Dearest Swistle,
I’m not currently expecting (hopefully soon!) but I’d love to get your input on a conundrum I have. I have a single syllable last name, but almost all of my favorite baby names are also single syllable, such as Gwen, Faye, Tess, Wren, Lynn, June, Joan, or Reese for girls and Cole, Joel, Wade, Roy, Neil, or Rhys for boys. I know single syllable names *can* work fine together but it definitely doesn’t always work and I’m wondering if you have any insight into what makes short names sound good together or not. (For reference, my surname sounds like Hung-with-a-Y, but I’d also be interested in a more general discussion).
Thanks!
– Emily
For me, the only thing that works is trying each one on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I prime the pump by saying a few 1/1 names I know work: James Dean and Anne Rice and Brad Pitt and so on.
But this made me wonder if others have found any rules of thumb to figure out which names work and which don’t.
I wonder if part of the trick is to find two distinct sounds – like two different vowel sounds. That seems to be the case in the famous examples you list. That way, the two names don’t slide into each other as much or get tongue-twisty.
I think the vowel sounds might be a little more important than the first consonant. I can think of a lot of great examples of alliterative one-syllable first names (i.e. Beau Brown; Cal Cook; Faye Frost; Jade Jin; Wade Wolfe.)
I had this issue with my daughter’s first & middle names, I really wanted to call her Reeve Rose LastName but I didn’t like how sharp and choppy the names sounded together. (3 honour names tied up in there). I did not even think that 2x 1 syllable names could work, but of course they do, James Dean, Brad Pitt etc. Now I say ‘Reeve Rose’ in the context of KNOWING other one syllable names that work, it doesn’t really sound that bad to my ear. Maybe I’ve had 3 years to get used to the idea and it is ok now? I honestly think if a name is said often enough it becomes normal and not striking at all.
I really reject the whole idea that we need different numbers of syllables in names for good rhythm. There are so many other factors that go into pleasing rhythms, so if it sounds good to your ear, give ‘er.
Jane Eyre, Sean Bean, Faye Wray, Mark Spitz, Cal Penn, Bert Lahr…
For what it’s worth, the way I pronounce Joel sounds more like two syllables.
I think a lot of single syllable names can sound snappy and memorable together.
I agree that different sounds in the name and where they are located make a difference. I really like most of the examples of the 2 1 syllable names given (not all though – I do not like Faye Wray at all -very cartoonish).
In all honestly I trip over the names you have ending in N with your last name. The two names together seem very choppy
Gwen (H)ung, Wren (H)ung, Lynn (H) ung)
I think Sean Bean works because the vowel sounds are very different despite the same spelling where as I find Gwen Bean unpleasant to the ear.
My maiden name was 1-1 and I personally never liked how it sounded, but that was probably due to the fact that I have always gone by a 2-syllable nickname and am not used to being called my legal name! If you love a 1-syllable name, over time the sound of it will be familiar.
I think a lot of 1-1 names sound fine. My youngest has a 1-1 first/middle combination. I can’t come up with a rule, though. If you want to bypass the problem for the child’s official name, a lot of the names on your list have longer versions: Gwendolyn, Teresa, Nicholas, maybe Cornelius even though I don’t think it’s actually related. Then they could go by Gwen, Tess, Cole, Neil. Although I might not use Neil with your last name because of the famous singer by the same name. Is Niall a possibility? Or Nolan? If you wanted Lynn as a nickname there are a ton of names that end in -lyn: Carolyn, Jocelyn, or even Gwendolyn. She could go by Gwen OR Lynn.
I think Cole comes from Nicholas? Which would be a good longer name if the OP feels it’s right for the birth certificate.
Ugh I’m so sorry for misreading your comment – ignore that reply above! But Neil is a stand alone Celtic name, so doesn’t need to come from Cornelius if OP is worried about it having a history of use.
I have a 1-syllable first with a 1-syllable last (my married name) and it’s not my favorite but it’s just the particular combination of sounds, not 1-1 names in general. I particularly like Tess, June, Wade, And Rhys/Reese with your last name. They have a fun-spirited, western vibe and I think it’s great. I would steer clear of names like Faye or even maybe Cole/Joel, because they kind of make a sound sandwich with the last name where it all sounds like one word (but that’s just my opinion and they’re all great names).
John Smith! Jane Brown! Paul Jones! Some of the most common names out there are 1/1 combos. I think long vowels help. Lots and lots of 1/1 combos works beautifully. Lynn (H)ung sounds lovely to my ear, ditto Cole and s/he’ll enjoy having a short name when filling out forms. Be aware of the soundalike with Neil Young if you go that direction. Not a deal breaker imo.
