Lauren writes:

Oh I would be most appreciative of some naming advice! We’re coming down to the last few weeks (due date is August 10) and having trouble landing on a name for our baby girl. I really need a sounding board especially because my husband wants to keep all naming ideas on the down low among our circles because, as we all know, everyone has an opinion and most of them are not very helpful! : )

This is our third child (I’m pretty sure last) and coming into a home of two brothers, Silas Jay and Judah Dennis. Our last name is the ever-common, Williams, which despite it being familiar, I’ve found to be rather difficult to pair names with (it’s a mouthful and a lot of vowel and consonant sounds).

So far, our naming style has been vintage/Biblical for the first name (and I really prefer it if the names are more unique–if I know anyone with the name it’s pretty much out) and the middle names honored my husband’s side of the family (as well as our second son has the JD initials because of a family tradition). I don’t love the flow of either of their names–and had similar freak out points with both of their namings–but opted for significance over perfect flow).

With this little girl, it’s been understood that we would honor my side of the family with the middle name (I really love Kaye for my mother’s and maternal grandmother’s middle name) but during my pregnancy, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with terminal cancer and so we’ve strongly considered a nod to her as well (her name is Marlys Anne and I’ve been thinking of giving this baby a second middle name of Anne, which would be purely for significance and not so much for style).

Please weigh in on how best to formulate a middle name from Kaye and Anne (do I just have two middles? A Franken-name hybrid? A hyphen? Something else entirely?).

We also haven’t landed on a first name. The name we both have liked (my husband Loves!) is

Lydia

but even though we don’t personally know anyone named Lydia, I am concerned that it’s a little high on the popularity scale. Also not entirely pleased with the mouthful that is “Lydia Williams.”

Others I’ve suggested that he likes: Bethel / Bethany (although this is less popular, it feels less unique for some reason, perhaps a little dated at the moment?)
Selah

Ones I’ve liked but are off the table at this time:
Elizabeth (love the name and it’s my middle name but too common)
Honorah (nn Norah)
Helena
Phoebe
Thalia
Talitha
Also, we both liked Jane but with a last name like Williams feels too, uh, “plain”

Finally, as part of my late-pregnancy nerves (and despite rather conclusive ultrasound evidence), the boy names we have in our back pocket are:
Ezekiel “Zeke” Marek (Marek being a Polish form of Mark to honor my dad’s mn and my uncle)
Or
Nile Marek

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Oh, this is very difficult! The last child, and time to use an honor name from your side—but of course it would be very touching and special to use your mother-in-law’s name right now. I don’t think I could give up either honor name.

Would you want to consider using Kaye as the first name? I think of it as classy, pleasingly retro name, similar to Jane, and I love it with your surname: Kaye Williams. I would want that name for myself. I would then consider using your mother-in-law’s first name to increase the honor: Marlys is a name that is currently out of fashion, but the sounds themselves are pretty, and I find the repeating Y visually pleasing. Kaye Marlys Williams.

But if Marlys is not in the running, Kaye Anne Williams would also work.

Are there any other names from your side that could be used as the first name? I know the original plan was to use a family name as the middle name, but it seems as if a third honor for your husband’s side (in addition to his family being honored each time with the surname, if Williams is his family name) justifies a first-name upgrade for your side—which would also make things significantly smoother and easier for using your mother-in-law’s name in the middle.

If you want to use both honor names as middle names, I suggest using both rather than combining. Already the honor names are the middle names of the people being honored, which is a step away, honor-wise; and then being used in the middle name position, which is a second step away. Combining them into one name (such as Kayeanne) is a third step away, and at that point it feels like there’s almost no honor left in it. Kaye Anne or Anne Kaye are both a little choppy in the middle, but you and I are in agreement about significance trumping flow.

On reconsideration, I think a hyphen would also work. I guess if Anne were my middle name, I really would think of Kaye-Anne as quite a bit better than Kayeanne. I still prefer having the names separate, however, to avoid seeming to combine the two honors—and also to avoid having the hassle of a hyphen.

I’ve also heard the idea of giving the child the same initials as the person of honor. I tried to picture this with my own initials, and I do think I’d feel slightly honored by that: I probably identify with my initials more even than with my middle name. It would mean finding a different honor name from your family, however, to match your mother-in-law’s initials.

