SWISTLE! can you PLEASE HELP US.
i am writing this from my hospital bed so please forgive any typos or bad grammar or whatever!
My name is Rose Campbell and my husband is Nathaniel. When I was pregnant the first time and we had a list of baby names on our fridge, my mom said something really disparaging about one of them (ok, she called one of our top choices a stripper name). It was WILDLY out of character for my mom–she was a wee bit high on post surgery drugs–and she was mortified, but it really turned us off sharing our name choices. So, we haven’t ever since. Fast forward eight plus years and I just gave birth to our fourth and last kid, a boy. The first family member I happened to reach was my older sister. I told her the name Nathaniel and I had chosen and there was just this dead silence on the other end. Finally I got her to tell me what was wrong.
Swistle, the name we chose is the name of the guy who assaulted her in high school. (she is 6 years older than me and although I knew she had been assaulted for some reason I never knew the guy’s name).
obviously this puts the name right into completely unusable territory. we see my sister a fair amount but even if we didnt–can you imagine?
So we need to find another boy name, like right now. the 2nd middle/ last name for the kids is Isaacs Campbell (Isaacs is Nathaniel’s family surname–he took mine because Bucking The System and also he is not close to his family and mine is awesome).
Our other kids–
Elizabeth Clare, mostly called Liza. Clare after my favorite aunt. Elizabeth after husbands grandma Bethany. Liza because it’s a kickass nickname.
Wallace John, mostly called Wally. John is my dad, Wallace was a friend who died young. We don’t think he will be called Wally forever, but can see it lasting throughout childhood, and maybe he will be the sort of teenager and/or adult who can pull off the nickname Wally.
Amelia Josephine, mostly called Mia. Amelia is my moms middle name, Josephine is MIL’s best friend/husbands surrogate mom.For this boyo we want something that “goes” with the other names–so a longer more traditional name with a shorter kicky nickname. Trouble is we settled on a name quite awhile ago and before that we went thru a bunch of names and rejected them for various reasons. here are the ones we can remember going thru and rejecting:
Daniel
James
Thomas
Christopher
Samuel
Nathan
Edward, Andrew, Matthew, William, Leonard/Leopold, August/Augustus, other names that repeat an initial
Finnegan
Tobias
TheodoreSo…can you help us? PLEASE? I hate the idea of taking this little dude home with no name!
Thank you so much,
Rose and the gang
This letter caught my attention not only because you put a cute picture of a fox at the top but also because this has got to be the best reason I’ve ever seen on this site for a hospital-stay name change. For your sister’s sake, let’s get to work.
I think the quickest and easiest option would be to go with whatever your second-choice name was, if you had a second choice. When we were naming Henry, we had seven finalist names, then we narrowed it down to three, then to two. If I’d suddenly found our first choice was unavailable, I would have been pretty happy with our second choice, considering how much back-and-forthing we did. However, this would not have worked with all our babies: with two of them, there was The Name Choice and then a big gap and then a bunch of names we were Fine with but never seriously considered. It sounds like that’s more similar to your situation.
Another possibility is to switch the first and middle. But I know this option wouldn’t have worked for me, since I have a different technique for choosing the first name than for the middle.
I think it works fine to have a different naming style for the boys and the girls in a family, but I do like the boy names to go together and the girl names to go together (e.g., I wouldn’t want to mix Elizabeth/Liza with Miracle/Mira). So as I looked down your list to see which names I liked best with the sibling group, I looked particularly for the ones I thought went well with Wallace/Wally. My favorites (even though I think every single one is from the repeats-an-initial list) are Edward/Teddy/Ned, Leonard/Leo/Lenny, Leopold/Leo/Leap/Lee, Augustus/Gus. Of those, I think my own choice would be Edward/Teddy/Ned. Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Edward; Liza, Wally, Mia, and Teddy.
