Courtney writes:

I recently found your website and love all the naming advice (I went back and read all the updates where moms wrote back in with that they finally chose–love those. Except when they didn’t choose the name I liked).

Anyway, here’s my naming dilemma:

Our last name sounds a lot like Grindelwald*. My husband’s name is Thomas (Tom) and I’m Courtney. We have one son, Jackson, who is three. He’s named after my uncle Jack and my husband’s great uncle.

I’m 18 weeks pregnant and just found out I’m having a girl. Yayyy!!! Even before we had kids, we had talked about names and decided we wanted to try to honor both of our heritages (husband’s is Dutch, mine is Irish). So our son’s middle name is a Dutch family name (sounds like Jägermeister, but with a Z and without the meister). And for a girl, we wanted to have an Irish bent. We really like the name Grace, but Grace Grindelwald is a little too much “gr” sound. We really want to rule G out entirely. But we did some research, and found that the name Hannah means “grace,” and the Irish form of Hannah is “Aine” (pronounced like awn-yeh).

So question one is: Do you think this name is too out there? I think it sounds pretty, but I know people are going to have a hard time pronouncing it (and they already have a hard time with our last name). Will she get teased for the weird spelling? Are people going to call her Anne? Is it mean to give her two names she’ll have to spell out and pronounce every time?

Question two is: If you do like the name Aine, what do you think about a middle name? For some reason, I have it stuck in my head that it should start with an L. Originally we had thrown around the idea of Laurel, but that’s not really grabbing me any more. I really like the name Lucy, but is that too weird to have two four-letter names? Aine Lucy? My husband likes it too but wants to spell it Lucie, which I think looks even weirder (Aine Lucie–too many e’s).

For reference, we had our boys names all picked out, and it was either going to be
Asher Willem (Dutch again)
Miles Emerson
Declan (not sure of middle name, maybe Emmett)

For girls we’ve also talked about
Sadie (not sure about middle names for that either, but considered Aislinn for the Irish aspect)
Sydney (used by another friend)
Sophie (husband doesn’t like it)
Annabelle

So we tend to go pretty classic but not super popular (um, except Jackson, but I swear it wasn’t so popular when we named him that!), and names that have some meaning behind them–even if they’re just meaningful as family names. I don’t have any real restrictions in terms of names “matching” or anything, aside from no G names, and there are no family considerations at play.

Sorry this is so lengthy . . . I realize this is not a real life-or-death situation but I would really love some objective input :-)

Thanks so much!

Courtney

* Hoping the HP reference gets me moved to the top of the list?

and

Just wanted to add, if you decide to post, my husband and I brainstormed a few more names that we would at least consider.

My pick:
Mirabelle (really starting to love this one–it means “lovely, wonderful”)

His:
Sezaneh

Beatrix

Chelsea

Miranda

Amelie (I love this one as well)

Kaatje/Kajte

Shelby (I do not like this)

Ingrid

Isabel/Isabella (I used to like this a lot but I think it’s becoming too popular)

Thanks again!

I think Aine would be difficult to get people to pronounce correctly in the United States, but that the spelling Anya would be lovely and perfect. Anya Gridelwald; Jackson and Anya. …Oh, wait, now we’re away from Irish again.

Well, but here is the thing: most of the loveliest Irish names are not pronounceable here without translation. I have finally learned to pronounce Niamh and Aoife, for example, and my brain STILL says them “Nee-am-huh, I mean Neeve” and “Ay-oiff, I mean Eva,” respectively. And I have PRACTICED. In general, I recommend translating the more challenging Irish names into the U.S. English alphabet, or using them as middle names.

For a middle name for Anya, I think one with the emphasis on the second syllable would work well: Anya Louise, or Anya Lucille. One-syllable names would also be nice; this might be a great place to put the name Grace. Or Anya Joy, or Anya Jade, or Anya Faye, or Anya Paige. Or a name that ends up being rejected as the first name choice might work well for the middle.

Isabella was the #2 most popular baby girl name in the United States in 2011, after two years at #1. I do think it’s too popular, if you’re trying to avoid popular. Annabel and Mirabel are great alternatives. I’d also put Isabelle on the list of middle name candidates. Anya Isabel?

