How to Find Baby Name Data: Rankings, Number of Births, State-Specific Data, and Information on Names Outside the Top 1000

Lindsay writes:

I’m very interested in researching the popularity of the two names we’ve paired it down to. In your postings, I keep seeing “in 2010, there were X babies born with that name” and “X were in your state.” Where can I get this precise info? All I find is rankings. Also, I saw you mention to someone that 2011 name statistics would be available in May 2012 — are they out yet? And if so, where can I find them??

[Sigh: ONE WEEK after I posted this, the Social Security website completely changed its format. I may or may not have the heart to re-write this after I get used to all the changes!]

I use The Social Security Administration for all baby name data of this sort. (Some baby name sites publish their own lists, but those are based only on information collected from visitors to that site—and only on what those visitors SAY they named their children.)

I’ll give links where possible (it’s one of those sites where not every page has its own link), but also give instructions so you can find things without the links.

Current top-ten name rankings are on the first page you come to.

To get information on a specific name’s rank over the years, look to the lower right under “Popularity of a Name.” To see ranking lists from other years, look to the lower left under “Popular Names By Birth Year.”

For limited state-specific information, click that link I just made, or else look in the lefthand margin of the main page, under the category Baby Name Data.

To get information on names outside the Top 1000:

1. Go to the lefthand margin of the main page, under Baby Name Data. Click on “Background Information.”
2. Look again in the lefthand margin and click on “Beyond the top 1000 names.”
3. Click on either National Data or State-Specific Data to download those documents.

To get the number of babies born with a certain name in a certain year, you can look in those downloaded documents. OR, you can go to the main page, on the lower left under “Popular Names by Birth Year,” and select “Number of births” before hitting the “Go” button. Each name listed will be followed by the number of females/males given that name in that year.

The 2011 data has not yet been released. When it is (usually in the first two weeks of May), it will update automatically on the Social Security Administration’s site.

Baby Naming Issue: Is Maxwell Still Usable?

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M. writes:

Hi Swistle… I’m due with our first child, a boy, on June 1 (although it’s looking like he may make an early appearance). We’ve been through a long list of names deciding “that’s the one” until one of us changes their minds:

Henry (the dad finally admitted he didn’t like the name)
Roarke (Worried about teasing – Roarke the Dork)
Finn from Phineas/Finlay (I hate Finn with the last name which has a long N in it)
August nn Gus (the dad has bad images of a child named Gus)
Ezra (I love, dad hates)

There are others. But now the dad is stuck on Max/Maxwell. My issue with Max is how many people respond with “I had a dog named that”. We’re stuck. This kid needs a name and nothing seems right. I’d love thoughts on Maxwell and will gladly take any suggestions you have. I love classic and biblical names that aren’t too trendy. The dad likes names that are more “out there” and would name the poor child Briar (his all time favorite name for a boy) if I’d give him 30 seconds with the birth certificate.

If it helps, a girl would have been Millicent Claire (that was set about 10 days after we found out I was expecting)

Thanks!

and

Hi Swistle! My issue with Maxwell is growing! I’ve now had 3 people tell me “so did you hear that Jessica Simpson is supposed to name her DAUGHTER Maxwell!”… Dad says it’s not a problem but I’m not really thrilled with a celebu-tante naming her daughter what I want to name my son within a few weeks, so is it a problem or am I overthinking it?

Thanks!

These things aren’t easy to predict, but my gut feeling is that Jessica Simpson’s daughter’s name isn’t going to change much: the number of people put off by her choice (i.e., they were planning a similar name for a girl, but now feel like they’d look like they were copying her) will probably balance the number of people inspired by it.

There were 5 baby girls named Maxwell in 2010, according to the Social Security Administration, and I saw in a magazine that some other celebrity named a baby girl Maxwell within the last few months as well. Another 8 girls were named Max in 2010, and another 5 were named Maxx. For comparison, 15 girls were named Matthew, 37 girls were named Michael, 14 girls were named Andrew, and 9 girls were named John. There will always be a few people looking for something along these lines, but I don’t think that means any of these names will “go girl,” as the saying goes. If you wanted to distance yourself a bit because of the poor timing, you could use another long-form of Max: Maximilian, Maximus, Maxon/Maxton/Maxson. Or go straight to Max.

