The Baby Name Wizard

Lauren, I guess that would make LOWRY decidedly out!

Miriam, I met a little Dashiell/Dash today. 15 months old, and adorable! His parents weren't terribly friendly though, and had a gruff know-it-all air about them.

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http://youcantcallitit.com/

I just moved out of New York City. Although we lived in a hipster-ish neighborhood (lots of baby Lucys and Dashiells and Junes) one of the adjoining neighborhoods was heavily Italian. Every other little boy we met there was Anthony. Before NYC I had never met an Anthony in my life.

Sue-I think Brady flows the best with your other ds's names.

Speaking of vocation-appropriate names, I noticed some sport-appropriate surnames in the Olympics recently. For example:

Keith Beavers - Canadian swimmer
Dylan Armstrong - shotput
Usain Bolt - sprinter

My SO thinks Britney Spears should take up javelin. ;)

Rjoy-Congrats on Oliver Dash for your cat! Cute name.
Sarah S-Ralph is definitely NMS. I agree with the suggestions of Spencer;Oliver; Cole; Everett; Felix; Griffin; Mitchell; Owen; Miles.
Kaitlyn-Sorry to sadden you but that's the great thing about this board "to each their own" and no one has to apologize for liking or disliking any names. It is what it is.
Keren-Fletcher sounds like a rabbits name. (My apologies to any Fletchers out there but just my thoughts.) Shepard reminds me of Cybil Shepard.
Sue-I will post separately with ideas for you. I love the name Logan Christopher.
**Baby name alert**
The post on Anthony made me remember that my DH's cousin just had a baby-Raymond Anthony (family names-both of them) I don't know what his nn will be because dad is Ray and brother is Ray J(pronunced Ray JAY) not junior.

I love the suggestion for Rachel of Miller -- very cool.

I recently found out acquaintances of mine from college named their son Mossimo -- very ethnic! The parents' names are normal run-of-the-mill names, though their ln is very Italian.

RE: Anthony

I grew up with several Anthonys, all either African-American, Filipino-American, or Mexican-American. Most went by the full name, some by Tony.

re: Anthony

all of the Anthonys I grew up with were Italian, all the ones I know now are African American.

All the Raymonds I know are Af/Am as well, actually.

Re: Anthony, from the SSA site, the states with Anthony in the top 5 names:

Arizona - #4
California - #2
Connecticut - #5
DC - #5
Florida - #1
Illinois - #2
New Jersey - #3
Nevada - #1
New York - #3
Rhode Island - #2

AZ, CA, FL, NV would account for those who proposed Anthony being used more often among those of Hispanic descent.

CT, NJ, NY & RI would account for those, including myself (from NJ originally), who proposed Anthony being used more often among those of Italian descent.

I'm not readily familiar with the demographics of Illinois & DC (I imagine DC is quite diverse), so those are the only 2 I'm not as sure about.

Sue,
I'm not familiar with the term Bell Tone name. What does that mean?

Of your 3 choices, I think that Brady is the best fit with the older boys, and with the middle name William.

Funny, several other 5-letter B & Br names came to mind as fitting with big brothers Tyler & Logan as well: Brett, Bryce & Blake, and all sound good with mn William.

Other names that might work are Mason, Shane & Corey.

I think that Dylan & Wyatt would fit too, but they don't flow too well with William.

Good luck!

Sue-
Of the choices you suggested I like Avery William best. It seems like your instinct is to pick names that end in different letters ( a good way to avoid being too matchy I think).
Here are a few other suggestions, not ending in r or n:
Caleb William
Reid William
Zachary William
Jared William
Miles William

I recently spent a month in Ireland and our delghtful guide/driver is named Anthony Woods-nn Tony. It is not unusual there.And I have certainly heard of English Anthonys. Yes, the Italian connection springs to mind first, but it is a name that crosses ethnicity.

Growing up in rustbelt Pennsylvania, I knew a family with sons named Anthony and.... Tony (just Tony). Polish surname. I think they may have been a blended family--so the boys may not have been named by the same parents--still, reflected the ubiquity of the name.

I think the DC and Illinois Anthonys may frequently be African-American--I do remember having Af-Am students named Anthony, Antonio, Antoine, DeAntoine, etc.

The version I like best is the stripped down Anton--knew a nice kid in college with that name, always liked it since then.

Anton makes me think of Olympian (speed skater) Apolo Anton Ohno. It's my only association with the name, though not a bad one at all.

On Juniper- I have worked with a women named Juniper. I thought it odd at first since it was a few years ago. It grew on me and after time it was just her name. I think it will be fine on a grown women.
By the way...she was not hippie- ish and I did not get the vibe from the name the first time I heard it. I really like Juniper Frances. Frances balances out any hippie implications and gives it a sophisticated feel.

