Rebecca writes:<\/p>\n
I’m 38 1\/2 weeks pregnant, and I’m hoping you can help me with some last minute indecision. My husband and I are expecting a boy (or first) any day now. Since the beginning we have been using one name, and it wasn’t until recently that both of us are starting to doubt our choice.<\/p>\n
Our last name is Anderson, and my first name is Rebecca (usually shortened to Becca) and my husband is Nathan (shortened to Nate by everyone but his parents). There were generally three things we were looking for:<\/p>\n
1. I’m Jewish and want to have something in the child’s name that is either Hebrew or reflects that fact that he’s not fully Scandinavian<\/p>\n
2. The name Rebecca is so common I want to avoid the same thing for my child. I want to avoid top 10 names if possible, but don’t want the name to sound made up.<\/p>\n
3. (Less important) We both have shortened names that our friends use – if possible I’d like to give him a name that he can use with everyone.<\/p>\n
The name we’ve been using is Eli (full name Eli Nathan Anderson). The thing that has me a little concerned is that Eli ends in a vowel and Anderson starts with one. When I say it out loud I’m concerned that his first and last name run into each other if his middle name isn’t in there. Other names we’ve considered are Jack, Charles, Elliot, and Hayden – but none of these really fit the criteria we’re looking for and I’m not in love with any of them.<\/p>\n
Any advice?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nI said “Eli Anderson” out loud a few times, and it doesn’t run together for me. For comparison, try “Elias Anderson,” which comes out “Eliah Sanderson” or just “eliasanderson.”<\/p>\nI think if you’ve both liked this one name all along, it’s unlikely that your current doubts are anything more than the very common “WAIT!! Are we SURE??” feelings that keep most of us up at night at the very end. I found it reassuring to leaf through the baby name book Just To See, and also to think to myself, “If he doesn’t look like a _____ when he’s born, we have plenty of time to rethink.” (For me, both exercises resulted in feeling better and keeping the original name. Results may vary.)<\/p>\n