I’m not familiar with the name Sezanah, and I couldn’t find it in the Social Security Administration’s data base or on other baby name sites. I wondered at first if it were a backwards spelling such as Nevaeh. I suggest the underused Susanna instead.

I think Sadie Aislinn is great. The initials are a little dicey but not terrible. I especially like the idea of using a favorite first name, and then a very Irish middle name with the original spelling.

More possible combinations:

Nora Maeve
Sadie Isabel
Mirabelle Sian
Sadie Maeve
Annabel Kaatje
Annabel Sian
Annabel Maeve
Amelie Niamh
Amelie Maeve
Miranda Siobhan
Beatrix Aine
Beatrix Saoirse
Susanna Maeve
Katya Faye
Katya Jane
Katya Louise
Amelie Kaatje
Amelie Siobhan
Mirabelle Niamh
Miranda Sian

I think my favorite is Nora Maeve. Nora Grindelwald; Jackson and Nora. I also love Annabel Maeve and Anya Maeve. Well, and Sadie Aislinn, and Katya Louise. I guess I like a lot of them.

I’m partially limited here by a low familiarity with Irish names (I mostly know the ones I’ve looked up while reading Maeve Binchy novels). I wonder if there are some good choices in your family tree?

Name update! Courtney writes:

I just wanted to give you an update on our naming dilemma. After reading your advice and the comments, we decided we liked the idea of doing an Irish middle name with a more common first name. We had narrowed the list down to Sadie Aislynn, Amelie Beatrix, and Mirabelle Saoirse. But I wasn’t entirely in love with any of them, and kept looking … and came across Eden on your site and fell in love with it! I sent it to my husband whose immediate reaction was “I really like it.” So then we needed a middle name, and we waffled between Saoirse and Ciara (pronounced kee-ra) for a long time. And then at the park one day, I heard someone calling for their daughter Clara, and I thought it was such a cute name–and, it means “clear, bright,” which is similar to the meaning of Aine which we had originally liked … very circular, I know. But in the end, Eden Clara “Grindelwald” arrived a week-plus late, born at home on February 6th at 7lbs 14 oz and 20.75 inches.

So we ended up being one of those families who got great name suggestions and went in a completely different direction–no Irish at all, no family names either–but I think the name suits her perfectly and everyone who’s heard it has loved it.

Picture attached of our sweet girl.

Lucy writes:

My husband (Brian) and I (Lucy) are expecting our second child in March. We will wait to find out the gender until the day he/she is born. Even though it’s quite a ways before the baby is due we are already discussing names and trying to figure out the perfect one. We love family/honor names and plan to use a family name for both the first and middle name. Our first child, Eln@ F@e, is named directly after both of her maternal grandmas.

If this next child is a boy, naming him will be easy. We will use George Austin. George is an important and personal name from both sides of the family. Austin is my Grandma’s maiden name and mom’s middle name.

If this child is a girl we are deciding between Virginia Greer (middle name not definite yet) and Harriet. If we use Virginia we will mostly use the nicknames Ginger or Gigi. If we use Harriet we would call her both Harriet and Hattie.  I like the sound of Hattie Harri$, but obviously Harriet Harri$ has some definite problems.  (The family member we would be naming her after was also named Harriet Harri$).  We know that a middle name could possibly soften the problem here, but don’t want to have to always say her first and middle together since Harriet is already three syllables.  We realize that if we use Harriet we are just embracing the fact that she will have the “John Johnson” or “Jack Jackson” issue her whole life or until she gets married, but I’m wondering how bad that is?  The middle names we are currently considering, but aren’t sure we like yet, are Christine, Joanne, & Luella.  Do these help, or can nothing help the situation?

Any advice would be super appreciated!  Thank you!

One of my favorite books to read to younger kids is Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild!, by Mem Fox.

