Hi Swistle,
We are attempting to name a baby girl due this spring. We already have one daughter named Parker, and our last name sounds like Edward. We don’t like the way vowel names flow with our last name (aka, no Ella’s!), and we tend towards names that are a little bit unique/rare (would love her to not have several classmates with the same name) but not too far out there. The middle name, if that matters, will be Alice (a family name), and the boy name would have used was Jacoby. We are thinking this is probably our last child, though we haven’t made any final decisions yet. My husband also doesn’t like names that will definitely be shortened to nicknames (such as Kathryn à Katie). Top contenders so far for baby girl’s name:
-Hadley (her cousin has a cousin on the other side named Hadley… we only see that child once a year and they’ll be 5 years apart, is that too close of a relationship?)
-Kendall (does this bring up the Kardashian family too much?)
-Kennedy (is this too pretentious?)
-Lincoln (will everyone always think she’s a boy? Is it too popular of a boy’s name now?)
-McKenna (I’m not sure about the Mc)
-Logan (perhaps my lack of comment on this name means it should be a front runner)
-Zoe (might be too popular)
-Payton (but I’m not sure I like the alliteration of Parker & Payton)
-Carson (we liked, but my close friend has a dog named Carson, so that seems pretty odd)We are very open to other suggestions! Please help!
Many thanks,
Sara
With a sister named Parker, one thing I would want to take into account is the relative usage of each name. In 2018, according to the Social Security Administration, the name Parker was given to 1,754 new baby girls and 3,978 new baby boys: its current usage is unisex but used approximately twice as often for boys. I would want to find something similar for a sister, to avoid spinning the name Parker as a brother name.
A cousin who has a cousin named Hadley does not seem remotely an issue to me. I hesitate mainly because the name Hadley is used almost exclusively for girls in the United States: 2,861 new baby girls and 37 new baby boys in 2018.
Kendall does not make me think of the Kardashians, and I’ve had a previously unnoticed opportunity to test this out because my kids have a classmate named Kendall and the association didn’t occur to me. Again, my main hesitation is that the name Kendall is used much more often for girls in the United States: 1,209 new baby girls and 245 new baby boys in 2018.
Kennedy doesn’t sound pretentious to me; it feels familiar as a name at this point But its usage is almost exclusively for girls: 3,924 new baby girls and 126 new baby boys in 2018.
Lincoln goes the opposite way: its current usage in the United States is almost exclusively for boys: 163 new baby girls and 7,368 new baby boys in 2018. Also, with Parker I think of Linkin Park, but that is perhaps a reach, and a dated reach at that; I suspect most people would just think “Those names seem to go together well in a way I can’t quite put a finger on.”
McKenna is a good style match with Parker, though again we run into usage: in 2018, it was given to 1,254 new baby girls and there is no record of it being given to any new baby boys at all.
Logan is perhaps my favorite of your choices, not only because of your comment about not having a comment, but also because its usage is boy-heavy but not exclusively boy: 1,074 new baby girls and 12,352 new baby boys in 2018. I wonder, though, if that is too popular for you: as a current Top Ten boy name, the name is likely to show up in some of her classrooms.
I want to cross Zoe off your list. Not only is it used exclusively for girls in the U.S., which spins Parker as a brother name, but the spellings Zoe and Zoey combine to make it even more popular than you might think if you just checked the rankings: in 2018, there were 5,899 new baby girls named Zoey and 5,062 new baby girls named Zoe, for a total of 10,961; for comparison, there were 10,582 new baby girls named Harper (the #9 most popular girl name) and 10,376 new baby girls named Evelyn (the #10 most popular girl name).
Payton does seem very cute with Parker, and I agree that’s the kind of style choice you may or may not want. Usage-wise, Payton is currently used more often for girls in the U.S.: 1,413 new baby girls and 233 new baby boys in 2018. (The spelling Peyton adds another 2,896 baby girls and 787 baby boys.)
Carson’s usage skews way to the boys: 205 new baby girls and 5,227 new baby boys in 2018.
