Quick Poll: J.J.?

Courtney writes:

What do you think is the likelihood of a baby named Joshua Jonathan being nicknamed "JJ" even if the parents discourage it?

Let's have a poll over to the right!

Also, see the changes and new polls on the post Baby Girl or Boy Lieneck.

Baby Boy Herron

Liz writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first child (boy) on July 20th! We cannot seem to agree on names at all!!! We would like a name that is easy to spell, not weird or too trendy, but something that is not common. We do know that his middle name is going to be Knight (a family last name) and our last name is Herron...so now we are just trying to find a first name to go with the other two. Our top pick at the moment is Obadiah, and we would call him Obie for short. My absolute favorite name is Finley, and my husband loves Finn, but hates Finley. AGH!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I like Finley, too. I suspect it's headed for Girlnameville, if that is any comfort. Do you like Phineas? Phineas Knight Herron. I like Finian even better, but I wonder if it's too much N with Herron.

Obadiah is biblical-sounding like current popular choices Noah and Isaac, but less common. Other possibilities of this type: Phineas, Isaiah, Judah, Malachi, Barnaby, Abraham, and Silas.

However, with a noun-like middle name and a noun-like surname, I think I might err on the side of commonness for the first name. James Knight Herron sounds distinguished, as does Charles Knight Herron and Jonathan Knight Herron.

Baby Girl or Boy Lieneck

Lindsey writes:

We are pregnant with our second child, and we do not know the gender. We knew our daughter's gender ahead of time so didn't have much trouble deciding that go round, but for some reason, my husband and I cannot to commit to a name for either gender yet. We need help! Our daughter's name is Emery Grace and our last name sounds like Lie-neck. I tend to like names that are out of the top 200ish in popularity and have strong vowel sounds. My husband is less particular than I, likes names that are slightly more common and traditional. Still, he seems almost indifferent to most names for this baby. He has yet to find one that has really struck him, which throws me because I want him to love a name as much as I. For middle names, we are not completely decided, but for a girl, we have considered Lee (after my father) and for a boy (Thomas, which is my maiden name).

We did manage to create a short list for each gender, though we are certainly open to other suggestions:

Girls:

• Maisie (a nod to my grandmother as this was her nickname given by my grandfather)
• Olive
• Sibyl (which is my grandmother's first name and a name we both like, but I worry about the first name ending with the same consonant as the last name begins)

Boys:

• Cullen
• Finn
• August
• Ames
• (Orlando, see below)

Names I like but husband does not:
Girls: Juniper, Iris, Ruby, Paloma, Matilda, Luna
Boys: Orlando (though I'm still working on him to like this one as it is an old fav of mine and still on my own contention list), Leo, Lucian, Eamon/Amon

Let's put your lists over in two polls to the right, one for the girl names and one for the boy names, and we'll also collect suggestions in the comment section. I like Olive best for a girl, and Ames or August best for a boy.


Follow-up 07-16-2009. Lindsey writes:

I just posted a comment on your post for our baby, Baby Lieneck. It has our new favorites with a little help from your readers. I finally feel like we have a solid list of good names that I don't feel so wishy washy about.

Any feedback on our new names would be so appreciated. Now it isn't a matter of finding a name we love, but rather choosing a name we love most. And this baby is coming so soon, it feels, so we can't possibly have that much time left to change our minds again. :)

Here's the rundown, or you can check the comments section: (and our daughter's name is Emery Grace)
Boys (middle name is my maiden)
Sullivan Thomas
Elliot Thomas
Finnegan "Finn" Thomas
Solomon Thomas

Girls (middle names are all family names of our very favorite family members.)
Eve Monaghan
Juliet Janita (it's a strange middle name, I know, but it is my mother's name and I'd so love to honor her)
Greta Lee
Annalise Jane

Middle Name Challenge: Baby Boy Lachlan ___ MacLean

Jenn writes:

My husband and I are expecting our first in the middle of July. We know we're having a boy so that has solved half of our problem.

