Hello Swistle!
I’m hoping you’ll be able to help us make some progress on a name. We’ve come up with some options but haven’t made any progress and the baby is due in two months.
Our last name starts with C and is a male character from Friends…not Ross or Joey. We have a one year old son named Tobias Milo (we call him Toby a lot of the time). We’re expecting a second boy on December 24.
We’re both data geeks at heart so we have an elaborate spreadsheet with weighted ratings for each parent on a variety of factors – sound, meaning, popularity, etc. It worked well for Tobias but for this baby, we have quite a few top contenders and no clear winner.
Our ideal name is one that people recognize as a name, but don’t know many people with that name. I’m Dutch and gravitate to more northern European names.
Here are the ones we came up with:
Leo (doesn’t lend well to any nicknames, but one of our favourites)
Schuyler (is it too hard to spell?)
Willem (William is a family name, but feels too popular to us. We’d more likely use it as a middle name.)
Julian (maybe the most trendy on our list?)
Justus (is it too odd?)
Orson (again…a bit odd)
Luca
FelixNames my husband likes but I don’t: Micah, Malachi, Edmund, Hudson
Names I like but my husband doesn’t: Hugo, Soren, Nico, Silas (too similar to Tobias, maybe)We haven’t even begun to think about middle names…but with our first son, it worked well to just pick something else from our list with a complementary meaning that sounded good.
If we had a girl, the only name we’ve ever thrown around and both liked is Charis/Karis.
We would love to have your help! We’re at a standstill and would like to pick a name before the baby arrives.
Thanks!
Name update:
Felix William was born a week early – I went into labour just hours after we finally sat down and decided on a name!
We had moved Felix to the bottom of the list and weren’t expecting to reconsider it, but seeing so many comments about how well it matched Toby’s name swayed us in the end. It suits him nicely and we love the meaning!
Thanks to everyone for their help!
Leo makes me want to suggest Lionel, with the nickname Leo. It fits your criteria of northern European and recognized as a name but not common.
Or, Linus? I think Lionel is nicer with Tobias, though, and a cinch to get a nickname from.
I also think Lionel with your surname is fantastic, and Willem is a great middle for it.
I was going to say something similar, with Leonard. I think the reason Leo doesn’t nickname well is that its origin is as a nickname.
From your list I love Orson, I think it goes really very well with Tobias.
I had Tobias on my lists for both of my boys so here are some of the names off of my lists:
Johannes (nn Hans)
Duncan
Malcolm
Fredrick
Sebastian
Solomon
A few names pop to mind:
Harold (Harry)
Leonard (Leo)
Marcel/Marcos/Marc
Arthur
Peter/Pieter
Mathias
Jonas
I love Schuyler, but I understand the hesitation in spelling. I also don’t love it with (what I think is) your surname. Leo is starting to get trendy, but it’s still a fabulous name. Justus is nice, but also likely to be misspelled.
Congrats and good luck!
Oh yes! Schuyler C- not Joey or Ross is a little tricky.
I totally agree that Schuyler is a poor fit with our last name – we hadn’t really put it all together yet but I think it is off the table as a first name now!
Tobias and Felix are such great names together. I can definitely picture brothers Tobias and Felix. It feels like what you’re looking for—a not common but not unheard of name. I think it’s being overlooked because it’s at the end of your list, but it’s fantastic.
You’re other options are great too, which is why I’m sure you’re running into problems! Would you and your husband be comfortable narrowing it down to a top two or three and waiting until the baby arrives? I personally have a hard time with that (naming the baby feels like another box to check, right along with buying diapers and installing the car seat for me!). But I love love love stories where parents wait and see what the babies look like and just know in the moment who that baby is.
Magnus, Oscar, Jasper or Axel.
Quentin, Oskar, Dominic, Emmerich, Emil, Carsten, Casper, Yannick, Joakim, Raynor?
Leo is fine as a stand alone, perhaps Lee could be a short version? Another option would be to go for something longer, like Leonard or Leopold, and use Leo as the nickname. I think Leo and Tobias/Toby work well as sibling names.
Schuyler feels really trendy, not just popular, but trendy. I do think it is harder to spell. There are several spelling variations, so you’ll likely need to spell it out & offer corrections regardless of which spelling you use. It’s my least favorite from your list.
Willem is better as a middle name I think. It’s likely to be constantly confused with the much more popular William. If William is the actual family name, I’d be more inclined to use it anyway.
Julian, I love this and don’t consider it trendy at all. It is popular, but that’s not the same as trendy. For trendy I think of names that will be very date stamped/seem fadish in 20 years. Julian is popular but classic enough that I don’t think it will feel like a passing fad by the time he’s an adult.
