Monthly Archives: April 2015

Baby Name to Consider: Spero

Hi Swistle,

Help! Our baby is due four weeks from today and we are wavering on the name that we originally loved.

Our last name is Wood, which knocked out quite a few names that I had liked before meeting my husband (like Forrest, Harrison, and Willow). We found out very early from a genetic test that we are having a boy – and it’s been hard for us to agree on a name since! My husband came up with the name Spero (pronounced like Sparrow), middle name Benjamin. He has always loved this Latin word, which means “to hope”. He suggested it early on, and I didn’t like it… But it grew on me quickly! And now I love it.

Along with the sound of the actual full name, the meaning of Spero is special to us; we have been through quite a few stressful circumstances just prior to and during my pregnancy, and have continually reminded ourselves that our hope is in God, above all other worries and anxieties we may encounter.

My husband just recently began to worry this name is too “out there” – his name is traditionally now used for girls, and was made fun of as a child for it. He goes between saying his name made him who he is (he now isn’t insecure like he was when he was young) and then saying he wouldn’t want our son to experience anything negative based on his name. He recently said he likes the name Theodore, nickname Theo, which originally he said “no way!” to. Overall, I think he’s hesitant to name a baby before its born, period!

We ruled out the following boys’ names, mostly due to being too popular or just not agreeing between the two of us: Cooper, Levi, Hunter, Beckham.

We hope to have 2-3 more children, picking from the following names…

Girls: Rooney, Phoebe, Ivy, Maisey
Boys: Rex, Theodore (Theo), Emmett, Sawyer

Please help.. We are running out of time! :)

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, Spero is currently completely unused as a given name in the United States, and I think spelling and pronunciation issues would be much more significant than average. My first guess at pronunciation (despite three years of Latin classes) would have been SPEER-o, similar to the name Spiro. If I heard the name instead of seeing it, my first guess at spelling would be Sparrow.

It sounds as if your husband is having “boy named Sue” feelings: on one hand he appreciates the positive results of the negative experiences he had with his name, and on the other hand he doesn’t want his children to have to go through the same experience to get those results. I might suggest looking for other possible ways to achieve those results. I will feel embarrassed if no one else thought of it, but I’m afraid from the similarity in spelling I was immediately reminded of, er…sperm. With your surname particularly, that feels risky to me.

On the other hand, this is such a great time for pulling off an unusual name. And the meaning is special to you. And I loved Latin. And you’re having a lot of trouble finding a name. And he could go by Benjamin/Ben if he wanted to. And maybe no one else did/will think of sperm; it’s only the spelling that makes me think of it, and the two words aren’t pronounced remotely the same. (I do have kids in the Learning the Facts of Life stage, so the vocabulary is near the front of my mind in a way it might not be for others.)

Still, my advice is that Spero would make a better middle name than first name, especially with the other names on your lists.

Theodore feels to me as if it better fits your first-name preferences. It’s fairly unusual (#170 in 2013) but familiar, it goes well with Wood, and it means God’s gift. Theodore Spero Wood.

I’d also suggest Jasper, the ending of which may remind you of Spero.

Baby Naming Issue: Are Jillian (Mom’s Name) and Vivian (Baby’s Name) Too Rhymey?

26 Replies

Dear Swistle,

The subject line of my email [“HELP! Baby Girl due in 2 weeks – chosen name might rhyme with my own!!!”] pretty much says it all. My husband and I are expecting our second daughter in two weeks and after months of debate, we finally settled on a name…only to discover that it might possibly rhyme with my own! To complicate matters, the name we chose for our first daughter is a name that we both really love but it doesn’t really fit with either of our individual naming preferences (which are already pretty opposite) and I’m afraid we’ve really shot ourselves in the foot as far as creating a cohesive sibling set goes.

Just for a bit of background – my name is Jillian and my husband’s name is John (yes, just John). We have a 3 syllable English surname that last name starts with an “H” and is sort of similar to “Harrington”. We are looking for a name that isn’t too trendy and has a good nickname and will flow well with our daughter’s name (and any names of our future children – we’re thinking 3-5, my husband is convinced they will all be girls, for what that’s worth). As far as boy names, we both easily agree on Gabriel, August, Emery, and Alexander.

