Carole writes:

I was wondering if you could help us with our baby naming dilemma. I am due at the end of April with our first baby. We do not know if it is a boy or a girl.

My husband and I both LOVE the name Henry. But our last name is Potter. Will I be subjecting the baby to a lifetime of being called Harry Potter? I am really nervous of this. My husband thinks the child will be called Harry Potter no matter how opposite of Harry we choose and really wants to use it. The middle name has been picked. Richard. After my husbands father. So Henry Richard Potter? Can we do it?

Other boy names we like are:
Benjamin
Ryan – we also both like but I have a cousin who just named her boy Ryan last year.
Jack – but it is quite popular and how does Jack Potter sound?

I loved Andrew but it had to be tossed out because my sister chose it for my 3mo nephew. As you can tell I am having a hard time with coming up with something unique to pair with such a common last name.

Swistle, please help. Should we give up on Henry Potter? Will everyone forget the hype of J.K. Rowling and her very popular series of books in the next 5 years and we can use the name? With your experience are there any other boy names that you suggest?

We are not having as much as a dilemma with girl names. We both really like most of our choices. Katherine/Kate), Mallory, Camille, Anna (Annie), Marie.

Thank you and I really appreciate your help.

 
I vote no: I wouldn’t use Henry Potter. I don’t think the Harry Potter thing is going to blow over soon: it’s been 15 years and it’s still going strong. Perhaps the fervor will die down a bit now that there will not be new books/movies coming out? But I wouldn’t count on it, and in any case the name Harry Potter has been fully established as a cultural reference.

Certainly your surname will provoke comment no matter what first name you use, but the level of comments provoked by the name Henry Potter would be in a completely different league. I don’t think you’d be subjecting him to a lifetime of being called Harry Potter; I think you’d be subjecting him to a lifetime of startled reactions and incredulous double-takes. I’m picturing myself having to introduce myself as Hillary Clinton or Julia Roberts, and I would not want that for myself.

I’m afraid that for you Henry falls onto that sad list most of us have: Names We Really Really Love And Want To Use, But Can’t Use. Sometimes we can’t use a name because of a bad association, or because our spouse hates the name, or because the name clashes/rhymes with our surname or with a sibling name, or because someone close to us used the name, or because we’re not having any more children. In your case, you also have a highly recognizable surname with a very strong cultural association. (In fact, more than one: Beatrix would also be on your Sad Can’t Use list, if you loved it.)

All three names on your back-up list are great, and a cousin’s son seems far enough removed even if your family is close. Jack is common, but no more common than either Ryan or Benjamin. [Edit: Maria in the comments mentions Jack Potter brings “jackpot” to mind. That would probably make me rule it out.] Other possibilities:

Daniel Potter
Davis Potter
Elias Potter
Elliot Potter
Evan Potter
Everett Potter
Milo Potter
Nathan Potter
Nolan Potter
Owen Potter
Samuel Potter
William Potter

(I avoided the initials I.P.; if those initials don’t bother you, I’d add Ian and Isaac.)

Let’s have a poll over to the right, to see what everyone else thinks about the usability of the name Henry Potter. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Name update! Carole writes:

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get our naming update in. Turns out we had a girl. Mallory Katherine Potter weighing in at 5lb 10oz. My husband felt her petite but strong/spunky personality felt more like a Mallory than a Katherine.

Thank you for the help on deciding if Henry Potter was usable. I really enjoyed reading everyone comments and if we ever have a boy we know it is out of the question! I guess we can save it for our first animal?

Thanks again for all your help.

Anna writes:

We are expecting our first child, a boy, in early June. Of course, we had a girl’s name chosen, Emmaline Virginia, after my late grandmother. We will probably use this name if we have a girl in the future. Choosing our son’s name has proven to be more difficult!

My husband and I are at least on the same page when it comes to style, so that’s a start. We tend to like traditional, classic names. Most of the names in our list have a family connection as well.

Our last name is Mayberry, which has a positive connotation for most people, but of course, we don’t want to burden our child with any names related to the fictional town (Andrew,Barney, etc..).

Here are some of the names we’ve considered. We would possibly combine these as a first and middle name.

Henry–this is my favorite! I somehow feel an attachment to this name for our baby. My reservation is with the “Y” ending in both the first and last name. Is it too much of a rhyme?

Thomas–I think this has a nice flowing sound with our last name.

William–not sure about the double “m” sound.

Benjamin–one of my husband’s favorites

James–my father’s name

Michael–my FIL’s name

Additional names which may be a middle name:
Calvert
Chaney

We don’t like surnames as a first name. Also, we want to call our son by his first name, not his middle name.

Here are a few combinations we’ve considered. We would love your input on these and any other names we may have overlooked.

Henry Thomas
Henry James–is the literary connection a turn-off? My sister says so, but she is an English teacher. Surely, it’s not as recognizable as Edgar Allen. What do you think?
Henry Benjamin
James Michael
James Calvert
William Henry

Thanks for your help, Swistle. We are so grateful!

I feel like you just CAN’T make a mistake here. All these names are so classic and traditional and go so well together, you could almost pick any two out of a hat and have a success. This can make things harder, as we look for one combination that rises above the others—but it can also make things more relaxed, because they’re ALL good.

If I had to start narrowing it down, I’d probably start by crossing off James and William and Thomas. The -am- of James and the May- of Mayberry give me a slight tongue-stumbly feeling, and I think the problem intensifies with nicknames: Jamie Mayberry gives a mee-may transition my mouth doesn’t like to say, and Jim Mayberry blends too easily into Jimayberry. I feel the same about the way the final M of William blends into the beginning M of Mayberry, and the way Will Mayberry slides together. I like Thomas Mayberry, but not Tommy Mayberry or Tom Mayberry. I still like all three names as middle name candidates.

One of my top favorites is Benjamin Mayberry. I think that has a wonderful sound. (Though maybe too many sounds in common with Emmaline? I can’t tell.) The initials bother me, but I know from previous discussions that they aren’t an issue for everyone.

