Swistle,
I REALLY need your help. My son was born two weeks early and we didn’t find out the gender. He is now a month old and I still haven’t named him! I just can’t quite commit and only have one more week before I have to register his birth and choose a name.We have two daughters, Scarlett Elizabeth and Ivy Jean, both of their middle names are family names. If he had been a girl he would have been Olive Elaine. I feel like we have a definitive girl naming style, but can’t work out boys names. I think this is our last baby.
Some helpful context. We are American, but live in London, so ideally a babe that works in both countries but not in the top 10. Our surname is K3nt, and I think two or more syllable names sound best.
Names on our list that don’t work for various reasons…
Jude (too short)
Jack (too short)
Liam (USA popular)
Clarke (not with our surname)
Dean (apparently looked down upon in the UK)
Beau (hubby hates)
Colin (our neighbor)I think my current frontrunner is Jonah. Other names I like are Hugh, Levi, Logan, Eli, Callum…
Middle name will be Scott, after my dad.
Did I miss any good ones? Why can’t I commit? Any tips?
Help name this baby!
Thank you,
Kelly
Name update:
Hi Swistle,
Huge thanks to all of your lovely readers for their help in naming our little boy.There was lots of support for Oliver, but that is my nephew’s name!
In the end, we named him Jonah. I think I needed some reassurance and other ideas to help me choose. Part of me still wonders if there is a better name for him out there. I haven’t found it yet and imagine he will grow into his name more and more each day.
Thanks for all your help!
Kelly
If you were going to use Olive for a girl, why not Oliver? Oliver Scott Kent! Scarlett, Ivy and Oliver.
My nephew is Oliver Scott! It’s a lovely name, just already taken in our family. :(
I love Oliver Scott for you! Yes, it’s popular, but even the most popular names are not annoyingly popular out in the world these days (as Swistle has explained). Since you were set on Olive and not planning on a fourth, I think you should use a name with the sounds and meaning you love. Plus, Scarlett, Ivy & Ollie is so cute! Congrats on the beautiful baby!
For what it’s worth, I am in the UK (English) and I haven’t heard anything negative about Dean.
I know a Scarlett, Ivy and Teddy sibset.
Is there a nickname or a variation that you have been calling the baby? What do his sisters call him?
Any of the names you have listed are perfectly fine – you can’t get this wrong!
You may have trouble committing because this is, presumably, your last baby to name. There is more pressure to get it right and their may be a sadness that once the name is selected, the door is shut on naming more children.
Jonah Scott goes really with your daughters names and your last name.
If you like Jude and Jack but thing they are too short what about Judah and Jackson. I think the variation Jaxon has the same “edge” as Scarlett and Ivy.
But you may want to let go of the two or more syllable requirement. They are plenty of nice sounding single syllable first and last names – Clark Kent, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn.
While I don’t Jack works that well with you last name, the ending k flows into the beginning K, Hugh Scott K…t sound great to me. So does Hugh Kent.
I also like:
Drew Scott K…t
Leo Scott K..t
Joel Scott K..t
Ray Scott K..t
Jonah is a favorite of mine. It would have been a front-runner for a second boy if I didn’t already have a Noah. I like Logan, too.
This may be too obvious, but if you liked Olive for a girl, would you like Oliver? Oliver Scott. Scarlett, Ivy, & Oliver. I think it works. Or since you like Johah and Eli, how about Elijah? Or if repeating an end sound appeals, Elliott. Scarlett, Ivy, & Elliott. I like it.
Good luck deciding!
I’d stick with a 2 syllable name that almost always isn’t shortened. Scarlett Kent and Ivy Kent sound great!
__________ Scott Kent
Theo
Owen
Easton
Archer
Jonah Scott is beautiful! Strong, warm, handsome, and sweet.
If that doesn’t feel right, I’d second the suggestions of Oliver and Elliot, and I’d throw Jasper and Milo in the mix.
What about Julian?
