Isabel writes:

Ok Swistle,
we’ve got a baby naming emergency on our hands!

I’m going in for my C-section in TWO days to deliver my triplets, and I don’t have all the names!

One of the girls will be Schuyler (pronounced Skylar) Audrey, named after 2 little girls whose stories have really touched me.

The other 2 girls’ names are fluctuating madly! We have one first name picked out – Charlotte – but the middle name depends on what we choose for baby C’s name.

The name choices for baby C are:
Hannah (which I think is too common, and I don’t like it very much)
Helena ( said He-LAY-na, not HEL-en-a.)
Hadleigh

I liked the middle name Leigh, but I think it only goes with Hannah? Obviously I can’t pair it with Hadleigh. So, I need middle name suggestions for Helena and Hadleigh, as well as, you know, which one we should choose!

Oh yeah – Charlotte’s middle name! I like Eleanor, but I don’t want to use it if we pick Helena – I think those are too similar. So, if you think we should go with Helena for baby C, what middle name should we give Charlotte?

Our last name begins with a J and ends in an N.
Thanks a TON for the help!

This is from yesterday, so it is actually ONE day until these baby girls will be here! They will be born TOMORROW! Here’s what we’re working with:

Triplet the First: Schuyler Audrey

Triplet the Second: Charlotte Eleanor, unless Triplet the Third is Helena, in which case we may need a different middle name

Triplet the Third: Hadleigh or Helena (I took Hannah out, since Isabel isn’t sure she likes it anyway)

I like the name Hadleigh better with the name Schuyler, and I like the name Helena better with the name Charlotte. So I think either name works well, and I’m putting them both in the poll.

If you go with Helena, I think it’s still fine to use Eleanor with Charlotte, and then you could use Leigh with Helena: Schuyler Audrey, Charlotte Eleanor, and Helena Leigh. But you could also do Charlotte Estelle. Charlotte Amelia. Charlotte Mae (the middle name Mae has been a favorite around here recently!).

If you go with Hadleigh, how about Jane as a middle name? That’s my favorite middle name for girls right now, because it’s so cute and sassy and strong. Then you’d have Schuyler Audrey, Charlotte Eleanor, and Hadleigh Jane. It might be a little bumpy with your J surname, though. Maybe Hadleigh Elise? Hadleigh Adele?

But I don’t want to take too much time flipping idly through my baby name book when BABIES are going to be BORN! I’m turning it over to the whole team: go vote in the poll [poll closed; see below] for Helena or Hadleigh! But here is your second task: If you vote for Helena, please put in the comment section a middle name for Helena AND a middle name for Charlotte (since if Triplet the Third is Helena, Isabel doesn’t want to use Eleanor as Charlotte’s middle name). If you vote for Hadleigh, please put in the comment section a middle name for Hadleigh.

EDIT!
Isabel writes:

Well, we had a few big surprises with the babies! First, they arrived 1 1/2 days earlier than expected (2 am monday morning!) and not only that, but we now have 1 little girl and 2 boys! Since we only had 2 eggs, we thought 2 were identical (B & C) and they looked like girls when we checked… well, it turns out that not only are they boys, but they are not even identical!

We named the babies:

Schuyler Audrey

Alexander Kale (Alex)

Brody Nathaniel

Thanks again!

Isabel

Poll results, even though they turned out to be irrelevant:
Hadleigh: 42 votes, roughly 52%
Helena: 39 votes, roughly 48%

Jana writes:

Baby #3 is due in 4 weeks and we have yet to decide on a name – yikes! The gender is unknown so we’ve got to come up with boy and girl names. Generally, we like to go into the delivery room with two name choices per gender and then we decide which one to use once we’ve seen the baby’s face (and genitalia!).

We would like to use James as the middle name if it’s a boy (my husband’s middle name) and Rose for the middle name if it’s a girl (my mother-in-law’s middle name – don’t ask). Our last name is quite ethnic sounding and similar to “Lombardo”.

So far, we really like Matthew, Connor and Evan as first names for a boy and Elizabeth, Callie and Cassidy as first names for a girl. We tend to shy away from trendy and dual-gender names, but we also don’t want anything too common. And even though Matthew and Elizabeth are in the national Top 10 lists, they do not seem to be all that popular in our part of the country.

