Dear Swistle,
My husband (Brandon) and I (Julianne) are excited to be expecting our second child this March, and we’d love your and your readers’ input! I have always had a deep love of names – I have notebooks filled with name lists and imaginary families I created just so I could put names together! I thought I had a great list for naming my future children, and then I married an amazing man who was just a little more opinionated on baby names than I expected. :)
Our toddler son is Beckett (nn Beck) James, and our last name is extremely Finnish with lots of double letters and is pronounced “Rah-tick-ah.” I would describe our naming style as fairly traditional/classic with a unique twist. It would take a lot to get us to select a top-20 name, although it’s not out of the question. We love how with our son’s name, people often comment that they haven’t heard it before, but it’s not too strange that they struggle to remember or pronounce it. I felt like I had a similar experience growing up with the name Julianne.
My biggest challenge is that while I like the names on our current list, I don’t feel like I love any of them.
This baby is a girl, and had she been a boy (or if she turns out to be one!) our top name was Charleston (nn Charlie) Luke. Other boy names we loved included Jonas, Rhys, and Lincoln. We are hoping to welcome more children into our family in the future.
Here are some of our frontrunners:
Josie – my husband’s favorite
Bryn/Brynn
Leighton
Cambridge (nn Cambrie) – this is what our son would have been named if he had been a girl
Hannah (although is the “ah” ending too rhymy with our last name?)
Landry
Shiloh
Violet
Charlotte (my #1 but it’s getting way too popular)
Kensington
Evelyn
Vivienne
IsabelNames vetoed by one spouse or the other: Adalyn, Jacqueline, Annaliese, Lucia (love – but again with the rhyming last name), Jordyn, Mackenzie
Current middle name options (all honor names, but we are open to other options): Lauren, Kate, Esther, Elisabeth
We look forward to hearing your suggestions and promise to update!
Brandon and Julianne
If popularity is a concern, here are the names I would take out of the running:
Isabel: Isabel itself is safely out of the Top 20, but Isabella has been Top 20 for 15 years in a row so far.
Hannah: Gradually falling and is now out of the Top 20, but it was in the Top 20 from 1994 through 2008.
Charlotte: Entered the Top 20 in 2012 and the Top 10 two years after that; it’s still there, and rising (#7 in 2016).
Evelyn: In the Top 20 since 2013 and has risen each year since then (#12 in 2016).
You have a mix of traditional/classic (Charlotte, Hannah) and modern surname names (Leighton, Landry). Do you find yourselves agreeing which way to lean? If you like sibling names to coordinate, and you’re planning to have more children, this is a good time to see if you can narrow down your style. Which seems more like Your Family: breaking up a fight between Cambridge and Kensington, or between Josie and Violet?
Vivienne is a great alternative to Evelyn: similar sounds, but less common. The spelling Vivienne was #245 in 2016; the spelling Vivian was #95.
I like Josie, but as a nickname for Josephine, especially if sons will have longer-form names with nicknames.
Would “Beck and Brynn” make you feel stuck finding another snappy B-name for possible future siblings?
Let’s see if we can find more options to consider.
Along the lines of Charlotte/Hannah/Josie/Evelyn/Isabel:
Alice
Bridget
Cecily
Celeste
Constance
Eloise
Emeline
Florence
Genevieve
Imogen
Iris
Ivy
Margaret (not sure about this with the surname)
Meredith
Miriam (not sure about this with the surname)
Molly
Polly
Sadie
Simone
Sylvie
Winifred
Along the lines of Cambridge/Landry/Kensington/Leighton:
Brinley
Callister (Callie)
Campbell (Cammie, Bella)
Darby
Delancey
Delaney
Emberley
Everly
Flannery
Holland (Holly)
Keaton (not sure about this with the surname)
Lane
Linley
Locklyn
Miller (Millie)
Padgett
Sloane
Waverly
Winslow (Winnie)
Yeardley
Name update:
Dear Swistle,
Thank you for your help! Your advice and your readers’ comments helped direct and steer our baby name choice for our dear daughter who arrived a few days early! In the end we decided that we wanted to go with more of a traditional, clearly feminine feel. Your readers gave us the courage to rethink Lucia as a first name and also brought Esther to the front of our minds (as a first name rather than middle). In the end we were down to Lucia, Isabel, or Esther. When she arrived, there was no doubt in our minds, and we added Lucia (Loo-see-a) Kate to the family. Her brother has already lovingly dubbed her “Lucy.”
