EVERY SINGLE TIME I have to stop and wonder if the word “with” is capitalized in a title.
Here is the game we are playing:
We are going to pretend that we are naming a baby and that the name MUST start with a certain letter, and so we will need one name starting with that letter for a boy and one name starting with that letter for a girl, or else one name that would work for either, EVEN IF we don’t like any of the names that start with that letter enough to Actually In Real Life choose them. It is just a game where we place artificial restrictions on reality in order to create the kind of tension that makes games fun—like when you have to choose what foods you’d eat if you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life: the fun is in thinking it over AS IF it were a real forced decision, while KNOWING it is not. There is a baby! It MUST be given a name with a particular letter! That is the game.
After that basic concept, we can decide our own sub-rules, based on what makes the game fun and not stressful. Some examples:
• I’m not planning to play that the name has to fit with the names of my other children or with the surname, though this would be an option for anyone who would LIKE to play it that way; I think I will have more fun if I pretend it is a stand-alone baby and that the surname is not an issue, though I may change my mind as we go. (And if I narrow it down to a few options and can’t decide, I might use siblings/surname as a tie-breaker.)
• It is also fine to narrow it down to a few finalists without getting to The One Name.
• It is fine to wave aside issues such as a friend who already used that name, a famous person with the name, etc., if that makes it more fun and less stressful to choose. This is just pretend, so you can pretend that those things aren’t issues if you want to. (Or you can let the issues stand as they are in real life, if THAT is more fun.)
• We can also all make our own decisions about whether the names have to be ones we think we’d ACTUALLY USE in that hypothetical scenario, or just our FAVORITE names starting with that letter, regardless of whether we think the names are practical; I am not sure which way I will play it, and I likely won’t be consistent.
• If you already have a child with a name starting with the letter we’re working on, you get to pick again from all the names that remain; you don’t have to choose your child’s name as your favorite just because it WAS your favorite: this is a FRESH baby, and you wouldn’t give it the same name as your existing child. (If you would normally prefer not to repeat an initial within a sibling group, you can just pretend that’s NOT a preference for the sake of the game.)
• You can do as much or as little explanation as you like in your comment: you can just list the names you chose, or you can explain your process/preferences/reasoning/runners-up, or whatever is most fun.
Today’s letter is W, which I have been looking forward to because I already have a W name on my list of favorite girl names, and it is Winifred. …Actually, now that I’ve typed that sentence, I realize it’s ACTUALLY more fun for me to play this game when I DON’T already have a name on my favorites list, and have to comb through names I haven’t already daydreamed about. Well, this is fun TOO. So, Winifred for a girl, and that is one I would choose in real life. I would also consider Willemina; I can’t remember if that name is actually back in my family tree or if it is just one I found when considering Dutch names. But I would choose Winifred over Willemina.
For a boy: Warren, because I already love the name, and now it would also be in honor of Elizabeth Warren. I would also consider William, because using it as a pseudonym all these years has made me fonder of it—but Warren is the name I lean toward, and that’s another name from my “would actually choose in real life” list.
Now you! If you want to! Only if it’s fun and not stressful! Feel free to adjust the game-play to be fun and not stressful!
Willa and Walter.
I want to like Warren but cant get past the word “war” in the name. And Breaking ruined the name Walter for me.
Boys – I liked both Wyatt and Wesley the best but Wesley wins out.
Girls- I like Winona but the word “wino” annoys me. I would go with Wren.
Buffy ruined the name “Warren” for me.
Just for fun, I think I want to keep track of my names so far. I’ll c/p this to V etc when the time comes.
W: Willa and Walter
X: Xenia and Xavier
Y: Yvaine and Yves
Z: Zinnia and Zachary
I have a Wyatt, but for this I will choose Whitaker for a boy. I love the nickname Whit.
For a girl it’s close between Willa and Wren. But I think Wren wins.
I was coming here exactly to say Willa and Wren! And I love Whitaker, too. How charming!
Oh I like Amity’s answers above.
But my choices are Weston and Willa. I also love Warren, Walter, and Winnie.
I’d pick Winnie for a girl and Ward for a boy.
Wallace and Willa. I love these names
Girl: Willamena
Boy: Wake
For a girl Willa or maybe Wynn, but I think Willa wins.
For a boy either Whittaker or Whitney, because I love the nickname Whit.
William and Wren. William was on my list for our son, but I still love it. Wren, because I’ve always loved it and while it wouldn’t work with our surname, I still love it.
