(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)

Elizabeth writes:

I am due on Oct. 18th and are have struggled with possible names this entire pregnancy – especially girl names! We have two little girls and don’t know if this baby is a boy or girl. Here’s what our family looks like right now:

Mom – Elizabeth
Dad – Russ
3.5 year old – Jane (goes by Jane/Janie)
2 year old – Ellen (goes by Ellen/Ellie)
Our last name rhymes with “Bottle”

If we have a boy, my husband would like to follow his family’s tradition of naming after grandpa’s. Going with this, we would name the baby boy William John. My husband is pretty set on this name but I have a couple of issues with it:

* His nickname would be Will and “Will Bottle” sounds funny to me. Something like an unfinished sentence??
* I don’t want to switch the names and have a John William b/c there are already 2 other John’s in the family.

Unfortunately, we have no other options for boy names so we are open to new ideas…

As for baby girl names, we have struggled trying to match the other girls without being too similar. Our top names have been Claire, Lillian (Lilly), Mary and Lucy but have reservations about all of them. We both like Claire and Lilly but are concerned they are becoming too popular. I like Mary more than my husband but am concerned that Jane, Ellen and Mary almost sounds boring?!? Lucy was a late addition and my 3 year old loves it but I’m once again concerned that it is growing in popularity and will be one of the next “It” names.

As you can tell, we like simple, traditional names that aren’t overly common. Please help with any suggestions!!!!

(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)

Lyndy writes:

I’m having another bundle of Boy.
we are tossing around these names but nothin’ seems to fit.

Son #1 is Jonny Matix. {After my husband Jonathan, and a name of his own}
and we mostly call him Max.

Son #2 possibilities.

-Henry Dexter {named for husbands grandfather and my grandfather}
i love Hank. and Dex. Henry is definitely common. but its classic.

-Jasper Dee {a name of his own, and Husbands father}
I like that he’d share his Dads initials. and have a name all his own with a family name.
We originally got Jasper from a Western my husband and I both love. Now every time we mention Jasper, Twilight is brought up. Its kind of annoying but really we still love the name.

Those are the top two but we’ve also toyed with Dexter Dee, or Hendrix Edwin {his own name, and my dads name}
I know I still have sometime to find it…but its still tough. I’d love for some feedback.

I wanted to ask about baby name wizard. Is it just a book full of baby names? I have a few of those and havent found them helpful. Whats so great about name wizard.
anyways thanks for your help!!!

(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)

T. writes:

My husband and I totally do not agree on names. Its making this baby naming situation not much fun. I always dreamed it would be really neat to name my daughter, now its just avoidance from my husband (ie, we have tons of time, from day one of the positive test) to annoyance, on my part! :)

My due date is October 13, 2009

We have no other children, but our puppies name is Piper. Very preppy.

-Emerson – I love love LOVE it. My husband hates it
-Quinn – We are both lukewarm on this one.
-Reese – We both love because of the meaning, but having problems coming up with a middle name. We also hope that it doesnt fall flat. Everyone loves the name because of Reese Witherspoon, but I think its more powerful because people say her first and last name. No one will use our daughters first and last name when referring to her. At least I hope not, it sounds very courtroom type trouble-ish!
-Hazell – I dont like it (sounds too old), but its my husband’s grandmothers name.

I like Reese (which means passionate for life, fiery) and would love a bibical name, like a name that means Christ or the Lord. Then she would be passionate for God, but I havent found anything out there that would work! Our last name starts with a B and is 4 sylables. So I would love to not torture my daughter with a super long name! :)

(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)

Melissa writes:

My Husband and I are having our second, a baby girl, due October 4th. I just thought we would write and get some more opinions on the names we have chosen. This little girl will join her big brother Kaiden.

Finalists are:

Brinley
Avery
Harper
Ava
Isabelle
Piper
Ainsley

We have decided to go with either Grace or Delight as a middle name. both of which are the middle names of my great grandmothers. I have the middle name of my great grandmother also. Our son has the middle name of his great grandfather who passed away before he was born.

The two we like most are Avery and Brinley. I was voting for Avery Grace for a few months and now the last few days I really like the sound of Brinley Delight. Its something you don’t hear everyday but not to weird. I don’t want it to be too weird.

I like Harper but my husband doesn’t. I am pretty sure Piper is rated pretty low on our list..