The dog issue, I’d disregard completely. Many people give pets “people names,” but it doesn’t make those names “dog names”—any more than Jessica Simpson’s baby Maxwell makes Maxwell a “girl name.” I notice too that names start being used for pets right before they start coming back into style for people: I think it’s because a name sounds a little too quirky right before it starts sounding awesomely different—which means first it’s perfect for a dog/cat, and then you have a baby and can’t use the name you love because you already used it for a pet (this happened to Paul and me with the name Oliver). So it makes sense that there are a lot of dogs named Max, but Max/Maxwell are nevertheless well established as names for human boys, and if people also used that name for their dogs I think you can just say “Oh really?”

If Maxwell still isn’t quite right and the dad likes Briar, would Meyer work?

Or Felix? It’s a name with long roots, but it sounds now the way I remember Max sounding a decade or two ago.

George is another name I’d think of as belonging to “the next Max” category.

Or Milo.

Whenever I see names like Max and Gus and Finn, I think of Sam and Jack and Joe. Some similar stuff from the biblical section: Abe (from Abel/Able or Abram), Ash (from Asher), Ben, Ike/Zac (from Isaac), Zeke (from Ezekiel), Gabe, Jake, Levi, Saul/Sol, Jude.

Name update! M. writes:

Hi Swistle! I wanted to thank everyone and update you all on the June 7th arrival of my little boy. About a week before he was born I went back to all the lists of names I’d made to that point and found that one name appeared on every list, and it had never once been marked off by dad. A quick conversation later and we were both thrilled with our choice. The middle name was decided in the delivery room about an hour before his birth (and is a family name). I’m very pleased and proud to introduce you to Nicholas Edgar.

Baby Boy T____t

30 Replies

C. writes:

We are desperately seeking guidance in our first baby naming venture and were really hoping for some input. We are due in about 10 weeks with our first baby (a little boy!) and are at a complete loss for names. Although there are a few names we like and can agree on, we can’t use them for various reasons (names of a pet, names of a family member or friend’s baby, etc): Nathan, Landon, Ben.

A little background on us:
Our last name is 2 syllables and begins and ends with a “T” – we wanted to stay away from names that start and end in a “T” because we think it sounds to sing-songy and matchy. For some reason we think names that end in “N” seem to sound good with our last name but are open to anything. We don’t really have a strong cultural heritage but we have many family names and surnames that are unique and we will probably use one of them as our son’s middle name – Foster, Fabian, Conyers, Truman, Gill. We found that choosing girls names was a breeze and there were many that we loved – Piper, Hadley, Adalynn, Morgan, Sawyer. Choosing a boy name just seems so much more difficult!

We want to pick something that sounds masculine yet maybe a little preppy at the same time and is older/classic but not commonly used (if that makes sense). At the same time, we don’t want something that is so uncommon that it sounds strange or is something that people have never heard of. We want a name that is less commonly used then something like the traditional Adam, James, Thomas, John, Michael, etc. We do have two names we are considering but are hesitant to use at this point:

Harrison (worried that people will call him Harry; we do like Harris as a nickname and maybe if we implement that we can avoid the Harry altogether?; we like Harrison Foster.)

Leighton (feel like that is becoming really popular as a girls name and with that spelling seems feminine; maybe Leyton Foster? but don’t want a strange or made-up spelling either).

Please help! Maybe there is a fabulous name out there that we are simply overlooking? Maybe we just need reassurance that our little boy won’t be teased with a name like Harry? Looking forward to hearing your input. Thanks in advance!

I suggest Sawyer. I see it on your girl-name list, and it seems to me it suits your boy-name preferences too. In the United States the name Sawyer is currently used more often for boys (the Social Security Administration reports 348 girls in 2010, versus 2,198 boys); because the rest of your girl-name list are all names used much more often for girls, I think Sawyer would fit better in your family as a boy name.

