Dear Swistle,
My husband and I are expecting our second little boy in July! We are having a considerably harder time picking a name for him than we did for our first son. Our last name sounds like Mayer. Our first son is named Gabriel Logan (Logan is after my father) and we LOVE it. It fits him perfectly. For our second boy we want to use the middle name McDaniel, which is my maiden name. The perfect first name has eluded us so far. We definitely would like to stay away from any top 10 names. We also HATE “trendy” names like Paxton, Jax, etc.
Here are some names we like but probably will not use :
Hayes – very much so overused in our circle of friends.
Christian – love this one but we have a cousin who has a son named this. Would that be weird?
Hudson – this is dad’s middle name and feels special because of that. But neither of us think it feels right for this baby.
Marshall – I love this one but Dad isn’t wild about it.
Locke – dad doesn’t like this one
Reid – I do not like the meaning of this name for our baby.
Cormac – we like this one but it doesn’t seem to fit our style of names ( we worry it would stick out later on down the line if we have more kids)
Beau – a close friend is using this one.
Alexander – we like this but I want to save Alexandra in hopes of using it for a future baby girl.If this little fella had been a girl some of the names we would have considered would have been Reese, Alexandra, and Mia. I feel like we would have definitely picked Reese.
Should we try to make one of these names work even though none feel right? Or start from square one? Thank you so much for your help!!
It would be helpful to know how many children you plan to have. If you’re almost certain you’d have used Reese for a girl, but you don’t want to use the name Alexander because you might want to save Alexandra for a girl, knowing if you plan three children or six would give us some idea of the likelihood of needing to save the name Alexandra. But perhaps another issue is that Alexander is Top 10 for boys.
People vary on their willingness to repeat family names. I don’t think it would be weird to have your child and your cousin’s child share a name, but I don’t know how your family is about such things or how your cousin would be likely to feel about it. You could broach the topic with the cousin and see what the reaction is. Maybe there’ll be an immediate “Oh, cool!,” or maybe there’ll be a silence and a little wrinkle between the eyebrows, and either way you’ll know more.
I notice your girl-name style is divided: the long feminine classic Alexandra, the shorter and more modern but equally feminine Mia, and the unisex Reese. Since you like the name Reid but not the meaning of it, I wonder if you would want to consider using Reese (or Rhys, or Reece) for a boy instead.
Cormac and Beau make me think of Corbin. Corbin Mayer; Corbin McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Corbin.
Hayes makes me think of Blaise. Blaise Mayer; Blaise McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Blaise.
I wonder if you’d like the name Isaac. I like it with Gabriel. Isaac Mayer; Isaac McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Isaac.
I also really like Everett with Gabriel. Everett Mayer; Everett McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Everett. That’s probably my top choice.
Or Elliot. Elliot Mayer; Elliot McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Elliot.
Or August. August Mayer; August McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and August.
Or I think Henry would be sweet. Henry Mayer; Henry McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Henry.
Or Calvin. Calvin Mayer; Calvin McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Calvin.
Would your husband like Marcus better than Marshall? Marcus Mayer; Marcus McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Marcus.
Would he like Clark better than Locke? It also sounds somewhat like Cormac from your list. Clark Mayer; Clark McDaniel Mayer; Gabriel and Clark.
My son is Marshall so obviously it is my favourite on your list but when we were naming our Marshall we also considered Mitchell, which your husband might prefer.
I have a friend with a little Gabriel, her other sons are Elijah ( Eli), Julian and Leonardo (Leo) three names I think are great with Gabriel and you might like. good luck
The Gabe I know has a younger brother named Nathan or Nathanial nn Nate.
I’m a little confused by your comment about Reid. The meaning I’m finding online is pretty bland and neutral (red, or someone who lives in a clearing)…are you looking for something more meaningful, or does the name have a personal meaning for you that you dislike? (Or maybe you really really hate the color red?)
Its my favorite off of your list otherwise. Or I might suggest Hugh or Hugo as variants on Hudson. Gabriel & Hugo seem like a great combination to me.
