Natalie writes:

I need help! We are expecting our first child, a boy, Feb. 27, and we are nowhere near choosing the name. I’ve given my husband several choices, but he doesn’t really like any of them. I thought we had our list narrowed down to three, but I asked him about the names the other day, and he didn’t really seem too excited about any of them. First, a couple rules:
– No names that begin with N. Both our first names start with N, and I don’t want to be stuck using that letter with all our kids.
– Our last name is Hilton, so I don’t want any names that end with -ten, -tan, -ton. Nothing rhymey.
– Names I like but we won’t use for various reasons: Noah, Eli, Luke/Lucas, Max, Sam, Jack.

One problem I seem to keep having is I like the name until I say it with our last name. I don’t like the way anything sounds with Hilton! One day I thought, “I really like the name Harris Hilton.” But I couldn’t figure out why it sounded so familiar. Then I remembered Paris…

We had my list of names narrowed down to:
Oliver James or Oliver Hays
Sawyer James
Levi James

James does not have to be the middle name, but it is a family name that seems to go well with everything. Hays is my maiden name, so I’ve considered using that too. My husband wants to use Jaxon as a middle name (I don’t).

I had decided I liked Levi best of those names, but my husband tells me last night he doesn’t think it sounds like our baby’s name (with no other explanation). The only name he has suggested is Malachi. I like Malachi, but I think it’s too different for us.

Other names I’ve suggested, but he says no (or “I’ll think about it”) to:
Abram
Milo
Trace (I really like the way Trace Hilton sounds)
Jase
Theo
Leo

The thing with all these names is that I don’t know anyone named them, so I have a hard time imagining what the name will look like on an adult. Please help us, we are both so indecisive and hate making big decisions. I just feel like I need someone else’s opinion. Thanks!

 
If you both like Malachi but it seems too different to use, I wonder if you’d like Micah or Malcolm?

I like S-sound-ending names with Hilton: Bryce Hilton, Charles Hilton, Marcus Hilton, Miles Hilton, Rhys Hilton, Ross Hilton. But I’m worried that some of them sound a bit uppercrust.

Some more possibilities:

Dane Hilton
Gage Hilton
Joel Hilton
Reid Hilton
Seth Hilton
Wade Hilton
Wesley Hilton

I think my favorites are Charles (Charlie) Hilton, Wesley (Wes) Hilton, Joel Hilton, Ross Hilton, and Seth Hilton.

Name update!

So, it’s been almost five years since this:  https://www.swistle.com/babynames/2010/02/04/baby-boy-hilton/.  But I’m recommending your site to a friend, and realized I never sent an update!

Our son was born the next day after the blog post.  Many readers recommended Micah, but that was another name we couldn’t use – we have a niece named Myca.  Malachi and Eli were also both suggested, and we did go with an old testament name.  I also liked Trace and Chase, and we went in that direction for a middle name.

So I’m being induced and we have all day to sit in the hospital room, I have my Baby Name Wizard book in hand.  And it just hits me, I say, “I like Isaac.”  My husband says, “I do too.”  And that was that.  For the middle name we chose Jase.  Isaac Jase has worked out well for our little bundle of joy, I mean strong-willed preschooler.

And then, two years later, we had a girl.  There was no dilemma with her name; from early on we both agreed on Sarah Addison.  We call her Sadie.  And honestly, I wish I had just named her Sadie.  I worried about Sadie being too nicknamey and she might not like it when she’s older. But Sadie needs something after it.  She is always called Sadie May, Sadie Joe, Sadie Bug, Sadie Girl.  If she had a middle name after Sadie, it would make it easier to know what to call her:)

Thanks for your great blog!
Natalie

Kelly writes:

I am due with a baby girl in February (around 2/20/10) and we are having a heck of a time naming her! We seem to like a bunch of names but haven’t fallen in love with any. We already have one son, named Aiden Michael. I love the name Aiden but back then, I didn’t really understand how popular the name had become. Though I still love his name, I regret that it is so very common now. I don’t like really unusual or made-up names, but we are hoping to avoid a super-duper popular name for our baby girl. Hmm, what else? Our last name sounds like Foe-dell. Ideally, I would like to use the middle name “Anne” or “Anna” to honor our mothers, since they both share that middle name.

Some of our favorite names so far include:

Delaney (nickname Laney)
Leah
Natalie

We also like:

Lilah
Reese
Gianna
Charlotte (nn Charlie)
Emerson (nn Emmy)
Aubrey (nn Bree)
Jenna
Brianne (but my husband had an ex named Brianna… so… we’re not so sure about this)

I like the names Avery, Mia, Paige, and Harper, but my husband isn’t too crazy about those. We’d appreciate any ideas or advice!

Thanks!