Lydia is a lovely first name choice, and biblical/vintage just like your sons’ names. Its upward progress is slow and steady—the kind of progress that means a classic coming into favor once again, rather than the rapid, leaping progress that can indicate trendiness:

(screenshot from SSA.gov)

It’s taken twenty years for the name to move just a hundred rank points; a name heading worryingly up the charts frequently jumps more than that in a single year. And I know these things are subjective, but I like the sound of it with your surname. Lydia Williams! Very pretty. And then I’d pop both honor names in the middle: Lydia Kaye Anne Williams. I really like that. I like the repeating Y in the first two names, and the repeating double-letter in the second two, and the repeating -ia- in the first and last, and the repeating 4-letters/E-ending in the middle two. (I realize these are small things, but they are pleasing.)

I see Elizabeth on your off-the-table list: your middle name, but too popular. Eliza is one of my own favorite names, familiar but underused; I wonder if that would work well? Eliza Williams; Eliza Kaye Anne Williams; Silas, Judah, and Eliza. I like the way Eliza shares a long-I sound with Silas and an -ah ending with Judah, but then breaks free with three syllables instead of two.

To go back to biblical, I suggest Naomi. Naomi Williams; Silas, Judah, and Naomi.

I think Ruth Williams would also be wonderful, but with two 1-syllable middle names I’m inclined to go with a longer first name.

I would expect Claudia to be more common than it is, with the popularity of names like Chloe and Sophia. Perhaps as Lydia and Nadia become more fashionable, it will as well. Claudia Williams; Silas, Judah, and Claudia.

Which brings me naturally to Nadia. I heard this for the first time on the baby sister of one of my children’s classmates. Nadia Williams; Silas, Judah, and Nadia.

Jen writes:

We’re expecting our third baby girl in October and we’re having a terribly hard time finding a name we LOVE. Our first daughter’s name is Carys Anne. I fell in love with the name Carys many years ago because it’s unique without being too far out there, and the meaning is “love.” Anne is a family name (my middle name, my mom’s middle name and my great grandmother’s first name). Our second daughter’s name is Elise. Again, pretty, but not super popular. Elise’s middle name is Margaret after my husband’s grandmother.

Growing up as a “Jennifer” in the 80s was really crappy (for me). There were 5 Jennifer’s in my kindergarten class and we all were referred to by first name last initial. I hated being a Jenny F. and I wanted to avoid that at all costs for my kids by not picking super popular names.

We thought we were all set with the name Hadley for our baby, with Haddie as a nickname, but now I’m having second thoughts. I like it because it’s really pretty, unique, but not super out there. Plus, my grandmother’s name was Hattie and we thought there was a nice family tie. However, my original goal was to find a name that had an “s” sound at the end, so that it was similar to Carys and Elise, and now I’m bummed that I haven’t been able to find anything. My husband and I really like Emerson, but our big reasons for not “loving” it are that we wanted to avoid another name that started with C or E, and technically it’s a boys’ name. I’m more hung up on the fact that it starts with E though. My husband’s name also starts with an E, so that’s just a lot of E names!

We tend to like the English/Welsh/French type names like Olivia, Harper, Avery, etc. Those names are all on our list, but for various reasons are not “the” name, but are in the style of names we like.

Maybe you can help us by suggesting something we haven’t already thought of?? I would be SO appreciative!

Proof that we are living in a superior time is that when I Googled “baby girl names ending with s” I immediately got a good list on Nameberry. With Carys and Elise I particularly like Iris.

But I think if it were me, I might try to break the S-ending theme, especially if you think you might have more children later on. Two children with something similar about their names (same starting letter, for example) puts on a little pressure to continue it; three makes the pressure almost irresistible—and notice that the list of S-names isn’t all that long. And although Iris is my favorite, the repeated -ris sound is probably too much with Carys.

What I might do instead is look for a name with a strong S sound in the middle instead of at the end, to make the names sound right together without backing you into a corner. It’s hard to come up with suggestions without a surname to try them out with, but names like Marissa and Josephine and Lissandra and Isis and Cecily and Lucia (the loo-SEE-ah pronunciation) and Elspeth and Millicent and Astrid and Celeste.

