Dear Swistle,
I’m excited to be writing to you after reading for years! My husband (Joe) and I (Louisa) are expecting our first child (a boy) in early November. The baby will have my husband’s last name, pronounced MOOSE-oh.
When we started to talk about names, we agreed on a girl’s name right away that we’re going to save for a future daughter – Philippa Grace, nicknamed Pip or Pippa. Other girls’ names we like include Lydia and Eloise. Finding the right boy’s name for THIS baby is much harder! We’ll likely stop at two, max three children.
My favorite for this baby is Jonathan. I think that it feels serious and somewhat classic while still giving plenty of options from childhood to adulthood – Jonathan, Jack, Jonny, Jon. My husband doesn’t like the spelling of Jonathan (he’d be more open to Johnathan, which I think looks strange and would prompt a lot of correcting over the course of our son’s life!). I also like Kenneth (Ken or Kenny), Charles (Charlie), and Nathaniel (Nate) – these are all vetoed by my husband.
My husband’s favorite is Jack as a standalone first name. He likes the sound, that it feels masculine, and that there are some family connections on his side. To me, Jack feels like a nickname, not a full name. His other favorites included Declan, Aidan and Cormac (all vetoed by me).
Other names we’re considering are Dominic (nn Nico), John (nn Jack), Connor, and Dean. We’re stuck disagreeing on John because we both feel so strongly about Jack/Jonathan and neither Dean, Connor, or Dominic feels quite right so far.
Middle names we are considering are Louis (we like that this echoes my first name, and combined with John or Jonathan would be an homage to John Lewis, who is one of our heroes), Douglass, and Xavier. We don’t like any of these for first names.
Other names we’ve ruled out as first names are Kent, Patrick, George, Cameron, Maxwell, Quinn, Scott, Seamus, Caleb, Lee, and Adam
We’re not down with names that are super trendy and we’ve also love to stay out of the top 20 if we can.
Thanks for your help!
Louisa
I am of two minds. First mind: I think the two of you are going to have to abandon the entire Jonathan/Johnathan/Jack/John branch. The Johnathan spelling seems problematic to me, too; it would certainly be manageable if you both agreed on it and were willing to take on the hassle, but not if one of you doesn’t like it. And I don’t think of Jack as a nickname for either spelling. And your feelings about Jack seeming like a nickname rather than a given name need to be taken into account. Plus, while it is too old and familiar a name to be called trendy, its recent usage has felt trendy to me: it joined Max and Sam in a late-1990s resurgence of short-boy-names-that-used-to-seem-like-old-man-names. Fashionable, that’s the word I’m looking for: it’s not trendy, but it’s recently been very fashionable.
But this is my second mind: Wait, why isn’t John-nicknamed-Jack the perfect solution here? It removes the Jonathan/Johnathan spelling issue. It offers a beautiful compromise for the “he wants Jack but it seems like a nickname to you” issue. It takes care of Swistle’s possibly overly-strict objection to Jack as a nickname for Jonathan/Johnathan. It reminds you of John Lewis, and both of you like that connection. It’s not trendy; it’s not in the top 20. It’s great with your surname; it’s great with all your possible future daughter names. It goes well with Louis, and I love the reasons for using Louis. I mean, it seems like we’re done here. Aren’t we done here?
If we are not done here, then I’d note that I see a lot of hard-C and K sounds in the names on your lists: Kenneth, Declan, Cormac, Dominic, Nico, Connor. I wonder if you’d like:
Aidric
Broderick
Calvin
Clark
Frederick
Isaac
Karl
Kendrick
Kieran
Nicholas
Oscar
Quentin
Or instead of Jonathan, would you like Benjamin? The two names seem very similar to me: same syllables, same rhythm, same nickname potential; both have prominent J-sounds and N-sounds; both end in N. Ben is one of my favorite nicknames for boys: it sounds friendly and reliable.