But I’m very influenced by the way you talk about the name Henry. It sounds like that’s the name you’re most drawn to for this baby. I see the issue with Henry Mayberry, but I think it still works. It helps that the -ry of Henry has that strong N-sound right before it (Harry Mayberry would be more of a problem), and also that Mayberry has three syllables (Henry Berry would be more of a problem).

Henry James definitely makes me think of the author—but both names are so common (and the surname James is so familiar as a given name), I’d assume there was no connection. If your surname were James, I think I’d suggest avoiding Henry, but as a first/middle I think the author connection just makes the names sound even more natural together. Your example of Edgar Allen is a good one: those names are so much less common, which makes the association much stronger.

I also love Henry Michael Mayberry. I think the repeating M gives it a slightly whimsical sound that goes well with Mayberry. But if Mayberry is your husband’s family name, I’m inclined toward using a name from your family for the middle name.

Henry Benjamin has the rhyming Hen/Ben, and I can’t tell if that’s an issue or if it’s the very thing that makes the two names work together.

Henry Calvert Mayberry is so distinguished.

Henry Thomas Mayberry, YES. That’s a great one.

If you use Henry, are there any names on the list you’d particularly like as brother names? I’d set those aside, and be less likely to consider them for the middle name. Are there any names on the list you’d rule out as brother names for Henry? I’d give those extra middle-name consideration, since they wouldn’t otherwise be used. (Or if you don’t choose Henry, I’d do this same exercise with whatever first name you do choose.)

I think my top favorite combination is Henry Thomas. What does everyone else think? What are your favorite combinations?

Name update! Anna writes:

We welcomed our precious baby boy on May 31st. We named him Henry Calvert Mayberry. Calvert is a family name, so we were happy to honor my dad in this way! Thanks to all for helping us narrow down the choices, and for some very positive feedback!

Jessica writes:

I need your help desperately!

My boyfriend (Weston) and I (Jessica) are expecting our first child, a daughter, in May. It will be my second girl and his third child (1 girl, 1 boy). We have completely opposite naming styles. My daughter’s name is Kennedy Anja (3), his kids are Sonya Ray (6) and Alexander Weston (4). To come up with a name that fits well with her step/half siblings and that we both agree on has been nearly impossible. At this point we are left with a very (!) short list of names that I think we’re both not really in love with, but meh, they’ll do. How unfair to this poor girl! I really hope you can help!

Our list of agreed upon names:

Megan
Stevie

Names I like:

Felicity
Julia
Jacqueline (although not with Kennedy, lol)
Claudia
Clara
Sadie
Madeline
Hannah

Names he likes:

Isabel

(He’s nearly impossible. I think this is his entire list. Everything is a potential nickname to him. I mean, Claudia was nixed due to Claude. Wth?)

We both want something less common, that won’t make people question how to pronounce it.

To confuse matters even further, we aren’t yet sure what her last name will be. Either Persson or Spears. More likely Persson. But we can put that aside and just pick a name and hope it flows well with whatever we choose.

Please help us (if it’s even possible)!

Thanks!

I am very fond of coordinated sibling names, but a blended family group presents its own interesting challenge. One way to approach it is to think of it as a math equation: we cancel out the input of the parents who helped named the earlier children but will not be helping to name this one, and we combine the remaining elements. Ideally the styles will mesh similarly to the way the genes mesh: the new child will share some genes and some name-style with all three of her half-siblings.

Another option is to choose a name from yet another style, for a charming assortment. The name Stevie would do this. But I find that when I run that through my mind, it doesn’t sit well: that particular name makes such a bold statement, and it seems like that’s harder to pull off in an assortment set. Something like Lucy might work better: it has its own style, but at an intensity similar to the other two girls’ names. Sonya, Kennedy, and Lucy seems to me like it hits the “charming assortment” mark—and all three names have a Y.

Megan seems like it would work well to meet the “blending” option: it’s Celtic-sounding like Kennedy, but completely feminine like Sonya.

Or Maura, which is Celtic like Kennedy but has more the sound of Sonya.

Or Molly.

I suggest Silvie. It’s similar in sound to Stevie, but more similar in style to Sonya. Sonya, Alexander, Kennedy, and Silvie.

Evie would also give a similar sound to Stevie, but in a version that fits better with the group.

If he would prefer to avoid nicknames, Isabel is tricky: it has both Izzy and Bella. Ella might work, though: Stevie made me think of Stella, but Stella seems to have too many sounds in common with Sonya; Ella takes one sound-match away, and also resists nicknaming. Sonya, Alexander, Kennedy, and Ella.

Your idea of Jacqueline makes me think of Jocelyn. I like the way it goes with Alexander and has a vowel sound in common with Sonya, while having a similar rhythm to Kennedy. Sonya, Alexander, Kennedy, and Jocelyn. But maybe that’s too close to Jacqueline, coming right after the name Kennedy like that.

Are the other children old enough to participate in the naming process? They might enjoy giving input—and may stumble on a great name for her. And if it still wasn’t one you LOVE-loved, it would still have a good loving story attached to it.

Name update! Jessica writes:

Thank you so much for posting my naming issues! It was amazing to read the your response and all the comments. It was funny to see how readers picked up on the Russian/Scandanavian connection in our girl names, even funnier to see they suggested Weston’s ex-wife’s name! In the end we went into labor with a short list that hardly included any of the original list. Our number one choice seemed to be Collette… and then we met her and she was no Collette. And so Marlee Danielle Persson was born! Thanks again for choosing my email, it really did help! Sonya, Kennedy, and Marlee sounds like a good charming assortment to me :)

Thanks!

T. writes:

We are 6 weeks away from my first baby. He’s a boy. Our last name is Wren, and both of our first names start with T (so we are avoiding names that start with T or an R sound).

