Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Baby Naming Issue: Should We Avoid Duplicating Initials?

Christa writes:
My husband and I are expecting our second baby, it's due in about 2 weeks. We think we have our names picked out, but I am afraid that we have run into a problem. Our first baby girl, Addison Jane, is 2 years old. We both love her name and agreed on it right away. The names we picked for baby number 2 are Liam James or Alexis Ann. We would most likely use Lexi/Lexie as an occasional nic-name until she was old enough to choose what she wanted to be called. We are planning on having a third, and maybe fourth child, and the other boy name we love is Lucas (no middle name yet). That would leave us with a possible 2 A-named girls and 2 L-named boys. And it is totally a coincidence, those are just the names we love.

A little history: Jane is my middle name as well as both of my grandmother's first names, James is my husband and both of our father's middle names, and Ann is both of our mother's middle names. My name starts with a C, my husband's name begins with an S, and our last name begins with a K, ends with an S and is one syllable. His side of the family has a tradition of naming the first boy S-name James K___s. We do not like any S names, so far, but you might come up with one we didn't see, and we would consider it for a second boy. My husband originally picked the name Liam and is in love with it, so we are tied to that.

My husband can be a little picky, he seems to relate certain names with certain things. Names that are out are: Mark, Michael, Patrick, Jennifer, Claire, Jessica, and Katherine. I know that all the names we like are pretty popular, but to be honest, we have liked those names for years - even since before we were married. I would like to think we go for trendy first names with a classic middle name. And we have picked the middle names we did for family connections, so first names are all for 'fun'.

I like Jocelyn, he doesn't. I like Ellen (Elle/Ellie for short - I know, not too trendy), he hates it. Other that what we have, I'm not sure what he likes.

My question is: Should we look for other names to replace Alexis and Lucas (Luke)? Should we be worried about the possibilities? Could you help with possible suggestions?? It's hard to look for more names when we already love the ones we have picked out.

Thanks for your help!


If you think you might want more than four children, you could briefly consider whether you'd feel "stuck with" using A/L names for additional children---but on the other hand, you might very well have one girl and three boys, or four girls, or some other combination that doesn't lead to two A girls and two L boys anyway.

I've found, too, that with each pregnancy, my name list changes. We had a girl name picked out for our first baby (a boy), but we didn't use that girl name when we had our girl years later. We had two boy names picked out when I was expecting the twins (a girl and a boy), but we didn't use the unused boy name when we had another boy two years later. It's possible that some of the A/L names you've chosen now won't be candidates once those future babies actually arrive on the scene.

I have given this some mulling, and here is what I think: use the names you love. I think you're smart to consider the issue ahead of time so you don't get backed into a corner, but I don't think you're going to get backed into a corner.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Baby Girl ___ Elizabeth/Kate E.

Heather writes:
Throughout our 7 year marriage, my husband and I have had a fairly easy time agreeing and compromising and negotiating on just about everything - until we started trying to name our baby girl. We have discovered that we are world's apart on girl names - names I like, he hates and vice versa.

After months of debate, reading and re-reading of the Baby Name Wizard book, (which I have recommended now to about 10 different people!) we have finally agreed on the following names as "potentials". Even getting this many that we both would consider is a huge step.

Now about our family -

We have a 21 month old named Alex Aiden. We like a lot of the suggested sister names from the BNW for Alex, Alexander, Alec, etc.

Our last name is two syllables and starts with E. A lot of names sound sing-songy with it, or they kind of run together.

We are planning on using Elizabeth as a middle name because it's all over our family tree. The only exception might be if we name her Emily - then we were thinking about using Kate as a middle name.

We are not that concerned about popularity of the name (obviously, since Emily is a contender).

We are totally open to other suggestions.

So here is our hard fought list:
analise
anna
cara
emily
katelyn (kate for short)
lauren
madilyn (maddie for short)
molly
sarah

We'd love some help and an impartial opinion! Thanks!


Good list! Lots to work with!

