Rachel writes:
We are expecting our third boy soon – due date is September 19th, and we are having a terrible time deciding on a name. Our sons are named Griffin Winship and Graydon Winship (we call him Grady). We didn’t intentionally go with two Gr names, we just happened to like them both. We didn’t plan on having a third child, and now we are feeling that we are stuck with a Gr (or at least a G) name. In fact, my six-year-old is insistent they must remain the “G brothers:)”. We want something unique, unusual – not Grant or Graham, etc. One name my husband really liked was Grogan (not sure where he got it), but then we discovered what it meant on Urban Dictionary, so that choice was out:). Names we have considered are Gibson and Grantham (although that would likely turn into Grant).
Any help would be appreciated!
I’m not sure where to draw the unique/unusual line here. The name Graydon/Grayden isn’t in the Top 1000, but the recent and current popularity of Grayson/Greyson and of the Aiden/Brayden/Caden/Hayden/Jaden/Rayden/Zayden group makes it feel familiar. The name Griffin was #220 in 2012, comparable to Grant at #163 and Graham at #215.
I’d like to suggest Gordon, an underused G name. It’s just barely in the Top 1000 as of 2012 (and falling), it’s similar in sound to Grogan, and it has an R sound in it without being another Gr- name. It may, however, be too similar in sound to Graydon: it’s almost a rearrangement of the same sounds, with one vowel change.
Gideon would work better. It was #390 in 2012. Gideon Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Gideon.
Normally I would suggest George, but I suspect the recent birth of the little prince has knocked that one off the list.
I suggest Gable. It’s not in the Top 1000 for 2012, nor has it been anytime recently. Gable Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Gable.
Or Gulliver. Despite its similarity to the popular name Oliver, it isn’t in the Social Security Administrations’s database at all for 2012. Gulliver Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Gulliver.
I like Gus a lot. It surprises me not to see it in the Top 1000 for 2012, but that may be that it’s more often given in a longer form: Angus, August, Augustus, etc. Gus Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Gus.
Garrett is nice, and it’s another that has a strong R sound in the middle even though it doesn’t start with Gr-. It was #213 in 2012, and falling. Garrett Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Garrett.
For something less common, Garrison is just barely in the Top 1000 and falling, and also has the inner R sound. Garrison Winship; Griffin, Graydon, and Garrison.
I really like Garrett from Swistles list. Other G names that I think would work nicely are
Gavin (G beginning and same n sound at the end. Griffin, Graydon, and Gavin)
Glenn (same as above. Griffin, Graydon, and Glenn)
Granger (seems like a nice laternative to Grogan… Griffin, Graydon, and Granger)
Grover (like Granger but more familiar… Griffin, Graydon, and Grover)
Gusto (a bit longer italian name to get to the nn Gus… Griffin, Graydon, and Gusto)
My vote is for Gregor! Bonus: even keeps the Gr thing going.
My first thought was Gage.
I think maybe that although Griffin has a very similar ranking to Grant and Graham, it is fresher (check out the trends on name Voyageur), as is Graydon. So with that in mind I’d also suggest Gabriel.
Gage Winship. Griffin, Graydon, and Gage
Gabriel Winship. Griffin, Graydon, and Gabriel
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Garrett as long as you don’t shorten it to Garry/Gary which I think is too similar to Grady. (Garrison with three syllables seems more likely to be shortened.) I know a young man named Garrett who has always been called by the full name. I also like Gordon for you, especially if he were to be called “Gordon” (not Gordy — again to similar to “Grady”).
Other suggestions:
Gilbert
Gibson (“Gilbert’s son”)
Garth
Gavin — I love it! It may be too popular for you, but perhaps *your son* would prefer that to a more obscure name
Gregory
Granger (“English first name from an occupational name meaning ‘farmer’ or ‘bailiff’.”)
Gallagher (surname name suggested by Abby of appellationmountain.net
Grimbald (“St Grimbald (c.820-903) was a monk, who was invited to England by King Alfred to help him with his educational work. Grimbald was a fairly common name in the Middle Ages.”) — I found the name in an old baby name book, but just kidding about it as a suggestion for you. :)
It sounds like there’s a lot of pressure from your oldest son to give his littlest brother a name that begins with a G, which limits your choices. But still I’d probably go with a name beginning with a hard G (not the J-sound like George) since he feels so strongly about it. But within that limited group of names, I would choose the one my husband and I liked best, disregarding current name popularity. Griffin and Grady have become fairly mainstream names and are being heard more and more.
