Hello,
We just found out that we are having a baby boy in January. I’m having such a hard time with a name. We have a 3 1/2 year old named Andrew John and a 2 year old named Claire Elizabeth so we like traditional names. Our girl name was Grace Marguerite (mm is my paternal grandmothers name). I like that all 3 of those first names share the letters A, R and E. Our dogs name is Reagan and he shares those letters too and they are all 6 letters (Gracie would have been her nn). But at our 20 week ultrasound today we found out we are having a boy. This will bet last pregnancy given my age and how difficult pregnancies are on me. Please help with boy name suggestions! Thank you in advance.

Kelly

It strikes me as a fun game to see if we can find a 6-letter traditional boy name that shares letters with Andrew and Claire. (I draw the line at coordinating with the dog, but the names that share letters with Andrew and Claire will also share letters with Reagan.)

Calvin (only shares A with both, but also shares N with Andrew and C, L, and I with Claire)
Daniel (shares A and E with both; also D and N with Andrew, I and L with Claire)
Edmund (shares E with both; also N and D with Andrew)
Edward (shares A, E, and R with both; also D and W with Andrew)
Elliot (shares E with both; also L and I with Claire)
Emmett (shares only E with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
George (shares E and R with both)
Jeremy (shares E and R with both)
Joseph (shares only E with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Joshua (shares only A with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Julian (shares A with both; also N with Andrew, L and I with Claire)
Nathan (shares A with both; also N with Andrew)
Oliver (shares E and R with both; also L and I with Claire)
Philip (shares nothing with Andrew, but I think it’s great in this sibling group)
Samuel (shares A and E with both; also L with Claire)
Thomas (shares only A with both, but I like it with this sibling group)
Tobias (shares A with both; also I with Claire)
Wesley (shares E with both, also W with Andrew, L with Claire)

I might have missed a shared letter here and there; it’s surprisingly mind-challenging at this hour of the morning.

But of course I also want to root for the idea of looking for names that don’t meet these fun preferences, if those preferences are starting to make you feel backed into a corner. When we were looking for names for our twins, I really wanted names that matched in SOME way: same number of letters, same initial, same number of syllables, SOMETHING. But after working at that without success, we finally had to choose two names that had nothing in common except that we loved both of them better than all the other choices.

It’s hard to make suggestions without a surname to work with, but names such as William and Charles for that traditional/royal flavor, names such as Matthew and Michael and Jonathan for a classic/familiar feel, and names such as Simon and Ian for a bit of a British feel without as much royalty.

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Hi Swistle, we have about 6 weeks until we meet our little one and we can’t seem to settle on a middle name. Here are some specifics.

We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl. We do have a girl name selected that we love – Mabry Elizabeth.
We have selected a first name – Franklin but can’t quite settle on a middle name. We would call him Frank or Frankie.
We already have a 16 mos old girl named Ruby Sue.
Our last name rhymes with Miles but starts with a W.

Here’s the problem with middle names for Franklin – traditional names like George, David, Michael, etc all seem too presidential. So we played around with more “trendy” names like Ames, Adler, Finn, etc but they feel like we’re trying too hard, if that makes sense. There must be something in the middle but we can’t quite come up with anything.

To give you background on how we picked our daughter Ruby’s middle name, it is my mother in law’s middle name. And we absolutely love the name Ruby Sue but we don’t have any other family members’ names that seem to sound right with Franklin.

Any advice you have would be so helpful.

Thanks!

Hm. I see what you mean. I think, though, that some of your examples already successfully avoid the issues. Michael doesn’t feel presidential to me at all, even though George does. And even George, which because of two recent presidents and the famous first president SHOULD be UTTERLY presidential, also makes me think of Prince George, George Michael, Boy George, George Clooney, George Takei, etc.

Franklin Michael seems like a very nice choice. I think you could get a similar effect with any traditional name that doesn’t immediately evoke a president. I had Franklin James in mind, for example, without even realizing that we’ve had SIX presidents named James. The name James is so diluted by many associations, it doesn’t smack of presidency the way, say, Clinton or Lincoln might. But there are also a whole bunch of other traditional names not used by a president at all:

Franklin Alex
Franklin Alexander
Franklin Caleb
Franklin Charles
Franklin Daniel
Franklin Edward
Franklin Isaac
Franklin Jacob
Franklin Joel
Franklin Joseph
Franklin Joshua
Franklin Lucas
Franklin Mark
Franklin Matthew
Franklin Nathaniel
Franklin Nicholas
Franklin Patrick
Franklin Paul
Franklin Peter
Franklin Philip
Franklin Robert
Franklin Samuel
Franklin Stephen
Franklin Timothy

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I’m having a baby girl in Febuary. We are having difficulty deciding on a name. The truth is I’m having difficulty being completly sold on a name. My husband and I decided on Scarlett Elizabeth Archer as of yesterday. It sounds so cool to me one second then the next I think it’s too risky and I want to name her Charlotte instead.

So here is some background information. My husband has a daughter who is six and we get her part-time. Her name is Sophie Lorene Archer. My husband’s name is Kyle Joseph Archer. I’m Mary Elizabeth Archer.

I want to pass on my middle name. I also thought it would be neat if both girls had a name that began with S. Althought, the two names seem so different. Just wanted to see what your throughts were?… Thanks, Mary

Stylistically, I vote for Charlotte: Sophie and Charlotte sound more compatible to me than Sophie and Scarlett—though I think Sophie and Scarlett are fine together, if you prefer Scarlett.

One thing that might be helpful is your reaction to my vote: Do you feel disappointed that I sided with Charlotte? That may help you feel more sure about Scarlett. Do you find instead you’re relieved? That may help you feel more sure about Charlotte.

Based on the number of distressed letters we get from parents saying “We gave our first two kids the same initial; do we have to continue with that? We don’t like any more names that start with that letter!,” I might lean toward using different initials—though I do like the way the shared S helps bridge the small style gap.

If I say only the first and last names without the middle name as a buffer, Scarlett sounds like an adjective and Archer sounds like a noun. The Scarlet Archer. This also keeps me from suggesting Ruby or Violet as additional candidates, especially with how similar the sound of Violet is to the sound of the word violent.

I wonder if you would like the name Lucy? It has the style and sweetness of Sophie and Charlotte. Lucy Archer; Sophie and Lucy.

For another S name, I might suggest Sadie. Sadie Archer; Sophie and Sadie. Or maybe the matching endings make them TOO similar.

Or perhaps a soft C would give the SOUND of matching, without actually sharing the initial. Cecily Archer; Sophie and Cecily.

Or Celeste. Celeste Archer; Sophie and Celeste.

Your middle name would make a lovely first name with lots of nicknames. Elizabeth Archer; Sophie and Elizabeth/Libby/Ellie/Betsy.

Annabel Archer is sweet and distinctive and gives several nickname choices. Sophie and Annabel/Annie/Bella/Anna.

It might be fun to use both parents’ middle names: Josephine Elizabeth Archer. Josephine Archer; Sophie and Josephine/Josie/Jo.

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