Molly writes:
My name is Molly and my husband’s name is Bryan with the last name Bowing, rhymes with mowing. Let me preface this by saying that we were told we would not be able to have children so we started the adoption process and in 2011 we brought home the most beautiful baby girl that we named Truely Mae Bowing. Fast forward three years later and we are expecting a baby boy of our own! We could not be more thrilled/surprised but have already run into issues with a name. I love Truely’s name as it is unique and flows well with her middle name which was the name of both our paternal grandmothers. The only issue is that, since I did not think we would be having any more children, I didn’t plan to have her name work well with a future sibling. Other names that I liked for a girl are:
Georgia
Etta
Aracely
Zirrah-prounounced Zy-RuhAll the boy names that my husband and I like are traditional and I feel that they don’t work well with our daughter’s name. As an added issue, we live on the border between the US/Mexico and the pronunication of the name will be a huge factor for our child once he starts school. For example, we love the names Levi but here it is pronouned Leh-VEE or Sebastian which is pronounced Sebas-TEE-AHN instead of the sh sound I would use. Middle name for our little man will be most likely be Maxwell as it is his mom’s maiden name. Names we have considered:
Levi-see above
Sebastian-see above
Calvin
Roman-prounounced Row-MAHN here which could be a problem
Grady-don’t like the matching “y” endings this createsThat about rounds it out. The crux of the problem is that I don’t want our son to feel any less special because our daughter’s name is Truely and our son’s is ….Ed, or something like that. We would love your feedback and any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
I do see what you mean. I’ve been mulling this in the week since you sent it, and here is the question I’ve been specifically mulling: What makes a name special?
Because your daughter’s name is unusual, you might be feeling like a name needs to be unusual to be special. You’re also encountering the difficulty of pairing a word-name with a sibling name, which is its own challenge.
My own answer to the question about what makes a name special is that there can be a LOT of different answers—often within the same sibling group. One child’s name might be special because it was the name the parents agreed on when they were first dating. Another child’s name might be special because it’s an honor name. Another child’s name might be special because of its meaning. Another child’s name might be special because the parents loved it so much. The spin to use with all the children is that you chose the name you liked best. If each child has a roughly equivalent naming story (rather than a long involved full-of-meaning story for one and a shrugged “We just liked it, I guess” for the other), I don’t think anyone is going to feel more/less special.
Your daughter’s name is special for a selection of reasons. If your son is also given a name that is special for a selection of reasons, they don’t need to be the same reasons. I generally prefer sibling names to coordinate, but there are situations where that’s difficult or impossible, and in those situations I shrug and dismiss that particular preference. The explanation that you didn’t realize you’d be naming more than one child is a charming one. Furthermore, it’s common for parents to have a different style in girl names than in boy names, and for a firstborn’s name to be a different style than the sibling names.
If you prefer traditional boy names, I think you should choose a traditional boy name rather than going outside your preferred style just to make his name coordinate with his sister’s. The only name on your list without issues is Calvin, which happens to be my favorite on the list anyway. I think Truely and Calvin go perfectly well together, and True and Cal is a cute nickname combination. With a name you love as his first name and a family surname as his middle name, he’ll have a name that is special to you for its own reasons.
Name update! Molly writes:
I was able to steal away and send out an update on Baby Boy Bowing. I wrote to you about three months ago and asked for help choosing a name to go with our daughter’s, Truely Mae. We are happy to announce that our son made his appearance on May 8th weighing in at 9 lbs. 5 oz. and 21 in. long (Basically the size of our 3 year old lol).
We went to the hospital with two names; Calvin Maxwell and Maxwell Archer. Side note, my husband and I met at a summer camp where we were running the archery station so a big thank you to whoever suggested Archer!! Since we loved both sets of names and would be happy with either we decided to let Truely decide when she met him. After asking her which name she liked best she said “Matswell” because she can’t say her K sounds and we both melted into a puddle and knew our little guy was Maxwell Archer. We love that his middle name has history for us as a couple and is unique enough that we don’t worry about him feeling any less special, name wise, than Truely. Even though I’ve never been a huge nickname person I found that since big sister has a hard time with Maxwell at the moment we have been calling him Wells and I think I might love it even more than his full name. Thank you and your readers so much for all the advice and suggestions!
Max or Maxwell is also great in the first-name spot! Truely & Max.
I agree that Calvin Maxwell is a great sibling name for Truely Mae.