I really like Walter for a boy, but my stepsister’s dog is named Walter so I could never.
And for a girl, I’m partial to Wallis. And Willa. But probably Wallis more.
Wyn for a girl even though it is traditionally a boy’s name in Wales. Wells for a boy.
Oooh, Wells. I like Wells!
I’ve been looking forward to W and dreading it…there are so many good ones I am struggling to pair this down. Especially when there are ones that would be outliers for my style and that makes them more fun in this context.
I’ve narrowed, but still working to ‘choose 1’ from here.
For boys, I’d be seriously considering:
Wade
Walter (nn Walt)
Wells
Whitaker (nn Whit)
Wilder
Twist my arm, must choose now, I’d probably pick Wade. I like one syllable names with our two syllable, ends in -er, last name which makes a lot of -er names more a dream since many sound too rhymey in real life and while I like Wells, it’s probably in my outlier category.
For girls, I’d be seriously considering:
Whitney (nn Whit)
Willa
Winifred (nn Winnie)
Wren
Twist my arm, must choose now, I’d probably pick Whitney. I love love love the nn Whit and none of the formal boy names to yield nn Whit make me as happy as a little Whitney would. I love one syllables, but Wren isn’t one that sounds great with our last name and we have too many Williams in the family for me to ever choose Willa. Winifred would be my outlier, here.
Willa for a girl because I know two in real life and I love the name. I would probably go William for a boy.
This is fun. I would pick Willow for a girl and Walker for a boy. There were more W names I liked than I realized…Wren, Wyatt, Whitley, Watson…can’t wait to see what others pick!
For a boy: Whitman, love the nn Whit
For a girl: probably Wren but I love the nickname Wynn/Winnie just can’t find a full name that I like enough.
The W names on my lists for my actual kids when discussing with the Hubby included
Girls: Wren, Winnie
Boys: Wesley, William
But as part of this game, I’m going to go in a slightly different direction.
Boy: Webb (My Mom’s maiden name) or Whit. I’d probably choose Webb for the family connection, but it’s a close call.
Girl: Willa or Wynn. I’d still consider Wren, but prefer Wynn as a W name – the silent W throws me off in the context of this game). I think I’d ultimately choose Wynn but again, it’s a close call.
I know a man named Webb and it’s a great name!
Waverly and Winslow
Girls, I love Willa, Wren, Waverly, and Willow. So many good names! I would probably choose Willow (nn Will).
Boys, I don’t really love any of them. I guess if I had to pick one, I would choose Winter.
Oh this is a fun letter!
I love Walter for a boy. It was my grandfather’s middle name and even without that, I just love the grumpy old manliness of it.
And Wilma for a girl. Wilma Flintstone ruins it a bit BUT we are Cherokee and Wilma Mankiller redeems it. I’d love to name a little girl after that great lady.
There aren’t a lot of W names that I really like. I’ve always thought the name Wednesday was cool, so let’s go with Wednesday and Wade.
Babynamewizard had some pretty out-there W names: Windflower, Wedding, Wing, and WEIRD.
We almost named our son Webster. I still love it and would consider it for another child.
I love so many W girl names! Winona is a favorite at the moment. So fun to say.
Meant to add that I wouldn’t use Winona because I have no Sioux or Native American heritage, but I think it’s lovely.
Webster is great!
Willa and Wallace.
I can’t even narrow this down! Actually, that’s a lie, as I have a William. Named after my husband. It’s my favorite, popular as it may be. I just love it so much. But I also love Warren (my father’s name) and Walton (my maternal grandfather’s name). I didn’t want to share initials, mainly because we use initials a lot day to day with labeling and such, but I could have easily had 3 boys named William, Warren, & Walton and been thrilled with their names forever. I love the nicknames Walt, and Ward (for Edward or Howard). Wiley and Woody are great too! W is just great! Gah!
For a girl, definitely Winnifred nn Winnie!
This one is hard!
Walter for a boy.
Willa for a girl.
My favorite W name is Wallace for a girl. I met a little trick or treater the first year we lived in this house who shared her name was Wallace and I have loved it ever since.
Otherwise I like Willoughby for a girl. Both names are outliers from my normal naming style though.
Boys are tougher. Maybe Winston or Wilson? So many of the names that appeal to me are surnamey.
Girl: 30 years ago Whitney or Whitley, today Willa
Boy: William or Walker
Willow and Wesley
It’s so hard to narrow down W names and I didn’t even suspect it was my favorite baby naming letter.