Because all the names of your other children are after important people in your lives, I feel disinclined to offer suggestions: it seems as if it would work better for your naming style to go back into the important-people list and find more options there. (Also, I am a little worried I will suggest THE VERY NAME that had to be changed!) But if you WERE looking for more ideas, I think Albert would work nicely. I’ve warmed to this name recently, for a variety of reasons (Colin Firth playing Prince Albert; a very positive association with a nice, cute, good-with-kids guy named Albert; Bertie Wooster making me feel affectionate toward -bert/Bert- names in general; getting close to the right amount of time passing since the name was last in style; etc.), and I think it’s a good brother name for a Wallace, and I like both Al and Bertie as nicknames. Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Albert; Liza, Wally, Mia, and Bertie/Al.
Frederick is another name in the Albert category for me: until recently I might not have considered it, but now I feel like pushing it on people as a not-yet-rediscovered treasure. Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Frederick; Liza, Wally, Mia, and Freddie.
And I love Louis (I am thinking of the pronunciation that could also be spelled Lewis, as opposed to the one that could also be spelled Louie). I love to say it. Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Louis; Liza, Wally, Mia, and Louie.
Name update!
Swistle! Thank you and your commenters SO MUCH for the invaluable help! We weren’t sure what we were going to go with until about an hour ago…we ALMOST went with Jonathan/Jonty but although we both liked the nickname we couldn’t get behind Jonathan.
But even though we had rejected Theodore in the first round, Swistle your delight in the nn Teddy and the commenters delight as well–sorry that makes no sense, I’m a little tired–made us really love it again. We don’t love quite as much as the original name we picked but we definitely love it ENOUGH. So our boy is Theodore George Isaacs Campbell. Not super thrilled with the rhyming-ness of his middle name but oh well, it’s kinda cute.
thank you again SO SO MUCH!Rose, Nathaniel, Liza, Wally, Mia and baby Teddy!
I don’t think the name they picked was Nathaniel. “I told her the name Nathaniel and I had chosen and there was just this dead silence on the other end.” As in the name she and her husband chose.
What about ….
Benjamin
Bennett
Blake
Desmond
Dexter
Elliott
Everett
Fletcher
Graham
Jude
Malcolm
Patrick
Peter
Phineas
Russell
Sebastian
Simon
Sullivan
Vincent
Wesley
I had to read this twice, but I don’t think Nathaniel is the name of the baby. The letter writer says:
“I told her the name Nathaniel and I had chosen and there was just this dead silence on the other end.”
If you read that as “I told her the name MY HUSBAND and I had chosen,” then its clear that she’s just left out the name.
I especially like Samuel from your list. I think this would also be a great time to impulsively name a baby after someone important in your life, so that the emotional connection to the new name is strong.
OHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that makes a LOT more sense! Thanks, I’ll go edit a bit!
Congratulations on your little man!!!
Here are some of the names on my list that I think would work with your last name.
Oliver ( we have an Oliver and we love this name)
Charles. Could use Charlie as a shortened name
Jack
Jude
Henry
Raphael
Oswald with Oz or Ozzy as nn.
Abraham or Abram. Love being able to use Abe or Bram as shortened
Alfred – Alfie or Alf or Freddie or Fred
Franklin – Frankie – so spunky and cute
Simon
I do also like Theodore off your list.
LOVE LOUIS. Sigh. (pronounced as Louie).
Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Louis. SOLD. I would choose this one!!
Good luck and please keep us posted!!
I also want to vote in favor of Nathan or even Nathaniel. It sounds like you call your husband Nathaniel exclusively, but the nickname Nat or Nate would work really well with your other kids. And, instant emotional connection. Even though it was a little confusing, your impulse to use your husband’s full name in your letter seems like an indication of how important he is to you.
Oh! And if you like lots of nickname options, your son’s initials would spell Nic. So you’d have Nat, Nate, AND Nic to choose from.
Since all of your kids have family name connections, and this change was sort of spurred by your sister, is there a way to incorporate her name into your baby’s? Maybe as middle of it doesn’t work for first.
