Kathryn writes:

I’m due June 20 with a boy and would love some input from you and your very wise readers!

We have a 3-year-old girl named Dorothy Elizabeth (called Dorry), who we named after our grandmothers, and we love the name. Now, with our boy, we’d sort of like to keep the family-meaning theme going, but it isn’t absolutely necessary, since his middle name will be Robert, which honors both our dads.

Ever since we got engaged, we have liked the name Vance, my father’s middle name. But when we got pregnant, we found that it had sort of lost some of its allure over time, maybe because we’d just been thinking about it for so long. Also, I love nicknameable names, and Vance doesn’t offer much besides Van.

We also like the name Desmond. Is that crazy? I’m worried it might be a little crazy. Yes, we did fall in like with the name because of the show Lost, but we wouldn’t be naming him specifically after the character or anything. Although we are big fans of the show, which premiered one week before we got married, so it would have some nice meaning for us. But maybe…crazy? Also, I read somewhere that it’s considered an African-American name, and we are not African-American.

Other names we like…Barnaby, Bruce, Henry, and Theodore (until we realized it was actually pretty much “Dorothy” backwards, and that would be weird, wouldn’t it?).

Our last name sounds like “Dale.”

Thank you so much!!

Oh, I love the name Barnaby! That was on my list too!

I admit it kind of appeals to me that Theodore and Dorothy are similar like that! Wouldn’t those be fun twin names? And Dorry and Theo make such cute nicknames. But I see what you mean.

I think Desmond is perfect. Dorothy and Desmond, Dorry and Desi, OMG too wonderful. Desmond Tutu has made the name a popular African-American name, but not in a way that eliminates the name for non-African-American babies. And being on Lost has made the name familiar again.

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Mechi writes:

I’m writing on behalf of my next door neighbor, who is pregnant and still without a name. We started talking about names today (because I love them and jump at any chance to talk about them). They don’t really have any ideas about names outside of the top 10 type of names that immediately come to mind, but they’re looking to find some less common names, so I thought you could help.

They currently have a one year old boy named Darrin Dennis (Dennis after family), and they don’t know the sex of the new baby, so both gender names would be good.

In our discussion today, her husband threw out names like Jennifer and Nicole – top ten from when he was growing up, and the only names it seemed he could come up with. They both liked names with the feel of Sophie or Emma, but she wants names like that but that are not so popular. She also really liked the names Jamie and Breanna. We didn’t discuss boys names, but I think they have generally the same feel for only being able to think of popular names but wanting something less known.

I really want to give them some less popular but equally great options because I am the biggest supporter of non ‘trendeigh’ names.

Oh, and last things… since Darrin was named after the dad’s family, she says she would like to try to name the next baby, boy or girl, after her mother. Her mother’s name is Marcela Susana, so she’s not sure how she could make such a Spanish name work with the sorts of names she likes. But she’s open to variations of the name – it doesn’t need to be exactly the name. And lastly, they want the name to be at least two syllables to sound better with their last name: Axt.

Thank you so much!

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

J.M. writes:

Baby is due on July 4th! We’ve decided on our girl name, but struggling to agree on a boy name. We have a two syllable last name that starts with an M.

My favorite is Wesley Michael, my husband prefers to do Michael Wesley:)

He also likes, Cason.

My other favorites are Griffin, Graham, Joseph (Joe), Bennett or Benjamin (Ben), Samuel (Sam)…

We’re very open to suggestions. We just haven’t found THE ONE! Appreciate your help.

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Nikki writes:

Ok

So my name is Nikki and my Husbands name is Barry ( he goes by BJ) Herr. We are pregnant with our 3rd kiddo. We are due on June 29th, 2010.
We have an 8 yr old girl named Rylee, and a 4 yr old boy named Brock. We are having another boy.
We cannot agree upon a name, and you probably should know, that while convincing my husband that we needed to have baby #3, I gave up naming rights, so, yup, you got it, he gets final say! How dumb was I when I agreed to this!

His choice selections are as follows:
1.Cody
2.Brandon
3. Ryan
4. Barry the third (after himself and dad)

My choices are
1.Brody
2. Cooper
3. Cole

We need help, what is your opinion!!!!!!

Oh, our last name is pronounced like “Hair”.

Any help and opinions is welcome!

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Emmyline writes:

My husband and I (Nick and Emmyline Benson) are expecting our third child end of June (due date: 28th of June), the sex of the baby will be a susprise.
Our sons are Alexander Kurt Benson (5) and Mathias Jack Benson (3). We had no trouble deciding on their names but with baby number 3 we’re having some difficulties on the naming side of things!