With our first, my husband’s suggested girl names were all over the place – Cambria, Sif, and Ashley were his top 3. I liked Eleanor, Frances, Twila, Poppy, Willa, Cora, and Hazel. At ten days past her due date (!!!) we finally agreed on a short list of Aurora, Clementine, Everleigh, and Willow and ended up naming her Everleigh Frances. Her name suits her perfectly and I couldn’t imagine her being called anything else (except Ev!e, her nickname).

As far as Baby Girl #2 goes, after months of passing names back and forth, we agreed on the name Vivian Margaret. There were actual tears of happiness on my end and Evie, who has shown complete indifference to the baby, ran around the house shouting “Happy Birthday Vivian!”. It seemed like such a great fit…until I realized that Vivian sounded a whole lot like Jillian…sort of? And while Evie and Vivie would be very cute together, I worry that it is too matchy matchy! Would every future daughter need a “v” in their name? Are we just getting out of one naming corner and into another? All of this second-guessing has definitely taken the original luster off “the one”!

We both agree on Margaret as a middle name so that both girls have their grandmother’s middles names as their middle names. My top picks this time around are: Daydrie, Olivia, and Maren. My husband’s list includes Aurelia, Clementine, and Leontine. The few that we sort of agree on include:

Ada (a family name but also his best friend’s daughter’s name…they live in another country)

Adeline (not quite right but I like that it is longer than Ada)

Hazel (he previously hated this name so I’m not sure this is a good choice)

Laurel (I did know a girl named Laurel who liked Marilyn Manson in 7th grade…I’m thinking I can overlook that; “Laurel Margaret” doesn’t sound too great to me though)

Lucy (Lucia is a family name but neither of us really like any of the longer variants; I’m leery of naming her Lucy, my husband doesn’t want to name her something longer if we intend to call her by the diminutive; and again, “Lucy Margaret” doesn’t sound right)

So what’s your verdict – is Vivian too similar to Jillian? Should we keep looking? I think we have some good contenders but I’m also afraid that in the future I’ll be desperately writing you again because we can’t find a 3rd/4th/5th girl’s name to go with Ev and Viv. I am open to any and all suggestions! Perhaps you and your wise commenters can find some secret set of names that appeal to both my husband and I!

Most appreciatively,
Jillian (and Vivian…?)

This seems completely fine to me. The names Jillian and Vivian have some sounds in common, but it doesn’t seem to me that they rhyme: Jillian and Lillian rhyme, for example, but Jillian and Vivian just share an ending. I might prefer not to use them for sister names (though I wouldn’t consider it weird if someone else used them), but for a mother and daughter they seem absolutely fine and I wouldn’t worry about it at all. If you were considering Lillian I might waver (though I’d be with you if you wanted to shrug and go for it), but Vivian doesn’t seem like an issue.

To me, Evie and Vivi is the bigger concern, especially if Evie is with a short-E (like EH-vee). But I generally don’t worry anywhere near as much about nickname compatibility as I do about first-name compatibility: if the nicknames turn out to be a problem, there are other options. Maybe they will go by Evie and Viv, or by Ev and Vivian, or by Everleigh and Vee.

Only you know if it’s likely two girls with V sounds would make you feel painted into a corner. For me, it would be fine, especially if you’re planning to have a larger family: two names is not enough to start an unbreakable theme, and a family of Everleigh, Vivian, Gabriel, Ada, and August is not going to make anyone say, “Why did they break the V pattern??”

I can’t know for sure, of course, but if I had to place a bet on it, I’d put my money on this being normal last-minute nerves. I think your initial reactions to the name (tears of happiness and a joyful older sister) are the ones I’d expect to pay off.

Baby Girl Campbell, Sister to Hudson Alfie

27 Replies

Hi!

My husband and I are currently battling each other for the winning name for our future baby girl due august 15.

We have a son already named
Hudson Alfie Campbell. (Alfie after deceased grandparent) Nicknamed Huggy, Huds, Huggleberry Finn. We choosw Hudson as it was the 1 name on my husband’s list I didnt mind and it grew on me. He viteod all of my names as I wanted him to be called Cohen Frankie (after my father Frank)
I love my sons name very much and it suits him. Our next son was going to be Cohen Frankie as my husband now likes the name! But we are having a girl… so…

My husband is very much set on the names
Savannah Lilly Campbell (nickname Savy)
Im not loving it, whilst I loved Savannah a while ago, now along with name Hudson I feel its too much. I am not keen on Lilly as it has no family ties.