For a girl, I might go Wallis or Wendy. I have a niece Winter.
For a boy, Waite is a family name, but I really love Watson (called Sonny). I had Watson picked out for our next cat’s name, hoping he’d turn out to be a doctor-detective, but we adopted a cat who “told me” it was not his name, so couldn’t use it yet. LOL
Wells or Wilder
Willow or Winter
William and Winifred (nn Win)
These would be my answers too! William is just a great, classic name with a lot of wonderful nicknames: Will, Liam, Bill, Billy. But I probably wouldn’t use it now because it’s SO popular. On the other hand, if I were pregnant with a girl right now, Winifred would legit be on my list…I also like Win as a nickname, as well as Freddie. (Anyone else have “Song of Love (Fred)” from Once Upon a Mattress stuck in their heads? No? Just me?)
I also love Willa for a girl, and Wesley or Wade for a boy.
I have a W name for each on my list: Wren and Wyatt!
W names are not my favorites. But I think Willa for a girl (though all the Williams in my life will think it’s after them) . And Warren for a boy.
I had Wren on my list for both of my children (who are both boys), so I choose Wren. For boys, Walter
For a boy I like Wes, Whit, Warren, Warner, Wyatt
For a girl maybe Willow, Wendy, Winnie.
Do I like any of these names enough to actually use them though? Nah.
For a girl Winonah. Perhaps Winona? I would dither about the spelling.
Boy is MUCH more difficult because some of my top boy names are W. My ultimate choice is Walter, but I had to strongly consider Warren and Wallace, as well as the classic William, and Wesley is so nice.
Winonah and Walter, final answer
Boy: Weston
Girl: Willa
I have a Warren slready! I love Wilfred, so the boy choice was easy. The meaning “desires peace” is just the sweetest.
Girl Ws are hard. Wanda is kind of nice. I like Winter and Wednesday too . Umm…. Wanda it is!
My German uncle is named Wilfried. He was born during WWII and he was specifically named for the name’s meaning.
I have a William, but I would choose Wesley or maybe Walter for a boy for the purposes of this game. For a girl, I love Wendy.
Witter or Winnie.
I echo what a previous poster said – I had no idea how many W names I loved until I started thinking about the options and reading all these comments! In the past, I’ve had Willa and Winter on my list. I LOVE LOVE them both. I’ve met kids with these names and it makes me happy (one of the Winters was a boy and that was super charming.) Winnie because Wonder Years of course. I think all the W surnames are awesome. Especially Willoughby after the recent film. Will is just the ultimate classic guy name to me. So hard to narrow it down but…
B: Wolfe
G: Whitney
(I know Wren is a crowd favourite these days, but I’ve never been able to enjoy it maybe because the sound – REN – which is in my name, always made me think of Ren&Stimpy growing up. Although I am able to ‘hear’ Cate differently than Kate. But I do love birds so maybe it’ll win me over when I eventually meet a little one by the name.)
Without reading the 40-something comments before me, I might go with Whit. Seems pretty gender neutral.
Also, I like Winona.
And Wren as a Kathryn nickname (my name) would be cool.
Girls: Willa and Waverly
Boys: Wes and Wyatt
Willow and William. Koi
Winifred nn Win
Wilbur
Warrick for a boy
Winter for a girl
I didn’t realize I liked so many W names, either! So many underused lovely names.
Five years ago I fell in love with the name Wendolyn, nn. Wendy for a girl. Today I would pick Willow.
Wesley was on my boys list but vetoed by my husband.
I was trying to remember who just named their baby Willa – Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner! Seems very popular as it was top of mind for me and seems like it is for other readers too :)
Definitely William for a boy. Not so sure about a girl… I love the idea of Wisteria, one of my favorite flowers, but it might be too whimsical for a first name for me. Winter and Willow are more usable, but I can’t really see myself using them either as a first. Wilhelmina fits best with my taste; I just don’t love her. Maybe I would just embrace my Polish heritage and go with Weronika or Wiktoria? Eh, maybe I would go with Winter after all…
Both of these names were on my actual name list, though neither ended up being used.
Girl: Wren
Boy: West
I’m posting without reading comments, because I want to sift through names in my mind without being influenced by other ideas. So I may come back and revise my choices after I’ve read the comments!
Girl: Wynn (which is COMPLETELY outside my usual naming style, but I just think it’s pretty).
Boy: Walter (I suddenly like this so much that I am putting it on my list for future babies. Boy names are SO HARD and I’m glad we didn’t wind up needing one for our first baby).