More possibilities:
Desmond
Edmund
Grant
Harrison
Henry
Oliver
Simon
Name update:
Dear Swistle,
Thank you for taking our question – I’m writing with an update on our baby boy! You and your readers were almost 100% united on a name – we were really struck by the degree to which everyone enthused about John Louis, nickname Jack, as the perfect solution to our dilemma. In hindsight I think we were looking for reassurance that John Louis wasn’t too staid and that we weren’t overlooking another great option, but clearly we should have trusted our gut so thank you and your readers for giving us confidence! John Louis (Jack to his friends!) was born on Monday and we are already calling him Crackerjack, Johnnycake, Johnny-on-the-Spot, Jack-in-the-Box …. etc.
Thanks, Swistle!
Louisa
John Louis (nn Jack) sounds great to me. I am not a big fan of Jonathan … no matter the spelling so it is hard for me to root for for selecting that name. I do love the name Dominic but if that doesn’t feel quite right you probably do need to rule it out.
Although you didn’t specifically mention it, I expect you have ruled out Jackson because it is in the top 20.
Are there other J names you like? It may be workable to get to Jack as nickname from something like Jacoby or James Kent.
I agree John Louis seems to work for you for multiple reasons. Nathaniel, nn Nate, Nicholas, nn Nick, or Zachary, nn Zack are in that names-like Jack slot in my brain as well as Sam and Max.
p.s. If anyone else is still having commenting problems, I’m finding it works better to go directly to the blog, rather than following the Facebook link to the blog.
What about John Lewis? I think Lewis ties to Louisa just as much as Louis does, and the American tradition of naming babies after elected officials gives me warm feelings about democracy, even though I understand why it’s mostly gone out of style and isn’t likely to come back.
First, Johnathan is just wrong. John and Jonathan are not technically related names, despite sounding like they are. Adding an H to Jonathan is just confusing.
I agree that John with the nickname Jack seems like the best compromise and John Louis is fantastic. Otherwise, I think the whole John/Jonathan/Jack thing will have to be eliminated
Ike comes to mind as similar in feel to Jack. Perhaps as a nickname for Isaac. Benedict, Arthur, Luke/LucasLuca,
I’ve known a couple John nn Jack people in my life, and it’s never been an issue. John F. Kennedy was nicknamed Jack! I love John nn Jack for so many reasons. Baby Boy has a pick of excellent choices to choose for himself (John, Johnny, Jack, Jackie, JJ, etc.). I can hear John AND Jack as a lawyer, doctor, barista, museum docent, literally anything. It’s perfect! It falls in your guys’ mutual name interest area! It avoids Johnathan (please, no)/Jonathan!
If John nn Jack doesn’t work, I am partial to Swistle’s suggestion of Clark. Subtle comic book reference, nice strong sound, and familiar yet interesting.
(PS: third attempt to post this comment)
OK, so I followed my Feedly reader link to this site in Chrome. I closed out that tab when commenting didn’t work, then I went to Swistle’s blog > Swistle Baby Names > this post, and it worked!
I really think John Lewis/Louis is the perfect solution. I am of the mindset that Jack is great as a standalone name, but having John as a first name gives you a name you love and still allows your husband to give your son the nickname Jack. My brother-in-law is a John who goes by Jack 99% of the time, and he’s always enjoyed his name. I don’t think Jonathan or Johnathan is the name for you (the latter spelling looks so weird to me). I do like the suggestions of Calvin, Benjamin, and Nicholas, but the John Lewis connection is too awesome and I think you should go in that direction.
I would like to cast a vote for Dean! It is my son’s name and we have received nothing but positive comments about it since he was born 10 years ago. It is easy to say and spell and it is very uncommon name for younger kids. He is the only Dean in his entire school, which is a nice bonus.
I love John Lewis/Louis nicknamed Jack. Love. Love love.
If this doesn’t suit, what about Alexander Lewis. Nicknamed Alec? It has the hard c sound you like, classic not trendy but just a little different.
How about Malcolm or Michael, nn Mack?
Or Jacob, nn Jake?