Another Amy--

Um, my (former) husband is named Raymond, his father was named Raymond, my son's middle name is Raymond, and none of them is African-American. I know quite a few Raymonds, some I grew up with, and none is African-American. I lived and taught for 25 years in a deep south African-American majority city, and I ran across few, if any, African-American Raymonds. The mayor of New Orleans is Clarence Ray Nagin, Ray, not Raymond.

So, in what part of the country have you found Raymond to be a predominantly (exclusively?) African-American name?

EllenK,

Have you thought of the name Maddox, nickname Max? There's also the name Maksim, nickname Maks, a la the Dancing with the Stars professional. Of course, it helps if you are Russian to pull off that one.

I think a lot of people will scratch their heads at Mason nn Max.

In case you didn't know, Shepherd is the name of one of Jerry Seinfeld's kids.

Hey Lauren,
I don't know if you're searching for a new college/professional name or not, but what about Lux? It's got that newly popular x ending and seems intriguing/sophisticated. Just my thoughts. :)

Mossimo, as in Massimo? I suppose it avoids the hard American 'a', but it still isn't the same as the Italian pronunciation, and that 'o' will be no help in Italy at all, should he visit. I would have just stuck with the original, or gone with something like Max or Maxim. I know someone christened Alessandro but who goes by Alex, it's a neat solution for a bilingual family.

By the way, I have no idea how I managed to quadruple-post before - very sorry!

If you like Theodore but it makes you think of the Chipmunks, how about Thaddeus as a substitute, with Thad as a nn? (or Ted.)

Re: Anthony, most of the little boys I know with this name now are either Hispanic or Italian. That said, it was also my grandfather's name and he was entirely Dutch. I quite like Anthony, despite its apparent popularity, and would certainly use it if you aren't surrounded by little Anthonys. I also like Anton, which was my great-grandfather's name (on the other side of my family).

Sue -- I like Brady best of the names you've suggested. I knew a Brady growing up, and while it's NMS, it's a nice, solid name that complements your other boys' names.

Sarah S -- Theodore (nn Theo) and Calvin (nn Cal) sound great together!

Rachel -- I also like the suggestion of Miller as a way to honor Millie.

New baby -- Lindsay Marie -- born to a co-worker's wife. Big sister is Kaitlyn (don't know the mn).

Huh, I know a "Kaitlyn and Lindsay" set of sisters too. Seems like a combo you see a lot, like "Chloe and Sophia" (we know two sister sets with those names).

What do you all think about the "o" trend in boy's names? I think it is peeking in at the edge of fashion and will pick up in 4-5 years.

Lately I have been only hearing these names around the types who try to be ahead of the trends (yeah, the ones with 10 year olds named Henry and 12 year olds named Isabella).

Examples:

Jake (age 14) now got a new brother with a new father named Matteo.

Other names that have been popping up:

Marco, Nico, Milo, Otto, Leo, etc..

Miriam--I wonder if its a branch of the Ethel Mae postulate? I know 5 young Raymonds (college aged) at my mid-Atlantic/southern uni and all are af/am. After talking to my mom, there are a bunch of Raymonds in my extended midwestern (general American blend) family but all are at least 2 generations older than the students I know.

I don't think I know any Raymonds my age (late 30s).

OT--sibling set at daycare this a.m.: Callum & Fiona.

Sarah S. - Calvin and Thaddeus (as suggested by Amy3) were the names of best friends with whom I went to elementary school. They fit together quite well - One was tall the other short; one was goofy the other more serious - but they were best of friends. Not a bad thing when it comes to brothers, I imagine.

I meant to attribute the suggestion of Thaddeus to Geo, in the previous post. Sorry!

Sue, of your list I would definitely choose Brady. Avery is (in my area) crossing over and I hate andro names. MHO. DOn't feel confined to Bell Tones just bc your other boys are. There are lots of names that go well with Tyler and Logan that are not BT. I have a friend with a Logan, Tanner, Tyler and Curtis.
Of the other suggestions made I am definitely drawn to the ones without an L. Zachary, Reid and Wyatt.

I love Juniper Frances.

I know 2 Raymond's. 65 and 25, Caucasion as they come.

Re: Calvin's brother. One Calvin I know has brothers Neil, Russell, and Aaron. The other has no brothers.
I like Theodore, Arthur and Peter. Ralph is so not nms that I can not give an honest evaluation.

New baby: former h.s. classmate of mine had a little girl this past week, Sam Katherine. They often refer to her as Sam Kat. Perhaps the first name is ala Tiger Woods' daughter who is also simply Sam.

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Re: Raymond, after much thought, the only Raymonds I can think of knowing personally are either Italian or African American as well. I guess it has to do with where I grew up!