Girl: Winslet
Boy: Waylon
Runners up: Wolfgang, Winter, Wakefield, Wellesley
Walter and Whitney.
Wallace and Willow
Although I also like Winslow for either gender
W seems to be a letter where I like many of the names but don’t love any of them, so for the sake of narrowing, I’m going to go with family-tree-related names.
Wynn for a boy, after my father, whose middle name was Edwin, after HIS father.
Wave for a girl, the name of one of my mother’s aunts.
Swistle I love this game! I have been so anxious and the other morning I woke at 3am and was fretting and I thought ‘ooh, W names!’ and got my old book out to start planning ahead. Bless you.
I found a combo I’ve never seen before:
Wilhelmina nn Whim :) I wish I was that bold.
Wynn
Ward
Wells for a girl (either, really) and Webster or Wren for a boy.
Ooh, I like Willemina, as opposed to Wilhelmina, which has always seemed unnecessarily complicated. I am increasingly wary of female versions of male names, but it was funny when I was pregnant and hubby teased his sister that we would give the baby his name no matter what: William Joseph or Wilhelmina Josephina (we have two girls, they have other names).
My younger daughter had a preschool classmate named Wyndsor, which I don’t like with a y but Windsor is charming.
Ohh I thought W was going to be easier but it’s actually harder then I thought! I think I’d go for Wilder for a boy although Wyatt is a close second. For a girl it would have to be Willa but I love Winnie too!
Wilder and Will
Walter and Wallace, nicknamed Wally (on my actual list, both of them, so not a stretch).
I met a Wilhelmina once (young woman) and I loved it. She wore it so well and didn’t shorten it or anything. So probably that for a girl, although it’s a further stretch.
There are a lot of good ones, and I’ve decided on Willa and Wyatt.
For a boy, I love Wells. Also West, Whitaker and Warren.
For a girl, I love Winnie. Also Wynn, Wren, Whitney and Whitley.
For a girl, I’d pick Winter. Love the nns Win and Winnie.
For a boy, would be a toss up between Winston (Win) and Walter (Walt).
Willa and William. Obviously not for twins/siblings. If they were siblings, Willa and Walter.
Winifred (nn Winnie)! Winston (my favorite boys name)!
Also love Willa. Wesley. Wells.
I never realized how much I love W names. Too bad my last name starts with a W in real life!
Warrick/Warwick is my absolute favorite boy’s name (and will probably be THE name if we have another boy). I also also really like Wolfgang.
I have a harder time with girls. I like Willa (and I love Willa Cather) but dislike how popular it is. Wren, Winter, and Winifred are also really sweet and would definitely have made the list.
I love Walpurga for historical/religious reasons but it’s not a very wearable name now but since this is a game, I’m gonna go with Walpurga.
So many good ones!
Woodrow for a boy, with Winslow a close second (both were on our list for baby 1 and probably will be for baby 2 once we start the name discussions). Woodrow would be nicknamed Ro.
Winifred for a girl. I also love Winona but wouldn’t use it for cultural appropriation reasons.
Wolfgang (full disclosure: this my 8 month old’s name!)
Willa
LOVE Wolfgang! Do you use a nickname?
He is Wolfie! We anticipate Wolf when he is older too. Totally freaked many people out when they heard his name, but mostly gets a positive if surprised reaction now. He managed to fracture his skull during birth and it was fixed at 23 hours old (he is fine now) and I will never forget the nurse saying to me he had a brave name and he would be fine. His siblings picked the name…they are 14, 11 and 7.
Oooh this was harder than I thought it would be! I think for a girl I’d go with Whitney. Winter was a close runner up, I do love it but I think Whitney is more my style.
For a boy, Winston (loved it since New Girl!!) but I also really struggled to let go of Will, Wells, Weston & West, all three of which are more my style than Winston. But I just love Winston and would use in real life!!
Definitely William for a boy. It was on my short list during my second pregnancy. For a girl either Willow or Winona.
Oooh I’m going to go out of my usual style as none of the more classic W picks would fit in with my kids. I’d go Wren for a girl I think, or maybe Winter. And for a boy, Wolfgang. I remember reading a Noel Streatfield book with a Wolfie/Wolfgang in and concluding not many kids could carry it off, but the ones who could, well would’t they be great?
Girl: Depending on what the child looked like, there is a chance I would choose Winona called Winnie, but I would probably pick Wilhelmina called Willa or Mina. I would also be tempted to use the adjective form of Winter, Wintry, nicknamed Winnie, but it’s unlikely I would actually use this IRL.