I wanted to send some commiseration- my first child was born eight weeks early and we also didn’t have a name picked out and she was nameless for a month. In hindsight, though, it was nice to have time to try out different names to see what fit. Our second was named before we left the hospital and he has a name that I love but that is perhaps a little unusual, which We might not have picked if we had taken a month to choose. Our third we also left the hospital without a name and, like her big sister, we took a month to settle on a name. I will say, we didn’t find having more time made the name choice any clearer. In the beginning, I thought if we just gave ourselves time one name would just suddenly fit and be perfect. But we found more giving ourselves more time to make a choice was just … more time to make a choice. Eventually we just picked one to start using and even though it wasn’t lightning bolt perfect, it was a nice name and we realized that the name wasn’t the most important thing… having her in our lives was the most important thing.
Somehow my mind went right to “Donovan.” It has the Celtic feeling of some of the names on your list and would flow well with the middle and last names!
Awe! And we get a baby photo right away! He’s a cutie
Scarlett, Ivy, & Jonah
Scarlett, Ivy, & Oliver
Scarlett, Ivy, & Hugh
Scarlett, Ivy, & Levi
Scarlett, Ivy, & Milo
Scarlett, Ivy, & Miles
Did you notice Levi Scott has sort of nods to your girls’ names? Scarlett and Scott begin and end the same way and Levi is Ivy backwards with an L at the start. Subtle enough to not notice at first or second glance, or maybe never depending on the person observing. I quite like the effect, now that I’ve noticed it.
As for choosing, well you could look and see which name has your favorite meaning of the batch, use one a day all day, to see which feels best, or even actually put your top few in a hat and pull one.
I just came on here to say … Jasper!
Scarlett, Ivy and Jasper
This would fit beautifully with your girl naming style.
I think Jasper is a type of quartz. You have a red colour name with Scarlett, and Ivy is a nature name and colour (green). Jasper is nature and an orange colour think.
I just love this as a sibset. Plus I’ve always loved the name Jasper.
Jasper would be great!
Jasper jumped into my head immediately, too.
My first thought with Scarlett and Ivy was Jasper.
And then seeing as you have a lot of J names that aren’t quite right, I thought I should second this suggestion. I guess others have thought similarly with the excellent suggestions of Judah and Julian.
Also love the suggestions of Oliver and Elliott.
Cute baby … all the best as you make your decision!
I’ve always loved Marcus—strong but sweet. And if you like Jude and Jonah what about Julian? My third was also a surprise boy and unlike with the other two we named him more quickly and it was a name we liked a lot and agreed on but didn’t love at first. It has continued to grow on me and him and I love it (Neal!).
I would agree (as a Brit) that there are class connotations to Dean. Obviously that’s absurd but… yeah. Colin would also be an eyebrow raiser in England, it’s very much a 1950s/60s era name that’s not quite come full circle yet – although that means you wouldn’t meet many!
Oliver is the second most popular baby name in the UK so if popularity is a concern, it’s something to bear in mind.
I think Jonah works! Other possibilities: Ezra, Milo, and I love the suggestion of Julian.
This is FASCINATING. Can you offer any more insight into names that are similar in their connotations/associations/valences to Dean (class-wise) and Colin (age-of-bearer-wise)? I love finding out that, like, Mireille is an old lady name in France and that Noa in Israel is like Taylor (for girls) in the US or something.
Sure! So names that people are suggesting here, that I have never met on an English child born this century, would include Ian, Malcolm, Quentin. Then Clive, Jeffrey/Geoffrey, Maurice, Roy, Nigel, Neville, Jason. Duncan, perhaps (I have met a few Duncans my own age and I suspect you’d find more little ones in Scotland than in England). I’m sure lots of those are in a similar style hinterland in the US?
On the other hand, we LOVE an old man name (or old granny name). I know little kids called Ernest, Agatha,Ida, Edith, lots and lots of Stanleys, Franks, Dottie and Dorothy, Alfie, Albert, Arthur, Albie. So I’m sure Roy and Rita are only 10 years from coming back around.
Class-wise – well, bear in mind these are NOT MY OPINIONS: But I would say among some British people, there is a stigma attached to Jason, Darren, Dean, Mason, Jackson/Jaxxon, Kyle, Liam, Reese, Ryan, Shane, Wayne (actually Shane and Wayne also fall into the top category and will have massively fallen off a cliff in terms of usage).