I’m there, too. I don’t think the average person (who doesnt hang out on name blogs, ahem) actually thinks about the meanings of names. I mean, I’m fairly nerdy about these things, and I didnt know Gwendolyn meant ” of the white ring” until I was considering it for my baby. Would the Reed spelling work better?
I have a Julian, but we considered Gabriel and Alexander for a possible sibling down the line. Other favorites of mine include the suggested Isaac and Nathaniel.
I wonder why you think Cormac doesn’t fit the name style? I could picture a sibling set including Cormac, Reese, and Gabriel, or really Cormac with most of your name choices. I’m also confused by the meaning of Reid, but hey, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. You seem to like some monosyllabic names as well, so maybe Jude or Rhett would work?
Good luck and please let us know :)
I happened upon the name Meade today. I think it’s nice. It obviously sounds like Reed but it’s a bit more unique.
I’m going traditional for you. How about Caleb, Elijah, Isaiah, Matthew (or if you want a less common variant, Matthias) or Zachary. I also agree if you think you’d need to have two girls after the two boys to use Alexandra, it might not be worth saving Alexander.
Although, Reese Alexandra could be pretty for a future girl…
I really like Alexander. As well as Clark, Brooks, Grant, Rowan, Wells, Elliott, Calvin, Henry.
My favorite from your list is Hudson. It has a nice family connection and I think Hudson McDaniel Mayer is very handsome, especially with big bro Gabriel Logan!
From Swistle’s suggestions, I love Everett, Corbin and Henry (Hank as a nickname for Henry is so adorable) for you.
I see Nathaniel being suggested by pp, but if you kept McDaniel as the middle, that gets very rhyme-time to me, so I would avoid it.
OH! And to add some suggestions: Oliver, Beckett, Thomas, Sebastian and Lucas
If you love Christian, go for it! My mom’s cousin gave her daughter the same name as me. It hasn’t been weird at all. They live in a different state, but my mom is still pretty close to her cousin, and I’ve met my second-cousin a few times.
How about Ross? It is a nice cross between Reid and Reese, I think.
I didn’t read all the comments, So I apologize if this has already been suggested but what about instead of using McDaniel in the middle use Daniel as the first name in honor of our maiden name? I think Daniel is great with Gabriel. And perhaps you could use something on your “not quite right” list for the middle. Like Reid. I love Daniel Reid. Good luck !
*Your not our. Haha
My first suggestion would be Timothy. Classic, underused, not-overly popular, compatible with Gabriel, great nickname. Or Thomas, as someone above suggested.
Second idea would be Forrest. Gabriel & Forrest.
Because Hayes, Reid, Locke & Beau are on your “like” list, you must really be drawn to one syllable names. (You don’t say if you call Gabriel “Gabe”, or if you’d plan on calling Christian “Chris”). There’s been discussion on this blog over the years about pairing one syllable first names with one syllable last names. Sometimes it works quite well or maybe we simply get used to hearing them–Kate Moss, Sean Penn both spring to mind–but sometimes a short first/short last can sound too abrupt and we don’t notice this because we’re too busy always adding in the middle name when we rehearse names for the baby on the way. Just a thought.
I’m going to go out on a limb a little and suggest McDaniel itself in the first name spot. I have a male friend with an unusual Mc– first name that follows the McDaniel pattern (something like McPeter, imagine) and it REALLY works. Plus, it is so meaningful.
What about Asher?
Blaise is one of my favorite boy names but my husband has never agreed to it!
Soren McDaniel Mayer
Corey McDaniel Mayer
From your list I like Cormac the best.
Creed McDaniel Mayer!!
Parker
Spencer
I also think McDaniel is a cool name. He could be Mac or Dan, depending on your style. You could also call him Mac/Dan but leave McDaniel in the middle spot. Dan and Gabe, Gabe and Mac.
With the middle name McDaniel, I think I would shy away from surnames as first names. Otherwise, you risk having the name sound like a law firm (Hayes, McDaniel & Mayer).
I wonder if you have considered McDaniel (or perhaps just Daniel) as a first name? Daniel & Gabriel fit really well together. Even McDaniel & Gabriel work together, especially if you would use Daniel/Dan/Danny as a nickname.
