Claudia writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first baby, a boy, in July and although we found a lot of girls names that we liked, we found it very hard to find any boy’s names. We both really like Konrad as a middle name. Konrad is a German name meaning “brave and honest advisor” and we were surprised to find that it is a longer version of Kurt (his name).

As for first names, here are the top 5 choices so far:

• Abraham – Hebrew, “father of multitudes”. Nicknames could be Abie, Bram or Hammy.
• Henry – English or German, “estate ruler”. Nickname could be Hank.
• Lawrence – English or Latin, “from the place of laurel trees” also Home of the Kansas Jayhawks! (where I went to school) Nicknames could be Lawry or Lars.
• Leonard – German, “brave lion”. Nicknames could be Leo, Leno or Lenny.
• Truman – English, “loyal one”. No nicknames.

_____ Konrad Beal?????

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks for your help on this.

My favorite is Henry Konrad Beal. Let’s put a poll to the right to see what everyone else likes best! [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results (189 votes total):
Abraham: 22 votes, roughly 12%
Henry: 65 votes, roughly 34%
Lawrence: 45 votes, roughly 24%
Leonard: 25 votes, roughly 13%
Truman: 32 votes, roughly 17%

Name update! Claudia writes:

Henry Konrad Beal was born July 17th, 2009 and we couldn’t be happier with the name choice. It fits him perfect.

Jennifer writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first child, a daughter, on June 24. We are so thrilled, and cannot believe how fast the pregnancy has gone by so far! This might be why we have yet to decide on a name!

After reading countless lists from baby name books, websites, blogs, etc, we think we have it narrowed down to about 4 names: Stella, Lydia, Kate, and Rosalynn. (I just like Kate, not Katherine or any other formal name in which Kate is a nick name). My husband and I both have fairly common first names, so I like these 4 because they are feminine and classic, yet not too popular. Our last name is Foster – which is great because anything seems to go with it, but that also makes it a bit more challenging when we’re feeling indecisive!

For middle names I like Rosalynn, Nichole (my sister’s middle name), and Jean (both of my grandmother’s middle names). Do you think that you and/or your readers could help us make a decision?

I accidentally put this one in my spreadsheet as a due date of JULY instead of June! ACK!! Let’s get some polls up FAST and even if it is TOO LATE and the baby is already named, we will still have fun with the polls and the comment section! I like Stella Jean Foster and Rosalynn Nichole Foster. Polls over to the right! QUICK! [Polls closed; see results below.]

Poll results (223 votes total):
Stella: 66 votes, roughly 30%
Lydia: 75 votes, roughly 34%
Kate: 53 votes, roughly 24%
Rosalynn: 29 votes, roughly 13%

Name update! Jennifer writes: “She surprised us all and came a month early on May 25!!! We decided on Stella Nichole Foster and it seems to suit her : )”

Kinsey writes:

I am pregnant with our first child, gender unknown, and we are having a very hard time deciding on names…mostly because of a few dilemmas. Here it goes…

Boys- Since I was 16 (not kidding) I have wanted to name a first born son Henry Scott and call him Hank. Hank is the part that I LOVE! I’ve just always envisioned that to be my son’s name. It also turns out that I married a Scott…perfect! Well, 2 years ago my first cousin named his son Henry. He goes by Henry, not Hank, so I still thought I would use the name. BUT just last week, another first cousin (on the other side of my family), named his baby Henry too. But again, he’s not going by Hank. Would it be so wrong to name a baby Henry, since he would go by Hank?? we are close with the cousin with the 2 year old henry…but not the other cousin. My husband is Joseph Scott, and goes by Scott, so I suggested just doing Joseph Hank and calling the baby Hank…but he doesn’t like that. He thinks we have to use Henry to get the nickname Hank. what do you think?

Girls- My best friend’s last name is Layne. I have always LOVED her last name and wanted to use it for a girl’s name for many years. I even wanted to change it up a little and use McLayne. It’s different and sounds girly to me, without being too much (I’m not a super girly girl :-) but my husband is not a fan of having Mc at the beginning of a first name and for that reason says no way to McLayne. AND, in the last 2 months, my sister-in-law and a good friend used Layne as their new baby’s middle names. I know since they used them just as middle names I could still use it, but it takes the fun out of it for me. I like having something just a little different and had that picked out for so long. And another problem is that my husband and I do not agree on–and LOVE– any other girl names at all. NONE. Layne is the only one we both liked a lot. what are some other names that are different, without being weird?? maybe even other take-offs of layne? we would more than likely use Leigh as the middle name…it’s my sister’s middle name.

