Hi Swistle!
My husband and I are expecting our third boy this winter, and due to the two big brothers, Charlie & Eamon, our list of boy names has dwindled, and we’re struggling to find a name we both agree on. The act of suggesting names has always been paralyzing for my husband, so it’s basically on me to provide a list of names, which we then narrow down. We (I) need your help!!
One big issue: he initially gravitates toward more traditional names – his one attempt at a name list was essentially the top 10 names from 1985. I do not. My only real restrictions are no rhyming or alliterative names. Our last name sounds like the word “foreign,” so that rules out names that start with the letter F or names such as Soren.
My top contender is Arlo, but unsurprisingly given his tendencies, my husband’s initial reaction was lukewarm, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to win him over. That said, we do have an Eamon, so there is hope. Also on my list are Reid and Miles. If I didn’t have a nephew Cal, the name Callum would also be on my list. Before we found out about the baby’s sex, our top girl’s name was Edie, followed by Louisa, and Eliza. We haven’t decided if we’re done building our family, but I’d like to leave Edie as an option and am tending to avoid names that begin with E.
Do you have ideas for names I could add to my currently very short list? I really don’t want to go into labor still deciding what we will name this child! Thanks so much for your consideration and advice.
Thank you!
I think Arlo seems too similar to Charlie with those matched -arl- sounds.
I think Reid and Miles are both great in this group, though for me Reid would rule out a future Edie. Can you say Miles over and over to your husband until he comes around? I had pretty good success with that technique when naming babies with a similar partner. Or I wonder if either of you would like Milo, which is like a combination of Miles and Arlo. Milo Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Milo.
I started to make a list of more candidates to consider, and this is how far I’d gotten when I stopped, discouraged, feeling like I was on the wrong track and was making a list of names NEITHER of you would like:
Anderson
Brody
Casey
Keegan
Oliver
Patrick
Spencer
The names Charlie and Eamon together had given me a very appealing mental image of two merry little vintage boys playing hoops on the cobblestones, tweed knickers and snap-brim caps, very Charles Dickens, and so I’d been looking for more names like that in the English and Celtic and Vintage Charm sections of The Baby Name Wizard, but nothing seemed right. I found more what I was looking for in the Timeless section: Timeless for your husband’s traditional leanings, but there are lots of fresher and more interesting choices than the Top Ten 1985.
Bennett: it has the Ben of the classic/traditional Benjamin, but it’s more contemporary and less common. Bennett Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Bennett.
Or Davis. It’s like David, which is very Top Ten 1985, but updated/fresher. Davis Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Davis.
Wilson, similarly, takes William from the Top Ten and makes it something a little more interesting. Wilson Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Wilson.
Or Clark. Snappy, but has a traditional, familiar feeling. Clark Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Clark.
Still snappy but with the confidence of thousands of years of usage: Isaac. Nicknames Ike or Zack, if you want them. Isaac Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Isaac.
Grant, which I have filed with Reid in my mind. Grant Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Grant.
Wesley, nickname Wes available. Wesley Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Wesley. The matched -lie/-ley endings might be too much or might be just fine.
Mitchell is a name I think you should say to yourself again and again until it loses its familiarity and you hear the interesting bouncy sounds of it. Mitchell Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Mitchell.
Russell, similarly: say it again and again until you hear it as an interesting sound. Russell Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Russell.
Malcolm, which sounds a little like Callum but without running into the nephew’s name. Malcolm Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Malcolm.
Paul, which I have ruined for myself by using it as my husband’s blog pseudonym, but it is a wonderful name really: warm and nice to say, and unexpected in this generation. Paul Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Paul. I think people in the grocery store would ask the baby’s name, and you would say Paul, and they would say “Oh!!”—suddenly realizing that they had forgotten about that name, and had missed it.
Louis, another warm and gentle and forgotten choice, but it would rule out Louisa. Louis Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Louis.
I wanted badly to suggest George, which would be high on my list if I had another boy to name—but I think George Foreign sounds too much like George Foreman. The man himself is not a negative association for me, but the relentless George Foreman grill commercials are. Maybe Gage instead? Gage Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Gage.
Charlie and Wilson to me evokes Charlie Wilson’s War which is probably less and less and issue.
I can attest that Paul on a little guy is charming! I know a little toddler Paul and he is just the cutest little dude whose name fits him perfectly. I also do love Isaac for this family!
Maybe one of these for timeless but fresh!