Or maybe a starting S. Something like Sadie or Stella or Sabrina or Selena or Silvie or Simone.

Out of left field, I suggest Rose. It came to my mind when I was thinking “Carys, Elise, and ___?”

Another name that came to mind was Merrin. Carys, Elise, and Merrin.

Or Audrey: Carys, Elise, and Audrey.

Because your first two daughters have family names as middle names, the middle name might be a great place for your grandmother’s name. Was Hattie short for another name, such as Harriet or Henrietta? That would increase our options, though the name is still a little tricky to work with.

If you’re trying to avoid classroom duplication, things are better now than they were back when we were growing up: the absolute most common girl name in the United States is only about a quarter as popular as Jennifer was at its peak. The thing to avoid now may be names that sound similar to a bunch of other names: Kylie, for example, in a classroom with a Kyle, a Kaylie, a Kyla, a Kayla, a Mikayla. Hadley may only be moderately popular (though rising fast: from #921 in 2000 to #178 in 2011), but in a classroom with a Madison, an Addison, a Madelyn, an Adelyn, and a Hailey, she may feel more like a member of a Jennifer pack even if she doesn’t have to use her surname initial—and a Haddie may feel like she belongs to a group of a million girls going by Maddy and Addy.

M. writes:

Hi here, Swistle! I love your blogs and i have a baby name question: How would you pronounce “Lucia”? Just first instinct, without thought, as if you were a teacher calling roll on the first day of school. We are strongly considering it as a name for a baby girl, but I only like one pronunciation and I fear that everyone else assumes the other. Thanks for your opinion!

Lucia is a name that immediately registers two pronunciations with me: if I were a teacher reading out the class list, I would say, “Loo-SEE-ah, Loo-CHEE-ah…?” I know it can also be pronounced LOO-sha, but that one comes to my mind as a distant third.

What pronunciation does everyone else think of first?

Samantha writes:

Hello! My Husband, Kevin, and I, Samantha, are expecting our first baby this coming December. Our last name is COLE.

My families tradition is to name children after someone who passed away using the first letter of their name. This gives us A,F, & R. We seem to agree on girls names but differ on boy names. I LOVE unisex names, my husband does not L

So far for girls we have agreed with :
Amelia Brooke (this sounded really nice, I originally wanted to do Amelia Faye.. this was we incorporate two letters)
Alena Rae
Audrey
Addelyn (Husband does not like- I LOVE)
Felicity Reese
Arya Brooke
Ariana
Reagan (eh)
Ashleigh
Rylan

We found A R F difficult, finding so many names outside of them we like.. ESPECIALLY for boys. Other girl options if we break tradition are:
Kennedy
Hannah
Harlow
Hayden
Leighton
Payton

For boys… we have very few names for A R F ( HELP!!) We should just name him Arf..lol.
The middle name has to be Kevin, my husbands name. Its his family tradition.
All we can agree on ( I like many more then he does..)
Aiden
Reese( although he think it sounds to much like a girls name)

That’s it.

Other options we came up with are
Brodie (Husband LOVES…I am not sure if it sounds like a pets name??)
Brayden
Paxton
Nolan
Emmet
Noah
Liam
Eamon
Joshua

Any other suggestions you have we would really appericate it! We really wanted to stay off the top 50 popular names.

If you are trying to stay out of the Top 50, that takes Top-10 Aiden off the boy list. Reese would work; I think spelling it Rhys makes it seem more masculine. But it feels a little choppy with the surname.

Other A/F/R suggestions:

Abram
Adrian
Anderson
Archer
Asher
August
Axton
Felix
Finian
Fletcher
Rayden
Ruben
Reilly
Rohan
Roman
Ronan
Ryan
Ryder
Rylan

For girls, I think Addelyn is on course to be more popular than you’d like. We did a post about it earlier this year, when I only had the 2010 Social Security data to work with; here’s how things looked when the 2011 data came out:

Adalyn – 1261 born in 2010; 1458 born in 2011
Adelyn – 825 in 2010; 1052 in 2011
Adalynn – 686 in 2010; 959 in 2011
Adelynn – 458 in 2010; 492 in 2011
Addilyn – 260 in 2010; 341 in 2011
Addelyn – 134 in 2010; 127 in 2011
Adilyn – 133 in 2010; 142 in 2011
Addilynn – 123 in 2010; 154 in 2011
Addalyn – 118 in 2010; 163 in 2011
Adilynn – 105 in 2010; 141 in 2011
Addalynn – 62 in 2010; 77 in 2011
Adalynne – 45 in 2010; 41 in 2011

Only two spellings (Addelyn and Adalynne) went down a little; all the others went up considerably. The total number went from 4,210 in 2010 to 5,147 in 2011, putting the name well into the Top 50.