We’ve pretty much got a favourite first name (Aldous), though the Very Short List also includes Mortimer, Malcolm and Kieran. What we really like about Aldous is that it doesn’t show up on any ‘popular name’ lists (I’m keeping an eye on the American list and also the British Columbia, Canada list). While he’s not in my top ten writers of all time, I like Aldous Huxley the writer (I’m an English teacher) and we both very much like the printer Aldus Manutius (for whom the totally decent font, Aldus, is named), who basically invented the idea of cheap books and the modern use of the semi-colon (I live for stylish semi-colon use). This brings us to question 1: Which spelling? Does it matter? I feel like they’ll be pronounced a little differently.

Question 2: We have no ideas for a middle name. We have spent months and months and months on the first name, and now we only have 6 weeks to figure out a whole other name! Our Short List for first names also included: Douglas, Lloyd, Milo, Merlin, Casius, Xavier, Quincey. We are tempted to just use one of them for the middle name (well, except Aldous Douglas – that seems like a bit much). But we’re open to any suggestions on this, as we aren’t really attached to any of the non-Aldous names, we just think they sound nice. We’re also thinking we’d like to avoid a one-syllable middle name as 2-1-1 seems choppy to us. We don’t have any family or city names we’d like to use for the middle name. We’ve searched for sibling names for Aldous to give us ideas, but it’s so not popular that it’s hard to find suggestions! (Though, with regard to potential actual siblings, we personally think it goes with lots of names, and names we like, so we’re not fretting that one.)

Thank you for your blog! Just reading through your comments and suggestions, even for names we wouldn’t want to consider, is really helpful in pointing out possible pitfalls or things to think about.

 
I started by looking up how to pronounce Aldous, just to make sure. Even after looking it up (Howjsay Aldous) (Howjsay Aldous Huxley), I can see how pronunciation would vary by region and by individual: some would go more for a call-me-Al pronunciation, and some would go for more of an all-out-in-free pronunciation; some would go for more of a dust-without-the-T, and some would blend that with more of an “ooo” sound. The Oxford Dictionary of First Names says it’s like awl-dus. I think I’d say Aldous with a slightly longer second syllable than Aldus—though with repetition and familiarity, I suspect I’d say both the same.

For spelling, if I had no personal preference between the two (I might prefer Aldous, because the Aldus spelling brings Albus Dumbledore to my mind), I’d be inclined to choose based the association I preferred. It sounds to me like you prefer Aldus Manutius to Aldous Huxley, but that both spellings have nice tie-ins to your lives and would work well.

(I was discussing the question with my mother this morning, and she wondered if you might be interested in the name Huxley. Huxley Wren. Huck Wren has a bit of a Huck Finn sound!)

For the middle name, I think you’re on the right track to look at your finalist/short lists. I suggest seeing if there are any names on the list that you wouldn’t want to use for future children if Aldus were selected for the first child. Kieran, for example, is a different style and is also a little awkward with the surname (almost keer-ren-ren); if choosing Aldus would kick it out of the future runnings, it would make a very nice middle name: Aldus Kieran Wren. (I would also see if there were any names MORE likely to be used for future siblings if Aldus were chosen, and put them protectively aside.)

I like the 2-1-1 rhythm; I always admire it on Robin Wright Penn, for example. (I even like 1-1-1, like Frank Lloyd Wright.) So Aldous Lloyd Wren looks good to me. But such things are highly subjective: I also like 2-2-2 rhythms, and I’ve heard others say they avoid them at all costs. So if we’re avoiding 2-1-1, I particularly like Aldous Malcolm Wren, Aldous Xavier Wren, and Aldous Quincy Wren.

Or are there any names you considered during the naming process but had to reject for reasons that wouldn’t matter in the middle name slot? For example, were there T-names or R-names you loved but had to cross off the list because you were avoiding them? Those might be good middle-name candidates. (Though perhaps not Theodore because of Albus Dumbledore again.)

Let’s have a poll over to the right to choose a spelling (this can be helpful no matter which way it comes out, since hopes/disappointments can show you which one was your own preference), and then in the comments section let’s have more talk of middle names (as well as reasons for choosing a particular spelling). [Poll closed; see results below.]

Name update! T. writes:

Hello!

Thank you so much for your help, and to all of the commenters for theirs!

We decided to go with Aldus, because of our greater excitement over Aldus Manutius. We’ll risk the Albus confusion – he’s a nice reference, too.

And for the middle name, we talked a lot about a ‘T’ name. When I first mentioned it, my partners eyes lit up, and he exclaimed “Tiberious!” Now, obviously this presented a rhyming issue, it didn’t work with our new criteria that the middle name be plain and common (in case he hates his unusual first name), but the real reason I vetoed was that it’s a Star Trek reference. And that’s just a step too far (for me, anyway). We ended up abandoning the ‘T’ and revisited our finalists for the first name. My favourite was Douglas, but I also felt it was a bit rhymey with Aldus. So I suggested Doug (thank you all for your 2-1-1 support!). My partner objected at first, saying it sounded like a friendly guy sitting in the middle of his name… as in Aldus Doug ‘hi there!’ Wren. Aldus Doug ‘that’s me!’ Wren. I’m not sure how that was supposed to discourage me. Suffice to say, we went with Doug.

I love his name so much! Thank you for all the suggestions and guidance.

Bea writes:

We are expecting b/g twins at the end of April (so soon!!! and I’m freaking out!), and are mostly decided on our son’s name, which will be August nn Gus. My husbands last name is Oliver, and that will most likely be the twins last name, although we are still thinking about a hyphenated last name (but that is another story!). My name is Beatrice nn Bea (I’ve never been called Beatrice in my life), so any names starting with b are out. My husband is Jeff, and absolutely HATED being Jeff O. all the time in school. That is why we want both of our children to have traditional yet uncommon names, with easy nicknames to fall back on. August was the perfect choice for us, and we are in love with the nickname Gus, but hate Augie (this is really a very minor issue for us). His middle name will be Rhett, after my father, Everett, and my husbands father, Rex. Gus Rhett does not sound so good, but I don’t think we will ever call him that, it will mostly be August Rhett, which is fabulous.