Alistair
Archie
August
Cole
Gideon
Graham
Harris
Harvey
Jude
Leon
Marlon
Noel
Oscar
Otis
Perry
Ruben
Spencer
Willis
Ummmm, are we the same people?!?? I almost named my son Charlie and my daughter would have been Callum. Every name on your list is on mine, and my nephew is Eamon. Come on!! I also ADORE your girls’ names!!! So here’s a name that we were going to name my other daughter:
Malachy (pronounced MAL-a-key)
Charlie, Eamon, and Malachy
I’ll be honest, my sister babysat twins named Eamon and Malachy, that’s where it came from, and it’s firmly Celtic and lovely, like Charlie and Eamon (and Callum).
Is Ewan a possibility? I love that name. Or Hugh?
Charlie, Eamon, and Hugh
Oooh, I like that!
Charlie, Eamon, and Francis
Frannie!! I knew a Francis that I babysat and he went by Fran or Frannie. I LOVED it. And it’s very good with your names. Let’s see – he was brother to Eric and Leo.
Charlie, Eamon, and Leo – that’s GREAT!
What about Micah? Very nice boy name!
Charlie, Eamon, and Micah
I love that – that might be my favourite so far!!
I’m trying to think about names from my very Irish family…
We had Thompson on our list, we liked Thom/Tommy but didn’t like Thomas for personal reasons.
Charlie, Eamon and Thompson
Charlie, Eamon and Thomas
What about one of my all time favourite Celtic boys’ name:
Ronan
Charlie, Eamon, and Ronan
I love how that sounds!! It’s SO handsome. Ronan Foreign – I think it’s totally do-able!
My sister’s other son is Ezr@, and I have to say, it sounds great with Charlie and Eamon!
I love Donnall and Declan and Duncan as nice boy Irish names…
Or softer than Ronan, how about Rowan? Such a gentle, lovely name and perfect with your sibset:
Charlie, Eamon and Rowan
That’s one of my faves for sure…
A name I have on my list (for an imaginary 4th child lol) is Judah.
Charlie, Eamon, and Judah
Another one that’s at the top of my list is:
Everett
Charlie, Eamon, and Everett
Ooh, I like that!
Or Teddy
Charlie, Eamon, and Edward (nn Teddy)
I love Teddy. You could do Theodore if you don’t like Edward.
What about Emmett or Elliott?
Charlie, Eamon, and Emmett
Charlie, Eamon and Elliott
I like the softness of Emmett and the playfulness of Elliott. A nn for Elliott could be Eli. Love that name.
I LOVE Swistle’s suggestions!!. Bennett and Grant are my faves from her list.
If I think of any more I’ll add another comment – I love your style!! Please give us an update if possible!!
Swistle really knocked it out of the park with her suggestions as always! Really loving Davis, Malcolm (Mac is such a cute nickname as gives me the same vibes as Cal), Isaac “Zac”, and Bennett. Davis might be my favorite.
Here are some ideas that feel familiar yet unexpected and also fit in with Charlie and Eamon’s friendly, warm vibes:
Oscar
Charlie, Eamon, and Oscar
Flynn
Charlie, Eamon, and Flynn
Nathaniel
Charlie, Eamon, and Nathaniel/Nat/Nate
Trevor
Charlie, Eamon, and Trevor
Maxwell
Charlie, Eamon, and Maxwell/Max/Wells
Lane
Charlie, Eamon, and Lane
Grady
Charlie, Eamon, and Grady
Jonah
Charlie, Eamon, Jonah/Jones/Joey
Graham/Graeme
Charlie, Eamon, Graham/Graeme
Garrett
Charlie, Eamon, and Garrett
Morgan
Charlie, Eamon, Morgan
Patrick
Charlie, Eamon, and Patrick
A few more to add
Dean
Charlie, Eamon, and Dean
Rory
Charlie, Eamon, and Rory
Leo
Charlie, Eamon, and Leo
Silas
Charlie, Eamon, and Silas
August
Charlie, Eamon, and August
Kit instead of Cal? Or Christopher called Kit?
Charlie, Eamon, and Kit!
“Paul, which I have ruined for myself by using it as my husband’s blog pseudonym, but it is a wonderful name really: warm and nice to say, and unexpected in this generation. Paul Foreign; Charlie, Eamon, and Paul. I think people in the grocery store would ask the baby’s name, and you would say Paul, and they would say “Oh!!”—suddenly realizing that they had forgotten about that name, and missed it.”