Also, give yourself all the time you need, even if it means you go home without him having a name. You are doing a kind and caring thing by changing the name, give yourself space to adjust.
What about Jonathan as a nod to your husband’s name? They will both share the ‘nathan’ part. Call him Jon, Jonny, Jonah, or Nate.
Nice suggestion of Jonathan! Love how his Daddy’s name is in it!
Another nn for Jonathan is Jonty. This might fit well with Wally.
Another nn is Than.
Riffing off Jon, Jack
Since your other children’s names — first and middle — are honor names or in some way connected to an important person in your lives, I would suggest that you look in that direction for at least one of this baby boys’ names — first or middle name. Or you could branch out to include the name –first or last — of a famous person you admire.
Another idea would be to coordinate this boy’s name with his older brother Wallace/Wally. Because Wallace is a Scottish name you might want to look for other names with a Scottish connection, like:
Andrew/Drew
Angus/Gus
George/Geordie
Gordon/Gordie
James/Jamie
Lachlan/Lachie
Malcolm/Mack
Maxwell/Max
Robert/Robbie
Or BNW includes Wallace in the style termed “Ladies and Gentlemen” which includes:
Edmund/Teddy
Edward/Teddy
Frederick/Freddy
Gilbert/Gil or Gib
Julius/Jules
Leopold/Leo
Theodore/Teddy
My favorite would be one of the “Teddy” names with a family- or friend-connected middle name:
Wallace and Edmund/Edward or Theodore to get to “Wally and Teddy”
Liza, Wally, Mia, Teddy
Best wishes and please let us know what you named your baby!
Swistle! Re-read the letter! The name she suggested to her sister wasn’t Nathaniel. I read it like that first too but then went back and re-read it carefully and saw I was wrong.
How about using Isaac as the first name instead of as the middle? It seems like a lovely tribute to your husbands family name and goes well with your names and you obviously like it enough to use. Isaac Campbell. Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia, and Isaac. Liza, Wally, Mia, and Ike.
Isaac Nathaniel Campbell?? Isaac Theodore. Isaac Christopher. I think most of your maybe names are good middle choices.
Also I want to thank you for being so compassionate to your sister and respectful of her instead of prioritizing the name you had chosen.
Theodore with the nickname Theo sounds great with Liza, Ally, Mia, and Theo. I also really like the suggestion of Jonathan with the nickname Jon or Jonny.
I actually like the idea of using Isaac as the first name in this case. He could go by Ike. Liza, Wally, Mia and Ike. It seems okay to break a prexisiting pattern for the last kid-especially since this is a sort of name “promotion”. It’s also a nice way to honour your husbands side/your husband since all of your other kids have honour names.
What about Nathaniel itself?! Technically the baby wouldn’t be a junior since he will have your surname– and it would be a nice time-honored sort of round-up to your crew of kids. I love the nickname Nat too, ESPECIALLY with your surname. Nat C@mpbell!!! What a ring! So memorable.
Other possible names:
Charles
Alexander
Timothy
Barnaby
Julian
Graham
Arthur (Artie!!!)
Crispin
Jasper
I think my favorite from the bunch I listed is Arthur/Artie.
Please, please update us!!! Good luck.
Hi! this is Rose, the letter writer! THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING OUR QUESTION!
i forgot to say in my letter–this guy’s middle name will be George, who was the last person we really wanted to honor, essentially leaving his first name up to us. which is weird! Nathaniel (that’s my husband, yes, not the name we had chosen for the baby) and i were just talking about how it would be VERY USEFUL right now if we had a family member we really needed to honor with this kid. but we just don’t.