I (Emmyline) am a Dutch-speaking Belgian and speak Dutch with our children, my husband is American and speaks English with them. Alexander and Mathias are names that are pronouncable in both languages, also for our new baby we are looking for a name that will work in Dutch as well as in English.

My husband and I have some names in mind but we can’t seem to settle on a name that we both love, these are the names that we’ve been considering:

For a boy:
– Maximilian: My favorite, my husband thinks Maximilian is too long, he would prefer Maxwell but this is a name that is never used in Dutch and I generally don’t like it very much.
– Noah: A name we both like a lot but I love ‘Norah’ for a girl and if this baby is a boy I would like to be able to use ‘Norah’ on a possible future daughter.
– Vincent: My husband’s favorite. I don’t dislike the name and it works in Dutch but I knew a lot of Vincents my age growing up and it’s hard for me to picture a little boy named Vincent.
– Sebastian: A name we both like but I feel like it doesn’t flow well with Benson…
– Casper: Also a name we both like but does it sound too much like Alexander?

Possible middle names for a boy: Andreas (after both of my grandfathers who were called Andre), Robert (Nick’s grandfather), Nicolas and Nathan (my brother)

For a girl:
– Norah: I love this name but Nick is not too sure about it, he feels it’s too old-fashioned.
– Nell: We both like this name but think it is too short compared to Alexander and Mathias.
– Flo: We both like the nickname ‘Flo’ but can’t find a good formal name that we both love.

Possible middle names for a girl: Rachel (my grandmother and own middle name), Lillian (Nick’s mother), Margaret (my mother’s middle name) and Sophie (Nick’s sister)

Any suggestions are very welcome. We prefer classic names that are not too popular.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help us name our baby.

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Christine writes:

Hello there! We would be ever so grateful if you could please help us in choosing our baby name! We’re having tremendous difficulty settling on a name for our little girl, due in June. We just can’t seem to decide on a name that we love. We’ve been thinking about it for so long, but we seem to be getting nowhere. Here is the scoop on us:

My name is Christine and my husband’s name is Jim. Our last name is Harris. My husband has two children from a previous marriage, Elizabeth (Libby) (age 15) and Zachary (Zach) (age 17). We also have a puppy named Ella (and I have a sister named Ellen), so we want to make sure that we don’t use anything too similar to either of those names!

First, I should let you know that we have decided on the baby’s middle name. It will be Judith, after my husband’s mother, who passed away a few years ago. I’m finding it difficult to find a first name that flows particularly well with that, but I’m not too concerned on that front. It would mean a lot to my husband to have Judith (or Judy) as the baby’s middle name, since this is the first grandchild born since his mother’s death.

As for Baby Girl Harris’ first name, my husband’s favorite option so far is Hannah, which I also like, but I am somewhat reluctant to choose this since we live in Montana (i.e., Hannah Montana). Also, I’m not too sure whether the alliterative effect of “Hannah Harris” is desirable or not. My husband really likes this. I’m on the fence about it as I’ve heard some people say that this type of alliteration has a cartoonish effect.

Personally, my favorite name is Abigail (nickname Abby). My husband likes this, but both he and my stepdaughter are concerned that it is too similar to Libby. I don’t think it is, but I certainly don’t want to name the baby Abby if it will in any way detract or cause confusion with Libby’s name. Likewise, both Jim & I like the name Olivia, but the nickname (Livvie) also seems terribly close to Libby.

Other names we’ve considered include:

Emma or Emily (although we are concerned that these names are just too popular right now);
Grace;
Natalie;
Paige (I like this, but my husband isn’t crazy about it);
Olive (my husband likes this, but it’s not my favorite);
Virginia (nickname Ginny);
Charlotte (nickname Charlie – with the caveat that my mother has already indicated that she doesn’t particularly care for this);
Scarlett (I am huge Gone With the Wind fan, but I am concerned that Scarlett Harris is just a little too close to Scarlett O’Hara); or
Sabrina.

What do you think of any of these? Alternatively, do you have any other ideas for us? Any comments or suggestions you have would be most appreciated! We are in quite a muddle right now.

[I’m out of town for a few days but don’t want to fall EVEN FARTHER behind, so I’m leaving some name questions on auto-post!]