Our other children are named Sydney Anne and William Murray (we call him Liam).

Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

Well! *rubs hands briskly* We have our work cut out for us: two girl names and two boy names, and Swistle left this in her inbox for 2 weeks so had to change “due in 6 weeks” to “due in 4 weeks” and so now things are getting A LITTLE DESPERATE. Let’s see if we can hurry.

Girl names first. You’ve got Elizabeth, Callie, and Cassidy already. Consulting The Baby Name Wizard for sibling names, I’ll add Aubrey, Morgan, and Jocelyn.

Elizabeth Rose (ERL); Sydney, Liam, and Elizabeth
Callie Rose (CRL); Sydney, Liam, and Callie
Cassidy Rose (CRL); Sydney, Liam, and Cassidy
Aubrey Rose (ARL); Sydney, Liam, and Aubrey
Morgan Rose (MRL); Sydney, Liam, and Morgan
Jocelyn Rose (JRL); Sydney, Liam, and Jocelyn

Now boys. You’ve got Matthew, Connor, and Evan already. I’ll add Ian, Aidan, and Simon.

Matthew James (MJL); Sydney, Liam, and Matthew
Connor James (CJL); Sydney, Liam, and Connor
Evan James (EJL); Sydney, Liam, and Evan
Ian James (IJL); Sydney, Liam, and Ian
Aidan James (AJL); Sydney, Liam, and Aidan
Simon James (SJL); Sydney, Liam, and Simon

The voting is going to be a little different this time [voting closed; see below], so pay attention, please, class: You’re going to vote for TWO boy names and TWO girl names. There are twelve names in the poll, six for girls and six for boys, and you’re going to choose the four names (two girl, two boy) you think the family should bring to the hospital with them.

[Poll results:

Elizabeth: 49 votes, roughly 25% of girl vote
Callie: 50 votes, roughly 25% of girl vote
Cassidy: 22 votes, roughly 11% of girl vote
Aubrey: 33 votes, roughly 17% of girl vote
Morgan: 19 votes, roughly 10% of girl vote
Jocelyn: 25 votes, roughly 13% of girl vote

Matthew: 44 votes, roughly 22% of boy vote
Connor: 41 votes, roughly 21% of boy vote
Evan: 51 votes, roughly 26% of boy vote
Ian: 11 votes, roughly 6% of boy vote
Aidan: 25 votes, roughly 13% of boy vote
Simon: 27 votes, roughly 14% of boy vote]

[Update! Jana writes:

Hi there,

I just wanted to let you know the final outcome of
our baby name dilemma. Evan James L_______ was born
on Thursday, May 15th (the winning name from your blog
poll).

Thanks so much for helping us contemplate names for
our new little addition.

Sincerely,
Jana

Yay! Congratulations!]

Sara writes:

As you may know, we have had some trouble in the last week or so in choosing a name for our baby girl, who is due this August. Although friends of ours (my brother’s in-laws) have used our name, we have decided to stick with the first name Hannah. I am absolutely in love with the name Hannah Grace, but Hub is not keen on the middle name. He will accept it, (I think) but he reasons that is sounds like a product; as in: “I need to go to the store for some Hannah Grace”. Since he still brings up that he is not a fan of the middle name of our first daughter, I would like to at least come to middle ground here. So please help me!!! The only stipulation I have is that the middle name can not begin with an “O” based on our last name. If you were saying her first name, middle initial and last name, it would sound something like “Hannah Obedient.” Our other children are named Edmund Mason and Caitlyn Renee if that helps.

Normally when I’m choosing a middle name, I like to choose something that has significance to me (a favorite author’s name, a favorite relative’s name), or something that didn’t quite make our First Name list (too unusual for us, a name that doesn’t fit with sibling names), or something that in some way balances the first name (a traditional middle name to balance a contemporary first name, or vice versa).

In your situation, where you already know the first name is common in your group, I’d shoot for a different goal: I’d be looking for a middle name that sounded good when I needed to use it to differentiate MY Hannah from THEIR Hannah. Something short and easy to say—very similar to your first choice of Hannah Grace.