I can see you like unisex/surname names. My own preference would be for more unisex/surname names that are used more often for boys, but not SO MUCH MORE often for boys (like Lincoln and Carson); or even used more often for girls, but not SO MUCH MORE often for girls (like Hadley and Kennedy).
I think Avery is probably too popular for your tastes, but it’s the kind of name I mean: in 2018, it was given to 8,053 new baby girls and 2,098 new baby boys. If I encountered a sibling set named Parker and Avery, I would not make any assumptions and would be ready for two boys, two girls, or one of each in either direction.
Riley is another option—again, probably too popular, but just as an example. It’s hard to tally it up because of all the spellings, but in 2018 there were 5,976 new baby girls and 1,455 new baby boys named Riley; 72 new baby girls and 70 new baby boys named Reilly; 1,915 new baby girls and 10 new baby boys named Ryleigh; and so on. Some spellings are used more often for girls, but overall the usage is so spread out that if I encountered siblings named Parker and Riley I wouldn’t make any early guesses.
I wonder if Gracen would be a good choice. The spelling makes it relatively feminine compared to Grayson, but the alternate options Grayson/Greyson keep it sounding unisex.
Oh! What about Rowan? Used in 2018 for 1,447 new baby girls and 3,020 new baby boys (the spelling Rowen adds 186 girls and 585 boys), its usage is similar to the name Parker. Rowan Alice. Parker and Rowan. I love it.
The name Beckett has usage numbers that fly directly in the face of what I’m looking for (74 new baby girls and 1,657 new baby boys in 2018), but I suggest it anyway. Beckett Alice. Parker and Beckett. I like the snappy repeated K-sounds of the two names, which seems subtler than the alliteration of Parker and Payton.
Maybe Emerson? It might be too easy to nickname it to Emmie. But if not, the usage is pretty good: 1,935 new baby girls and 1,238 new baby boys in 2018 (the spelling Emersyn adds 1,886 girls and 24 boys).
I’m having trouble coming up with more options, which is making me feel like abandoning the whole usage goal. It’s likely more important to find names that SOUND like they have the right usage—but of course that’s going to vary depending on part of the country and personal experience. I may be completely familiar with Logan as a girl name because of happening to know two female Logans, while someone else is saying “Someone used LOGAN for a GIRL????” because in their area no one would, or because they’re not as interested in baby names as some of us so they haven’t been keeping up. And when I hear “Parker and Kendall,” I don’t think “Oh, Parker is definitely a boy, then,” even though I know the usages—and in fact, the differing usages is one thing that makes me hesitate; “Parker and Logan,” with its matched usages, is more likely to make me think of brothers.
Well. I seem to have gotten stuck, and this post has been sitting in my drafts for almost a week without me coming up with more ideas, so let’s turn this over to others.
Name update:
Dear Swistle,
Thank you so much for answering our question earlier this year. After submitting but before seeing your reply, we had another conversation about names and had put Hadley, Kendall, Logan, and Lincoln in the top 4. Then, hearing my concerns about Lincoln being too boy-leaning, it was pointed out to me how popular of a name Logan is for boys right now, and we agreed to eliminate both names. (It isn’t so much that I don’t want a name that is too boyish, more so that I didn’t want her to be one of 8 Logans in her class – which you identified n your post). Having only Hadley and Kendall left, but not being particularly sold on either, we returned to reviewing random blogs and lists of baby names. We had many “near misses” with geography: we liked names like Brooklyn, Madison, Phoenix, and Raleigh but couldn’t quite get on board with any one of them for various reasons. Then the name Brighton came up on a list of geography-inspired names and we both became more excited.
Reading your response really put in perspective for me WHY I would be happier with a neutral name: not because I needed both names to be neutral, but because “Kendall and Parker” seemed to imply that Parker was probably a boy, and that made me grumpy. I also came to the realization that any P name wasn’t going to work – I liked the idea of Parker having her own initial.