I like Calvin Maxwell as well. Other “traditional” names I really like with Truely are:
Phillip Maxwell – Truely and Phillip True and Pip
Dominic Maxwell – Truely and Dominic True and Dom
Cyrus Maxwell – Truely and Cyrus True and Cy
Gordon Maxwell – Truely and Gordon True and Gordy
Nathan Maxwell – Truely and Nathan True and Nate
What about Crosby…I know it has the matching ending, but it has the same unusual/unique quality. Another name to consider is Cruz. Also relatively uncommon, but easy to pronounce. Would either of these work?
I like Calvin a lot in your case. Have you considered any male virtue or nature names? Some are very non-traditional and unusual of course, but others might work. I thought of Shepherd, Forrest (maybe odd with Bowing?), Jasper, and Miles.
What about….
Wyatt
Emmett
Wesley
Weston
Jackson
Or everest
I actually like something a little less conventional with Truely. I like Calvin as well, but it seems so different than your daughter’s name.
I like the suggestion of Jasper.
What about:
Penn
Finn
West
Archer
Caspian
Noble
Phoenix
Zephyr
Ohhhhhh zephyr and Phoenix are grey suggestions.
What about a male virtue name? I think it would go nicely with Truely.
-Clement (my favorite)
-Loyal
-Noble
-Valor
Oooo I like Noble Maxwell!
Truely & Noble – yes!
Ugh. Sorry too matchy for me. Comes off corny. I vote no to Noble.
I keep thinking of more.
Some others:
Casper
Chance
Sage
Anchor
Arrow
Ever
Merit
Pax
Revere
Summit
These are great! Especially Ever, Arrow, and Sage.
Ooh! I love Sage (“wise and knowing”) as well!
Ever is a great suggestion too!
If you want to go for a word-name that conveys a sense of “specialness” that won’t change in pronunciation, my first thought was Sterling.
Good luck!
I don’t like the double -ing ending with Bowing, but I agree Sterling and Truely are good together.
I think I would encourage you to use Levi unless you specifically dislike one of the ways that it will be pronounced. Having a name that it is pronounced differently at school than by your parents is an experience that lots of kids end up having and it seems like for your son it could be a cool connection to the place where he grew up and the people he grows up with. Also, it goes great with Truely and as you say, you love it.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the alternate pronunciations. Most people only require one or two corrections to pronounce a name the way the parents intend. That leaves only Grady with an objection. My personal favorites on the list are Roman and Sebastian, in that order.
Oh and I also liked the idea of using Maxwell as the first name instead of the middle, but it sounds good as a middle with everything on your list as well.
Yayaya congratulations!!! What a great surprise!! I love swistles comment on what makes a name special – anything!!! Anything that you view as important, whether it is the meaning of the name, the origin, the uniqueness, the fact that you love it, ect. So don’t box yourself into choosing a name… Any reason is special in my opinion.
From the names you listed I absolutely love Sebastian. As for the pronunciation, where I live in Canada we commonly see the name being pronounce both ways… the same way that you’ve listed and with more of the -sh sound instead of the hard -st. So to me, the way that it would be pronounced in your area still sounds great to me!!! I love it!
I also love the idea of using Maxwell as a first name. True and Max… So cute!!! I think the fact that it is your maiden name makes it a very special name :) Also, you could also shorten the name to Wells instead of Max for something even more unique if you think Max is too popular. To me, because I’m a huge nerd, everytime I see a wishing well I throw in a penny and make a wish. If you’ve ever done that, wishing that you would one day become pregnant with your own child (as I’m sure you have) then using Maxwell shortened to Wells would be a very special story as well :)
I think Chance is also very suiting. This is your second chance at a little babe that you never thought you would have. Truely and Chance. Love this combination. Chance Maxwell Bowing. Sounds great. I actually think this is my favourite for you. Plus Chance is unique and uncommon as well. I grew up with a Chance and it was a good name.
Other names that I like for you:
Everest
Archer
Parker
Finn/Finnian/Finnegan. True and Finn. Cute!!
Good luck! Keep us posted and congrats again!
Good suggestions, except Archer– I almost suggested that myself but then realized Archer and Bowing together is a little gimmicky or jokey. Alas!
Bahaha yes. Very true. I usually always catch recommendations that I am about to suggest, try to put them together with the last name.
Congratulations! I’m wondering how people in your area are pronouncing Truely. As a Spanish speaker, I would say Tru- elly. If that problem hasn’t occurred, or doesn’t bother you much, then I wouldn’t worry too much about the boy names being pronounced differently. I teach Spanish speaking students, and they are used to pronouncing their names two ways, depending on if the teacher can pronounce it in Spanish or not.
I’m confused about Levi/Sebastian. Do you absolutely hate the alternate pronunciations? I feel like people will say it how ever you want anyway … ex: Brianna – around here we would normally say ‘bre-anna’ but one girl says hers ‘bre-on-a.’ No problem.