Harrison seems like a very good choice, too. I think you can probably avoid Harry by using Harris as a nickname; but if not, I think Harry Potter has made the name Harry significantly more usable than it used to be. Along the same lines as Harrison, but with no Harry:

Anderson
Davis
Davison
Garrison
Jameson
Nicholson
Robertson
Sullivan
Wilson

You’re right about Leighton: the Social Security Administration reports 449 new baby girls named Leighton in 2010, versus 216 boys. The spelling Leyton was given to 25 girls and 144 boys, so it looks like that spelling is indeed considered more masculine—but the larger number of girls with the spelling Leighton gives me pause about using the name for boys at all: some names survive such a tip (Cameron, for example, which is still used for both boys and girls), but many don’t (some famous examples are Ashley, Evelyn, and Lesley). The similar name Payton/Peyton, which came before Leyton/Leighton, has gone even further and is now given mostly to girls by a wide margin. Perhaps Leighton could go on your list for possible future daughters, and for boys I’d suggest instead:

Carson
Easton
Hudson
Keaton
Langston
Lawson
Lennox
Lincoln
Lachlan
Logan
Patton
Spencer

Name update! C. writes:

So we are happy to report that our son was born (a week late) on July 13th. We waited until we saw him to decide on his name but ended up deciding on Harrison Foster. Thanks to all for reassuring us that Harrison was as great of a name as we thought it was. I was worried that people would call him Harry – a nickname that I was desperate to avoid. So far, everyone has been very receptive to his name and nobody has even attempted to call him Harry. At this point I can’t imagine him with any other name. Thanks for all your help!

Baby Naming Issue: What to Do About the Initials BRA?

27 Replies

Emily writes:

I am pregnant with my 5th and last child, a girl, due at the end of July. We have a name we LOVE, beginning with a ‘B’. We also have a middle name we love beginning with the letter ‘R’. We would be all set to go if our last name did not begin with an ‘A’, which makes her initials BRA! My mom suggested switching the first and last names and then going by her middle name which would make her initials RBA. I sort of like the idea, but I don’t like the idea of a lifetime of correcting people and the headache of official documents confusion. What would you do? Should I pick a brand new middle Name? Are the BRA initials really that terrible? My other daughter’s initials are GAA ,which is kind of funny, but we have never monogrammed anything nor thought about it much. Help!

I would not want those initials myself (I’d be fine with GAA). But I also wouldn’t want to switch the names only to solve the initials problem. I can see why you’re stuck!

I think it boils down to what part of the name is most important to you. One of these three things will have to happen: (1) You will give her the BRA initials, OR (2) You will swap the two names, OR (3) You will choose a new middle name to avoid both #1 and #2. Each possibility has a downside, and so it’s a matter of choosing the downside you mind least—which probably is a question of how important this particular middle name is to you.

Since none of your first four children have swapped first/middle names, my sense of order rebels at the idea of suddenly switching them for this child, and I would vote for option #3. Another possibility is to give her two middle names (I’d make the R-name the second of the two middle names, since many forms default to the first of two middle initials); this still bothers my sense of order, but not as much, and I think it might be possible to come up with an excuse that explains it (“She’s our last, and we still had more names we couldn’t bear not to use!” or “She’s the last one, but we still had two important women to honor!”). I guess that counts as a fourth option, then, but it’s also kind of a subset of option #3.

Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what everyone else would do. [Poll closed; see results below.] It’s a little bit of a tricky thing to have a poll on, though, since it depends on strength of preference. For example, if you’re okay switching the middle name, I vote for doing that—but if you are completely set on using the middle name, then I vote for adding a second middle name. Perhaps in the comments section we can clarify our votes if necessary.

Poll results for “What would you do about the initials BRA?” (419 votes total):

Go ahead and use them – 123 votes (29%)
Switch first and middle names and call by middle name – 24 votes (6%)
Choose a different middle name – 177 votes (42%)
Add a second middle name – 89 votes (21%)
I can’t decide – 6 votes (1%)

Baby T______r, Ideally Incorporating New Orleans

23 Replies

Rachel writes:

I was wondering if you could help my husband and I with a baby naming dilemma we are having. We are expecting our first baby at the end of the June and do not know if it is a boy or girl.

The dilemma is that we are very reluctant transplants to the Midwest from our beloved hometown of New Orleans (husband and I met at college in New Orleans – he never left after his freshman year; I have lived there my entire life until now- didn’t even leave for college!) So, given the significance of New Orleans for us, we would love for the baby’s name to reflect our NOLA love. We have more or less decided on first names of Walker for a boy and Catherine for a girl.