Amelia Brooke is a wonderful name, with fun initials. Amelia was #30 in 2011—but I am starting to think that this is one of those situations where although you’d prefer to stay out of the Top 50, you LIKE names in the Top 50! (Ashley/Ashleigh is only just recently out of a long run in the Top 10. Audrey is #43. Hannah is #25. Liam and Brayden and Joshua are all Top 50, and Noah and Aiden are Top 10.) And there isn’t anything wrong with that. It would be a shame to choose a name you like less, just because of its ranking.

I also suggest Baby Naming Advice for First-Time Parents.

Erin writes:

I am not pregnant, nor will I be for quite a while, but names and their popularity fascinate me and I love your blog.
I’ve been thinking. What about the name Linus? I never hear it used. Personally, I think it has an old timey charm without being “too old man”.
The problems I see, however, are the lack of nicknames and the Peanuts connection. Do you think the connection is too strong to make the name useable? In my opinion, I like the connection. Linus is my favorite Peanuts character, especially in the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. But I also LOVE the Sabrina connection. Humphrey Bogart’s character was Linus Larabee. I really like the character, and I’m a huge Audrey Hepburn (who played opposite Bogart as Sabrina) fan, so that even strengthens the connection for me.

So, why isn’t this wonderful name being used?

I love the Peanuts character of Linus, too: so sweet, and also smart. And although I do strongly associate the name with him, it’s a fully positive association, and I think it would fade as easily as the Peanuts associations with Charlie and Lucy and Violet did as those names got more popular. In fact, Lucy is a good example: I remember when it first started getting popular again, people would mention that they were nervous about the Peanuts association—but I haven’t heard that mentioned in ages now.

I also associate Linus with the Linux operating system, since that’s what Paul uses.

I thought at first the issue might just be that the sounds of Linus are out of date and we need to wait for them to come back around: we’re not using Lyle much, either, even though the name Kyle was very popular there for awhile. But we ARE using Elias (2,961 new baby boys in 2011), which is so close. And we’re using Lila(h) even more: 5,782 babies named Lila/Lyla/Lilah/Lylah in 2011.

Maybe the popularity of Lila is giving Linus a slightly feminine sound? But if it is, I don’t hear it yet.

Maybe the issue is the second syllable: Magnus is the only other name I can think of that uses it, and that was only given to 152 baby boys last year; Linus was given to 124. Oh, and there’s Dennis, which was given to 678 baby boys in 2011, with another 116 named Denis. Hm, and Adonis, which was given to 332 boys in 2011. Still, it’s not a popular ending right now. (Source of all these numbers: Social Security Administration.)

I have wondered if the issue might be that the name sounds somewhat like a personal male body part. I know! I know, it doesn’t really! The first syllable is totally different! It’s only the second syllable, which isn’t even spelled the same way! I can’t explain it; it’s just my immediate association. Uranus has similar issues, poor planet.

What do you think: Why aren’t we using Linus?

B. writes:

Growing up, I always loved baby names and I thought for sure that when the time came to actually have a child, the naming process would be very simple! Our baby girl is due in mid August and choosing a name has been anything BUT simple, and that is why I am writing to you! This is our first (and most likely only) child and the surname will be Munro. If we had a boy the name would have been Edwin George. Our favorite name thus far is Coco, and although we 100% love the name, I feel like she should have a more formal full name with the nickname being Coco. No matter how hard I look I cannot find a single name that works as a full name that seems like ‘the name’. The main one we have been considering is Charlotte but it is awfully common in our area, we also really adore Clementine but think it might be a bit of a stretch. Aside from Coco, the other first names we are considering are Veronica, Michelle and Gabrielle. For middle names we like Christine, Gwen, Gabrielle and Veronica. The more we keep looking, the more I’m beginning to think we really should just use Coco as the first name but it feels so incomplete at times. We really need your help! Thank You!!!

