Hi, Swistle! I am newly pregnant with our fourth and final (FOR REAL THIS TIME) baby. You helped us previously with our daughter’s initials and our second son’s name so we trust your judgement!
Each of our kids is named for something we love. Our son Atticus for To Kill A Mockingbird, our daughter Elm for the summer camp in the woods where we met and got married, and our son Orion for the stars my mother always pointed out to me as a child. So that puts quite a bit of pressure on this baby’s name to also have special meaning.
I like the idea of picking something from a new “category” with literature, nature, and space already covered. We love the arts and sciences, I’ve thought of trying to pick something from music, history (especially strong American females given the current political climate), poetry, science, geography, or movies. My husband’s family is Scottish and he has a very Scottish middle name so something with Gaelic or Scottish ties could be another fun option. Really we’re wide open for suggestions! The only hard and fast rules are that it is easily pronounced on sight and fairly unique. We haven’t decided whether or not to find out the sex beforehand so we will pick both a boy and a girl name.
Thank you so much for your help, I can’t wait to hear what you and your readers come up with!
Amy W
Edited to add:
I was dead set on waiting to find out the sex but in the ultrasound room with all 3 kids begging to know, I caved. And it’s a girl! We’re thrilled. This means I can tell you that the boy name we picked was from your comments- it would have been Ulysses James. I liked Ulysses when several people mentioned it here and then fell in love with it after reading the Tennyson poem. I would have loved to use it, so someone else definitely should!
We had also picked a girl name from your comments, Iris, but after seeing its popularity compared to our other kids’ names when the 2016 list came out we decided against it. We both liked the name but neither of us LOVED it enough to use it despite its climb. So we have now picked a girl’s name much like our older daughter’s- one syllable, not overly feminine, nature-related.
So now the problem is finding a middle name to go with it. Elm’s middle name is Elizabeth, which is my middle name too and was my great grandmother’s name. I like three things about this combination: 1. The sound of the multiple syllables after a short first name, 2. A more obviously girl name after a unisex first name, and 3. A more common name after an obscure first name (which I feel like gives her an option when she’s older if she decides she’d rather go by her middle.)
We don’t have any other easy family names to use so are just looking for something that flows nicely and would love any suggestions!
Thank you as always for helping name our babies. We love going through the comments and read all of them together!
Xox
Amy
Name update:
Hi Swistle! I wrote to you early in my pregnancy about naming our fourth and last baby. We went through every comment and changed our minds on both first and middle several times (Zelda! Iris! Something unpronounceably Scottish!) but finally settled on Lark Genevieve. She’s named for a poem we love, The Lark Ascending, and it fits her perfectly. Thank you and your readers so much, our posts to you will always be a special and fun thing to look back on from our baby naming years!
Amy W.
Are you for sure not wanting to fall back to Ivy Beck for a girl? Or it’s on the list but maybe something new?
Yes we won’t go back to Ivy, definitely something new!
You have all vowel beginnings too, so I’d have fun playing with U or I names. Girls names with a Gaelic/Scottish feel could be Isla, Una or Iona. Boys could be Ian or Iain, Innes or Ultan.
Yes! I like the vowel idea.
Yes – the vowel beginning idea I love.
Iris would cover the plant, the anatomy, and the Greek mythology if that’s of any interest?
How fun!
some ideas from music, history, poetry, or science… (I’m not your person for movies)
Cadence
Carol/Caroll
Song
Susan or Anthony (from Susan B. Anthony)
Ida (from Ida B. Wells)
Cady or Stanton (from Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
Truth (from Sojourner Truth)
Harriet (from Harriet Tubman)
Bishop (from Elizabeth Bishop)
Frost (from Robert Frost)
Phillis (from Phillis Wheatley–also a historical woman)
Rich (from Adrienne Rich)
Tycho (from Tycho Brahe)
Ada (from Ada Lovelace)
Rosalind or Franklin (from Rosalind Franklin)
and I’ll add another category: mythology
Athena
Minerva
Diana
Juno
Iris
Gaia
Phoebe
Clio (bonus: also has to do with history, since she is the muse of history)
Damon
Helios
All else being equal, and not that I’ve suggested many, but I especially like I- U- and Y- names for you because your other kids are all unique vowels.
I love Mythology! Athena is our dog.