You and the commenters suggested many good names – Sawyer, Sutton, and Sloane were lovely, but my husband and I both have S-names and didn’t want Parker to feel left out of the S club. Your suggestion of Avery was GREAT, we do love that name, but we have a good friend with a daughter Avery so we didn’t want to use it for that reason. We also don’t love the way vowel-starting names sound with our vowel-starting last name (so that crossed Emerson off the list, too). One reader suggested Tatum – such a good pick! Also, Parker’s cousin’s name (and they are close in age and geographic proximity). Gracen is fun, but too close to Grayson, and Parker has a boy cousin Grayson. We might be too particular with our strange rules (no S’s, no vowel’s, and perhaps we know too many people and can’t name our kids after any of them, blah blah blah).
Your suggestion of Beckett was excellent, and we nearly went with it. I think though, that having come up with Brighton on our own before reading your response and comments – and then seeing it the comments – was very validating for us. We fell in love with the name Brighton, and also how adorable it was teaching little Parker to say “baby Brighton” which sounds like “baby Britty.”
Baby Brighton was born on April 28, in the midst of this very crazy pandemic. Thank you for all of your help!
I think Swistle nailed the suggestions of Logan and especially Rowan. I know an adult female Greyson so that seems like it would fit with Parker too.
I think that, with the name Parker, the best contenders would by Carson and Logan. Beckett is an option as well but I don’t like that as much. I agree with Swistle- going with a solidly feminine name will skew Parker’s name more towards being her brother.
How about Dakota? I have met both boys and girls named Dakota.
What about Drew? Traditionally a nickname for Andrew, but you’ve got Drew Barrymore and I think it’s becoming more popular. She would be unlikely to have a classmate also named Drew, I think.
Morgan was traditionally male and is now more female.
I like Piper as a sister to Parker, but that name is almost exclusively female and may be too similar to Parker.
Other possibly unisex names that I know of but am not particularly fond of are Casey, Reagan, Robin, Bailey, and Jamie. I think these are somewhat outdated, though.
Best of luck!
I love the suggestion of Rowan. If that doesn’t suit, maybe Darcy? I love Elliot, but it is very alliterative with the last name.
How about Quinn? I think Kennedy sounds great.
As soon as I read that you were looking for a unisex name as a sibling to girl-Parker. I IMMEDIATELY thought of one name. I kept reading, waiting for Swistle to suggest it, but she didn’t, so I will.
Sawyer.
Sawyer Alice! Parker and Sawyer. I LOVE it!
Sawyer was used for 3858 boys and 1421 girls in 2018. Which matches Parker’s usage as well.
I agree another unisex/surname name would fit nicely, but I don’t think it has to have roughly the same male/female usage. I’m more hung-up on meanings, so I’ve never liked Mc- or -son names for girls, as they usually mean “son of.”
From your list I like Kendall and Kennedy best for you. From the suggestions, I like Avery, Riley, and Rowan. Good luck!
I love Logan from your list, and Swistle’s suggestion of Rowan.
What about Cameron? Unisex name used more often for boys. Cameron Alice. Parker and Cameron.
What about Hayden? Reminds me of Hadley without *being* Hadley. Used roughly equally for boys and girls. Hayden Alice. Parker and Hayden.
Maybe Tristan? It’s used almost exclusively for boys. But I like it with the middle name and the sibling name: Tristan Alice. Tristan and Parker.
Or maybe Ashton? Pretty exclusively used for boys, these days, though. And not perfect with Alice. Ashton Alice. Parker and Ashton.
Since you like Kennedy and McKenna, what about Kellan? It’s very uncommon, and seems to be exclusively boy, but Kellan Alice rolls over my tongue nicely. Parker and Kellan.
Growing up, I knew a family that had both a Lincoln and a McKenna — and one of the other kids was Bridger. Very uncommon, but maybe worth considering? As long as the repeated “-er” of the sibling set doesn’t bother you. Bridger Alice. Parker and Bridger.
Oooh! I met a little girl a few years ago named Wallace, which was surprising and wonderful. Well, that doesn’t go with the middle name at ALL. But I like Parker and Wallace together.
Congratulations!
I love Ashton with the surname and in the sibling pair!
How about Dylan or Ryan? Although both are predominately used for boys the gap has narrowed in recent years (much like Parker).
Congrats! You have a lot of nice options, and I love names where you can’t guess boy/girl.
