Update on Baby Boy Roberts T__________i

Dear Swistle,

We’re expecting our second girl (and final child) this fall, and while our first daughter’s name came easily, we’re struggling a bit with this one. Our last name is pronounced Summers, but spelled differently.

Our first daughter is named June, and her middle name is uncommon and Noweigian and begins with S, which we might keep for this baby too or pick another if the alliteration is too much. In general, we prefer short, solid names, and gravitate somewhat toward girl names that sound a bit on the harder side. We don’t like overly popular or biblical names, and want to avoid names that end in “s”, since our last name begins with it and tends to get jumbled (as in Frances Summers, Agnes Summers, etc). We definitely like some more old school (but still fairly short) and even feminine names, but also want to make sure we find a name that stands up next to June–she has a big, strong-willed personality, so a meeker sounding name for this girl is something we want to be careful of.

Are there any names that we might be overlooking? Scandinvian, short, or strong in nature? Something from far out in left field?

Contenders we both agree on:

Rudy/Rudi
Sybil (nickname Billie)
Mari (we can’t decide on a full name, or if we even would need one)
Violet
Lou (w alsoe can’t think of a full name for Lou–we don’t like Louise or Louisa or Lucinda–and we just like Lou period)
*Hazel (this was initially our top contender, but it looks to be soaring in popularity–it was #33 in the SS database for 2019–so we won’t be considering it further)

Names I like but husband is lukewarm on or has vetoed:
Ida
Frida (husband is a hard no on this)
Astrid
Greta
Uma

Names my husband likes but I’m lukewarm on:
Josephine (Josie/Jo)
May

Thanks for your help, Swistle!

Especially with short names, I think I would avoid choosing another with the same vowel sound as June: June and Lou, June and Rudy, June and Uma. And my own personal preference would be to choose a name with a similar usage: i.e., another name used predominately for girls, rather than a unisex name or one used more often for boys. (If you like the repeating vowel sound, I suggest Ruby instead of Rudy.) And Violet’s popularity is now in range of Hazel’s, so I’d cross that off. I like Greta and Ida a lot, if you can bring your husband around to either of them. Both of them have a Little Sister feel to me, but not at all in a meek way, more in a Force to Be Reckoned With kind of way, and I think both of them are great with your surname.

Is Mari pronounced like Mary? Actually, whether or not it is: if you want stealth shock value, I’d go with Mary. It feels at first glance as if it’s an extremely popular name because it was so common in previous generations, but on a brand-new baby it’s a fresh slap.

I enjoy the pairing of June and May for the sheer fun of it—but it bothers me that June is a summer month and May is not. August would be better, but in the U.S. the name August is used mostly for boys. Augusta would be fun, but fails to meet most of the preferences, and also feels like a compromise, since it’s not Junia/Augusta or June/August. Julia meets the preferences better, but feels like even more of a compromise: I don’t even connect Julia with July. But July feels too rare to go with June. Sunny would be apt, but cute/light to an extreme I’d want to avoid. Hm.

My first suggestion is Rose. Its familiarity as a middle name can cause the eye to skip right past it in the name book, but it is still relatively unusual as a first name, and I think it’s splendid with June: both one-syllable names with four letters, but with very different vowel and consonant sounds. June and Rose. Whether the repeating s-as-z sound with the surname is pleasing or not will be a subjective matter.

Ivy would be nice. Ivy Summers; June and Ivy. But according to the Social Security Administration, the name Ivy was #58 in 2020, so that might be more common than you’d like.

Oh! Eve! It feels common because it’s such a familiar name (and, granted, I’d have to say a large part of that familiarity comes from it being a biblical name), but it was #471 in 2020! Eve Summers is terrific. June and Eve. Actually never mind.

Maeve, maybe: like May but with a second strong consonant. Maeve Summers; June and Maeve.

Ada would be nice. Similar popularity to June, and a nice strong name with a STEM feel. Ada Summers; June and Ada.

Instead of Rudy, perhaps Romy? Romy Summers; June and Romy.

For some reason, that brought Margo to mind. Margo Summers; June and Margo.

I know I said above that I’d want to avoid repeating the vowel sound of June, and I know it’s a biblical name—but Ruth. I still don’t entirely like the repetition, but for a strong name like Ruth I would be willing to consider making an exception. Ruth Summers; June and Ruth.

Maybe Britt. Britt Summers; June and Britt. Again, I get little-sister-but-not-at-all-in-a-meek-way vibes: a Britt would be a foot shorter and yet absolutely standing her ground.

Or Claire. I like that. Claire Summers; June and Claire.

Or Harriet, if you’re willing to have more syllables. Harriet Summers; June and Harriet. The nickname Etta feels similar to Greta.