You will find plenty of support if you want to name her Coco and not bother with a full form: many people think a formal name is a silly waste if you don’t love it or don’t plan to use it, and I think Courteney Cox and David Arquette helped things further by using Coco as their daughter’s given name.

I find Laura Wattenberg‘s “Would I want this name myself?” test very helpful here: I think of some nicknames (for my generation I use the samples Beth, Jenny, Jess, Angie, Steph, Nicki, Krissy), and then I try to imagine if I myself would prefer (1) to have been named the nickname instead of the full name, so I wouldn’t have the hassle of continually telling people “Please, call me Krissy/Nicki/etc.” when they call me by my full name, OR if I would prefer (2) to have Kristen/Nicole/etc. to fall back on if I wanted it. I usually end up deciding I’d prefer to have a formal name to fall back on: even though the parents might never plan to use it, the child might prefer to have options.

I think that if Coco is The Name, the formal/longer version for it does not ALSO need to be The Name—just as a potential nickname doesn’t have to be The Name if the formal version is. Many a parent who really wanted Charlie has used Charles to get to it; many a parent who really wanted to use the name Annabel has used it even though the nickname Annie produced only a warm feeling instead of a lightning bolt. However, since the child may choose to go by the former version later in life, it’s nice to find one you like very much.

To get the nickname Coco, I would look for a name that started with “Co”:

Colette
Constance
Cora
Coral
Coralee
Cordelia
Corinna
Corinne
Cornelia
Cosette
Courtney
 
The closer the “Co” sound is to the “Co” of Coco, the better—so, for example, I think Colette works perfectly, but that Constance is a bit of a stretch. And I think Coco Chanel’s Frenchness may make the French names feel like a more natural route to the nickname Coco.

I would also look for names with a strong internal “co” sound that matches the sound of Coco: with nicknames, sound can be very important, and Coco might work more naturally for a Nicolette than for a Constance.

Nicole
Nicolette

On the other hand, Coco Chanel‘s formal name was Gabrielle, so nicknames don’t always have to make sense. I see Gabrielle is on your list; one possibility is to name her Gabrielle, nickname her Coco, and say “like Coco Chanel!” to anyone who blinks.

I also seem to remembering hearing Coco used as a nickname for Caroline—probably because it sounds a little similar to Caro. It’s not a natural one to me, but I think I’d come around to it with time.

T. writes:

I’m due with twin boys in 2 weeks, and we still aren’t settled on names.  Our last name is like Brown, but with different vowels- which works well with a lot of names.  Our daughters names are Catherine and Nora- both old family names and sum up my style- classic, vintage, a little Irish, not over-popular, easy to recognize and spell.  The twin names we are considering are Doyle (family name) and Daniel (solid timeless name, and I like the nickname Danny for a kid, and Dan for an adult).  What do you think?  I don’t love either one like I loved my girls names and neither does my husband, but there are none that we like better.  Some names that we both really liked, but can’t use because they are totally overused in both our families are Patrick, William, James, Thomas- they will be our selections for middle names depending on which first names we choose.  I feel like we are overlooking some great names that we just haven’t thought of yet.  We don’t want to do “B” names, but are otherwise open.  We don’t want to be matchy matchy, but want names that sound right together. 

I guess our first concern is “Doyle” too strange for a first name?  I like that it’s unique and it has lots of family meaning to me , but don’t want to sound weird.  Then, is Daniel way too common?  To give you an idea of other names we liked:  I liked Cormac, Colin, Bennet, Theodore (Teddy), but hubby hated all.  Hubby liked Christian, Jonah, Andrew, Peter, but I hated all.  Help.

The first thing that catches my attention is how different in popularity Daniel and Doyle are: according to the Social Security Administration, Daniel was #10 in 2011, and Doyle hasn’t been in the Top 1000 since it dropped out in 1982.  (For comparison, Catherine was #161, Katherine was #61, Nora was #137, and Norah was #263.) In 2011, there were 15,138 new baby boys named Daniel and 10 new baby boys named Doyle.