My own preference would be for Gavin: Griffin, Grady (Graydon) and Gavin.
I also like Graham with your sibset: Griffin, Graydon/Grady and Graham.
If have gotten to know two sweet little boys named Garren and Gannon. I also think that Gideon is a wonderful fit with the other two names.
Gulliver is excellent!
So many great suggestions already! I wonder if you’d consider Grantham? It’s s combo of Grant and Graham, which you already nixed, but its unique and recognizable because of Downton Abbey. Lord Grantham is a wonderful character with a very distinguished name, I think!
Good luck! Can wait for the follow up to see what you come up with!
Similar to Grantham, I was thinking of Granham. Or maybe Gannon?
I’d avoid Garrison. When I read Swistle’s response, I thought she wrote Garrison WARship. Too military for me!
I like the name Galen, but all the names are nice. The only Garrett I knew always went by his full name.
Best of luck!
I don’t believe that Giles or Gilbert (Gil) have been mentioned…both could be nice options.
From what has been suggested, I like Graham, Gulliver, and Glenn. I also like Gideon, but I think the sounds may be too close to your existing boys’ names.
Don’t use Giles. That name used to be my last name and I can tell you with complete authority that 50% of people will mispronounce this name. For what it’s worth it’s “Jiles” with a hard G, and rhythms with “miles”, but everyone says “Gill-es” or Gile-ules. Annoying.
One would think the Patron saint of breastfeeding would have a better know name, and one would be mistaken ;)
Everything I thought of other people already had, but I like these
G names with internal Rs: Gabriel, Garth, Garrett, Garrison
G names that end in Ns: Galen, Gavin, Gideon
G names that contain no Rs or Ns: Gage
I’m voting for Gordon! It is my 25-year-old brother’s name, and he loves it. He’s never met another Gordon his age, but no one has ever picked on him for having a “weird” name. Plus, it has a cool “Mighty Ducks” reference in Gordon Bombay, and Gordon Cooper, Jr., was an astronaut we learned about in school.
Some other suggestions:
Gaius
Gareth
Garland
Garner
Gilroy
Glendon
Glover
Gough
Gower
Gunnar
Guthrie
Gardener
All the best!
From Swistle’s suggestions, I especially like Gideon. Other than the G, it has different sounds & different syllables than the brother names-so it continues the theme but without being too close to his brother’s names. Garrett, Gable & Gulliver are also really nice & I don’t think any of them seem too close to use.
Some other names I like with Griffin & Graydon-
Giles
Gabriel
Gareth
Gavin
Gunnar
Greer
Before I even read Swistle’s response, I immediately thought of Garrett and Garrison. A long-time favorite name of mine is Gardner nn Gard, which I’ve mentioned here before, but hubby isn’t on board :/ love the idea of Gareth too!
Griffin, Grady, & Gardner
Griffin, Grady & Garrett
Griffin, Grady & Garrison
Griffin, Grady & Gareth
We very nearly chose Guthrie nn Gus for our baby boy.
Good luck!
Gehrig is another option. The internal -r sound helps tie the names without being too matchy. The association to Lou Gehrig is for me a positive one, but the phrase Lou Gehrig’s disease might bother others.
The first name that came into my mind after reading your letter was Grover. I love its nickname, Grove.
Griffin, Grady and Grover would make a cool sibset.
Much as I like Gordon, I think it is too close to Graydon to really work. Same goes for Gabriel.
I LOVE the suggestion someone made of Guthrie for you. It doesn’t share any of the same vowel sounds as Graydon or Griffin, and it is an unusual route to the nickname Gus.
If the hard G is not a necessity, I might consider George (prince or no prince!) though stylistically it is quite different from Griffin and Graydon.
I keep circling back to Guthrie. I know two men in their 20s with the name, but I don’t think it is terribly popular. Great associations with Woody and Arlo Guthrie. It is one of my partner’s favorite names but it doesn’t really work with his surname so we’re probably not going to use it. I think it is great though. Guthrie Winship, nickname Gus– a really distinctive and memorable name. It has only ranked once in the SSA top 1000 names too– it was #924 all the way back in 1895.