We're pretty set on the first name Lachlan as we got married in Scotland and our only common heritage is Scottish. What we're stuck on is the middle name. Options we've tossed around have all been family names:

Lachlan Alexander - Both DH and my grandfathers were Alec, and DH's middle name is Alexander
Lachlan David - after DH's godfather who is a dear friend to both of us
Lachlan Augustus - My Grandmother's middle name was August, and my Grandpa was Gustav, so it kinda covers both.

I'm currently leaning toward Lachlan Augustus, but I'm wondering if it's too stuffy? Too pretentious? Would he have to be quite a character to pull off a name like that?

Anything else that sounds fantastic with Lachlan that you can think of?

I love the idea of using the middle name slot for a family/significant name. Both Lachlan Alexander and Lachlan David sound really good to me. I particularly like David because of the sweet godfather connection: I can just SEE the godfather tearing up when he hears about it. But I love the sound of Lachlan Alexander.

If you're considering having more than one child, I wonder if you might want to save the name Augustus for a possible second son? Lachlan and Augustus is such a good sibling pair, and Gus is a adorable nickname. In fact, why don't I just go ahead and name your son and future son for you? Lachlan David MacLean and Augustus Alec MacLean, or Lachlan Alexander MacLean and Augustus David MacLean.

Oh....er, would anyone else like to add a suggestion before I fill in the birth certificate? And let's have a poll over to the right for the current three middle name candidates.

Baby Girl Kincaid

Rose writes:

I am pleased to find your blog and hope that you can help me identify a name for our baby girl that is due this month (yikes!). The hubster and I have two boys named Chase and Cole. We used the Baby Name Wizard book to help us name our second child, Cole. We knew Cole followed the same style and went well with Chase and it was a great name for us.

The issue we are experiencing this time around is that the names we (or maybe I should me) like this time around do not follow the same style as Chase and Cole and the book's suggestions are not to my liking. Here are some names that the Hubster and I like:

Hubster loves names like: Emma, Olivia, Paige, Macy and Ella
I love names like: Annika, Jillian, Charlotte, Hailey, Harper and Joella

Hubster's style: Names that are really popular right now, his names follow the same style as Chase/Cole (i.e., Paige, Macy)
My style: More traditional names, Longer syllabled names, Not in the top 10 list of most popular, meaning is of importance to me

Our middle name choice for baby girl is probably going to be Kathryn or Katherine. Our last name is Kincaid so we have to be careful our first name does not contain a lot of "k" sounds in it. If you say Kate Kincaid, it sounds bad due to all the "k" sounds.

In the end, we are hoping for some suggestions that follow these rules:
1) The name is easily pronounced
2) The name is not so uncommon that people ask her if it is a family name or where the name came from (my fear with the name Harper)
3) The name is not so incredibly popular that she is signing her projects/papers with her last name initial to distinguish herself from the other two Emmas in the classroom (i.e, "Emma K".)
4) A feminine name, not one that is androgenous since she will have two brothers (don't want her mistaken for another boy)
5) No names that are flower or nature'like (i.e., Lillian, Violet) since my name is like that
6) No more C names since we have two C names already
7) We are open to having names that are longer and can serve to have a nickname

Any helpful suggestions for baby girl names?

I think it's totally fine to have different naming styles for boy names and girl names. I think the divide between the genders reduces the potential "someone is different" problem.

Here are a few suggestions:

Juniper - I know, I know, it's nature-like AND it's probably similar to Harper in its "Where did you get that name?" potential. But it has the current-style flavor your husband likes, while also having the multi-syllable, less-common style you like. Juniper Katherine Kincaid.

Piper - Again, currently in style but not very common. I think it's ADORABLE with the middle name and surname: Piper Katherine Kincaid. "Piper Katherine" is fun to say.

Annabel - One of my own favorites. Annabel Katherine Kincaid.