Also, I say Sebastian both ways.. Probably based on how lazy I’m feeling lol.
If Sebastian isn’t for sure out, I would vote for it. I think Calvin is also nice and would be my second choice.
Not sure if you want suggestions, but I also thought of Forrest. Others: Crispin, Giles, Magnus
Beckett -nn Beck Maxwell Bowing
Simon, Silas, -nn Si Maxwell Bowing
Grayson- nn Gray Maxwell Bowing
Eowyn pronounced (you in)
This is not helpful to your current question, but I just wanted to say that Truely and Etta would sound amazing on sisters. If you find yourself with another little girl down the line, these sound so sassy and cute together! They are essentially different from each, not really matching, but they both seem to belong to a time long ago when girls had names like Augustine, Beulah, Patience, Lovie, Temperance, Drusilla, Ida, Maud, Morning.
For your boy, I really like Calvin too. For me the nickname Cal, has the same older-style feeling as Etta, I think of real Gatsby suave.
Truely and Calvin
True and Cal
Some other names with that feeling:
Truely and Miles
Truely and Walter
Truely and Chester
Truely and Edgar
I also really love the name August with Truely. It has the similarity of being a word name, but also feels mostly formal name too. Especially with the nickname Gus
Truely and August
True and Gus
Both Calvin Maxwell Bowing and August Maxwell Bowing are such great striking names too
Good luck!
Love the word names with Truely.
Some suggestions:
Wilder
Walker
Arrow
Bay
Twain
Fox
Slater
West
Archer
Breaker
Grey
Ash
Gage
All the best!
I love Calvin Maxwell. A truly classy name that is cute for a little boy and distinguished for a man all at the same time! Many other great suggestions above so hopefully you will find a name you love. Best wishes and please let us know what you decide.
Calvin gets my vote from your list! I love that name and the great nickname Cal. I also love the idea of another word/virtue name for Truely’s brother, here are some of my favorites (sorry if repeats): Merritt, Victor, Royal, Rex, August, Justus, Revere
Ooh Victor, great suggestion!
Goodness, so many wonderful suggestions! The mention of gatsby made me think of Jay, or Robin, two more possibilities.
I have been watching ‘Peppa Pig’ recently – the brother and sister characters are Peppa and George, and I was thinking that I wouldn’t have put the two names together, but that I don’t bat an eyelid when I hear them together. I think a formal name won’t seem odd beside Truely.
Congrats!
I also think Truely & Calvin are awesome
together. Definitely my favorite suggestion.
P.S. Sidenote: I’m an adoptive/bio mama too and all of my kids are “my own”, as are yours :) I think using the term “biological son” would be better in the future. Congratulations :)
I do love Calvin for you but also think Maxwell would make a good first name. I also really like the suggestion of Jasper. What about Atticus, Asher or Escher?
I wouldn’t worry too much about the spanish pronunciation unless you really think it’d be a constant issue. My son’s name is Elias and it’s occasionally mispronounced (for him) with the spanish pronunciation eh-lee-us instead of how we pronounce it, eh-lye-us, but I just correct them and move on. I don’t usually have to correct people more than once. It hasn’t been a big deal.
I think it is great that you are putting some extra attention into tying their names together. My partner and I adopted our older daughter and my partner got pregnant with our younger twins by IVF with the help of a donor. People ask us a lot of questions about our family and sometimes skip right over our older daughter to ask about the twins. Having a name that coordinates with Truely will help people see them as your two children – siblings. I would shy away from the name Chance though, because it may seem to elevate your son’s status above your daughter’s when you are actually looking for an equalizer. I like the suggestions of a virtue or nature name or a more unusual name.
Depending on your religious beliefs…What about Bohdan? It means “gift of God”. Nickname could be Boh or Bohdy.
Then again, Bohdan Bowing could be a tongue twister….but I so love this name!
Neo, Jesse, Darko, Matthew and Theodore all mean “gift”.
First of all, I love Calvin and Maxwell. I think it’s very dashing! I also think Maxwell makes a great first name.
I am really loving the nature and word names with Truely. Victor was what I came here to suggest, because it’s a classic AND a word name! I think August fits this category also. August Maxwell! I also love Shepard for you.
What about Dash, short for Dashiell? Truely and Dash!
Congratulations!
Wells is such a cool name!
Congrats on your newest bundle!
This could be my favourite update ever. ‘Matswell’ and then Wells for a nickname?! I’ll just be in a little puddle over here in the corner!
Maxwell nickname Wells is ADORABLE! Truely and Wells… perfection! Congratulations <3
Wells is a great nickname. The story of how your son got his name is special.