Patty writes:

I’m pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, and have no idea what to name them! Our 16-month old son is William Ryan, or Will, and we’re having a hard time with the twins’ names. I don’t want anything too cutesy or matching. For the boy, my favorite name is Henry, but my husband doesn’t like it. We tend to like traditional or old-fashioned names (Sam, Ethan, and Owen are a few I like). The top contender right now is Thomas, which means Twin and was my dad’s name, but I’d rather use it as a middle name. For the girl, our top pick right now is Hannah, but if we do end up with Henry, I’m not sure we want to do two H names. Other girl names we like: Lauren, Emma, Emily, Caitlin. I love Grace, but already have a Will, so don’t want to use that! Our last name starts with a B and is 3 syllables. Any suggestions?

My twins were my hardest babies to name! I wanted a LITTLE TIDGE of matchiness, but not TOO MUCH. And none of the boy names we liked seemed to go with the girl names we liked—or else they went too much. What we finally did was separate the two decisions: we thought to ourselves, “If we were having a girl now, what would we name her? And then if we scooted forward in time to the next pregnancy and found we were having a boy, what would we name him?” And then we went with those names.

Unfortunately this turned out to mean zero matchiness, but we hadn’t been able to find any that had the right tidge anyway. Elizabeth and Edward (the pseudonyms I use for my twins on my blogs) would have been the perfect tidge with their matching initials and matching whiffs of royalty but utterly distinct sounds.

Oh, hey—would those be good possibilities for your twins? Elizabeth and Edward? Elizabeth Grace and Edward Thomas, perhaps—that would be a good way to use the name Grace without the Will & Grace problem. Gosh, I LOVE that: William Ryan, Elizabeth Grace, and Edward Thomas. Or if you don’t like Edward, maybe Edmund?

From your lists, here are some pairings I like:

Emma and Sam
Sam and Hannah
Ethan and Hannah
Lauren and Owen
Ethan and Emily

Just for fun, and because you and I have Lauren, Emily, and Ethan in common, here are some sets we considered for our twins:

Eric and Lauren
Eric and Genevieve
Eric and Anna
Eric and Jane
John and Emily
John and Eliza
John and Lauren
John and Genevieve
Eric and Claire
Eric and Emily
Charles (Charlie) and Genevieve
Charles (Charlie) and Elizabeth
Charles (Charlie) and Jane
Alec and Genevieve
Ethan and Genevieve
Ethan and Jane
Malcolm and Genevieve
Jonathan and Genevieve

Your husband doesn’t like the name Henry but you both like Hannah, so here are a few more boy names to try with Hannah:

Hannah and Caleb
Hannah and Daniel
Hannah and Elliot
Hannah and Emmett
Hannah and Evan
Hannah and Gavin
Hannah and Isaac
Hannah and John
Hannah and Nathaniel
Hannah and Oliver

Go nuts, everybody: choose sets of twins from the parents’ list of possibilities, choose boy names to go with Hannah, or choose whole new sets from thin air.

Name update 10-05-2009! Patty writes:

Well, the babies arrived last week, and as we waited for me to be wheeled into the OR, my husband and I finally came to an agreement on names: Samuel Thomas and Lucy Elizabeth were born on 9/29/09 and are doing great!

Thanks for your help!

Katherine writes:

We are having a baby girl due September 29, and we’re still really stuck on the name! We currently have two little girls- Lilly Samantha and Kira Madeline, who we had no trouble naming. Their last name begins with a C and ends in -ing. We want our baby girl to have a shorter first name and a longer middle name like her sisters. I’m leaning toword two syllables, to go with her sisters, but I’d be fine with one as well. Right now we are thinking about Alexandra and Charlotte for a middle name, but the big issue is the first name. My top two are probably Maya and Faith, but I don’t totally love either of them. I also really like the name Halle (I like that spelling rather than Hallie) but I’m worried it sounds to similar to Lilly. I love the name Hunter as well, but I don’t think it really goes with our others. Some other names we’ve considered are:

Bryn (my husband likes it, I don’t)
Abby (It seems too much like a nickname to me, and I don’t love Abigail)
Taylor (not sure if it goes with the others…and I don’t love it)
Nina
Leigh ( I LOVE this name, but I don’t like the idea of having two kids with the first initial)
Lea/Leah (same problem as Leigh)
Becca (I like Becca, I hate Rebecca, and Becca feels too much like a nickname)

I also love Allison, Hannah, and Natalia, but these all seem too long to go with Lilly and Kira. I want them to be about the same length. I also love the name Niamh, which is Irish, and both my husband and I have Irish backgrounds, but I worry about naming my daughter something so uncommon that so few people will be able to pronounce.