I also suggest seeing if you can take a name from one list and make it into a version that the other parent likes better. His choice of Emma is too common for your tastes, but perhaps Emmeline? Emmeline Kathryn Kincaid. Or Annabella is like a combination of your choice of Annika and his choice of Ella. Annabella Kathryn Kincaid.

Baby Boy, Brother to Gracie, Cora, and Mary

Kristi writes:

Baby boy (after three girls!) will be born soon. He will be our last kid (and only son).

I like relatively uncommon names, but NOT WEIRD. I like Gage and Price (my maiden name, which we will use for a middle since I CANNOT cajole him into using it as a first). Hubby likes Connor, Trevor and possibly Cole. I think Connor and Cole are decent, but too popular. Popularity doesn't bother him. Of course, he was not one of five Kristi/Christy/Christi/Kristy/Kristie/Christie's (+ 15 more K/Christine, Kristin, K/Christina's) in every class. GAH. Trevor I just don't care for. We both liked kind of a weird one, Ridge, but think it sounds too much like 'Rich' (ok, so I take back we don't like weird for this ONE name). Still, it would be hard to subject a kid to repeatedly have to say and spell his name for the rest of his life...

Our last name begins and ends with 'N' so I want to avoid any names that begin or end with n, to 'n'ey for me. Siiiigh, so very many boys names end in n. HELP. ME.

Our girls' names are Gracie, Cora and Mary.... old-time names, but we don't seem to have that same style for a boy... ?

I assume your husband has rejected Gage, and that's VERY SAD because it seems perfect to me: modern but also old-timey. Gracie, Cora, Mary, and Gage. Nice.

I know you said the name Ridge is an exception to your usual tastes, but I can't resist looking around a little in that area, just for fun. You wouldn't like the name Ridley, would you? It's like Ridge, but less easily mistaken for another name (though there might still be some who would think it was a typo for Riley). I think it has an old-fashioned sound that goes nicely with your girl names: Gracie, Cora, Mary, and Ridley. Ranger would be another option, although because I am a '70s baby it immediately brings to mind Ranger Rick (a positive association, but, well, a raccoon). Or, okay, one more: Bridger. It has ridge in it but doesn't sound like Rich. One possible problem is that it looks feminine to me, I think because of the name Bridget.

Too weird? Here are some that are not as popular as Connor and Cole (both Top 100 names, according to Social Security), but more familiar than, say, Bridger:
Asher
Cade (similar to Gage)
Cale (almost Cole, but not)
Elias
Everett
Grant
Joel (almost Cole, but not)
Levi
Lyle
Wade (similar to Gage)


And here are a few that are Top 100 but have less of a common FEEL to them---at least where I live:
Caleb
Charlie
Eli
Isaiah
Thomas

I think my top pick would be Asher Price (Gracie, Cora, Mary, and Asher), but I'm worried about recommending it because the popularity of the name Asher is increasing so relatively rapidly. I feel like pushing the name Lyle because I think it's so sadly underused, and because Lyle Price has a really nice sound to me.

What does everyone else think? Do any of these names seem normal and yet unlikely to be duplicated in the classroom? Can you think of others?

Torment Ended! (Edited: Re-Begun)

Remember how I was all tormented about the second edition of The Baby Name Wizard only being available when the first edition was sold out? Today Laura Wattenberg announced on her blog that Amazon.com has agreed to sell only the second edition! I've already ordered mine; now I have to go camp out by the mailbox.

Edit 07-10-2009: NEVER MIND! Three people have already contacted me to let me know that their copy arrived from Amazon.com and it was the ORIGINAL edition. And that's just the ones that arrived by cheetah: I ordered mine with 2-day shipping before I wrote this post, and it's not due to arrive until Monday. I'll let you know what I get, and please continue to leave comments in the comment section if you get the wrong thing. I've found Amazon.com to be very good with returns, though of course this is still an ENORMOUS DISAPPOINTMENT. I'm going to go look at The Baby Name Wizard's post about Amazon.com shipping the new edition and see if other people are reporting similar results.