Girls names is where we are stuck. The name we absolutely love and cannot let go is Scout. While it sounds adorable to have twins called Gus and Scout, we hate it with August, and it breaks our whole “nickname” criteria. On the other hand, she wouldn’t even need a nickname because she would probably be the only Scout in class. I already think of Scout as being “MY baby”, so letting it go is not an option. My main question is, what are good, old fashioned yet unique and girly names that come to the nickname Scout? We are really STUMPED!!

We did think of Seraphina, and we really like it, but I cannot get Scout from Seraphina. Another option would be to have her first name and middle name both start with s, to maybe get Scout from the alliteration?? Any help is welcomed! If we don’t do the “double s thing”, we think we would like to use the middle name Vera after both her grandmothers, Vanessa, and Mira. But then again, Seraphina Vera doesn’t sound good either.

Here is a list of names, girls, that we cannnot use for various reasons;

Samantha (husbands sister), Vivienne (my niece [my side of the family]), Mara (my other niece [husbands side of the family] ), Jane (my best friend), Elena (family name that has been passed down) (which we loved, but too common in my family (ie. my sister and grandmother), Sophia (too popular), Fiona (Jeff’s LONGTIME former girlfriend and he refuses to use it), Sarah (too mainstream), Ella (my best friends daughter)

These are some family middle name options that start with S:

South (AMAZING! but too masculine with nn Scout)
Sterling (for a girl??)
Senna
Sybil
Scottson (sounds like Scout, but hate it)
Slone (maybe Sloane?)

Other names we just loved;

Violet
Genevieve nn Eve
Gwendolyn nn Gwen
Tate
Thea
Callista
Felicity
Amelia

However, in both mine and my husbands minds, our daughter is Scout (or nn is Scout). So our main questions are, is it weird with August? Too masculine (we can’t really see it on a grown woman)? Not a proper name? What is YOUR opinion about Scout??

Also, we will probably have more children in the future (no more than one more though).
Thank you so so much, I am literally TEARING my hair out!

and

Just thought I’d let you know that I was looking through names on our family tree for inspiration, and came across Esther. It is my grandmothers middle name, yet I had skipped over it before. While I do not like Esther, I remembered my grandmother telling me that her mother called her Essie/Essa when she was little. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Essa. I’ve never heard it before, and am not even sure if it is a known name, I know Asa and Esa are boys names. But It would be a great way to honor my beloved grandmother, who passed away a few years ago. My husband’s grandmother was Catherine, and I think that Essa Cate nn Scout is adorable (and a great way to remember two of her great grandmothers). So I was just wondering what you knew about the name Essa, and whether you think that we could get “Scout” out of it (my thinking was that it sounded like S. Cate which sounded a bit like Scout). I think August Rhett and Essa Cate are amazing together.

So now it is between,

Seraphina Vera (sounds funny) nn Scout
Seraphina South (???) nn Scout
Essa Cate nn Scout

and any other suggestions you might have about better names to get nn Scout, something starting with SC, maybe?

Thanks Again!

 
I have found the “my baby” test very helpful for narrowing down possibilities from a list of finalists (“I love Marigold so much—but does it sound like ‘my baby’?”), or for closing in on our own style (“We love both Eloise and Emerson—but which one sounds like ‘our baby’?”). But many, many names will pass the “my baby” test and then be unusable for other reasons: a clash with a sibling’s name or with the surname; an unbreakable association; the other parent hating the name.

In your case, the problem is that the name you like for a daughter doesn’t go with the name you’ve chosen for your son, and it also doesn’t meet your preference for a traditional name with an easy nickname. So those are the two places I’d start, if I were you: Is your preference for a traditional name with an easy nickname more important to you than using the name Scout, or is using the name Scout more important than that preference? Is the boy name you’ve chosen more important to you than the name Scout, or can the boy name be changed?

You could for example choose to name him Gus instead of August (since you like Scout with Gus and only hate it with August; this would also eliminate Augie), and change the middle name. Gus Everett after your father, perhaps, if your husband’s side of the family will already be honored by the surname. Gus Everett and Scout Mira/Vanessa (whichever one is your mother’s name).

Or you could name him Everett Rex and call him Rhett. Rhett and Scout.

If the boy name is set and you don’t want to bend on the traditional/nickname idea, I think you will find me unhelpfully conservative about forcefully combining a nickname and name that don’t traditionally go together. Betsy for Elizabeth and Jim for James may seem just as unconnected, but they came about organically and are recognized traditionally, in a way that Scout for Seraphina didn’t and isn’t. Yes, you could name her Scarlet, or Schuyler, or Essa Cate which sounds kind of like S. Cate which looks a little like Scout—but neither you nor anyone else is going to think of those as an easy, natural nickname for a traditional name. Meanwhile, you’re dramatically restricting your choices, and even considering names you only like instead of using one of the ones you love.

I think there are three better options:

1. Give her the middle name Scout, and then use that as her nickname. The middle name slot is the perfect place for a name you don’t want to use as an actual legal first name. And this means you can choose a name you love as the first name, instead of choosing any name that might sound like it could conceivably lead to Scout. It also coordinates wonderfully with Rhett. August Rhett and _____ Scout.

2. Name her Jean Louise, Scout’s actual name in To Kill a Mockingbird. This has charming literary appeal, plus Jean Louise is adorable and traditional. You could use first name Jean and middle name Louise, but I find it even more appealing to think of Jean Louise as the first name, with one of your particularly excellent family name options in the middle name slot. August Rhett and Jean Louise Sterling. August Rhett and Jean Louise Scottson. August Rhett and Jean Louise South.

3. Give her one of the names you love, and call her Scout. Many nicknames have nothing to do with a person’s actual name, connecting instead to the person’s appearance, profession, talents, early childhood personality/antics, fetal shape/size, or to something no one can remember anymore. There’s no reason you can’t name her anything you like, and then call her Scout. August Rhett and Gwendolyn Sterling (“Scout”). (If you don’t mind the initials G.O.) “This is August and Gwendolyn; we call them Gus and Scout.”

