Hi Swistle!
I have been following your blog for the last several years and would love your input on what to name our little boy!
He will be the brother to Jillian and we would love something that went along with her name and was similar in that most people know of a Jillian but don’t know many! So, we like the popularity level and prefer names that aren’t very popular. We don’t like names from our own generation (we are both in our early 30s). The baby boy’s last name is pronounced “boo-er” and will have the middle name of John. We are stuck on the first name!
We currently like Deacon, Benson, and Levi but aren’t completely sold on any of them. Any help??
Thank you so much!!!
Cristy
This is a letter I didn’t get to from a previous week. The other day, I was out shopping and I heard someone say the name Russell, and I immediately thought of this question. One of my sons has a Russell in his grade, and it’s the only Russell I know—and yet the name is familiar. Russell Booer; Jillian and Russell. Jill and Russ.
Oh oh oh, I have a long list of uncommon boy names so let me share some!
This name is NOT on my list but what about Dewey? Jillian and Dewey Booer
Cason John Booer
Treyton John Booer
Colin John Booer
Talon John Booer
Slade John Booer
Ridge (would need a different middle name than John) Booer
Garrison John Booer
Pearson John Booer
Bastian John Booer
Conley John Booer
Forrester John Booer
Titus John Booer
Courtlund John Booer
I wanted to add Rockwell! You could use nickname Rocky.
Jillian and Rockwell John Booer
Thank you!!!! This is so very helpful!
So, as someone who really likes Jillian, and has a Julian, I’m just going to throw out some of my favorite names and some that rank in and around the 385 mark where Jillian was last year:
Graham
Emmett
Jeremy
Abram
Spencer
Marshall
Desmond
Donovan
Warren
I also like Deacon out of your choices, I don’t love Benson with Booer, which I realized when I was going to suggest Bennett. But then I don’t tend to like alliteration in names, if you’re one of those people who like it, Bennett? Maybe you would like Everett? although both Bennett and Everett might be more common than what you would like, I think they’re handsome with Jillian.
I am there with Benson too, seems like too many bs! Thank you!
Interesting: you say you don’t like names of your generation but there was a debate on Swistle about if Jillian would be a “mom name,” ie a name from our generation! All in the eye of the beholder!
I like Jillian quite a bit but think the feel of the name Jillian will change with her brothers name (one of the benefits of the name Jillian).
You could go with an underused classic (Davis, Gregory, Reed, Edgar) vs more modern unusual (Case, Carsten, Tate, Deacon, Dexter).
Do you think you will have another? Your boy style seems mixed to me. I prefer the underused classic types with Jillian but everything works with Jillian.
I also think of Jillian as a name of a 30 something old women, and it actually reached top 100 twice in the 80’s. I don’t think of it as a mom name though as it is more of a peer name. Anyways, I like your suggestion of an underused classic.
I agree with you on the under-used classic. Which is just like Jillian. It is just hard to find a good one. I do like Davis, will have to see what my husband thinks. I like the classics and like that you may know of the name but don’t know many….just like Jillian. I never knew any Jillians growing up (and I’m a 30-something year old woman), so it was always an older generation name for me. Hard to say if we will have more kids, but I do want Jillian to still feel like a lovely classic name and don’t love made-up names for my own children (but love them for other people’s kids). Thank you, this is super helpful!
How about:
Gene
Timothy
Arthur
Phillip
Aaron
Gavin
Linus
Corbin
Harvey
Benedict
Martin
I love Martin for you!
I love this list. Especially Timothy. Timothy John is super sweet.
I also think Timothy and Jillian sound really nice together; both are recognizable, but not predefined to a generation or personality. Great suggestion!!
Two names that have been on my radar recently are Stephen and Gregory, but I’m also in my early 30s and I had a few of each in my classes as I recall. But I think their popularity did peak sooner than the early 80s, so maybe you’ll like them? But I really love Swistle’s suggestion of Russell with Jillian.
See, I feel like these are too common, especially amongst the 30-something generation. It is just hard for me to not find a common boy’s name that isn’t “new”.
Ruben
Ivan
Also love suggestions of
Arthur
Emmett
Donovan
Graham
Everett
Elliot
Nathaniel
Tobias
Carson
Hugo
Malcolm
Davis
Nico
Yesterday, I heard the name Garrett. I hadn’t heard that name in a long while and it really struck me as handsome. Garrett John Booer sounds perfect with Jillian.
Your madness mange me think of the following:
Deacon – Conrad, Dennis, Keith, Andrew
Benson – Bradley, Maxwell, Samson, Ross
Levi – Eli, Alistair, Victor, Ranulph,
Typo *names make*
Ha! “Madness mange” gave me pause for a second! :)
I’m super confused here because the only Jillian’s I know are in their early 30’s!
I love Swistle’s recommendation of Russell–it feels like a perfect balance with Jillian. Again, the only one I know is in his early 30’s as well… Actually, now that I think about it the only Levi I know is also in his early 30’s.
So I’m still a bit confused. My guess is that you’re going for “golden means” names–names that were never super popular, but popular enough that they’re recognizable and don’t need any explanation. In this group I’d put Davis, Graham, Warren, Grant, Ross, Curtis, Forest, Jeremy, Alec, Eben. Or, as someone else mentioned, you could go with a lesser used classic such as Peter, Timothy, or Philip–but you may have this category covered with John.
Really, practically anything goes with Jillian. Good luck!
Names are so funny like that! I never knew a Jillian growing up but knew of one when I was in college and it was my friend’s mom’s name. So, it is a bit more classic than the 30-something generation to me. I am tending to lean toward the recognizable but not common names. Thanks for your suggestions!
Dylan, Brendan, Tate?
