Vicki writes:

I am pregnant and due in April 2009. I don’t know yet if I’m having a boy or girl. I have a set of twin boys at home that are named Nathaniel Konnor Celozzi and Sebastian Zane Celozzi. I would like a good strong name for my next child.

We’ve decided to go with Gabrielle if the baby is a girl. We have debated about the middle name between Amelia and Tru. We can’t even begin to think of another boy name and could use some help. I appreciate all your assistance.

I like either of your middle name choices for Gabrielle. I like Tru better for coordination with your boys’ names, and I like Amelia better with the rhythm of the whole name.

If the baby is a boy, here are some suggestions:

Adrian Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Adrian
August Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and August
Benjamin Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Benjamin
Edmund Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Edmund
Elliot Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Elliot
Everett Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Everett
Frederick Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Frederick
Garrett Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Garrett
Isaiah Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Isaiah
Jonathan Celozzi; Nathaniel, Sebastian, and Jonathan

Let’s have two polls over to the right: one for the middle name if the baby is a girl, and one for the first name if the baby is a boy. [Polls closed; see below for results.]

Poll results:

Girl middle names (302 votes total):
Tru: 162 votes, roughly 54%
Amelia: 140 votes, roughly 46%

Boy names (296 votes total):
Adrian: 51 votes, roughly 17%
August: 35 votes, roughly 12%
Benjamin: 58 votes, roughly 20%
Edmund: 7 votes, roughly 2%
Elliot: 34 votes, roughly 11%
Everett: 38 votes, roughly 13%
Frederick: 20 votes, roughly 7%
Garrett: 18 votes, roughly 6%
Isaiah: 13 votes, roughly 4%
Jonathan: 22 votes, roughly 7%

Name update! Vicki writes:

Gabrielle Amelia was born March 26th weighing in at 5lbs 3.2oz. She was 3 weeks and a day early but perfectly healthy with a head full of light brown hair. She has Sebastian’s eye color so far and Nathaniel’s mouth with my chin and my husband’s ears. We couldn’t be happier. Thank everyone for your suggestions and thank you, Swistle for all your help!

Jennifer writes:

We don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl. In the past, my husband has pretty much let me have command of the names. He always has names to put on the list, but it seems that either he has chosen one that I have liked, or has acquiesced to my favorites. We already have 2 girls, Kate Lorraine (3) and McLaren Josephine (2) whom we mostly call ‘Claire’. Our last name starts with ‘S’, and has an ‘an/en’ sounding ending. One of my biggest annoyances with names is when they blend together, as in Max S–, so any name with an ‘s’ or ‘z’ sounding ending is out (sadly, this nixes Chase, Chance, and Alexis, all of which I LOVE). Also, I would like to stay away from the ‘en/an’ names to avoid being too rhymey. I am less worried about this last part if it’s a girl, but really don’t want the ‘en/an’ ending for a boy.

For a girl, I love Allie/Ally/Ali (undecided on spelling – thoughts?), but I think I would rather her have a more ‘proper’ name, and just use Allie/Ally as the nickname. I also like Lexi, so I’m sort of leaning towards Alexa. I also like Allison/Alison. Really, what I love is ‘Ellie’, I think, (and someone just told me about Ellery, which is SO cute) but the name Ellie is already taken by one of my BIL’s daughter’s, and I think my husband’s family would flip if we also used it. I also like Ruby, but am pretty sure my husband will nix that one. My husband’s top pick for a girl’s name is Audrey, which I think is okay, but we’re totally stuck for a middle name.

If it’s a boy, my favorites are Luke and Matthew (not trying to go biblical; I just like them). I also like Jack, but again with that darned popularity. I would really like to use James for the middle name (my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, BIL’s name). My problem here is that Luke James sounds sort of weird to me, as in not-flowy. But I don’t really want to name him Lucas James (which I think sounds great) because of the whole ‘s’ ending thing! I call my daughters by their first and middle names a lot, and am just not sure that I would love saying, “Luke James come here right now!” very often. Matthew James sounds great to me, but at the moment I like Luke better. My husband likes Peter, which I am not hugely fond of, and there also seems to be some family history with Nicholas. I do not have a problem with the ‘s’ ending for the middle name, just the first name, so I wouldn’t have an issue with Nicholas as the middle name, except then I can’t use James for the middle name.