My husband has decided that he is so hurt over the Saints bounty scandal (aren’t we all?) that no Saints related names will be allowed, so WhoDat is definitely out, as well as Sean, Pa(e)yton and Drew. Ideally, I would like something with a little more NOLA flavor than those names anyway. We have come up with short lists for each –

Girl – Delphine (Google Delphine LaLaurie – I love the name but don’t know if I can get past the story)
Coralie (I’m not sure how I feel about Catherine Coralie though)
Adelaide
Eugenie
Louise
Mathilde

Boy – Carrollton
Eli (this is my husband more than me)
George (there are a bunch of New Orleans artists named George)
Charles
Faulkner
Rex
Philip

Our last name is 2 syllables, starts with T and ends with R. We would love any thoughts on which one of these names works best or any other ideas you might have.

Thank you so much!!!

The names that sprang immediately to my mind were Louis, Louise, Louisa, and even using Louisiana or Orleans. (Louisiana, incidentally, is one of those names I’m surprised more parents who like the “long feminine name with lots of nicknames” style aren’t using: nicknames Lou, Louie, Louise, Lulu, Annie, etc.) If you weren’t set on using Catherine as the first name, you could also go a bit clever with something like Louise Anna.

Nola, of course, would work for a girl. Or Nouvelle, for La Nouvelle-Orléans.

Catherine Louisa
Catherine Louise
Catherine Louisiana
Catherine Nola
Catherine Nouvelle
Catherine Orleans

Walker Louis
Walker Orleans

I am a bit worried about the initials of some of the girl options allllmost spelling naughty words, but I tend to be cranked up a bit high on Initials Sensitivity. Spelling Catherine with a K may help. Along those lines, I would want to have considered ahead of time that Eli would give the initials WET, and Adelaide gives the initials CAT, and Orleans with Catherine gives the initials COT, and Faulkner gives initials of WFT but a monogram of WTF.

I love the name Delphine, but the very first line in her Wikipedia entry is “…a Louisiana-born socialite, known for her involvement in the torture of black slaves.” It’s not just that this is one of many things she’s known for, as with a famous author or politician who later was discovered to have a skeleton in the closet—it’s the ONLY reason she’s famous. And since you’re specifically considering the name for the New Orleans tie-in, and her brutal torture of slaves IS the New Orleans tie-in, I regretfully vote no.

Wikipedia has a whole page for people from New Orleans. Those and the other options on your list probably depend on how strongly they bring New Orleans to your mind.

Baby Girl Perez, Sister to Maggie and Oscar

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Joy writes:

I am back for more of your fabulous baby naming advice! I wrote you when we were expecting our son and now we expecting our third baby in about 7 weeks. We have a daughter (Maggie Suzanne) and a son (Oscar Alexander) so this will make our second little girl. My husband and I both thought it would be so easy to name this little one because she is a girl, but for some reason it has been just as hard as naming Oscar. Part of the issue is that I feel such a pressure because this is probably our last baby so I want to “get it right” and the other part is that Maggie is such a feminine yet cute name it is (in my mind) hard to match.

So, a couple of things about us: My husband is Hispanic and I am Caucasian so we need a name that would work well for a blended family. The other thing is that we love older classic names, but I really want it to be unique. My name is Joy so I grew up with a name that no one else had and I loved that! I also have a rule that I want to name my kids what I will call them instead of naming them something and using a nickname all of the time. Last, I am not as much worried about the names being matchy matchy like I was when I had my son, but rather I want her to have a beautiful and unique name that fits with the others names (if that makes sense).

Here are some names we like:
Me:
Charlie (I love, but have a hard time naming a girl a name that is typically for a boy).
Ellie
Kamie (lifelong favorite but my husband hates it)
Izzie

Us:
Pennie
Macie (it sounds a lot like Maggie though)
Molly

Husband:
Olivia (I love this only if we call her Olivia Jane as if that were her first name, but I am unsure of how I feel about two name first names and my husband only wants to call her Olivia. I think this name is too long and doesn’t fit great with the other kids. Plus, it is very popular)

Middle names we have considered:
Jane
Elizabeth
Marie
Olivia (matched with Pennie)

So there you have it! I am looking forward to reading what you come up with for us!!