I’m SO BUMMED! I love playing around with baby names and thought I had my first choices set in stone and now it’s all messed up. i definitely want something semi different (i know henry is WAY popular, but hank does not seem to be and before those 2 people close to me used Layne, i hadn’t heard that either.) HELP!

I do think it’s still fine to use Henry, even though a couple of family members have used it. You were planning to use it when the relatives you’re close to chose it, so I don’t think it changes anything to have LESS-close relatives choose it. And it helps that the two other Henrys are on opposite sides of the family, since then it won’t feel to everyone else as if there are Henrys all over the place. If I were you, I would go ahead with your Henry Scott plan for a boy.

AND I think you should go ahead with Layne if the baby is a girl. You could go with the spelling Maclaine, if your husband’s objection is to the capital letter in the middle of the name. You could also name her Elaine, Elaina, Elena, Alaina, Alayna, Lainley, Melayna, Delayne, Delaney, Helene, etc., and call her Layne or Laney. You could also name her Lail or Layle or Laile (rhymes with Gail).

But I think if I were you I would stick with what you originally wanted: whatever you choose there are bound to be duplicates, so it’s best to choose what you want most—and “Layne” is the name/spelling that has the significant meaning for you.

Name update 09-12-2009! Kinsey writes:

just wanted to let you know that Joseph “Hank” was born on Saturday September 5th. he came a little early, but we finalized his name the night before heading to the hospital. as you can see, i convinced my husband to stick to the same pattern of his own name and then only use Hank, not Henry. we love it. thanks for all the comments and advice. i finally have my Hank, without him being “just another Henry” in our family. yeah!!

Vanessa writes:

I’m currently 32 weeks pregnant and on hospital bedrest hoping and praying for every additional day. Needless to say I have lots of time on my hand. I stumbled upon your site and I’d love your input. My husband and I have agreed not to reveal any names candidates or choices until after we name him. This has made the process that much more difficult.

Ok, so I’m VERY picky when it comes to names. I don’t like names that are too popular, can be shortened into nick names and initials are important too.

So our son’s name is Jameson Richard (last name is McScottish name). That was really the only one we could agree on. Naming baby boy #2 had proven to be much more difficult. He is due August 11 but could arrive at anytime. My son wants to name him “sister” but that’s just not going to work. Our girl name from last time around was Theresa which we will most likely use if we have more children. So the two boys could have a sister names Theresa as well.

So here are our top choices – please give me your thoughts, impressions, if you know anyone named these IRL…

Connor Declan McScottish
Connor Joseph McScottish
Declan Patrick McScottish
Declan Thomas McScottish

I’m also open to suggestions. Oh, and “B” names are out because the initials would be BM. Although my MIL didn’t think of that when she named my husband who got teased all through grade school. She actually told me I was being too picky about initials, and that’s when my husband told her that kids did make fun of his initials…

I love the name Declan, so that’s my vote. Let’s put a poll over to the right for the four top candidates. [Poll closed; see results below.] And it would be nice if we got a lively discussion going in the comment section—bedrest SUCKS, and we’ll see what we can do to entertain!

Poll results (227 votes total):
Connor Declan: 26 votes, roughly 11%
Connor Joseph: 49 votes, roughly 22%
Declan Patrick: 53 votes, roughly 23%
Declan Thomas: 99 votes, roughly 44%

Name update! Vanessa writes:
I wrote to you back in June asking for name help for “Baby Boy McScottish” We had been told he would not make it to full term, but lo and behold, he was born yesterday, August 6, at 39w2d and I was induced at that!

After several more brainstorming sessions, we decided on Declan Thomas.

Thanks for all your help. I loved reading everyone’s suggestions. Should we have the pleasure to name another baby, I’ll be back to ask for help!