When I saw the first two names, before even reading the post, the name Gordon popped into my head! I love it. Or you could use Gordy to differentiate it more from Graydon.
I agree with swistle that I am not sure what you mean by unique, Griffin is no more unique then Graham. At least in terms of amount of usage. Would using the traditional/less common spelling of Graeme make it seem more unique?
I also love the suggestion of Gregor – different vowel and ending, but sticks with the GR.
I think you have loads of good options and its sweet that your oldest son wants the connection!
So many good suggestions!
I’ll add Gustin, which maybe sounds a little made up, but I went to school with someone by this name who went/goes by Gus. Definitely unique, but familiar since it’s so similar to Justin, Dustin, etc.
My favorites from other suggestions are Gideon, Gavin, Guthrie, Gannon and Gage.
I agree that Gordon is too close to Graydon .. in fact, I find saying the names together a little difficult–my tongue isn’t quite sure where to be.
I also thought the exact same thing as a poster above with Garrison! …It made me read your last name as “Warship” and felt like a lot of military.
Some more suggestions. A lot of these have either a Celtic or English feel, which matches nicely with your family..
Garrick
Galloway
Galway
Garroway
Garrow
Groves (LOVE this for your family .. Griffin, Graydon, & Groves .. has the same amount of cool/fresh sound without trying too hard, and without being unheard of; but it isn’t even in the top 1000!)
Grantland (I know you said you didn’t want to do “Grant” ..but this is another way to up the uniqueness factor… I think I like it better than “Grantham” even, because I think a little bit about “ham” with the latter. But, not so much that it’s unusable since the “th” breaks up the “ham” part :) …. than again, I wonder if it sounds a bit more feminine than Grantham?)
Griswold
Granville/Grenville
Gallagher (already mentioned..but love it!)
Garvey
Girvan (“little rough one” ..what a great name for a baby brother! Perhaps too close to Griffin, though? Yeah, on second thought, it probably is. Same closeness as the Gordon/Graydon dilemma.)
Yes, Groves is definitely my top choice :)
*then again ..ah!
Oh, Gideon! Definitely my favorite.
Or Gus, or Gabriel…
I’ll add to the G collection the French Guillaume (or variant Guilhem) just for fun!
This post struck a cord, as I am in a similar connundrum: my two daughters both have C names (as I do), which just happened naturally, simply because I loved their names. Now my remaining favorites for a potential third child are not C names, and I would personnaly have no qualms breaking the pattern. .. if my eldest wasn’t so attached with the idea that we’re the “C girls”. It is very special and important to her. How can our next baby not be a member of such a cool club? Sigh.
Caroline. I find these types of posts intriguing. If you become pregnant again with another girl make sure you write in!
This post really points out how many great names there are that start with G! I think you should definitely stick with G, though not necessarily Gr…
My favorites to go with Graydon /Grady and Griffin are:
Gavin
Gabriel
Gregor/Gregory
Geoffrey
Gilbert (I know a little Gilbert called Gilly and he is just adorable!)
Gus
Good luck!
Swistle, you wrote: “but the recent and current popularity of Grayson/Grayson” and I think you probably meant to write “Grayson/Greyson” – one of them with an E.
And was I the only one who started singing “Bill Grogan’s Goat” while reading?
Thanks—fixed it!
Oh my, you have so many great options. Although I love Gideon or Giles, I think the hard “J” instead of the soft “G” like your other two sons names are too stylistically different. I would personally stick with the similar sounding “G” for all three boys. So despite my love for those two names, I wouldn’t use them (for me anyways).
All the following names have already been mentioned, there were so many good ones to choose from above, don’t think you need anymore to add to the list. Here are my favourites:
Guthrie – LOVE. By far my favourite. Griffin, Graydon, and Guthrie. Love that it still has the “r” in it, but because it is in an alternate location (at end rather than Gr-) it keeps it from feeling as though the names are matchy-matchy.
Gallagher – also love this one
Galloway
Garrison
Gilroy – I also really like this, it’s definitely uncommon
I really like Gus, but I don’t think I would use it in the sib set, at least not as the official name, would use Guthrie with nn Gus. Sigh. Perfect!!
Oops… my previous post I said I didn’t like the hard “G” sound like Giles and Gideon… I definitely meant Giles or George. I had too many thoughts racing through my mind at the time!