Natalie is a popular name (#13 in 2008), and Lila/Lilah is shooting up so fast I would bet on it hitting the top ten before long. Charlotte, Leah, Emerson, Reese, Gianna, Aubrey, Avery, Mia, Harper—all rising in popularity. And it’s so hard to know which ones will just become pleasantly popular (i.e., everyone will know the name and not think it’s weird) and which ones will become regrettably popular.

There are a few on your list, though, that don’t follow the trends: Delaney had a surge in the early 1990s but now seems to have leveled off and may even be decreasing in popularity. Brianne is heading straight down, and Jenna and Paige seem to be going down in popularity as well. (Source for all the names up/down info: the Social Security Administration.)

From your list, I think your best bet is Delaney. It’s not super-popular but it’s not weird either, and it has a great nickname. It’s terrific as a sibling name for Aiden, and it’s great with your surname and with the middle name Anne. Delaney Anne Foedell—that’s my first choice.

Another possibility, similar to Jenna and Brianne, is Brenna. Brenna Anne Foedell is pretty, I think, and the name Brenna feels familiar but is not very common and seems to be decreasing in popularity.

Name update 05-10-2010! Kelly writes:

Our sweet girl was born February 20th and we just adore her. It took us 24 hours to finally settle on her name, but in the end, we just thought she was a Lilah, through and through! Lilah Anne was 8 pounds and 18 inches long, and she’s doing great! Thanks so much for the help and name suggestions.

Carla writes:

I never in a million years thought I’d have trouble coming up with names for my children but here I am, wanting the perfect name for our second child and not feeling anywhere close. I am due February 19 and feeling the crunch. My husband is very opinionated and I’m to the point where I don’t even know what to suggest for fear of his veto.

Our first child is a girl we named Sierra Mary. The name Sierra we simply just loved, and the name Mary was after several grandmothers. Ens is our very short, harsh German last name and a difficult name to compliment in my opinion.I recognize the flow of her name isn’t great but people almost never use their middle name anyway.

Baby number two is of the unknown gender. Our boys option for Sierra was Caleb Henry but I was never in love with it and Caleb is growing too much in popularity for our taste. We have since come up with Sawyer Henry if this one is a boy. Henry is, again, a family name that my husband insists on.

We have some names for a girl and currently like ‘Faith’ for the middle name…what do you think and what would you add? We tend to like softer, slightly different names, definitely not traditional for the most part.

Hailey (very common)
Kaitlyn (very common)
Mikayla (quite common)
Jaylynn
Kianna
Aralynn
Makaya
Annika (I like it my husband, not really)
Acacia (my husband likes this one, to me it’s a little too different or something)

Thanks!

Do you know, my favorite from your list is Acacia. I wouldn’t have thought of the name myself, but when I read it on your list I thought with pleasant surprise, “Hey! That’s a good name!” It’s very unusual but not hard to say, and the sounds are familiar. I think it’s a great sister name with Sierra, and I like the way the AY sound in it coordinates with the AY sound of Faith. Acacia Faith, very nice.

Because Acacia is a botanical name, it brings to mind another possibility: Juniper. Juniper Faith. Juniper Ens.

Which makes me think of Brierly, a very pretty name I think goes well with Sierra. Sierra and Brierly. Brierly Faith. Brierly Ens.

Or Willow. Willow Faith. Willow Ens.

Moving away from the botanical: Paisley. Paisley Faith. Paisley Ens. Adorable.

Braelyn. Braelyn Faith. Braelyn Ens. Sierra and Braelyn. Nice.

Keely. Keely Faith, Keely Ens, Sierra and Keely. Pretty.

Name update 02-26-2010! Carla writes:

Carla Ens here. I thought I’d let you know that I had a son February 23 and we named him Sawyer Henry as planned. I loved and appreciated everyone’s suggestions. Had Sawyer been a girl the name would be Kiana Faith. Although I really liked the ideas of Braelyn and Briarly my husband once again vetoed those! Thanks again.

Lyndsay writes:

Hi Swistle!
I’m hoping you and your readers can help us.. Our daughter’s name is Olyvia Ruth. Ruth is a family name that we were set on using. We rarely call her Olyvia, and use Lyv or Lyvie. I don’t ‘regret’ naming her Olyvia but I do wish I hadn’t sometimes. We didn’t know the sex and had 20 names for girls and 20 for boys (I made the list while in labor!) when she was born, we choose in the hospital the day she was born. Olivia was the only name on our list that was ‘popular’ and it made the list because I had loved that name ever since I saw Olivia Newton John in Greece when I was little! I really like just LYV or LIV but my husband wanted a ‘full’ name so we ended up throwing a ‘y’ in there to make it more unique. Plus Lyv Ruth sounds horrible together. My name is Lyndsay with two y’s so we thought having a y would be kind of a connection.