Thanks in advance for your help!!

I suggest Sadie. It’s similar in style to Maggie, without being at all matchy. Sadie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Sadie.

Or Annie. Annie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Annie.

Or Libby. Libby Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Libby.

Or Livvy, which is similar to Olivia. Livvy Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Livvy.

Or Polly, which is similar to Molly without sharing so many sounds with Maggie. Polly Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Polly.

Or Lacey, which is similar to Macie but without sharing so many sounds with Maggie. Lacey Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Lacey.

Or Betsy, which is making a subtle comeback just as all the Betsys finally got everyone to call them Elizabeth or Liz. Betsy Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Betsy.

Or Ginny. Ginny Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Ginny.

I think Pennie from your list also works well, but I would suggest spelling it Penny to avoid the continual hassle of spelling issues. (And because I know, I KNOW this is silly, but my mind saw it as “Peenie” at first, and I know that’s probably not something to even consider but STILL. I’d go with Penny.)

I agree that Charlie is too boyish a name for a girl in this sibling group, but I wonder if you’d like Arlie, Karli, or Marli?

I was about to recommend Emmie, and then realized that an Oscar and an Emmy together is probably not a good idea!

Evie would work better. Evie Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Evie.

Lily would be pretty. Lily Perez; Maggie, Oscar, and Lily.

If you love Kamie, I wonder if you’d like Cassie or Cammie or Callie.

Name update! Joy writes:

I was going about my business today and it hit me that I never updated you! I am SO sorry!! Life with 3 under 4 years old has been crazy to say the least. So, although very late I wanted to update you anyway. I was all set to name her Penny Jane, but when she was born I looked at her and just knew that was not the perfect match. We welcomed Olivia Jane into the world on June 22. She was 3 weeks early and weighed a whopping 9lbs 4oz! She is absolutely beautiful both inside and out!!! Thank you for your wonderful blog and help with choosing a name. We loved all of your (and your helpers) ideas!

Baby Girl Brown

56 Replies

C. writes:

I’m panicking… our baby girl is due in less than 4 weeks and we can’t come up with a name!

She is our first (and probably only). Her last name will be Brown. A few key points have come up through our name-search:

1. Meaning/history is incredibly important! My partner even vetoed my favorite name “Ophelia” because the character didn’t fare so well in Hamlet… despite it having a great meaning (“helper”).

2. We have been drawn to Greek names (though we are not Greek) particularly those ending in “-ia”. Though this has made it hard to think of paring first and middle names since they all end up having the same sounds (Thalia, Ophelia, Philia (now vetoed completely as well), Thea…).

3. We are both bookish-academics and thus literary sources have been influential.

4. In addition to -ia Greek names, we’ve considered a few gender-neutral last names taken from various authors on our bookshelves: Morrison, Ellison, Beckett…

5. The name itself does need to be relatively unique/unpopular (and no spelling a name oddly to add to it’s uniqueness). My partner’s name has been in the top ten for decades and thus grew up going by his last name, whereas I was the only one in my school with my name and I always loved that.

6. I would like if the name (or middle name) had some form of “Ann/Anna” in it, because it would call out to several female family members but it’s not necessary.

Several we still have on the list: Thalia, Thea (I LOVE this as a nickname!), Amalia, Hadiya, Safiya (afraid it will be confused with Sophia which we love but is just too popular), Zaphira, Atiya, Eos (would only consider it for a middle name)… None of them sound like “the one” though. I honestly don’t expect to have one chosen when she arrives anymore… but if we could at least have some solid choices that would help! Otherwise I’m afraid she’ll be 2 before we come up with something.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Baby Boy Wilson, Brother to Emery; Can They Use Meyer (Same Letters)?

31 Replies

C. writes:

My husband and I have a 19 month old daughter named Emery Michael. We always loved the name Emery and used the name Michael to honor my dad. (Growing up, I knew a girl named Michael, so it didn’t seem odd to me to use it for her middle name). I fleetingly had namer’s remorse over Michael, but the joy my dad got from it quickly remedied that.

I am now expecting a boy in August. My husband and I can never agree on boy names…which is why we were relieved to have a daughter first, and were secretly hoping for another one!