The only change I suggest is the spelling of Analise: because of the word spelled by the first four letters, I recommend spelling with two Ns instead: Annalise. (My favorite spelling of the name is Anneliese---but that's also the hardest one to spell, and in fact I had to look it up just now to make sure I had it right.)

Let's look at each name with your son's name, and we can also check out the initials of each name (using Elizabeth as the middle name with all choices except Emily, for which you'd use Kate).

Alex and Annalise (AEE)
Alex and Anna (AEE)
Alex and Cara (CEE)
Alex and Emily (EKE)
Alex and Katelyn/Kate (KEE)
Alex and Lauren (LEE)
Alex and Madilyn/Maddie (MEE)
Alex and Molly (MEE)
Alex and Sarah (SEE)

My favorites from the list are Cara Elizabeth and Emily Kate, although I also think it's super-cute the way Lauren gives use the initials (and potential nickname) LEE. Let's take a poll [poll closed; see below] to see what the rest of you think!

[Poll results:
Annalise Elizabeth: 16 votes, roughly 10%
Anna Elizabeth: 13 votes, roughly 8%
Cara Elizabeth: 34 votes, roughly 21%
Emily Kate: 24 votes, roughly 15%
Katelyn Elizabeth: 10 votes, roughly 6%
Lauren Elizabeth: 25 votes, roughly 16%
Madilyn Elizabeth: 6 votes, roughly 4%
Molly Elizabeth: 23 votes, roughly 14%
Sarah Elizabeth: 8 votes, roughly 5%]


[Update!
Heather writes:
Just wanted to let you know...

Emily Kate arrived (2 weeks early!) last night [07-15-2008] at 10:43!

Thanks to you and everyone for the comments!


Congratulations!]

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Celebrity Baby Names: Jolie-Pitt Twins

Well, OBV we have to talk about the new baby twins of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. What do you think of the names? The boy is Knox Leon, and the girl is Vivienne Marcheline.

Boy names in their family: Maddox, Pax, and Knox.
Girl names in their family: Zahara, Shiloh, and Vivienne.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Baby Name to Discuss: Moses

Rachel writes:
I have two kiddos; Lucy Allison and Asher Scott. Seriously, I thought we were being all original when we gave them those names. Sad, no? At least they're classics.

So, we are thinking about having a third and I must know...

Is naming a child Moses a bad idea?


I remember when I was in high school, and heard for the first time of a baby being named Noah. I was SO SURPRISED. This is not the way I would have put it at the time, but my reaction was basically "OMG, religious much??" Like, why not just name him Peace That Passeth Understanding Smith and be done with it?

And of course now a scant twenty ten (*cough*) years later, Noah is a perfectly ordinary name, used by even completely non-religious people, and there were two Noahs in my son's class last year. The names Isaac and Isaiah and Elijah are similar: formerly they would have been used only by particularly religious families, and now they are used by anyone.

I have a feeling Moses will be the same way. Right NOW it sounds a little...celebrity, because of Gwyneth Paltrow---but I suspect that will wear off and then we will have another name to add to the boy category. And thank goodness, because that category is MIGHTY SKIMPY.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Baby Girl ___ K. Tsai

Michelle writes:
hello! a friend of mine sent me a link to your blog knowing that we're still trying to figure out a name for baby #3. we'd love your help! we found out that we're having a girl and can't seem to settle on something we both like. i'm due in three weeks!

our other children's names are michael and allison. we call them mikey and allie. the "t" is silent in our last name, and is pronounced "sigh". so here's where we're at:

