{"id":11835,"date":"2016-01-15T10:26:35","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T14:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=11835"},"modified":"2016-04-18T14:34:22","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T18:34:22","slug":"baby-boy-brother-to-charles-huck-isaac-katherine-and-seth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2016\/01\/15\/baby-boy-brother-to-charles-huck-isaac-katherine-and-seth\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Boy, Brother to Charles (Huck), Isaac, Katherine, and Seth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Swistle,<\/p>\n

Our fifth baby and likely last baby is due at the end of March. My husband and I typically have a very hard time coming to an agreement on names and this time has proved to be no different. We have a son Charles Martin IV (nn Huck), son Isaac Scott, daughter Katherine Elizabeth (nn Kate), and son Seth Ulysses.<\/p>\n

I would like to use my maiden name Keller. I also like the name Elliot but not nearly as much as Keller. My husband likes the name Xavier. His 2nd choice is Henry. My husband says that Keller is a last name not a first name. I pointed out that many last names have become first names throughout the years. I am not a fan of either of his choices – Xavier – the fact that it is pronounced with a Z not X (I’ve asked around and everyone seems to have a differing opinion on how to pronounce it) and Henry is more popular than I would like. I know it is popular but I would consider Andrew (nn Drew in honor of a friend). Husband likes Oliver.<\/p>\n

We do not want names that end in “n” as our last name ends with an “n”, not a super popular name, and something that is easy to spell (I grew up spelling my name). I like names that have an “L” in them as our last name begins with “L” but not first names that begin with “L” (too alliterative for my taste).<\/p>\n

If we were having a girl – we would have used Caroline or Charlotte.<\/p>\n

Help us come to an agreement or rather – how can I convince him to use my maiden name?<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

Am I assuming correctly that your first child is named after your husband? That is, that his names and his family tradition were used for your first child, presumably as he wished? If I were you I think I’d lean on that a bit here. It is a BIG DEAL to essentially allow previous generations of your husband’s family to name your firstborn, and I believe you deserve a little more of a reason from him for not using your maiden name than “it’s a last name not a first name.” Pardon me, husband, but Charles and Martin are ALSO surnames, as are Xavier, Henry, and Oliver.<\/p>\n

And am I further assuming correctly that all of your children have your husband’s last name? That is, that his family name is being carried on in every single one of their names?<\/p>\n

One reason I chose to do this question is that indignation gets me going, as demonstrated already in this answer. The second reason is that by purest coincidence, so pure and so coincidental that I will not blame you if you pause to wonder about my honesty and integrity, I encountered a Keller yesterday. It was in a natural context, where I overheard the name being used; my mom and I refer to that as “the mall test,” based on early experiences hearing names used at the mall and finding our reactions were not always as we’d expect. For example, sometimes we’d overhear a name on our favorites list, and hearing it used was what knocked it right out of the running; other times, we’d hear a name we didn’t even think we liked, and suddenly felt it was an extremely awesome name.<\/p>\n

Where was I? Oh, yes: I was waiting for an appointment, and one employee called out to another employee nearby, “Keller, do you have those test results?” And I thought, “!!!!” The Keller in question was a grown man, and my impression was unexpectedly favorable. That is, if I had tried to answer this question before that experience, I might have fretted that Keller sounded feminine because of the name Kelly; after hearing a man called Keller, my impression was that it was unisex leaning masculine and worked very nicely on a guy. Checking current U.S. usage, I see that in 2014 there were 29 new baby girls and 168 new baby boys named Keller. (That is, the FIRST NAME was Keller. Point this out to your husband.)<\/p>\n

A third reason I chose to do this question is that there are few things that give me as much of a thrill as when it works out to use the mother’s maiden name as a child’s first name. Oh to have been born a Wilson, a Simon, a Davis, a Clark, a Charles, a Henry—rather than a difficult Dutch surname that would make a terrible first name! The name Keller represents a style shift from the sibling names, but I feel as if the explanation makes it completely reasonable—and it helps that your Charles is called Huck.<\/p>\n

I will not attack your husband for not wanting to use a name: if he really dislikes the name Keller, I’d reluctantly agree that he should have more of a say in it than I should. But I do think he needs to make sure that he is being fair. “It’s a last name” is a reason that does not coincide with reality: yes, it’s a “surname name,” but it is in fact being used as a first name, as are many other surnames. And if my assumptions are correct about him wanting to make your first child a IV, and about using his surname for every single one of your children, then I believe he should WANT if at all possible to make room for your family name. If “it’s a last name” turns out to be a fake reason and the real reason is that he dislikes the name, then perhaps Keller could be used as the middle name.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Dear Swistle,<\/p>\n

Our sweet boy Peter Augustus was born 3 weeks ago.\u00a0 I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated reading through your post and the following reader comments.\u00a0 A few readers mentioned the importance of marital harmony when picking a name and that really resonated with us.<\/p>\n

Peter was a name on both of our lists – actually the only name in common – and Augustus is in honor of a family member.\u00a0 As much as I really wanted Keller for a first name, I was a bit hesitant as I was called killer a few times growing up.\u00a0 I didn’t like Peter Keller (too many -ers) and felt that Augustus matched our 4th child’s middle name (Ulysses) as both being a bit of a wild card.\u00a0 Thank you so much for your help.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0294\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Swistle, Our fifth baby and likely last baby is due at the end of March. My husband and I typically have a very hard time coming to an agreement on names and this time has proved to be no different. We have a son Charles Martin IV (nn Huck), son Isaac Scott, daughter Katherine […]<\/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-11835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-34T","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11835","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=11835"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12057,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11835\/revisions\/12057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}