Melissa writes:

My best friend K is due with her third child, a girl, in less than a month but baby could arrive any day given that K’s babies always arrive very early. K and her husband, J, really like unusual/unique names. Their eldest son has a made up name (rhymes with Tyson, starts with a K sound). Their second son is Declan which is a “real” name but still pretty unusual. Their last name sounds sort of like Caldwell.

Here are the notes I got from K:

First name contenders:

Sadie
Emerson
Briony
Kinley
Hadlee
Delaney
Siobhan
Amalia
Reamy
Raelyn
Coralie
Everly

I don’t like common names but I do want names that people can read and pronounce (except siobhan because i do like it) I did find another I liked “Brecklynn” but realized it sounds like Declan so it won’t work.

Middle names in contention are: Leigh, Grace, Rae, Schae, Emmeline, Reamy, Amelia, Hazel but that’s just to give you a further sense of her taste. K isn’t too worried about middle names and prefers to worry about the first name right now.

Notes about names from J:

J has a longer list (that I don’t have) but apparently the names are in the same ballpark (unusual). One name I know he likes is Callie (or some variation thereof) but K is not a big fan. J likes to pay attention to how the names flow as a whole and having similar sounds in first and last names (like “K” sound or “L” or “R”) Their last name does have an “R” sound since it isn’t really Caldwell.

Finally, commentary from Melissa, the friend. I think K’s family likes names with a hard “K” sound in them. All four names in the family have a “K” sound in them and the last name has a repeated “K” sound. So, even though I wasn’t asked, I think Kinley and Coralie seem like strong contenders.

Thanks, Swistle and readers, for any help you can provide in naming this baby! Bring on the unique girl names.

And then, Melissa writes:

I wanted to update you on this swistlebabynames submission. As of yesterday I spoke with K and the c-section is scheduled for June 25 (although they are still thinking she’ll arrive before that) and the names are narrowed down to Raemy and Briony with likely middle name Emmeline. She’d still welcome input from Swistle readers if you have time to post this one. :)

Name update 06-26-2009! Melissa writes:

Since I submitted the request I thought I should submit the update. Also, I think photos should be required with updates :) Anyway:

Baby Girl “Caldwell” arrived June 25 and was named McKenna Emmeline. So much for their “finalist” names. The whole family is doing great.

Tiffany writes:

So we’re about to have numero dos (due date June 20), and we’re “waiters,” so we don’t know the gender yet. We love waiting, but man, picking two names is HARD. I think we’ve finally narrowed it down, and I’m hoping for some feedback and a vote.

Our first child is two, and his name is Matthew Cole, which we love. We’d picked Matthew while dating in college (although it was kind of a joke back then, because we’d planned on Matthew Zerubbabel – oh, and did I mention it was a Bible college?), and it stuck with us through the years. Cole is my husband’s middle name, and bang, we were all set. If Matthew had been a girl, we would have named him Annalise May; Annalise because – well, it’s a beautiful name that we actually agreed on, and May because it’s my grandmother’s middle name (and mine, too, which is a bonus). My husband still loves this name if we have a girl, but I’m kind of leaning toward Amelia, which he thinks is too much of an up-and-comer and will soon be trendy. What do you think? Can we have a poll about which name the readers like best – Annalise May or Amelia May?

For the record, other girl names we’d discussed were:
Hannah (not thrilled with it)
Faith (…eh)
Jane (a bit dull with our last name, unfortunately)
Lily (too popular; doesn’t feel like “our baby,” and I’d expect her to have green eyes…)
Sara(h) (also boring with our last name, and I know someone with the same exact name)
Emmeline, Cecily, Sadie, or Charlotte (hubby hates ’em all)
Mary (I hate it)
Margaret (both like it, but don’t want our first two kids to have the same first initial – saving it)
May (same initial; I want to use it as a middle name, at least, before my grandmother dies)
Elizabeth (my sister-in-law’s name, so it’s out – and I’m kind of mad about that, because man, what a great name!)

As for boy names, we were stumped for a looong time. We tossed around Benjamin and Noah, but they’ve both been taken recently by people we know. We’d also discussed Nathan, which I like but don’t love, plus it’s one of our friend’s names (as was Matthew, actually, so it’d be a little weird to do that twice). And Nathan is a bit sing-songy with our last name, which begins with an R, has three syllables and a “-son” ending (which, in our part of the world, is usually pronounced “-sin”). The same problems apply for Jonathan. I also love Henry, but my husband thinks it’s too trendy, and we talked about Adam (not crazy about it) or Theodore (Teddy would be adorable as a baby, not so much as an adult… and Theo will forever be a Cosby).