As the mother of a toddler Paul, I would like to confirm that this is exactly how it tends to be received. It’s so straightforward and well-known but utterly neglected in the current generation that it feels fresh.
I wanted to suggest Shane for this same reason! I think it’s such a lovely, straight forward name but you never hear it anymore.
Right there with you. It is such a delight to say–generally quite rare, but as it happens a dear friend and I BOTH used the name a couple years apart. Hers had a toddler-nickname of Polliwog, and when my then-three year old was distinguishing between her friend and her brother (meaning her friend), she’d earnestly correct us by saying, “Nonono, Pauly-WOG”.
I melt every time I see his name written down, or hear it come out of his sisters’ mouths.
The almost-name for us was Matthias.
I have a Bennett and can confirm it wears very well. It sounds good with your names too! If it helps, his brother is Hugo, which has gotten a lot of joyful “Hugo!”s when we introduce him.
BUT I wanted to encourage you to press your husband on Miles. It is such a sweet name, one of my personal favorites which I couldn’t use because of my last name. It sounds great with your other boys names and Miles Davis is about as classic AND cool name inspiration as it gets. I also love Ronan and Malcolm for you.
Hugo is my name that got away. It would have been the name of my third if she was a boy. I would love for everyone to use it, and I think it’s lovely with Charlie and Eamon.
Miles is my favorite of your three possibilities.
Swistle and I must be on the same wavelength today as I selected three of her suggestions before I read her response:
Grant
Spencer
Wesley
I also thought of Magnus.
Suggestions from Swistle and others that I think are good:
Bennett
Isaac
Jude
Malcolm — this might be my favorite.
Russell
Best wishes to you!
Neville. Charlie, Eamon and Neville.
Louis. Charlie, Eamon and Louis.
August. Charlie, Eamon and August.
Mathias. Charlie, Eamon and Matias (a twist on 1985 favorite Matthew)
Micah. Charlie, Eamon and Micah (a twist on 1985 favorite Michael)
Duncan. Charlie, Eamon and Duncan.
Julian. Charlie, Eamon and Julian (a twist on 1985 favorite Justin)
Dean. Charlie, Eamon and Dean.
Garrett. Charlie, Eamon and Garrett.
Peter. Charlie, Eamon and Peter.
Hamilton. Charlie, Eamon and Hamilton.
If Arlo doesn’t work, could Arno work?
I really like Reid and Miles. A few other ideas, with apologies for repeats:
Dermot (This is my favorite)
Cormac
Emmett (I like this a lot)
Drew
Peter
Doyle
Grady
Blaise (Another favorite)
Garrett
Graham
Zane
Basil
August
Kit
What about Jonas? Similar to the point swistle made about Davis being a fresh take on traditional David. Maybe Jonas can be a fresh take on classic Joseph?
Charlie, Eamon, and Jonas
I agree Arlo is close to Charlie, which is too bad because I really like it. Reid and Miles seems like good fits and I like Swistle’s suggestion of Milo to combine Miles and Arlo. In that spirit, I’d suggest Louis and Ezra, which kind of remind me of Louisa and Eliza from your girl list. If this baby will be your last, I’d suggest Ethan or an Ed name (Edward or Edgar or Edwin), but if there might be a daughter in your future, I’d hold off so your first choice Edie is still on the table.
Maybe reminding him that the new baby on Sesame Street in the early-mid 80s was named Miles? Plus, of course, Miles Davis. Or maybe Davis? Similar to David, but perhaps a bit more 2020s?
Patrick nicely straddles the line between the solidly English Charlie and the very Celtic Eamon.
The 2 Irish-born guys I know irl are named Albert & Matthew. Bertie is definitely playing hoops with Charlie & Eamon. Matthew’s probably too common a 1985 name, for all that Uncle Matt is 80-mumble.
I also like Paul, Elliot, Sean, Mattias, Graham, Malcolm, Colin, or Conall
Walter feels like the perfect fit to me!
I also love Elisabeth’s suggestion of Colin.
From Swistle’s list, Malcolm is one that had immediately sprung to mind as I read the letter, so I’m biased and think it would work well in this set. I want to love it but personally find it a bit hard to pronounce, my tongue just stumbles towards the end.
I’d also suggest
Dean
Duncan
Matthias
Peter
Timothy
Thaddeus
Guthrie
And third-ing Colin.
Charlie, Eamon, and Orson!
Otherwise, Charlie, Eamon, and Malcolm.
Cool boys, cool brothers!
Congratulations and best wishes!