{"id":14481,"date":"2020-01-03T09:02:18","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T13:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=14481"},"modified":"2020-04-30T08:13:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T12:13:20","slug":"baby-girl-sounds-like-edward-sister-to-parker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2020\/01\/03\/baby-girl-sounds-like-edward-sister-to-parker\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Girl Sounds-Like-Edward, Sister to Parker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

We are attempting to name a baby girl due this spring. We already have one daughter named Parker, and our last name sounds like Edward. We don\u2019t like the way vowel names flow with our last name (aka, no Ella\u2019s!), and we tend towards names that are a little bit unique\/rare (would love her to not have several classmates with the same name) but not too far out there. The middle name, if that matters, will be Alice (a family name), and the boy name would have used was Jacoby. We are thinking this is probably our last child, though we haven\u2019t made any final decisions yet. My husband also doesn\u2019t like names that will definitely be shortened to nicknames (such as Kathryn \u00e0 Katie). Top contenders so far for baby girl\u2019s name:<\/p>\n

-Hadley (her cousin has a cousin on the other side named Hadley\u2026 we only see that child once a year and they\u2019ll be 5 years apart, is that too close of a relationship?)
\n-Kendall (does this bring up the Kardashian family too much?)
\n-Kennedy (is this too pretentious?)
\n-Lincoln (will everyone always think she\u2019s a boy? Is it too popular of a boy\u2019s name now?)
\n-McKenna (I\u2019m not sure about the Mc)
\n-Logan (perhaps my lack of comment on this name means it should be a front runner)
\n-Zoe (might be too popular)
\n-Payton (but I\u2019m not sure I like the alliteration of Parker & Payton)
\n-Carson (we liked, but my close friend has a dog named Carson, so that seems pretty odd)<\/p>\n

We are very open to other suggestions! Please help!<\/p>\n

Many thanks,
\nSara<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

With a sister named Parker, one thing I would want to take into account is the relative usage of each name. In 2018, according to the Social Security Administration<\/a>, the name Parker was given to 1,754 new baby girls and 3,978 new baby boys: its current usage is unisex but used approximately twice as often for boys. I would want to find something similar for a sister, to avoid spinning the name Parker as a brother name.<\/p>\n

A cousin who has a cousin named Hadley does not seem remotely an issue to me. I hesitate mainly because the name Hadley is used almost exclusively for girls in the United States: 2,861 new baby girls and 37 new baby boys in 2018.<\/p>\n

Kendall does not make me think of the Kardashians, and I’ve had a previously unnoticed opportunity to test this out because my kids have a classmate named Kendall and the association didn’t occur to me. Again, my main hesitation is that the name Kendall is used much more often for girls in the United States: 1,209 new baby girls and 245 new baby boys in 2018.<\/p>\n

Kennedy doesn’t sound pretentious to me; it feels familiar as a name at this point But its usage is almost exclusively for girls: 3,924 new baby girls and 126 new baby boys in 2018.<\/p>\n

Lincoln goes the opposite way: its current usage in the United States is almost exclusively for boys: 163 new baby girls and 7,368 new baby boys in 2018. Also, with Parker I think of Linkin Park<\/a>, but that is perhaps a reach, and a dated reach at that; I suspect most people would just think “Those names seem to go together well in a way I can’t quite put a finger on.”<\/p>\n

McKenna is a good style match with Parker, though again we run into usage: in 2018, it was given to 1,254 new baby girls and there is no record of it being given to any new baby boys at all.<\/p>\n

Logan is perhaps my favorite of your choices, not only because of your comment about not having a comment, but also because its usage is boy-heavy but not exclusively boy: 1,074 new baby girls and 12,352 new baby boys in 2018. I wonder, though, if that is too popular for you: as a current Top Ten boy name, the name is likely to show up in some of her classrooms.<\/p>\n

I want to cross Zoe off your list. Not only is it used exclusively for girls in the U.S., which spins Parker as a brother name, but the spellings Zoe and Zoey combine to make it even more popular than you might think if you just checked the rankings: in 2018, there were 5,899 new baby girls named Zoey and 5,062 new baby girls named Zoe, for a total of 10,961; for comparison, there were 10,582 new baby girls named Harper (the #9 most popular girl name) and 10,376 new baby girls named Evelyn (the #10 most popular girl name).<\/p>\n

Payton does seem very cute with Parker, and I agree that’s the kind of style choice you may or may not want. Usage-wise, Payton is currently used more often for girls in the U.S.: 1,413 new baby girls and 233 new baby boys in 2018. (The spelling Peyton adds another 2,896 baby girls and 787 baby boys.)<\/p>\n

Carson’s usage skews way to the boys: 205 new baby girls and 5,227 new baby boys in 2018.<\/p>\n

I can see you like unisex\/surname names. My own preference would be for more unisex\/surname names that are used more often for boys, but not SO MUCH MORE often for boys (like Lincoln and Carson); or even used more often for girls, but not SO MUCH MORE often for girls (like Hadley and Kennedy).<\/p>\n

I think Avery is probably too popular for your tastes, but it’s the kind of name I mean: in 2018, it was given to 8,053 new baby girls and 2,098 new baby boys. If I encountered a sibling set named Parker and Avery, I would not make any assumptions and would be ready for two boys, two girls, or one of each in either direction.<\/p>\n