My last issue is that I am also leaning towards James as the middle name for the baby even if it’s a girl. Is that too weird? Each of our other daughters have family aspects to their names, and I would like for the last child to also have some family history to her name. Any thoughts and ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

Audrey is a beautiful name, and I also like Aubrey. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Audrey. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Aubrey.

You like Allie and Ellie, so I’ll suggest Elsa and Eliza and Callie and Delaney and Elena. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Elsa. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Eliza. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Callie. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Delaney. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Elena.

You like Ellery but want to avoid Ellie, so I’ll suggest Everly and Avery and Hillary. (There’s also Emery/Emory, but that ALWAYS makes me think of filing my nails.) Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Everly. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Avery. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Hillary.

And one more that comes to mind is Darcy. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Darcy.

Let’s put a possibly-too-gigantic-to-be-useful poll over to the right, and then we can move on to the next issue, which is whether it’s okay to use the middle name James for a girl.

I am in general opposed to the name-rich girl side stealing a single one of the name-poor boy side names (though I do submit to it once a name is transferred: look how I just recommended Avery for a girl with hardly a flinch), but middle names are different because they’re so often used to honor family names. Audrey James is…well, that’s really CUTE, isn’t it? I think part of it is that it’s reminiscent of the middle name Jane.

I don’t think I WOULD do it, though, with a more boyish first name. If you choose Avery, for example, it’s gender-neutral enough that people look to the middle name for a clue. Avery James is a boy. Everly James is confusing. Eliza James is a girl, and adorable.

And here is something I hesitate to mention, but I will do it anyway. When I was growing up, we knew a family that had only girls. One girl was named Andrea (called Andy) John (her dad’s name was John). It was generally assumed that this was because her father had wanted a boy so badly and had finally given up on getting one. The message it conveyed was “We were disappointed to have a girl.” The reason I hesitate to mention this is that this was SUCH an unfair assumption.

If you don’t use James as a girl middle name, here are a few others to consider:

1. Jane. Audrey Jane, Aubrey Jane, Elsa Jane, Eliza Jane, Callie Jane, Delaney Jane, Everly Jane, Avery Jane, Hillary Jane, Darcy Jane.

2. Ruby. Sometimes when one parent likes a name and the other parent doesn’t, the middle name slot is the perfect place for it. Elsa Ruby, Eliza Ruby, Elena Ruby.

3. Alexis. Sometimes when a beloved name doesn’t work in the first name slot, the middle name slot is the perfect place for it. Audrey Alexis, Aubrey Alexis, Callie Alexis, Delaney Alexis, Avery Alexis, Darcy Alexis.

4. Other first name candidates. Audrey Elena, Aubrey Eliza, Elsa Delaney, Eliza Delaney, Callie Elena, Elena Audrey, Everly Eliza, Avery Elena, Hillary Eliza, Darcy Eliza.

Okay! On to boy names! I see what you mean: “Luke James” is a nice combination, but not melodic for calling out lovingly across the house. I think the trouble here is that you like short snappy boy names, but you’ve got a short snappy middle name already and need something a little longer to carry it off. I’m going to see if I can find some names that have that snappy feeling but in longer versions.

I wonder if you might like the name Isaac? I think it has a similar sound to the name Luke (that hard c/k sound) but it sounds better with James: I can just picture you calling out, “Isaac James, sweetheart, wash your hands and come for lunch!” Well, or maybe you don’t say sweetheart; maybe you say honey. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Isaac. [Edit: Jen says in the comments that they can’t use Isaac because another in-law has already used it.]

And here’s another possibility: Eric James. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Eric.