Beth writes:

We are expecting baby boy number three in June. Names have become a daily struggle as we cannot settle on anything that we both just “feel” is right.
Our oldest son is Luke Benjamin Goode, next came Mark Weldon Goode and soon we’ll have ____?____ Emanuel Goode. ( ‘e’ is silent on Goode) All three middle names are family names. I know that Luke and Mark started a gospel trend but that wasn’t intentional. We do feel maybe we should continue with the whole biblical theme but it’s absolutely not a necessity. One other thing to consider, is my husband’s name, Ashley. He hated it growing up because it is almost exclusively a female name these days. He’s constantly questioned about it. We’d both like something fairly traditional that brings a strong, healthy, upstanding male to mind.
Our current possibilities include Paul Emanuel. My husband has always liked this name, feels it brings those above characteristics to mind and goes well with Luke and Mark. No offense, as I saw it is your husband’s name, but I just don’t love it and can’t say why. We also like John Emanuel (enter the gospel theme again :) but worry that maybe John is just a little too vanilla? I love Jacob Emanuel but we both really hesistate with that one because Jacob has been the number one boys name according to Social Security since 1995! Finally, I am drawn to the name Lane Emanuel. No reason I just like how sounds. That one however, borders on the could be feminine line which worries my husband because again he deals with that confusion daily.
I hope that gives you enough background. We are getting worried as June quickly approaches with no end to this debate in sight. Would you mind weighing in with thoughts and/or suggestions? Thanks so much!

Grandma writes:

My daughter is due May 30 and the sex of baby is unknown. She has a daughter Addison Philips Hopes (Addie), born 2008. If she has a boy it will be Robert William Hopes III. Nicknames are possible , Trey, Trip, Will or Liam, none of which they really like. If it is a girl they are having trouble finding one they both like. A few possible are Taylor, Reese, Payton. She likes Mackenzie, Tori, Emerson, Ansley. They would like to use the middle name Lynn a family name but it sounds very country with some first names. Could you give suggestions for boy nicknames and girls names.

Is “Rob” already taken by her husband? That’s my favorite nickname for Robert. I also like the old nickname Robin, but in my area that cause confusion with the girl’s name. I know a baby Robert who goes by Bert/Bertie, and it’s surprisingly adorable. But I think in this case, if Rob is what the dad uses, I would use William/Will: it’s simplest, and William is a great and currently-well-liked name. They don’t love it, but this is one of the main problems with Sr./Jr./III stuff: generally it’s a name the parents wouldn’t have otherwise chosen, so there’s bound to be a “meh” feeling about the choice. That will likely fade as whatever nickname they choose BECOMES their darling baby boy and doesn’t even seem like a name anymore.

Girl name possibilities:

Avery
Braelyn
Brinley
Cadence
Delaney
Devyn
Ellery
Jaelyn
Jordyn
Keely
Kerrigan
Kierra
Kiley
Maren
Mckenna
Paisley
Shelby
Skyler
Sydney
Teagan

Some of the names on this list wouldn’t work at all with the middle name Lynn: Braelyn, for example. I included them anyway in case your daughter and son-in-law change their mind about the middle name, or in case they want to use it as part of the first name instead (Braelynn, Jaelynn).

Corinne writes:

Hello! I need some help with naming my first born. Our last name is Smith (so boring!) and my due date is June 15th. We are waiting to know the gender until birth, and have decided on Lila Grace for a girl. If it’s a boy, I fell in love with Jackson Noah (Noah is my husband’s name so we’re set on that as a middle name). However, my mother says she will be very upset if I name her grandson Jackson, because the nickname Jack was her father’s nickname and there is bad blood between him and the rest of the family. I never planned on using Jack as a nickname for Jackson, but to avoid upsetting family members I’m trying to come up with something I love just as much! Grayson was actually my first choice, but for some reason I’m not as enthused with it anymore :( I like names that end in -son, but I also considered Oliver, Owen and Weston before deciding on Jackson. I’ve studied many lists of names…ones that I love that are off limits because of friends or family members children are Mason, Carter, and Jamison. If you think there’s something I’ve overlooked that sounds like a perfect choice, please help!!

What an unpleasant situation for you to be in. I feel a little mad at your mom for bringing this up. On one hand I see why it bothers her and I guess it’s good for her to say something in case you were between names and didn’t really care which one, but on the other hand this could also be seen as a way of erasing the unpleasant connection between the guiltless NAME and the bad blood. It would be one thing if you were naming the baby after your grandpa, or if the full version of the name were the same as his—but for a POTENTIAL nickname to be the same as HIS nickname, and for THAT to be the Big Upsetting Issue?

Well. Enough of my crabbiness, we must work with what we have. We DON’T want to upset family members, it’s true. I’d say there are two possible choices here:

1. You go with the name you love, and you make a big deal about how OF COURSE it has NOTHING to do with your grandfather’s name! Heavens, it never even crossed your mind! It’s a completely different name! Dear, dear, no! Goodness! And you tell your mom frankly that the name has no connection for you to her father, and that it’s the name you love best and you’re going to use it, and that you dearly hope that with time the connection to her beloved grandson JACKSON-NOT-JACK will overwrite the connection she might feel to her father’s nickname.