LOVE the name Louis…but I don’t know if we can get past the repeating initials. Actually I think we probably couldn’t. We are intrigued by the Teddy suggestions. We really DONT want to repeat initials but for Edward or Albert since the girls mostly go by Liza and Mia we might be able to get past it. Does Teddy sound too goofy with Wally though? Albert is really cute…
I like the idea of naming his just Isaac but I think it would be too weird for him not to have the same last name pattern as his sibs :(
A nurse also just suggested Sebastian. We are going to keep thinking! thank you all SO MUCH!
I read this letter and was immediately drawn to Albert. It seems perfect with Wallace for some reason. Same vintage, maybe. A classic that is just old enough to be coming back around again in terms of freshness. Plus the nickname options for Albert are plentiful and adorable — Al, Bert, Bertie, Alby.
Sebastian is nice too, although it seems a bit more trendy to me.
Edward or Theodore to get to the nickname Teddy would be fun. Wally and Teddy have the same type of cute-on-a-baby-with-room-to-grow flavor. I’m not sure a grown man would want to be called Teddy, but Ted (or Ed or Theo) are perfect options for later in life.
It sounds like you’re on the right track to getting a new name you love just as much as the unusable one, and good for you for doing this for your sister. Please make sure to update us, and congrats on the new baby!
Rose, I continue to think that Teddy, with Edward as his given name, would coordinate well with your other kids’ names. I don’t think I’d be that concerned if two of the children have names beginning with the same initial because, as you’ve said, Elizabeth is mostly called Liza and this little guy would be “Teddy”.
>>Does Teddy sound too goofy with Wally though?
I’m not sure what you’re referring to. The “Leave it to Beaver” characters Wally and “Beaver” that someone mentioned? I doubt that a lot of people age 40 or so and under know much about this 1950s TV show or if they do, that they, and others of any age, recall “The Beaver’s” given name. Or do you mean that you think Wally and Teddy might sound goofy together in themselves? If so, I’m not getting that. I think Wally and Teddy pair well together, just as Liza and Mia do.
For me, Wallace “Wally” and Edward “Teddy” sound very well together and have an early 20th century vibe when paired as brother names. I looked up Wallace in SSA records and saw that the name peaked in 1923 at #69; Edward was #8 that year.
And both Wallace and Edward have a Scottish connection, like your surname Campbell. In my book of “Scottish Forenames”, I found the name Edward included as a name widely used in Scotland and that Edward Brus was the brother of King Robert I (and himself a king of Ireland).
Elizabeth, Wallace, Amelia and Edward would have your two “E’ names as the “bookends” of your sibset, while the names your children are usually known by would not have any repeating first letter with
Liza, Wally, Mia and Teddy.
All in all, it seems that Edward George Isaacs Campbell “Teddy” would go very well with your other children’s names!
Please let us know what name you choose for your baby boy.
PS The other names you mentioned — Albert (Albie or Bertie?) and Sebastian (Sebby/Sebbie?) — are fine names too. But I think Wally and Teddy are probably more mainstream than pairing Wally with one of those nicknames would be.
PPS: I didn’t include Theodore in my comments above as it is on your list of names that you liked at one point but have since rejected and also because you didn’t mention it in your update. But sometimes a name we’ve liked and then passed over for some reason comes back on the list of possibilities for some other reason, and with that in mind I decided I should include some more information/thoughts about Theodore, “just in case”. I personally think Theodore “Teddy” would coordinate very well with your other children’s names — and especially with Wallace “Wally’s” name — about as well as Edward, and of course better if you strongly prefer not to have two given names beginning with the same letter. When Wallace was at its peak in the USA in 1923, the name Theodore ranked 62. While not a Scottish name or connected to any famous person there, Theodore has been used in Scotland since the 17th century. And of course Theodore “Teddy” has a very positive association with the best known bearer of that name, President “Teddy” Roosevelt.
Hmm the name Lawrence comes to mind. If you were to choose Theodore with and older brother Wallace, I would think of the Cleaver Family (Leave it to Beaver).