(photo from Amazon.com)

This book made me love, love, love the name Harriet Harri$. It is so fun to say. When dealing with my own 5-year-old Henry, who is currently in a “difficult stage” (where “difficult stage” is said with clenched teeth and audible air quotes), I find this section of the book goes frequently through my mind: “Harriet, my darling child. Harriet, you’ll drive me wild. Harriet, sweetheart, what are we to do? Harriet Harri$, I’m talking to you!”

So because of that, the name sounds right and good to me, and in fact particularly appealing. It doesn’t seem like the equivalent of John Johnson or Jack Jackson; it seems more like Maribeth Marek or Abigail Abner.

Here is the main issue I would be concerned about: SO MANY opportunities for the nickname Hairy. But perhaps with the surname Harris, there is no avoiding it anyway?

I think you’re wise not to rely on the middle name to fix the situation: middle names are so rarely used, or even known. But in my opinion, there’s no situation to fix anyway: it’s a striking and distinctive and appealing honor name. If anyone DOES act funny about it, saying “Harriet Harris is a family name” seems like it would nip that in the bud.

What does everyone else think?

Name update! Lucy writes:

We had a baby GIRL on March 19th! My husband and I were so appreciative of your and your readers help! A good portion of your readers supported us in using Harriet Harris, but some really discouraged it. So, some of your readers will be disappointed, because we ended up going with Harriet and named our sweet girl Harriet Joanne Harris. Her first name is very meaningful to us, as she is named after an aunt of my husband that died as a teenager. Her middle name, Joanne, is after my grandma, one of the most wonderful women I know! We are so in love with her and her name!!

We use both Harriet and Hattie (but not Hattie Jo…so not a fan of that!) equally. Her almost-two-year-old sister only calls her Hattie and it just sounds so cute coming out of her little mouth. I hope they will be good friends!

Thank you so much your help!!

D. writes:

Dear Swistle and Swistle’s Readers–
I have been a fan of this blog for years (it was reassuring to discover so many others enjoy discussing names and the pleasures and pressures of naming other human beings!). We are expecting our third–and, given my advanced maternal age, final–child in November (Thanksgiving week!). We do not know the sex of the baby (we did not find out for the others, either) and are really kind of stumped for any names we agree on. Mostly we want a name that fits with the siblings, but we/I may also have too many “rules” that get in the way. Any advice, inspiration, suggestions, reassurances, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

So, here are the details:
Our last name kind of sounds like “Marek” but with an “R”;
Husband and I both have (fairly uncommon) names that start with “D” and would like to avoid another “D” name;
Daughters are Annabel and Emmaline (–line, not –leen, nn “Mimi” given to her by her big sister and it has stuck!);
We would rather not repeat “A” or “E” (we find that we put initials on so many things, it is just easier not to repeat);
I would love, for a girl, another 3-syllable name that starts with a vowel but am finding “I,” “O,” and “U” to be tough letters;
A boy would have the middle names “David Lee” (honor names not, as my husband jokes, a tribute to David Lee Roth);
Both girls have 2 middle names (honor names) and we would do the same for this child, if she’s a girl, but we want to know the first name before we start deciding on middles.

Choices currently in the mix:

Girls
Beatrice (has been in my top 3 since my first pregnancy but husband is not quite sold, though he is warming up)
Heloise (I am half French, so this spelling makes sense, plus this gets us an “E” name without using the vowel–worried that it is not an option since one of Emmaline’s middle names is “Louise”)
Mirabel (my mother is bothered that “Mirabelle” is a fruit in French, husband thinks another “bel” is one too many)
Ottoline (husband’s middle name is “Otto” but he is *definitely* not sold; I am worried it will lead to lots of teasing but I think the name is very sweet)
Margaret/Marguerite (family name, seems so stern next to Annabel and Emmaline!)
Lorelei (husband’s longtime favorite, I am not sure)
Matilda (love “Tillie,” not sure of the name in the sib set)
Winifred (I love this name, everyone else thinks I am crazy)

