Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but maybe that’s just me.
Best of Luck!
That’s one of the exact same reasons my husband vetoed Carlton! As a child, he worked with the actor who played Carlton, as a model himself, and thus that’s truly why he doesn’t care for the name.
I’ll throw in Karoly and Kale/Cale, as they are forms of Karl. But one thing might be to look at the meaning of Karl, and choose a name with the same meaning? Not sure if he’d go for that since it’s a lot more subtle of a namesake, but it DOES open up the field a bit more. I think Karl is a form of Charles, which means “man” or “free man”, but you’ll have to look that up.
I agree with the general consensus above that Carlo is pretty great and the nickname Charlie might make some of the Carl-like names really great? But I also wondered if any of these might be worth considering: Carlin/Karlen (or any spelling of this), Charlie as a stand-alone name rather than a nickname, Markel (I love this actually!), or Carson (if you like more trendy sounding names).
Carrick, Calder, Carver, Crandall
I searched the baby name wizard website for boy names that have the ARL combo. I wonder if any of them would work for you. I am a fan of the simple Carl, but Arlen, Marlon, and Marlowe may appeal to you.
A lot of my ideas have been written by other commenters already but I will list them anyway! I thought of:
Arlo
Carson
Carsten/karsten
Carson
Carlton
Clark
Carter
Good luck!
Carlo! Yes!
Also: Luca
How about Kyle? I’m honestly surprised no one has suggested it yet. Kyle Lucas or Kyle James would be great.
Thanks for the suggestions. Kyle, unfortunately, is not a name I like.
I love your name, Averella!
Carlo is a favorite of my two. Carlo Jaime would be my choice but Carlo Lucas would work as well.
Carl James could also result in the nickname CJ, if that was desirable. A nod to both grandfathers.
I don’t know if anyone has suggested this, but Iago is the Spanish equivalent of Jacob, an earlier version of James I think may fit your tastes and is a nod to your dad (albeit distant).
Also I know of someone considering the name Freeman, which is the literal meaning of Charles. She plans to use Free as the nn, but I prefer Manny.
Iago Freeman
Iago Carlos, etc.
From the above comments, if say Carlo is my favorite.
Carlo Jaime.
Arlo seems like a great way to get the feel of Carl but not quite the same name.
What about Carlyle- you could call him Lyle!
Or Carson seems great as well. Same with Carter- reminiscent of Carl but individual.
Carson Lucas or Carter Lucas would get you CARson/CARter Lucas- Carl throughout the first and middle name.
I know a boy named Callan called Cal… possibly an option. Or Cole, or Charlie, or Clay.
Carlyle has panache! Carlyle Lucas is even fun to say.
Charleston literally means ‘Carl’s town’. It’s a major city, a dance, and part of the name on a candy bar. Chaz makes a snappy nickname if you don’t like the ever-friendly Charlie.
Another way, perhaps, to approach things is to go with Karl/Carl as a middle name and use a Jaime variant as a first name: Jameson, Jack, Jem, Seamus, Diego, Tiago, etc.
Best wishes as you welcome your child! Please let us know when you’ve picked a name!
Carlisle is what jumped to my mind…
So many good ideas! Clark, Carter, and Carlo are my favorites. I also like Arlo, but it seems like a big jump from Karl/Carl.
Would you and your husband be up for taking liberties with the tradition? If it’s relatively new in the big family-tree picture (husband’s father to husband), maybe the tradition could morph into something more general, ie, boys get a dad-inspired name (first or middle, similar sounds or meaning, etc). Then you’d have a little more flexibility without neglecting tradition.
When I read the title I thought Kurt is like Karl.
Jacob comes from the same root as James.
I like the idea of a double barrel name James Carlos is awesome.
Karl derives from the same root as Karol and pope John Paul had that name so perhaps John? That might be the biggest stretch I ever suggested but if the family are ultra-catholic it may work :)
I n my opinion if a family name doesn’t work then move it to the middle.
I second Kyle, Cole and Calvin. And Carlo is great.
But I’m wondering what “Karl-like but not Karl” means. Does he mean the sound of the name or the style of the name?
I’m thinking a name like Marc / Mark would be similar in style to Carl / Karl. All work in English, Italian, Spanish and other European languages …
Karl – Carl – Carlo – Carlos
Mark – Marc – Marco – Marcos
Or there’s also Marcus, Marcel, Marcellus, Marcello
What I like about it is that it is a little bit of both of your names. It has the beginning of your name, with the end sounds from his name. And having a son Marc needn’t rule out having a Mariella later on.
Or you could change your tradition a wee bit and have a son named after you and a daughter named after your husband. There are so many good girls names that come from Karl — Carla, Carlita, Carleen, Caroline, Charlotte.