I also like Justus and Orson and I do not find them too odd at all. Luca and Felix are both lovely and work well with Tobias.
Some other suggestions; Reuben, August, Miles, Milo, Sebastian, Gabriel, Everett
My favorite from your list is Orson. I also like Leo, but I think it might be more popular than you want.
Have you considered Ansel?
Julius bridges the gap between Julian and Justus.
What about Sylvan? It means “forest.”
If I had to choose from your list, I’d pick Felix.
(original poster)
My husband suggested “Julio” – giving us the option of Jules/Leo as nicknames! I’m almost tempted…but can envision people pronouncing it “Hoolio” instead.
Could Leo be a nickname for Luka Orson? Or Lionel Orson. Or Lee Orson. I love nicknames from initials. Leo is great by itself but I completely understand the desire for nicknames.
I know a Willem and I love the name but he tires of correcting people.
Ansel is a great suggestion.
Luka, Leo and Orson are my favorites from your list.
From your list, I like Felix or Julian but I’m suggestion ARLO!!!
Arlo seems like the perfect fit for the names you like but your husband does not!
Other suggestion:
Blaise
Tate
Thane
Hollis
Leland
My husband is Dutch and your name tastes seem quite similar to mine, I was so excited about this list!! I love Willem and Schuyler as nice Dutch names that translate to the North American tongue, though it’s hard to spell Schuyler for North Americans. But they can learn! Maybe those two would be good middle name options if you are bothered by the idea of your son’s peers running into spelling/pronunciation issues.
A few of my other favourites are Arie (such a great Dutch name!!), Darius, Nolan, Samuel, Cedric, Andrew, Marcus, Jameson, Saul, Cole, Cyrus. I think Darius or Cedric might be interesting ones for you… they are recognizable but quite uncommon.
My family is of Dutch origin as well- another vote for Arie! Great Dutch name :)
I really love Leo for you! Would you consider August nn Gus?
Schuyler sounds sing-songy with your surname. :/
Orson is fantastic! Orson Wells has kept this name familiar but underused. Orson Cyrus? Tobias & Orson.
How do you like Otto? He has the same strong vowel sound as Tobias but isn’t matchy-matchy.
Tobias & Otto. Otto Willem C—.
Another new suggestion: Boaz.
Boaz Willem C—
Tobias & Boaz
Best wishes!
What about Joshua?
Tobias and Joshua sound great together. Toby and Josh.
I like Willem and Felix from your list.
Other suggestions:
Lukas
Oskar
Markus
Emil
Viggo
Niles
Lars
Marten
Ruben
Stefan
I especially like Emil and Stefan!
Good luck!
I love Orson!!!
Orson C_____
Tobias and Orson.
Leo, the only longer form I would really consider is Leopold.
But. Orson.
Felix is my fave…great with big brother and surname and has a great meaning!
I also wanted to suggest Gideon and Callum.
I have a Leo and the lack of nicknames was a bit of a worry for me before he was born. Now it’s been three years and we have so! many! nicknames! for him…wasn’t an issue at all. Some derived from his actual name (Leo Lu) but most did not (gussy and chicken little and…scrim shander! haha) He’s a spirited, funny, smart little boy and his name suits him so well. Anyways, a plug for Leo. We haven’t regretted it for a second.
I like Felix with the nickname Flex. Tobias and Felix. Toby and Flex. They are also at similar popularity levels- in 2016, Tobias was ranked 246 in the US and Felix was ranked 247
I also like Leo as a nickname with Toby and might opt for Leonardo as the first name (European though not northern). Leo is ranked pretty high in the US at 74 so if popularity is an issue it might be a reason to rule this one out
Julian is a great name but it is the most popular name on your list- ranked # 39. I do like the nickname Jude though.
I am not a fan of Luca but that name does meet many of your criteria.
I have a hard time saying Schuyler with your last name, so I suggest Sullivan, NN Sully! Toby and Sully!!! Omg I love that. If that’s not your style, I also offer Orion as an option. Best of luck! Let us know what you choose!
I’m not really here to suggest anything new, but I wanted to speak in favor the idea of Justus, or other -s names. If you ever had a Karis (and that’s spelling I’d vote for, given your last name), it would be so satisfying whole set have -s endings! I agree with a previous poster that, though Justus is a legitimate name, it’s likely to be misspelled. I like all the previous suggestions here of Linus, Marcus, Magnus, Myles/Niles, Lucas, and Gus!
Felix or Julian!
From your list, I like Felix the best. I also like Gideon and Magnus.