Boys
Conrad (has been top contender in each pregnancy, it is the name of my husband’s first ancestor to come to the US, but we have two issues: husband prefers “Konrad,” which I really don’t, and it feels like a great man’s name but a tough little boy’s name)
Henry (this would’ve been Emmaline’s name if she had been a boy, now it feels strange to use it–as if it is second-hand or something)
Jonathan (I love, husband does not)
Michael (we are lukewarm–is it too plain in the sibling set?)
Roderick (husband says no way, never)
Lawrence (worried “Lawrence `Marek'” sounds like “Lawrence Welk”)
Leonard (too easy to tease with? )
William (strong, solid, but maybe too common?)
Owen (family name but very common in our area)

As you can see we really have our work cut out for us! Any feedback is greatly appreciated since we are really unsure. We know that things can change (Emmaline was “Charlotte” for her first five minutes of life until husband and I made eye contact over her little head and shook our heads at the same time–she was definitely an Emmaline/Mimi), but we would love to be going into delivery with some options!

Thank you again for taking the time to consider our plight!

Oh! Oh oh oh! For a girl, I have the three-syllable, I/O/U name for you: Imogen. IMOGEN. Annabel, Emmaline, and Imogen. A, E, I—they’re even in order!

Second suggestion: Idalyn. It can be pronounced EYE-dah-lin, or more like Ida Lynn. We know an Eidelyn who goes by Eidey (EYE-dee) and it has grown on me SO MUCH. I like the E-spelling better, but the I-spelling gives you a new initial.

If you’re willing to add a syllable, I think Iliana is so pretty. I’m not sure how I’d spell it. Illianna? Ilianna? Illiana? Iliana? Ileanna? In 2011, the Social Security Administration reports 397 new baby girls named Iliana, 89 named Illiana, 49 named Ilianna, 39 named Ilyana, 33 named Illyana, and so on. My own preference, then, would be to go with Iliana, since that appears to be the most-used spelling.

Ottilie (oh-TEEL-lee-ah or oh-till-lee) is similar to Ottoline and perhaps your husband would prefer it; it also gives you the nickname Tillie. It’s quite a bit more unusual than your other daughters’ names, though.

Moving away from the vowel/syllable-match preference, I suggest Juliette. Annabel, Emmaline, and Juliette.

Or Clarissa. Annabel, Emmaline, and Clarissa.

Or Melody. Annabel, Emmaline, and Melody.

Or Felicity. Annabel, Emmaline, and Felicity.

Or Genevieve. Annabel, Emmaline, and Genevieve.

Or Cecily. Annabel, Emmaline, and Cecily.

Or Violet. Annabel, Emmaline, and Violet.

Or Bianca. Annabel, Emmaline, and Bianca.

Or Fiona. Annabel, Emmaline, and Fiona.

Or Penelope. Annabel, Emmaline, and Penelope.

I think it is fine to use Heloise as a first name even if another daughter has Louise as one of her middle names. Are you pronouncing it with no H sound, like Eloise? I think Hints From Heloise may have made that pronunciation a hard-sell in the United States.

I agree that Margaret seems a little different in style than Annabel and Emmaline, but Marguerite seems to me to have more of their light style—even more so if you use the French-wordplay nickname Daisy. Annabel, Mimi, and Daisy.

I love Lorelei in this sibling set. Annabel, Emmaline, and Lorelei! Very nice. I think Matilda is great, too. I’m picturing Annie, Mimi, and Tillie—so cute!

I like Beatrix even more than Beatrice. Annabel, Emmaline, and Beatrix.

I agree that Mirabel is too many -bel endings, but do you like Miranda? Annabel, Emmaline, and Miranda.

Isabel is also out because of Annabel, but Isadora would work. Annabel, Emmaline, and Isadora.

For a boy, I think Conrad is a great choice. I too would greatly prefer the C spelling, and in fact the K spelling might be a deal-breaker for me. Although—was that the way the ancestor spelled it, with a K? Because that might tip me.

Henry seems so perfect, I feel inclined to pressure you. I understand that feeling of it being almost a handmedown name, but I think that is the sort of feeling people can sometimes spin-talk themselves out of. If you imagine all the children you will have, standing in a little line waiting to be born, and if you imagine thinking to yourself, “Well, if the next baby is a girl, she will be Emmaline; and if instead the next baby is a boy, he will be Henry,” and then a little girl steps forward with a little boy behind her—then it is not as if the name Henry evaporated with The Boy Who Never Was, or as if the name was a rejected name, it’s just that you thought of his name one line position too early. It was not Henry’s turn yet, that’s all. (…Is it working?)