From your second string, I like Daniel (Dan or Danny), Samuel (Sam or Sammy), William (probably Liam because Will’s a bit close to Wally), and Leonard (Leo).
From your longer list, I really like Theodore, with either Theo or Teddy. My 2nd choice is probably Tobias/Toby.
Swistle mentioned her Henry & I think Henry would also be a good name with this set. Perhaps with the nickname Hal or Hank? Henry also makes me think of Harry, but with a brother named Wallace, I lean towards something like Harris or Harold called Harry.
I think with the right nickname, some of your names-that-repeat an initial are still doable. Amelia, Elizabeth, Wallace & Andrew-but called Mia, Liza, Wally & Drew. For everyday use & initialing things, there wouldn’t be any confusion.
I’ll also suggest Frederick, Sullivan, Mitchell, Benedict & Charles. Also saying a prayer hoping that none of my suggestions are for the name that can’t be used.
Wow, what a letter!
Okay, to work we go:
Conrad
Cormac/Mack
Patrick/Paddy/Padraig
Oscar
Judah/Jude
Cyrus/Cy
Vincent/Vinnie
Franklin/Frankie/Francis
Frederick/Freddie
Isaac/Ike
Tobin/Toby
Best of luck! Please let us know what you decide!
Jonathan is an excellent suggestion, giving your second son a name which ties into his father’s name:
JoNATHAN and NATHANiel.
I would like to suggest Jonty as the shortened form. Jonty would be a “kicky” (and less usual in the USA) nickname for Jonathan. Jonty is very popular in the UK, where the name is so-well liked that Jonty as a given name ranks at 872 in England/Wales; Jonathan, at 167. Jonty is also a name in its own right in Scotland, where it originated. That makes Jonathan/Jonty a good paring with the Scots name Wallace.
Wallace/Wally and Jonathan/Jonty
I’m really liking Jonathan/Jonty for you! It would go well with both his father’s and older brother’s names.
PS I didn’t mean to leave your daughters out. :-) I find your daughters’ names brilliant together, the formal Elizabeth and Amelia, called Liza and Mia. Because both of those nicknames end in the same letter, it might be fun to have the boys’ nicknames end the same too. Wally and Teddy; Wally and Jonty: these are my faves, with Jonathan/Jonty perhaps having a slight edge due to the link with your husband’s name.
Liza, Wally, Mia, Jonty
Liza, Wally, Mia, Teddy
I like Theodore from your list and Frederick from Swistle’s suggestions. Frederick was on our list, I love the nickname Fritz.
Other ideas– Alastair, Maxwell, Richard (has a lot of nicknames), Harrison, Bernard, Benedict, Jeremiah, Oliver.
Congratulations and good luck!
Love love love Christopher nn Kit!! Liza, Wally, Mia and Kit.
Also love your middle name choice as a first.
Or… Ignatius, nickname Iggy?
How about Calvin/Cal? That seems like it goes with Wallace nicely.
Swistle mentioned bertie wooster, who was Bertram, a very nice name.
Before even reading Swistle’s response, the first name I thought of was Frederick. Super cute with Freddie or Fritz as a nickname. I also have been liking Francis with Frankie as a nn. Good luck!
YES!! Fritz is one of my all-time favourite nn!! I can’t believe I forgot to mention it!! Wally and Fritz. Um… kind of perfect!
I am so sorry for both you and your sister. I can only imagine how emotionally stressful this is. Please try to take a few moments to take a deep breath, enjoy your new baby and not think about his name. It will all be okay.
I’m sure you already know by now that you have great taste in baby names from the compliments you receive on your other children’s names. Even with a second or third choice name for this baby, he won’t have much to complain about. Every name on your list of backups is versatile, an easy enough spelling and fitting for whatever personality he has. I think your challenge is that you now have too many options. So let’s start eliminating.
