Kate writes:

ACK! Swistle, I’m so hoping you can help! I’m due to have a C section in TWO DAYS (like, Friday!) and my husband I still have NO idea what to name the baby! We’ve had a hard time with our previous kids but NOTHING like this…
Our names are Katharine Fay and Jakob Russell. We go by Kate and Jake.Fay and Russell are both family names. (my mom and grandmas mns are both Fay, same for J and his dad and grandpa, that sort of thing). Surname is Finchlee, a combo of the last names we came into the marriage with (we were lucky they were so combine-able–Kate Finch/Jake Lee became Kate&Jake Finchlee).
Our other kids are:
Wilhelmina Fay –9
Calista Rose –9 ——And they are called Willa and Calla. We think it’s matchy but not too matchy and Calla can always go by Callie if she wants.
Zachariah Russell–6 Theodore Scott–4 Philippa Darcy–2
so Kate, Jake, Willa, Calla, Zak, Ted, Pippa. Oh and our dogs are Icarus and Olympus.

Anyway that gives you an idea of our style.

And first names–well, we are both pretty obsessive and we really like the pattern we have going. This is DEFINITELY our last child and we don’t want to name him Aidan or something that just doesn’t go with his brothers, who both have long formal names and short, kicky three letter NNs.
The trouble is we are having trouble finding a name…and then Jake’s best friend was killed in a car accident last week and now Jake wants to use his name. His name was Lachlan. J suggested Maclachlan which gives us Mac. I like Mac a lot–to me it feels a little similar to Zak and Ted–except of course it rhymes with Zak when said outloud. We’ve considered Isaac for the first name, Isaac Lachlan, which gives us Ike–but again, so close to Zak, and even closer to Jake. We are sort of thinking of Nathaniel Lachlan/Nat but…well, we live in New England. Gnats can be a problem!

So that takes care of that. We don’t want to repeat an initial, BTW.
Ugh. As you can see, we are really and truly stuck. Also, what do you think about naming the kid after Jake’s friend? I THINK it’s OK, but the other kids all have family MNs and I’m a bit worried. OTOH, we’ve covered everyone we wanted to cover, both parents, my sister–except Jake’s brother, Jesse Nolan.

Oh and of course Max would be great, despite the common-ness of it we both like it a lot– but my sister Darcy had a baby girl right before I found out I was pregnant and named her Maxine Katharine (after me, yay!) and we see Darcy and her family all the time as we live 15 mins from them. Having a Maxine and a Max is just too close, especially for cousins that are only about a year apart.

So–help! We kept thinking we’d come up with SOMETHING but so far…nothing. Nada. Not a thing.

(Oh–the other kids have suggestions, naturally, but they are currently along the lines of: Harry, Neville, Albus, Severus–guess which books the twins have been reading–or Wilbur and Orville, a current obsession–in desperation I asked Pippa yesterday and she said Egg. While it’s certainly three letters it doesn’t QUITE match our style!)

Name update! Darcy writes:

This is Darcy, Kate’s baby sister. I am really pleased to announce that Kate had her baby yesterday. It’s a beautiful baby boy named…wait for it…
FERGUSON NOLAN
K&J wanted me to send out a special thank you to Swistle and her baby naming commenters (commentators?) who gave her the Ferguson idea, they really liked it and it turns out to have been J’s best friend’s (who was recently killed) middle name but it hadn;t occurred to them. They are calling the baby Gus and he is absurdly cute. Mom, dad, baby, and big sibs are all doing great, even though the twins pushed for Albus Severus til the very last second!

Megan writes:

I am hoping for some help. We are expecting our second son on May 30. My two year old’s name is William Troy and we call him Liam. Liam’s name came to us quickly and it fits him perfectly. What I like about his name is that it is a classic name with a spunky nickname.

Some info:
1) Our last name starts with a D and rhymes with Hirsch, and can be difficult to spell and pronounce.
2) I like Gaelic names because of our names (Brian, Megan, Liam), but this isn’t a requirement.
3) We really like Dean, Franklin, John and Patrick as possible middle names, which are all family names.
4) I think a two syllable name/nickname sounds best with our one syllable last name, and that’s where I’ve been stumped.

Here are the names we are considering:

*James Franklin (Jamie)–Currently our favorite, but is Jamie too feminine?
*Charles Dean (Charlie)
*Emerson Dean–No nickname. This seems like it’s becoming popular for girls.
*Elias Patrick (Eli)
*Sullivan Dean–Not sure about the nickname Sully.
*Franklin–What do you think of this for a first name? Not sure about the nickname Frankie.
*Patrick–What do you think of this for a first name? Not sure about the nickname Pat.