I agree with Swistle’s answers to your questions, though I think the skewing might depend more on where you live than national numbers.
I add for consideration: Rory, Sam, Devin/Devon, Clark(e), Ryan, Lennon, Kyle, Emery, Jaden, Charlie, Oakley, Skyler, Alex/Alyx, Brighton, Dakota, Finley
Camden and Wynn seem like other options that could work!
From your list I really like Logan. Other names to consider: Sutton (used 64% of the time for girls), Tatum (61% for girls), Brighton (61% girls), and Oakley (52% female). My boys are Sullivan and Charleston and either of those would work well for you, as would Charlie.
Lots of great options! From your list, I like Logan the best. From the suggestions, I like Emerson and Cameron the best. Would also like to suggest Evan and Kevyn.
Hadley and Payton makes me think of Hayden.
Hadley also made me think of Hallie.
Lincoln makes me think Reagan which made me think of Ryan or Rory.
Kennedy makes me think Delaney and Avery.
Kendall made me think Quinn.
Logan made think Morgan or Rowan or Jordan.
I recently met a 20 something girl named Devin and I was surprised how well it wore on her.
Other suggestions. Some definitely lean more girl but I think still fit with Parker
Blair
Blaine
Rylan
Blake
Elliot
Ainsley
Brooke
Evan
Campbell
Drew
Charlie
Sutton
Finley
Love Rowan! Also wanted to add Stellen – not sure if it’s used at all for girls, but sounds enough like Stella that I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on a baby girl.
I have a friend Alden with a sister Parker. It’s a great combo!
I know two twin girls named Harley and Hayden. Perhaps they are an option to consider?
Bronwyn / Bronwen is my all-time favorite unisex name for a girl.
Conley
Courtland
Finley as someone else suggested
Greer
Lake
Merit / Merritt
Sinclair
I also agree with suggestions of Quinn and Rowan.
Soooo many amazing suggestions here! Your girl-name taste is exactly my own. I loved Hadley, Oakley, Blake and Elliot. In the end my husband wasn’t willing to go that unisex so we ended up with Hallie, which I love and suits our daughter perfectly. I especially love Rory and Logan for you. Can’t wait to see this update!
Agreed lots of great names here- favorites:
Cameron, Blake, Hayden, Quinn, Elliot, Finley.
Also:
Teagan
Bellamy
Morgan
Delaney
Sloane
Camden
Donovan
Kieran
I see that there’s already plenty of great suggestions, but I will still throw a few others, maybe something will catch your eye (although some of these names won’t work with Alice as a middle name):
Aubrey
Adrien
Allister
Willis
Ridley
Henley
Marlowe
Maitland
Brennan
Adler
Jensen
Sullivan
Tatum
Vivien
Holland
Wendell
I think Hadley is pretty perfect here, and the fact that you listed it first suggests it’s your frontrunner. I don’t think the cousin-of-cousin thing is a problem. The only people who would even know of the coincidence would be the family in the middle, right? The possibility that Parker’s cousin might mistakenly think Hadley is a more popular name than it actually is doesn’t strike me as a reason to eliminate a name you like from consideration.
Kennedy is not pretentious in my opinion. To me, it is warmly familiar, slightly trendy, and youthful.
Kendall is the most obscure of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, so the name Kendall alone doesn’t send me to the Kardashians (unlike, say, Khloe or Kylie).
If you’re probably stopping at 2 kids, I think Parker and Payton is cute!
I like unisex British names for you. A few others:
– Afton
– Ashby/Ashton
– Barrett
– Ellis
– Hollis
– Lindley
– Oakes
– Sutton
I feel compelled to tell you that my cousin’s daughters are Peyton, Hadlee and McKenna!
What about Quinn, Tyler, Taylor? I have a friend with a daughter named Hayden which is very sweet on her.
I feel like everyone is missing an obvious suggestion: use Jacoby for a girl. Unless you’re saving it for a potential boy. I know an adult woman Jacoby and a baby Jacoby, so the usage to me is unusual but unisex feeling. Your family loves it enough to be certain you’d like to use it. Use it!