I suspect Oliver doesn’t work well with the surname, is that right? It’s too bad, because I think of it as very similar in style to Henry and to your daughters’ names, and it has three syllables and starts with an unused-initial vowel. Annabel, Emmaline, and Oliver.

I like Felix with the sibling names: Annabel, Emmaline, and Felix.

Name update! D. writes:

Dear Swistle and her readers–
First off, let me say thank you so very much for responding to our name questions. Not only did you offer some wonderful possibilities for a boy or girl, but you also proved to my husband that Ottoline and Imogen were, in fact, “real” names that people other than me actually do like! :-) Your responses were thoughtful and helpful and my husband and I both returned regularly to the comments to consider and re-consider some contenders.

In the end, our baby was born on November 21, the night before Thanksgiving. And what a BIG surprise! First of all, he is a boy! Everyone, including my OB, was sure we were having a girl. We even went to the hospital with a pink car seat! His first bath at home was with a pink towel! Second, he was actually BIG–9 lbs, 10 oz, and over 21″. He was born after only 5 minutes of pushing; the nurses kept coming by to visit the almost-10-pounder born in 5 minutes and without a c-section. So overall, a big surprise and an even bigger blessing.

We had gone in expecting a Beatrice or Josephine (middle names Augusta Rose, for family members) and were suddenly faced with a boy. We had agreed on Henry and when we saw his size our OB joked that we could go with Hank the Tank as a nickname. I was happy with Henry but my husband, He-of-the-Non-Opinion in naming conversations, declared he wanted a “bigger” name. He wanted our son to have a name that was big but gentle and that made him think of Benjamin. I was not sure, I was kind of dedicated to Henry, so we lived with it a while, tried other names, but it was soon pretty clear that he was our Benjamin, our Big Ben, Gentle Ben, Baby Ben, Benny, and even Jamie. So after all those months of wanting to find a unique yet traditional name, my husband chose the 3rd most popular name in our state, the 2nd most popular in our neighboring state, and a top 30 name nation-wide! And I, more than anyone, am surprised at how much that doesn’t bother me; I realized there is a reason popular names are popular–they appeal to many of us, and for good reason! Our only surprise has been the number of people who have asked us if he is named for religious reasons. It never occurred to me that the name was identified more with one faith than another. But everyone seems to like the name, and many people have said “Oh, I have never known a Ben that wasn’t a nice guy!” And that is pretty awesome.

So here he is, our beautiful boy, Benjamin David Lee “Marek”, at 36 hours old. Thank you so much for your advice and naming inspiration–I continue to read the blog with great interest (and a tiny  bit of envy that my baby-naming days are over).

Happy holidays to everyone, a wonderful 2013, and the best of luck and joy to all the expecting parents!

Rachel writes:

I stumbled upon your blog over a year ago, and was hooked immediately.  I’ve always been fascinated with naming trends and decision making factors.  Your advice is by far the best out there, and my husband and I would be thrilled to have your help in naming our second and final child.

My name is Rachel and my husband is Chris – both common names in our generation (late 70s), but ones that have aged well over time.  Our last name rhymes with Chrysler (the car) but starts with an H.  Important to note is that due to its German roots, the spelling is a bit crazy (three vowels in a row!), but it’s pronounced High-sler.  Our son’s name is Shane Matthew, which we adore and fits him to a T.  He’s a sporty and energetic boy.  We’re excited to be expecting a daughter in January, but are stuck on selecting her name. 

Here are our “would likes” in descending order of importance:
1. Our children will always have to spell and pronounce their last name, so we need the first name be one that’s easily read, written and recognized.
2. Prefer that it doesn’t start with an H or end with -er.  I also don’t want an S sound in the middle or end because of how it sounds with last name.
3. We are trying to avoid a trendy name that will soon sound dated.  Unfortunately, it seems our ear is drawn toward popular names (as you’ll see below), but we probably wouldn’t choose one in the end.

