Hello,
We just found out that we are having a baby boy in January. I’m having such a hard time with a name. We have a 3 1/2 year old named Andrew John and a 2 year old named Claire Elizabeth so we like traditional names. Our girl name was Grace Marguerite (mm is my paternal grandmothers name). I like that all 3 of those first names share the letters A, R and E. Our dogs name is Reagan and he shares those letters too and they are all 6 letters (Gracie would have been her nn). But at our 20 week ultrasound today we found out we are having a boy. This will bet last pregnancy given my age and how difficult pregnancies are on me. Please help with boy name suggestions! Thank you in advance.Kelly
It strikes me as a fun game to see if we can find a 6-letter traditional boy name that shares letters with Andrew and Claire. (I draw the line at coordinating with the dog, but the names that share letters with Andrew and Claire will also share letters with Reagan.)
Calvin (only shares A with both, but also shares N with Andrew and C, L, and I with Claire)
Daniel (shares A and E with both; also D and N with Andrew, I and L with Claire)
Edmund (shares E with both; also N and D with Andrew)
Edward (shares A, E, and R with both; also D and W with Andrew)
Elliot (shares E with both; also L and I with Claire)
Emmett (shares only E with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
George (shares E and R with both)
Jeremy (shares E and R with both)
Joseph (shares only E with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Joshua (shares only A with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Julian (shares A with both; also N with Andrew, L and I with Claire)
Nathan (shares A with both; also N with Andrew)
Oliver (shares E and R with both; also L and I with Claire)
Philip (shares nothing with Andrew, but I think it’s great in this sibling group)
Samuel (shares A and E with both; also L with Claire)
Thomas (shares only A with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Tobias (shares A with both; also I with Claire)
Wesley (shares E with both, also W with Andrew, L with Claire)
I might have missed a shared letter here and there; it’s surprisingly mind-challenging at this hour of the morning.
But of course I also want to root for the idea of looking for names that don’t meet these fun preferences, if those preferences are starting to make you feel backed into a corner. When we were looking for names for our twins, I really wanted names that matched in SOME way: same number of letters, same initial, same number of syllables, SOMETHING. But after working at that without success, we finally had to choose two names that had nothing in common except that we loved both of them better than all the other choices.
It’s hard to make suggestions without a surname to work with, but names such as William and Charles for that traditional/royal flavor, names such as Matthew and Michael and Jonathan for a classic/familiar feel, and names such as Simon and Ian for a bit of a British feel without as much royalty.
My first thought was George.
Others to consider (that may or may not fit ALL the criteria):
Zachary (there’s a Zachary in our preschool that everyone calls Zackie – too cute)
Charlie/Charles
Oliver
Edward
Bradley
Grayson/Greyson
Richard
David
Benjamin
Graham
Matthew
James
Patrick
What about Darren, Warren, Garret, Jared? Ephraim? All nice names!
Another… Bernard?
Charles shares the a r & e letters with the sibling group (I will include the dog 😊). I really like it with the others if you don’t mind the repeated C initial.
Andrew Claire and Charles
Or Stewart, Andrew Claire and Stewart.
Graeme would be perfect! Both for including A-R-E but also stylistically. Although I’ve heard Graeme / Graham is pronounced slightly differently in the states. We pronounce it Gray-em in Canada.
Or how about…
Andrew, Claire & Gareth
Andrew, Claire & Garrett
Andrew, Claire & Jared
Andrew, Claire & Earl
My first thought was to create a name out of the six letters that Claire and Andrew DON’T have in common, making each child share three letters with each other child. But you get Dnwcli…not exactly classic. You could take three of those letters and get Wil, however…and William is classic. Maybe that’s a connection you would like? You could even use a middle name, like Declan, to use up the remaining letters.
I have friends who have an Andrew and a Claire. Their other boy is Matthew.
I’m not getting the letter thing so much but here are some choices that sound nice to me…
Andrew, Claire and Nolan? Peter? Wyatt? Adam? Brian? Mark? Neil? Thomas? Everett?
I definitely wouldn’t focus on the letter thing. It’s limiting! I would go with something that fits the style of the names more. Andrew and Claire have sort of an 80s/90s vibe to me, while still being very classic. I love both names, btw!
Boys names that sound good to me are:
Connor, Spencer, Kyle, Christian or Christopher, Brent, Paul, Alex, Zachary
Good luck!!