I have always wondered how parents would follow up on Atticus. I know two, but both are one and onlys. I absolutely love the set you have. So meaningful and uncommon, yet still familiar and easy to say and pronounce. I can see the challenge here!! So arts and science, history, poetry, Gaelic/Scottish… hmmm..
The name nerd in me wants to see a one-syllable choice for a girl for sure and maybe even for a boy. I like the pattern of 3-syllable – 1-syllable 3-syllable. Brothers Atticus and Orion, sisters Elm and Penn or York – or brother Mack, Jules, Boone? And why not continue the vowel theme? I or U or Y? Ike, India, Iona, Ira, Irie, Ignatius, Imogen, Ivor, Ulysses, Unity, Una, Yves, Yeats… okay maybe too hard to get all in one.
From past posts – I notice that Beck got replaced by Cash as the middle you’d decided on. Could you use it in the first spot? I think it would work nicely for both a girl or boy. But maybe it doesn’t play nicely with the surname or maybe honouring someone up front feels unbalanced? I assume if it were a real contender, you would have mentioned it. But it does feel natural in your set. Ivy is tempting for the IV (fourth) connection, but sisters named Ivy and Elm might be too much? Or just enough? Oh – I see now you won’t use it. Maybe Beck Ivy?
My favourites:
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Penn
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Mack
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Ignatius
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Irie
Can’t wait to see where you land.
I do still like Beck for a boy but it’s my mother-in-law’s maiden name and it feels a little strange to honor her when we’ve taken such a different direction with the other names.
HELLO I AM HERE FOR THE AMERICAN HISTORY OPTION
~Cady (from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, for a girl) (IMAGINE THE MEAN GIRLS MOMENTS) (I know, but it actually IS easily pronounceable on sight, I think) or
~Stanton (for either a boy or girl, I think)
~Lincoln (for either, and I actually LOVE IT for a GIRL)
~Ida (for both Ida Tarbell and Ida B. Wells) (IDA DO IDA)
I was going to try to think some more but I’m obsessed with Ida. It’s PERFECT. A vowel that you haven’t used before, length symmetry with Elm, unusual but easily pronounceable, associated with multiple badass American women. DO IT DO IT DO IT.
IDA 😍
You don’t think it’s too different from the rest of their name styles?
I think your name style is pretty eclectic to start with and also that the starting-with-a-vowel, girls-have-three-letters, not-super-popular, and conceptual literature/nature/stars/history themes would be plenty of connection.
P.S. I now LOVE Ida for you and think if it’s a girl you should just GO FOR IDA.
Nope. Not at all.
What about:
– Simone (for Nina Simone, which covers music and civil rights)
– I like the suggestion of Lincoln above, because of the Illinois connection too. A friend just named her daughter Elsie Lincoln.
– Newton (or Isaac, but that might be too popular, for science)
– Hugh (I just love this name & it was the name of a Scottish geologist/paleontologist Hugh Falconer, plus a bunch of actors)
– Cole (as in Cole Porter / music / performing arts tie)
– Frances (girl/boy for Frances Willard, suffragist — she’s a local hero & kind of a badass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Willard_(suffragist)
– Frida (art / woman’s history)
– Jasper (Jasper Johns, art, American iconography)
IDA IDA IDA IDA is perfect.
Strong American females made me think of Sojourner Truth. I think it’s a lovely name, too. Or Ada (for Ada Lovelace, who basically invented early computing), though Ada-variant names are fairly common these days.
Are you a music-minded family? Rosetta Tharpe was a blues and guitar trailblazer and Rosetta is ripe for revival (with so many great nickname possibilities, if you are into that! Rosie, Etta, Zettie…)
Will try to think of some others!
Ooh I LOVE Zettie.
Zettie makes me think of Zadie! It feels like a stylistic bridge from Atticus to Elm & Orion, and Zadie Smith is for sure a worthy namesake.
I know a Joule whose parents named her that because they love science. Also Sagan.
Jeannette Rankin was a pioneering woman in politics, and Margaret Hamilton was an amazing programmer. Rankin & Hamilton would be fantastic middle names for either sex.
These are great!
A friend whose husband is from Scotland have a girl named Alba (Scottish Gaelic for Scotland.) Definitely easy to spell and pronounce, which is know isn’t the case for so many Gaelic names in English.
Oh I like this a lot! And yes, so many gorgeous Gaelic names that are impossible to pronounce on sight. I adore Eilidh but no for this reason.