I think “We started calling her Scout before she was even born, and the nickname just stuck!” is an easier and more comfortable explanation than “See how ‘Essa’ sounds kind of like ‘S.’? And then the middle name is Cate, which sounds a little like Cout! So then it’s S.-cout, see? Scout!” or “Seraphina starts with S, and so does Scout.”

I haven’t heard of the name Essa before, but I’d think it would fit in fine with all the girls named Emma and Ella, and I agree that Essa Cate sounds good with August Rhett. As an occasional early-childhood nickname of your grandmother’s middle name, the honor-name component would be significantly reduced–but if it makes you think of her, and if you love the name with or without that connection, I think it could work. I would, however, think of it as Option #3 (giving her a name you love and calling her Scout anyway).

Name update! Bea writes:

Hi Swistle! I am happy to announce that our twins were born on april 14, and their names, which we love, have been decided on, thanks to you!

All of your and your readers suggestions were EXTREMELY helpful, and we finally narrowed our choices down to
Essa Catherine
Seraphina Cate
Genevieve Cate
Scarlett Vera

with Essa Catherine, Scarlett Vera and Genevieve Cate (a name we realized we absolutely loved) as our final contenders.

When our beautiful healthy twins arrived April 14, 10 days early, we took those three names into the delivery room. When we met our daughter and looked at he she glared right back at us, and we said definitly NOT a sweet Essa! She was spunky a Genevieve!

We ended on going with the hyphenated last name, and we are overjoyed to introduce the T_____- Oliver twins;

August Everett “Gus”
&
Genevieve Scarlett “Scout”

(While their names may be long it doesn’t bother us at all:) We ended up changing Rhett, due to the fact that we LOVED Scarlett, the the Gone With The Wind Connection was too much. My father is OVERJOYED at his namesake:) )

If we have another daughter, we will DEFINITELY be using Essa Catherine!

Thanks for everything!!!

Rose writes:

My name is Rose Elizabeth Morgan. My husband is William Tannon Morgan. We have three children, Elspeth Rose (6), Cole Adrian (4), and Alessandra Gemma (2) (Elsie, Cole, and Alessa). Their middle names are all family names (Will refuses to have his name be passed as a middle name to his son). We’re now expecting twins in April. They’re boy/girl, and we already have a name for her, Isabel Louisa. I’m not completely sold on Isabel yet, it is a different version of Elsie’s name, but Will really loves it, and he’s not said much about naming the others, so we’re probably going to end up using it. So our boy is the issue. We have a few choices for his name.

For the first name, we want something that isn’t totally unusual, but isn’t common. I don’t really care if he’s ___ M.

Our list right now is:

Matteo/Mateo/Matthias: I favour Matteo and Will Matthias, but this is probably our favourite.

Rowan: We considered this for Alessa, but decided we liked it better on a boy. It was the name of one of my teachers in college.

Brock: This is Elsie’s suggestion, and it’s what we’re calling him in the interim. I don’t really like it, but hey, it’s an option. Also, I just realized it rhymes with a euphamism, so… I don’t know.

Charles: My mother’s suggestion. I like it, but it might be just a smidge too popular.

Larkin: My uncle’s name, I really really like it, but I’m afraid it might read: GIRL!

For his middle name, we have a few family names we’ve passed over before, but we still like:

Kellen: my mother’s name is Kellyn, and this would be honouring her.

Linden: Will’s father’s name, I like the pattern of both twins having the middle initial L.

Larkin

William: Will still doesn’t want to pass it down, but I keep trying to pressure him.

Stewart or Bennett: My maiden name was Stewart-Bennett

Louis: If, at the last minute, Isabel isn’t an Isabel Louisa, this is after my grandfather Louis.

Just for a better idea of our style, other names we are still considering for the girl are Felicity, Gwendolyn, Cecily, Charlotte, Lucia (loo-CHI-ah) and Willow (at least I’m pulling for Willow if Will won’t pass down his name).

 
The name Isabel/Isabelle/Isobel/Isabella is so much more common than any of the others in the sibling group, it stands out to me. On the other hand, I completely know what you mean about how it feels when a parent who doesn’t normally have a strong preference has a strong preference. I would likely use it too—especially because Isabel/Isobel is my favorite of the Isabelle/Isabella names.

For the boy, then, a more common name would be nice. Charles seems perfect: I love the coordinating S-pronounced-Z sounds, and Izzy and Charlie is adorable. “Charles Morgan” has a strong investment-company association for me, but I don’t think it’s strong enough to rule out the name, just something to consider ahead of time. And there are so many other famous Charles Morgans, the associations might be sufficiently diluted.

If you like the spirit of Charles but not the popularity, I suggest George. George Clooney makes the name handsome and charming, and I like the repeating “or” sound of George Morgan. Isabel and George.

Oliver has the same popularity issue as Charles, but I love it with Isabel.

Everett is climbing in popularity but is still relatively uncommon. Everett Morgan; Isabel and Everett.

I also think your idea of Matteo/Matthias is a great one.

Larkin and Rowan both seem too unisex for this sibling group. And Rowan Morgan and Larkin Morgan both seem rhymey/clunky to me. Brock Morgan sounds very, very muscley and tough—an action hero name.

In larger sibling groups especially, I sometimes find it helpful to split the boys and the girls. So here we have Elsbeth, Alessandra, and Isabel, and then we have Cole and ____. This leads me to think of other short boy names: Luke, Milo, Leo, Jude, Hugo, Ian, Gage.

Bennett would work great, if you like it for a first name as much as for a middle. I love the idea of using the mother’s maiden name as a first name, and it’s rare for it to work out so beautifully. I would in fact be inclined to name him Bennett Stewart Morgan. Isabel Louisa and Bennett Stewart. That is really, really fun to me, and I love “Izzy and Ben.”