The second thing I notice is that the name Daniel has a couple of natural nicknames, and the name Doyle doesn’t have any at all.

The third thing I notice is that as a twin set, Daniel and Doyle will please the public’s taste for a twin-name gimmick: in general, people will react favorably to the matching rhythms and matching D and Y and L sounds. But they are QUITE sound-alike:

d + an + yul
d + oy + yul

The different letters help make them visually dissimilar, and the familiarity of one and the unfamiliarity of the other help as well, and those matching rhythms/sounds will help tie the name Doyle in with the style of his three siblings’ names—but even with all this, I’m hesitant about the names sharing too many sounds.

One exercise I used when trying to name my own twins was to pretend they were being born separately: I’d think, “Okay, what if I were just having a girl now, what would I name her? And then let’s pretend she’s here and named, and now I’m expecting just a boy—what would I name him?” It may help to think about what you might name a boy if you were expecting only one—and then what you might name another if you had a fourth child later on, if you found you were having another boy.

Another exercise I used was to find a name I really wanted, and then see if I could find a name I liked that went with it. (This failed me, but was still useful: it helped me conclude that I wasn’t going to be able to find the gimmick I was hoping for. I’d wanted at least matching initials or same number of letters/syllables or SOMETHING.)

I’d thought I might suggest names based on the other names you’d considered, but I’m having trouble getting a feel for what each of you loves/hates. Instead, I am going to indulge in a little Fantasy Twin Naming, pairing up some of my own favorite boy names that are even within spitting distance of the style of Catherine and Nora:

Frederick and George
Edmund and Henry
Simon and Frederick
Simon and Isaac
Isaac and Frederick
John and Daniel
Elliot and Malcolm
Louis and George
Milo and Emmett
Milo and Malcolm
Oliver and Benjamin
Oliver and Henry
Daniel and Jonathan
Ian and Rhys
Ian and Leo
Davis and Harris
Ruben and Rhys
Rufus and Ruben
Rhys and Aidric
Felix and Aidric
Calvin and Sullivan
Calvin and Malcolm
Anderson and Sullivan
Anderson and Harrison
Keegan and Declan
Daniel and Declan
Simon and Oliver
Milo and Felix
Wesley and Henry

Since you have two D names you like, one idea is to use Daniel as one baby’s first name, and Doyle as the other baby’s middle name—or the other way around, with Doyle as one baby’s first name, and Daniel as the other baby’s middle name. Then find another pair of common/uncommon names that also share an initial, so that the twins have swapped initials and matching commonness/uncommonness of names. …I’m not explaining this well; I’ll do an example. If you liked Felix and Frederick, for example, you could have Daniel Felix (D. F.) and Frederick Doyle (F. D.), or Felix Daniel (F. D.) and Doyle Frederick (D. F.). Or if you like Henry and Hugo, you could have Daniel Hugo (D. H.) and Henry Doyle (H. D.), or Hugo Daniel (H. D.) and Doyle Henry (D. H.).

Or, since Doyle is a family name, maybe you can use it as Baby A’s middle name and find another family name you can use as a middle name for Baby B, and then you can find a first name for Baby B that starts with the same letter as the new family name. Urg, it is hard to explain these things! I mean if you find another family name, and let’s say it’s Murphy, you can have M____ Doyle and D____ Murphy.

Leonie writes:

Our second baby is due on July 14 (not sure of it’s a boy or girl). We have the girls name more or less sorted but we are stuck on a boys name. Our surname rhymes with Dwyer.

Our daughter is called Florence Elizabeth Grace, which we both love. It was chosen from a short list the day she was born and if this baby is another girl it will be a similar combination of beautiful classical names – Eleanor, Marguerite, Loretta, Mathilda, Rosalie, Pearl etc….we’ll figure it out on the day!

We have a few of boys names in mind but we are not as confident about using them… We have both started to doubt them at the last minute (is that normal?) Here they are…

Menzies Franklin Huw

Menzies Alexander Felix

Menzies Alexander Owen

Menzies Amos Alexander

I should point out that my husband is Welsh and so we would like a Welsh name in the mix. Also, the name Menzies has a nice family significance. While it would be nice to include these elements it’s not a essential.

