Maggie writes:<\/p>\n
We are expecting our second baby boy in about 5 weeks and are still undecided on a name! Both of our sons will have our last names as a hyphenated last name. It sounds like Nay-Lean, but with an “M” for the first letter. Our first son’s name is Oscar with a middle name Meng. We chose Oscar because we both liked the name and Meng is my husband’s father’s name. My middle name is a family name and it’s important to me to continue that tradition with my sons.<\/p>\n
My main requirement for Oscar’s name was that it (or the nickname that he would actually be called) be two syllables. In my mind, this helps balance a somewhat awkward hyphenated last name. This eliminates a ton of boys names which are often shortened to one-syllable nicknames. I would like to continue this requirement for the new baby, although I find myself waivering on it a bit (or a lot) as we look for names. I’m also looking for a name that makes Oscar sound less “hipster” and more serious\/literary\/old-fashioned, rather than more hipster. I generally don’t like the trend toward surname-type boys names like Beckett or Cooper. I love 3-syllable names and my husband seems drawn to names that end in “S.” We never got too far down the road of girl’s names, but my favorite is Elsa, short for Elizabeth, which is a family name.<\/p>\n
Here are our current contenders for first names:<\/p>\n
Theodore (nn Theo): This was my first choice, until some friends of ours named their son Theo in October. My husband says it’s off the table and I might agree. I think Oscar and Theo go well together with a similar historic vibe and I also like that Theo has an “O” sound but doesn’t start with a vowel.<\/p>\n
Harry: My new (somewhat reluctant) front runner. I think Harry is cute and goes well with Oscar, but worry about the “hairy” association. Also not sure I want to name him Harry as a standalone name. We could use the family name Haymond (see below) with Harry as a nickname, but I don’t love the name Haymond. My husband likes Harrison, but I don’t love it because its a surname. Any other creative ways to get to Harry? I floated Harry as a (totally made-up) nickname for Abraham, but my husband thinks its too far-fetched.<\/p>\n
Augustus: Probably my husband’s first choice and I think the nn Gus is adorable. Husband prefers Auggie, which I like but worry it’s too vowel heavy with Oscar.<\/p>\n
Leo: This was one of my close runners up for Oscar, but I think it’s become too popular for us in the last few years.<\/p>\n
Atlas: My husband first suggested this name as a joke, but he’s become more serious about it. I think it’s both too unusual and too weighty (pun intended) for a name.<\/p>\n
Julius: My husband’s suggestion. I think it’s okay, but like Julian better.<\/p>\n
Thaddeus: My husband’s suggestion of a combination of Theodore and Atlas. Don’t love the nn Thad though. Could maybe go for Tad.<\/p>\n
For the middle name, I would like to choose something from my mom’s family. These are the options (we’re also open to any of these as a first name if we could find a more wearable nickname):<\/p>\n
John: my maternal grandfather’s name
\nHaymond: my maternal grandfather’s middle name
\nWest: my mother’s last name
\nMichael: my uncle’s name
\nClarence: my mother’s grandfather’s name
\nRudolph: my mother’s other grandfather’s name
\nWade: my mother’s uncle’s name
\nKlipfel: my grandmother’s maiden name<\/p>\nI think we need strong opinions and more suggestions! I feel like we’re no closer to a name than we were when we first found out it was a boy a few months ago. Help!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Prince Harry’s given name is Henry, and in fact the name Harry began as a nickname for Henry. Henry (Harry) Nay-Lean; Oscar and Henry\/Harry. Then if the “hairy” issue DID become a problem, you could easily fall back on Henry, or on Hank. And Henry can feel quite literary: Henry James, O. Henry. It may be too popular for you, however: it was #43 in 2012 (for comparison, the name Oscar was #177; Leo was #134).<\/p>\n
I’d add Abram. It’s not very common (#392 in 2012); it’s two syllables; and it has the great nicknames Abe and Bram. I wonder, though, if it merges with the M- of the surname.<\/p>\n
Atlas and Julius make me think of Silas. Silas Nay-Lean; Oscar and Silas.<\/p>\n
Julius and Leo make me think of Louis. Louis Nay-Lean; Oscar and Louis. I really like that one.<\/p>\n
Augustus and Atlas make me think of Angus. Angus Nay-Lean; Oscar and Angus\/Gus.<\/p>\n
Augustus and Atlas also make me think of Atticus. Atticus Nay-Lean; Oscar and Atticus.<\/p>\n
Or Douglas. Douglas Nay-Lean; Oscar and Douglas.<\/p>\n
Or Alistair. Alistair Nay-Lean; Oscar and Alistair. I’m not crazy about the matched endings, but I didn’t notice it until I was proof-reading so maybe the different number of syllables helps reduce the effect.<\/p>\n
Theo and Leo make me think of Hugo. Hugo Nay-Lean; Oscar and Hugo.<\/p>\n
I like Franklin—though it helps that I went to high school with a guy named Frank who was bright and funny and well-liked. Franklin Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin are also good associations for me. Franklin Nay-Lean; Oscar and Franklin\/Frank.<\/p>\n
I’d also add Everett. Everett Nay-Lean; Oscar and Everett.<\/p>\n
I frequently push the name John as a first name. I think you might find it a surprisingly satisfying choice: depending on where you live, it can be very uncommon in the classroom—almost startling. Johnny would be the retro nickname, or of course there’s Jack; or you could do an initials nickname with the middle name (J.W.); or you could call him by first and middle names (John West); but John on its own might be distinctive enough. John Nay-Lean; Oscar and John.<\/p>\n
I think Rudy works great as an everyday nickname for Rudolph. I still think of cute Rudy on The Cosby Show, but I doubt many of his peers would—and even Rudy Huxtable doesn’t make the name seem girlish to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maggie writes: We are expecting our second baby boy in about 5 weeks and are still undecided on a name! Both of our sons will have our last names as a hyphenated last name. It sounds like Nay-Lean, but with an “M” for the first letter. Our first son’s name is Oscar with a middle […]<\/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-8562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-2e6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562","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=8562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8563,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions\/8563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}