So, Baby Boy Wilson is on the way! After my husband shot down dozens of names, I threw out the name Meyer. To my surprise, he loved it! Here’s our problem: M-E-Y-E-R = E-M-E-R-Y. They have the SAME letters! I’m trying hard to convince myself that this is not a deal breaker, but I’m wondering if it should be? We do plan on having one more child, and I don’t see how we can use the same letters to form yet another name.

I guess I’m just wondering what your opinion is on the situation. Should we keep on hunting? If so, we are so very open to suggestions. We would like to use the name Owen, Jacob, or Lee for the middle name as they have family significance. We would prefer to not use Owen for a first name because of it’s current popularity in our area. Jacob is my husband’s name, but he doesn’t want a Junior. Lee is a family name my husband would like to use. I don’t love it, but would compromise on using it as a middle name. Please help us!

Ooo, I think you have stumbled on an excellent set of twin names! Emery and Meyer is pretty genius!

If you were having only two children, I would say no, it’s not a deal-breaker, and also it’s pretty cool. If, however, it’ll make you feel weird when naming a third child, then probably it won’t work out.

Do you like the name Miller? I think of it as very similar to Meyer, but it takes away that rearranged-letters issue. I don’t think it’s quite as good with Wilson, however, which is disappointing. Well, and making that comparison made me notice how really nice Meyer is with Wilson, and now I’m reconsidering the third-child issue. Do you think it’s something you’d be able to go with? That the first two children happen to have re-arranged letters of each other’s names, not on purpose but just by coincidence, and that the third child won’t? It’s the sort of issue that can seem like a huge deal during the naming process, and not a deal at all later on. I suspect children care about these things less often than we do—or at least that they can have it explained to them, if they do turn out to care. It seems like a cheerful “I know! Isn’t that a funny coincidence? We almost didn’t use it, but then we decided the most important thing was to use a name we loved for each child!” could go a long way to reducing feelings of exclusion. And perhaps you could find another way to tie a third name in, such as making sure it had an “er” in it like the first two, or a Y in it like the first two, or something like that. (Or both, like Sawyer or Cameryn. Emery, Meyer, and Sawyer; Emery, Meyer, and Cameryn.) Another option would be to gamble and save Meyer for a possible boy next time, but I think that could make things even more complicated by giving the potential excluded feeling to the classically-feeling-excluded middle child.

Well. It’s a tricky issue. I’m not sure what I’d do. Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what everyone else would do. [Poll closed; see results below.]

To find new candidates, I think I’d look in the Last Names First section of The Baby Name Wizard:

Connolly
Currier
Dwyer
Fletcher
Flynn
Garner
Hayes
Kiefer
Maguire
Mercer
Merritt
Mitchell
Murphy
Ridley
Sawyer
Thatcher
Turner

Owen could be a little tricky as a middle name: BOW, COW, DOW, HOW, LOW, MOW, NOW, POW, ROW, SOW, TOW, VOW, WOW, YOW, ZOW. But those are pretty innocuous, and may even be fun. Jacob and Lee both work without spelling anything, though L could be cute with a monogram where the surname initial goes in the center: with a name like Oliver Lee Wilson, you could have the monogram OWL—a little secret cuteness, maybe a cute family nickname, and a fun excuse for buying owl things.

Meyer

Baby Name to Consider: Salem

25 Replies

A. writes:

I’m due with my first – a boy – on August 29th. My maiden name is Salem, and my married last name is Ceder.

What do you think about Salem Ceder for a boy? Too much alliteration? Is “Salem” too odd for a first name? Yes, I know about the associations with the witch trials and cigarettes :)

Thanks for any help!

Using the mother’s maiden name as a first name is one of my top favorite baby name ideas. It’s rare for it to work out: most surnames don’t work as first names—and even among the ones that do work, many then don’t work with the baby’s surname, or aren’t to one or both parents’ tastes.

My opinion of Salem is that there are two reasons it doesn’t work: (1) the negative associations you mention, and (2) the way it fits with the surname.

The Salem witch trials were a horrifying time in U.S. history. Terms like “witch hunt” are still used to instantly remind us of how people can become evil themselves in their efforts to find evil in others. The cigarette association pales in comparison with that, though it’s also an issue. (And I think with this particular surname it can sound like a new kind of cigarette: Salem Slim, Salem Menthol, and Salem Cedar.)