Lots of options! my favourites are Gavin, Gilbert, and Greer! i like the idea of giving a name with a different vowel sound than the other two.
OOh…. Greer is fabulous!! I forgot about that one.
Guthrie or Greer. :)
Greer is super feminine to me– even more so than Blair, Harper, Addison, or other unisex names. It was one of the first surname names to be really used for girls, and I think it has stuck.
I also think of Greer as being female
My first thought was Gage as well!
What about Gregory? It’s a familiar name but it hasn’t been particularly popular in recent years (i.e. it was in the 2000’s on the SSA list for 2010-2012). I think it’s a strong, timeless name that sounds great in the groups:
Griffin, Graydon and Gregory
Griffin, Grady and Greg
I also like Granger if you’re looking for something less popular however, it does remind me of Harry Potter every time I hear it (could be a pro or a con).
Sorry, I meant 200’s not 2000’s :)
I really like Greer but consider it a girl name… I kind of like the suggestion of Grover EXCEPT for the muppet- which makes me think that Grove would be perfect! Grove Winship. Love it.
Aw, I don’t think the muppet makes Grover unusable. He’s not quite as ubiquitous as his buddies Kermit and Elmo, you know? But I agree Grove is a bit more modern.
I do think of Grover the muppet however I can easily separate that thought and besides he is “lovable, furry, pal Grover” and “Super Grover” both awesome connotations a very funny and lovable character.
Grover or just Grove
Gus
Gibson or Gibb
Gilbert (love Gil!)
Gavin
Gabriel
I love Graham and like Grant too a million times over Grogan
I really like Grant (which is on your list as Grantham). I know it’s more popular but I don’t know any little Grants and I think the name sounds great with the brother names. Good luck!
I really like the suggestions of Gallagher and Grenville.
If you decide against a name that starts with G, you could always choose one with the G or GR (or similar) in the middle of the name:
Regan
Logan
Digby
Diggory
Zachery
Thackery
Good luck.
Or Maguire.
Actually, I think I like that one best. Griffin, Grady and Maguire, nickname Guy.
I also immediately thought of Gavin and Gage.
Griffin, Graydon and Gavin – Gavin Winship
Griffin, Graydon and Gage – Gage Winship
While I like Gideon, for some reason it doesn’t appeal to me like the two above. I also think Gavin or Gage work better with the sibling names.
Best of luck!
I love Gibson from the OP’s message! So cute – different, a little rock and roll, nickname Gib.
One of the commenter suggestions that really caught my eye was Gage – really cool sounding name too!
Gabriel? (It’s common per social security, but I actually have met very few of them, and because it is such an OLD name, it doesn’t FEEL as popular).
What about Grantley nn Grant?
Griffin, Graydon and Grantley. Great!
Gregson, Gridley or Grisham?
Good luck!
As other people have mentioned, I would definitely avoid another “Gr..” name to avoid being too cutesy. First, I love the name Guthrie and it can easily be shortened to Gus. That’s my vote! I also wanted to chime in on Garrett. My youngest brother is a Garrett, and nobody has ever tried to nickname him “Gary”. Occassionally we call him Grit, but only at home in a joking manner. Good luck!
Thanks so much for all of your input! I am waiting (somewhat impatiently) for our third baby G to arrive, and in the mean time I am reading all of your suggestions carefully. I will let you know what we decide!
My brother’s college roommate was named Garland. I’ve always thought it was such a great name. It would fit perfectly in your family of ‘G brothers’ too. :)
Hi there,
I just wanted to let everyone know what we decided in regards to our little guys’ name:) He was due September 19th, and my water broke at 7:00 p.m. that very day. Then he was born on September 20th at 12:05 a.m. We still didn’t know exactly what we would name him when he was born, but we were armed with a list of ‘G’ names, many of which came from this site. After some discussion that lasted until about 4 in the morning, we decided on Gibson Xavier Winship. We just really like the name Gibson and felt like it fit in with our other boys’ names (Griffin and Graydon) perfectly. Not only that, but after seeing him it seemed to fit him well too:)
I wanted to thank you all again for your input. I am really glad one of my friends sent me to this site; I have enjoyed reading all the name questions and suggestions, and I know I will continue to do so.