The name we’re currently pretty set on is Abraham. Is that too out there? Is it sing-songy? Does anyone know any babies named Abraham? We plan on calling him Abe, and it seems adorable – Matthew and Abe, Matt and Abe, Abe R–son. The middle name will be Michael after my father and brother: Abraham Michael R–son. So, Swistle and readers, what do you think about Abraham? Too long-beardy or top-hatty? Or can we totally work it?

I think we’re set on these three names, but we’d be interested in hearing alternate suggestions. I don’t know if any will work, since I’ve scoured my “Baby Name Wizard” and “The Baby Name Bible” a million times and nothing else feels right, but hey, you never know. As you can see, we lean towards Biblical or timeless or classic or “antique charm” sorts of names, and I don’t like anything too newfangled or with weird spellings.

Thanks so much for your help!

Amelia and Annalise are both great. Amelia is currently more common than Annalise: in the top 100 currently, as opposed to Annalise’s #702 (source: Social Security Administration). Let’s have a poll over to the right to see which name is more popular with our group.

Now, on to boy names. I think of biblical names as falling into three basic groups:

1. Names that appear in the Bible but don’t have an immediate association with it (e.g., John, David, Matthew, Aaron).

2. Names that used to have biblical associations, but now are commonly used with no intended association (e.g., Noah, Isaac).

3. Names that still have primarily biblical associations (e.g., Jedidiah, Solomon, Nicodemus).

Not only are these groupings totally subjective, but they SHIFT all the time. Back when I was in school, naming a child Noah would have been a startlingly religious thing to do. Now, it’s a name that can be used with no religious associations intended.

Abraham is a name I think is shifting. I think right now it’s making a move from the Solomon lunch table to the Isaac lunch table, and may already be sitting there: it’s in the Top 200 and continuing to rise.

Abraham has another strong association in the U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. A second strong association keeps a name from being too one-note.

If you want something more similar in popularity to the name Matthew, you could go with Isaac. Matthew and Isaac (Matt and Zac, or Matt and Ike) make great sibling names, and I think Isaac Michael R____son sounds terrific.

If you want the nickname Abe but want to get there via a shorter route, you could go with Abram: Matthew and Abram, Abram Michael R_____son. Or Abel, though maybe that’s too much L with Michael.

For a nickname similar to Abe, you could name the baby Gabriel and call him Gabe: Matthew and Gabriel, Matt and Gabe, Gabriel Michael R_____son. Again, maybe too much L with Michael.

Drifting further and further from the original plan, Caleb seems like a good choice: Matthew and Caleb, Caleb Michael R____son.

I myself am partial to the name Daniel: Matthew and Daniel, Matt and Dan, Daniel Michael R____son.

Also—and I’m taking this from your “top hat” reference—I like the name Lincoln: Matthew and Lincoln, Matt and Linc, Lincoln Michael R____son.

Okay, so we’re having TWO polls: one is a vote between the names Amelia and Annalise, and the other is a question about whether the name Abraham is “too long-beardy or top-hatty.” [Polls closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “Which name do you prefer, Amelia or Annalise?” (261 votes total):
Amelia: 120 votes, roughly 46%
Annalise: 141 votes, roughly 54%

Poll results for “Is Abraham too long-beardy or top-hatty?” (245 votes total):
Yes: 114 votes, roughly 47%
No: 131 votes, roughly 53%

Name update 01-14-2009! Tiffany writes:

Hi Everyone!
My husband and I LOVED reading your thoughts on Abraham and the Amelia/Annalise debate. I checked obsessively for more comments, and I’m definitely writing in for our next kiddo! To finally give you the update, we had a GIRL! Annalise May was born on June 23 and was a healthy 7 lb., 10 oz. I was still torn between Annalise and Amelia when we went to the hospital, but my husband was staunchly pro-Annalise, so I went along with him. Even though it took a little while, it feels like “her” (and she never felt like an Amelia). For being as popular as it is, almost no one we talk to has ever heard of it! We’re usually complimented on it, and I’m so glad we chose it. Thanks for your votes and comments!