Kelvin would cover the science and Scottish.
Ulysses could cover literature (The Odyssey), history (president), and new starting vowel.
Elm and Ivy would be lovely sisters! Same with Iris.
Laurel might work for you, too. It’s historical (Roman crowns), botanical, and meaningful (evergreen and hearty).
I LOVE Ida for you!!! It is unusual and historically significant/”strong woman,” and I think it sounds terrific with the sibset. A unique vowel, three letters like Elm, from roughly the same time period as Atticus, and with a long “i” like Orion. I also like Iona and Ada, but Ida gets my top vote.
I LOVE the recommendation of Ida. Also Alba and Tyco. And I came here to suggest Atlas and Calliope as well.
It might dilute the connections to the historical figures, but I wonder if you might like Idony as a variation on Ida.
Also, I realize this would be a pretty huge statement at this point…but Rodham actually would be a pretty on-trend name for a little boy.
Love it!
I’ll suggest my own name: Cameo. I don’t know a single other one, but I have loved my name and have gotten lovely comments about it over the years. I consider it to be a “jewel” name and it’s been special to inherit some antique cameos from elderly relatives. Your three kids’ names are wonderful!
Great suggestion. Cather (as in Willa Cather, poss nn of Cate or Catie) also occurred to me. I also like Thisbe.
A few thoughts:
Zora
Arden
Esme
Vida/Vada
Audra
Wilder
Gunther
Finch
Thisbe
I was also going to mention Ida before I read the comments, so I agree that Ida should be a front-runner.
Good luck!
Boy possibilities:
Zephyr
Shoal (a sandbank–nature name I’ve never seen suggested anywhere)
Jasper (one of the only gem names used for boys)
Birch
Huckleberry
Also I agree with everyone else, Ida would be wonderful!
Holland
Delta
Gaia
Clio
Lux
Auden
Lyra
Saskia
Adair
Lark
Maren
Wren
Alma
Tallulah
Juno
Wren
Caspian
Beckett
Thatcher
August
Merritt
Lorcan
Evander
Shepherd
Huxley
Calder
Sorren/Soren
Dashiell
Emeric
What about Etta? Like Etta James?
Or Vera? There are a few popular Vera’s – a well-known British singer from WWII, also a dancer alongside Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Apparently there is also an American astrometric with this name (just looked it up!).
I also like the suggestion of Ida. Or Ada.
What about Gael? Definitely is Celtic name.
As for boy names, I need to think on it!!
Dang autocorrect… astronomer ^^
Idris for a boy
Zora
Zola
Ariel (like Sylvia Plath’s poetry)
Auden
Woolf (I especially like the idea of using a name associated with a strong female for a boy)
Ivanhoe (Ivo for short)
Scotia or Scott?
Pankhurst?
I also thought of Ida immediately! Another point in its favor, since you mention wanting a literary connection: Tennyson wrote a rather amazing long poem called “The Princess,” in which Princess Ida is a feminist badass who founds a women’s university. (True, she does eventually give up the university and get married to a persistent suitor, but still.) And there’s a musical connection too: Gilbert & Sullivan based their operetta “Princess Ida” on Tennyson’s poem.
Oh, AND there’s a sacred Mount Ida in Greek mythology.
You have to do Ida for a girl! :)
Since Casablanca is one of my favorite movies, I would suggest the lead female characters name (Isla) or the actress’ name (Ingrid). I also like Rosa (for Rosa Parks). As for geography, I know a little girl named Dutch and her name just fits her so well.
Going off the I/U thing…
Indira
Io
Ilia (I have a housemate by this name, pr. Eye-LEE-ah)
INDIGO (LOVE THIS. A color but also a tie to Elm’s nature category)
Ida
Iva
Ignacio (called Nash?)
IRVING (love this)
Uma
Una
Undine
My vote is Indigo for a girl, Irving for a boy.
INDIGO! Yes, I love this.
Now to consider boys names. Fleming might be a great choice as Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist. Blaise Pascal is another scientist I would consider …. I like both his names with your sibset. Linus Pauling is another man I would consider.
IDA IDA IDA!!!
Or ADA
But IDA!!!
My vote is Indigo for a girl and Ulysses for a boy.
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Indigo
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Ulysses
Very strongly seconded – I was about to write exactly this common! But I also love Ida, like everyone else here :)
I really like Ida, too, but I’d say it’s much more popular than the other names you’ve chosen & a big style shift. Maybe Iona? Or Ianthe? I really like Minerva or Gaia for you.