And what about Frederick? I keep pushing this one because it’s one of my own favorites (as are Isaac and Eric, if we’re being all full-disclosurey here). Frederick James. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Frederick.

Why don’t I just keep moving down my list of favorites? Elliot James. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Elliot. There’s the Ellie sound you like, but without the tempation to use the nickname and get in trouble with family.

Carter James. Kate, McLaren (Claire), and Carter.

All right, now I’ll make another poll for the boy names. Remember there are two polls to vote in, one for (the many, many) girl options and one for boy options. [Polls closed; see below for results.]

Poll results:

Girl names (255 votes total):
Alexa: 33 votes, roughly 13%
Allison: 16 votes, roughly 6%
Audrey: 50 votes, roughly 20%
Aubrey: 24 votes, roughly 9%
Elsa: 13 votes, roughly 5%
Eliza: 24 votes, roughly 9%
Callie: 7 votes, roughly 3%
Delaney: 21 votes, roughly 8%
Elena: 7 votes, roughly 3%
Everly: 21 votes, roughly 8%
Avery: 17 votes, roughly 7%
Hillary: 4 votes, roughly 2%
Darcy: 18 votes, roughly 7%

Boy names (223 votes total):
Isaac: 27 votes, roughly 12%
Eric: 25 votes, roughly 11%
Frederick: 20 votes, roughly 9%
Elliot: 64 votes, roughly 29%
Carter: 37 votes, roughly 17%
Luke: 31 votes, roughly 14%
Matthew: 19 votes, roughly 9%

Name update! Jennifer writes:

We had our baby boy, Luke Arthur, on April 3rd at 10:03pm. Thank you for your help with names – it was great to hear what others had to say, and it certainly gave us some good ideas! My husband came up with Arthur (family name on his side) a few weeks ago, and we both liked the flow of the name. I am a little sad we aren’t using James in the name, but think the name Luke Arthur fits our baby boy perfectly.

Amy writes:

I am due with my third child on March 27th. My husband and I prefer classic names and I think we have settled on James for a first name. I have boy/girl twins whose names are Stella and Thomas. I like the way Stella, Thomas and James sound together. However, the reason I am writing is because of the middle name. I want James Francis and my husband likes James Xavier. The only compromise that we have reached is to name the baby James Francis Xavier. I wanted to get you and your readers opinion about having two middle names. My twins do not have two middle names: Stella Audrey and Thomas Richard. Will it be too confusing to have two middle names? What do you think?

Oh! I can offer personal experience on the two middle names thing! It’s a little confusing, but only occasionally, and only mildly. Some forms allow only one middle name, and in those cases you just have in mind which middle name you want to use as the default. When filling out forms, you get used to making a little arrow to the second middle name with “second middle name” written nearby, so that people don’t think it’s the first half of a hyphenated surname. It comes up maybe once or twice a year, and for me it hasn’t been a hassle that would keep me from recommending it.

A bigger issue might be Francis Xavier. But “seeming to be named for a saint” is not exactly a negative, is it? And James Francis Xavier is a glorious name.

Let’s have a poll over to the right with the three choices: James Francis, James Xavier, or James Francis Xavier. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results (248 votes total):
James Francis: 83 votes, roughly 33%
James Xavier: 58 votes, roughly 23%
James Francis Xavier: 107 votes, roughly 43%

Name update 03-31-2009! Amy writes:

Hello!! I just wanted to thank you and your readers for all the great input with our new beautiful son’s name. James Francis was born on March 27th at 9:36 am. My husband changed his mind last minute and we went with one middle name. It fits him:-) Thank you again for all the great discussion!!

Dawn writes:

I am in desperate need of your help. I am due with our second child, a boy. Our 3 1/2 year old daughter is named Molly Deane (the “e” at the end is silent it’s pronounced like Dean) and was named after my husbands favorite aunt Molly and my favorite aunt Deane. We are at a complete loss for a name for this child, all the boy names I always thought I LOVED just don’t seem right for our boy.