You’re ruling out Louis as the boy’s middle name if Louisa is the girl’s middle name, but I love a little twin-name gimmick: Isabel Louisa and _____ Louis. It would be far too matchy for first names, but as middle names it’s like a secret twinniness. And the sounds of the names are quite different: loo-EEZ-ah and LOO-iss. But if that seems like too much, I also like your idea of matching initials—either Larkin or Linden. If Louisa is also for your grandfather, then I like the idea of Isabel Linden/Larkin and ____ Louis.

Name update! Rose writes:

Thought I’d let you know, the twins were born April 5, 2012. Isabel Louisa Willow Morgan was born at 4:03 pm, 6 lbs, 4 oz. Matteo Linden Bennett Morgan was born at 4:13, 6 lbs, 3 oz.

We went into the hospital with Felicity Lark Ellen, Lucia Willow, and Isabel Rowan shortlisted along with Belle’s name as the number one contender. We decided to go with two middle names because these are our lasts, and there were so many names to hand down.

For Mattes, we had Charles Linden, Matthias Larkin, and Matteo Charles, with Matteo Charles being the first choice. However, Will’s father lamented two days before the twins were born that Will’s sister was never going to have any children to give his name to, and Will persuaded me that a family name was more important than one I liked more. (as it turns out, I like Linden more anyway). We were originally going to go with Benson when we decided to give them middle name x2, because it fit better, but in the end it just felt wrong to change my maiden name to stick to a six-letter pattern, and we used Bennett.

Now I am seriously thinking of adding a second middle name to everyone’s name. Elsie is totally on board, she thinks it’ll make her feel like a princess, having many fancy names. She’s already picked out Lark, which would make her Elspeth Rose Lark. She’s absorbing my love of names from watching her siblings being named, I think. Cole is disinterested. I think we’d do Cole Adrian Tannon (Will’s middle name and his mother’s maiden). Alessa I’ve always regretted not naming Rowan. She’d be Alessandra Gemma Rowan.

But that probably won’t ever happen. I’ll keep dreaming of all the good names that got away, and love the ones I have. Who knows? Maybe Belle and Mattes won’t be our last and you’ll be hearing form us again in a few years.

Lauren writes:

We’re expecting our first in June, a baby girl, and I’m completely second-guessing our name choice! Our last name is P-truso and our chosen girl name is Adalyn. We had never heard the name until it was used on a shelter dog, named by a woman who had also never heard the name before. I didn’t know of its popularity until I brought it up to a group of out-of-state friends, one girl knew several baby Adalyns and said it was too trendy. Now I’m concerned about popularity, not so thrilled for her to be one of many Addys, and to be super trendy like Addison/Madison and one of many in her class,so we’re trying to come up with alternatives but none are as appealing to us as Adalyn, so we need help!

Names we considered:
Elise – love the nickname Elsie but something about the S in both names wasn’t working
Natalie – but she called Nat, so had to nix
Lydia – love it, but seems everyone is naming their babies Lydia this year, and my husband wouldn’t commit.
Elena – I loved everything about this name but my husband has an aunt with a similar name and adamantly refuses to use it
Katelyn – a bit, boring.
Caroline – there’s two pronunciations for the same name and for Caroline I like the ine like nine pronunciation, would be annoying to constantly have to tell people how to pronounce it.
My husband also likes Haley and Madison but I prefer more flowing, girly names so have to find a girly name he also likes.

We’re still thinking about sticking with Adalyn. We’ve been calling her Adalyn for almost two months which makes it hard to switch. We’ve also gotten mostly really positive reactions from friends and family, compared to other names we’ve liked. I like Adalyn for its similarity to Madelyn which is a name I love but refuse to use any M names, it has three syllables which I usually prefer, and my husband would actually commit to the name. I’m a Lauren of the 80s and it never bothered me to have two other Laurens in my graduating class of 180, and I still really like my name. I’ve been stalking baby boards and haven’t seen anyone planning to use the name Adalyn (or similar spellings) but I’ve seen several Lydias which is my next favorite name, and we live in Ohio where according to SSA the name isn’t even in the top 100. I’m just seeing conflicting info about how the name is trending, on some sites it seems the name already peaked, just lots of concerns.

Other factors to consider are that for a middle name we both really want Anne. It may be a bit boring, but my mom passed her middle name to my older sister, and I would to do the same with our daughter. Won’t use any name that starts with an M or a P. Even though we have a longer last name I tend to prefer longer first names, and also like cute nicknames. Lastly, if our second child is a boy he will be Cameron Joseph and called CJ, two family names that we love.

Hope you can help!

 
One thing that makes the popularity of Adalyn so difficult to figure out is all its many spellings. Here are some of them, along with the number of baby girls given that spelling in 2010 (according to the Social Security Administration):

Adalyn – 1261
Adelyn – 825
Adalynn – 686
Adelynn – 458
Addilyn – 260
Addelyn – 134
Adilyn – 133
Addilynn – 123
Addalyn – 118
Adilynn – 105
Addalynn – 62
Adalynne – 45

That’s only 1,261 Adalyns, but 4,210 when spellings are combined. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big leap up when the 2011 data comes out in May. I see that in Ohio, Addison and Madison are both in the Top 10 (nationally, only Madison is Top 10, though Addison is #11); if I had to guess, I’d think this will likely make Adalyn popular there too as people search for less-popular alternatives.

Another thing that makes it challenging is what you’ve already noticed about the similarity of Adalyn to popular names Madison, Addison, and Madelyn (themselves names with many spellings), and the current abundance of the nicknames Maddy and Addy. These things can make a name feel even more popular than it is. A classroom containing a Kylie, a Kyla, a Kayla, a Kyler, and a Kyle is going to make all those names feel as if they’re EVERYWHERE, even though the popularity of each name alone isn’t so bad.