Other names we are considering: Miles (Milo), Henry, Keegan, Ian (not sure how this sounds with Liam), Noah and Jonah.

Names we thought about but won’t use: Aidan, Cameron, Declan, Finnian, Oliver, Samuel, Oliver, Owen, Ethan, Seamus, Sean and Henry.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 
I think the main trouble is that the name William and the nickname Liam are such different styles: William fits with names such as Henry and Robert and James and John; Liam fits with names such as Corbin and Declan and Riley and Brendan. It’s hard to find another name that matches both the traditional/classic of William AND the Celtic of Liam.

Emerson is indeed becoming popular for girls, probably motivated by the popularity of Emma and the nickname Emmy. According to The Social Security Administration, in 2009 there were 1006 new baby girls named Emerson, and 632 boys.

My favorite from your list is Charles/Charlie. I think it’s perfect: it meets all your requirements and is a great name. William/Charles and Liam/Charlie is an excellent sibling set.

I also like Keegan so much with Liam—though less with William.

I wonder if you’d like Nicholas? Nicholas Patrick Hirsch; William and Nicholas; Liam and Nico.

Or Joseph: Joseph Patrick Hirsch; William and Joseph; Liam and Joey.

It doesn’t have a full-name version, but I like Casey with Liam: Casey Patrick Hirsch; Liam and Casey. As with Keegan, I like it less with William.

Let’s have a poll, over to the right! [Poll closed; see results below.]

Name update! Megan writes:

James Franklin “Jamie” D____ (rhymes with Hirsch) joined brother William Troy “Liam” on June 2! We’ve been told they sound like Scottish Highwaymen, which is fitting since I imagine there will be a lot of hijinxs with these two! Thank you for all of the help! :)

Laura writes:

Our second son is due to arrive on May 11, 2011 and we have everything ready, except for a name. We are in need of serious help. Our first son is named Cedric James. We love Cedric because its unique but not hard to spell or pronounce. It has a strong, masculine name meaning which we also like. James is a family name (my father). For our next son we would like to follow a similar pattern; a first name that has a strong/masculine name meaning, is unique, but easy to say and spell followed by a family name. We have decided on Jack for the middle name, after my husband’s maternal grandfather. It has been really hard for us to find a first name that meets the criteria and goes with Jack. I have argued for using John or Jackson as middle names but Husband feels very strongly that the middle name be Jack. Just Jack. Here is where it gets even more tricky, our last name is Wiedlocher (pronounced weed – locker) and we want to be sensitive to the fact that this is a mouthful of a last name and will be constantly mispronounced and misspelled for both boys their whole lives. My name is Laura and my husband’s is Zachary.

We have a short list of names that we both like: Ethan, Logan, and Landon. But do you notice how they don’t really fit our criteria?! Ethan is the only one that has a strong name meaning and all three seem like popular baby names right now.

We have also considered: Caden (but does this sound too similar to Cedric? I feel like I would constantly be calling for Cedric but saying Caden. Or the other way around.)

Husband likes Ethan the most right now because of the name meaning and how it sounds with Jack, despite it being popular. I don’t love it though. I am hoping for a first name that has a softer first syllable because I like how that sounds with our last name, which starts with a hard w sound.

If we were having a girl or if our next child is a girl, names that we love are Emelia (Emma), Elizabeth (Lizzy), and Charlotte (Charlie).

I have been diligently reading your blog for months hoping that the right name for our son would serendipitously be suggested by you or one of your readers. I have high hopes that you (and your readers) will be able to suggest name combinations that we had not considered or at least weigh in our top three choices.

Thank you so much for your help!

Here is something I’ve noticed in previous posts where the desired middle name was Jack: something about that particular name makes a “Panama Jack”/”Indiana Jones”/”Crocodile Dundee” sound with the first name. The first name ends up sounding like an adjective for Jack, which then sounds like the first name. I know your husband feels strongly about this, but I’d say it’s one of the main things blocking you from finding The Right Name, and I’d add my opinion to yours that he reconsider this. Could the middle name be after his father instead, to better parallel your first son’s name? Was his grandfather’s name John, and Jack a nickname? (Though of course if his grandfather always went by Jack, the name John may not seem like him at all.) Are there other family names that could be used instead?

Well. It sounds like the middle name is fixed as Jack, so I’ll proceed with that assumption. When/if you feel like you’re backed into a corner trying to meet certain criteria, remember that the name only needs to fit your criteria if YOU TWO want it to fit the criteria: if a name you love fails to fit in one area or another, you can choose to decide not to hold the name to that requirement. Criteria can help to narrow things down—but when your criteria are outranking your opinions, it’s time to rethink. And now I will say criteria some more, because five is not enough for one paragraph: criteria criteria criteria.