We know the middle name will be Thomas (after both my dad and my husbands dad) so that part is easy, it’s a first name we can’t seem to find. Our last name begins with an “E” it is Welsh and sounds like Heavens.

A few of my “naming requirements” would be that I like names to flow, like our daughters name it just flows so nicely. I also prefer for sibling names to fit together, it makes me crazy when I hear siblings and the names don’t seem to fit together or to even be in the same category like one is a classic name and the other is a way out there trendy name, does that make sense? Also both mine and my husbands names begin with a “D” so while D names are not out of the question I think I would like to avoid them. Oh and no funky spellings, I have spent my life correcting people on my name (as simple as it is) I do not want to do that to a child.

Some names we like but are off limits due to family or close friends already having them would be Andrew, Kasen, Wesley, Jackson, Connor, Justin, Jacob, William.
Some names we have considered but are not loving are Jeremy, Jared, Jonathon (this is my husbands middle name but, I am afraid he would end up being called John), Mason, Max, Shane (I like, husband hates), Gavin, Liam, Ben.

I hope you and your readers can help, your our last hope, as we have scoured all the baby name books and web sites we can find and still we are without a name.

I like coordinating styles, too. In this case, it depends on how you see the name Molly. I find it hard to pin down names like Molly and Sadie and Lucy: are they down-home old-fashioned revival names? or are they modern sassy nickname names? Or both? or what?

So I’m going to give a little variety in the suggestions: some names coordinate better with a down-home old-fashioned feel, and some coordinate better with modern; some are more like nicknames and some are less like nicknames. I’ll use “Heavens” as the stand-in surname here so we can get a feel for how things fit, but I’ll keep the E in the initials to remind us.

Caleb Thomas Heavens (CTE). Caleb Heavens. Molly Deane and Caleb Thomas. Molly and Caleb.

Charlie Thomas Heavens (CTE). Charlie Heavens. Molly Deane and Charlie Thomas. Molly and Charlie.

Clark Thomas Heavens (CTE). Clark Heavens. Molly Deane and Clark Thomas. Molly and Clark.

Cole Thomas Heavens (CTE). Cole Heavens. Molly Deane and Cole Thomas. Molly and Cole.

Henry Thomas Heavens (HTE). Henry Heavens [not actually a double H sound: surname starts with E]. Molly Deane and Henry Thomas. Molly and Henry.

Kyle Thomas Heavens (KTE). Kyle Heavens. Molly Deane and Kyle Thomas. Molly and Kyle.

Leo Thomas Heavens (LTE). Leo Heavens. Molly Deane and Leo Thomas. Molly and Leo.

Luke Thomas Heavens (LTE). Luke Heavens. Molly Deane and Luke Thomas. Molly and Luke.

Milo Thomas Heavens (MTE). Milo Heavens. Molly Deane and Milo Thomas. Molly and Milo.

Nathaniel Thomas Heavens (NTE). Nathaniel Heavens. Molly Deane and Nathaniel Thomas. Molly and Nathaniel.

Riley Thomas Heavens (RTE). Riley Heavens. Molly Deane and Riley Thomas. Molly and Riley.

Simon Thomas Heavens (STE). Simon Heavens. Molly Deane and Simon Thomas. Molly and Simon.

Spencer Thomas Heavens (STE). Spencer Heavens. Molly Deane and Spencer Thomas. Molly and Spencer.

More ideas for Dawn?

Name update! Dawn writes:

Baby boy “Heavens” Arrived late in the evening on March 24th (the little stinker was a week early!) and only had to wait three more days for a name. We went into the hospital with the list narrowed down to Jeremy, Spencer or Wesley and while Wesley was on our list of can’t use because we know one already in the end we decided the Wesley we know is a great kid and we wouldn’t mind our little guy sharing a name with him. So our little guy is now named Wesley Thomas and it fits him to a T. Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions.