Hi, Swistle!
I am so thankful that someone recommended your blog recently, but I sure could’ve used it sooner! We have 4 girls and are currently expecting baby #5 (likely our last) who is due in April. We were shocked to find out that this one is a boy; I was convinced that my husband and I only made girls!
So here’s the issue: my husband and I have never discussed boy names. He has always refused to talk names until we knew the gender, so we have a long list of girl names but had to start from scratch for boy names. I feel like boy names are so much harder!
My current favorite is Theodore/Theo, but then in my relatively small facebook due date group, there are three other moms who are naming their sons Theo! So now I’m worried that Theo is going to be crazy popular. We’re considering using the middle name Joseph so we could use TJ, but I don’t know if I love that. Other names we are considering: Alexander, Nathan, Benjamin, & Christopher. But none of those really feel right at the moment. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what would work for our family! 💙
The important details:
-Surname is McKowan with a G
-We are very big on traditional names with nicknames and would like to continue this with our son’s name
-Siblings are: Abigail Jane (Abby), Theresa Ann (Reese), Josephine Margaret (Josie), and Elizabeth Grace (Lizzie)
-Girl names from previous lists include: Rebecca (Becca), Catherine (Cate), Cassandra (Cassie), and Julianne (Julie/Jules)
-Boy names that I like but have been nixed for various reasons: Michael, Robert, Patrick, Jonathan/John, & JoshuaThank you so very much!
Melissa
For decades, the name Theodore has been bopping around in the 200s/300s of baby name rankings, not really going much up or down. But then recently:
(image from ssa.gov)
Meanwhile, look at what the name Theo has been up to (notice the lowest three years are from the 1940s, after which there was a big gap when the name wasn’t even in the Top 1000):
(image from ssa.gov)
My own naming style for boys is Top 50 names, so for ME, these charts would be good news: “Yay, the name is finally common enough that I feel I can use it!” But even I would feel a little trepidation at the speed of the rise: maybe it will come to a stop in the 30s! maybe it will peak and start drifting back down! but maybe not.
I do think it’s a nice level of popularity with his sisters’ names. According to the Social Security Administration, the name Abigail was in the Top Ten from 2001 to 2017, and in 2019 was #11. The name Josephine is rising in popularity, and in 2019 was #89. The name Elizabeth has been in the Top Ten or near it for decades. The name Theresa, while not currently in the Top 1000, is familiar and feels more common than it is.
It bothers me just a teensy bit that the name Theodore would repeat the first three letters of Theresa. The three letters are pronounced entirely differently, and I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. The nickname Reese makes it much less of an issue.
I too find boy names more difficult. With girl names, I look for Love, and have more than I need to choose from, and in fact get overwhelmed by all the wonderful names I won’t get to use. With boy names, I try to narrow it down to a list of Can’t Go Wrong choices (good solid names that feel like they’d work just fine for us), and then let one rise gradually to the top.
Your boy name list is in the same basic range as mine, with some overlap. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those. Benjamin is the one that catches my eye: I feel like it has the same traditional/warm feeling as your girl names, and I find the nickname group particularly charming. Abigail, Theresa, Josephine, Elizabeth, and Benjamin; Abby, Reese, Josie, Lizzie, and Ben.
But let’s see if we can make the list of candidates a little longer: I’ll add some from my own boy-name list, plus others that seem like they might work well.
Abigail, Theresa, Josephine, Elizabeth, and:/
Abby, Reese, Josie, Lizzie, and:
August/Gus
Calvin/Cal
Charles/Charlie
Daniel/Dan
Edward/Ted/Ned
Franklin/Frank
Frederick/Fred
Henry/Hank
Isaac/Ike
James/Jamie/Jimmy (retro nicknames seem to be coming back into style)
Julian/Jules
Louis/Lou
Nicholas/Nick/Cole
Oliver/Ollie
Wesley/Wes
This sounds like something you have already considered and decided on, but just in case, I wanted to mention that it is not uncommon for parents to have different naming styles for boys than for girls. It is possible that you are stuck because you’re trying to use your girl-name style on boy names. Or maybe not: very possibly your boy-name style IS the same as your girl-name style! But if you continue to feel as if nothing is right, it could be a helpful exercise to go back to the name books and pretend for a moment that this is your very first child, and make a list of boy names you like—even if they’re not traditional and/or don’t have good nicknames. I kept finding names I wanted to suggest, and then reluctantly putting them aside because they didn’t meet one of the preferences:
Clark
Davis
Dean
Elliot (same first three letters as Elizabeth)
Everett
George
Ian
Miles
Nolan
Paul
Simon
Warren (probably not right after using Elizabeth)
(And some of those could have nicknames by the method you mentioned of using initials.)