If you want a name that people know of, but don’t know personally, I would suggest not using Levi. It popularity is growing quickly and I know several little Levis. You may not know any or many now, but I suspect you children will. If knowing a few little Levis doesn’t bother you, it is a lovely name. Similar names include Lee, Leo, Liam, Lennon. There are also other Biblical names (though this group as a whole seems to be on the rise). Elijah, Isaac, Eli, Elias, Caleb, Noah, Abram, Solomon, Cyrus
Deacon seems a bit trendy compared to Jillian. I think Jillian has a more classic feel. Perhaps you’d also like Declan, Darius or Dominic?
I like Benson. Other “Ben” names besides Benjamin include Bennett & Benedict. Or perhaps Bronson, Edison or Weston.
Deacon + Benson made me think of Mason. Or perhaps other surnames like Archer, Fletcher, Thatcher, Sawyer, Carter, Carson, Wilson, etc.
Hmmmm, there are some really good suggestions in there!! Thank you!
I like Deacon best! although it feels a bit newer than Jillian. I don’t love Benson and I think Levi is quite trendy next to Jillian.
Other suggestions:
Harrison
Rafferty
Micah
Cannon
Crosby
Simon
Russell is a nice match. Franklin strikes me as a similar name. Jillian & Franklin.
Or how about Archer, Ezra, Micah, Nathaniel, Sawyer or Shepard?
Callum John
I really like Jeremy with Jillian, if you don’t mind the same initial.
Most of the others I thought of have been mentioned:
Carson
Weston
Hugh
Martin
Drew
Tanner
Troy
Can’t wait to hear what you pick!
I also like the suggestion of Russell. Along those lines, Deacon on your list made me think of Marshall. Jillian and Marshall. Or perhaps Mitchell. Jillian and Mitchell. Jill and Mitch. Or perhaps Randall. Jillian and Randall. Jill and Randy.
I like Levi but it seems somewhat trendy to me- maybe because of the popularity of some of the more unusual Biblical names.
Benson is okay but may get lumped in with the Bennetts. Jillian and Benson are nice though and I like Jill and Ben together.
Other names that work well with Jillian to me include:
Kenneth
Dennis
Jeffrey
Darryl
I like Cullen and Rhys.
How about Marshall? I liked the suggestion of Corbin too.
Also:
Franklin
Tobin
August (which I LOVE with John)
Niles
Gregory
Hugh
Kenneth
Walter
Dean
Jared
Derek! I think Derek would work great for you – it feels stylistically right for me with Jillian, moreso than Deacon – familiar but not super popular or very “new/trendy.” I also wonder if you might like Scott, or Timothy/Tim.
Edmund immediately comes to mind. A bit more unusual than Edward but classic and easily recognized. Jillian and Edmund. Eddie for short.
Other names that also come to mind:
Robert
Thaddeus
James (maybe not with Jillian or middle)
Bennett
Lance
Graham
Owen
Nolan
Clayton
I also thought of Nolan after I posted!
Gregory was the name I didn’t get to use, since the baby turned out to be Gwendolyn. Gregory and Jillian seem very well matched to me. Neither name strike me as generational names:I know a 5 yo, 2 in their late 40’s, and one in her 70’s.
And you know, my Gwen hits the sweet spot with the unique but classic name. My youngest, though, goes by Julie- not Julia, not Juliet or Julianne, just Julie, which definitely puts her in mom name territory. And it has made zero difference to her or us. I love her name, it suits her, who cares?
I LOVE the idea of finding another name with a double letter like Jillian. Russell, Marshall, Phillip, and even Malcolm or Bennett or Everett?
FWIW, I know two Jillians. One is about 60 and one is 8. I love it on both of them and it does seem like a name that should be heard more often!
First to clarify, I don’t think Jillian is a “mom” name. It was just the name of the Swistle post from last year.
second I am fascinated by the breadth of suggestions for a boys name in this post. Usually suggestions are more alike than different, but this time the boys names cover every style. So interesting!
So confusing! :)
I love Russell with Jillian. And I also love the suggestion of Phillip.
What about Elliott? Too popular?
I love Russell, Marshall, and Phillip, but for some reason a 3 syllable like Elliott seems like too much. I always imagine myself introducing the kids and “these are my children, Jillian and Elliott” just seems like too many syllables. “Jillian and Marshall” flows better off my tongue.
Full disclosure: our daughter is named Gillian and our last name is M!tchell.
Or Evan. I have a niece Jillian and a nephew Evan (not siblings), but I like them together a lot!
That’s funny! Until you said not siblings, I wondered if we might be talking about the same people. I know siblings (high school aged) that are Jillian and Evan.
So many great suggestions.
I’m going to say my favourite is
Davis John
I also like
Derek John
Warren John
Garrett John
I also think Jillian is a name from the 80s. I’m 30 and growing up I knew a hand full of Jill’s
I also think Deacon, benson and Levi are trendy and popular.
Deacon makes me think of Declan
So many great suggestions! I don’t really like Russ with Jillian. Jillian feels classy (preppy?) and Russ sounds western. Maybe because I’m from the west and there are a lot of Russell’s in my dad’s generation. Anyway–Jillian can go any way, but while I love western names, I wouldn’t pair one with Jillian. I also don’t love the retro names with Jillian, although they do work. For example, Walter. Walter works gloriously with Hazel but less so with Jillian, in my mind.
What I do like with Jillian is boy names that sound more preppy: Timothy (I’m biased–that’s my hubby’s name and I’ve never met another one and I love the sound of it), Derek, Deacon (my favorites of your original choices), Peter, Evan, or even Graham works beautifully (although not one of my personal favorites, I really like it with Jillian).
As has been mentioned already, the second baby really determines the vibe of the names more than the first baby. I hope you find something you love!!!
Cameron.