I wouldn’t overthink the ratio of girl to boy too much, but as a girl Tyler born in the 80s, I’d like to discourage you from choosing a popular name that strongly skews boy. My favorite from your list is Hadley, and I like the suggestions of Emerson, Quinn, Greer, and Rowan. Also, what about Remy/Remi?
I agree that Jacoby (or Jacobi) could be used for a girl! I went to high school with a girl Jacobi who sometimes went by Cobi. I also know adult women named Rowan/Rowen and Logan.
I like Carson but I think the sound is too similar to Parker. Same with Payton/Peyton.
I don’t know your background, but I’d caution against Dakota if you’re not indigenous.
People had so many great suggestions on this one! My favorites:
Rory
Cameron
Quinn
Tristan
Kellen
Dylan
Devin/Devon
Delaney
Morgan
Blair
Alden
Lake
Teagan
Adrien/Adrian
Hollis
Ellis
I’ll also add:
Remy
Dorian
Dallas
Bevin
Sterling
Nico
Cody
Colby
Kade
Sage
Tori
Sydney
How about Austin or Bennett? Love the literature references.
What about Quincy?
I love Rowan, Logan, and Carson (I know 3 Carson’s, all under 18, 2 girls and a boy)
Other names that occurred to me spinning off of Logan are:
Morgan (I know 5, all different ages, 2 female, 3 male)
Jordan (7, again different ages, 3 female, 4 male)
Teagan (3, different ages, 2 female, 1 male)
Cameron
Keigan
Kellan
I have two girls: older sister Parker and younger sister Zoe. I love, love, love the combo. We picked Zoe because it was girly and typical as a contrast to Parker. We originally were going to go ‘less typical/androgynous’ for #2 (River) but thought two out there names was too much.
I know sisters named Logan and Blaine, so that was one of my first thoughts. I also think Sloane is a good choice. Of Swistles suggestions, I really like Rowan.
Rowan, Hollis, and Ellis were all names we considered for our son, that ended up being used by friends with daughters!
So, you know you spend too much time on baby name blogs when all your ideas are like everyone else’s! The names I was thinking have all been mentioned.
Rowen
Peyton
Kieran
Kellen
Quinn
Cameron
It seems you really like the c/k sound bases on your list. Maybe something to help narrow?
Anyways, great options. Best of luck!
I love Rowan with the sister name! Other suggestions that I especially like:
Emerson
Dylan
Devon
Keegan
Brennan
Blake
Blaine
Brett
Kirby
Sawyer
Sage
Seconding Campbell, love how it matches the preppy-unisex vibe of Parker.
What about Jordan? It’s very unisex. Jordan Alice. Parker and Jordan.
With sister Parker, I like
Darby
Britton
Merritt
Collins
Tiernan
Remy
Rory
Sutton
Blair
Quincy
Coincidentally, we have a daughter named Logan, and are having a second daughter, for which our current top choice is Parker! So we obviously have the same style. Here’s the rest of our list that we haven’t officially ruled out yet in case something works.
Carson
Elliott
Hayes
Avett
Bennett
Callan
Wells
Adler
Wilder
Grayson
Palmer
Brooks
Brennan
Mercer
Porter
Walker
Zander
Love the suggestion of Rowan/Rowyn. What about Tegan/Teagan, Easton or Arden?
I don’t have anything new to add, but I just wanted to say that I love Rowan! I love it on its own and I love it with Parker.
I also like the suggestions of Campbell, Devon, and Wallis.
Apologies for any dupes! I like the suggestions of Campbell, Cameron, Harley and Evan.
Lennox. Lennox Alice Edward, Parker and Lennox
Gwynn. Gwynn Alice Edward, Parker and Gwynn
Ripley. Ripley Alice Edward, Parker and Ripley
Keaton. Keaton Alice Edward, Parker and Keaton
Bryce. Bryce Alice Edward, Parker and Bryce
Dale. Dale Alice Edward, Parker and Dale
Chase. Chase Alice Edward, Parker and Chase
Blake. Blake Alice Edward, Parker and Blake. That is the preppiest sibset I’ve ever witnessed. But it works.