We are a very strange country, and sometimes the oddest things will trigger class anxiety, like using a certain word over another (like the toilet/lavatory cliche) or what time you eat dinner, or whether you even CALL it dinner (dinner for working class people or northerners is at lunchtime!). So please take from this not that the names are problematic, but that the British class system is, deeply so.
I love Asher for you!! Sounds so good with your other children’s names! Oliver sounds great, too.
Auto-correct! Meant Jasper!
Congratulations!! I bet it’s a mixture of post partum hormones and the sadness of potentially naming your last baby that’s giving you some trouble committing. Just know that you can’t really mess this up! Jonah Scott z Kent is a lovely name and fits your sibset beautifully.
I also like the previous suggestions of Oliver, Elliott, and Jasper. I’ll add Tristan and Roman as a few more possibilities.
All of the names on your list are great! I also agree with everyone else who likes Jasper – it’s a great name, sounds good with the siblings, and reminds me of some of the other names on your list.
I think you might be having a hard time because the idea that this is your last baby is making you think you need to find the One Perfect Name, your absolute favorite of all of the names left in the world! This is your last chance!! Except that you DON’T actually have to find the perfect best name. Your baby doesn’t need to have The Best Name (according to your preferences), he just needs to have one good name to make his own.
I would love Nathaniel Scott for your little one!
Callum Sc0tt! It’s identifiable but not popular, easy to read… I like it.
Scarlett, Ivy, and Callum
Congratulations!!
You really can’t go wrong. Your girls’ names are beautiful so you have a great taste!
From your list, I’d exclude Hugh (too short), Levi (too close to Olive, and you just never know), Logan (too popular) and Eli (too close to Elizabeth, and you need to narrow the list down).
So you get:
Jonah and Callum.
They both mean “dove”, which is cute with two sisters with word names: a color, a plant and a bird.
I’d choose Jonah to avoid the possibility of two siblings with similar nicknames: Carly and Cal.
Or you might prefer Hugo Scott K. (a longer option, since you like Hugh).
Can someone explain the class connotation of Dean? I’ve never heard that before.
I think it’s just seen as a more working-class name in the UK. So not necessarily a ‘bad’ connotation, but some people are going to draw conclusions based on it.
Naming in the UK is just different to the US in a way that’s a little hard to pinpoint. A lot of it is our very ingrained class system. So for example, lots of people talk about the blog British Baby Names and its weekly name round-up. There are some AMAZING names on there. But the long flowery fancy ones? Those come from the Telegraph or the Times name announcement section, and they are names the upper middle class and even aristocracy are naming their kids, not people you’re going to find in the local primary school. Not that many regular people are naming their kids Beatrix Coco Hester, Percival Desmond Ralph and Ottilie Marina St Clair (although I know Beas and Ottilies and babies called Percy).
But equally, I have friends who just welcomed their first baby and they dismissed any name they felt was ‘posh’ (Rupert, Felix, Humphrey, Marcus) and anything they deemed too working class (Alfie, Mason, Jayden, Finley) and honestly the list was totally arbitrary and didn’t reflect the usage of those names these days. It left them with a VERY small pool of traditional names that have been in frequent usage for hundreds of years. But my point is that with English naming, as I’m sure with US naming, there is subtext that might be hard to work out if viewed by a non-brit. For my friends Dean would fall into the working class category – but also it’s quite dated, it was ranked 80th in 1996 and is now at 592, in a naming fashion hinterland.
Congratulations on your sweet baby boy! Adding my support for Oliver, since you liked Olive for a girl. I think all your front-runners work really well too! Hugh is only one syllable, though I think it’s nice with the surname, but there’s always Hugo if you want more length. Jonathan also came to my mind for some reason; I think it goes well with the surname, middle name, and sibling names. Or Andrew (though that gives the initials ASK). Or Philip.
Such a treat to have a baby photo with a letter! What an adorable yawn.
I’ve definitely heard a similar refrain from friends whose babes arrived early. It’s hard enough to choose the ‘perfect’ name without being in a newborn fog, with other kids to love too, with lovely lovely names. My second wasn’t born surprisingly early, but she did not like any of the five names we had ready for her. We chose a name that related to the day she chose to be born (coincidentally a relative’s birthday) but I also had some regret over middle names for months and months. You’re not alone in feeling like you need some reinforcements, so I hope you find some confirmation or ideas in this thread!