I absolutely love Alba Frankie for a girl, my husband likes it but feels Savannah is more feminine without being to girly. I love that Alba is quite uncommon as opppsed to Savannah. I love thats its short and sweet and we can name her Alby.

Other middle names I like (family names) June and Amy.

We have always struggled with girls names and we never imagined we would be blessed with a girl as my husbands family is long lines of men only.

Please help with any suggestions!

Forever Appreciative! Belinda

If it is down to two names, and one of them will be chosen, it seems fair that it would be your choice: last time your husband got his way, so this time it makes sense you would get your way.

Savannah is indeed significantly more common than Alba: #37 in 2013, while Alba is not in the Top 1000. In that sense, Savannah is more compatible with Hudson, which was at #87 in 2013. But Savannah feels less fresh to me: it has been in the Top 50 since 1996, while Hudson is more recently popular.

Savannah is compatible with Hudson in that both are familiar place/river names. Alba is compatible with Hudson in that both are surname names.

Sometimes when it comes down to the battle between two finalists, both names have to be scrapped. I wonder, are you planning to have more children, so that you’d like to save the name Cohen? If not, maybe we could find a girl name similar to the name you’d agreed on. Rowan, for example, or Bronwyn, or Simone, or Zoe, or Noelle, or Fiona, or Colette, or Corinne, or Cleo.

Or perhaps tweaking one of the two finalist names would make it more pleasing to both parents. Susanna instead of Savannah, for example, or Alma instead of Alba. Or Avalon, which has a little of both names, and could have Avvie (like Savy) as the nickname. Or Waverly, or Shelby, or Olive, or Vera, or Vienna, or Albany, or Abilene, or Sabina.

Or I’d suggest Francesca with the nickname Frankie.

Or June as a first name would be nice: short and sweet, and you could call her Junie or Junebug or Juniper-berry.

If you both have lists from before you each chose a finalist, I’d go back and look at those again. Maybe one parent will love the other parent’s second-choice name, or maybe there will be more material to work with to find new candidates.

Or, since you still have approximately four months, I might advise eliminating Savannah and Alba from the running for now, and both concentrate on finding new names to consider.

Baby Girl Rhymes-with-Tanley, Sister to Harvest

98 Replies

Hi Swistle,

I’m writing on behalf of my sister and brother-in-law (with their permission, of course). I’ve been reading your blog for years and know you can help.

They are expecting their second daughter in July and are struggling to find a name they both like. Their first daughter’s name is Harvest and she often goes by Harvee. Harvest’s name has special meaning to them and they love it because it is very unique. Their last name rhymes with Tanley.

They would prefer another name that is as uncommon as Harvest. My BIL strongly does not want a name that appears on the Social Security list. They would love another name that starts with H, but it isn’t an absolute. A fun nickname is also important to them and they like words repurposed as names (like Harvest).

They have only really come up with three possible names, but can’t agree on them.

Haven – my sister’s favorite and has special meaning to them, but my BIL says it is too common
Holland – my BIL’s favorite, but my sister hates the nickname Holly and thinks it would be unavoidable
Henley – they both like, but it is too sing-songy with their last name

Please help, Swistle! My niece needs a name!

By “the Social Security list,” I will assume your brother-in-law means the Top 1000, rather than the entire list.

The most fun option to me was finding a repurposed H word, so that’s where I started. In fact, I spent a highly enjoyable 45 minutes or so going through the entire H section of the dictionary with William (14) and Elizabeth (9). I recommend this activity: not only do you create a list of actual candidates, it is surprising how long it continues to be fun/funny to call out the non-candidates: “Hyperbole!” one of us would say; “Perfect!” another would reply. “Honeybee!” “Hedgehog!” “Helicopter!” “Hydrochloric!” We all ended up in very good moods.

Here’s what we got in 45 minutes:

Halcyon; Harvest and Halcyon; Harvee and Hallee
Happen; Harvest and Happen; Harvee and Happy (William votes no on this)
Harmonic; Harvest and Harmonic; Harvee and Nicki
Heliotrope; Harvest and Heliotrope; Harvee and Leo
Henna; Harvest and Henna; Harvee and Hennie (would likely be confused with Hannah)
Heritage; Harvest and Heritage; Harvee and Harry
Heron; Harvest and Heron; Harvee and Harry
Hickory; Harvest and Hickory; Harvee and Kory
Homily; Harvest and Homily; Harvee and Millie
Honesty; Harvest and Honesty; Harvee and Nessie
Horizon; Harvest and Horizon; Harvee and ?
Hyacinth; Harvest and Hyacinth; Harvee and Hydie/Heidi
Hydrangea; Harvest and Hydrangea; Harvee and Hydie/Heidi

My favorites are Heron, Homily, Honesty, and Hyacinth.