Caden and Cedric do have a lot of things in common (start with C, two syllables, D-sound in the middle), but to me their style clash is intense: Caden/Cayden/Caiden/Caeden/Kaden/Kayden/Kaiden/Kaeden is modern and part of the trendy Jaden/Hayden/Aiden/Brayden set, while Cedric is old fashioned and rare.

And you’re right: Landon (#36 in 2009), Logan (#17 in 2009), and Ethan (#2 in 2009) are all significantly more popular than Cedric (#702 in 2009). (All stats from The Social Security Administration.) So let’s go questing for some new possibilities.

Alan Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Alan
August Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and August
Conrad Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Conrad
Darian Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Darian
Franklin Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Franklin
Gideon Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Gideon
Isaiah Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Isaiah
Karl Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Quincy
Louis Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Louis
Malcolm Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Malcolm
Quincy Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Quincy
Roland Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Roland
Rufus Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Rufus
Ryland Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Ryland
Stanley Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Stanley
Terrence Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Terrence
Tobias Jack Wiedlocher; Cedric and Tobias

I’m not very knowledgeable about name meanings. In part this is because so many meanings are more like…”meanings.” They vary from baby name book to baby name book: one of my name books says Cedric means “model of generosity” and another says it means “battle chieftain” and another says it was made up by an author for a novel in 1819 and doesn’t mean anything. Very few meanings are official in any sense: some come from what someone in the Bible said the name meant (but what did the name mean before that?); some come from the meaning the name would have as a word in another language, if it were a word instead of a name; some come from a baby name book author’s imagination. Many come from such a long stream of related names and their derivations (“sounds like X, which is a shortened version of Y, which is a version of the name Z from another language, which comes from the root word for…”), there’s almost no connection at all. (I’ve written more on this subject here: Baby Naming Issue: Name Meanings and Baby Naming Issue: A Problem With a Name’s Meaning.)

However, name meanings are important to YOU, and so it doesn’t matter if they’re important to me or not, and so I’m using The Oxford Dictionary of First Names and The Baby Name Bible to look up the meanings of the names on my list above.

Alan: possibly from the word “rock”; handsome, cheerful
August: great, magnificent; majestic, venerable
Conrad: bold counsel; bold advisor
Darian: rich, kingly
Franklin: freeman; free landholder
Gideon: he who cuts down; feller of trees
Isaiah: God is salvation
Karl: free man
Louis: renowned warrior
Malcolm: devotee of Saint Columba
Quincy: estate of the fifth son
Roland: famous throughout the land
Rufus: red-haired
Ryland: island meadow
Stanley: near the stony meadow
Terrence: [no known meaning]
Tobias: God is good

Name update! Laura writes:

Thanks so much for your help. You and your readers helped Zach and I get around our baby name road block. We moved past Logan/Ethan as name choices and thought we would go for either Roland or Nolan. But then last Wednesday (May 11) when our son was born we both looked at him and felt like neither of those names fit him! Zach came back to the hospital the next morning with the name Elias, nickname Eli and I loved it. Cedric James is now the proud big brother to Elias Jack.

Thanks again!

Kylene writes:

We’re having a girl, due mid August. Our last name sounds like Ball and starts with an H. Our first daughter is Mara Kathryn (4) and our second daughter is Audra Neel (2). Both middle names are family names. Mara’s name was found on a biblical name list by my husband and it took me a day or so to warm up to it but then I quickly fell for it. Audra’s name was a challenge. My husband wanted Lucy, I was stuck on a friends name, Audra, not necessarily after her I just liked the name. After trying out Lucy for a few weeks and even telling friends that would be her name we decided it didn’t feel right and went with Audra. We’ve had a boy name picked out since Mara, Henry James, both family names that we would still likely use when/if we have a boy. We don’t have a final number of children decided upon.

We would like to use the middle name Marguerite after a dear family friend.

My husband suggested the family name Irene as a first name, which prompted me to find Irena. I think it sounds fresher than Irene, beautiful, feminine, flows well with our daughters’ names and the middle name. I am head over heels over this name but I don’t think I am going to be able to sell him on this unless he decides to let me use it as a gift. He thinks it sounds made up, isn’t wild about another ‘a’ ending name especially ones he thinks of as a name that you tag an ‘a’ onto.

I also love that our daughters names are pretty unusual. I love that people ask where/how we came up with them and am struggling with our current list not really fitting that.