Or Beck. Honestly, I love it for a boy or a girl. And while yes it’s an honor name & your other children don’t have one, that’s just what’s special about it, just like your other children have something really special about their names.
Good luck!
Ida is more popular than Elm, but much less than Atticus and Orion. It hasn’t been in the top 1000 US social security baby names for 30 years, and it was very low on the list for a long time before that. To me it doesn’t seem like a style outlier.
This may make you hate Ida or might make you like it more… Ida is also popular in the roller derby world – which is full of extraordinary people.
Examples…
Ida Capitate
Ida Stroya
Sunny Ida Up
And a few years ago, Ida B. ChoAzz ran down a purse thief in real life.
I love Indigo for a girl!
For girls:
Igraine
Isolde
Inez/Ynez
Yasmine
For boys:
Ugo
Ultan
Yves
Ichabod
My first thought was to combine Scottish & strong women so you could have a twofer name. So I looked to Google for a list of Scottish women/feminists/suffragists. Most of them are pretty typical English-sounding names, but perhaps there is something there that would appeal to you? Just skimming the list, Flora & Edith both stood out to me. I like that Flora & Elm are both botanical and Elm & Edith just seem fun to say! http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/great-scottish-women-throughout-history-1-3895973
Another option for a twofer might be to look at lists of Scottish artists/writers and see if there are any you admire enough (and have names that seem to fit with the sibling names) to want to use. This could potentially work for boy or girl names.
Oh I like Ida too.
Off of Indigo, I know an Ingo.
Also Ulysses. I always want someone to use that name.
I like Ida and Indigo quite a lot
I’m also drawn to Z names for you – why limit yourself to only a couple letters of the alphabet? I think Z names are distinctive too:
Zadie
Zettie
Zebulon
Zora
Zelda
Zephyr
I once knew someone who named their three children names connected to Earth, Wind and Fire. You have something kinda similar going on there:
At a stretch WIND could be Atticus, i.e. to kill a mocking BIRD
EARTH would be Elm
AIR or SKY would be Orion
So you could look for names linking with either FIRE or WATER.
Fire names could be Ember, Blaze or Phoenix. Burns would be a good middle name and also references Scotland’s national poet.
Water names could be anything beginning with Mar- e.g. Marina. Lachlan maybe. Or the name of a river, lake, etc that has meaning for you? Or a Scottish lake? Lots to choose from.
Good luck
Iris seems so perfect, mythology, is a part of history. The goddess of the rainbow.
Someone else mentioned Iver. It means Archer, warrior!
The name Ivor is the Scottish form of Ivar (scandinavian)
It is derived from the Old Norse elements yŕ (yew, bow) and herr (warrior, army): hence, “archer, bow warrior.”
If they don’t stick with the vowel theme Verity is a beautiful girls name (it means truth).
I’m watching the WWI thing on PBS, so what about Alice Paul LastName, after the suffragette?
Ivor is a great suggestion! Love this name for a boy!
What about Una for a girl? It always makes me thinks of the poem “Una” by Ralph Waldo Emerson or Lady Una from “The Faerie Queen”, a poem by English poet Edmund Spenser. So many literary references for this one!
Atticus, Elm. Orion and Una
India or Ugo perhaps?
Good luck!
Sovay. After the English folk song. The lyrics efinitely fit the description of a strong female.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovay
Girl: Antigone (super cool Tig nickname), Vesper,
And Ida too.
Boy: Loyal (virtue names are so rare for boys), Atlas (travel and myth rolled up in one) or Mandela. I recently met a Mandela and it struck me as such a great name.
I don’t know why, but I totally love this question so I keep coming back!
For me, Ida is so great that I don’t really have anything to add about girl names.
But about boy names I wanted to say… not that you NEED a letter theme for a name to work well, but it occurred to me that if you want one your letter theme could just as well be A to Z (since you say this is definitely the last baby for real) as unique vowels. Several others have suggested Z names already. But just to add my thoughts: I love both Ulysses and Zephyr.
I love the idea of another vowel name.
It is probably way too popular but I love Isla and I think it’s Scottish. Isolde or one of its variations? Indira for the only female PM of India. Ursula or Ursa, bear which I think goes with both Elm and Orion. Uma is a Hindu goddess.