Or Jeffrey, nn Jeff (seems common, but really isn’t for babies)
Or Corbin?
I also cannot get behind the Johnathan spelling. That seems like such a headache.
No to Johnathan. Ugh. No. Yes yes yes to John nn Jack mn Louis or Lewis.
What about Malachi? nn Mack or Mal? I second Zachary nn Zach/Zac/Zack, and Isaac nn Ike. What about Nicholas nn Nick? Michael nn Mick or Mack?
What about Victor?
I wrote once and then I think my internet connection was lost – so sorry if this is a repeat, but
No to “Johnathan” spelling.
My choice would have been John Louis nn Jack, which I see many have already said.
Good luck; let us know what you decide!
Just chiming in – John Lewis/Louis, nn Jack is great! Goes wonderfully with your future girl names, too. :)
Yes to John Lewis/Louis! Good compromise, and good namesake.
I also like the PP’s suggestion of Malcolm nn Mac. Since African-American history seems to be an interest of yours, you may have feelings about Malcolm X that either make that name a better or worse fit.
John Martin Moo-sa could also work. And Harrison, as suggested by Swistle, reminds me of Harriet Tubman.
I love Jack as a standalone name (in fact, I used it on one of my sons!). I also love Ike, Rex, Archer, Brooks and Theodore or Teddy.
Another vote for John Louis/Lewis nn. Jack! I also really like Dominic with the surname, although I think the nn Nico could be a bit rhymy. As an alternative, I like John Dominic or Dominic Louis nn Dom or Dominic Xavier nn. Nick.
Other than using John (which I love) I thought of Julian initially as almost a combination of Joe and Louisa, and then you mentioned moving Jonathan – and Julian. Otherwise I think you have a lot of good choices and I love John Lewis and am here for that name all day.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Johnathan versus Jonathan. My dad’s name was the latter and people were always spelling it with an H or 2 Os instead of 2 As. If my son’s twin had survived long enough to be named, he’d have been Jonathan Jesse if a boy. (S/he was lost very early in my pregnancy) Jonathan after Dad and Jesse after a kind old man who had a lot of time for his neighbor’s half-grown kids.
John Louis, Jo(h)nathan Louis, Jo(h)nathan Charles, Declan Louis?
I love John Louis, I love Jack. Win!!!
I also like Deacon, Calvin, and Oscar for you (but I’m biased since I have an Oskar and it is such a great name). I have a cousin named Kenrick, which gives you the Kenny nn with a bit different name if Kenneth isn’t quite doing it for you. Timothy also hits the sweet spot of classic without it being used very much. I’m a fan.
John Louis, Pippa, and Eloise
Deacon, Pippa and Eloise
Calvin, Pippa, and Eloise
Oscar, Pippa, and Eloise
Kenrick, Pippa, and Eloise
Timothy, Pippa, and Eloise
Good luck, happy pregnancy!
When I read your letter, my first thought was Lydia Eloise would be so cute and seems like a nod to your name Louisa. Anyways, it seems like you guys have similar style for girls but different from each other and from your girl style for boys. Trying to think of compromise names between the 2: Theodore, Sebastian, Wesley, Edward, Elijah, or Anthony maybe. All classic with nicknames but a little more modern for your husband. I agree John nn Jack works perfectly too.
I live in a big West Coast city, and Jack feels VERY fashionable here. There are 4 in my son’s 54-member 1st grade class, and one each in my 3yo and 1yo daughters’ smaller daycare classes. We also have two family friends with young sons who are Jackson-nicknamed-Jack. It’s a nice name, but I think in addition to your philosophical objection to the nickname-name (which I share), depending on the social circles he runs in it may be nice for your son to have another name option too. I love John and think it’s perfect for you.
Another vote for John with the nickname Jack. A grand compromise with a wide range of interpretations for every personality, from John John to Captain Jack to Little Johnny to what have you. And there are equivalents in so many languages.
John nicknamed Jack
Or maybe Jonathan nicknamed Jack. That way you both get your favorite name :)