Lindsley writes:<\/p>\n
I am due with our 4th child in June. I have spent LOTS of time carefully and lovingly selecting each of my children’s names and this last one is no different. <\/p>\n
We have a son and two daughters and are expecting our second son. Yay for two and two! Each of the kids have been given first names that we love and thought to be less than common and middle names that honor a family member that we love. :) . My name is Lindsley and my husband is Dole-not too common.<\/p>\n
At the time we named our oldest, we had no idea how popular Braeden was or would become. However, we adore our Braeden Michael and his name suits him.<\/p>\n
As for the girls, we have Ellery Kate and Holland Ray.<\/p>\n
This little boy’s middle name is going to be Mason, my mom’s maiden name (We are running out of family names. I stipulate that the family name can’t just come from far back on the tree. I enjoy having a personal connection to the person we honor). I also seem to be set on a singular syllable name this time around and the front runner is Grey. Grey Mason Gr****ik. So this name is an alliteration with the Gr Gr sounds. I think it sounds strong. I am wanting some confirmation that it is in fact a strong sounding name.<\/p>\n
Initially I had hesitation with Grey Mason. I do not know if it flows as well as I think my other first and middle name combinations do (for the other kids). I tend to use the kids first and middle names all the time (not just when they are in trouble).<\/p>\n
Other names that have graced my list a some point or another?<\/p>\n
Bowen (ruled out for the similarity to Braeden)
Brooks (what is it with me and the B names?)
Latham (doesn’t lend to an obvious nickname)
Pace
Cort
Reeve
Jensen (learned it was more popular than I thought)<\/p>\nI am in love with the notion of a sweet little baby Grey. It conjures up thoughts of soft, sweetness as a baby, mischievous fun as a boy, and strength and sophistication as a man.<\/p>\n
So, Braeden, Ellery Holland & Grey?? :)<\/p>\n
Thanks, Swistle!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I think it’s great. Here are some of the things I like about it:<\/p>\n
1. The way it sounds in the line-up of sibling names: 2-3-2-1. Very nice. If you were inclined to write rhyming stories about them, you would be all set. “Braeden, Ellery, Holland, and Grey \/ Went outside on a sunny day.”<\/p>\n
2. The way the two girls have a double-L in common, and the two boys have a strong long-A sound in common.<\/p>\n
3. They way you’ve spelled it. Gray makes me think of Gary and of gravy; Grey makes me think of cozy flannel and distinguished handsome men—a very pleasing combination.<\/p>\n
Does Grey Gr____ik sound good without Mason in between? People are usually known by first and last only, and a middle name can act as a false bridge, tying two names together that won’t work without it. Color names in particular sometimes make the first\/last name combination sound like the name of a rare bird.<\/p>\n
If you call the kids by first-middles, Grey Mason is not quite as good as, say, Braeden Michael. But it’s not bad, either: it doesn’t blend to make an undesirable sound or girl’s name or anything. And I think loving the first name and having a personal family connection to the middle name are more important in the long run.<\/p>\n
It sounds to me like the baby is named and that you’re having normal last-minute uncertainties before committing. But if it’s fun to think about it more, I also like Reeve from your list. That’s my favorite if the middle name is set: Pace Mason and Latham Mason and Jensen Mason don’t sound as good to me.<\/p>\n
I think of Jensen as a surname name that tips more feminine (even though it’s currently used more often for boys), because of the potential Jen\/Jenny nickname—very similar to Holland (Holly) and Ellery (Ellie). A similar name that tips more masculine is Lawson. Not so good with Mason, though.<\/p>\n
Or Lennox, which is better with Mason. We’ve heard that one mentioned on the blog a couple of times recently for girls, but it’s still mostly used for boys (22 girls and 214 boys in 2010, according to the Social Security Administration; I’m looking forward to the 2011 data coming out next month).<\/p>\n
Or Redford, also nice with Mason.<\/p>\n
If you like Bowen, I wonder if you’d like Rohan? Again, not great with Mason.<\/p>\n
Pace makes me think of Tyce. Tyce Mason. I can’t tell if that works or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lindsley writes: I am due with our 4th child in June. I have spent LOTS of time carefully and lovingly selecting each of my children’s names and this last one is no different. We have a son and two daughters and are expecting our second son. Yay for two and two! Each of the kids […]<\/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-6226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-1Cq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6226","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=6226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}