Names I threw out but wasn’t sold on that he has nixed: Carys, Thea, Selah, Sadie, Louisa. Names he threw out that I nixed: Veronica, Louise. And I’m sure there were more in each direction those were just the most significant.

Still considering:

Elizabeth (nickname Eliza or Liza), how popular is Eliza getting?

Jane (seems plain especially with our common last name)

Irene (him)

Irena (me)

Brigid (front runner right now)

Simone

And open to more suggestions, we tend to like older, uncommon names. Biblical, saint, or family names a plus. I don’t like anything I associate as being common in my generation.

One more issue with our current front runner Brigid, how terrible are the initials BMH. We think it’s okay since you never really use your first and middle initials alone, but would like to sanity check that.

 
It’s interesting how you and your husband are so close on some names (Irene/Irena, Louise/Louisa) but still disagree. Paul and I found that same thing, when we were naming our babies. An example: I liked Elliot and he liked Eliot, and we couldn’t use the name because neither of us was willing to consider any other spelling.

With sisters Mara (#758 in 2009) and Audra (#984 in 2009), I think I’d go straight to the stand-alone name Eliza (#278 in 2009), rather than trying to get it from the significantly more common name Elizabeth (#11 in 2009). Here’s what the popularity of the name Eliza has been doing:

(screenshot from SSA.gov)

Rising, as you can see, but not fast—especially not in the last seven years or so, when it doesn’t even seem sure it IS rising.

I do like to avoid the initials such as B.M. or I.P. at all costs, but I am further along the spectrum for that than most (I even like to avoid non-negative ones such as I.Q.). I agree that when it’s a first and middle it’s not as big a deal as first and last (though I would still avoid it: I’m picturing it on a form as “B.M. H___”). How would you be pronouncing Brigid? To rhyme with rigid, or like the Irish pronunciation (more like “breed”), or a mixture such as brih-ZHEED? (Boy, that last one is hard to type out what I mean. By “zh” I mean the sound like in the middle of the word “measure.”) I wonder if you’d like Bridget instead: still uncommon (#424 in 2009), but significantly easier for others to spell and pronounce.

From your list, my favorite is Simone. I like how well it goes with Mara and Audra, but changes the end sound. Mara, Audra, and Simone. Simone was #620 in 2009, and its popularity is falling.

If Lucy was very close but not quite, I wonder if you would like the saint name Lucia. It can be pronounced several ways, but the one I’m picturing here is loo-SEE-ah. Mara, Audra, and Lucia: still the -a ending, but with a new sound and a new number of syllables. I am slightly worried about Lucia H___ being too similar to Lucille Ball, but since you considered Lucy I’m assuming you’ve thought of that and dismissed it—and I think I would dismiss it, too. I’m not sure it would even have come to my mind if “Ball” wasn’t the stand-in name we were using.

I just heard a name recently I wonder if you might like: Vayla. Vayla Marguerite H__; Mara, Audra, and Vayla.

But your husband would rather not add another -a ending. Your idea of Carys makes me think of Iris. Iris Marguerite H___; Mara, Audra, and Iris.

If you like Jane but it feels too plain (or you want to avoid the associations with either the actress or the journalist), perhaps June? June Marguerite H____; Mara, Audra, and June.

Oh, or Imogen? Imogen Marguerite H___; Mara, Audra, and Imogen.

Esmé Marguerite H___; Mara, Audra, and Esmé.

Some unusual biblical options: Zorah, Zilla, Shiloh, Bethel, Dinah, Tabitha, Cana. My top biblical choice for you is Junia: it does add another -a ending (so many girl names end in A!), but it’s two degrees of plainness away from Jane. Junia Marguerite H____; Mara, Audra, and Junia.

A saint name similar to Simone is Colette: Colette Marguerite H___; Mara, Audra, and Colette.

Another saint name that seems like a good fit (except for the -a ending) is Gemma: Gemma Marguerite H____; Mara, Audra, and Gemma.

Or Elodie, which I hadn’t realized was a saint name until this very moment: Elodie Marguerite H____; Mara, Audra, and Elodie.

Name update! Kylie writes:

Thanks so much for addressing our baby name issues. Your analysis and similar story really helped me move on from MY perfect name. In the end we couldn’t resist the classic, timeless Elizabeth that has always been my husband’s favorite. So Elizabeth Marguerite arrived August 15th. We call her Eliza.

Kailee writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first child, a boy, June 19th. We’re very excited, but I’ve been reluctant to nail down THE name. I keep thinking that we’d like to actually see his face before settling on a name. Plus, the real reason, I’m still not sure! In fact, I’m a little jealous of some of my friends who have their baby’s name already chosen. We’ve decided not to tell anyone our names, but now that we’re drawing closer to the due date, I sure would like an outsider’s opinion!