So, here’s a list of names that have at one point been in the mix to give you a sense of our taste.  I’ve also included the reason why I can convince myself that each name isn’t the one. Perhaps you can suggest others we might like or convince us why one on the list is just right.

Caroline (Maybe too formal and fancy for us.  No standard nickname, though we’ve talked about Carly or C.J. depending on middle name)
Colby (Too often a boy’s name, and the cheese association)
Avery (This would have been Shane’s name if he was a girl.  We’ve always liked it, but now it’s so popular)
Aubrey (Love the nickname Bree, but know that Aubrey is climbing the charts.  It also irks me that it can be spelled Aubree.)
Bree (Cheese association)
Finley (Love the sound, and Finn is a cute nickname, but it’s the trendiest on our list and likely to become dated.)
Natalie, Courtney, Mallory, Valerie (Like that they all end in -ee sound, and are no longer very common, but I dislike Nat, Court, and Mal, and Val)
Samantha (like nn Sam, but too popular)
Brooke (maybe too short/choppy)
Julia (pretty, just not sure it’s us)
Megan (husband’s ex-girlfriend)
Sabrina (We love this one, with nn Bree, but are afraid of the Teenage Witch association, especially because they’re making it a movie now)
Cameron (Somewhat ruined by the Kamryn/Camryn/Camden trend)
Darcy (don’t like the middle ‘s’ sound with our last name)

We asked my parents to select Shane’s middle name, and my mother-in-law to select our daughter’s middle name.  She will give us a few options so that we can pick one that flows with the first name we choose.  So for now, we’re just looking for a first name.

Are we neglecting to think of names that are in the same genre as Shane and work with High-sler? 

Thank you ever so much! 

I am so intrigued by the idea of having a family member, especially a grandparent, choose the middle name. (I admit it: I am mostly thinking of how thrilled I’d be to get to choose for someone else!)

Right away I was drawn to Caroline. I say it with your surname and it seems like magic: Caroline Highsler!

But then I saw Brooke. Shane and Caroline is good; Shane and Brooke is wonderful. I don’t think it’s too short/choppy at all.

I want to push you to use Sabrina, because I love it and I think the name has enough other associations to get beyond the Teenage Witch one. But I find that when I say “Shane and Sabrina,” I start swapping sounds and getting Sane and Shabrina.

Because you like Darcy but not the S sound, and you also like Aubrey/Bree/Colby, I suggest Darby. Darby Highsler; Shane and Darby.

That -by ending makes me think of Ruby. Ruby Highsler; Shane and Ruby.

Instead of Megan, perhaps Reagan or Regan. I had a brief fantasy of inventing a name such as Breegan, but…no. (Not just because we’re looking for easy/recognizable names, but also because of The Baby Name Wizard’s post about the current trendiness of Bree names.)

Avery and Finley and Mallory and Valerie make me think of Everly and Ellery and Flannery.

Would Juliet/Juliette be more your style than Julia?

This one just came to mind: Meredith. It’s a little like Caroline and Mallory. Meredith Highsler; Shane and Meredith. I really like that one. Nickname Merrie is adorable.

Or Miranda. Miranda Highsler; Shane and Miranda. I’m ready to hear more of that name again.

Another one that just came to mind: Jillian. Jillian Highsler; Shane and Jillian.

Name update! Rachel writes:

I can’t thank you enough for helping to name our daughter!  You zeroed in on a name that had been buried low on our list, but immediately catapulted to the top once you and many of your wonderful readers pointed out that it was just what we wanted.  So, Brooke Elizabeth “Highsler” was born on January 23.  As you may recall, we asked my mother-in-law to select the middle name.  We love Brooke’s name and think it fits just right with our family. 