In your case, the issue that catches my attention is that for a boy you would want to use Cameron: Adalyn and Cameron don’t quite rhyme, but they come very close to it. On the other hand, they go together very well in style and in popularity, and the rhyminess is significantly less if I say it Cam’ren instead of Cam-mer-ren. On balance, I think this is a point in favor of Adalyn.

I can think of other names that seem similar, but they have their own issues. Evelyn, for example, is similar in rhythm and sound to Adalyn, and similar in style to Lydia—but it too is getting popular, and it’s not a great style fit with Cameron. Emlyn is rhymier with the Cam’ren way of saying Cameron, and Em- names are very popular. Adeline has longer roots than Adalyn, but it still has the Addy nickname, and the style isn’t as good with Cameron. Juniper has the right rhythm and style, but the repeating P-sound with P-truso is choppy.

Violet is possible: the style isn’t quite right with Cameron but it isn’t a clash either, and Vi and Cam is cute—if a little evocative of Viacom.

If you wanted to go cutting edge, the popularity of Hadley makes me wonder if Hadlyn could work. But it still fits into that group of names that seem more common than they are.

Ellery comes to mind, and Ellery Anne is adorable. But the El- names, like the Em- names, are right up there with the Addy/Maddy names.

Linnea (linn-NAY-ah) might work. It’s similar to Lydia and Elena; it goes fine with Cameron; it has the cute nickname Linnie; it’s not a bit trendy.

But if you want to stay with Adalyn, going into a name with eyes wide open is much different than if you’re surprised by issues later on. (And perhaps you could set the nickname Lynnie up early on, to avoid Addy.) Every name will have its own downsides, it may be worth it to take the “popular/trendy” downside instead of the “not our favorite name” downside.

Name update! Lauren writes:

Sorry so late but I wanted to give an update! Our Adalyn Anne was born on June 26th and is the happiest little girl around!  Surprisingly everyone we know and even nurses at the hospital commented how unique the name was!  I’ve considered using nicknames but I preferred Lynnie and my husband liked Addy, so we just stick to calling her Adalyn, or A or Abug :)  I still love her name and she seems like an Adalyn to me.  Thanks for all your help!

Jackie writes:

I have 10 weeks left in my 4th pregnancy and can’t come up with “the” name to save my life :) Our last name is Joyce and this will be baby girl #3 for us. Big brother is Tristan Michael and the big sisters are Avery Lynn and Sage Isabel. If this baby was a boy, we were thinking of Sebastian or Sawyer for a boys name although Declan is my all time favorite boy’s name (husband doesn’t like it).
Right now our top contenders are:
Reese
Grier (my fav)
Sloane
Mila
London
Rowan (husbands fav)

I have also considered using Sawyer as a girl’s name as well.
We haven’t even touched upon middle names yet!! Michael and Lynn are both family names, Isabel was just a name I liked that I would never use as a first name because of how common it is.
We don’t want any classic or real common names and are trying to stay away from anything too trendy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

and

We have finally picked a middle name- Elizabeth, and have come up with a list of 5 names that we like.
Our top 5 are:
London Elizabeth
Rowan Elizabeth
Sloane Elizabeth
Grier Elizabeth
Reese Elizabeth
We are always open to more suggestions!!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

The middle name makes all five options flow beautifully. When I try first/last only, a couple of them sound a little choppy to me: Reese Joyce, with its repeating endings; Grier Joyce, which suddenly sounds like “career choice.” I think my own favorite from the list is Rowan Joyce. Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what everyone else thinks. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Other possibilities:

Cleo Joyce
Darby Joyce
Finley Joyce
Larkin Joyce
Mirren Joyce
Padgett Joyce
Piper Joyce

Name update! Jackie writes:

Our daughter, Sloane Elizabeth, was born on May 4th after a quick but intense labor. She weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. We went into the delivery room with the names Sloane Elizabeth and London Elizabeth. Once we saw her, we knew it should be Sloane. My husband and I both pictured the name Sloane as a dark-haired baby and as you can see by the attached picture, she has tons of dark hair. Thanks again to you and your readers for helping us pick out a name.

R. writes:

Here is a list of stuff you might want to know:
– I am pregnant with twin girls
– They will be delivered by a c-section on the 2nd of April
– They don’t exactly have names yet
– We have a list of names we love, but cannot choose
– Our last name starts with a ‘H’ and ends with an ‘n’ (but that’s not important because all of the names we like sound okay with it!)

What I mean by they don’t “exactly” have names yet is that we know that baby A will be called Emmie. I love it so much! Anyway, the problem with Emmie is it might be a bit too cutesy for an adult. I know that problem is easily solved by giving her a longer name and calling her Emmie. However there are not really any longer names I LOVE. We have considered the Swedish name Emelie (e-MEEL-ee, not Emily), and while I like it, I can’t imagine having a daughter Emelie, if that makes sense? Another name I like is Emerson, but I don’t know if a grown business woman would rather be called Emerson over Emmie anyway? It might be a bit ‘trendy’. We have looked at countless names with the nickname Emmie, but none really stand out. Should we just go with Emmie, or is Emmie too cutesy? Or should we use Emelie even though we would never call her that?

Okay, onto baby B! This is our list…we have cut it down A LOT:
– Ava
– Isla
– Leah
– Lila
– Scarlett

Honestly when saying “Emmie and (insert each of the names on our list)”, Emmie and Leah gives me the most warm and fuzzy feeling (maybe it’s because they both have an ‘e’ sound in them, so they sound cute together). BUT Leah is my mum’s name. My mum is my biggest inspiration, and she is truly an amazing lady. I would love to name my daughter after her, but I worry that it could get confusing and I’m worried that Emmie would be jealous that she wasn’t named after anyone. Also when I think to myself ‘oh maybe Leah is the way to go’, I get sad because I want to use another name, LOL. The girls will most likely be our only babies, so I don’t even have the hope that I will be able to use the other names.

So, yeah…I don’t know what to do!

What are your thoughts? Could you perhaps do a poll for baby B?

Thanks!