Hannah Claire
Hannah Faith
Hannah Fay
Hannah Jane
Hannah Jeanne
Hannah June
Hannah Kate
Hannah Sue

Go on and vote in the poll to the right [poll closed; see below], but also leave your comment below: What would you choose as the middle name for Hannah?

[Poll results:
Hannah Claire: 41 votes, roughly 38%
Hannah Faith: 4 votes, roughly 4%
Hannah Fay: 4 votes, roughly 4%
Hannah Jane: 29 votes, roughly 27%
Hannah Jeanne: 0 votes
Hannah June: 9 votes, roughly 8%
Hannah Kate: 20 votes, roughly 18%
Hannah Sue: 2 votes, roughly 2%]

[Update! Sara writes: “Although I was set on Grace for a middle name, Hub changed his mind in the delivery room and we settled on Lynne. SO…baby named Hannah Lynne. Thanks for the help. :)”]

Dear Swistle,

Hi! I have more of a naming etiquette question. I am currently pregnant with my first child. This will be the first grandchild on my side of the family. We don’t know the sex, so are picking two names to have ready. We are pretty settled on our boy name (and aren’t sharing with the world, much to everyone’s dismay).

The problem lies in the girl name. Me and my sisters all want to name a child after a beloved grandmother. Since I am the first to have a child, do I get first dibs? I have a feeling my one sister will go ahead and name her child the same thing and that kind of bothers me. Does it bother you? Is it strange to have first cousins with the same name? There are two possible nicknames for this name and we both want the same one.

Let’s also mention that neither of my sisters have a boyfriend or are anywhere close to being married, let alone having a child. My husband and I both love this name and want to honor my grandmother, but also don’t want to have to deal with my sister naming her child the same thing, or even worse, the first thing out of her mouth being, but I am naming my little girl that. Decisions, decisions.

Elizabeth

I have a very, very, very, very strong opinion on this subject. VERY. Here it is: NO ONE has exclusive dibs on ANY name. NO ONE.

Basic human consideration should show us situations in which people might voluntarily give up their right to use a name. For example, if your best friend has always liked the name Amelia and always talked about using it for her daughter, you might want to voluntarily choose to avoid using it because you know she wouldn’t like you to. Or, some families have naming traditions such as that the first son of the first son is named Robert. If you are not the first son, you may of course still use the name Robert for your child, but may want to voluntarily refrain from doing so because you know it would make the extended family unhappy.

In the situation you describe, you are free to use the name: unless you’re leaving out important information in your letter, there is no reason for you to voluntarily give up the name. BUT! Neither is there any reason for your sisters to voluntarily give up the name. It sounds as if all of you have equal claim to it.

If you choose to use this name for your daughter, you are claiming the privilege of using it first, and I think it would be particularly sweet for it to be the name of the first grandchild. As you’ve already realized, though, using it first doesn’t mean other people can’t still use it. If it bothers you to think of cousins with the same name, you may want to reconsider. BUT! Perhaps it would bother you even more to NOT use the name: imagine if you gave up on using it, and your sisters went ahead and used it. Or imagine if you gave up on using it, and your sisters didn’t use it after all.

I think it’s fine for cousins to have the same name. I even think it has a charm, particularly when it is the name of an adored grandmother: it pays her such an enormous tribute to have several namesakes. In your case, since you are sisters, if you are using your married surnames the girls will automatically have different names. You could also call them by first name and middle name, or first name and middle initial, or first name and surname initial.

If I were you, I would use the name. Even if your sisters use it too, you would still be the first—and it is a beautiful tribute to your grandmother. And it’s possible your sisters won’t want to use it, or will not have children, or will only have boys.

Best not to try to make any rules about who has the most right to use the name: you might have a boy this time, and one of your sisters may unexpectedly take the lead for First Girl. Best to leave your options open, in case you’re the one who later wants to use the same name your sister used.

In the meantime, rehearse what you’ll say if your sister’s first reaction to your baby’s name is a complaint. You could say graciously, “Oh, silly! No one has dibs on a name! You can use it too!” Or you can just say, “I’m so glad you like it!” as you celebrate in your secret heart that you got to use it first.

Name update!

It turns out the baby was a girl, so the question did actually apply. We used my grandmother’s name (the sacred name), Genevieve, for the middle name. So her name is Margaret Genevieve and we call her Greta.