Okay, so I changed my mind. I think Bradley is the perfect name. I saw someone else mentioned it (darn! ;). Uses the letters you want, but fits stylistically. Andrew, Claire, and Bradley. Drew, Claire, and Brad. (If Andrew even goes by a nickname! Haha.) Plus you have an even cuter tie-in: first letters are A, B, and C.
Brayden shares “a” “r” and “e” and seems like a good fit with Andrew and Claire!
I suggest the following names:
Gareth
Joshua
Winston
Wesley
Levi
Mason
Owen
Seth
Thank you so much for the suggestions. Our other boy names before settling on Andrew were Matthew, Michael and Patrick. I love Patrick but our last name starts with a P and I don’t like the PP alliteration. So right now we are down to Matthew and Michael. But I wanted to hear other ideas too. I like Charles and I like Ryan although my nephew is Ryan so we can’t use that. Keep the ideas coming and thank you so much. Oh a friend suggested Brendan too but my husband doesn’t think that’s classic enough. He would prefer a saints name although Kelly isn’t a saint and he married me:)
Thanks again!
Brendan actually is a saint name; he was a monk whose was known as “The Navigator” or “The Voyageur” and he’s one of Ireland’s Twelve Apostles. But I think I understand what your husband means by it not being “classic” enough.
My first thought for you guys was Edward. I also think Michael, Daniel, Samuel, and Franklin would be great. Franklin could be nicknamed Frankie to fit in with the six letter and A-R-E theme!
I understand your husband’s sense of Brendan being perhaps trendy– but I concur with Colleen, Brendan is most definitely a saint! Quite a famous one in Ireland, in fact.
I made a number of suggestions down below, but after reading your comment, I want to especially suggest Francis (Frank), Sebastian, Gabriel, and Stephen as interesting and classic saints’ names. I also think Richard, Robert, Gregory, and Edward are very underused classics right now, are all saints’ names, and go so well with Claire and Andrew.
Coming to say Robert which is 6 letters and matches your R and E
I actually really like Brendan with your sibset…and like I mentioned with my suggestion of Bradley, it gives you the cute ABC initials!
My first thought was Nicholas which would fill the Saint name requirement. I also like Mark or Marcus with your other names.
Alexander or Bertram? They have the A, E, & R.
Or if you just go for a stylistic match, I think Swistle’s suggestions of Ian and William would work. Or how about Lewis?
Yes! I suggested Alex for fitting in well with the style of names, but duh–Alexander also fits the letters she wanted! Great suggestion!
Along with Michael and Matthew (both fit Andrew and Claire to a tee) my suggestions would be David, Christopher, Stephen, Thomas or Gregory.
Edward came to mind immediately!
Not knowing your surname, it’s hard to finesse suggestions. But based off your other kids’ style, here are some names that come to mind (sorry for any repeats!). Starting with the A, R, E connection:
Alfred
Brendan
Graeme
Lawrence
Stewart
and moving on to just a similar style:
Alistair
Timothy
Theodore
Thaddeus
Malcolm
Kenneth
Neil/Niall
William
Adrian
Hugh
Charles
Roger
Thomas
Peter
Paul
Owen
Walter
Richard
Robert
Arthur
Stephen
Christopher
Nicholas
Gabriel
Emanuel
Henry
James
David
Good luck!
Samuel, Nathan, Thomas, Jonathan, Seth, James, Nicholas, Mark
I will also add in that I personally love Oliver and Charles. We have a 2 year old named Oliver and absolutely love it! Charles is also our next name if we have another boy.
Other names I love:
Arlo
Theodore
Simon
Henry
George
Walter
Hugh
Louis (lou-ie)
My girlfriend has a Dominic and an Andrew and she calls them Dom & Drew which is really sweet and cute.
Good luck and keep us posted!
My favorites are in this order:
1 Samuel
2 Matthew
3 Dominic or Brendan
Or how about John? Or James, which has the letter-sharing bonus?
Honestly, the shared letters thing is kind of cute. But it’s also not something anyone other than you will ever notice. I think the important thing is for you to come up with a list of boy names you like & that match the style of Andrew & Claire. If a couple of them happen to have the A, R, & E, great! But I wouldn’t suggest limiting your choices to only those names.
If you really must have a “theme” I’d vote for finding another name with a strong A sound. The shared A is the one I noticed on my own. I didn’t notice the shared R & E until you pointed them out.