* my husband's top pick is lauren kara tsai. i like it too, EXCEPT that lauren doesn't really shorten into a nickname (besides laurie, which i don't think we'd use since saying it and spelling it wouldn't be any shorter than lauren itself), and i would like to have a cute nickname for this baby since both her siblings go by nicknames. the other reason i'm not thrilled about lauren is because her siblings (ages 4 and 2) will be calling her "warren" since their "l's" sound like "w's".
* we'd like to have the middle name start with a "k" since both her siblings have "k" middle names. just something to link them all together. i do like cara, but kara looks a little weird to me. so we're also stuck on middle names as well.
* prefer not to have the name begin with a P, M, or A since those already in our family and we'd like each child to have their own letter.
* we'd like a clearly girl's name that is easy to pronounce and is spelled traditionally. this is because my husband has a name he really hated growing up and wants to spare his children the angst, and also because our last name is a little tricky-- no need to make it even more complicated for the poor kid.
* cannot begin with an "s" since something like "sophie tsai" sounds too cutesy and/or silly.
* husband doesn't like names that sound too "harsh".
* i tend to like "j" names, but haven't found one that isn't too common-- like jennifer or jessica.

some names we've tossed around:

* emily
* olivia (husband doesn't like)
* cara
* julie

names we can't use due to close friends or family already using them:

* joanna
* jenna
* naomi
* megan
* kaitlyn
* kayla


looking forward to hearing your suggestions! thanks!


My friend Mairzy and I both like these kinds of names, so I immediately called her in on it. Mairzy writes:
As fun as the exotic names are, sometimes it's nice to slip back into comfortable basic names. I enjoyed hanging out with Allison and Lauren this time around.

My top choice would be your husband's: Lauren is a good name. I have a sister named Lauren, and we (the family) call her La. It's not a nickname that would carry a girl through her life, but it is short and cute. I don't know if "Wa" is any improvement over "Warren," but at least they grow out of it.

I, too, love J names. Here are a few others to consider:

* Jillian (or Gillian)
* Julianna
* Jessie
* Janae
* Jane

For middle names, K is a versatile letter. Kate is pretty much the denim middle name: it goes with everything. Kayla is another easily-matched one. Other K possibilities:

* Kathleen
* Kay (nice and short, although still rather middle-aged in style)
* Kelly
* Kimberly? If you used a short first name like Jane?

My favorite choice would be Lauren Kate. Best wishes on #3!


Thanks, Mairzy! And I agree: Lauren is a great choice. It's true that Laurie isn't shorter than Lauren, but a lot of nicknames are like that: Jimmy for James, Annie for Ann, etc. And it's great with the sibling names. And the "Warren" thing will be short-lived.

I love the name Emily even more. Love love love. It's been high on my girl list with every pregnancy. Michael, Allison, and Emily. Mikey, Allie, and Emmie. Emily Kay Tsai. Love.

For J names, how about Jacqueline? Jacqueline Kay Tsai. Michael, Allison, and Jacqueline. Mikey, Allie, Jackie.

And I like Jillian. Jillian Kay Tsai. Michael, Allison, and Jillian. Mikey, Allie, Jill.

Or Josephine. Josephine Kay Tsai. Michael, Allison, and Josephine. Mikey, Allie, and Josie.

My top two choices (tied) are Emily and Jillian.

Let's take a vote! Poll over to the right! [poll closed; see below] (I like Cara and Julie, but am leaving them off because they don't have nicknames; I'm leaving Olivia off because one parent doesn't like it.)


[Poll results:
Lauren/Laurie: 23 votes, roughly 14%
Emily/Emmie: 72 votes, roughly 43%
Jacqueline/Jackie: 7 votes, roughly 4%
Jillian/Jill: 39 votes, roughly 23%
Josephine/Josie: 27 votes, roughly 16%]

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Celebrity Baby Names: Sunday Rose Kidman Urban

Let's discuss the baby name Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban chose: Sunday Urban.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Baby Girl G., Sister to Lance

Sarah writes:
I need baby name help and I know that you are an expert so I would love some ideas. Our surname is one syllable and starts with G. We are expecting a baby girl in August and we already have a 2 year old boy- Lance Edward (initials spell LEG and though he has the same first and middle name of Lance Armstrong, he isn't named after him). Lance is named after Lance Mountain my husband's favorite skateboarder and Edward is my grandfather's name.