I guess at this point we are just indecisive:).. Any opinions would be great thanks!

Poll over to the right! [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results (205 votes total):
Brinley: 41 votes, exactly 20%
Avery: 61 votes, roughly 30%
Harper: 40 votes, roughly 20%
Ava: 15 votes, roughly 7%
Isabelle: 14 votes, roughly 7%
Piper: 23 votes, roughly 11%
Ainsley: 11 votes, roughly 5%

Kobi writes:

I am looking for some help with a boys name. My husband and I can’t seem to agree on a boys name and our baby is due this month.

We have a 2 year old daughter, Suki Margaret, pronounced Soo- key and luckily if we have another daughter we have agreed on Bronte, pronounced Bron- tee, after the beach in Australia but can’t seem to agree on a boys name.

If we have a boy his middle name will be either William after my husband & Grandfather or Franciscus after my Father. My husband likes Kainoa (pronounced Ky- noah) or Grayden, whereas I like Flynn, Ryder or Jake. Hawaiian names seem to be my husbands favorite and I am open to suggestions.

I’m a 2-legged stool, because I don’t know even one single Hawaiian boy name. I looked up the top 100 names by state on the Social Security Administration’s baby name site, but that’s mostly Ethan and Jacob just like the rest of the country—until it gets out of the top 50, at which point I see Kainoa and also Kainalu, Nainoa, and Kaimana. So….I’m winging it.

I like the sound of Kainoa. Both Kai and Noah are familiar, so a name that sounds like a combination of the two won’t be too difficult for people to adjust to. The nickname Kai reminds me of the names on your list.

Greyson. That’s my second suggestion. It’s similar to Grayden, but I feel like the Names That Rhyme With Aidan (Braden, Cayden, Greyden, Hayden, Jaden, Kaden, Rayden) are melting together into one big nice-sounding mass. I suppose a person could say the same about the Mason, Jason, Casen, Greyson group, but that group seems so much less smaller and so much less current.

Grady: again, similar to Grayden, but avoids The Group.

Griffin. Grayden + Flynn.

Please, help me out here, everyone. I am floundering.

Becky writes:

We are having baby number 4, due October 4 and are getting desparate to resolve the name issue.

Our oldest is a girl: Blake Christina Morrow
Our second is a boy: Mason Michael Morrow
Our third is a boy: Britton Matthew Morrow

A few of our baby name rules/quirks:
We have ruled out any names that start with B because we don’t want Mason to feel left out.
I really really do not like names that are so trendy there are 5 kids with the same name in the Kindergarten class.
I need a name that is cute at 3 but can translate to the boardroom at 33. (I have a very cutesy name and am now a lawyer and I hate it – so that is just my quirk)

So here is where we are at:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mia Kate Caroline Morrow (to be called Mia Kate like Mary Kay).

Concerns:
Is it “unfair” or asking for problems to give this baby girl a “girly” name like Mia Kate and Blake a typical boys name? Blake is lukewarm to Mia Kate because “she gets a girly name and I have a boys name!” I respect that but also do I allow a fickle 7 year old to dictate what we name our baby? I guarantee when Blake is 16 she’ll think having a “boys name” is cool…

I noticed the name Mia is #15 on popularity. Do you think this name is overused or is going to be overused? Even though its #15, I haven’t heard or seen it around much in our Midwest area.

I know we (and probably other people) will call her Mia from time to time which is fine but how does “Mia Morrow” sound? I love it because it goes with Mason Morrow but it also reminds me slightly of a stripper.. I don’t know why – maybe because I lived in Vegas for years. Does anyone else think Mia Morrow is too goofy sounding? I am crazy about the stripper connotation. If it is a concern, is it tempered enough by using “Mia Kate” as the first name? so all of her official documents would say “Mia Kate Morrow”

In addition, my husband is a little lukewarm to Mia Kate but he realizes that I give birth, I rule.
So back up names, that I like well enough are:

Eliot Elizabeth Morrow
Quincey Kate Morrow
Presley Kate Morrow
Kevyn Kate Morrow
Finley Katherine Morrow (my hubby’s absolute fave!)

I know they go so great with the other kids names, but I am not bonded to them like Mia Kate – I don’t know why. Do all the kids names have to “match?”

Help!

