{"id":11023,"date":"2015-02-16T16:07:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T20:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=11023"},"modified":"2017-11-15T13:59:58","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T17:59:58","slug":"baby-boy-or-girl-walker-sibling-to-harrison-and-emmett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2015\/02\/16\/baby-boy-or-girl-walker-sibling-to-harrison-and-emmett\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Boy or Girl Walker, Sibling to Harrison and Emmett"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle !<\/p>\n

I’ve been a devout reader of your naming blog since we were pregnant with our first, who’s 3 now, and would love your advice ! We have two boys, Harrison John (3), who sometimes goes by Harry, and Emmett Matthew (1). We are due with our third, and probably last, in April. Our last name sounds like Walker. We decided not to find out the sex this time, but if it’s a girl she will likely be Hazel Lucille or Hazel Marguerite.<\/p>\n

The problem is, we’re having trouble coming up with a third boy’s name we love just as much as Harrison and Emmett. The boy’s middle names are family names, so we will likely go with Paul (after my grandfather) for the middle name this time. The short list of names that both of us like includes, Augustus, Leonard nn Leo (family name), Ezra, and Maxwell nn Max. I find myself obsessing over which name sounds best with Harrison and Emmett, and worrying that none of them “feel right”. Augustus is good, but it just doesn’t feel like THE name. Leonard I like, but I worry it’s too out there and doesn’t fit a squishy little baby. Ezra I like a lot, but it doesn’t seem to flow with our naming style. Maxwell, I like, but worry it’s too popular compared to our other boy’s names. In general I tend to go for more “old fashioned” names.<\/p>\n

Maybe you have a suggestion we haven’t thought of ? Some other names I love but we can’t use for various reasons include, Oliver, Thaddeus, Theodore, Bennett, Everett, and Henry. Please help ! Am I over-analyzing simply because naming three boys is hard ? Maybe no name will feel like “the name” as much as I think it will, but April is quickly approaching and there’s no name in sight !<\/p>\n

We’re in desperate need of your wisdom :)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

This may or may not apply to you, but if it DOES apply, it can be a comfort: When you were searching for your second child’s name, was it hard to find anything you liked as much as your first child’s name? And has that issue now been resolved, and you love both names? I think it is nearly impossible to find a name that measures up to the names of already-born-and-beloved children. The names Harrison and Emmett are no longer NAMES to you: they’re CHILDREN. No name can measure up to that, until it too is a child rather than a name. Instead of looking for a name you like as much as the first two, I suggest making this subtle shift: look for the name you like best of all the available options.<\/p>\n

I would be interested in knowing which name is the frontrunner at this point. If I were trying to rank “good,” “like,” “like a lot,” and “like,” my guess would be that Ezra (“like a lot”) is currently your first choice. If I met a sibling group containing Harrison, Emmett, and Ezra, I wouldn’t find the style shift startling: it IS hard to name three boys, and the styles are compatible. I am slightly bothered by the repeated short-E-and-two-syllables of Emmett and Ezra, but not enough to cross Ezra off the list: the other sounds in the names are so different.<\/p>\n

Leonard seems like the current second choice. If Leonard seems a little too grown-up for a squeezy little bundle, I’d suggest calling him Leo (as planned) or Lenny until he’s a bit older. Or perhaps another baby nickname will occur naturally. “Cub,” maybe, from leo = lion.<\/p>\n

The style gap seems larger to me with Leonard than with Ezra. Ezra, like Harrison and Emmett, is a name currently in style (not high on the charts, but in favor sound- and style-wise), and so all three names feel current. They were also of very similar popularity in 2013: Harrison at #161, Emmett at #173, and Ezra at #143. Leonard is not quite back yet; at #687 and falling, it feels out of step with the others. The nickname Leo brings it back into step, however. Harry, Emmett, and Leo.<\/p>\n

“Doesn’t feel like the name” seems to me to take Augustus out of the running. You have probably already considered August, but I’d want to mention it again: it feels more compatible to me than Augustus with the other children’s names. Harrison, Emmett, and August. Nickname Gus if you want it.<\/p>\n

