Felicia writes:

We are due 4/26 with our third child, and we are not finding out the gender before the birth. Baby will join older siblings Owen and Aubrey. So our last name is one syllable, starting with B, and it’s the word for the make-up that you put on your cheeks.

Here is the pertinent information:
* If Baby is a girl, she will be named Leah Caroline, both names for a grandmother who is in failing health. But, we are stuck on a boy’s name!

* We choose middle names to honor family members who have passed away. Possible middle names for boys: Joseph, David, James, Emmett (with Joseph being first pick because it would actually honor two different people, one from each side).

* We would prefer a name that does not start or end with a B, to avoid the alliteration or running together.

* Owen is named partly for the soccer player Michael Owen, and partly because it’s the only boy name we ever found that we both agreed on. We did not find out his gender, but if he were a girl, he would have been Alannah Evelyn – Alannah for its Irish and Hawaiian origins.

* Aubrey is named because I just liked the sound of it (and my husband likes the baseball player Aubrey Huff). I actually started out liking Audrey, but got thrown off by the “odd” sound at the beginning. If she were a boy, she would have been Landon Joseph – Landon for the famous soccer player (Landon Donovan) and flyfisherman (Landon Mayer) of the same name. For some reason this time, it just does not seem right to re-use Landon.

* We want a boy’s name to be unequivocally masculine name, since we have such a feminine surname.

* We really do not have any contenders for a first name, since nothing feels right to either of us so far. My husband is really into soccer, flyfishing, and skiing, so I’m sure he would not be opposed to finding a name from there.

* Although we are both American (going back several generations), my husband’s heritage is Lithuanian and Irish, and mine is Irish and German. (We had the Hawaiian name in there because we spent two weeks there on our honeymoon and LOVED it, though neither of us is even remotely Hawaiian.)

* Last but not least (sorry so long!)… I suggested Adam, Eli, or Eric, but my husband was very “meh” about them. He suggested Travis, which I was “meh” about. I don’t know why we could both instantly agree on Owen (as well as girl names) but cannot seem to find a boy’s name this time that is a good fit.

I know you and your readers can help us though!

I urge you to reconsider Landon Joseph: you both agreed on it, you both loved it well enough to use it if Aubrey had been a boy, it’s completely masculine, and it’s good with Owen and Aubrey. Think of all your children in a little line, waiting to be born: you had a boy name and a girl name all set for your second baby because you didn’t know which child was coming next—and it was Aubrey, so Landon’s name is still available, unused, for when HE arrives.

But if it’s that you don’t feel like using the name anymore, I do understand that: we had a girl name in mind for both our first two boys, and by the time we actually had a girl we were tired of the name.

Lawson is similar: Lawson Joseph B___.

Would you like the name Milo? I love it with Owen because of the repeating long-O sound. Oh, and with Joseph too! Milo Joseph B___.

Or Jasper: a little of the sound of Travis, with more the style of Eli: Jasper Joseph B___ could also go by J.J. if you like double-initial nicknames. I like Jasper David B___, too. It niggles in the back of my mind that both Jasper and Emmett are Twilight characters? If that’s the case, I’d probably avoid Jasper Emmett B___, even though it has a very nice sound.

Or Jeremy Joseph B___ would give you the same J.J. if you wanted it.

Or Lucas: Lucas Joseph B____; Owen, Aubrey, and Lucas.

Would you use Emmett as the first name? It’s wonderful with Owen and Aubrey. Emmett Joseph B___. I think the rhythm of Everett works even better: Everett Joseph B____.

Name update! Felicia writes:

Leah Caroline was born three days before her due date. Newborn picture is attached. If she had been a boy, I was really pushing for Landon Joseph or Miller Joseph. My husband came out of nowhere with the dark horse contender of Vanek Joseph (after one of his favorite hockey players). But in the end, the decision was made for us since she was a she. :) Thanks for all the input from Swistle and readers. We have gotten a ton of compliments on the name choice.