A name suggestions: James, Nathaniel/Nathan, Daniel, Samuel, Malcolm, Patrick, Graham, Gabriel
Suggestions based only on style (may or may not contain any of the shared letters) Bennett, Benjamin, Mitchell, William, Elliott, Henry
Really like Michael with your sibset!
Andrew, Claire and Michael. Awesome!
Also like Philip, David or Nicholas.
What about Lucas?
Andrew, Claire and Lucas. Very nice!
Good luck!
I really like both Matthew & Michael with siblings Andrew & Claire, It’s a shame Patrick is no good with your last name as Patrick is a great name!
I also love the suggestion of Alexander!
Sorry if I’m repeating but other ideas, Luke, Marshall, Mitchell, Christopher, Joseph, Vincent, Toby, Benjamin (love Ben), Steven, Maxwell, Franklin (Frankie)
Congratulations and good luck
Really enjoy the suggestions of Michael, Matthew and Graham. They are lovely with your other children’s names! I also love Alexander with the sibset. Andrew, Claire and Alexander….lovely!
I only wanted to add some suggestions I had not seen mentioned.
*shares the A,R,E: Ezra, Jasper
*Saint name: Conrad, Henry and Issac
Two of my kids are Andrew and Clare! We also have Grace high on our list for any future daughters. Our other boys are Paul, Mark, and James. I think Gabriel would work really well too.
Commenting again because it seems no one mentioned Martin– it’s a great saint’s name, absurdly underused these days, and so nice with Andrew and Claire.
Spelling it Marten is an acceptable alternate, too, which would tie in with the a, e, r letters. It’s the Dutch/Swedish/Northern European spelling.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I really appreciate it. I guess now I’m not as concerned with sharing the same letters as with the flow of the names. I really love how Andrew and Claire sound together … Kind of formal and classic and still lovely names. I think my favorite for the sound is Patrick. Andrew, Claire and Patrick but our last name is one syllable starting with a P (sounds like pets) and I don’t love PP for initials. Our family is John James, Kelly Erin, Andrew John and Claire Elizabeth. So that leaves Matthew or Michael but I don’t really love Matt or Mike, especially with a one syllable last name. There’s got to be some other name that I’m not thinking of that will go with Andrew and Claire. I apologize for my obsession with this right now😔
But… do people call your son Andy? I’m guessing not. Likewise, all the little Matthews and Michaels (and Williams and Christophers and Gabriels) I know are called by their full name.
Two of my children go by nicknames, and two do not. When we send out the birth announcements, we specify whether we will use the full name, or which nickname we will use. 99% have been totally respectful of that.
Thanks again so much for all of your feedback. I’m 33 weeks pregnant today and still not close to deciding on a name. I’m over the matching number of letters and the same letters thing, but I’m still mourning not being able to use Grace Marguerite, the perfect girl name to go with Andrew and Claire….and since I’ll be 40 next summer and my husband will be 45, this will definitely be our last baby. I acknowledge that I have an issue with names…..I think I cried for 6 months after Claire was born because I didn’t love her name, even though it’s been a girl name I’ve loved for 20 years. And I understand that the baby will grow in to his name and I will eventually think whatever we pick is perfect for him, but I’m really stressing about it right now.
So, I’d love some feedback on these names that my husband and I have sort of agreed that we both like:
Matthew James – don’t love the name Matt and my mom and sister have said they don’t like Matthew, even if it’s not their choice….husband’s middle name is James so it would be honoring him and two of his uncles, but my husband’s mom had a baby named Jimmy (older than my husband) who passed away at 3 months so don’t want to think of that with the name James every time
Michael Patrick – again I don’t love the name Mike and wondering if I really love Michael since it was such a popular name when we were growing up
James Patrick – again my mom and sister don’t like this name and the baby issue mentioned above
Charles James or Charles Patrick – I really like the name Charlie but not sure if I love that Andrew, Claire and Charles (Charlie) with both having the same first initial
I love the name Luke…..Luke Patrick or Luke Matthew, but my husband vetoed that name saying that it reminds him of Star Wars :(
Any advice would be greatly appreciated:)
Have you talked to your MIL about using James? I feel like it fits well and you may be surprised at the reception. I had a cousin who died when he was 2 and his brother used it on his own son as a way to honour him, everyone loves it. You could call him just James or even JP to distinguish from Jimmy.