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I really like Calvin & Theodore (Cal & Theo). I think that Geo's suggestion of Thaddeus is a good one too. Of the 2, I prefer the name Thaddeus, but I think that Calvin & Theodore sound better together.

I don't know a lot of Calvins (only 1 little Calvin, about 4 years old, an only child), but of the older Calvins I am familiar with, the only one whose sibling name I know is Randal or Randall (not sure of the spelling). I prefer some of the other R-name suggestions to Randall, though, such as Roland & Russell.

Thank you to all those who replied to my post. The consensus seems to be Brady William. Jesssica - I agree with you about Avery. To be honest with you all Avery was my first choice and I thought we were settled on it until recently. It's becoming more and more apparent that Avery is now predominantly a “girls” name. This is so disconcerting to me because I’ve ALWAYS thought of Avery as a boy’s name (in fact, I almost named my 10 yr old Avery). I don’t want my son to be teased or ridiculed for having a “girls” name, nonetheless I LOVE the name Avery. For that reason only am I now starting to "name shop" again (with only 6 weeks to go). Brady William is growing on me though. My husband is okay with either name I decide on (no pressure on me:).

To those who replied….Wyatt is a great name but our last name is Wyant. I think Wyatt Wyant is ridiculous. Also to Jessica and Aybee -- I love the name Reid. It hadn't caught my eye before - but now I like the sound of it.

Cathy - My son Tyler LOVES the name Blake - unfortunately my husband is replused by it. I don't know why - I think it's really cute.
My son Tyler HATES all three of the names I suggested. That makes it hard because we are buddies.

Thanks again to Amy 3, Aybee, Cathy and Jessica for your thoughts.
Zoerhenne- I look forward to your comments!

Thanks again - Sue

My great-grandfather (from Denmark) was Anthon, pronounced AN-tn. I've always loved the name but thought the pronunciation was a little awkward.

DH and I are getting close - I think it will be between Theodore and Duncan (he's still hanging onto Shepherd, too).

Everyone suggests Theo as a nn for Theodore, but we'd want to call him Teddy when he's little. I don't know what it would become as he got older. I do prefer Theo to Ted.

Sarah,
I don't know why Theo had come to mind. I think if you called your older son Cal, I like Theo better with that. But if your older son goes by Calvin, I actually prefer Teddy with that - sounds great together!

Sue,
Ahh, didn't realize your surname when I suggested Wyatt. LOL, yeah, that would be a bad choice.

Blake is not one of my favorites, though I don't dislike it either. I just thought it might sound good with big brothers' names. I do think that Brady works well with them, and is my top choice of your 3 finalists.

Good luck!

Sue:

Since your older sons have two-syllable names, and your last name is two syllables, a one-syllable (or three-syllable) name might be a nice change.

With Tyler and Logan:

Asher William Wyant
Caleb William Wyant
Cole William Wyant
Gabriel William Wyant
Grant William Wyant
John (nn Jack) William Wyant
Max William Wyant
Quinn William Wyant
Reid William Wyant
Samuel (nn Sam) William Wyant
Seth William Wyant

The only problem to me with Calvin and Theodore is it sounds awfully close to Alvin and Theodore...two of the infamous chipmunks! Maybe it's just me since I watched a lot of the chipmunks growing up.

To the posts a little bit above, I know a Caitlin and a Lindsay (sisters) in their 20s, so certainly not a new phenomenon even if the spelling has changed!

Sue,
Sounds like you've already gotten there, but I just thought I'd throw out another supporting vote for Brady William, definitely my fave of the 3.

Re: Anthony, I know one in my area who goes by Tony (mid-20s), this is in New England and he's originally from PA.

Ellenk- for the Mason, Max discussion-- I like it, even though it isn't the obvious nn, it makes a lot of sense to my ear. As long as you are ok with the question, "Is his name short for Max___?" I think you'll be fine!

Finally, congrats on the catname Oliver Dash, love it!

Laney - are you in the US? Hundreds of -o names for boys here in trendy north London - Milo, Otto, Theo and Leo in particular. Going a bit out of date now, most of the -o boys I know are around 7 or 8, although a pregnant friend did tell me the other day she was thinking of Leo for a boy (Stella for a girl).

Ooo, Asher, Cole, John, Reid... what a treasure trove!

Sue: lol at your Wyatt Wyant. O please dont do that. :)

This post is in response to Sue's comments on Avery for a boy.

I have first-hand experience of being a guy with a unisex name (my name is Kelly). I do get the occasional "Isn't that a girl's name?" or something like that as well as people sometimes mis-assuming my gender, but nothing to the extent of teasing or ridicule. I think that the teasing factor with using names like these for a boy is one that parents often worry too much about, at least from my experience.

IMO if you prefer names that are clearly masculine or feminine and want to stay away from Avery for that reason, that's fine; but I don't think that you should turn away from the name because it might cause "teasing or ridicule" (if you were wanting to name your son directly after yourself or something like that my response would be different though). I think that Avery is still a great name for a boy!