With thanks,
Julianne, Brandon, Beckett, and Lucia
I don’t even know how to help you decide because you do have the mix of classic versus unique. Because I sway the unique naming way, I’m just going to throw out some additional suggestions. I do have a friend whose son is named Beckett and his sister is Eden. Another friend’s son is named Bennett and his sister is Charlotte! I’m going to follow your post so maybe I can add more names to my running list!
Other suggestions:
Ainsley
Adley
Brevyn
Celise
Carys
Malone
Bronwyn
Amery
Adria
Adler
Afton
Oh! About a month ago I was in a toy store when I heard a mom call out to her daughter, FABLE! I thought it was very unique. Too unique for me to use but definitely gave me warm feelings when I heard it.
Since you mentioned Cambridge, I thought I’d mention that I know a 5 year old named Cambria.
I agree that you seem to have two distinct naming styles going on. For me, Beckett/Beck leans more in the Landry/Leighton direction. However, lots of people have different name styles for boys and girls, so I don’t think your daughter’s name has to match.
I do think you should consider future children at this point. Some of your names lean more unisex, which could cause confusion if you pick a more traditional feminine name for a girl later. For example, in a sibling group of Beckett, Landry, and Violet, I would assume boy for Beckett and Landry.
If you decide you want to stay with the same more modern/surnamey style for girls, but also want something that will more strongly signal girl, I’d look at stats for each of your names. Landry is used about evenly for boys and girls. Kensington is uncommon enough that I doubt most people would have an expectation one way or another. Some names in that style that seem to have settled more on the girl side include Delaney, McKenzie & Madison.
Your naming style seems relatively the same for boys and girls. I wonder if you would like Rhys for a girl? It would be nice with most of your honor names.
I also wonder whether Esther (from your middle name list) might be nice.
Finally my favorite: Wren (pretty surname-y/ nature-y name)
I think Brynn & Beckett work fine, but I’m one of those people who would definitely not want to continue a “pattern” in the future. Lucia sounds fabulous with your surname. The surname is long enough that the endings of the 2 names don’t sound rhymey. So if you love the name, I wouldn’t cross if off for that reason. I agree that Esther (Essie) would work wonderfully for a first rather than just a middle, and Josie is nice too.
A few other random suggestions that popped up, based on your preferences and your last name:
Corinne
Kirsten
Tova
Hollis
Quinn
Elise
I did something crazy. I just asked my husband “What are some other names that have a British surnamey feel or those male British names that became unisex…you know, like Beckett, Landry, Meredith, Evelyn, Hilary?”
You guys, he said Aubry (or Aubrey). That’s actually brilliant.
I love love love Vivienne. I need to be up front that my personal style is more on the “classic” end and less on the unique end.
On the unique end, I do love Swistle’s suggestion of Winslow/Winnie. I wonder if you would like Rowan or Maren?
I also feel like Swistle’s suggestion of Simone bridges the two styles pretty seemlessly. So that way a future sister could be Vivienne, or she could be Cambridge, and I don’t think anyone would find either option out of place.
I feel that I have a very similar naming style to you, I love classic names but I also like them to be unique. (For the most part.) Our oldest daughter’s name is Shirley. I know there are a lot of people who don’t like it but there are enough people that do and it just fits her! And it’s definitely unique! I don’t know another little girl named Shirley nowadays. We chose it as an honor name but I really do love it for her now.
Our second daughter’s name is Charlotte. I went with my heart with this one even though it’s so popular now! It’s been a favorite of mine since college. Even though it’s so similar sounding to Shirley, I just had to do it. And there are some people who think the two names sound cute together.
