{"id":11115,"date":"2015-03-20T09:12:26","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T13:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=11115"},"modified":"2015-04-30T07:04:02","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T11:04:02","slug":"baby-boy-sofeeoh-brother-to-ian-and-reagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2015\/03\/20\/baby-boy-sofeeoh-brother-to-ian-and-reagan\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Boy Sofeeoh, Brother to Ian and Reagan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle!
\nI’ve been reading your blog since I was pregnant with my son who is about to turn four! When we started talking about having our third child, I knew we would have to enlist your help! Choosing names is really hard for us because it’s difficult to find one we can see ourselves saying a hundred times a day!<\/p>\n

Our last name sounds like SO-fee-oh, my name is Jackie and my husband is Anthony. We have two children and I’m pregnant with our third and last, a boy, due mid-April.<\/p>\n

We have a son named Ian Thomas. We chose Ian because it was a classy name that hadn’t had a surge in popularity lately. Timeless in a way, but not boring like other names you hear constantly. His middle name is his great grandfather’s name and also his father’s middle name. Our daughter is named Reagan Caroline. We liked Reagan because it had just enough spunk with plenty of sweetness. Her middle name is a combination of my mother’s name, Linda Carol. This baby’s middle name will most likely be Jack; as I am named after my grandfather, Jack.<\/p>\n

So all that to say, in the very last days before our children were born, we picked the only name that we liked saying over and over and also that seemed like a person who would be in our family. It was a coincidence that they both ended in -an. Now it seems like -an names look best with the other two. I’d at least like an “n” sound in there somewhere I think.<\/p>\n

My husband is very particular with names, but he doesn’t give much criteria on why he likes a name or not, only that it doesn’t seem like his son! So it’s been tricky to come up with names that he likes.<\/p>\n

We will have a few names that are on the “like” list, but after a few weeks of thinking about it they get crossed off for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

Names that we both still like:
\nColson – I like it a little more than my husband does. Interesting name, but there are several ways to spell it. Is it too similar to the popular Colton and would get mistaken?<\/p>\n

Kellan – Husband likes it a little more than I do. I know it’s a boys name, but the Kell beginning reminds me of Kelly, even though Kelly is not popular for girls at all anymore. Also, when said quickly to me it sounds very similar to “kill him” so that’s not great. But it does match our other kids’ names very nicely.<\/p>\n

Simon – a new name to the list. Classic but unique, just not sure if we can get passed the “nerdy” connection that the name seems to carry. Also, since our last name starts with an S I’m not sure if it’s too similar to Simon Says. But it is a nice name.<\/p>\n

I like the name Anderson but my husband isn’t a big fan. I don’t like that’s it’s three syllables and a very strong surname still. We generally try to stay away from three syllable names because they get nicknamed very quickly, which we aren’t a big fan of.<\/p>\n

Names that are out because of close friends or family: Logan, Declan, Brayden, Nathan, Landon, Jameson, Hudson, Benjamin, Corbin, Gavin<\/p>\n

Names crossed off the list for various reasons:
\nCarson – we’ve only met girls with this name now
\nOwen – too close to Ian
\nJackson or Carter – presidential connection with our daughter’s name
\nConnor, Xander, Leland, Evan, Colton, Lachlan and Dawson are all names my husband dislikes
\nColin – can’t get passed that it sounds like call-in’<\/p>\n

So the perfect name for us would be: clearly a boys name, spelled only one way generally, have an N in it, two syllables – That’s the perfect list but we know we may need to compromise!
\nI’d appreciate any advice you or your readers can give! Please help!<\/p>\n

Thank you!
\nJackie<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think we are up to this challenge. If, however, the post and comments prove to be unhelpful and you are right back where you started, I suggest going back to your original selection criteria: a name you like saying over and over, and that seems like a person in your family. It will be fun to look for a name with a N, and two syllables, and only one standard spelling—but those three preferences seem much less important than the other two, especially with a picky husband and a long list of rejected\/unusable names, and they may be why you’re stuck. I looked at name after name that failed at least one of those preferences; when I get that “solving a logic puzzle” feeling, I’m likely to advise paring down the PREFERENCES list instead of continuing to pare down the NAME list.<\/p>\n

My first and favorite suggestion is Calvin. It has two syllables, it has the N, it has one standard spelling, it’s clearly a boy name, it’s timeless but not boring—and yet it isn’t too similar to Ian or Reagan and, other than the N, has completely different sounds. It also reminds me of some of your other options (Kellan, Colson, Gavin, Colin). Calvin Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Calvin.<\/p>\n

My next suggestion is Quentin. Two syllables, N, standard spelling, clearly a boy name, timeless but not boring—plus super-cool initial. Quentin Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Quentin.<\/p>\n

Henry may be too familiar now for your tastes, but I like the way it fits many of the other preferences, and I like the way the position of the N reduces the matchiness of the set. Henry Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Henry.<\/p>\n

Finn is only one syllable, but coordinates visually with the length of the name Ian. It may be too much F with the surname, and may not work if you do decide to use Jack as the middle name (perhaps Jackson would work instead). Finn Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Finn.<\/p>\n

Oh, I think I like Griffin better, and that’s two syllables and reduces the F problem. Griffin Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Griffin.<\/p>\n

Malcolm has no N, but the M and N letters\/sounds are similar, and the style goes well with Ian. Malcolm Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Malcolm.<\/p>\n

Similar to Kellan is Kieran. It removes the Kelly\/Ellen issue (though by substituting a Kiera issue), and also the “kill him” issue (though I don’t hear that when I say it). Kieran Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Kieran.<\/p>\n

Corin may be too similar to the Corbin you can’t use—but if not, it’s a nice way to get Colin without the call-in. Corin Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Corin.<\/p>\n

If it is too similar, perhaps Torin.<\/p>\n

Or wait, Tobin. Tobin Sofeeoh; Ian, Reagan, and Tobin.<\/p>\n

But my top choice is still Calvin. I love it, and it solves the logic puzzle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

We loved your idea of Calvin and were almost settled on it but decided to wait until he was born to make the final call. We thought about his name for a few hours after he was born and decided to take your original advice of finding a name that we wanted to say and that fit in our family. I’d like to announce that we named our son Kellan Jack. It seems to fit him perfectly, and also compliments our other kids’ names nicely. Thank you so much for you and your readers’ help, it gave us a way to think about the names differently.
\n-Jackie<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle! I’ve been reading your blog since I was pregnant with my son who is about to turn four! When we started talking about having our third child, I knew we would have to enlist your help! Choosing names is really hard for us because it’s difficult to find one we can see ourselves […]<\/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-11115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-2Th","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11115","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=11115"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11249,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11115\/revisions\/11249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}