From your list, I really like Cormac and I think it’s fine with Gabriel. Judging from your lists of boy & girl names, I’d say your taste is a pretty good mix of traditional & more modern, so I don’t think Cormac would really stand out in a bad way. I do like the suggestion of Corbin Perhaps you’d also like Declan? Or Lochlan? Lochlan would allow you to use Locke/Loch as a nickname if you wanted.
If not Marshall, perhaps Mitchell?
I also like the suggestion of Rhys/Reece/Reese for a boy.
Or perhaps Alistair instead of Alexander? It also has the Celtic feel of Cormac.
I immediately thought about Malcolm, Samuel, Silas, Gregory, Saul, and Isaiah. Then I thought about Ishmael, which I think is my winner, with Malcolm a close second
Ishmael and Gabriel (Ishmael McDaniels Mayer)
Malcolm and Gabriel
My friends have a teenage Marshall and his brothers are Spencer and Simon, if either of those appeal to you.
If you do use Christian with Gabriel, I’d sense a strong religious vibe… which may or may not matter to you.
If McDaniel is set in stone as the middle name for this baby, I probably wouldn’t use Cormac as the first name. It’s too much Mac!
Love the suggestion of Asher. Gabe and Ash!
Christian is a great name too. Gabe and Kit? Also like Julian with Gabriel. What about Jules? Gabriel and Jules.
I would also like to suggest Tobias and Joash (Joe-ash), a rarely used biblical name. Gabriel and Joseph would be nice too. Gabe and Joss?
Other Angels perhaps – Raphael (Rafe or Raff), Micah or Cassiel (Love this one!).
Gabriel and Cassiel. Gabe and Cal. Awesome!
If you like the sound of Reid, but it’s not quite right, what about the similar sounding Reeve?
Gabriel and Reeve
Good luck!
Or Jasper, Caleb, Ignatius or Dashiell?
Gabriel and Jasper – Gabe and Jay
Gabriel and Caleb – Gabe and Cal
Gabriel and Ignatius – Gabe and Iggy
Gabriel and Dashiell – Gabe and Dash
Miles or Silas?
Just wanted to chIme in on the cousins sharing a name thing. My name is Ashley. I have a fairly big family (18 cousins on my paternal side) and when I was a teenager one of my cousins named her baby girl Ashley. About five years later ANOTHER cousin named her baby Ashley. So now there are 3 Ashleys in the family, two in the same generation.
Personally, I thought it was a tiny bit strange, but just because I am such a name enthusiast and I wondered why my cousins weren’t interested in using a less popular name (I felt like Ashley had long since peaked by the time they used it). But it certainly has never bothered me to share a name with cousins. We all live in different states and only see each other at the occasional wedding or reunion, where the going joke is that we are Ashley 1, Ashley 2, and Ashley 3.
If you love Christian, I would use it, especially if you have a big family and don’t get together on a regular basis. (I would advise against it only if Christian was an incredibly unique name, but Christian is relatively common.)
Marshall ~ Malcolm
Reese ~ Rhys ~ Rowan
Cormac ~ Lachlan
Reid ~ Roy
Use Rhys!!! If you feel like this baby would have been Reese then why not use it now. Or otherwise…
Instead of Christian, what about Calvin
Instead of Locke, what about Lachlan
Instead of Alexander, what about Xavier
Or, since you have Gabriel (end with L) Logan (begins with L) what about a name that ends with M such as
Callum McDaniel
Abram McDaniel
Graham McDaniel
Malcolm McDaniel
Tristram McDaniel
Good luck
I agree with a previous poster who pointed out that Christian and Gabriel give off a heavily religious vibe to me. If that’s fine with you, then go for it. However, that would be enough for me to consider other names and you have plenty of great ones to choose from.
I’d also stay away from a surname first name in agreement with the “law firm” comment above, so I would take Hayes, Locke, and Hudson off the list.
My absolute favorite name on your list is Cormac. I don’t think it would stick out in a negative way at all. It’s a fun name and Cormac McDaniel Mayer sounds amazing.
Love the suggestion of Daniel. I also really like Levi for you. Gabriel and Levi sound great together.