Boy: There were several “w” names on my list for my son, but mostly as middle name contenders. These were Ward, Wade, Walden, Whittier (for John Greenleaf), and Walter (for an honorary uncle), but none of them ended up getting used. On the first name list but also not used were Wesley/Westley and Wolfgang. I think, if using a “w” first name, I would wait to meet the child and then probably choose between Wendell (for Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and Jr.), nicknamed Wells, and the surname name Wolfrey, which sounds like Wolfgang meets Henry.
Girl: Winifred (nn Frida)
Boy: Wagner, Warin, Wolfhart
Ooh!
Walter for a boy
Winona for a girl
Runners up were Wendy and Wyatt. I love the name Wendy, and have a positive association with Wendy Davis, the Texas politician. And of course Peter Pan. It was a real toss-up between Winona and Wendy. Wyatt is a strong name, and works with my surname, but gives me a southern vibe I’d rather avoid (even though I am southern lol).
Wolfgang. Hands down. I would probably actually use this name, but it was a hard no from my husband.
For girls: Wynn
I like the look of with with a lower case w … not for a baby name of any kind, just in your headings.
Boys: Wolf, Wells, Wilson
Girls: Winry, Wilda, Wren
William and Wendy!
Girl: Waveny
Boy: Wells
Yes, the W names are ones I was would actually use!
I very seriously considered Wilhelmina with baby #3 but my husband thought it was “too much” (he thinks this about a lot of my names!). I like it, though, and would use Minnie as a nickname.
I also seriously considered Wesley when pregnant with #3, and that would probably be my boy W name because it works slightly better in my sib set than Warren, which I also like.
I think I spent too much time thinking about this! But here is what I have.
Favorites for boy: Wilder, Wallace, Wendell, and Warren
Pick: Wallace
Favorite for girl: Wilhemina, Willow, Willoughby, Wren, and Wallis
Pick: Willoughby
I just had friends name their twins Wild3r and Witn3ss which I think are very cool W names.
Winslow and Wilhemina.
We have a toddler named Wilder and just adore his name. If I had to pick another ‘W’ boy name, I’d go with Walker. I’ve always loved that name.
For a girl, I’m struck by how few ‘W’ names I can think of…I’d go with Wren.
Wolfram (I think it has a serious but cool image)
Wilhelmina (already used as one of my daughters’ middles)
Winnie! Oh my gosh I love it! I spent a pregnancy wondering how I could get there – Winter? Winslow? For this pretend game (and probably in real life too, though we are done having babies) I am going to be brave enough to choose it as a stand-alone name. :)
And Walter is my boy pick!
For a boy: Warrick
For a girl: Whitney
I have AGONIZED over this. I love Wells and Winslow (both for any gender), but they are preppier than I am normally drawn to. Well, I’m committing to them anyway.
Willa, definitely.
For a boy, maybe Westley or Winston.
boy: Wallace
girl: Willemina, nickname Mina (is that cheating on the W theme???)
Wren is one of my “would-use-in-a-heartbeat-if it-didn’t-clash-horribly-with-my-surname” names, so I have a soft spot for Wren. I like Willa and Wynne, too.
For boys, I love Walter and Wallace. I always think of the character Charles Wallace, which for me is a positive association, and I’ve just always liked the name Walter. Another poster mentioned the association with Breaking Bad, and that’s giving me pause, but I think Walter still holds up for me.
A secret part of me loves the Princess Bride association with Wesley, too. W is a surprisingly good letter for names!
Willow and Wesley
Wynn/nn Winnie for a girl; either Wynn or Winston/nn Win for a boy.
Wilfred & Willa
Will and Wendy. Actually that would be quite cute for twins!
Willa and Winston (though I am finding I really like a lot of W names for boys: William, Wesley, Walter, Warren, Wyatt, West)
I love the name Winifred (nicknamed Winnie) because I have a devotion to St. Winifred and the name matches the style of my other children.
If I played the game on another day, I might choose Walter or Wenceslaus for a boy’s name, but today, I choose the classic, handsome William. It’s a perfectly solid name, and my husband and I both have ancestors by that name. The only thing that bugs me is that there’s already a cousin William in my children’s generation, but really, you can never have too many Williams. I might use the nickname Billy because I knew a really nice 20-year-old Billy ten years ago.
W: Winifred and William
X: Xandra and Xavier
Y: Yvette and Yakob
Z: Zelie and Zechariah