All the best
Carlisle gets my vote. Though I see nothing wrong with using the honor name as his middle name and just going with something you truly love.
Carlus?
Chuck
Carbon
Corbin
All of your girl names work in all 3 languages. My instinct woukd be to move closer to the other languages, rather than away. I’d jump at Giancarlo. Gets the dad’s name in there, has the soft g, and you could go lots of ways with the nn. With Nico, Luca, and Matteo so popular, Giancarlo isnt much of a stretch. Giancarlos James, maybe?
Generally I tend to think that when you’ve reached an impasse on the name front for one of the possible genders, it makes sense to re-evaluate your reasoning for keeping the gender secret from yourselves and find out what it is when you can (which I imagine would be around now, or very soon). I know it can feel fun or more special not to know, but not when the not-knowing means maintaining a continued worry or anxiousness over the name.
I also agree with Swistle that your husband needs to budge a little: “It seems as if right now he wants the Karl-like name AND he wants it to be only a name from his two-name list. ” So true.
A good compromise to me would be to use Karl/Carl in the middle name spot, and let you pick the first name (but give him veto power). OR, I would suggest using Carl (grandpa’s spelling) as a first name, and letting you have total control over middle name. But don’t use Jr…technically he wouldn’t be anyway, because your husband is Karl, but it would help avoid the burger chain references. :) I like Carl Lucas a lot!
Fear not, we are not anxious about not having selected a boy’s name as of yet. It doesn’t rule our every day life, we don’t fight over it, nor do we otherwise have any negative experiences not knowing the sex of our child and associating a name to him or her. We are both very rational people even if we can’t decide on a name. :) Our choice to not find out the sex is based on wanting a surprise at the end of the nine months more than anything. We figured this is the ultimate surprise we can give ourselves in life. Should we have future children, we have agreed to find out and only because we would like to be prepared as to whether we need to acquire new sex specific items for the child or not. Otherwise, we wouldn’t find out with any future pregnancies either.
As for the name suggestions, thanks for everyone to provided additional suggestions.
I love Carlo, and while I haven’t mentioned it to my husband, who does like Carlos, I am hoping he will consider it.
Recently, I suggested Carson, Carter, Cornell, Cameron, and Carl. He agreed Carl would work. Carl Lucas would be great! Thanks for that suggestion from so many of you. I also love Carlo Luca but that may be way too Italian for my husband. (Haha!)
I’ll be sure to follow up once our child arrives to let everyone know what we decided to go with.
Would Juan Carlos appeal?
I thought I would provide a general update of sorts.
My husband and I have expanded the list of boy names, and while it’s not diverse by any means I’m happy we have agreed on more choices which take the focus off of Charles. :)
My husband read all your responses and gave me feedback about each of your name choices. While some names were far too trendy or different for us we did chose two names some of you (or a collection of you) suggested.
We now have the following on a list of potentials:
Carlo Lucas
Carl Jaime
All in all, while our list of boys name is short we do have alternatives to Charles, and we are both happy. We did agree if our child doesn’t seem like a Carl or a Carlo upon birth we would go back to the drawing board and decide on other names. This actually happened with me. My parents agreed to name me Susana Isabella after both of my grandmothers, and then at birth my dad said I didn’t look like a Susana. He suggested Maribel and my mom decided to “make it different” by adding -le at the end, and not giving me a middle name. We will see what ends up happening with our own child. I will be sure to return with an update later this summer!
What about Carlsen? It’s a variant of Carlson/Karlson but not quite so obvious. You could use Carlo or Arlo as nicknames.
This is more of a place name, and I’m sure it would be hard to pronounce in other languages, but I thought I’d mention it. Carlisle. (Car-ly-ul). I could even have the nickname Lyle if you wanted. Congrats on your pregnancy and I hope you find the perfect name!
Lovely name, although difficult to pronounce in some languages, however it is already the name of one of our family members. Too bad as it is truly lovely!
How about Franco? It works in English, Italian and Spanish, and has the same meaning (free/free man) as Carl/Karl/Carlos/Charles, etc.
Good Luck!
Carlo is such a great name! After reading this post I am thoroughly in love with it! It is so on trend right now with other popular “O” names such as Oliver, Oscar, Theo, Leo, Arlo etc and yet it isn’t on the radar yet. Love that it means something to your family too. My vote is for Carlo James or Carlo Jaime.
The whole time I was also thinking of all the great Carl/ charles inspired girls names too! But you do have some lovely girls names picked out but perhaps go with a Carl/Charles inspired middle name for a daughter.
Bonnie_jo,
We have chosen a Karl inspired middle name for our daughter. :)