Elizabeth writes:

We need your help. I am due (not until the end of December, but I’m a planner) with our second child, who will be a sibling to our son Beck. We struggled terribly to find a boy’s name we could agree on when pregnant with Beck, and now I’m having trouble finding a name that sounds like an appropriate sibling to Beck. (We still have the girls’ names we picked out during the last pregnancy, so our real dilemma is if this is another boy.) Here’s the situation: we generally likely fairly traditional names and nothing too weird or “out there.”  I know that might not perfectly describe the name Beck, as it is fairly unusual, but we also love names that have meaning (to us), and Beck is my mother’s maiden name. Beck’s middle name is my last name (Martin) and his last name is my husband’s last name, Coakley. We will likely use Martin again as the middle, and Coakley will be the last name.  Contenders include Elliott (also vaguely a family connection, as I had a grandmother Eleanor and my husband had a grandmother Ellen), but I worry that it’s three syllables (as opposed to Beck’s one syllable name) and it doesn’t really have a nickname (I abhore Eli).  I know I said we’d use Martin as the middle name, but with Elliott I kind of like the middle name August (my husband’s middle name is Augustin. He is the second son of a second son of a second son, all of whom had Augustin somewhere in their names. If this is a second son, I kind of think we should go with the tradition, although I vastly prefer August to Augustin, and my husband is okay with that). So Elliott August. One strong possibility, but I’m not sure it’s “the one”.  Is Elliott a sibling to Beck? I’ve considered Noah, but my husband feels it’s not right. I kind of like Nicholas (baby is due near Christmas), but I wonder if Nick and Beck are too similar? I always wanted a Jack, but I feel Jack and Beck are DEFINITELY too similar.  I love the name Luke and it would be an honor name, but when you say “Luke Coakley” quickly is sounds like you’re say “Lou Coakley” and I don’t like Lou. Maybe Lucas?  I like a number of names that end in the “ie” sound like Charlie and Henry, but I don’t think that works with Coakley–too sing songy.  I’m sure I’m missing some great names. Help! What would you name Beck’s brother? 

and

And update for you. We found out that we ARE having another boy, so the pressure is really on to find a name. The names in my original email are still contenders, but I also wonder about Bennett. It would be an honor name (my husband’s best friend who passed away was Benjamin—we prefer Bennett), but I wonder if Beck and Ben are too similar? Also, do they sound like brothers? I’m not sure they fit. Another thought is to move August to the first name space and have August Martin Coakley, nickname Gus. I think Beck and Gus are a cute sibling pair, but I’m not sure about Gus as an adult man’s name. Is it too geeky? Are there other names we should be considering? Why is this so hard?? Thanks for your help.

I think if I knew brothers named Beck and Bennett, I might keep accidentally calling Beck “Beckett.” The names seem too similar to me, though an excellent style match.

I think Gus is great with Beck and will work fine as a name for an adult—and if it didn’t, he’d just go back to using August.

Because your firstborn has an honor name, I think you have some flexibility: it’s common for a firstborn’s name not to quite match the style of the sibling names, because of all the people who had to use James IV when their style was more Caden, or all the people who changed naming styles, or who used a name that didn’t fit with their usual style and then couldn’t find any names to go with it. If anyone were to blink at, say, Beck and Elliot (and I don’t think they WOULD blink—sounds like a literary style match to me), they’d stop it as soon as they realized the name Beck was a family name. If Elliott seems too much longer than Beck, using the Eliot spelling would help some with that, as well as increasing the literary appeal.

Emmett is similar to Elliott, but with only two syllables instead of three.

Lucas is nice too. The strong K/hard-C sound helps connect it to Beck.

If you like Noah, and you like Nicholas for the Christmas-name connection, I wonder if Noel would work? Noel Coakley; Beck and Noel.

If you’d like to stick with the one-syllable idea, I like Reid and Grant. Or Dean or Dane? Or Grey? Or Finn or Gage or Nash or Hayes. There are a lot of good ones in the Brisk and Breezy section of The Baby Name Wizard.

Or Levi would be nice. Levi Coakley; Beck and Levi.

Or Miles. Miles Coakley; Beck and Miles.

Or Ezra. Ezra Coakley; Beck and Ezra. I like the coordinating short-E sound tying them together.

Or Leo is nice and short, without making you feel like you’re painted into a one-syllable corner for future children. Leo Coakley; Beck and Leo.

Ian, too. Ian Coakley; Beck and Ian.

Or back to one-syllable: Heath. Heath Coakley; Beck and Heath.