Name update:
First of all, a huge thank you to Swistle and to everyone who shared opinions and ideas on my post! My husband and I decided to go back to the drawing board and not put any restrictions on ourselves. We decided against Theodore because although I love the nickname Theo, I just didn’t see myself ever using the whole name, and that didn’t sit well with me. We did decide, however, that we still wanted a traditional name with a nickname.
Our sweet baby was born last week, and we named him Andrew Joseph. We want to let his personality choose the nickname he’ll eventually be called (AJ, Andy, Drew??); we love all the options! Thank you again for your help!
-Melissa
Have you considered using the nickname Teddy? I believe it’s less common, but just as sweet. Of course he could choose to go by Theo when he’s older, but popular names have never bothered me. Or Edward nicknamed Teddy! It’s one of those names I wish I’d had the chance to use. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Benjamin.
I just had an Edward nicknamed Teddy in April! Obviously, I’m biased, but I love it. I did hate to lose the potential Theo nickname from Theodore, but I much preferred Edward as the “grown-up” name. (Does anyone actually go by the name Theodore? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who was actually called that.) I also liked that Edward has been dropping in popularity for decades (it’s down to #192 in 2019), instead of Theodore which is gaining steam.
I feel like this family’s taste is very similar to my own. We named our son Edward Alexander, but also strongly considered Calvin, Charles, David, Michael, and Edmund. I wonder if they would consider the nickname Benji with Benjamin? I love that nickname (we weren’t able to use it because it would’ve made our child’s name Benji M@nn, which we thought was a little funny to have Benjamin spelled out in the full name.)
Nathaniel (Nathan, Nate, Nat, Natty) <3
How about Stanley? A traditional name with a kick of novelty these days. The idea of a little boy named Stan is just so sweet somehow.
A few other ideas:
Charles (Chuck!)
Clifford (Cliff!)
Howard
Harvey
If this is almost definitely your last baby, I want you to pick a name with a one syllable nickname and it will feel like a period at the end of a complete sentence!
But that’s just me. My 2012 girl was maybe going to be Theo. I’m not sure how I feel about that name now. It should feel classic, but it does feel trendy.
I do like Benjamin for you, or Bennet! Benny is sweet on a baby and Ben is not a name you’d regret.
I say choose Theodore/Theo! If Abigail and Elizabeth’s popularities didn’t bother you, I don’t think it will be a problem.
Or you could choose Ted as his nickname. It’s not even Top 1000!
I would avoid Teddy because that leaves out Reese as the only one without an -ee ending.
I’d also avoid another Biblical name, again to avoid leaving Reese out (if you count Josephine as Biblical because of Joseph).
But I agree with Swistle: it’s your only boy, so sky is the limit style wise.
So here are a few suggestions:
Garrett
Maxwell nn Max
Leonard nn Leo
Edmund nn Ed/Ted
Conrad
Duncan
Beckett
I would love to suggest my child’s name: William/Billy. He nearly always goes by the nickname and we frequently get positive comments on it. Have also never met another young Billy (plenty of Liams and the occasional William or Will although not as many as you’d think).
With the popularity of your girls names I would say use Theodore/Theo, Theo has always been a favorite of mine. If you still feel that is a no, from your list I like Alexander, also a favorite. When reading the letter, I immediately thought about Charles/Charlie and Nathaniel/Nate. With Charles my only problem is that I don’t love Charlie as a nickname. Nathaniel/Nate I’m totally in love with.
I love Theodore/Theo and I think the other names you’re considering are great too.
I also like:
Andrew Joseph – you began with an A in Abigail; you could end (maybe) with an A for Andrew.
Abigail, Theresa, Josephine, Elizabeth, and Andrew; Abby, Reese, Josie, Lizzie, and Drew (my preferred nickname for Andrew) or AJ.
Thomas Joseph – a classic name that can “grow” with your child: Tommy, Tom, Thomas; although, imo, Tommy Lee Jones has worn his name well throughout his life and career.
Abigail, Theresa, Josephine, Elizabeth, and Thomas; Abby, Reese, Josie, Lizzie, and Tom/Tommy/TJ.
A friend has a Theo who was born in 2008 and her younger son is Sullivan/“Sully” which you might like. Wells could also be a nn for Wesley that complements the style of Reese. I think the British style nicknames for boys could be a fun genre to explore – Bertie, Frankie, Archie, Albie, Freddy, etc!
Mom of a 16 year old Theo (not Theodore), here. I still love it as much as the day he was born.. but of course I loved that it wasn’t even in the top 1000 when he was born in 2004. Now I kind of cringe that it’s become so popular! It just goes to show the effect of an entire population slowly coming around to different names en masse and there’s no way to really predict it! The same thing happened to another other son’s name: Silas. When we named him in 2007 many people had never heard of it.. and then lo and behold Justin Timberlake had a Silas and it exploded.