PEOPLE! We have an EMERGENCY here! Look at this letter!

Dear Swistle,

I just heard about your website and really need some advice! I am being induced in 24 hours and still haven’t decided on a name. My first son is Owen Keats and our last name sounds like this: are-naw-dee. We are thinking about these names:

Alec Whitman
Callum Jack

However, my husband is British and there is a chance we could move to the UK at some point. Apparently, Callum is really popular in the UK and I am worried he will be one of several Callums. (It is #13 overall in the UK and #3 and #5 in Ireland and Scotland respectively). Ironically, it is the opposite problem in the US in that whenever I mention this name people give me funny looks! Alec is a much “safer” choice but because it is less unique I have a harder time getting as excited about it. A friend suggested that we name him Alistair Jack and then call him Alec as a nickname but I wasn’t sure if that was a bit of a stretch for a nickname. Also as an American, the name Alistair sounds a little pretentious to me for some reason.

Please help! Thank you—

Kate

And it is more than twelve hours since that landed in my inbox last night, so TODAY IS THE DAY. This baby is coming TODAY. We need name opinions, and we need them fast. Here are mine:

1) I like the name Alec a lot. It’s been on our boy name list throughout our naming years. I know what you mean about finding it difficult to get excited about, but I think the name would sit well with time. I think Owen and Alec are good together.

2) I think Alec is not a nickname for Alistair. But then, I am a conservative old bag about nicknames.

3) It’s too bad that Alistair sounds pretentious in the U.S., because it’s a GREAT name. Think of Allison, and then say Alistair. I think it’s a great name, and I think everyone would get used to it. And if they didn’t get used to it, they’d just say, “Well, the father is British.” I don’t think it’s as good with Owen as your other choices, though. Owen and Alistair.

4) I like the name Callum even better than Alec and Alistair, and I think it’s TERRIFIC with Owen: Owen and Callum. I think it WILL get more familiar in the U.S., and for me it would be a selling point that it was popular in the country you might move to some day. “Thirteenth most popular” sounds scary, but the thirteenth most popular boy name in the U.S. for 2000 was Ryan, and neither my 1999 baby nor my 2001 baby have ever had a single Ryan in any of their preschool/kindergarten/elementary school classes—let alone several. It won’t be strictly comparable, of course, but still: thirteenth is okay.

5) The Baby Name Wizard mentions that Callum can be a nickname for Malcolm. I consider this Cheating, but it gives me the idea of the name Malcolm, which I love. Owen and Malcolm.

6) Jack in the middle name position makes the first name sound like an adjective to me: Fightin’ Jack, Alligator Jack, Jumpin’ Jack.

In short, I think the names you came up with are terrific, and I don’t think you’re going to go wrong whatever you choose. I lean more toward Callum for the first name; I would change the middle name, but I don’t think it would be wrong to leave it the way you’ve got it. BE SURE TO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU CHOOSE!

Okay, everybody! Time is of the essence here, so vote fast in the poll over to the right [poll closed: see below]—but feel free to leave more possibilities in the comment section if you think of a good one.

Poll results:
Alec: 20 votes, roughly 24%
Alistair: 10 votes, roughly 12%
Callum: 43 votes, roughly 51%
Malcolm: 11 votes, roughly 13%

Name update!

Thanks for your blog. We decided on the name Callum Jack and really appreciated everyone’s feedback. It was such a hard decision. Jack is a family name my husband wanted to use so that is the reason for it as the middle name. We have had some funny looks from my American friends and family who aren’t sure how to pronounce it (so far, a few people saying Column). But hopefully they will get used to it. I still like the name Alec and think it goes great with our last name but just before going to the hospital my husband’s assistant weighed in on the decision and she said “you mean, Alex?” and I was worried I would spend a lifetime of having to say “no, it’s Alec with a ‘c'” Anyway, thanks again!

Dear Swistle,

This is our 3rd boy and we’re having a hard time coming up with names that we love and that sound good with our other boys’ names.

We prefer shorter first names, and pick a middle name that is a Saint’s name, since we’re Catholic.

Our last name is something similar to Werkmen. Our current top two are Colby Blaise and Cole Alexander.