Riley is another option—again, probably too popular, but just as an example. It’s hard to tally it up because of all the spellings, but in 2018 there were 5,976 new baby girls and 1,455 new baby boys named Riley; 72 new baby girls and 70 new baby boys named Reilly; 1,915 new baby girls and 10 new baby boys named Ryleigh; and so on. Some spellings are used more often for girls, but overall the usage is so spread out that if I encountered siblings named Parker and Riley I wouldn’t make any early guesses.<\/p>\n

I wonder if Gracen would be a good choice. The spelling makes it relatively feminine compared to Grayson, but the alternate options Grayson\/Greyson keep it sounding unisex.<\/p>\n

Oh! What about Rowan? Used in 2018 for 1,447 new baby girls and 3,020 new baby boys (the spelling Rowen adds 186 girls and 585 boys), its usage is similar to the name Parker. Rowan Alice. Parker and Rowan. I love it.<\/p>\n

The name Beckett has usage numbers that fly directly in the face of what I’m looking for (74 new baby girls and 1,657 new baby boys in 2018), but I suggest it anyway. Beckett Alice. Parker and Beckett. I like the snappy repeated K-sounds of the two names, which seems subtler than the alliteration of Parker and Payton.<\/p>\n

Maybe Emerson? It might be too easy to nickname it to Emmie. But if not, the usage is pretty good: 1,935 new baby girls and 1,238 new baby boys in 2018 (the spelling Emersyn adds 1,886 girls and 24 boys).<\/p>\n

I’m having trouble coming up with more options, which is making me feel like abandoning the whole usage goal. It’s likely more important to find names that SOUND like they have the right usage—but of course that’s going to vary depending on part of the country and personal experience. I may be completely familiar with Logan as a girl name because of happening to know two female Logans, while someone else is saying “Someone used LOGAN for a GIRL????” because in their area no one would, or because they’re not as interested in baby names as some of us so they haven’t been keeping up.\u00a0 And when I hear “Parker and Kendall,” I don’t think “Oh, Parker is definitely a boy, then,” even though I know the usages—and in fact, the differing usages is one thing that makes me hesitate; “Parker and Logan,” with its matched usages, is more likely to make me think of brothers.<\/p>\n

Well. I seem to have gotten stuck, and this post has been sitting in my drafts for almost a week without me coming up with more ideas, so let’s turn this over to others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Dear Swistle,<\/p>\n

Thank you so much for answering our question earlier this year. After submitting but before seeing your reply, we had another conversation about names and had put Hadley, Kendall, Logan, and Lincoln in the top 4. Then, hearing my concerns about Lincoln being too boy-leaning, it was pointed out to me how popular of a name Logan is for boys right now, and we agreed to eliminate both names. (It isn\u2019t so much that I don\u2019t want a name that is too boyish, more so that I didn\u2019t want her to be one of 8 Logans in her class \u2013 which you identified n your post). Having only Hadley and Kendall left, but not being particularly sold on either, we returned to reviewing random blogs and lists of baby names. We had many \u201cnear misses\u201d with geography: we liked names like Brooklyn, Madison, Phoenix, and Raleigh but couldn\u2019t quite get on board with any one of them for various reasons. Then the name Brighton came up on a list of geography-inspired names and we both became more excited.<\/p>\n

Reading your response really put in perspective for me WHY I would be happier with a neutral name: not because I needed both names to be neutral, but because \u201cKendall and Parker\u201d seemed to imply that Parker was probably a boy, and that made me grumpy. I also came to the realization that any P name wasn\u2019t going to work \u2013 I liked the idea of Parker having her own initial.<\/p>\n

You and the commenters suggested many good names \u2013 Sawyer, Sutton, and Sloane were lovely, but my husband and I both have S-names and didn\u2019t want Parker to feel left out of the S club. Your suggestion of Avery was GREAT, we do love that name, but we have a good friend with a daughter Avery so we didn\u2019t want to use it for that reason. We also don\u2019t love the way vowel-starting names sound with our vowel-starting last name (so that crossed Emerson off the list, too). One reader suggested Tatum \u2013 such a good pick! Also, Parker\u2019s cousin\u2019s name (and they are close in age and geographic proximity). Gracen is fun, but too close to Grayson, and Parker has a boy cousin Grayson. We might be too particular with our strange rules (no S\u2019s, no vowel\u2019s, and perhaps we know too many people and can\u2019t name our kids after any of them, blah blah blah).<\/p>\n

Your suggestion of Beckett was excellent, and we nearly went with it. I think though, that having come up with Brighton on our own before reading your response and comments \u2013 and then seeing it the comments \u2013 was very validating for us. We fell in love with the name Brighton, and also how adorable it was teaching little Parker to say \u201cbaby Brighton\u201d which sounds like \u201cbaby Britty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baby Brighton was born on April 28, in the midst of this very crazy pandemic. Thank you for all of your help!<\/p>\n

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

Hi Swistle, We are attempting to name a baby girl due this spring. We already have one daughter named Parker, and our last name sounds like Edward. We don\u2019t like the way vowel names flow with our last name (aka, no Ella\u2019s!), and we tend towards names that are a little bit unique\/rare (would love […]<\/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-14481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-3Lz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14481","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=14481"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14717,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14481\/revisions\/14717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}