Oliver might seem like the obvious choice, but it’s one of those similar but so unlike names that Swistle’s recent thread covered. It’s way too popular. Olivia is so different from Olive too.
Jonah is lovely. Joe/Joey Kent is nice too if that’s a nickname he took on later. Definitely love Callum too! The meaning of Dove mentioned just totally seals those both for my votes. Little Dovie.
Jasper is a great suggestion, but I wonder if it’s too popular where you are? I find name popularity in the UK follows closer to Canadian name popularity (where I am) and there has definitely been a rise in Jasper here. I know four. Although, you have Logan on your list which looks to be top 20ish too.
I really like the alliteration of Callum…hmmm would you like Conrad (brave counsel) or Corbin (raven) or Kellen to honour yourself??
Other Ls you may like? Leroy (your little King!), Lennox (elms), Lawson (Sonny/Sunny!)…
Davis (beloved) or Grady (noble)?
Good luck!
I thing the suggestion above of the name Elijah is perfection. Similar to Jonah, gives you the nickname of Eli, and goes swimmingly with the sisters’ names. Elijah Kent. Chef’s kiss!
Oliver?
Congrats! From your contenders, I love Jonah and Hugh. I think when first and last names are one syllable, but share no sounds, it works really well. (I think Swistle has discussed this?). Think Brad Pitt, Jude Law, or Tom Cruise. I absolutely love Hugh with your last name.
And here are my suggestions:
Calvin
Otto
Augustus (“Gus”)
Good luck!!
I vote IAN! I also like Julian, Jasper and Callum from others.
Hugo!
This was my first thought, too. I love Hugo.
Maybe give your son a name that refers to a color/thing, just as Scarlett and Ivy do? For example, Forrest, Auburn, Sterling, Hunter, Bruno, Ember, Jasper, Rufus, Tanner.
I vote for Jonah since that is my son’s name!
Mom to a Callum and I love his name. It took us a long time to decide on it, but we’re super happy with our choice. We’ve gotten nothing but positive reactions.
I think it sounds great with the middle and last names
Jonas
Caleb
Sebastian
Leon
Casper
Gabriel
Eli
We have the same naming style, I think. We have an Eli, Asher, and if our next is a girl she’d be Ivy. So, I suggest Asher in addition to Eli!
Came to suggest:
Forest
Jasper
Redmond
Russet
Bruno
Basil
Whitaker
Best wishes! You have a gorgeous little guy?
I do like the idea of Oliver. Hugh makes me think of Hugo, which would meet your 2 syllable preference. I also really like Jude and think it’s fine with the last name. Not so much Jack, as the ks run together.
Most of your short listed names have an LI in them (Liam, Colin, Levi, Eli, Olive). Perhaps look to other LI names:
Linden
Julian
Alister
Elias
Felix
Oscar
Malcolm
Fionn
Quentin
Judah
Jonas
Are my suggestions for your sweet baby boy !
Oh how about Ernest ?
I love Jack Kent. Jack Scott Kent. It’s snappy and memorable.
Hugo and Oliver are also great but really you have good options.
If you like Jonah,
You might Love Johan?
He’s adorable! Olive and Colin bring to mind Calvin – this would have been our boy name had we had a boy.
Have you considered naming him Kelly after you? Kelly Scott K3nt.
Your list has plenty of great choices, but I’m giving another vote for Jonah Scott K…. It’s a sweet and wonderful name, and one of (?) your front runners. I think you are already all set! :)
I don’t know if you’ve already picked a name, but what about my own son’s name, Fordon? Like Gordon with an F.
I love Jonah Scott.
Other names I have not seen mentioned that may be worth considering:
Desmond Scott
Nolan Scott
Theodore Scott
Ezra Scott
Alexander Scott
Dashiell Scott
Of these I really like Theodore: Scarlett, Ivy, and Theo
Dashiell is handsome too: Scarlett, Ivy, and Dash
Ezra also fits great with the sisters: Scarlett, Ivy, and Ezra