While I like Cole Alexander, it’s almost too preppy for me. Our other kids are Dane Patrick and Owen Zachary and they seem a tad more “hip” than a Cole. I also have a “thing” about choosing names in the SS lists top 50, though Owen was very close to the top 50 last year. Cole is around 70 I think, but I get antsy in the top 100. (not that that’s all that important…)

We’re up for suggestions as well.

Devan

 

You like shorter names. Here are some more short-‘n’-sweeties, with their 2006 SSA popularity rankings (the month of May cannot come soon enough for those of us wanting the 2007 figures) and the way they’d sound with the other boys’ names:

Cade Werkmen (#288) (Dane, Owen, Cade)
Gage Werkmen (#156) (Dane, Owen, Gage)
Grant Werkmen (#155) (Dane, Owen, Grant)
Heath Werkmen (#786) (Dane, Owen, Heath)
Leo Werkmen (#236) (Dane, Owen, Leo)
Milo Werkmen (#679) (Dane, Owen, Milo)
Reid Werkmen (#422) (Dane, Owen, Reid)

My sibling-group favorites from that list are Cade, Gage, and Reid, but I give Reid the edge for having a different sound: Cade and Gage have the same long-A sound as Dane, and might be too similar.

Reid doesn’t work with the middle name Alexander if you’re avoiding monogram words: the initials would be RAW. I went to Catholic.org for more saint names (and it is very funny indeed to see ads like “Who’s Got a Crush on YOU??? Click here to find out!!!” on a website like this). The list of saints is way, way, WAY too long to browse through, but if you can search to see if a name is a saint’s name or not. I like Reid Elias Werkmen (REW), Reid Matthias Werkmen (RMW), Reid Sebastian Werkman (RSW), and Reid Xavier Werkmen (RXW).

But Reid is kind of…preppy, right? So I’m going back to the list to re-choose favorites. This time I choose Heath, Leo, and Milo. They’re different enough from your current children’s names; they’re more hip than prep; and I had two of the three on the finalist list for my own baby. The name Heath has extra poignancy because of Heath Ledger’s recent death.

I like Heath Elias Werkmen (HEW), Leo Sebastian Werkmen (LSW), and Milo Xavier Werkmen (MXW).

Name update: “We went with Cade Alexander. :) Thanks!”

Dear Swistle,

I’m having a dilemma… Baby #2 is a boy, and due in 3 weeks. (Ohmigosh!) I’m a single mommy, with a 3 1/2 year old daughter already. Her name is Taryn Emma, and her middle name was chosen at 4:30am after 24 hours of labor because I panicked when I realized she didn’t have one yet!

Anyway, Baby Boy will be Devereaux. I was trying it on and despite some initial family protesting, it’s grown on me too much to let go now. However, he has no middle name (surprise, surprise). It’s getting close now and that panic reflex is kicking in hardcore.

I don’t have any family names or specific naming traditions to honor. Last name is a single syllable and starts with C. I like unique names and names that are creative. Also creative spellings. His name will be unique and creative already, so I don’t want to go overboard…

A few of my possible ideas are:

Vin
Kaedan
Keeley
Kyler
Draven
Teagan
Tynan
Keiran / Kiernan / Teirnan

What do you think…?

Your opinions, and those of your readers, are appreciated!!! :-)

Alicia

One idea would be to repeat what you did with your daughter, and see what comes to you during labor. That does make a good story!

Another idea would be to give him a middle name that parallels your daughter’s middle name, by choosing something common. I like the idea of giving common-first-name kids an unusual middle name, and I like the idea of giving unusual-first-name kids a common middle name. It’s a good chance for parents to indulge an urge for a name they wouldn’t usually consider a serious candidate. I’m looking over the most common names, though, and I don’t see anything that works. Devereaux Jacob? No. Devereaux Ethan? No.

Let’s take a look at your list:

Devereaux Vin
Devereaux Kaeden
Devereaux Keeley
Devereaux Kyler
Devereaux Draven
Devereaux Teagan
Devereaux Tynan
Devereaux Keiran
Devereaux Keirnan
Devereaux Teirnan

I think of Keeley as a girl’s name, and so I’m taking that one out. Vin brings to mind the dreamy Vin Diesel—but, like Von, it clumps itself with the surname. My favorites from your list are Devereaux Kaeden and Devereaux Keirnan. If your surname starts with a hard-C sound, I’ll bet the K sound is good with it. And with a 1-syllable surname, I like the descending rhythm of 3-syllables, 2-syllables, 1-syllable.

