Hi Swistle,
We recently found out that our baby is a boy and while I’m so happy for a baby boy, I had lots of baby girl names that I loved, but very few boy names on my list. I’m feeling a little stuck.
This is our first and due in January. Our last name is Vargas (sounds Hispanic, but the roots of our name comes from husband’s great-grandfather being from Portugal, FYI). My very fave girl name is Poppy. I’m looking for a cute and fun name that doesn’t sound totally made up but also isn’t heard very often. My top boy name was Milo, until recently when my husband told his coworkers and they convinced him it sounded like a dog’s name, now he doesn’t like it anymore, so sad. I also had Luca on my list but husband thinks it sounds feminine- whatever! So now my favorite is probably Theo, though I’m not sure if I love the name Theodore. Def not Teddy.
For middle names, I want something with meaning, such as a family member’s name. I’m considering either my husband’s brother: Adam, my dad’s middle name: August, or my grandfather’s name: James.
Also as an FYI, my husband’s name is David, but he goes by Joey (his middle name is Joseph). We do plan on having one or two more kiddos in the coming years. Hopefully one will be a Poppy!
Thanks a million Swistle!!!!
Lindsey
Sigh. What on earth possesses otherwise pleasant people to declare that a name is “a dog name” or “a stripper name”? If the name were Fido, or Spot, or Mittens, I could see why even a kind and polite person might accidentally blurt out an animal-related remark before having time to think. But Milo? A name that has been used for people since the Middle Ages, and was given to over a thousand new baby boys in the U.S. in 2013 alone? No. Milo is not “a dog name.” Certainly there are many people using it as a name for dogs and cats and other animals, because many people like to use person names for animals, especially names that are cute and fun and not very common. I myself had a cat named George—which does not mean Kate and Will’s little prince has “a cat name,” it only means I used a person name for a cat. Or perhaps it means that names can be used for many things such as people, animals, cars, storms, etc., without usage in one category necessarily ruling out usage in other categories.
My hope is that your husband can be talked around to considering your opinion (and his own former opinion) more highly than the opinions of his co-workers. Milo seems like the perfect cheerful yet solid choice for your family, and it’s a shame to throw it out over this.
Sometimes other people can indeed spoil a name, however, and if this has happened, we will look for something else. (And perhaps your husband could agree not to share the finalists with his co-workers anymore.) Some possibilities to consider, looking for cute/fun and not yet worrying about surname compatibility:
Abe
Ace
Archie
Arlo
Barnaby
Beck
Bo
Brady
Casey
Chance
Charlie
Colby
Corbin
Crosby
Felix
Finn
Finnegan
Flynn
Gage
George
Grady
Gus
Harvey
Hugo
Ian
Jacoby
Kai
Keaton
Leo
Max
Murphy
Nico
Oakley
Oliver
Otto
Quinn
Ranger
Riley
Rory
Rudy
Sam
Ty
Another possibility is to use a name with a cute/fun nickname: Christopher/Kit, for example, or Philip/Pip, or Moses/Moe, or Charles/Chip.
How about Miles? I’ve never heard of a dog being named Miles, and it even gets you Milo as a nickname if you want it.
Milo, Luca, and Theo were all on our list at one point!
I definitely don’t think Milo is a dog name. I always think of Milo Ventimiglia (http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/database/miloventimigilia/miloventimiglia300.jpg) Love him!
If you don’t like Teddy and aren’t sure about Theodore, I would just go with Theo. Is there a reason you don’t want just Theo?
My favorite suggestion of Swistle’s is Leo. It is kind of a blend of Milo and Luca, ends in o starts with L. I also think it sounds pretty great with Poppy.
We had Theo on our boy list , and Luca was our frontrunner for our first baby, if she had been a boy, so I think our naming style is similar, and we also had a tough time coming up with boy names. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use Luca for our second (a boy) because it’s too close to our daughter’s name . . . Most of our other possible names are on Swistle’s list, but just for emphasis, I’ll say that I particularly like Max, Quinn, and Rory, and at one point we looked for longer names that would lead to nicknames of Bo and Ty. We also strongly considered Tobias/Toby, Henry/Hank and Griffin.
