Adrienne writes:<\/p>\n
Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n
We really need some help! Our second baby boy is due July 3rd, and we have no idea what his name is! Our last name is H0ward, and older brother is named Justice.<\/p>\n
We obviously value the meaning of a name, given our choice for our first son. We love his name, and many others do as well. However we didn’t think ahead very well to finding something to “match” it. I say “match” in quotes because we don’t really want anything too matchy… for example, I don’t think we’d want to use another virtue name (what other options are there for boys that aren’t too unusual?), and I don’t love the idea of another J name, although I’m not completely opposed. At the same time as not wanting another name that is too matchy, I also don’t want something that will clash in style too much. My husband’s take on it is that each child gets their own name and it doesn’t matter too much how it fits with sibling names. I see his point but still would like other opinions on this.<\/p>\n
Here are some ideas we’ve thrown around – but really we don’t like any of these enough to decide on them at this point.<\/p>\n
Luke
\nNoah
\nJames (so much more common than Justice, but there is something about it…. but would a 3rd child have to be a J too?)
\nJackson
\nGabriel
\nSamuel (but don’t like the nicknames Sam or Sammy)
\nSilas (I love, but husband says no due to a negative association)
\nEverett (like the ‘ev’ sound, but don’t love the meaning)<\/p>\nIf he had been a girl, some ideas we had were:<\/p>\n
Evelyn (I love this one but realize it’s a completely different style)
\nEve
\nEva
\nElise
\nKira
\nJuliet
\nVictoria
\nVivian<\/p>\nAs I said above, we aren’t set on any of these boy names… they all feel a bit ‘blah’ and we are hoping to come across the right name soon! We’d love to hear some new ideas and perspective from you and your readers. I think our main criteria are: not super common, but not super unusual or hard to pronounce, works reasonably well with Justice… and that’s about it! We are open. We are unsure if we will have a 3rd. Oh, and most likely his middle name will be Gordon, after my father. If we find a first name we love and it doesn’t flow too well with the middle name, we aren’t too worried about that since we so rarely use the middle name, and the honor aspect is more important than the flow. (Unless there were a big glaring issue).<\/p>\n
Thanks in advance for your help!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
I too find virtue\/word names a unique challenge in sibling groups: another virtue or word name feels immediately Very Themey, but anything else seems to lack a certain punch.<\/p>\n
What I generally look for is the “certain punch”—but without the virtue\/word. If the virtue\/word name has a whimsical feeling, I try to find something with whimsy; if it has a sweet gentle feeling, I try to find something with sweetness and gentleness. The name Justice, I think, has strength and righteousness, so I would look for another name that has a similar sound.<\/p>\n
My mind immediately turns to biblical names. I think there are three basic batches of biblical names:<\/p>\n
1. So common they don’t necessarily sound like biblical names (James, John, Andrew, Matthew)<\/p>\n
2. Names that one generation ago would have been considered shockingly biblical, but now they sound hip (Noah, Ezra, Judah, Elijah)<\/p>\n
3. Names that still haven’t gone mainstream (Azriel, Hillel, Hosea, Jamin, Balthazar)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’d be looking mostly in the second category, and I’d be leaning toward the more recent additions such as Ezekiel and Malachi, rather than the ones that have made it to the Top 10 such as Noah. (I’m pulling candidates right from the Biblical section of The Baby Name Wizard<\/a>, without looking up the associated stories; I’d look up the stories before using any of them. I see Jezebel on the list, is what I’m saying.)<\/p>\n
Justice and Abel (Abe)
\nJustice and Abram (Abe)
\nJustice and Barnaby
\nJustice and Boaz (Bo)
\nJustice and Cyrus (Cy)
\nJustice and Elijah (Eli) (this one is almost Top 10, but I still like it here)
\nJustice and Ezekiel (Zeke)
\nJustice and Ezra
\nJustice and Gabriel (Gabe)
\nJustice and Gideon
\nJustice and Isaiah
\nJustice and Jeremiah
\nJustice and Judah (Jude)
\nJustice and Levi
\nJustice and Malachi (Mal)
\nJustice and Reuben<\/p>\nInstead of James, I might consider Jabez. It’s a gutsy choice: only 44 baby boys were given the name in 2011. But it’s quite similar in sound to James and Gabe and Jason, as well as to recent biblical choices such as Ezra. Jay or Jabe would work as nicknames.<\/p>\n
Solomon is one of the biblical names I wish would get more common, but to me Solomon is SO associated with justice (the case of two women both claiming to be the mother of the same baby), the connection to Justice feels too strong.<\/p>\n
If you use another J name, I don’t think that has to mean using a J name for a third child as well. It does add some pressure, however; I’d suggest ignoring such pressure, but only you know how easily you could do that.<\/p>\n
If you did want to go with another virtue\/attribute name, here are a few for boys (and we did a post<\/a> on the subject that might also be a good source):<\/p>\n
Able
\nAugust
\nEarnest
\nLoyal
\nMaverick
\nMerit
\nNoble
\nSterling
\nWorth<\/p>\nHey, how about Victor? I don’t usually think of that as a word name, but it’s a good one—and I see Victoria on your girl name list. This is a situation where one sibling’s name spins the other: as soon as it’s next to Justice, I see it as another noun. Victor H0ward; Justice and Victor.<\/p>\n