[In case fellow name nerds here are curious about our whole lineup: Theo, Ian, Silas, Anja (pronounced ON-ya) Zack, Elliot, Brina (pronounced BREE-nuh) and Claire.]
In my area (not US) Theo is particularly popular with the older-professional-Christian set. That isn’t a bad thing but it does lead to small pockets in friend groups where the name is more common than it appears. Names are very regional so this is either a plus or a minus where you are but info I would like to know :)
When I was reading I was thinking John. I know it is on your can’t use list but is there any way?? I also love David Joseph (Dev, DJ, Taffy), James Joseph (Jimmy!), Peter Joseph (PJ).
If you are looking for cooler/trendier biblical similar to Theo what about Silas or Simon (Si)?
You have a very solid list. From it my favorites are Alexander (nn Alex or Xander or even Sasha) Benjamin (nn Ben, Benny, or Benji) Christopher (nn Chris or Topher), and Theodore (nn Theo or Teddy). I think any of these could fit well into the sibling set. Also, since I know nixed names sometimes come back into play I also like Jonathan (nn Jon) and Joshua (nn Josh).
How about Leo? Of course that repeats the L from Lizzie…
I have an eight year old Theodore, nn Teddy. The name has definitely grown in popularity, but there has not been more than 1 in his class, sports teams, nor social circle.
I wonder if you might like Matthew, nn Matt. It seems to match your style and you can match initials with this baby.
I’ve noticed Theodore/Theo/Teddy has become very popular in my area but I think if you love it you should use it!
If not Theo what about Leo? Leonard called Leo?
Elliot called Leo (Lio)
If you like Julianne for a girl what about Julian for a boy?
I think Zachary “Zack” would be fun since he is your last baby and I’m assuming Abby was your first? A-Z is kinda fun!
Or Isaac called Zac?
Oh and I wanted to add that from your list I really like Nathan called Nate but I think Nathaniel (Nate or Nat) nicely mirrors Theodore’s stately and handsome style but bypasses the popularity issue. Nathaniel McKowan is gorgeous!
From your list, I really like Christopher nn Kit. No repeating initials in full names or nicknames.
Mom of a 12 year old Theodore nn Theo here. I love it as much as I did when I picked it, so my vote is definitely for Theo. He likes his name, too. We were definitely ahead of the curve in popularity, but even now it’s more familiar than common.
I also have an August nn Gus, which has also gotten a bit more popular, though less so than Theo. Other names on our boy short list included Thomas, Frederick nn Fritz (a family nickname but COME ON! FRITZ!!!), Oscar, Robert.
Theo(dore) was our boy name for our 10YO and 12YO girls – still fond of it. All your other possibilities are great too. Ever considered Tobias (Toby)? I love that one with your daughters’ names.
Toby! This should definitely be a contender!
I’m one who advocates for unique initials within a sibset (including nicknames) so I personally would avoid using a name that starts with A, T, R, J, E and L.
For you, I quite like:
Zachary/Zach
Bennett/Ben
Daniel/Dane
Frederick/Freddie
Oliver/Ollie
Samuel/Sam
Peter/Pete
Nathaniel/Nate
Grant
Nolan
I love Benjamin and Alexander, and Christopher from your list. Have you thought about Daniel? Daniel Joseph (Danny; Dan; DJ) . I did notice Joseph is part of Josephine’s name, are they for the same person?
A friend of mine has an 8yr old Theodore (not Theo).
I love Benjamin- nn Ben, Bennie, or Benji
Matthew- my son’s name. He prefers his full name (never Matt) but his best friend calls him Math & it’s fun. We know a Mattie too.
Issac- nn Ike?
I like Alexander & Christopher too. And the suggestion of Sullivan/Sully.
What about Isaiah nickname Izzy, or Sai.
I’m fully on board with Nathaniel, it fits the style and length of your sibling set a bit better than Nathan. I also like the suggestions of Zachary and Isaac even if they’re slightly less classic.
May I suggest Xavier (Xavi), Philip (Pip, Phil, Flip), Gabriel (Gabe), Dominic (Dom, Nick), Marcus (Marc, Marco, Mars) and Sebastian (Bash, Baz, Bastian).
Another vote for Nathaniel/Nate here! But I also like Theodore/Theo/Teddy. You really can’t go wrong with any of these names.
We just named our son Theodore (nn Theo), so I’m bias, but even though it’s rising in popularity it isn’t that popular in our area yet. I had multiple nurses at the hospital tell me, “We don’t see many Theodores!” I don’t know another Theo in our relatively large city.
Congrats on your new edition! Andrew Joseph is a lovely name!