Our last name starts with an M and rhymes with “acquire.” We will use Patrick as a middle name to honor both my husband and his late father. We’d like to steer clear of any recent top ten names. Our short list is:

· Leo – Leo is also a family name, but I loved it before I knew that it was also the name of my husband’s late maternal grandfather. Is it overkill to give a baby two namesakes?

· Thomas – This is probably my husband’s favorite. We both love the nickname Tom too. A long distance cousin has Thomas as one of his middle names, though. So, is using Thomas as our baby’s first name a no-no?

· Eli – An early frontrunner for sure. But is it too much of a tongue twister with our last name?

· Harrison – A late addition to the short list, but we both love the nickname Harry.

A few other favorite names that have been vetoed by either myself or my husband are: George, Max, Greyson, Joshua, Charles, William, Finn

So, what are your thoughts? Any other suggestions? Thank you so much for your help!

 
I think Leo Patrick M____ is a great name. I don’t think it’s overkill at all to use two family names. Since this is your first baby, it’s a good moment to think about future babies and what you might name them. Will using two family names for this baby make you feel like you have to do the same for future babies? If you use two family names now, do you have plenty of other good ones or will you wish you hadn’t used two up on one child? And it’s even more confusing than that, because you might not have another boy, and then would you regret not using both names?

If the sound of Eli seems not-quite, I wonder if you’d like Elias better? Elias Patrick M______.

I also love Thomas and Harrison! (A long-distance cousin having the name Thomas as one of his middle names is irrelevant, I’d say.)

I wonder if the reason it’s hard to choose one is that you have so many good solid choices. It would be easier if you could eliminate one or two options before going to the hospital—but if not, I think going to the hospital with the list you have will result in a good name no matter what.

One way to help narrow things down is to think (for the second time in a single post) about future babies. With each name possibility, consider if it would eliminate a name you’d want to use for another child: if you used Eli, for example, maybe it would eliminate Ian and Ellie, or maybe you wouldn’t want to use any more biblical names; if you used Leo, it would eliminate Cleo and Leah—and maybe Eli and Leo are names you’d want to use one but not both, so you’d need to choose which name you liked better, that sort of thing. Think also about girl names you like: do any of your boy names clash or go particularly well with them?

Name update! Kailee writes:

Firstly, I wanted to thank you and your readers on our baby name dilemma! We were able to narrow our choices down to Leo (and adding a second middle name that also honored my family and avoided the Leo Patrick/Cleopatra sound) and Thomas after reading the post and comments. Our little boy came two and a half weeks early and we were very glad to have just two names to choose between after the labor! In the end, I was definitely leaning toward Thomas because I wasn’t sure I wanted to use THREE family names for one little boy! But, I insisted we wait to see our baby’s sweet face before finalizing.

When we finally saw him my husband’s eyes filled with tears when I said I think he’s a Thomas because we both just KNEW it was the right name. We are absolutely in love with our little guy and his name. Thanks again!

Please feel free to share the attached photo with your readers.

Cayce writes:

I am expecting my second child in July and we have been having a bit of a challenge choosing a girl’s name. My daughter’s name is Clara and my stepson, who lives with us, is named Ashton. We do not know the sex of this baby, but we have decided to honor both of our fathers by naming the baby Daniel if it is a boy. While his first name will be Daniel, we will be calling him by his middle name “Murphy” to avoid confusion with several other Daniels in our family. I adore the name Murphy, and it goes so well with our last name, Collins. There has never been any question that this is the best boy name for us.

When it comes to girl’s names we have been much more indecisive. The one name we love is Holland, but I am concerned that it sounds too rhymey with our last name. Holland Collins. I love it – I mean I really, really love it -but I’m worried that it sounds silly. And I’d rather choose another name that will grow on me than give my child a goofy name.

Others that we have entertained include: Mae, Murphy (for a girl?), Harriet (nn Hattie), Gretchen.

So, what do you think of Holland? Do any of the other choices seem significantly better? Do you have any other suggestions?

We tend to like more traditional names, nothing trendy. No odd spellings. Nothing with a strong Pop Culture reference (ie: Alice, Dora, Ginger, Clarice).

I look so forward to hearing your advice! I have discussed this with a few Mom friends of mine and got some very strong, but mixed reviews. Thanks in advance for your time.