I do love Ulysses for a boy! I honestly don’t remember anything about the book but was Ivanhoe Scottish? Maybe Ivan or Ivor or Ivo? Innis?
Ok. For boys, I immediately thought of Irving for you… I think it’s so perfect it’s actually hard to imagine any other name. Someone mentioned Lachlan which I actually really like as well, Celtic flare to it.
I just noticed someone commented on Vesper for a girl. That seems like an amazing idea!! It means evening Star which ties in with Orion. Sorry, haven’t had a chance to look up any other links for you… but love it. Atticus, Elm, Orion, and Vesper.
Good luck.
I also independently thought of Indigo (though was thinking for a boy) and Ulysses!
I can’t stop thinking about this question!
Eve
Venus
Demeter
Ceres
Phoebe
All have nature/astrological/mythological associations
For a boy…
Hermes, Ari, Perses, are all mythological (if you use Ares to get to Ari which is not etymologically correct)
What about an encompassing concept for the last child – something that speaks to your values? I can’t really suggest as I don’t know what they are but for me something like Pax (peace), Charis (charity), Gioia (Joy), Beatrix (blessed), Viator (voyager)… these all have religious connotations for me so YMMV but I’m sure you could easily make a similar list with a different inspiration. (actually re-reading I think these all have represent secular values as well, at least in my culture).
Ooh Hermes is pretty awesome. Likereally awesome.
Atticus, Elm, Orion and Hermes. Ya that’s good!!
Icarus
Ignatius
Isaiah
Ines
Iris (!!)
Una
Ulla
I want to suggest the name of one of my favorite historical heroines- Lucretia!
Lucretia Mott was a Quaker woman who fought for racial equity and women’s rights.
It’s old fashioned and uncommon but has lots of cute nickname possibilities.
My grandma was a Lucretia. She despised her name actually. Always went by Cris.
Atticus, Elm, Orion and…
Girls:
Caledonia- Scotland poetically.
Yarrow
Iris
Meridian
Portia – everyone knows the Shakespeare ref, but Abigail Adams often used this as her pen name when corresponding with John.
Circe
Boys:
Peregrine- read the right up on Appellation Mountain
Chord
Quill
Write up, geeze
I think Iona would be a great fit!
Iona is great! Though my heart still belongs to Ida.
The religious connotations may or may not rule it out for you, but I really like Selah for a girl, especially a last child. As far as I know the word is only used biblically but also has musical connotations – the “selah” is the pause or musical interlude at the end of a psalm or a verse, and is a pause for reflection. Some might have a bit of trouble at first with pronunciation but it rhymes with “Kayla” so easy enough to explain :)
What about the street you and your husband first lived on together, or grew up? Or place you had your first date, met, etc? A favorite book? It seems you have such meaning with the others that a random name seems lacking somewhat.
How about Minerva for a girl? It has multiple “strong woman” associations (the Roman goddess, plus Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter!), and I just really love the name in general.
You may not want to do this because you’ve already used a literary name, but Shakespeare has a lot of great names to choose from:
Helena
Rosalind
Tamora
Luciana
Celia
Marina
Viola
It’s so hard to find meaningful names for people you don’t J know. That said – I love the suggestion of Ida. A friend of mine has a daughter Tesla (would have been Orion) – so that might work. Science-y. Nicknames to Tess and goes along with the sibling names. I love the suggestions if Ida and I was gunning for Iris personally, for my daughter so I love that.
I have another friend who gave her son the middle name Kagan after the SC Justice and I think I’d probably prefer a politically based middle name to a first – for whatever it’s worth. Especially if you live someplace that doesn’t align perfectly with your politics.
Abraham is a pretty great boy name with a political bent that doesn’t sound out of place with your other names (and I prefer it to Lincoln)
Just going on sound and the fact that I would want to keep the vowel theme going, I would do Ursula for a girl or Inigo for a boy.
Ursula is kind of nature themed, being related to bears and would go with Elm. There’s also the author Ursula Le Guin. Inigo would be for the architect Inigo Jones who is one of the most notable English architects. I like Inigo better than Indigo, personally, but I know that might not be true for you!
Can’t wait to hear what you choose!
For some reason when I was thinking about your sib-set, I replaced one of your existing children’s names in my mind with the name Penn, so perhaps you would consider that? Atticus, Elm, Orion and Penn?