I would take out Thomas and Tobias because I don’t love the ending being somewhat matching with Wallace (I do like both names, and Timothy or Tobin could be good alternatives. So much for eliminating…). I would also take out Nathan as a first name, but I like it as a middle name to honor dad. If you are open to moving your mn option to the first position. and want to do this, then you are done! I’d also take out Finnegan because it seems a lot more “of the moment” than your other kids’ names. Let’s also take out all of the repeating initial names. They are nice names, but you have so many other great options that don’t repeat. I would also take out Samuel because I think it’s hard to say with Campbell. So that leaves us with…
Daniel, James, Christopher and Theodore
I’ll also add the following great options others suggested:
Louis, Henry, Johnathan and Fredrick… if you don’t like these or love others, feel free to add/delete – it’s your list.
So that gives you 8 awesome names to choose from. You can try calling the baby the different names to see what suits him. You can make a bracket, and pair the names choosing a winner of each pair until you get to a final winner. You can focus on the nicknames since that seems important for you and choose the one with the best nn. Most importantly, find something that makes you smile.
I will echo the others in favoring a family or meaningful name. It doesn’t have to be someone you know either – a favorite author, actor, city… There may even be a female relative you can honor with the male version of the name (e.g. if Elizabeth were a boy you could have done Elliott). Maybe one of these random suggestions that sound good will spark a positive memory for you.
One more thought: If you are completely at a loss you might want to ask a close friend or family member whose style you like for their thoughts. Make it very clear that you might not choose their name ideas and don’t want hurt feelings (you can even tell the story about your mom – or perhaps she is the perfect person because she already learned from her mistake the first time). Chances are, they already have their own short list of names they thought you might use. Sometimes the people around you know you better than you know yourself and might have the perfect idea or namesake who you haven’t thought of yet.
Best of luck! Please let us know what you decide.
Great comment and I would like to repeat the first paragraph about ten times!!!
So, what a hard position to be in! It is so sweet that you are changing the name instead of telling your sister to deal with it like I’m sure some people would do. Without knowing any family names from your family tree, I would suggest Harrison, nn Harry!! Wally and Harry are soooo, but I would understand if you thought they were too similar. (I don’t, for what it’s worth.) Also, I second Nathaniel, nn Nate. This is your last baby, and since his family names aren’t represented as much, it would be really sweet. Here are some more suggestions: Barron, nn Barry, David, nn Davey, Joshua, nn Josh, Samuel, nn Sam, if you can reconsider this one. Best of luck. Please let us know what you choose!!!
I second the idea of Gordon. It’s a great complimentary name to his brother’s. Then both seem woven-in-plaid Scottish. Donnie works as a nickname, as well as Gordo and Gordie.
Please let us know what you and your husband decide, and best wishes to your family!
Congratulations on your sweet baby boy! Great suggestions here. I can say that I’ve seen Edward, Oliver, and Theodore/Teddy in the wild (aka my kids’ daycare), and they are surprisingly (to me) delightful names on these little toddler boys!
oooo Teddy and Wally is so cute together, and I love the pattern of your boys names and your girls names!
Hurrah, you’ve found your name, and I’m so glad you decided on Teddy with Theodore as the given name. That combination seems to meet all of your criteria and is such a dear name. I think the name Theodore will grow on you more and more, I’m thinking all of your children will like having a little Teddy for their baby brother.
Teddy has been a favorite name of mine for a very long time: my father’s name and my first son’s name (from Edward). More recently a family member and her husband had Theodore/Teddy on their very short list (2 names) if their baby was a boy. However, the baby was a girl.
Congratulations to you and your husband and to each of your very well-named children! And welcome to the world, baby Teddy!
PS I didn’t catch the rhyming of Theodore George until you pointed it out. I don’t think most others will either, and anyway it sounds fine. In fact when I googled “baby Theodore George” I came across several other little guys, as well as men, with those first and middle names and also men called Theodore whose surname is George. Theodore George is a very substantial name, with both names coming from the Greek. Well done!
Love it! Thanks for the update!