 
Ha ha! I’ll bet you’ll get “very strong, but mixed” reviews here, too! I’ll start! To me, Holland Collins is all but unworkable: that is, if you had a very important reason for using the name Holland with the surname Collins, I would eventually say that in the end, it doesn’t REALLY matter how a name sounds all together and you should use it, and some girls change their surnames when they get married, so…it’ll be fine. But, lacking the very important reason, I would consider it completely out of the running, and would add it to the names many of us have had to eliminate because of surname incompatibility (I myself mourn for Ruben and Rufus). And I am sure there will be absolutely opposite opinions in the comments section, because this whole baby-naming thing is a matter of taste, and the further along the taste spectrum you get, the more divided and adamant the tastes will be—as you’ve found in your social circle already.

My first reaction to the name Holland Collins was purely sound-based. But my second reaction is stylistic: you say you like traditional names, and your daughter Clara has a traditional name, but Holland is an androgynous place name. (I’m not sure what to do with the name Ashton: Holland WOULD go well with that. I’m working more with Clara in this post, though, because a style clash between two sister names or two brother names is more noticeable than between one brother and one sister name.)

According to the Social Security Administration, the name Clara was #199 in 2009 and climbing; Holland isn’t in the Top 1000 for either girls or boys. Although Holland is used more often for girls than for boys (the nickname Holly contributes to this, I imagine), if I saw it with Clara I would guess boy: as a boy’s name, the name Holland has an old-fashioned gentleman sound that DOES go pretty well with Clara; whereas as a girl’s name, the name Holland is modern and boyish and would be an unexpected choice with Clara.

I suggest Holly instead: it works better style-wise, and lessens the impact of the repeating sounds. Holly Collins still has strong repeating sounds, and if you’d asked me about Holly before mentioning Holland I might have said it was too much—but comparing it to Holland Collins makes me feel differently about it, and in fact I kind of LIKE the repeating sound. Holly Collins; Clara and Holly.

Molly would work too, and would be even better with Clara, I think: Molly Collins; Clara and Molly.

Ooh, or Lily would work: Lily Collins, Clara and Lily.

I would like to steer you away from your idea of using Murphy for a girl. As with Holland, it is an enormous style leap paired with Clara, and doesn’t fit your preference for traditional names. Also, you say you’d like to avoid strong pop culture references: on a girl, Murphy immediately calls to mind Murphy Brown. This isn’t a reference her peers will be likely to catch, but you have Clarice on your list so I’m assuming you don’t mean only childhood pop culture.

From your list, the one that stands out to me as the best with Clara is Mae. Harriet and Gretchen also both work. Other possibilities:

Anna
Annabel
Eliza
Eloise
Frances
Grace
Lucy
Nora
Rose

Name update! Cayce writes:

Based on the favorable response from your readers we had decided to name our baby Harriet Wynne if we had a girl. Well, we had our baby and, while I was absolutely certain we would have a girl, we were blessed with a little boy! Baby Murphy Collins was born on July 19 at 7 lb 4oz. He is so sweet and we love love love his name. Thanks so much for your help!

Allyson writes:

I was wondering if you could do a poll on the boy’s name Tucker. While I know it obviously rhymes with, um, that word, I know my mind didn’t go there. Or if it did, it was more like a quick visit than a long stay. Meanwhile, other people I’ve mentioned the name to immediately say “it’s cute, but it rhymes with *ucker.” What are your thoughts? Is a boy named Tucker doomed to endless taunting of “Tucker the *ucker”?

Thanks!

Good question! I’ve wondered this myself. Not only about The Word, but also about the less-severe word “sucker.” Let’s have a poll, over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Name update!

Hi again! I wrote you a while ago, regarding whether or not the name Tucker had too many rhyming issues. We ended up having a baby boy and named him Tucker Jack. At the end of the day, we loved the name and cared less about the potential bad rhyme situation. We’ve gotten great feedback and nobody has brought it up (well, at least not to our faces).

Here is is (at 3 months)! Born 1/26, 9lbs 2oz, 21.5″ long (and two weeks early, thank God!)

Thanks,
Allyson

Amy writes:

I really hope you can help us, I feel like I have looked at every name out there and am still not finding “our” name. Our first child, a little girl, is due July 15 and we are having trouble deciding or even narrowing down our list. We have lots of contenders, but none have really struck me as “the one.” Since our last name (Hall) is so common, and short, we thought we could get away with a more unusual first name. We like names that are clearly gender specific and maybe a little old-fashioned. If we were having a boy, we would have named him either Oliver or Phineas.