Update (and photo) on Baby Boy Menegon, Brother to Hazel and Frederick

Hello

I am so excited to be able to email you a baby naming question! I have been reading your blog for years. After being together for 12 years, and talking about baby names almost that whole time, my partner and I are expecting our first baby in early October.

I am Emily and my partner is Scott. Baby will have last name W00d. We are not finding out the sex until birth.

We’ve found the surname can be tricky to match names with and we’re definitely after a minimum 2 syllable name to go with it. We’ve got a few names for each sex on the shortlist but we’re not entirely sold and would like some more top contenders for firsts and middles to choose from after giving birth. We have been poring over lists and have not come across a new name to add since before I was pregnant.

Our style seems to be Grandpa/Grandma names with our girl names leaning more eclectic.

Our current short list for girls is:

– Norah
– Veda (Vay-DUH). I know this spelling will likely be mispronounced but it’s just how I have always seen it in my head. I am worried that if we were lucky enough to have a second baby that our other girl names would clash with this.
– Violet, we have loved this forever but it now feels a bit overused, and not so fresh to us any more. Could be a middle name.

Middle name contenders:
– June, My late Nan’s name.
– Primrose, my partner absolutely adores this as a first name. It’s a bit too out there for me and I don’t like to be nickname Rose/Rosie nor the combination with the surname.

Names we have like the sound of but not quite enough to use are Luna, Lola and Delilah. Partner loves Layla and Summer but I’m not keen on them.

We are steering away from any names starting with an El/Ella sound due to a niece’s name. Otherwise I would have had Eleanor and Luella on the list too.

Our current short list for boys is:
– Calvin
– Walter. Love the WW sound but worried about the nickname Wally- Wally W00d?!
– Marshall, this may also be a middle name contender.

The only other middle name in contention at the moment is Scott for my partner. He also has his Dad’s first name as his middle name.

Names that I love that my partner has vetoed:
– Otis
– Casper
– Felix
– Arthur
– Theodore ( as well as any name that leads to nickname Ted)
– Angus

I’d so appreciate if you’re able to answer my question. Thank you :)

Emily

For girls, I think pronouncing Veda vay-DUH would be an ongoing permanent hassle (I am not even sure I quite know how to pronounce it that way—it’s like trying to pronounce Norah nor-RAH) [edit for clarification: it’s the emphasis on the second syllable that’s the issue here, not the vay- or the -duh], and it sounds like you are a little tired of Violet and also Violet W00d is fairly noun-y, so it seems like Norah is the winner from that list. Then it’s a matter of choosing the middle name, which is a delightful task because everything sounds good. Norah Violet! Norah June! Norah Primrose!

If I were you, I might want to save June for a possible future first name (I know you are looking for more syllables, but I think June W00d works very nicely, and Norah and June is a lovely sister pairing), and so I would choose between Violet and Primrose. Except, hm, I am very keen on using honor names, and so if you KNOW you won’t use June as a future first name, then I would use Norah June now. Particularly if the child’s surname is your partner’s family’s name, it’s nice to get in a name from your family as well. Another option is to use as a middle name whichever parent’s family surname is not being used as the baby’s surname.

For boys, we have a similar situation: Walter feels like it’s out (Wally W00d immediately snaps into place as A Name I Would Not Want for Myself), and it feels like you’re less enthusiastic about Marshall, so it seems like Calvin is the winner from that list. Then it’s the fun of choosing a middle name. I am disinclined toward using your partner’s first name as the middle name if you’re already using your partner’s family name as the surname. I like Calvin Walter as a way to get the name Walter without the Wally W00d issue. I like Calvin Marshall, too. And just as we considered your partner’s adored Primrose as a middle name candidate, the names on his veto list are good contenders as middle names for Calvin. Calvin Casper! Calvin Felix! Calvin Theodore! Etc.

I’d also suggest looking for middle names from your side of the family, again to balance the use of your partner’s surname. (If I am mis-guessing that you’re using his surname for the baby, and I might very well be since you’re looking for multi-syllable names even though your partner’s first name is one syllable, let me know and I will re-write the post to adjust for that.)

One more thing. You mention you’re finding the surname W00d difficult to work with. I want to make sure you have considered the possibility of using the other parent’s surname for the baby. It seems like such an obvious thing to consider, but many parents never really think of it as an option, even when the chosen surname is ruling out many of their favorite first names.

Update (and photo) on Baby Girl Bevans-without-the-B, Sister to Finn and Sawyer

Update (and photo) on Baby Naming Issue: How To Decide Which Preferences To Let Go Of

Update (and photo) on Baby Boy Weier, Brother to Matilda (Mattie) and Genevieve (Evie)

Update (and photo) on Baby Boy Boat-with-an-F, Sibling to Millie and Howard (Howie)

Update (and photo) on Baby Girl or Boy Molly-Ache-Elle, Sibling to George (Gil) and Malcolm (Mac)