Since Devereaux is a French name, what about looking for more French? Devereaux Gerard is nice. Devereaux Jerome. Devereaux Julien. Devereaux Luc. Devereaux Lucien (LOO-shun). My favorite from this list is Devereaux Lucien, because of the rhythm: I don’t know your surname, but I think a first-syllable accent for the middle name would probably go better than a second-syllable accent like Gerard or Jerome–names I prefer.

Say—you wouldn’t want to move Devereaux to the middle name position, would you? A 3-syllable middle name sounds terrific with a 1-syllable surname. Lucien Devereaux. Taryn and Lucien.

Name update!

Hi Swistle! I just wanted to let you know that Devereaux was born on Easter Sunday, a whopper of a kid (2 days late) at 9 lbs 3 oz. *grin* I want to thank you for all your comments and ideas for his middle name. In the end, my grandfather got all sentimental on me and I ended up going with Alix as the middle name, as it’s his as well and this is the only boy in the family. :-) Thanks again. – Alicia

Dear Swistle,

My partner and I (two women) are having our first child in May, the 17th to be precise…and we cannot decide on a baby name. We know that she is a girl, or so they tell us…and that she is crazy active! The only things we are pretty set on are her middle name, which will be Evenia and her last name which will be Woodward…we do not want to name her Bridgette as it is our dog’s name. We are also trying to stay away from the names that end in the eee sound that is so popular like Katie, Jenny, Chelsea…those types of names.

We have narrowed it down to five names…but could be easily swayed if something better came along…the five are:
Grayson (her mother’s maiden name)
Emmerson (my favorite uncle’s middle name)
Lorelei (from the Gilmore Girls, not a family name)
Layla (also not a family name but we dig it)
and
Annalice (which seems to keep popping up in our daily lives and so we sort of feel like it’s a sign. Also it’s a great combo of my partner’s Grandmother’s names Ann and Alice).

I’m also a fan of Lily and Georgia…LOL

Help us please!

Dawn

I lean immediately in the direction of Annalice: I love it already, and you have good feelings about it, and it has family-name connections. But I would spell it Annalise: I know it compromises the Alice part of it, but every time I see Annalice, all I see is LICE.

A digression: I have noticed a certain problem when working with Anna-blend names. It is a delicate problem to bring up, and it is not one that I want the search engines finding when searchers are searching for something quite different. And so let me bring it up this way. If you are starting a name with “Anna” and you are going to combine it with something starting in L, keep in mine that “Annal” bears a resemblance to things considered retentive. It is especially important not to, for example, drop that second N, as an actual acquaintance of mine did, spelling her daughter’s name Analyn. It’s a really pretty name, but it makes me think of that episode of Arrested Development where David Cross’s character wants to be known as an “analrapist” (combining the words “analyst” and “therapist”). WATCH THOSE WORD BLENDS, is what I’m saying. Especially if we are going to work with ice or lice. End digression.

It is also wise, I think, to take initials into account, which is why when I think of it, I put initials after suggestions. In this case, where we have “EW” for the second two initials, some initials to be aware of are: DEW, EEW, FEW, HEW, JEW, MEW, NEW, PEW, and SEW. For me, this eliminates Emmerson. (Side note: if our firstborn had been a girl, we almost certainly would have named him, or rather her, Emerson. True story.)

I would also eliminate Grayson. The girls already have way more names to choose from than the boys, and in general they should keep their cute little hands off the few good boy names remaining, or else those of us with many boys to name are going to LOSE OUR MINDS.

Lily is a great girl name, but to me it pales in comparison to some of your other choices.

This narrows it down to:

Annalise Evenia Woodward (AEW)
Lorelei Evenia Woodward (LEW)
Layla Evenia Woodward (LEW)
Georgia Evenia Woodward (GEW)

My favorite from those four is Georgia. I love the sound of Georgia Woodward. And for an active little sprite, I like the high energy levels of a name like Lorelei. But with your reasons for using Annalise, I think Annalise is still in the lead.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t room to consult The Baby Name Wizard. Her sister-name ideas for Annalise are Lisbeth, Julianne, Arabella, Mariel, and Renata. Sister-names for Georgia are Charlotte, Lucy, Josephine, Virginia, and Violet. The only one of those ten I’d add to the list is Josephine (Josephine Woodward is almost as good as Georgia Woodward), but the initials need to be considered.