With the middle name Alice I feel like you could almost name her something totally dude / dad-ish like Bruce and it somehow ends up sounding unisex-leaning-girl. Not Bruce though. Not even a little.
There is a young actress in the new ghostbusters movie named McKenna Grace. I like that name!
My eldest daughter is named Parker (mn May) and her little sister is Reeve (mn Amy-Rose).
Other names we considered for girls were: Alba, Arden, Avalon, Blake, Cassidy, Coby/ Cody, Dale, Delaney, Dylan, Emerson, Everly, Everett, Forest, Fern, Harvest, Hilde, Joey, Kelsey, Nova, Quincy, Reya/ Raya, River, Sage, Shelby, Sidra, Signe, Sloane, Tansie/ Tanzie, Tate, Tempest, Tinsley, Wren, Xanthe, Zadie, Zalie/ Zelie/ Zalia, Zia.
Though I do love Swistle’s idea of having 2 fairly unisex names that don’t lean one way or the other.
We also really loved Fielding but realised we couldn’t have both a Park and a Field.
Good luck with your naming process and let us know what you decide!
x
I came to suggest Dylan or Tyler and see both have already come up. Also love the suggestion of Sawyer.
The other name that came to mind when reading comments that wasn’t actually suggested is Cory!!
I love Logan, Rowan, Avery, Alden, Auden, and Jacoby for you! I know a woman in her 30s who is a Logan, and I think it is just the most sophisticated and friendly name, all at the same time.
Kendall is my favorite from your list. I also like Cameron.
My daughter is friends with a pair of sisters named Parker and Teagan, and I’ve always thought they go nicely together.
I really want to suggest Collins. It’s used by girls but when considered with Collin i think the usage might work nicely.
I do love Hadley despite the non unisex nature
And Rowan is my favorite from swistles list.
I had a Parker with a sister named Fallon in a daycare class a while back. It’s a good unisex/last name combo.
Payton, Kennedy, or Hadley would be good matches too along with Grayson and Logan.
I would add Hayden and Sawyer for your consideration.
I like the suggestion of Dylan from other commenters. I would also suggest Paisley (if you decide that the repeating initial doesn’t bother you). Good luck!
Came here to say I love Swistle’s suggestion of Rowan! Also, love the suggestion from above of Sawyer.
I do not have much to add… except maybe Reese.
Campbell!! Adorable :)
You know who did a really lovely job with this style of name? Stella McCartney. 4 kids, Miller, Bailey, Reiley and Beckett. 2 girls, 3 boys (Bailey and Reiley are the girls) – but I feel any of those four would work with Parker and not feel as though they lean super heavily one way or the other. But my favourite for you would be Bailey.
Some others:
Quinn
Casey
Dylan
Ryan
I was immediately going to suggest Ellis – has been on our girl list for years, husbands cousin had a boy a couple of months ago and surprise! used it for their boy.
Also thought of Carter, Taylor, Cori, or Layne.
Parker and Layne sound like cute sister names to me :)
I’m here to suggest Hadley. All the best and please keep us posted about your decision :)
No one else has mentioned it but Kennedy Edward is the reverse name of a fairly prominent politician from a very famous family. No one else mentioned it, so it may not be a bothersome association, but just wanted to throw that out there.
Blake or Riley.
I like Riley Edward/Riley Alice/Riley Alice Edward.
I second other suggestions of Reagan and Sloane!
I would also suggest Cleo, Alexandra (nn Andie or Alex), Blake, Reese, Keller, Cameron, Sage, Ellis, Morgan, Edie, and Blair
LOVE the name Reese as a sister for Parker
Or you could spell Rhys (but More traditionally a boys name?)
I was just seeing something about Mark Ruffalo and he has three kids, two of the names are Keen and Odette. They struck me as very different and unisex.
HAYDEN !!
Hayden Alice is sophisticated and sounds great with Parker.
Some other names I like that people I know have used for girls are Barrett, Curran, and Aiden
She’s beautiful, and Brighton is a beautiful name! It makes me think of “brighten” in the best way, which is a lovely thought especially during this time. Congratulations and best wishes to you!