We started this in August 2020, and we are finally finishing up!

Here is the game we are playing:

We are going to pretend that we are naming a baby and that the name MUST start with a certain letter, and so we will need one name starting with that letter for a boy and one name starting with that letter for a girl, or else one name that would work for either, EVEN IF we don’t like any of the names that start with that letter enough to Actually In Real Life choose them. It is just a game where we place artificial restrictions on reality in order to create the kind of tension that makes games fun—like when you have to choose what foods you’d eat if you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life: the fun is in thinking it over AS IF it were a real forced decision, while KNOWING it is not. There is a baby! It MUST be given a name with a particular letter! That is the game.

After that basic concept, we can decide our own sub-rules, based on what makes the game fun and not stressful. Some examples:

• I’m not planning to play that the name has to fit with the names of my other children or with the surname, though this would be an option for anyone who would LIKE to play it that way; I think I will have more fun if I pretend it is a stand-alone baby and that the surname is not an issue, though I may change my mind as we go. (And if I narrow it down to a few options and can’t decide, I might use siblings/surname as a tie-breaker.)

• It is also fine to narrow it down to a few finalists without getting to The One Name.

• The boy name and girl name don’t have to work TOGETHER: we are only naming ONE baby, so you’d only use one or the other. But you MAY play that the names have to work together, if that’s more fun.

• It is fine to wave aside issues such as a friend who already used that name, a famous person with the name, etc., if that makes it more fun and less stressful to choose. This is just pretend, so you can pretend that those things aren’t issues if you want to. (Or you can let the issues stand as they are in real life, if THAT is more fun.)

• We can also all make our own decisions about whether the names have to be ones we think we’d ACTUALLY USE in that hypothetical scenario, or just our FAVORITE names starting with that letter, regardless of whether we think the names are practical; I am not sure which way I will play it, and I likely won’t be consistent.

• If you already have a child with a name starting with the letter we’re working on, you get to pick again from all the names that remain; you don’t have to choose your child’s name as your favorite just because it WAS your favorite: this is a FRESH baby, and you wouldn’t give it the same name as your existing child. (If you would normally prefer not to repeat an initial within a sibling group, you can just pretend that’s NOT a preference for the sake of the game.)

• You can do as much or as little explanation as you like in your comment: you can just list the names you chose, or you can explain your process/preferences/reasoning/runners-up, or whatever is most fun.

Today’s letter is A. For a girl, I already have Annabel and Anastasia (the anna-STAY-zha pronunciation) on my list. I also like Abigail and Alice and Anna and Anne, in an “If someone ELSE named my baby, and the name was any of those names, I would be more than fine with that” way. Really, I like way more girl A names than I expected, because I also like Ariadne, Athena, Audrey, Augusta, Agatha. I am having a very hard time narrowing further than Annabel/Anastasia. It’s mostly because I feel as if the -bel/-belle names have had their surge and that the surge has passed—so even though I am not tired of the name Annabel, I wonder if I would regret using a name that was part of a Name Group. Anastasia feels like A Lot of Name—but I LIKE girl names that are A Lot of Name. Okay, I choose Anastasia.

For a boy, I had Alan on my list for Henry (family name + Alan Alda), but it doesn’t feel right to me anymore. Albert and Alfred are favorites of my heart; I am not sure I would use them on an actual child quite yet, but I am hoping they will come back into style in time for a grandson. I like Alistair and Anderson and Aidric and Arlo and Abbott, but they’re not my usual naming style for boys (Top 50 / very familiar). Actually, as I’ve been writing this, I’ve come back around to Alan: it feels like a warm, friendly, stable kind of name to me—kind of dated, but I’ll bet it’ll be back, and “It’s a family name” works well in the meantime. I choose Alan.

Now you! If you want to! Only if it’s fun and not stressful! Feel free to adjust the game-play to be fun and not stressful!

I am going to be sad to see this series end!

Here is the game we are playing:

We are going to pretend that we are naming a baby and that the name MUST start with a certain letter, and so we will need one name starting with that letter for a boy and one name starting with that letter for a girl, or else one name that would work for either, EVEN IF we don’t like any of the names that start with that letter enough to Actually In Real Life choose them. It is just a game where we place artificial restrictions on reality in order to create the kind of tension that makes games fun—like when you have to choose what foods you’d eat if you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life: the fun is in thinking it over AS IF it were a real forced decision, while KNOWING it is not. There is a baby! It MUST be given a name with a particular letter! That is the game.

After that basic concept, we can decide our own sub-rules, based on what makes the game fun and not stressful. Some examples:

• I’m not planning to play that the name has to fit with the names of my other children or with the surname, though this would be an option for anyone who would LIKE to play it that way; I think I will have more fun if I pretend it is a stand-alone baby and that the surname is not an issue, though I may change my mind as we go. (And if I narrow it down to a few options and can’t decide, I might use siblings/surname as a tie-breaker.)

• It is also fine to narrow it down to a few finalists without getting to The One Name.

• The boy name and girl name don’t have to work TOGETHER: we are only naming ONE baby, so you’d only use one or the other. But you MAY play that the names have to work together, if that’s more fun.

• It is fine to wave aside issues such as a friend who already used that name, a famous person with the name, etc., if that makes it more fun and less stressful to choose. This is just pretend, so you can pretend that those things aren’t issues if you want to. (Or you can let the issues stand as they are in real life, if THAT is more fun.)

• We can also all make our own decisions about whether the names have to be ones we think we’d ACTUALLY USE in that hypothetical scenario, or just our FAVORITE names starting with that letter, regardless of whether we think the names are practical; I am not sure which way I will play it, and I likely won’t be consistent.

• If you already have a child with a name starting with the letter we’re working on, you get to pick again from all the names that remain; you don’t have to choose your child’s name as your favorite just because it WAS your favorite: this is a FRESH baby, and you wouldn’t give it the same name as your existing child. (If you would normally prefer not to repeat an initial within a sibling group, you can just pretend that’s NOT a preference for the sake of the game.)

• You can do as much or as little explanation as you like in your comment: you can just list the names you chose, or you can explain your process/preferences/reasoning/runners-up, or whatever is most fun.

Today’s letter is B. For girls, I have Beatrix and Bianca on my list. I also like Belinda and Bridget and Bronwyn. I like Bonnie, but I want it to be a nickname for something else. If it weren’t for Amelia Bedelia, I think I would like Bedelia. For a total style outlier, I like Beckett: I like the way it can go to Bec or Becca or Becky or Bex or Kit or even Etta, depending on the person. I choose Beatrix.

For boys, I have Benjamin on my list. I also like Barnaby. I feel warmly toward Bertram/Bertie because of P.D. Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories, but I don’t think I’d be ready to use it. For a total style outlier, I like Broderick; it’s fun to say, and the Matthew Broderick association is a pleasant one. I would choose Benjamin.

Now you! If you want to! Only if it’s fun and not stressful! Feel free to adjust the game-play to be fun and not stressful!