Plus, I’m totally lying, because I would also add Arabella. I love that name. I can’t picture using it (“Arabella, find your shoes,” “Arabella, feed the cat”), but I love it. I would add it just so I could keep looking at it.

Time to vote. Go to the name poll at right, [poll closed; see below] and/or leave your name recommendations in the comment section.

Poll results:
Annalise: 42 votes, roughly 48%
Lorelei: 16 votes, roughly 18%
Layla: 3 votes, roughly 3%
Georgia: 22 votes, roughly 25%
none of these: 4 votes, roughly 5%

Name update!

Hello there,
I wanted to update you and let you know how helpful your baby naming was for us…we were the post from Feb. 26th Baby Girl ____ Evenia Woodward.

We went with Georgia and we love it.

Thanks so much to you and your readers!

Dawn, Amelia, and Georgia :)

Dear Swistle,

Here’s my baby name dilemma: I have one child – his name is Greyson James and he just turned 2. Grey is a family name (so is James), and we just lengthened it. I thought it was an “original” name, but now I’m seeing it everywhere! Okay, back to the topic at hand. I’m due to have another baby boy in April (nine weeks away – yikes!). We love using family names and we’re considering naming new baby after my recently deceased grandfather – Wesly. To spice it up a bit, we’re considering Weston. I thought I was firm with this naming thing, but I’ve recently been doubting my decision. We’ve decided the middle name will be John, after my husband’s father. I’m not set on Wesly or Weston, nor on using a family name for the first name. I need some ideas – Help! I’m not someone who cares if my boys’ names “match” or sound good together. I’m sooooo picky and have a hard time finding ANY name that I even remotely like!! BTW, if it was a girl, we were going with Eliza (love the name!). If you can offer any advice, that would be great. Thanks so much :)

Kate

Oh, there are so many interesting issues here! I have to be careful not to get distracted by the mention of the problem of creating an original name and then finding out it is not, because that is a VERY INTERESTING topic to me.

Greyson is a great surname name: it sounds like Jason and Mason, so it’s familiar—but it’s more modern, and it has the cool nickname Grey. In sound, it’s the male version of the popular girl’s name Grace. I think Wesley John is terrific with it. (I would spell it the usual Wesley instead of the adverby-looking Wesly.) Not only does it parallel nicely with Greyson James, it has the nickname Wes, which I love. Greyson and Wesley. Grey and Wes.

You’ve got the same good stuff going on with the name Weston. Greyson and Weston is if anything better-coordinated, and you still get the good nickname Wes, and you avoid the problem of the spelling of Wesley. The doctoring on both family names is roughly equivalent: Grey to Greyson, Wesly to Weston. Furthermore, The Baby Name Wizard recommends the name Grayson (she spells it the A way) as a brother name for the name Weston, so apparently we all agree.

Now for some more possibilities. For starters, there are the brother names in The Baby Name Wizard for the name Grayson: Easton, Keaton, Brennan, Dawson, Brody. Any of those strike your fancy? I find “Greyson and Easton” difficult to say. I like Keaton, even though it comes out “Keet’n” when I say it. Greyson and Dawson is maybe a little matchier than you’d like? But I do like it.

Since we seem to be on a roll with surname names, I flipped to the “Last Names First” section of The Baby Name Wizard and wrote down the ones that jumped out at me:

Hudson
Keegan
Lawson
Paxton
Sullivan
Turner
Walker

My favorites from there are Keegan, Lawson, and Sullivan.

In my opinion, the best names are the ones you’ve already thought of: Wesley John or Weston John. Those are solid, cool names with family meaning, and they’re great with your first son’s name. I think some doubt about the chosen name is common even if the name is perfect, and that you won’t regret either of these choices. I think Wesley is better with John, and Weston is better with Greyson, so it’s a draw.

Name update: Weston

LOTS of submissions coming in, YAY! My plan is to use submissions roughly in order of Baby Imminence. If they keep coming in, that may mean soon we’ll be prioritizing “women in labor” submissions, but let’s not count babies before they hatch.