I have consulted the Baby Name Wizard book for sibling names that go with Lance, but I didn't really like their suggestions. My maiden name is Hannah which I originally wanted to use but the husband vetoed it. Other family names my husband didn't like, but I did were Emma and Anna. We each kind of have names we like, but aren't 100% sold on them and are open to any and all suggestions. I like the name Lily (lance and lily, it sounds nice together, and I don't mind the names being kind of nursery rhyme like- like jack and jill) and he likes Olivia (i do like olivia, but I don't know if I am ready to commit to it). I have been trying to find middle names that went with either name to see if I would prefer one name over the other, but no such luck.

I worry that both Olivia and Lily are too common of names and I don't want our daughter to be like me growing up, Sarah was really popular growing up and I hated being one of many Sarah's in school because unlike all my other friends I was always known as Sarah Hannah and not just Sarah and also my husband's name Jeff was fairly common and what is even weirder and off topic is how many couples we have met that are Jeff and Sarah, it is kind of freaky! Anyways, I like Olivia and Lily, but I am open to all suggestions or if that is too much to ask for I will be happy with middle names for Lilly or Olivia.

Thank you so much for your time and for your consideration.


Okay! So you want to avoid overly-common. I'm going to open a new browser window for The Social Security Administration's Baby Name site, because that's my favorite tool for seeing which names are likely to get more common, and which are likely to get less common.

The name Olivia is in the Top Ten right now, and has been since 2001. The name Lily is less common (#27 in 2007) but on the rise:

1990: #583
1995: #319
2000: #124
2005: #39


As you know, I'm not opposed to common names. But I also understand wanting to avoid them. Here's the problem: it looks to me as if you LIKE common names, as I do. Here are the names you and/or your husband like, with their 2007 popularity rankings:

Olivia: #7
Lily: #27
Hannah: #9
Emma: #3
Anna: #25

Lily and Anna look like your best bets for "no repeats in the classroom," although of course there are always flukes: in Rob's class last year there were two Noahs, a name ranked #24 the year Rob (and those Noahs) were born---and yet there were NOT two Jacobs (#1 that year), Michaels (#2 that year) or in fact two of any other more-popular name.

If you want something SIMILAR to the names on your list but less common, how about:

Annabel (#798) (Annabelle is #196)
Clara (#228)
Eliza (#334)
Fiona (#352)
Flora (not in the Top 1000)
Georgia (#296)
Josephine (#224)
Lena (#453)
Violet (#231)

A caution: these names are rising in popularity. The names on your list fall into The Baby Name Wizard's "Antique Charm" category, and that's where most of the names from that list of suggestions fall, too. That style of name is popular right now, and it's hard to tell which name will be the next Isabella (from #895 in 1990 to #2 in 2007) or Ava (from #953 in 1990 to #4 in 2007).

Let's look at the names with the sibling name (I won't include the names from your list that either you or your husband have rejected):

Lance and Lily
Lance and Olivia
Lance and Annabel
Lance and Clara
Lance and Eliza
Lance and Fiona
Lance and Flora
Lance and Georgia
Lance and Josephine
Lance and Lena
Lance and Violet

I agree with you about Lance and Lily together: I think it's sweet without being sing-songy. The names both start with L, but after that they're completely different and so they avoid matchiness. If you plan on having more children, will this make you feel trapped into using only L names? If not, then I think Lance and Lily is great.

I also like Lance with Clara, and with Eliza, and with Fiona, and with Lena. I would choose a favorite, but I can't: I think Lily, Clara, Eliza, Fiona, and Lena are ALL great.

Let's vote! The poll is over to the right. [poll closed; see below]


[Poll results:
Lily: 58 votes, roughly 35%
Olivia: 19 votes, roughly 11%
Clara: 33 votes, roughly 20%
Eliza: 26 votes, roughly 15%
Fiona: 16 votes, roughly 10%
Lena: 16 votes, roughly 10%]