Yeah, not seeing the popularity of "o" names as something passe. Most of them are between the 200's to 500's on the Baby Name Wizard.

I don't personally know any 7 year old Milos, Ottos, or Theos. Interesting there are so many in London. I guess you guys are just way, way ahead of the trends? For sure you have the 30 year old Chloes and Emmas.

I suppose we're ahead of some trends and behind some others!

Sue and Sarah S-
It occurred to me while looking for names for you both, that your styles are very similar at least in the names you already have. Nymbler made several suggestions which would work well for both of you and many of the other posters on this board have posted similar things as well.

Sue these are yours to go with Logan Christopher and Tyler Allen:
Carson; Brady; Grady; Gannon; Reed; Cooper; Asher; Spencer; Palmer; Nathan; Gavin; Everett

Sarah S these are yours(sibs to Calvin):
Spencer; Oliver; Cole; Everett; Felix; Mitchell; Henry; Grant; Preston; Owen; Miles;
Griffin; Lawrence; Warren; Noel; Stuart; Dexter

So some of them overlap as you can see. Logan has a different feel for me than Calvin but Spencer and Grady feel similar so feel free to share what I've posted LOL.

By the way, RB your names are much harder for me to suggest. In trying to find a Hebrew/biblical name that means something related to water I only come up with Jordan. (Hebrew names are not my forte and there are more water names that are female oriented.) So, I stand by my original suggestion of Jordan Bailey until I come up with something else.

Kelly - THANK YOU for your comment. I really appreciate that - especially because you have first-hand knowledge of what I'm concerned with. That really helped a lot. I'm going to print your comment and let my husband read it. Thanks again.

Zoerhenne - WOW - You certainly have a knack for this! Thank you very much for your suggestions. There is Brady again!! I think it’s a sign!! Out of your suggestions I really like: Brady, Carson Reed and Asher (I like Cooper but it’s my neighbor’s dog’s name and I just couldn’t do that). I’m really in a better place after hearing everyone’s suggestions.

Let me ask you – what are your thoughts about Avery William? That seems to be the #1 contender in my mind (without pondering the other suggestions) with Brady. I’d love to hear what you think.

Thanks again.

Thank you for all the suggestions, it's been so helpful just to hear people's thoughts. Burley is really creative, and I had thought of Miller before, and I think it's really cute. My partner's not into either of them though. I think in the end we just keep circling around the biblical Hebrew names.

He's coming around again to Micah, and what we're thinking about now is the name Micah Ber (the middle name is pronounced and means 'bear' in Yiddish). I like that it's the first three letters of Bertha, and that Micah shares the first two letters with Millie. We've had varying responses to Micah when we've mentioned it to people; some love it, some think it could be confused with Michael, some don't like it or think it's moving to the girl's side of things. I think I also like the nature connection since mica is a mineral.

Ber is one of the middle names of my nephew, but I don't think that should matter. It's certainly unusual, but I think that matters less in a middle name, especially where we live. I just met a new baby a few days ago named Osiris Morrie!

Rachel: How is "Micah" pronounced, "MEE-kah" or "MIE-kah"? I like the connection to mica the mineral too (would you consider that spelling?) And Ber is a great middle name, both spelling and meaning. But I thought Dov (also a super name) meant "bear" in Hebrew?

And to Sue: I hate the hijacking of boys' names by girls: this has happened with both Avery and Grayson. The girls have enough creative names already! But I think both of those names still work for both sexes. (Now that I think about it I'm not sure Sue was the person who mentioned these names, but damned if I'm going to reread all these comments.)

Whoops, just saw that Rachel said Ber is bear in Yiddish, not Hebrew. Sorry to confuse the two. I do love those Hebrew animal names though -- "Zev," which means wolf, sounds to me like a name on the edge of breaking big.

Sue -- I think if you love Avery, you should use it. Every name brings with it teasing potential of one sort or another. Once people know your Avery is a boy, that will be that. If you choose the name knowing there will be girls who share it (and perhaps you could do a spot check to see how popular it is for girls in your community), you already know what you're up against.

Rachel -- I think Micah is very nice, I love the hard /c/ sound. And Micah Ber allows you to honor Bertha and Millie with names that are resonant for you and your partner.

Rjoy (I hope I'm remembering correctly) -- Congrats on naming Oliver Dash. What a cute name for a kitty!

Re, the new baby Bennett in my building, I just found out his mn name is Matthew. The interesting thing his mom pointed out to me tonight is that he has a double /t/ in each of his three names. He also shares his initials with his dad, and his mn is after his uncle.

Lucie -- sorry, "Mossimo" was a typo -- they do indeed spell it "Massimo." Thanks for catching that!