F. writes:
I can’t believe that even though i am now 9 days overdue with our second son we still haven’t quite hit upon the right name for him and so i am writing to you for some help. Our first son is called Theodore Magnus, both names we absolutely love and luckily we knew very early on that we would call him by those names. Infact we would actually love to name our second son Magnus but feel that we can’t now given that we have already used it as Theodore’s middle name.
We are looking for boys name that work in both Engand and Norway as i am British and my husband is Norwegian ( and currently live in Norway) Many names don’t translate due to the different pronunciation of certain letters ( i.e. I becomes E in Norwegian and J becomes Y ) and the 3 different letters in the Norwegian language Å,Ø and Æ, sadly make names like Torbjørn unusable because in the Uk no one would know how to pronounce it, even though i love it.
So far we have Tobias, Jonathan ( despite the different pronunciation in Norwegian being Yonathan), Ruben, Albert, Sebastian and Jacob on our list but we just can’t seem to decide on any one of them. My son seems to think the new baby will be called Jonathan and i think Ruben goes well as a second name….but we would love any suggestions that you have to help us make a decision.
My husband has just suggested Sebastian Aurelius but i feel that it is a bit much especially as we have a double barreled surname! What do you think?
Name update! F. writes:
We finally decided to call our baby Sebastian Tobias…phew, thank you for all your help.
I think you have only excellent choices on your list! That doesn’t help much does it? My favorites are Sebastian and Tobias. Theodore and Sebastian is a great siblingset. I wouldn’t worry about a mn being ‘too much’ because a mn isn’t used daily, far from that. I love Aurelius in the mn slot, and if you do too, go for it.
Maybe this is one of those situations where you have your top two picks and wait to meet the little guy to make a final decision?
(I don’t want to burden you with more suggestions because your own list is great!)
Good luck!
I don’t know about Norwegian, but many of the issues are also had with German, and we are a German/American household.
Albert, Magnus, and Sebastian were kicking around on our lists, too, so I provide some other names from our list. If Ruben isn’t quite right: Rupert, Rudolf? In the vein of Aurelius: August, Augustus? If Albert isn’t quite right: Arthur, Osbert, Oswald, Oswin, Edwin, Edmund? Wilfrid? George? Frederick?
Sebastian is not too much with a double-barreled last name, any more than Theodore is, and I agree that the middle name length isn’t terribly important since it won’t get used often except as an initial.
Oh, and Linus!
Our daughter would have been Soren had she been a girl–that seems like it might fit the bill. I also agree that Sebastian is a great name and while I think the combo of Sebastian Aurelius Double Barrel is a bit much, just Sebastian Double Barrel is fine. Is there a shorter nickname you could use?
I’m not going to add any names to your list at this late date, just mix up the ones you have. I like Jonathan Ruben a lot. Here are some more possibilities:
Jonathan Jacob
Sebastian Ruben
Tobias Jacob
Good luck!
I love Sebastian with Theodore. I also like the previous poster’s suggestion of Frederick. Good luck!
What about Bjorn? (Which is like John, right?) My cousin’s baby is Bjorn to honor their heritage but even in Western America, people still get the pronunciation.
I LOVE the name Tobias!
If you think that Sebastian Aurelius is too much, what about Steffen Aurelius?
If you like Magnus, would you like Maximus? Or Maxim or Maximillian?
Maximus Ruben and Theodore Magnus.
And if you like Sebastian, what about Steffen? Steffen might make a good middle name as well, although I like it with Jacob as a second name. (I see someone above already suggested it as well!)
Steffen Tobias and Theodore Magnus.
Steffen Jacob and Theodore Magnus.
Congratulations! I hope you find the perfect name.
I have to assume as you listed Tobias first this is your personal preference(?) and Sebastian is your husband’s preference. I think both are fantastic names and both work very nicely with Theodore.
Do you shorten Theodore to a nickname? Theo/Teddy? If so, I would think about how the nicknames for Tobias and Sebastian fit with this. EG: Teddy and Sebby may be too close.
How about Torben, a variation used in some Scandinavian countries of Torbjørn without the pronounciation issues?
Albert is a fantastic name… especially with Theodore!
Albert Ruben ‘Double-Barreled Last Name’.
May I also suggest Karl? Karl Ruben sounds as royal as Theodore or Albert.
Or what about:
Frederick
Gus
Ivan
All the very best to your growing family! So excited to hear what you pick!!
I think Aurelius is a great middle name match with Magnus. Love the suggestion of Augustus even better.
If you go with Tobias I guess you don’t mind both boys having the same first initial?
My vote would be for Jacob Augustus.
Good luck.
Sebastian is so lovely, I hope you go with that! Would Vincent work for you? Theodore Magnus and Sebastian Vincent?
I agree that Sebastian is lovely! I don’t know much Norvegian, my 1 Norvegian friend is called Lars. I also love Theodore Magnus, and if you go with Sebastian, I think a shorter (1 or 2 syllable name) would go best. Sebastian Jacob I think works. Maybe a more powerful-sounding and distinctly Nordic middle name would better compliment the sibset though?
Niels/Olaf/Ragnar/Erik?
I like Sebastian Torbjørn… because who will actually SAY his middle name but you & your families? They might read it, but not call him by all 3 (4?!) names.
I think if you love Magnus there’s no problem with using it! I know brothers who are Samuel Scott (first-born) and then Scott Alan, because they loved the name Scott for the second-born.
If not Magnus, I like Tobias and Sebastian, and I like the suggestion of Torben.
Congrats on the new baby boy on the way!
i like Sebastian best from your list.
how about Frederick? i think it goes great with Theodore!
good luck.
My vote goes to Jonathan Ruben — love it! It seems just the right length, similar in length to Theodore Magnus, and, as you said, works well in both England and Norway. Plus your older son already thinks that will be his brother’s name and apparently is very positive about the name. We have a Jonathan in our family — a darling, bright, confident 3-year-old; I think Jonathan is one of the very best names!
I love Sebastian as a brother for Theodore! I also like Tobias and Jonathan.
Sebastian Lucas? Sebastian August suggested above is awesome.
Good luck!
This comment is off topic, but I thought I’d mention to you all that I saw a funeral announcement today for a 96 year old man named Everett who had three sisters – Ruby, Pearl and Opal. :-) I know there’s been some discussion recently on the name Ruby, so I thought I’d pass on this sib-set.
What about Henry? Octavian?
Thank you so much everyone for your lovely and enthusiastic comments and suggestions. Sebastian was born on 24.01.11 and somehow he just seemed like a Sebastian when we were cuddling him in the first few hours after the birth. We still haven’t decided on a middle name, but i am thinking now that perhaps that is because he doesn’t need one…..we shall see. Thank you again for all your help.
We finally decided to call our baby Sebastian Tobias…phew, thank you for all your help X