This time we have no middle name that we’re set on. My husband liked our method before and doesn’t want to even talk about names, whereas I would like to think it out a little more and at least have three to choose from or something so I don’t end up with a crazy ‘y’ to make a popular name seem less popular! Since we do have the ‘y’ going now we were thinking we should find a name with a y for a girl at least. Once again, we don’t know boy or girl. Due very soon so I’m getting nervous! Our last name is Shepherd. We’re Catholic and would like a Saints name for at least the first or middle name.

Some of the girl names I like are Carys or Cerys and Adelaide or Adelayde (is this a legitimate spelling?). I like Carys/Cerys because it has a lovely meaning and a legitimate ‘y’. We’re not sure if Carys Shephard has too much ‘s’ in it. Adelaide/Adelayde we thought we could use with the nn Ady which we think would be cute with Lyv. Adelaide was on our list when our daughter was born (in 2008) but we were talked out of it in the hospital by family! Our friends and family that we’ve asked all seem to think that Carys/Cerys is weird and Adelaide/Adelayde is too heavy.

My husband isn’t hot on either Carys or Adelaide and likes Lucy or Lucia which are both too popular for me, especially in our neighborhood where typically there’s three Lucy’s on the playground at once. He also likes Abigail but we nixed because it’s been taken in our family (plus the whole popularity thing). We also both kind of like Avery but it seems trendy. I was thinking that Lucia or Lucy would be a cute middle name. I personally like Eliza but my husband doesn’t and we wouldn’t want to end up with a Liz and Lyv. Other name options we’ve discussed are Jane, Calla, and Clara, but none of them seem right, maybe as middle names.

For boys, I like Rhys but we have good friends with a girl Reese and that might be too close. I also like Asher, Liam, and Eli which all seem to be rising in the popularity ranks. My husband doesn’t love any of those but doesn’t hate them. He likes Ethan and Luke, once again I think they’re too popular. I suggested Luca as an alternative and he thought that sounded girly. I also like Callum but my husband can’t stand it.

Any chance you can help? I think I’m the more ‘adventurous’ namer of the two of us and we’d love to find something we can agree on that is mainstream enough for him but unique enough for me.

I suggest Adelyn. Adelyn Shepherd. It’s lighter than Adelaide, it has a legitimate Y, and I think it’s good with Olyvia.

My second suggestion is Gwendolyn. It’s a beautiful name, unusual while still being familiar, with a legitimate Y. Gwendolyn Shepherd.

Ellery is reminiscent of Avery, but much less common. Ellery Shepherd.

Oh, or how about Emlyn or Emryn? Emlyn Shepherd, Emryn Shepherd.

Since you like Asher for a boy, perhaps Ashby for a girl? Ashby Shepherd.

Or Felicity, which I think goes particularly nicely with Olyvia. Felicity Shepherd.

I looked up the Saints section in The Baby Name Wizard and there are a lot of good ones. A few that pair nicely with the first name suggestions:

Adelyn Louisa Shepherd
Gwendolyn Daria Shepherd
Ellery Beatrix Shepherd
Emlyn Matilda Shepherd
Emryn Anastasia Shepherd
Ashby Josephine Shepherd

Felicity is already a saint’s name but would be nice with Lucia:

Felicity Lucia Shepherd.

Now, for a boy, do you like Calvin? The beginning is the same as Callum, but perhaps your husband would like it better with the -vin. Calvin Shepherd is great; I love it.

I think Rhys is a very good choice, but if you decide not to use it maybe you’d like Reid instead. Reid Shepherd.

Liam is popular; I wonder why Leon isn’t? It has such a similar sound. Leon Shepherd.

While I was in the R section for Rhys, I saw Rufus. Talk about underused, I never hear this name but I can’t think of any reason why not. Rufus Shepherd.

Eamon is another good name hardly anyone is using. Maybe it’s because it’s a little tricky to learn to pronounce? (It’s like AY-mon.) Eamon Shepherd.

I love Edmund, and it’s easier to pronounce. Edmund Shepherd.

Both Evan and Ethan are common, but Ivan much less so. Ivan Shepherd.

Back to The Baby Name Wizard to find saint names to use as middles:

Calvin Oliver Shepherd
Reid Xavier Shepherd
Leon Elias Shepherd
Rufus Quentin Shepherd
Eamon Brice Shepherd

Edmund and Ivan are already saint names, but I like:

Edmund Silas Shepherd
Ivan Darius Shepherd

Name update! Lyndsay writes:

We actually ended up naming her (another girl! I was pretty happy about this!) Carys Lucy. My husband looked at her and said Carys, so away we went! I do love Adelay, I have suggested it to other friends who are looking for an ‘A’ name!

Carys fits her perfectly, she’s the most affectionate little girl around!

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!