Name update! Elizabeth writes:

Just wanted to thank you (and your readers) for all the naming assistance and let you know that August Martin Coakley was born December 23, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 20.75 inches. We are having a wonderful time with baby Gus!

We vacillated between the names Elliot and August for a long time. About a month before Gus was born, however, a good friend had a baby boy and named him Elliot. That in itself wasn’t a deal breaker; she lives far away and isn’t part of our daily lives, but it made me realize that Elliot was a very specific person, and he wasn’t my baby! From then on I started thinking of the baby as Gus, and my husband did too. One of your commentators noted that she felt our “style” was really honor names, and I think she was right. By giving our son the name August Martin, we were able to honor both sides of the family. It was the perfect name for us!

M. writes:

My son is due September 16th and is currently nameless. My husband (Josh) and I (Melissa) already have a little girl named Louisa Claire, and will hopefully have another baby in a couple of years time. Our surname is $amuel, which you would think would be easy to work with. For us, it has not been so easy. Even Louisa’s name doesn’t sound quite right with it.

Our favorite name is Max, but Max $amuel sounds like Mac $amuel or Max Amuel when said out loud. Do you think that is a definite deal-breaker? His middle name will most likely be Hudson, so it would be Max Hudson $amuel. Of course we could name him something like Maximilian, but as we don’t like that at all he would go by Max 100% of the time, therefore he would still be Max $amuel.

I have been looking at names on your blog and a name you suggested recently has really stuck in my head and I have found myself absolutely loving it! The name is Caius. Of course it doesn’t work with our surname either. Caius $amuel = Caia $amuel :-(

Other names I really like that my husband does not like include Oliver, Everett and Evander. Clearly I like ‘v’ sounds!

My husband like’s the names Jacob, Aidan and Lucas. I don’t particularly like Jacob, I like Aidan but not enough to consider it (plus a friend of mine has a Jayden and another friend has a Kaiden), and obviously we cannot have a LOUisa and a LUcas AND it doesn’t work with our surname (although I do like it).

At the moment we are also considering the name Declan, which I do really like. However I don’t believe my husband likes it as much as he claims…I think he is sick of talking about baby names so is just agreeing to whatever I say (LOL).

Any suggestions would be very appreciated! Popularity does not concern us too much, but I would prefer to use a name that is not so common.

My general feeling about run-together names is that it depends on how embarrassing/confusing the run-together is, and on how much you love the name. I definitely think it can work if the former is low and the latter is high.

I think Max $amuel is workable if you love it. Neither Mac $amuel nor Max Amuel is an embarrassing mistake, and I think you and he would get accustomed to pausing between the first and last name to make it clear: “Max…$amuel.” Or, for example, you’d say, “Hi, this is Max. Max $amuel.”

Caia $amuel is a more embarrassing confusion. The name Kai would work better: Kai $amuel. But Kai does not seem as compatible with Louisa as some of the other options.

I like Declan from your list, too.

May I suggest one of my own recent favorites? George $amuel is handsome, and Louisa and George is almost irresistible to me.

Another of my own pet favorites: John $amuel; Louisa and John.

Everett and Oliver makes me think of Elliot and Emmett.

If you don’t mind repeating an initial, I wonder if Levi would work. In style it reminds me of a sort of combination of Max and Oliver and Jacob, and it has the V sound you like. Levi $amuel; Louisa and Levi.

I was curious to see what The Baby Name Wizard would recommend as brother names for Louisa; she lists Foster, Hugh, Jules, Emerson, and Anton. My favorites from that list are Foster and Hugh.

A name similar to Max is Jack, but with less of a run-together issue—it could be Jax $amuel, I suppose, but Jack is so much more common.

Name update! M. writes:

One of your lovely readers suggested the name Sullivan which I loved and also turns out to be a family name on my husband’s side. We ended up agreeing on it a couple of weeks before he was born, and decided to use Max as his middle name. I was a bit sad to think that I will never have my Max, but there is no guaranteeing we will ever have another boy. Plus I LOVE having my little Sully :-)

So Sullivan Max $amuel he is!