Renee writes:

Hi Swistle, my name is Renee and my 5th (and final!) child is due on the 28th of April. One of my favourite things about having children is naming them, however I’m not having so much fun naming this baby.

My kids names are Emerson “Emmie” Louisa, Rose Susanna, Liam Davis and Noah James. All middle names honour family members, but for this baby I would just like a middle name that ends in ‘a’ so that it fits in with Emmie and Rose’s middle names. I have step-sisters named Jennifer and Rebecca, so if you could think of a name that honours both of them I would consider that, but I don’t want to honour one of them, but not the other.

Anyway, as you can see we have an Emerson and a Rose – names that are completely different in style! So honestly, I am feeling a bit lost and I don’t really know what name I want. I would like to steer clear of names starting with E, R, L and N, but if I fell in love with a name I would use it, except for E names as we also have a niece named Elli. Emmie and Elli are very similar names, so we would not only like to steer clear of E names, but steer clear of names ending with an ‘ee’ sound as we also call Rose, Rosie, sometimes too. We also have a niece named Nala, so that is off-limits to us too.

Here is our name list, though none of the names feel like ‘the one’ or we can’t use them:
Mila – I would use this, but my husband isn’t as keen on it.
Scarlett – Both like, but don’t love.
Grace – I love this, but I would end up calling her Gracie. Emmie, Rosie and Gracie with a cousin Elli is no good!
Ava – We know a couple of little Ava’s, so no good for us.
Isabella – Like this, but don’t really love.
Sophia – This is my favourite name (apart from my girls names), but Emmie has a best friend named Sophia, and we are very close with her family.

So there you have it. One big mess!!!

I hope you can help us :-)

 
My sense of order and consistency itches at the idea of giving the first four children family middle names and then not doing the same for the fifth. But I also dislike the idea of trying to honor more than one person with a single name: I think it ends up honoring neither one. This second opinion is at odds with what I have for you, which is a combination name to attempt to honor both Jennifer and Rebecca: Jennica. This is a name I think is cute ANYWAY—a good alternative for someone who loves the name Jessica but felt it got worn out in the 1980s and 1990s. AND it ends in an A.

Rose, Liam, and Noah all have a similar style; since you call Emerson “Emmie,” I think that fits right in with the others.

Since you like-but-don’t-love Scarlett, would you like Charlotte? It goes well with the style of the other names. Charlotte Jennica Campbell.

If you like-but-don’t-love Isabella, I’d suggest Annabella and Arabella—except I don’t like the repeating -bell sound with Campbell.

If you love Grace (or any other name with a natural -ie nickname), I think you could reframe the situation: an Emerson, a Rose, and a Grace with a cousin Elli. Only the nicknames repeat the -ie ending, and MANY (most?) nicknames end in that sound.

Along those lines, I suggest Molly. I know, it makes it even worse by repeating not only the -ie sound but the -llie sound! But—Elli is a cousin, not a sister, and Molly seems like such a different name.

If you love the name Sophia, I think you could reconsider using it: I think it’s sweet that it’s the name of Emmie’s best friend, and it’s not likely to cause MUCH confusion even if you’re good friends with the family. Or you could use it as a middle name, since it ends in A. Charlotte Sophia, Molly Sophia, etc.

Ava and Mila make me think of Amelia. Amelia Campbell is wonderful, and it doesn’t have a natural -ie nickname. But because it ends in -a, it’s trickier to find a middle name to match the first two girls’. MUST it match the first two girls’ names? Amelia Grace Campbell would be so nice. But perhaps Amelia shares too many sounds with Liam anyway.

Clara or Cora would be pretty, and they don’t end in -ie or have a nickname with an -ie. But they end in -a, so again with the middle name problem.