Also, Milo is a great name. And the top names for dogs and cats are mostly very traditional people names, such as Lucy, and that hasn’t stopped anyone from using them. My daughter’s name is Lucy, so I would know ;)
I work in pet grooming shop. We have about 2,000 dogs in that we have groomed in the past year. To the best of my knowledge, not one of them is named Milo.
I second Miles. The idea of adding an ‘s’ for formal or masculinizing purposes is a great one for pleasing the grandparents and coworkers of the world but keeping the names you like. There would be a double ends in a with your surname, but I like that.
Miles Vargas nn Milo
Lucas Vargas nn Luca
or even…
Nicholas Vargas nn Nico
Just don’t do Silas nn Silo hahaha
Whoops ‘ends in s’ not ‘ends in a’
To be fair to the co-workers, when I hear the name Milo the reference that immediately comes to mind is the movie Milo and Otis (though Milo is a cat in the movie). I love the option of Miles or Lucas though with the nicknames milo or luca. Miles and Lucas are excellent resume/formal name should the child grow up to be a judge or some such and wants a more formal name.
His coworkers probably think it is a dog’s name because of Milo and Otis (as does my husband), so if he is permanently turned off to it I would try and convince him of Luka. A great way for him to see it as a man’s name is to watch a tv show or movie with the name in it, and it just so happens that last year’s season of Master Chef featured a Luka and it may be the perfect way to turn him onto the name. Good luck!
I will third (fourth?) the suggestion of Miles. I thought of it immediately. Would you like Owen? Owen James Vargas is particularly handsome, I think.
I suggest that you and your husband make a pact that you will tell NO ONE what the baby’s name will be until he is born. Regardless of what you choose, there will be someone who has to let you know of an animal or disagreeable person they knew with the same name. Since everyone already
knows he’s a boy, what fun to have a secret to tell at the birth. My daughter made this decision and a friend who just had a baby boy did, as well. It was an exciting announcement for both and not a soul had anything to say about their choices after the fact. By the way, they didn’t even tell their parents, siblings or best friends…..
I also think Miles or Lucas would be great solutions.
I suppose Felix is out if names with some animal association are verboten. I do like it for you though. Or maybe Simon or Linus.
I *know* that Milo is not technically a pet name and has been used for a very long time, but it’s embedded in my brain as such for whatever reason–I think because of the prevalence of Milo and Otis when I was young, even though I never even saw the movie. I think using Miles with Milo as a nickname is an excellent compromise.
I agree Miles is a nice compromise if Milo is really off the table (maybe Swistle’s comments combined with SSA name data can sway your husband). I also really, really like Arlo for you.
I wonder if you’d consider using August as a first name? The nickname Auggie strikes me as the perfect amount of cute & fun to work with Poppy.
Ezra, Jude, Sebastian, Toby, Heath, Henry, Jasper, Theo
I just remembered the surname ends in -as. I still like Miles with it because the different syllable count doesn’t make it sound singsongy, but I’m reconsidering Linus & Lucas.
How about Alexander, Matthias, Oliver, Phineas, or Price? I’m clearly stuck on -as names, but I like the 3-syllable ones fine with the surname.
Oh I think Milo is perfect! This is why sharing names with people before the baby is born is not a good idea. People for some reason have no problem sharing all the reasons why they hate your name if the baby hasn’t been born yet, as though somehow it’s acceptable to criticize your choice because it’s not set in stone yet. But after the baby’s born, they’ll usually keep their negative thoughts to themselves. You can never please everyone so just please yourselves.
BUT, if the name is ruined, a few other “fun” boy names that I think would go well with surname Vargas and sibling name Poppy. I’m avoiding names that end in S to avoid the repetitive ending with the surname:
Casper
Colby
Grady
Desmond nn Dez/Dezzy
Nico
Toby
Rhett
Hugo
Ripley
Fletcher
Levi
Sander
I was also going to say Milo and Otis! I love the suggestion of Miles nn Milo, though. I also swoon over Gage. It’s my #1 name crush.
I second Swistle on the suggestion of not sharing name ideas until the baby comes if they’re going to sway opinions. People are rude enough to say the first thing that pops into their heads when it’s just an idea, but when the cute face is looking up at them, they’ll get a different association.