Here are the names we have on our short list:

Agatha Rowan (Previously our first choice but do not like nn Aggie, and am getting a lot of negative feedback)

Gretchen Faye (pretty, but don’t love)

Lucia Faye (pronounced LOO-sha, we think this is pretty safe, aside from the pronunciation issue that we foresee)

Briar Wynn (love how whimsical this is, but is it too out there?)

Imogen (cannot think of any nn)

Bryn (too short?)

Evie (pronounced EH-vee) I love this but would rather have it as a nn, however we don’t like any of the names the nn would be derived from (Evangeline – I like, DH hates, Evelyn, Genevieve, etc.)

Juliette (just kind of meh)

Astrid (no nn, maybe a little too wacky for us)

Names we considered but rejected, mostly because of rising popularity, or because someone else is using them:

Olivia
Sophia
Charlotte
Scarlett
Caroline
Norah
Ella

We aren’t fans of names like Madison, Ellery, Harper, Greyson, etc. or any name that is too popular.

Thank you!

 
I recently read a novel with a character named Imogen, and they called her Immy. You could also call her Genny or Midge. Imogen Faye Hall.

I wouldn’t give up on Agatha yet. The trouble with collecting feedback while pregnant is that people don’t have a visual to go with the name. If you were to present an infant and say, “This is Agatha!,” some people would still dislike the name (this is true of every name that ever was and ever will be), but others who would have THOUGHT they disliked the name would find that actually they find it fresh and interesting and adorable on the little woogie-moogums oooooo look at her sweet little KEEKS. Especially since newborns can look so critical and disapproving, and it’s amusing to think of a critical and disapproving infant named Agatha.

If you’ve already been put off the name, however, I suggest Beatrix. It’s similar in style, but has the cute nickname Bee (or Bea, but I don’t think I could resist the Bee spelling, and then the way I’d feel inclined toward bee-themed things her whole life). Beatrix Rowan Hall.

Or Martha, which has the -tha ending with Marty instead of Aggie. Martha Faye Hall.

Or Augusta, nickname Gussie. Augusta Rowan Hall.

Or I like the repeating double-L of Camilla Hall, and that gives you Cam and Cami and Millie. Camilla Faye Hall.

Or Philippa? Philippa Hall has dignity, but the nickname Pippa has ADORABLE. It occurs to me that you could use some of your too-common list for middle names. Philippa Scarlett Hall has a fun double-letter theme.

Or Louisa? Louisa Hall, with nicknames Lou or Lulu. Louisa Faye Hall.

Or Winifred? Winifred Hall, with nicknames Winnie or Fred. Winifred Norah Hall, Winifred Agatha Hall.

I’d also like to suggest Harriet and Henrietta. I think these are names very similar to Agatha in that the initial reaction might be not entirely positive—but that with time and cute baby cheeks, people may wonder why they didn’t realize all along that these were the best names ever. Both have cute nickname possibilities such as Hattie and Etta and Ree. Harriet Astrid Hall. Henrietta Faye Hall.

For something lighter, maybe Felicity. I don’t know why this name isn’t more common: it seems to me to have the same rhythm and front-of-the-mouth sounds as Olivia and Elizabeth—and yet Olivia is #3 and Elizabeth is #11 and Felicity is #782. It has the appealing pioneer-days sound of Abigail, and yet Abigail is #8 and Felicity is #782. Felicity Faye Hall. Felicity Charlotte Hall.

If you like Gretchen but it’s “not quite,” would you like Greta? Greta Hall. No nicknames, unfortunately. Or you could go straight to Margaret Hall and have TONS of nicknames, from Greta to Maggie to Meg to Daisy to Maisie. I love the sound of Margaret Hall. Margaret Rowan Hall, Margaret Faye Hall, Margaret Olivia Hall.

Or Geneva, which could give you Evie (though I would pronounce it EE-vee, to match the vowel sound in the name). Geneva Faye Hall.

I don’t think of Briar as being too out-there (like you, I consider it whimsical and botanical, like Ivy and Violet and Juniper), but it’s a name that’s a little trickier than usual to find a sister name for. For me, using one botanical name would eliminate all the others, so I’d need to think ahead of time whether this was my favorite of all of them.

Name update! Amy writes:

I spent the last few weeks of my pregnancy baking several recipes from your other blog, so I am all set for postpartum snacking. :)
Just wanted to let you know our little girl arrived quickly and healthily at 12:57 am on July 19. We thought we would instinctively know what name to choose when we saw her – we had narrowed it down to Agatha Rowan or Briar Wynn, which were also the clear favorites from your commenters. However, when she came out, we still weren’t sure so we slept on it for a night. In the morning I told my husband he could make the final decision since I loved both names. He chose Agatha Rowan, and I very happy with the decision. She’s such a joy to us already! I’ve attached a picture of our little doll.