Wren is right at the top of my sad could not use list, and I root for it everytime someone mentions it.
My answer to your question is about the same as everyone else’s: it doesn’t seem like that big a deal, and your last name is so relatively common that it would have even less impact.
Good luck!
For me, I think it mostly is a case by case basis. I also think repetition helps-the more I hear a name, the more used to it I get, even if that name doesn’t meet the criteria I would normally consider when picking names.
Using your name list, the only ones that seem problematic to me with Hung-with-a-Y as a last name are Wren (not sure why, just hard for me to say with the last name) and perhaps Roy (the end of Roy is a bit slurry with the last name). But I don’t consider either of these problems dealbreakers.
Swistle has mentioned this before, and it has served our family well. If first and last name blend into each other, a snappy pause between them helps a LOT. (Example: Abe. Brenner. Or… Joy. York. Or… Craig. Green.) So it CAN work.
As an aside, a name rule we have not been able to break is if the first and last names end the same, they’re a no-go. (Example: Jenson Mason. Archer Richter. Keeley Healey. Heather Meyer.)
Likewise, if the last name and first name are too close in their starting sounds, everything sounds awkward. (Baxter Bryler. Tressa Tucker. Ian Ide. Cy Smith.)
As for the 1-1 syllable breakdown, I think they can work if the sounds are independent.
Three things that have already been mentioned, but that I agree with:
1. There’s no problem with a pair of 1-syllable names. We say the names all the time without thinking. George Bush. Babe Ruth. John Brown.
2. The bigger concern is how the two names blend together, which is a potential issue regardless of the number of syllables.
3. For your surname, I think the ends-with-n first names are problematic. The “ny” sound (like a “nyah nyah” taunt) doesn’t work for me.
We have a one syllable last name and i have always steered clear of using a single syllable first. It seems so staccato to me. Not all of the names, but some. We’ve gone with two or three syllable names to make up for the short last name.
But, that said, I think some names work quite well together. Hello, Jude Law? So good! So, I won’t think it’s a hard, fast rule. Just not for us…
I agree with many that there is nothing wrong with 1/1 names per se, so they don’t need special justification! But I think that their compactness can draw attention to certain issues that are worth examining in more detail.
1) As someone else pointed out, alliteration often works but rhyming (or near-rhyming) can sound silly. Here are a few more thoughts on that issue, with the caveat that your mileage may vary:
–Sharing just an initial sound can be quite appealing (Sue Smith, Jill Jones).
–Full rhyming, which often involves sharing both a middle and a concluding sound, usually leans cartoonish (Jake Rake, Ben Penn).
–Near-rhyming, which often involves sharing *either* just a middle sound *or* just a concluding sound, is probably somewhere in between (Jane Tate, Belle Small). It works for Sean Penn!
–Sharing an initial sound *and* a concluding sound (Nate Knight) combines alliteration and near rhyme; it seems likely to charm some and irk others. I think it works a bit better when the names contain more intervening sounds to break things up (I’d prefer James Jones to Tad Todd).
–Similarly, sharing an initial sound *and* a middle sound (Deke Dean, Rose Rome) will sound cool to some and cloying to others.
2) Given that there are only two syllables in play, it’s nice to keep a clear demarcation between them so we know exactly where the first name ends and the last name begins. Otherwise we’ll have trouble parsing the name. Nick Cole is always going to sound like Nicole unless we awkwardly double-articulate the “k” sound. My friend Mack Gray finds it hard to communicate that his last name is not Ray. So I’d say it’s ideal to avoid blurring the last sound of the first name into the first sound of the last name.
For this reason, with your last name, I’d consider avoiding Faye and Roy. Happily, at least to my ear, all the other names you propose sound quite nice (except Neil, given the celebrity overlap!).
3) But let’s say you did choose Faye or Roy. This would be fine; many people live happy and fulfilling lives with 1/1 names that break the “rules” I’ve sketched out above! I know a Jen Chen; Fay Wray presumably could have gone by her first name (Vina) but stuck with that memorable rhyme (as did Jack Black, whose first name is Thomas); Dick Clark seemed to get along fine despite the lack of sonic demarcation between his first and last names. Facebook implies that there are many people out there named Nate Knight and Tad Todd and and Rose Rome, presumably not all in therapy for name-related trauma.
Happy naming!
One option is hyphenating two last names: your maiden name + your husband’s last name.
Think Joel Carter-Hung or Tess Rivers-Hung, for example.
I have nothing to add except Bond. James Bond.
I know a Jack Young and a Lane Young and it never even kind of occured to me. We also have a 1 syllable last name and I’m Kate (though I married into it,) my husband is Nik, and his brother is Matt. They are all nicknames but it doesn’t feel funny.