Nevertheless, the name is being used, so the associations are clearly not as overwhelming as they are with, say, a name like Adolf: according to the Social Security Administration, in 2010 there were 67 new baby boys and 66 new baby girls named Salem. The unisex nature of the name is another issue, either positive or negative depending on what sorts of names you’d want to use for future siblings.

Salem Ceder might be okay alliteration-wise; I don’t like the way the name sounds when I say it aloud, but such things are almost completely subjective and the next person could love the way it sounds. I think a bigger issue is that both Salem and Ceder are strong word names. The sudden double mental imagery (witch trials, then cedar chests; or cigarettes, and then cedar trees) is a lot of imagery for one name. Or the word-like surname can turn the first name into an adjective: Atlas Cedar, White Cedar, Salem Cedar.

I think all these issues are hugely reduced (if not eliminated entirely) if the name is instead put in the middle name slot. Then you get the mother’s-maiden-name tradition, which is a great one, AND you get to use a name that would be a great name without the association problems and surname conflicts.

Let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “What do you think of the name Salem?” (476 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 20 votes (4%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 44 votes (9%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 122 votes (26%)
No particular opinion – 28 votes (6%)
Slight dislike – 148 votes (31%)
Strong dislike – 114 votes (24%)

Does Skye Samantha Work?

16 Replies

Ms. B. writes:

Hi, I came across your blog in a desperate search for help in determining whether our name pick “flows”. You seem like an expert on baby names so I thought I’d send you an email to see what you think!

My husband and I already have a three year old named Matthew, and we’re expecting a baby girl in May. We’ve agreed on the name Skye Samantha, but I’m having doubts. I love the name, but originally we planned to call her Samantha Sky which I *know* flows well and I absolutely love.

It was just recently we decided we really like “Skye” and might prefer it as a first name. (I don’t think we want to name our child with the intention of using her middle name… my sister-in-law and father-in-law have both taken that route and paperwork is always a nuissance.) Our last name is three syllables, starts with B and ends with “let.”

As much as I still LOVE “Samantha” I do wonder if a different middle name might work better. My husband suggested “Abigail” but I just think Skye+Abby = scabby…

The problem is that Skye and Samantha were the only names we really agreed on. Other names I suggested were: Sarah, Sierra, Sienna, Eliza, Jessica, Isabelle. We’d also consider Elizabeth for her middle name since that’s mine, but I wasn’t sure if ending Skye with an “e” and starting a middle name with an “e” made sense. My husband also likes the name Dakota, but I’m not feeling it. He also likes “Skylar” but I feel that “Skye” is more original and I like the way it looks.

We want to avoid ending up with the intials SOB.

I think this will be our last child, though having a third isn’t out of the question. For a boy, I love the name Noah Emmanual, but I don’t think my husband is sold (even though Noah was a name we considered when we were expecting our first). If we had another girl I don’t think we’d be able to find another name we could agree on!

Please help! Maybe you can reassure me that Skye Samantha flows just fine, or maybe you can come up with a suggestion we haven’t thought of. I feel like baby girl will arrive and we’ll still be “debating” the name issue.

One-syllable first names can be challenging to find good middle names for. I think Skye Samantha is great. In fact, I think I prefer it to Samantha Skye, though I think both work well. If you had written this as a middle name challenge, saying her name would be Skye _____ Bernadet [not the real surname, just showing the rhythm], I’d be first looking for a name with a da-DA-da sound: Skye da-DA-da DA-da-da. Samantha fits perfectly.

Skye Abigail is also pretty. Name rhythm/flow is very subjective, but my vote is that I prefer Skye Samantha. But I also don’t think “scabby” is an issue, since people rarely get nicknames for their middle name.

I also don’t see anything wrong with having Skye end in E and Elizabeth start with E, if you like Skye Elizabeth better—but again, I don’t think it particularly helps the flow, so again would advise sticking with your favorite.

It can be reassuring to consider how often you think the first and middle names will be said together. In some families, the parents routinely call their children by first-middles, in which case it would be worth questing to find a combination you liked. In most situations, however, the middle name all but vanishes after the birth announcements are sent out, and it seems more important to choose a name you love than a rhythm you love.