Thanks for your help!

Ashley writes:

I check your blog daily for insight on naming baby #2. It’s a boy and I’m due June 2nd. I’m Ashley, my husband is Patrick. And we have a very hard time agreeing on names. :)

Our first child is Benjamin {middle name Patrick} and it took forever to name him. But we love his name and it’s so perfect for him. Any chance that can happen twice?! Although, I think we’ve used up our one agreeable boy name with Benjamin!

Our last name is McBride. Benjamin’s name is very strong and I want that for this sweet boy, too. I’ve been researching names and making lists and letting myself get pretty stressed out about naming a child! We have a girl name set, but these boy names are just too much for us! :) We would like several children, so here’s hoping at least one is a girl to cut down this stress of baby naming during pregnancy :)

Here is the {very short} list of names we agree on {as in we both like the names okay}:
Andrew {My husband is already calling this baby Andrew. I don’t mind it, I just don’t know if I love it. And I don’t like the nickname Andy at all. But I do like Drew. This name is so wishy-washy for me}
Jackson
Owen
Evan (Does this sound odd with Benjamin? Benjamin and Evan.)

Names I like, but my husband does not like at all:
Levi
Ethan
Issac
Collin
Henry
Everett

Names my husband likes:
Calvin (which I don’t mind, really. But we’ve had so many people say negative things about this name. It’s tainted the name for me)

Middle names:
Calvin
Shotwell (family name)
Knox
John (family name)
Reid (last name of close friends of ours)

We tend to like more traditional names and also like having a family name in there – first or middle. Benjamin and Patrick are family names, which worked out nicely. But it didn’t happen on purpose. In fact, we just found out that Benjamin is a family name and he’s two.

Could you just name this baby for me?! :) Your help would be so appreciated!

Okay, I will! Wesley Reid McBride. Ben and Wes.

I would have used Wesley John (I love family names) except it seems like that takes the pleasing John Wesley association from a suggestion to a declaration. Shotwell would work too, but is Wesley Shotwell the perfect amount of cowboy or is it too MUCH cowboy? I wasn’t sure. Calvin would work as a middle name (this would decrease negative feedback while still letting you have the name), but then it seems like John Wesley AND John Calvin.

I wanted to suggest Callum as an alternative to Calvin, but I’m afraid the blend with your surname might sound like Calla McBride.

Would you be willing to consider John as a first name? It’s a name that I think seems “too plain/common” at first consideration, but then sounds surprisingly fresh and interesting on an actual child. There are so few children named John actually going by John. And John McBride sounds so wonderful to me, I can hardly stand it. Maybe John Shotwell McBride, so each boy has two family names?–or maybe it would be better to save some family names for future children. John Michael McBride has a nice crackling sound, or John….heh, I almost suggested Wesley. Maybe use your maiden name or another family surname (I think those tend to work particularly well with John as a first name), or use a name that you really like but wouldn’t want to consider as a first name.

If John seems too short, maybe Jonathan. Benjamin and Jonathan make a nice brother pair. Jonathan Reid McBride, maybe, or Jonathan Calvin McBride (I THINK that works without too much of a John Calvin reference).

If Andrew is “not quite,” do you like Anderson? Anderson McBride, Benjamin and Anderson. I’m not sure what to do about a middle name for it. Maybe Reid: Anderson Reid McBride. Oh, but then his initials spell ARM. Anderson John McBride?

Or do you like Anthony? Anthony R…oh, ARM again. Anthony Shotwell McBride. Anthony Knox McBride.

Or Joshua: to me, the name Joshua has the same “strong but kind” sound as the name Benjamin. Joshua Calvin McBride, Ben and Josh.

Nathaniel is in that group for me as well: Nathaniel Reid McBride, Ben and Nate. Strong but NICE.

Or Nicholas? I like the sound of Benjamin and Nicholas. Nicholas Reid McBride, or Nicholas Calvin McBride.

I once knew a Benjamin whose brother was Christopher. Christopher McBride. Christopher John McBride, or Christopher Reid McBride.

Name update! Ashley writes:

I am so grateful to you and everyone who commented about name suggestions! More so, though, I was so encouraged to hear all the positive things said about “Andrew”. Our sweet boy came early, on May 17th, and is so precious! We chose the name Andrew Reid McBride. Sure, his initials are ARM, but the name is so great for him and we love that we can tell him how special the name is to us! Big brother Benjamin loves his little brother and it’s pretty stinkin cute to hear him say, “Where’s An-dew?” :)

Thank you again for your help and suggestions!