I love the names Veronica and Victoria, though I think both are too long to go with Lilly and Kira.

I love Sydney as well, but again it seems to long for me, visually.

Thank you so much!!

I leaned heavily on the “Short and Sweet” section of The Baby Name Wizard (still linking to old edition because it seems like I need to link SOMEHOW to the book—but what the hey, Amazon.com? Ever going to list the second edition?), and then added a handful more your list brought to mind:

Alia
Anya
Ayla
Beck
Beckett
Bria
Britt
Cleo
Esme
Eva
Mia
Mila
Romy
Tessa
Tia

My favorites from that list are Alia, Bria, Britt, Mila, and Tia. I love the names like Anya and Eva and Romy, but I wonder if those sounds are a little heavy with Lilly and Kira (the book listed Roma instead of Romy, which is even heavier).

Name update 09-28-2009! Katherine writes:

Eden Alexandra arrived Friday, September 25, at 9 am. She is a beautiful, delicate little girl and her name fits her perfectly. Thank you so much, all of your suggestions and the comments from the readers helped to narrow down what we really wanted and it was a comment from a reader that put Eden in our head and made us fall in love with it. Thank you!!

Susan writes:

I just stumbled upon your blog and would love some help coming up with names for our third child (a girl!).
Our children’s names are Elisabeth (nn Ellie) and Jackson (nn Jack) and our last name sounds like “Tom’s”. We like names that can be shortened into cute nicknames but will also be strong adult names. We have been somewhat unlucky in choosing names/nicknames that we thought weren’t too popular or trendy only to discover that the year we had our children, those names jumped up the rankings; this time around, we’re hoping to do a better job! We do like classic names, which I know by definition are more popular, but as long as we’re out of the top 10 or 20 list, I think we’d be okay with the choice.
So far, the only two names we can somewhat agree on are:

Catherine Rose (nn. Caty or Catie or Caitie?) This is the name my 4 year old daughter has picked out and stood by for the past 4 months, and actually it is what we almost named her when she was born.

Ainsley Rose (nn? Would Annie work? Other ideas? We don’t want Lee…)

Any input or other ideas? (Rose is a family name and will most likely be the middle name.)

 
There is, as you’ve found, no good way to prevent a name from getting popular around the time you use it: we all tend to like the same names at the same time. One way to improve your odds is to check out the Social Security Administration trends: type in the name you’re considering and look at, say, the last 50 years. A name like Jack didn’t get popular in one single leap: it stayed pretty steadily where it was until the early 1990s when it began making a series of small but significant leaps each year.

The name Jackson went up even more dramatically starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, traveling from #521 in 1986 to #241 in 1991 to #136 in 1996 to #72 in 2000.

The nickname Ellie only hit the Top 1000 in 1992, but then went rapidly up in popularity:

(screenshot from SSA.gov)

Look at that fast mover!

So anyway, all that is to say that if you want to avoid the name everyone thinks is unusual but then it turns out to be pretty common, look for the rapid (or even steady) risers. Any name that hangs around looking bored for a few decades and then goes whooshing upward should be avoided.

The name Catherine looks pretty safe, losing popularity steadily year by year. The nickname is another story, and harder to figure out. The spellings Cate and Catie and Caitie aren’t in the Top 1000, but Kate is rising. Also, there are many, many, many Caitlyns, Katelyns, Kaitlyns, etc. already using that set of nicknames, so it’s a little tricky to tell how many you’ll have in your area.