2. You find a different name, in order to keep the peace. And because of my earlier and extensive crabbiness it will seem as if I support the other option and not this one, and yet I myself would almost certainly go with this option. Sigh. I don’t like to rock the boat, and I can’t pull off the “Oh dear me NO!” thing.

So with the understanding that you might end up going with option #1, let’s see if we can find you some names that make option #2 more appealing.

I do very much like the name Greyson, especially with your surname. Greyson Smith, so distinguished! And yet not so distinguished that it wouldn’t also be adorable on a little boy. And I love the nickname Grey. And it’s great with Lila, if you later have a daughter.

Or, would it soothe your mother at all if you named your son Jaxon? The more likely nickname then, if he had a nickname at all, would be Jax, not Jack. Do you know, that might actually fix it. Jaxon Noah Smith, nickname Jax.

If not, then maybe Jasper? Jasper Noah Smith is wonderful.

Or Judson: similar to Jackson, but no Jack! Judson Noah Smith.

Perhaps this is getting too far afield, but I do love the name Lincoln and it works so well with your surname. Lincoln Noah Smith. I really like that.

Keegan, maybe. Very nice with Lila. Keegan Noah Smith.

Griffin is another one I especially like with Lila. Griffin Noah Smith.

And maybe after all this the baby will be a girl!

Brea writes:

My husband and I recently found out that we’re having a little boy, due June 1. He’s our first. We had convinced ourselves that we were having a girl, and had all but decided on Harper Clair or Aubrey Clair (Clair is a family name).

We’re forming a list, but we (or maybe I) can’t help but think that we’re missing “the” name. It’s quickly becoming a mild obsession. Our last name sounds like Glenn, so this seems to rule out a number of names ending with an “n”. Finn Glenn, for example. For the middle name, we’d like Christian or Philip, both family names (unless we decide on Christian as a first name).

I grew up with an uncommon name (Brea) and I loved never knowing another. I similarly like my uncommon brothers’ names – Dane and Cale. I’d like to stick with a relatively uncommon name for the little guy, but nothing too out there. My husband (Jay) does not exactly share my need for a unique name.

Names that we’re currently considering include: Beckett, Carter, Samuel, Liam, Christian, and Henry (I fear that the last 4 are too common). I really like Cade, Raleigh, Shepherd, Ryder, and Theo, though my husband doesn’t agree. Thoughts on our current options or any new ones (please!) would be greatly appreciated.

Your parents did a very good job with names: they managed to choose highly unusual names that didn’t then spring into popularity—and yet the names aren’t at all “out there,” and are easy to spell and pronounce. I am on the teetering edge of suggesting you ask your parents for advice for this baby’s name—but that almost never goes well, so I will back away from the precipice.

First I looked into copying your parents’ boy-naming style: I looked for four-letter one-syllable names that seemed to hit that same magical bullseye. I considered Hart, Cole, Dean, Gage, Gray, Joss, Jude, etc.—but with the surname, it’s so abrupt. Hart Glenn. Gray Glenn. Too choppy.

Next I looked into names that were short/unusual and had more than one syllable. NOW we’re talking:

Abel
Aidric
Arlo
Arno
Boaz
Cohen
Corin
Davis
Eamon
Enzo
Ewan
Felix
Hugo
Kian
Levi
Linus
Lyle
Milo
Nico
Noam
Otto
Philo
Ronan
Ruben
Soren

But, I suspect most of these are too unusual for your husband. And with possible future sister Harper or Aubrey, probably Philo and Enzo are reaching too far out. Milo, perhaps, or Nico? Corin, Davis, Eamon, Ewan, Ruben? Those all seem more usable, without getting too common. I will try not to push Arlo on you, even though I love it and wish more people would use it. Could I push Ruben a little? I think it is one of the best names for boys, but my surname is awful with it. It has a teensy rhyme with your surname, but nothing I would avoid—I even think it has a nice “tying in” sound. I like Ruben Philip Glenn. Ooo, or Milo Christian Glenn.

But! I love your whole list of candidates, so my list-making is mostly for fun. Since this is your first baby, I think it might be helpful to consider names you might want to use for future children (such as Harper and Aubrey) and see which names from your list you like best with those. Or perhaps have your husband make a list on his own, and then see if there are any on his list you like as is or can modify into a slightly more unusual version.