I agree that Maxwell feels more popular than Harrison and Emmett, and it IS more popular: Maxwell was at #108 in 2013 and Max was at #111. But they’re not as high as I’d thought.<\/p>\n

I wonder if you might like Nathaniel. Perhaps it will be more common than you’d prefer, but I like it with Harrison and Emmett. Nathaniel Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Nathaniel; Harry, Emmett, and Nate.<\/p>\n

Or Sebastian. Sebastian Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Sebastian.<\/p>\n

This may be a bit further out than you’d like to go, but I thought of Shepard if your surname is not a word. Harrison, Emmett, and Shepard; Harry, Emmett, and Shep.<\/p>\n

Or Gabriel, if that’s not too much L with the surname. Harrison, Emmett, and Gabriel.<\/p>\n

We were talking on Twitter the other day about the name Russell: a few of us had been pleasantly surprised to encounter it on children. It hits that “familiar yet uncommon” mark nicely, and then all three boys have double letters in their names. But maybe too much L with the surname. Russell Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Russell.<\/p>\n

Or Clark, which may or may not be good with the surname. I like the descending syllables of Harrison, Emmett, and Clark.<\/p>\n

Or Grant. Harrison, Emmett, and Grant.<\/p>\n

Or Gage. Harrison, Emmett, and Gage.<\/p>\n

Or Reid. Harrison, Emmett, and Reid.<\/p>\n

Or Lincoln. Harrison, Emmett, and Lincoln.<\/p>\n

Or Nolan. Harrison, Emmett, and Nolan.<\/p>\n

Oliver, Everett, and Henry all tap right into my own name list. I wanted to suggest George (also on that list), but George Harrison may rule that out; I wanted to suggest Elliot, but that seems much too close to Emmett. I wanted to suggest Wesley, but it seems too alliterative with the surname.<\/p>\n

Do you like Simon? Simon Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Simon.<\/p>\n

Or Louis? I like the pronunciation that sounds like Lewis, and it’s on my Sad I Can’t Use It list. Louis Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Louis. Or maybe that merges too much with the surname.<\/p>\n

We liked both Miles and Milo. Miles Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Miles. Milo Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Milo. Again, maybe too much L with the surname, depending on what it is.<\/p>\n

Or Calvin? This was a favorite we had to rule out for other reasons. Calvin Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Calvin; Harry, Emmett, and Cal.<\/p>\n

Or Malcolm. Malcolm Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Malcolm.<\/p>\n

Or Gideon. Gideon Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Gideon.<\/p>\n

Or Franklin. Franklin Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Franklin.<\/p>\n

Or Frederick. Frederick Walker; Harrison, Emmett, and Frederick.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name update:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swistle ! For almost three years, your readers lives have indeed been an exercise in sad unsatisfied futility, in regards to Baby “Walker”. I JUST stumbled upon my own writing this morning when a friend, who is also looking for a suitable sibling name for Emmett, put two and two together and asked if I ever sent a question to Swistle… I couldn’t believe it ! You ended up posting my questions about naming our team green baby, the day before they were born… I was in the hospital for about a week and a half (stalking Swistle because we still hadn’t decided on a boy name) and our little one made their entrance 10 weeks early, the day after you posted our naming conundrum. Our third boy, Brooks Paul, was born 2\/17\/15, weighing 3 lbs 6 oz. In the end we decided we really wanted to find a name with double letters like Harrison and Emmett (you and a couple commenters both suggested the idea). We found the name while I was in the hospital, and instantly knew it was “the” name. He is a happy and healthy almost-3 year old now, running around like a mad man with his brothers Harrison John and Emmett Matthew. I attached my favorite picture from him in the NICU, about 5 weeks into his stay. Thank you, as always, for your wonderful advice<\/p>\n

-Kelcy<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle ! I’ve been a devout reader of your naming blog since we were pregnant with our first, who’s 3 now, and would love your advice ! We have two boys, Harrison John (3), who sometimes goes by Harry, and Emmett Matthew (1). We are due with our third, and probably last, in April. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-2RN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13088,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11023\/revisions\/13088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}