Ainsley doesn’t have much data, but it hit the Top 1000 for the first time at #481 (in 2001), and that’s a big jump. It’s pretty much stayed in the 400s since then, but I’ve been hearing it disproportionately often on people’s name lists so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was poised for another big leap.

Okay! On to the suggestions:

Anna Rose Toms, nickname Annie
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Anne; Ellie, Jack, and Annie

Joanna Rose Toms, nickname Jo
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Joanna; Ellie, Jack, and Jo

Mary Rose Toms, nickname Molly
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Mary; Ellie, Jack, and Molly

Margaret Rose Toms, nickname Meg (the nickname Greta is rising)
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Margaret; Ellie, Jack, and Meg

Sarah Rose Toms, nickname Sally (the nickname Sadie is rising)
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Sarah; Ellie, Jack, and Sally

Susanna Rose Toms, nickname Sukie
Elisabeth, Jackson, and Susanna; Ellie, Jack, and Sukie

Let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results (202 votes total):
Catherine (Catie): 63 votes, roughly 31%
Ainsley (Annie?): 21 votes, roughly 10%
Anna (Annie): 26 votes, roughly 13%
Joanna (Jo): 5 votes, roughly 2%
Mary (Molly): 16 votes, roughly 8%
Margaret (Meg): 38 votes, roughly 19%
Sarah (Sally): 11 votes, roughly 5%
Susanna (Sukie): 22 votes, roughly 11%

Name update! Susan writes:

A huge thank you to you and your readers for all of the naming advice! Catherine Rose was finally born on Oct. 14th and our older daughter is thrilled that we used the name she picked! We, too, love that there is a “story” behind her name.

Kate writes:

I have been reading the blog for awhile now and never thought I would actually need to write in for help…but alas here I am. My husband and I found out we are having a boy – due September 29th. Initially when we found out we were having a boy we were somewhat on the same page with names so decided to take a break over talking about it at every moment (okay that was more me) since we knew we still had 20 more weeks to decide. Well now we are fast approaching and when the discussion resurfaced we are TOTALLY on the wrong page. We have a couple of names we like but I don’t think any that have totally wowed either of us. Neither of us are opposed to going into the hospital with a top three but we can’t even agree on those at this point.

The last name is Jones so everyone keeps telling us we can go way out there with the first name but part of the problem is I have always liked somewhat more traditional names, I am not really into some of the more “invented” names if you will. With that said I don’t want the name to be the most popular name out there either where every kid on the playground has the same name as my little boy. The only other hang-up is the syllables in the name – it may sound crazy but I prefer to have at least two syllables in the first name since our last name is so short. Some names we have discussed haven’t so I am not opposed to going the single syllable route, just prefer more than one.

So without further ado here is the list we are working with:

– Gavin

– Isaac

– Everett

– Elliott

– Graham

– Charles

– Emmett

– Marshall

– Mitchell

Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated!

If I could COMPEL you to use the name Isaac, I would. Isaac Jones! It’s wonderful! Modern yet ancient! And I love how both names have an S that sounds like a Z.

But I also love your other options. If I had to pick a Top Three list for the hospital, I’d choose Isaac, Elliott (which I’d spell Elliot and my husband would spell Eliot, and neither of us would budge, and that’s one of the main reasons we didn’t use it ourselves), and Emmett.

Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what the rest of us think [poll closed; see results below], and we can put our Top Three lists in the comment section.

Poll results (229 votes total):

Gavin: 30 votes, roughly 13%

Isaac: 56 votes, roughly 24%

Everett: 36 votes, roughly 16%

Elliot: 43 votes, roughly 19%

Graham: 13 votes, roughly 6%

Charles: 6 votes, roughly 3%

Emmett: 27 votes, roughly 12%

Marshall: 10 votes, roughly 4%

Mitchell: 8 votes, roughly 3%

Name update: Elliott

Zoë writes:

Hi Swistle! I’m Zoë, and my husband is Jamie. (Zoë Isabelle and James William Martin). We are expecting a baby boy on September 21st, and we still can’t decide on a name for him. This is especially important because he is our first son (we have three girls) and he will be our last child.

Our girls are Mathilda Rosemary (Rosemary after Jamie’s mother, who passed away about a month before she was born), “Tilly,” and our twins, Hazel Beatrice and Amalia Claire. Beatrice and Claire are both after family. Our naming style seems pretty consistant; names that have a classic, slightly old fashioned feel, but not too common. Amalia was most popular in 1924, and Mathilda and Hazel 1918, respectively. But we just can’t seem to agree on a boy’s name.

We’d initially agreed on Henry, which we both liked, but we don’t want a very common name, and Henry is number 78 and on the rise. So that’s out. The same goes for Benjamin, which we’d thought about, but it’s number 25. Popularity (or, for us, lack of it) is very important to us. We want a name that’s somewhere in the middle – not a name that people do a double take when they hear, but we don’t want him to be one of five in his class.

Other names we’ve thought about are Owen (too popular), Griffith (I liked it, he didn’t), Toby (vice versa), Oliver (too popular), Grant (our last name is Grande), and Julius (too popular). I also really love Jack, and Jamie does too, despite it’s popularity, but I feel like it has to be short for something, and neither of us likes Jackson. And we also discussed Trevor and Fletcher, both of which are more modern and popular and don’t really go with our daughters names, but we kind of like them.

Oh, and we really want to honor both of our fathers (Lyle and Earnest) in the middle name, but we don’t particularily like either of their names.

Oh my, we are in a pickle here. If you could help us with a classic, early twentieth century name that isn’t too common now, as well as finding some way to honor my dad and Lyle, that would be amazing.

Thank you so much!

Let’s talk for a minute about commonness. The name Jacob (not on your list, I know, but stay with me) is the number one most popular boy name in the United States, and it was given to 1.0355% of boys born in 2008 (source: Social Security Administration). This means that out of 100 boys, approximately 1 is named Jacob. Assuming a class size of 30, where 15 are boys, that gives you roughly one single Jacob per SEVEN classrooms.

And that’s the most popular boy name in the U.S.! The name Julius, which is on your too-common list, was given to only .0501% of boys born in 2008. That’s 5 boys named Julius for every 10,000 boys—or roughly 1 Julius for every 667 classrooms.

My point is that if you want a classic and non-double-take name, I think you’re dramatically over-limiting your options—even if you want it to be quite uncommon.

But I can still take on the challenge! Here is a list of names that were common in the time period you want, but AREN’T common NOW (source for 2008 name rankings: Social Security Administration):

Frederick (#523)
Walter (#393)
Louis (#351)
Carl (#490; Karl is #864)
Theodore (#295)
Warren (#509)
Stanley (#653)
Russell (#406)
Harvey (#913)
Everett (#383)
Rufus (not in Top 1000 in 2008)
Leon (#502)
Edmund (not in Top 1000 in 2008)
August (#482)
Franklin (#467)
Calvin (#228)

Here are a few more to consider; these were around (though not common) in the time period you have in mind, and I think they have the right sound:

Cyrus (#512)
Gideon (#534)
Wilson (#537)
Malcolm (#546)
Emmett (#547)
Abram (#548)
Aldo (#569)
Wade (#591)
Jefferson (#599)
Clark (#698)
Sullivan (#706)
Sterling (#872)
Arlo (not in Top 1000 for 2008)

Now it’s a matter of seeing which names from those lists go well with your surname and with the sibling names. I think I’d use both grandpa names as middle names: I favor using people’s actual names to honor them (in my experience, even a bleah name has grown on me with time because of the family connection), and I don’t mind the use of two middle names for this one child since it’s your last chance to use the names. A few sample possibilities:

Frederick Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Frederick
Everett Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Everett
Rufus Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Rufus
Edmund Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Edmund
Franklin Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Franklin
Calvin Earnest Lyle Grande; Mathilda, Hazel, Amalia, and Calvin

Would anyone else like to give opinions on which names work best, or opinions on the middle name situation?

Name update 09-26-2009! Zoë writes:

Hi, Swistle! Thank you so much for posting our name dilemma. When people suggested John with Jack as a nickname, we decided to do some more research to find out what other names we could use as a full name for Jack. And we agreed on Jasper (#452, but also popular at the turn of the century). Earnest and Lyle just weren’t appealing to us, though, so we’ve gone with both of our fathers middle names instead (both of which were on your suggestions list!). Jasper Franklin Louis Grande was born a day early at 8:07am on Sunday, September 20th. The girls are already referring to him as ‘Baby Jack.’ We’re very happy with our decision.. how do you think the name sounds? Thank you so much for your help!

Best,

Zoë

P.S. My father’s middle name is pronounced “Loo-ee,” but we’re not sure if we should pronouce Louis in Jack’s name that way or as “Loo-iss.” Which you think sounds better? Just wondering:)

Sarah writes:

My husband Dave and I are due with our second son on September 15th. We’ve never found ourselves in agreement about names. Our 21-month-old son, Isaac Zygmunt, was two days old before we named him. (Dave suggested Isaac after Sir Isaac Newton, and I readily agreed since it was what I’d wanted my parents to name my youngest brother. Zygmunt is after Dave’s long-deceased grandfather, and also the middle name of both Dave and his dad.) We call him Ike. I like the idea of his new baby brother getting a fun nickname, too, but it’s not a requirement.

In my opinion, our last name, Kil (pronounced “kill”) can be a bit hard on first names. Ones that end in “-en” or “-an” often create an unpleasant combo. For example, Dave recently suggested the name Roman, and I pointed out that with our last name, it would sound like “roam and kill.”

Dave, a geek, looks to scientists and mathematicians for name inspiration. (Hence Isaac.) But even more, he loves what he calls “gladiator/warrior” names–Apollo, Leonidas, Maximus, Sinbad. These strike me as names better suited to pets or comic book heroes. Dave loves the idea of Maximus “Max” Kil, but it just sounds too violent to me.

I like the idea of using names from our families. We could name the baby after our dads, Charles and Richard, who both died shortly after Dave and I started dating. I like the nickname Charlie for a little guy. (My dad went by Chuck, which sounds like more of a grown-up nickname to me.) I’d rather not use Richard as the first name because Dave says he’d want to shorten it to his dad’s nickname, Dick. (No offense to a great guy.)

Probably my favorite at the moment is Arlo. It first appealed to me in high school, when I noticed a couple famous people with the name. I’ve been thinking about it again recently, but I held off on suggesting it until a few days ago. Dave didn’t shoot it down, but I think he was just being polite because I built it up so much. I tried to sell him on the idea that it sounds similar to Apollo. It’s also an Italian variant of Charles, which I enjoy knowing, since my dad was half Italian.

I have long liked the name Atticus (from one of my favorite books, To Kill A Mockingbird). Dave has expressed that it’s cool because it has that ancient Roman sound he likes, but I wonder if it’s just a little too unusual to actually saddle my kid with.

Dave also likes Xavier; while I find it vastly preferable to his other picks, I don’t love it. Names which have been suggested and not outright disagreed upon are Abraham (Abe) and Asher (Ash).

Besides Zygmunt, our grandfathers had/have very common first names, but niftier middle names that might be worked in somewhere: Gardner, Martin, Roland. Oh, and David might be all right, too.

Can you come up with a name that will somehow marry our disparate tastes? Many thanks!

I’m with you on Maximus Kil. The child has geek genes, you said? A name like Maximus Kil is not going to work if he turns out intellectual, quiet, bookish, or skinny. In fact, I can’t picture it on a burly football player, either. Or on a doctor. Or on a computer programmer, a teacher, a psychologist, a scientist, or anyone except a pro wrestler or video game character.

The name Atticus leaps out at me from your list, but I wish it had a nickname. It seems like a lot of name for everyday use. But it would make a terrific middle name. Perhaps for this boy you could switch the family name to the first position and do Charles Atticus. Ike and Charlie.

I love Arlo and hope your husband will go for it. I like Arlo Richard, since it puts the name of honor in a non-nickname position.

Another first-name possibility is Edison. I’ve said it aloud a few times with your surname and I don’t think it presents problems there. Ike and Ed is adorable.

I also suggest Augustus. Ike and Gus.

Or Quintus: Ike and Quin.

Archimedes is a lot of name, but the cute nickname Archie makes it more manageable. Ike and Archie.

Darwin is a GREAT boy name, but Darwin has come to represent all of evolutionary theory. The name may now be too steeped in meaning for regular use.

Linus. Ike and Linus.

Tycho was the name of a famous astronomer, but doesn’t he sound more like a gladiator? Ike and Ty. [Edit: I’ve been saying it TIKE-o, but apparently it’s TEEK-o. Thanks, Karen! I think Ike and Teek is great.]

Name update 09-25-2009! Sarah writes:

Both you and your readers provided excellent ideas. When we saw Augustus/”Gus,” Dave and I were both excited. It really was perfect for both our tastes. The next day Dave’s enthusiasm for it waned, but I’ll be keeping it for possible future use.

Our new little guy was born on the 15th, and after a couple nameless days, we were getting frustrated. I liked a number of names but had no absolute favorite; Dave had been campaigning for Maximus since before our first son was born. I told Dave we should go with Maximus. He got nervous about my sudden change of heart, so it took another day before we officially committed to Maximus Richard, “Max.” I can’t imagine him as anyone other than Max now and feel that he’ll mold the name to who he is.

Nana writes:

Have you ever had a Nana write to you? I am going to have a granddaughter on September 9. My daughter and son-in-law just can’t come to an agreement on a name. They have a two year old son and found a name they both loved right away. His name is Camden James. Naming a child is such an big decision, so it’s important that they find a name that they both LOVE with neither having to compromise. Jessica, my daughter likes the newer, trendier names. This is her list: Emerson, Ellery, Zoe, Elizabeth, Sophia, Sadie, and Ava. Justin likes familiar, non-“made-up” names: Abigail, Ashley, Leah, Sydney and Natalie.

Originally, they both liked Natalie but Jessica is not so keen on it anymore. Also, they don’t want the nickname of gnat, and with a 3 syllable name, it’s inevitable that the child have some sort of nickname. (I suggested Talie but it was nixed) Justin’s favorite is Abigail…but it’s off Jessica’s radar. She thought he’d like Elizabeth…more traditional…but “no” was his answer.

(I personally like Sydney, Elizabeth and Natalie but a Nana can only express that opinion once.)

Jessica was ok with Ashley (with hopes that no one would call her Ash) but her cousin just named her daughter Ashlyn two weeks ago! (we are a close family) That takes the specialness out of it. I should also mention that R names are out as their last name is Ronderger.

So, Great Swistle, Jessica and Justin hope that you and your court (faithful followers with wise suggestions) can think of the perfect name for “Little Miss No Name” so that my dear granddaughter won’t have to be raised in the hospital until she is old enough to choose her own name! (I’ve heard that mom can’t leave until baby is named)

I’m so happy you’re there for us!

Here’s how I made my list: I took the names that would have been familiar to me back when I was in high school, and then I sifted through for ones that didn’t make me groan, “Oh, not THAT name AGAIN!”

Audrey
Bethany
Bridget
Brynna
Claire
Claudia
Elise
Emily
Holly
Jillian
Jocelyn
Laurel
Lindsay
Melanie
Meredith
Molly
Noelle
Sabrina
Sarah
Victoria

The trouble is, this list is likely to please Justin and not Jessica: someone who likes newer names (I would suggest Avaleigh and Brinley) is going to find the above list PRETTY DULL. Perhaps the first name could be something familiar and older, and the middle name could be something less familiar and newer? Molly Emerson Ronderger would be cute.

Can anyone help here? Familiar names that are more FUN, perhaps?

Name update 09-10-2009! Nana writes:

Baby Girl Ronderger arrived today! She has a name….AND….I’m very excited to say that Jessica and Justin picked her name from one of YOUR suggestions….faithful Swistle followers!!!!

The Naming Winner is Tracynicole22 !!!

Addison Grace Ronderger is 6lbs, 12 oz, 17 ½ inches long is lovely (she and mommy are healthy, too) and looks quite like her big two year old brother, Camden.

So THANK YOU to ALL who gave those wonderful suggestions. This has been so much fun!

Nana