And here are the ones we considered but then decided not to put on the list: Halo is a pretty sound, but the associations with angels and video games seem tough to handle. Harbor seemed good, and can be a synonym for Haven, but it’s probably too similar to Harvest, and I couldn’t think of a good nickname (Harby sounds too much like Harvee and Harpy). Harken had possibility (similar to the name Larkin), but again shares an entire first syllable with Harvest, and the nickname Hark seems harsh (and at our house, would lead to endless jokes: “Hark! It’s time for dinner!” “Hark! I see your shoes!”). Harlequin is pretty, but seems too steeped in meaning/symbolism; same with Harrow. Harmonica and Harpsichord might be too silly. Harp might be confused with the much more popular Harper, and the nickname seems like it might be the unfortunate Harpy. Hasten shares so many letters with Harvest, and I couldn’t think of a good nickname, and also I found that when I see it as a name I suddenly have trouble pronouncing it (it looks similar to Kristen). Heartily could be pretty, but a little sing-song with the surname; we also liked Hearten and Heartland, but the nickname Heart has an unfortunate crude rhyme. Helix sounds name-like, but also sounds like “he licks.” Holiday seems perfect, but has the nickname Holly.

The strategy we used today is the same strategy I’d recommend for adding non-H names to their list. The dictionary makes a daunting baby name book, but the H section went surprisingly quickly once we got into it.

[Edited to add: Trying to go to sleep tonight and thinking about this question, I thought of the name Orchard, nickname Orrie. Or Starling. Or Spring.]

Name update!

Hi Swistle,

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed Haven Elizabeth to the family in June. They took everyone’s comments to heart and we had such a good time going through all of the suggestions the post generated. In the end, they were encouraged that Haven isn’t too common; it became the front runner due to the special meaning for their family. The name fits her perfectly and nothing is sweeter than hearing big sister Harvest talk about Baby Haven. Thanks for all of the help! Attached is a picture.

Thanks,
Brittany

Baby Girl or Boy T!lt, Sibling to Molly and Thatcher

51 Replies

Ok here’s the deal…
Our last name is T!lt – not a love for me but chose the guy, not the name.
We have a 3.5 year old daughter – Molly Cutler (goes by Molly)
And a 1.5 year old son –
Thatcher O’Shea (goes by Thatch/ Thatchy/Thatcher)
Baby No. 3 will be here on our anniversary! – Oct 21st – and we aren’t finding out the gender.
I’ve heard your advice ab thinking of potential sibling names when picking your first baby name and well… I didn’t. I broke a cardinal rule of adorable sibling sets by changing genres (I’m as irritated by this as anyone) however independently I LOVE their names.
We are pretty set on the boy name – Shepherd O’Shea. Feels similar to Thatcher to me. Good nickname, occupation name in a “nonobvious” way.

It’s the girl name that’s giving me anxiety.
We will use Cutler again as a middle – perhaps odd I know.

I love the name Maggie and would absolutely use it however my husband had a childhood dog named Maggie so he’s not 100%

Everly – I love it but rising popularity bothers me
Halsey
Linden
Greer
I worry that these names are odd for a girl whose sister has such an obviously girly name.

For whatever it’s worth my husband is Michael and I am Cassidy and we are… Stumped.
Help us pls!

Looking at the list of four finalists and imagining what I’d GUESS if I saw the names with no other cues, I’d guess:

Everly: girl
Halsey: not sure at all
Linden: girl
Greer: girl

In order of perceived femininity, which is very very subjective:

Everly
Linden
Greer
Halsey

I had a little trouble ranking Linden and Greer: I’ve only encountered Greer as a girl’s name, while I’ve only encountered Lyndon as a boy name and haven’t heard of any girls named Linden, so Greer seems more obviously GIRL to me. And yet the look and sound of Linden seems more FEMININE to me; and although I’ve only encountered female Greers, I know it can be used for boys (60 new baby girls and 18 new baby boys in 2013). So I went back and forth about how to put them in order.

I looked it up just now, and Linden is even more unisex than I thought. In 2013, the Social Security Administration reports 65 new baby girls and 53 new baby boys named Linden. (The spelling Lyndon adds another 17 new baby girls and 136 new baby boys; the spelling Lynden adds 33 new baby girls and 28 new baby boys.)

Halsey is interesting. It’s not a name I’ve ever encountered, and it’s not in the Social Security Administration’s data base at all for 2013. It reminds me of names such as Haley and Kelsey, so it should strike me as Girl—but something about it is throwing me off. It could be the Hal, but that doesn’t catch me with Haley. It could be that it makes me think of Halston, a male designer. It seems like a surname, so I think that makes me want to put it with the name Thatcher. But if I picture the name Halsey on a boy, it doesn’t seem quite right, so I think if I had a longer time to look at the name I’d ultimately guess girl. I think pronunciation will be a larger concern: Hal to rhyme with pal, or with ball, or with pail? and then is it -see or -zee? My first guess was Hal-like-hall and sey-like-zee: HALL-zee.

If I were choosing purely on the basis of which name seemed most feminine to me, I would choose Everly. Despite the Everly Brothers, the name hits my ear as entirely feminine, like Evelyn and Beverly. The current usage is entirely girl: the Social Security Administration reports 804 new baby girls with the name in 2013; it’s not in the data base at all for boys.

You rebuke yourself for changing name styles between Molly and Thatcher, but I think those are very compatible in a sibling set. I prefer not to change styles between two brothers (Thatcher and then, say, Andrew, or Billy), but having different styles for the boys and the girls in a family seems just fine. I would still avoid clashes, or styles that seemed to say something about differing expectations (girls named Poppy, Trixie, and Lulu with brothers named Theodore, Everett, and Sebastian), but I think the names Molly and Thatcher go very nicely together, and wouldn’t have thought of it as changing styles. And I think your choice of the name Shepherd shows a consistent style for boy names.

For girl names, one thing you have going for you is that Molly is a name that goes with a lot of styles. I had trouble thinking of a clash example for the previous paragraph. Molly and Everly are different styles (one traditional/early-American and the other modern/surname), and yet I don’t think they clash per se. They feel similarly energetic and neither of them seem overly girly-girl.

Molly and Linden, Molly and Greer—those both seem fine too. It’s a style/popularity change, but not a style clash. I think Molly and Greer makes a great sister pair: I like how they both have double letters, and they’re both five letters long. Molly and Linden strikes me favorably, too: definitely a change in style, but I don’t get the “off” feeling I get with, say, sisters named Clarissa and Cameron, which feels like the set-up for a sitcom about a princess and a tomboy.

I feel less sure about Halsey, but I think that’s because I feel less sure of the name overall. If it’s a family surname, I would think it a far better choice than if it’s a modern invented name.

I also like Everly best with the surname. Everly T!lt. Linden T!lt. Halsey T!lt. Greer T!lt.

Because you like Maggie, though, I wonder if we could find something you like that’s closer in style to Molly. My first association is with early American names, and with names that used to be nicknames (Molly was a nickname for Mary) but are now also/primarily stand-alone names. Names such as:

Betsy
Daisy
Eliza
Ginny
Katie
Kay
Libby
Lily
Lucy
Maisy
Mandy
Milly (not with Molly)
Mindy
Nancy
Nora
Polly (not with Molly)
Sadie
Sally
Tessie

But I don’t at all think the name needs to be “nicknamey”: Molly has been stand-alone for so long, many people don’t even know it used to be a nickname. So I’d add a ton of full names to the list: Abigail, Clara, Anna, Violet, Charlotte, Phoebe, Hannah, anything from the vintage revival category. I suspect, though, that most of these are too popular for your tastes.

I wonder if you’d like the name Darcy? It seems similar to Molly, but it’s not common at all: not even in the Top 1000 for 2013. Darcy T!lt; Molly, Thatcher, and Darcy.

Or Delaney? Surnamey like Thatcher and Shepherd, but feminine. Delaney T!lt; Molly, Thatcher, and Delaney.

Linley has some of the sound of Linden, but currently used only for girls. Linley T!lt; Molly, Thatcher, and Linley.

Name update!

Just remembered I owned you an update as I was nursing the newest and decided click over and read your blog…
The baby came early! On October 12, 2015 Shepherd O’Shea T!lt joined us and our hearts – and hands! – are overflowing!
Thank you to you and your readers for pointing out things we hadn’t noticed with the potential names!