J. writes:

I am getting so frustrated with this whole naming thing! If we have a boy we’re in trouble! My husband loves Lincoln, and I don’t mind it, just don’t love it. A few problems I have with it are that it starts with an “L” as does our oldest son Landon and I’d like all our kids to start with different letters. (Other kids are Rachel and Seth.) Also, our last name is a spelling variation of Car. Don’t know if Lincoln goes with that, partly for the ‘k’ sound, partly because of the line of vehicles of the same name!

We both really like Madden, but I worry it’s too close to Landon. Hubby thinks it’s fine, but I’m just not sure. Some days I totally want to name my baby Madden, some days I think I’m crazy for even considering it! (And don’t bother suggesting Maddox as an alternative, I don’t like it.)

I desperately want to use Emmitt, but Hubby has nixed it. I’m terribly disappointed. He thinks it’d be cute for a baby/little boy, but not good for an adult. Citing Emmitt Smith doesn’t help! He keeps thinking of the old crazy guy from Back to the Future. Does anyone have stories of how they got their husband to come around? That would be ideal!

For a girl we’ve chosen Danae. For a middle name I’m thinking Lauren, though the middle names of Rachel and Seth start with “L”s too. Is it weird if 3 of my 4 kids have a middle name with “L”? It wasn’t planned, I just happen to like “L” names. Hubby likes Danae Morgan. To me, an ideal middle name for Danae would be two syllables with the emphasis on the second syllable, like Rachelle, Marie, Leanne, though I don’t like those in particular. Any other suggestions? We’re really short on time!

Boy names similar to Emmitt/Emmett but without the crazy-old-scientist association:

Barrett Car
Beckett Car
Bennett Car
Elliot Car
Everett Car
Garrett Car
Merrit Car

Boy names with miscellaneous tie-ins:

Adrian Car
Daniel Car
Elias Car
Ethan Car
Evan Car
Gavin Car
Griffin Car
Henry Car
Jasper Car
Jeremy Car
Joshua Car
Malcolm Car
Marshall Car
Miller Car
Milo Car
Nathaniel Car
Nicholas Car
Nolan Car
Phillip Car
Quentin Car
Theo Car
Timothy Car
Wilson Car
Xavier Car

If you decide not to use Madden as a first name, perhaps it would make a nice middle name. Emmitt, too, would be a good middle name option. Ooo, or Lincoln! Some of my favorite combinations:

Daniel Emmitt Car
Elias Lincoln Car
Elias Madden Car
Elliot Madden Car
Everett Lincoln Car
Henry Lincoln Car
Nathaniel Madden Car
Nolan Emmitt Car
Phillip Madden Car

About the middle name for Danae: I think it’s fine if three of the four kids have matching middle initials. If it were first-name initials it would catch my attention, but I find I don’t have the same reaction with middle names.

Danae Brigitte Car
Danae Geneva Car
Danae Elizabeth Car
Danae Estelle Car
Danae Joelle Car
Danae Jolie Car
Danae Larissa Car
Danae Lissandra Car
Danae Lisette Car
Danae Louisa Car
Danae Louise Car
Danae Lucille Car
Danae Lucinda Car
Danae Melinda Car
Danae Miranda Car
Danae Nicole Car
Danae Noelle Car
Danae Rebecca Car
Danae Sophia Car

Some of my favorites are Elizabeth, Larissa, Lissandra, Louise, Melinda, Rebecca.

Update 06-23-2009! J. writes:

Our sweet baby boy arrived on June 20. The day after I sent in my email to Swistle, before it was even published, my husband just gave in and said we could go with Emmitt. I made sure he was sure, and told him he could then choose the middle names for our girl and boy first names. So if it had been a girl we would have gone with Danae Morgan, and for a boy, Emmitt Lincoln. Since we were very sure it was a girl we didn’t discuss Emmitt much more. When he came out, we were overjoyed, and I again asked my husband if he was okay with Emmitt. He assured me he was. We then had to quickly discuss the spelling because I hadn’t thought we’d need to finalize that. We did choose Emmitt because, even though Emmett is the more common spelling, we like that Emmitt is exactly how you pronounce it. And my husband said a few hours later that it totally suits him. Thanks for all your input!