Today’s baby-naming challenge is from Melissa, who writes:

Dear Swistle,

I e-mailed you…oh, maybe back in August wondering if I was pregnant (and you thought I was)…and I WAS/AM so now comes the fun part. Baby girl is due at the end of April and my husband and I are still trying to pin down a name. Our son is Owen Martell (same middle name as my husband’s) and so we already decided if we ever had a girl that her middle name would be Ann (same as mine). Our last name is extremely dull…Hall…and presents the challenge of everything sounding like a dorm on a college campus somewhere.

We have some ideas but I want to see what you come up with first:) Thanks!

First, can we all take a moment to appreciate Swistle’s astonishing powers? I knew Melissa was pregnant FROM ACROSS THE INTERNET!

This is a fun naming situation to tackle, because we have so much information to work with: we have a middle name, a last name, and a sibling name.

Let’s start where I always start, which is seeing what The Baby Name Wizard suggests as sister names for the name Owen: Ava, Lily, Isabel, Maya, Emma.

Pretty! And certainly those are good starting points. Consider:

Ava Ann Hall (AAH)
Lily Ann Hall (LAH)
Isabel Ann Hall (IAH)
Maya Ann Hall (MAH)
Emma Ann Hall (EAH)

Of those five, my favorites are Lily Ann Hall and Isabel Ann Hall. Add to Owen: Owen and Lily. Owen and Isabel. Yes, I’d say those pass the sibling name test.

I also like to consult The Social Security Baby Name Site, to look at names that are of comparable popularity to the names already used by the family. The name Owen has been climbing steadily:

1992: #476
1997: #224
2002: #94
2006 (the 2007 data won’t be out until May): #58.

Let’s look at 2006, when it was #58. The girl names in that same popularity range are Zoe, Riley, Sofia, Maya, Kimberly, Andrea, Megan, Katelyn, and Gabrielle.

I think “Owen and Zoe” has too much O-sound.

I think of the name Riley as a boy’s name even though I realize it’s for boys or girls, and I don’t like it with Ann: too much like Raggedy Ann.

I’m a fan of the name Sofia (of that spelling particularly), and unlike the Owen-and-Zoe combination, I think Owen and Sofia has a good level of O-sound.

Let’s leave aside Maya, since we already considered it in the Baby Name Wizard section.

I’d like to eliminate Kimberly, Andrea, Megan, Katelyn, and Gabrielle: Kimberly is from the Moms generation (MY age); Andrea is from the kids-I-babysat generation; Megan is from the 1990s; Katelyn is such a perfect name, the number of girls with one spelling or another of it is legion; and I haven’t liked the name Gabrielle since a co-worker of mine bragged incessantly about her “amazing” daughter GOB-briella, saying the name every single time in a reverent tone of voice usually reserved for references to deities.

For me, the stand-out from the SSA’s site research is Sofia. Sofia Ann Hall (SAH). Sofia Hall. Owen and Sofia. That’s my pick.

Edit: There is a general feeling in the comment section that with a surname such as Hall, the first name should be more unusual. Generally, I agree: a simpler surname can handle a more complicated first name. But I noticed, when I was looking through names, that the more unusual names enhanced the “college dorm” feeling: Lisandra Hall, for example, or Geneva Hall. Both sound EXACTLY like dorms.

Still, there is a middle ground: more unusual than Sofia and Lily, but not quite as dormy as Lisandra and Geneva. How about some of these?

Cecily Ann Hall (CAH)
Eliza Ann Hall (EAH)
Josephine Ann Hall (JAH)
Rosemary Ann Hall (RAH)
Constance Ann Hall (CAH)
Cordelia Ann Hall (CAH)
Genevieve Ann Hall (GAH)
Ruby Ann Hall (RAH)
Penelope Ann Hall (PAH)
Margaret Ann Hall (MAH)

Name update!

Although we didn’t end up going with any of your suggestions (I think we already had our name in our mind), it was great to hear all of the ideas.

Our daughter is Delaney Ann Hall yes, “Delaney Hall” sounds like a dorm somewhere but we wanted something unusual to balance out our last name Hall and we liked it with our son’s name, Owen.