You haven’t just gone a little androgynous here, like Cameron or Jordan, you’ve gone for something close to shock value. At this point, I think it could be startling to suddenly switch gears and go for a distinctly cute, feminine, non-boardroom name. On the other hand, no, of course the children’s names don’t all have to coordinate. There are no strict naming rules, and whatever name you choose will become the child and it won’t seem like “a name” anymore—and as you have found, the boardroom is still open to people with cute names.

If you do decide to give her a coordinating name, Finley, Presley, and Quincey are all excellent choices. Some more possibilities:

Ashton
Chandler
Fisher
Galen
Garnet
Hollis
Keaton
Langston
Marshall
Merrit
Miller
Sterling
Wallis
Winslow

(A name I thought at first would be excellent was Drew: it gives you two one-syllable girl names and two two-syllable boy names; it’s a boy name despite Drew Barrymore; and I just like the way it sounds with all the other names. …Until I put it with your surname and immediately started singing “Drew Morrow! Drew Morrow! I love you, Drew Morrow! You’re only a day away!”)

Cori writes:

Hi! We are having our fourth BOY and his expectant arrival is September 18, 2009! We are struggling with a boys name (have lots of girl names!!) and would welcome your expertise and opinion! Our other three boys names are Luke Hunter, Liam Cole and Jack Logan.

Some of the names we have been considering are Max, Cooper, Cole, Gage. I like Levi or Lincoln for a middle name however not for a first name as there seem to be too many “L” names! I really liked Noah or Nolan but no one else likes it and especially Noah for an older man! I am completely open to suggestions!

Our last name starts with a “W” so if that helps! Please help!!:)

Here’s what I looked for:

1. Two syllables, to balance the 1-, 2-, 1-syllable pattern you have so far.
2. Names that sounded like nice boys, the way I think the first three names do.
3. Something that coordinated but also stood out: there will be four boys to tell apart, after all.

Callum
Henry
Keegan
Owen (maybe too much W with your surname?)
Riley
Samuel

Let’s have a poll over to the right [poll closed; see results below], with your suggestions and mine. I’m presumptuously removing Cole from your list: since it’s the middle name of another of your boys, and since you’ll have FOUR boys, it seems like a good idea for each boy to get his own two names.

Poll results (201 votes total):
Max: 22 votes, roughly 11%
Cooper: 26 votes, roughly 13%
Gage: 13 votes, roughly 6%
Callum: 21 votes, roughly 10%
Henry: 39 votes, roughly 19%
Keegan: 3 votes, roughly 1%
Owen: 44 votes, roughly 22%
Riley: 13 votes, roughly 6%
Samuel: 20 votes, roughly 10%

I KNOW you are dying to talk about it. Go!

On Facebook the other day (and if you’re not my Facebook friend, why NOT? Don’t you want me to send you VIRTUAL GIFTS?), a discussion got started about which name we preferred, Victoria or Veronica. I like both but am not sure which I’d use first for a baby. Let’s have a poll over to the right [poll closed; see results below] that assumes a world in which you MUST name your baby girl one of those two names—which would you choose?

Poll results (301 votes total):
Victoria: 193 votes, roughly 64%
Veronica: 108 votes, roughly 35%

Michelle has not emailed me to ask, but I thought we might help the Duggars name their 19th child. Here’s what they’ve used so far, divided into a Girl List and a Boy List:

Jana
Jill
Jessa
Jinger
Joy
Johanna
Jennifer
Jordyn-Grace

Joshua
John-David
Joseph
Josiah
Jedidiah
Jeremiah
Jason
James
Justin
Jackson

Jana and Johanna are very close, as are Joseph and Josiah, and Jinger is stretch, but it was when they finally used Jennifer I knew they were out of ideas. But there are still plenty of nice J names yet, even if we assume names like January and Juniper and Jaden don’t fit with their style:

Jacqueline
Jane (probably too close to Jana)
Jean
Jemma
Jennica (probably too close to Jennifer)
Jezebel (KIDDING, kidding)
Jocasta
Jocelyn
Joella
Josephine
Julia
Julianna
Julissa
June

Jacob
Japheth (JAY-feth) (probably too close to Joseph)
Jared
Jaron (probably too close to Jason)
Jasper
Jeffery
Joel
Jonas

I like an “oo” sound for their next girl, since they don’t have that yet—maybe June or Julia. For their next boy, I think Jeffery.

What would be your pick for next girl and next boy?