We also like

Edwin
Selwin

and most recently my hubby has thrown Marvin into the mix…I was unsure but it’s growing on me (and it’s Welsh)

We are open to brand new suggestions at this stage too – nothing is set in stone yet! Also, if you can think of some middle names for Marvin that would be great…

Thanks!

The first thing that sprang to my mind when I said the name Menzies aloud was “menses.” I have gone around and around about this since I got your letter, wondering if I should even mention it: it seems like there is always someone who has a peculiar association with a name (Paul and I still quote this SNL skit to each other), so maybe this is me saying “Hey, Benjamin, IS MONTANA A STATE YET?” Or maybe not, and so I mention it anyway but with hesitation (and with Julia Sweeney giving me a perplexed look).

I’m looking at the Welsh section of The Best Baby Names in the World From Around the World, and I’m seeing a ton of nice options: Bevan, Bowen, Brice, Cai, Calder, Colwyn, Davis, Dylan, Evan, Gavin, Griffith, Kent, Maddock, Price, Rhys, Tristan, Vaughn. Since you’ve mentioned Edwin and Selwin, Colwyn and Bowen stand out to me from that list. Maybe something like Colwyn Alexander Felix or Bowen Amos Alexander. Or Menzies would work well in a middle name position: something like Colwyn Alexander Menzies or Bowen Felix Menzies.

With Florence, my favorites are Calder, Colwyn, Davis, Price, and Rhys. Of those, Rhys is probably my top favorite. Rhys Alexander Felix, Rhys Franklin Menzies, Rhys Alexander Menzies, etc.

Marvin is not in the Welsh list of The Best Baby Names in the World or in the Welsh list of The Oxford Dictionary of First Names, so I think I would use a Welsh middle name as well. I like many of the middle names you’ve already chosen for Menzies, or names from the Welsh list above: Marvin Alexander Felix, Marvin Franklin Menzies, Marvin Rhys Menzies, Marvin Davis Menzies, and so on.

Angie writes:

I need help with naming my 4th child & second daughter; I am due at the end of September.  My two boys are Aden and Evan, and my girl’s name is Evelyn.  I like the name Avery; does it go well with Evelyn for a sister’s name?  I am a little hesitant on the name Avery because of its meaning, elf ruler.  My husband has the name Annika in mind but I do not like it.:-)  I would like to stay with names starting with letter A.  My boys’ initials are A & E, so I like the girls’ initials to be E & A. :-)  Isn’t that corny?!!! :-)  I would love to hear your suggestions.

I think Evelyn and Avery have two things working against them as sister names: they’re (1) too similar and (2) too different. The sounds are so similar I immediately start getting tangled and saying Avelyn and Every and Everly and Averlyn, but the styles are quite different. And since you already have an Evan and an Evelyn, I wouldn’t add a third vowel/V combination like Avery.

I think Abigail would work well. Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Abigail. Both boys have two syllables, both girls have three.

Or Amelia would be nice, and gives the girls both 6 letters and the boys both 4: Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Amelia.

Or Alice would be my favorite, I think: Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Alice.

I’m slightly tempted to work with the Ev/Ev you already have, and go with an Ad/Ad to coordinate. Something like Adeline or Adelaide or Adrienne. Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Adeline.

Or I like both Aubrey and Audrey. Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Aubrey. Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Audrey. Audrey would give a hint of the Ev/Ev/Ad/Ad idea, if you wanted it.

Anneliese/Annalise has some of the sound of Annika. Aden and Evan, Evelyn and Annalise.

S. writes:

Hey there, Swistle!
I’m in need of help!!
I’m due on LABOR DAY (good one, right?!) with my first born baby girl.

My boyfriend and I are having trouble selecting a name despite a long list we’ve managed to narrow down. We love Shakespeare and intially were looking to tie in names with a meaning in some way. We also anticipate a spunky, fiery daughter so we want her name to have some sass!

FYI: Last name T@ylor.

These are the names we’ve been stuck on for quite a while, though my dear beau has his favorite that I’ve been leaning towards but still cant commit to…I still have other favorites in this mix.