In short, I recommend dropping at least one (and maybe both) of your optional restrictions (the “not ending in an -ie sound, either in name or in nickname” one and the “middle name ending with -a” one). I think that combining those (and the problem they create in combination with each other) with the difficulties already inherent in choosing a name to go four sibling names AND avoiding repeating initials AND avoiding any similarities to cousin or friend names, is what’s making this so difficult—more like doing a complicated logic puzzle than choosing a baby name. But since I’m also advocating adding an ADDITIONAL optional restriction (giving a family middle name), you know I will be completely on your side if you keep the other restrictions as well. In which case I suggest Charlotte Jennica or Charlotte Ava or Charlotte Sophia—but the -ie thing means you can’t call her either Charlie or Lottie. So let’s see if anyone else has ideas!

Name update! Renee writes:

First of all, thanks to Swistle and all the comentors (?) for your help naming our baby girl.

A week early, on the 21st of April, Amelia Renna Campbell was born. To the person that suggested Renna – thanks, we love it and so do my sisters – and thanks Swistle and everybody else who suggested Amelia! We weren’t 100% on the name before Amelia was born, but once she was here we quickly decided that she was an Amelia. We (mostly me and the kids) have been calling her Mila and sometimes I call her Mila Ren as we sometimes call Emmie, Emmie Lou. We are all in love with her!

(I will attach a picture of Amelia from her newborn photo’s!)

Shannon writes:

I’m having a lot of difficulty coming up with a girl’s name for this baby. I think we are set on a boy’s name. Here’s some back round information:
We have two kids, Ivan Bradley and Gwendolyn Ruth. Gwendolyn goes alternately by Gwen or Gwendolyn. I’m pretty sure that if this baby is a boy we will name him
Nathaniel Jeffrey. I feel like Ivan, Gwen & Nate sound good together.

My husband is sick of me changing my mind and really doesn’t want to think about names until the last minute. I dread going to the hospital without a solid choice for either sex. We’ve talked about the name Veronica for a girl but it’s such a strong name and I think people either love it or hate it. I’ve even read on some boards that people automatically assume someone with this name is stuck up or a total b*tch. I’d hate for people to have that snap judgment of my daughter!

Here are some parameters for names. I like names that are clearly male or female. I’m not a fan of anything with questionable spelling and/or of the Greyson, Braiden, Makayla, etc. style. I’d like a girl name that is similar to Gwendolyn. Feminine not trendy and has room to be played with nickname wise. I’d really like to avoid anything that is incredible popular right now. Ivan and Gwen are names that, in my opinion, are different enough without seeming pretentious or trendy. I realize Nathaniel is more popular than my kid’s names but I feel it’s a solid choice. Jeffrey is my father’s name.

Anyway, I’m due 4.25.11 and I don’t know what I’m having. But I guess I need more help with a girl name. Thank you very much!

I think Veronica is great, and I think every name will have its own set of people who will say unpleasant things about the name as if their own personal dislike of it means the name itself is objectively bad. “Reminds me of a stripper,” they’ll say, and add “Sorry!” as if they feel bad that their individual association obviously rules out the name permanently for everyone. (Perhaps it is obvious I feel a little PRICKLY on this topic. Veronica = “stuck up b*tch,” MY FOOT.)

Another possibility is Victoria, though I don’t think it goes as well with Gwendolyn. Maybe Cordelia, or Isadora if you don’t mind repeating an initial.

I wonder if you’d like Francesca? I think it goes well with Gwendolyn: similarly feminine and unusual, and with lots of nicknames (Frannie, Frankie, Chessie).

Or Imogen?

Ooo, or Anastasia? Or Willemina/Wilhelmina? Or Philomena? Josephine?

Or Minerva?

Name update! Shannon writes:

It’s a Girl! Despite her due date, she finally arrived on the morning of May 1st. Thank you again for including my question on your blog. There were so many beautiful names suggested. My husband loved them too. In the end, I think your post gave me the confidence to go ahead and name my daughter Veronica. Thank you, thank you! So her name is Veronica Jane. Jane is a family name after my Aunt Jane who is a really cool lady in her 90s. True story, while filling out the birth certificate info as I was chatting to my husband, I nearly wrote “Mars” as her middle name. Whew! Glad I caught that one.