We seriously considered Gretchen for our little girl. Every single time I talked about names, my MIL said, “That’s a dog name!” only because my husband’s grandma had a dog named Gretchen. I finally just had to ask her to stop and reminded her that said grandma used people names on dogs and it did not turn the name into a dog name.
I like Milo a lot and think it it works great with Poppy. Theo is a nice option is Milo is really out but. I would make that his full first name to avoid Theodore or Teddy. Two ending in options that I like for you are Arlo and Hugo.
Arlo James (V)argas .. Arlo and Poppy
Hugo Adam (V)argas…. Hugo and Poppy
I also like Angus Adam (V)argas. … Gus and Poppy. …Or
Jasper James (V)argas.. Jasper and Poppy. ….Or
Blaze Adam (V)argas … Blaze and Poppy
So, if I’m understanding the letter right, your husband was on board with Milo until some co-workers made fun of it or insisted it was a dog’s name (probably because of the movie)? And now he’s rejecting it, when previously he liked it? How sad! And, sorry, but quite weak-willed of your husband, too.
Normally I’m a big fan of compromising when it comes to names. But in this case, if your husband did like Milo before & is succumbing to some kind of high school-style workplace peer pressure in rejecting it now, and if Milo is still your own #1 fave– may I suggest ramming it through over his objections and using it anyway? If you did that, I imagine your husband would like Milo again as soon as it is associated with his newborn son. Also, unless his co-workers are complete jerks, they will probably quiet down about their canine associations when baby Milo is actually born.
Otherwise, I second everyone else’s suggestions of Miles as a good compromise, though it is not as pleasing in terms of sounds when paired with Vargas. Milo Vargas just flows better.
One name I thought of in your context is Solomon. It’s very uncommon right now and has the cute nickname of Sol.
Or Julian.
Good luck! Please do update us!
I also want to point out that jobs change, as do people at said jobs, and how silly and sad would it be to not use Milo (a name it seems you both previously liked, or liked enough) because of what coworkers might have said?
Here’s a new suggestion which I think works really well with your cute/fun style while being masculine and uncommon but not made up:
Cato
Cato James (V)argas sounds very nice indeed!
Keep us updated :)
Have you considered Leo? It’s the first name that came to mind once I read your letter, similar to Theo, but more complete feeling, also Leo and Poppy would be adorable together :)
Or what about Elliot? The one Poppy I’ve known of had a brother named Elliot.
I love another poster’s suggestion of Nicolas Vargas, with the nn Nico!
I live the suggestion of Leo and wanted to add Emil.
I second the suggestion of Leo. Leo James Vargas has a nice ring to it and sounds great with potential sister name Poppy.
Absolutely love Milo, or the Myles to get to Milo option. I also love Arlo for you, if that is just enough different.
If those don’t work, however, my favorite “fun” name is Oscar. Then you have the Oz or Ozzie nn option.
Our boy name for our last girl was Theo, with some disagreement as to what should be on the birth certificate. We both agreed that we wold never use Theodore and that Theo did not sound too much like a nick name to stand alone, and yet one of us prefers formal birth certificate names while the other thinks them to be a bit silly.
Anyway, we never had to make the decision since ultrasounds confirmed girl. I’m not sure if it was the pregnancy hormones, but I seriously considered Theophilus as a birth certificate name. It has some fun historical/biblical stories behind it. But it also maybe a bit much.
*Also, we LOVE the movie Milo and Otis and think it is often overlooked. We also know several toddler Milos in real life and have strangely never connected them. Milo = a trendy hipster name. Also = a lucky cat.
As the mother of a Milo I wholeheartedly endorse the name. And I swear, no one has ever mistaken my son for a dog! Once the baby is born and is a real person, worries like that go away because you give people an association with the name stronger than an old movie. That said, some other names that were on our list that I think are fun yet not made up names were:
Arlo
Hugo
Otis (who was the dog in the movie, and Milo was the cat for the record!) :)
Ezra
Amos
Simon
Dexter
Declan (we would have used the nn “Deco”)
I also love the name Theo and think it works as a stand alone name just fine.
I really like Nicolas nn Nico for you!
A lot of your favorites were on our short list as well (in addition to a number of the ones Swistle mentioned) and we ended up with a Levi. We live his name and get tons of compliments on it!