 
Okay! I’ve put a poll over to the right! [Poll closed; see results below.]

My impulse after reading through just once is to suggest you name them Emma and Leah. I like the matching endings and matching number of letters/syllables. If I were a businesswoman, or even if I weren’t, I would prefer to have Emma to fall back on. I love the parts about really wanting to honor your mother and about getting the warmest feeling from that combination, and I think it’s unlikely Emmie would be jealous: (1) I usually suggest giving the honor name to the second-born twin so that they each have something special, and that’s what you’re already planning, and (2) I think the way you love the name Emmie so much is enough to provide balance.

Problems with this idea: (1) one of the things you like is the matching E sounds, and that’s gone in the formal names; (2) the nicknames (Emmie and Lee) are not as compatible as the full names; and (3) presumably you’ve already considered and rejected the name Emma.

My second suggestion is to name them Emme and Leah. Emmie and Emme are pronounced the same, but to me Emmie seems like a nickname while Emme looks professional/complete. Emme and Leah have the matching number of letters and the matching E sound, but not the matching endings. Problem with this idea: spelling/pronunciation issues with Emme.

My third suggestion is to use the name Leah to give you a long form of Emmie: something like Emmalia. Problems with this idea: (1) significantly diminishes the honor name; (2) spelling/pronunciation issues, especially being mistaken for a re-spelling of Amelia (I’m picturing it instead pronounced like Emma Leah); (3) even harder to come up with a twin name.

My fourth suggestion is to use Leah as a middle name for one girl, and use Lila as the middle name for the other. Then Emmie or Emme or Emma for the first name of Twin A, and perhaps Ava for Twin B. Emma Lila and Ava Leah. This lets you use four of the names you like. Problems with this idea: (1) it uses up four of the names you like, which could be a regret if you have more children to name later on; (2) no nickname for Ava.

My fifth suggestion is to leave Twin B’s name until after the twins are born. Take a look at her, and then pick from your list. From your list of five, I think the first four are best with Emmie. Emmie and Scarlett seems like too big a style difference: one super-sweet and one super-sassy. Charlotte is very similar in sound but more like Emmie in style: Emma and Charlotte, Emmie and Lottie.

Name update! R. writes:

Our healthy twin girls were born on the 2nd of April. We decided to name them Emma Lynlee Rose and Leah Adele Beth. Emmie and Leah :-)
Thank you for convincing me to use Leah!

Maggie writes:

My sister introduced me to your blog a few months ago, and I am hooked! And now I need to ask you for your help. I’m 25 weeks pregnant with a precious little baby boy (due in early July), and the husband and I cannot agree on a name for him. My name is Maggie, hubs is Kevin, and our last name is Pearce. We have a two year-old daughter named Molly Rose, and #2 may or may not be our last child. We’re thrilled to be adding a boy to our clan…….except that we CANNOT figure out his name!

We were actually kind of surprised to “see blue” on the ultrasound, and maybe part of the reason is because we had already compiled a list of girls’ names that we both loved. In case it helps at all, they were Heidi, Charlotte, Alice and Claire. But when it comes to boys’ names, the hubby and I have very different tastes.

My current favorite is Weston, nn Wes. Husband’s response: “is that even a real name?” Close seconds are Gavin, Connor and Austin. I also love the name Parker, but something about Parker Pearce sounds silly to me.

Husband likes more traditional names, and strongly prefers that whatever name we choose be two syllables so that it flows nicely with our one-syllable last name. He brings up Andrew a lot. I’m turned off by it only because it seems kind of ordinary to me. That being said, we are planning to use a traditional, honor middle name–either David or Francis. So I’d rather have something a little more modern (but not too popular!) for his first name.

When we first discussed baby names about five years ago, we both really liked the name Ryan. It’s still in the running, but I think we both find it slightly boring having had it on our list for so long. And more importantly, I’ve seen it pop up recently as a girls’ name. We’re both really not into gender-neutral names, so that’s a definite strike against using Ryan.

Choosing Molly’s name was so simple – we both loved it as soon as we heard it, and while we pretended to consider other names, we were pretty much dead-set on using Molly from the start. Rose is an honor name, and so are both of ours, so we’d like to continue with that tradition.

Since we had that “a-ha!” moment with Molly’s name, I was hoping the same thing would happen for this baby boy. Am I being too unreasonable? Should we just go with a name that we can both live with, but one of us is not overly excited about? We’re completely open to any advice and/or new ideas that you can add to our list, and I promise to share what name we pick when he makes his big entrance into this world!

Thank you!!!!

 
If your husband’s tastes are more traditional, I wonder if he’d like Wesley instead of Weston?

To do this in reverse to your husband’s choice of Andrew, I think Anderson is super sharp. Or there’s Drewan/Druan, which is like a perfect combination of Ryan and Andrew, but is probably too modern/invented to appeal to your husband.

The Baby Name Wizard has Turner as a suggestion if Parker is not quite right, and it’s much better with your surname. Turner Pearce; Molly and Turner.

I know what you mean about a name getting kind of boring after spending so long on the list. You might still want to use Ryan, and it’s nice to have a “This would be fine” name available as back-up—or maybe we can find something that is similar but will feel fresher to you:

Adrian
Camden
Grady
Henry
Ian
Isaac
Kyle
Liam
Nathan
Nolan
Owen
Ronan
Rylan
Simon
Tyler
Wyatt

With Molly, I especially like Henry, Ian, Isaac, and Simon. I also like Molly and Liam, and can’t decide if the repeating “lee” sound is too much, or if it ties the two names together.

Name update! Maggie writes:

Our beautiful baby boy arrived June 30th at 8lbs 6oz, and we named him……..Ryan Garry! In the end, we decided that “Ryan” really was THE name for our little man, and we have to thank you and the many people who commented on our post for helping us to realize that. And to add an element of surprise, we used my dad’s first name for Ryan’s middle name. He was thrilled! Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and input…it helped tremendously!

Ryan’s picture is attached!