We are naming our third daughter (due in less than two weeks) Magnolia. I love the uniqueness of this name and it sounds pretty to me and a bit classic.
Anyway, just some ideas. Some other considerations this time were Josephina (nn Jo) and Gemma. My husband and I were both stuck on one of the two names and couldn’t agree. So we finally compromised. From Swistle’s list I like Alice, Eloise, Emeline and Sylvie. I also like the name Elsie. And my cousin and his wife are naming their daughter Everly Rose which I love!
For some reason, I don’t see either Hannah or Lucia (in any of its pronunciations) as rhyme-y with your last name as I’m pronouncing it in my head. Which mean I vote for Lucia, since you love it, and it’s not overly popular.
Swistle’s suggestion of Flannery gets you a lovely literary link, what with Sam Beckett and Flannery O’Connor. Also, though it is one of the surname-style names, the sounds are soft enough to contrast nicely with your own surname and to MAYBE give you leeway to name a sister Violet / Vivienne etc.
Would something like Linden split the difference between the styles? Surname-ish, but again soft sounds, and a lovely nature meaning. Linden Kate ‘Rahtickah’. Beck and Linnie.
The suggestion above of Shirley also splits the difference nicely, while getting you still more literary links!
I did like the literary link of Shirley. Anne Shirley, and the book “Shirley” was written by Charlotte Bronte which links my two daughter’s names. :)
I like the suggestions of Ainsley, Darby, Hollis and Eden for you. I also wanted to suggest: Margot, Daphne, Phoebe and Tess.
From your list, I like Vivienne and Esther if it could go in the first name spot.
Just came across a baby girl named Arden. Strikes me as similar to Beckett in that it in uncommon but not unfamiliar.
Arden Kate
From your list, Brynn and Leighton are my favorites. I can totally see a sibset of Beck, Brynn and Leighton. So cute!
I immediately thought of Aubrey for you as well as Everly. My wildcard suggestion: Brielle
I also agree with the person above who suggested looking at the stats of the surnamey names on your list and possibly rule out some of the more unisex/male leaning names on your list.
I honestly love nearly every name on your list so no matter what you choose your daughter will have a lovely name. Good luck!
I love the suggestion of Cambria!
Other suggestions- Brooklyn, Odette, Audra, Finley, Greta, Capri, Hattie, Hadley, Sage, Ada or Everly. Sorry if I’m repeating.
Congrats and Goodluck.
Hennessey (Henna, Henny, Nessa)
Beck & Nessa
Best wishes!
Anniston?
Congrats! I wonder if you might want to use surnames for sons and concentrate on the other names you like for girls? I second Swistle’s suggestions of Ivy and Simone. Evie would work as a nickname for her suggestion of Genevieve which she suggested, as well for Evelyn – or you could use Evie on its own. Would you consider Josephine or Jocelyn nn Josie? Several nicknames for Margaret seem similar in style to Josie: Maisie, Meg, and Maggie – even Daisy.
More ideas: Rosalie, Camille, Millie, Elsie and Elise
This may be way out in left field, but I wonder if there are Finnish names that might be interesting and cool. I knew a Tiina when I worked at Nokia, which is a little too mainstream except for the double vowel, I would think. But maybe there’s another cool Finnish variation on a familiar name. Seems like there may be a gem in there.
google gives Twain as a Finnish name – Sounds really cool with Beckett.
Beck & T.
Beckett and Twain
If you like Josie, but aren’t sold on Josephine, how about Jocelyn?
Beckett & Jocelyn
Beck & Josie
Oops … I see someone already beat me to this one … great suggestion ;)
How about something like Arden? I think it’s a classic but still has a bit of a surnamey feel that you seem drawn too!
May I suggest Monica? She can be a sister to both Landry/Delaney AND Charlotte/Violet, feminine but not too sweet, sounds GREAT with the last name, unique but everyone knows how to spell. It’s the epitome of classic with a twist.
Monica and Beckett
Monica Rahtickah