Jaqueline Elise T@ylor
Juliet Elena T@ylor
Penelope Corinne T@ylor
Fiona Wren T@ylor
Cecelia Pearl T@ylor
Camryn Kay T@ylor
Elliot Reese T@ylor
Marlowe Maeve T@ylor
Gwendolyn Elena T@ylor

We did, for the most part, nix Jacqueline. Mostly because he’s always pronounced the name like “Jaclyn” and I’ve always loved it as a 3 syllable name with the “que” pronounced smoothly as in “question” and I’d hate going through life hearing it pronounced incorrectly (in my opinion – ha!). His sister begged us to avoid Jacqueline due to horrid nicknames, which I don’t mind as much – kids will be kids. But there’s also the potential of us having another child in the future and my dear partner has always favored “Jack” for a boy.

The middle name Elena stems from “Helena” in Midsummer. Obviously there are a number of other names related to Shakespeare on the list as well I won’t single out. Marlowe is from the playwright Christopher Marlowe – a very interesting man with ties to Shakespeare. We like nicknames for a child – but do prefer an adult-sounding adult name, if you will, which causes me to feel slightly hung up about Penelope – though I do love that name. Might be too cutesy, I don’t know…

I also have some reservations about Elliott, as I’m fearful the nickname will be Ellie which is nearly identical to my own name (lacking a few consonants) and that’s far too rhymey for me.

(I’ll also mention we’ve gone through a number of boyish names for our girl in addition to Elliott/Camryn we’ve considered Dylan, Dru, Charlie, Griffin and a variety of others I can’t recall at this moment…)

Marlowe has been in the top for me since the beginning – I’m open to alternate spellings – but don’t know how I feel about people calling her Marley, given the dog and/or the Bob reference. I do favor Cecelia Pearl and Fiona Wren as well.

The boyfriend has been partial to Gwendolyn Elena (he enjoys the lyrical flow) for quite some time now and I’ve nearly convinced myself of OFFICIALLY selecting this as her name. But I worry that it’s quite a refined name for what I hope will be a quirky chickadee. Also, if everyone ALWAYS calls her Gwen – why name her Gwendolyn? As it’s such a wonderfully lovely name…

I’m all torn up as you can see!

Anyway – that’s far too much information, I am sure. Maybe you can steer me in a clear direction or offer up some alternatives? I’d love to hear some thoughts from your commenters as well.

Thank you so much!

Gwendolyn is my favorite from the list as well. I don’t think everyone will always call her Gwen unless you establish it that way (nicknames are much less common/assumed than they used to be), and I think the full name has the drama you’re looking for. It sounds refined/dignified to me, but also fiery/quirky and also sweet/gentle—a very nice range of options for a child whose personality remains to be seen.

I’d also suggest Genevieve and Georgia. Both have that same range of options, sweet to fiery, plus good nicknames for even more flexibility. I especially recommend Georgia because of your possible interest in boyish names for girls: Georgia lets you use Georgie and George as nicknames, while still giving an official name that is unmistakably girl. Georgia also has the ultra-sass nickname Gigi. But Genevieve has good ones too: Genna, Genny, Evie, Vee.

My next choice from your list is Fiona. Tons of sass and spirit and energy, and yet I can also picture it on a quiet bookish girl.
And I suggest Francesca. Frannie and Chess are both great nicknames, and the name is full of personality and flair.

I think a decade ago, Penelope might have been more whimsical than what you were looking for. But its recent rapid rise in popularity should help considerably with that: according to the Social Security Administration, it appeared in the Top 1000 in 2001 at #946; just ten years later in 2011, it was already at #169. It still has an appealing whimsy, but I don’t think it’ll sound cutesy by the time all those Penelopes hit the workforce.

Two of my own Shakespearean favorites are Bianca and Imogen.

If you like boyish names for girls, I suggest putting one in the middle name slot. It gives your girl the option of using it if it suits her, without giving as much trouble with future sibling names. Gwendolyn Elliot, Georgia Dylan, Cecelia Grey, Francesca Quinn, Fiona Wesley, Bianca Riley, Imogen Sterling, Penelope August.

If initials are important to you, I’ll point out that Jacqueline/Juliet E. T@ylor both spell JET, and Gwendolyn/Genevieve/Georgia E. T@ylor gives you GET.