{"id":15782,"date":"2022-03-05T15:20:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-05T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=15782"},"modified":"2022-03-05T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T19:46:53","slug":"baby-boy-hues-brother-to-cyrus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2022\/03\/05\/baby-boy-hues-brother-to-cyrus\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Boy Hues, Brother to Cyrus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I’m expecting a second baby boy in August. I love the name Felix, but my partner thinks it is a “cat name.” I’m having trouble finding other boy names that I like as much.<\/p>\n

Our details are as follows: last name sounds like Hues, big brother is Cyrus, and if this baby had been a girl she would have been called Daphne. The middle name will likely be Francis, an honor name. I prefer two syllable names, but am open to suggestions. My partner tends to veto names that can’t be shortened into a nickname.<\/p>\n

Other names:
\nHugo (can’t use because of our last name)<\/p>\n

Jasper (I like but don’t love this name. I also have this silly idea fueled by pregnancy hormones that all of us could have initials in alphabetical order – I’m E, partner is B and brother is C so I was hoping to find a name I loved with an A, D, or F to fill in the sequence)<\/p>\n

Milo\/ Miles (my partner likes Milo a lot, but I’m lukewarm)<\/p>\n

Thank you for your help!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am immediately alerted to this sentence: “I’m having trouble finding other boy names that I like as much.” Before we suggest any name candidates, I am going to suggest a mental reset: it is entirely possible, and in fact mathematically\/logically likely, that you will NOT be able to find any names that you like as much as your top favorite name. So there is no sense comparing other names to it, or expecting them to measure up; the actual task here is to find your favorite name of all the OTHER, NON-FELIX names. If your partner does then end up coming around to Felix (and “it’s a cat name” is a pretty dated objection, and shows me that your partner might not be doing the necessary work to get caught up on current naming practices), that’ll be great news! And if not, you will have another name, a name the two of you can agree on, and maybe in time you will grow to like it as much as (or more than!) Felix.<\/p>\n

I think the alphabet thing is fun, and should be used only as a fun name-generating exercise and\/or a way to decide between two equally-loved candidates. It feels to me (though of course it only matters what it feels to YOU) as if ONLY a D-name works to satisfy this goal: the others don’t fill in any gaps, and in fact accentuate the gaps. I guess F works a little, in that then we have B&C and E&F. But it’s hard to find the motivation to make that happen. One parent and one child, and then…the other parent and the other child? And choosing an A name means you’re the only one stranded. And if you’re planning more children, it seems like this paints you into a corner. But I agree it would be fun\/satisfying if it DID work out.<\/p>\n

I don’t suppose you’d want to consider Francis as the first name? Frances has been gradually coming into style for girls, and I feel as if Francis\/Frankie\/Frank for boys is a very appealing traditional-but-not-overused option. Cyrus and Francis; Cy and Frankie. And then this opens up the possibility of using Felix as the middle name (especially if the honor name comes from your partner’s side of the family), which is a great way to salvage a name that one parent loves and the other parent vetoes. Francis Felix Hues.<\/p>\n

Because both Hugo and Milo were mentioned, I am going to mention a few more -o names, even though they don’t really have nicknames: Otto, Leo, Nico, Theo, Roscoe, Arlo, Elio, Tycho. (Is Tycho worth a lifetime of correcting people who naturally pronounce it like TIKE-ko instead of TEEK-ko?) You could use Leonardo, with the nickname Leo. Marco lets you shorten to Marc; Matteo gives you Matt\/Mattie\/Teo.<\/p>\n

Okay! Now to find some more candidates.<\/p>\n

Isaac? I don’t think it has the VIBE of Felix, but it has a nice snappy sound, and shortens to Ike or Zac. I think I like the shared long-I sound with Cyrus. Cyrus and Isaac; Cy and Ike\/Zac.<\/p>\n

Xavier? It feels classical like Cyrus, and has the X of Felix. It doesn’t really shorten to the kind of nickname someone might write on a homework paper, but I suspect a person might find themselves saying Xave\/Xavey to rhyme with Dave\/Davy. Cyrus and Xavier; Cy and Xavy.<\/p>\n

Frederick. Has that old-fashioned feeling, with some of the crackle of Felix. Cyrus and Frederick; Cy and Freddie\/Fred\/Fritz.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel. Again the crackle and the old-fashioned sound catch my eye\/ear, though that might not have anything to do with why you like Felix. Cyrus and Ezekiel; Cy and Zeke.<\/p>\n

Or Ezra for something a little shorter\/simpler. Cyrus and Ezra; Cy and Ez.<\/p>\n

Aidric. No short form that comes to mind other than Rick\/Ricky, which feels dated—but SO dated that it could be coming back. I have noted one Johnny and one Tommy and one Ernie and one Eddie and one Mickey (!) among the children in my circle, so perhaps we are heading into an era of bringing back nicknames, especially the freckle-face\/gap-tooth ones from the Baby Boomer era. Cyrus and Aidric; Cy and Ricky.<\/p>\n

Julius. This repeats the ending of Cyrus, but gives you the nickname Jules. Cyrus and Julius; Cy and Jules.<\/p>\n

Rufus. Again, a repeated ending, but I have loved this name since Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and my love for it continues on. Cyrus and Rufus; Cy and…oh. Nothing. Well, it’s borderline rhymey anyway.<\/p>\n

Another of my little lovies is Alfred. Oh gosh, I think it’s so sweet and warm—yet with full dignity, not at all cutesy or babyish. And nicknames to burn! Al, Alfie, Freddie! With your surname, he sounds like such a little warm-hearted little gentleman\/farmer! Alfred Hues, Alfie Hues! Cyrus and Alfred; Cy and Alfie.<\/p>\n

Earnest is a name I feel we could all love again if we heard it as the WORD earnest. Such a nice word! Sincere and open-hearted! Cyrus and Earnest; Cy and Ernie.<\/p>\n

Edmund. Cyrus and Edmund. Cy and Eddie.<\/p>\n

Barnaby. I mention this because to me the name Felix has a certain playful energy. Barnaby has a similar feeling to me. It’s fun to say; it’s fun to write. Cyrus and Barnaby; Cy and…hm. Not Barney, I don’t think, not yet. Barn. Barns. B. Nibby. His Nibs. I feel certain something would emerge.<\/p>\n

Abram. Cyrus and Abram; Cy and Abe.<\/p>\n

Vincent. Cyrus and Vincent; Cy and Vinnie\/Vince.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle, I’m expecting a second baby boy in August. I love the name Felix, but my partner thinks it is a “cat name.” I’m having trouble finding other boy names that I like as much. Our details are as follows: last name sounds like Hues, big brother is Cyrus, and if this baby had […]<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-46y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782","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=15782"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15787,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782\/revisions\/15787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}