The Baby Name Wizard

MelissaM-Oh dear, boy parts are very hard to fake LOL! But just think of all the stuff you wont have to buy that you can pass down from your other two. You didn't get rid of it all, did you? J/K
Boys name ideas:Since you like Clara and Lucy just transform them into Clark and Luke/Lucas or are they taken? Too matchy?

jillc-Thanks for that quiz! I am definitely a Notherner. To suggest that BAG and VAGUE even remotely rhyme is absurd!

Great quiz! Thanks for posting. I was most definitely a Mid-Atlantic. I answered most of the questions as saying the sounds differently. Very cool.

Plain Jane-- I was waiting for someone to mention the pronunciation of Georgiana as Geor-JAYN-a! You are absolutely right, it is the accepted British pronunciation, even though it seems counter-intuitive to Americans and Canadians.

It's like the word "scone", I suppose-- Brits say "scon" to rhyme with "gone", while on this side of the pond most people instinctively say "scoan" to rhyme with "tone".

In this case, I defer to the Brits-- far be it from me to get between them and their yummy tea-time treats...

I do find "Georgiana" interesting, but a wee bit frilly for my taste...

Tirzah-- I like "Canaan", and have often thought it makes a nice choice for parents who might like the sound of "Cain", but don't want to use the name of the first murderer in the Bible.

Canaan is an attractive ancient place-name, and also has an early Puritan vibe, as some of the English Puritans were attracted to such names.

MelissaM-- What nice names your boys have! Let's see, with Alexander Gregory and Nathaniel David, how about:

Timothy George

Christian Edward (since Edward has such buzz here right now!)

Thaddeus Charles

Phillip Mark

Oliver Thomas

Quentin Paul

Josiah William

Or any combination of the above! I also think zoerhenne's candidate of "Luke/Lucas" fits perfectly with your style.

If you wanted to go out slightly on a limb, I like surnames as middle names with your traditional name leanings-- example, "John Ward Lastname", "John Prentice Lastname", "John Moore Lastname", or of course, surnames with personal meaning to you...

Thanks for the quiz--I am apparently "American Neutral"--they say I have no accent. So, if anybody here wants to know how someting is supposed to be pronounced in "American", I'm the authority you're looking for. lol.

MelissaM, congratulations on the boys, but sorry that you're now in a name quandary! I love the suggestions of Timothy, Oliver, and Josiah, and I also like Charles, Thomas, Paul, and William for first names. I'd like to add Isaiah, James, Henry, and Jonathan. I'll think on it some more, too.

Tirzah, I like Canaan, but I can't answer your biblical question--interesting, though.

hyz, I'm neutral too! I loved your comment about pronouncing something in "American." :)

MelissaM, congrats on your boys! Your house will certainly be tons of fun. I like lots of the suggestions so far. I plugged all four of your current names into Nymbler and here is what it suggests:

Simon, Andrew, Stephen, Benjamin, Joseph, Isaac, Aaron, Matthew, Saul, Adam, Jacob, Daniel, Moses, Nolan, Preston, Paul, James, Ruben, Adrian, Caleb, Christopher, Joel, Jesse, John, Mitchell.

Not sure if any of these work for you, but maybe they spark some ideas.

Jillc - Loved the accent quiz!

"Which American accent are you? - Canadian." lol, and here I thought a discernible Canadian dialect was just a myth.

Tirzah - I'd been thinking lately that Canaan would crop up. Starts with a 'k' sound, ends with an 'n', and I've heard it in both 24 and Carnivale. Plus have we even seen an authentic double-a since Aaron?

Re: Canaan, growing up I knew a C@naah, or maybe it was just Canah?, anyway, she was named after Canaan, but her parents wanted to feminize it. She had a sister named Jordan, which continued the theme!

Oh and I also have a "neutral" accent....although when I briefly lived in Texas everyone kept asking me if I was from Michigan or Pennsylvania, so I guess in Texas "neutral" is "northern"?

Authentic double-a -- Isaac!

"Which American accent do you have?
Canadian

People from outside North America probably think you`re from the States, but over here we wouldn't make such a mistake."

Well, that's right on the money, LOL! I didn't think that would even be an option, I was expecting it to tell me I was from Idaho or something. (I always find it surprising how my Southern Ontario accent can be so similar to parts of the Western US, half a continent away, yet so different from Buffalo NY which is less than a two hour drive...)

Fascinating quiz. Maybe Laura should create a similar one that tells us which Baby Naming Region we live in/belong in! "Which of these names do you like best... you belong in the Midwestern Reserve!" hee hee...

Well, as a Brit I come out as Northeastern, which I suppose is as close to Britain as they're considering...

Eo- Many Brits, including me, say scone to rhyme with phone. I think maybe it's a North/South divide thing. I'm from the South.

@#97 (Plain Jane):

As to the "Jor-JAYNA" pronunciation, I find it helpful to think in terms of:

George - i-ana --> i.e. the single "n" denotes a long "a", while the "i" elides into a "y" sound (in most Uk accents, anyway), so:
George-yANA, which is then further elided until the "y" is almost silent.

Really, it makes more sense than Georgia (JOR-Ja), as technically the "ia" should equal "JOR-Jya"

Somewhere in the world, a phoneticist is crying.

MelissaM, here are a few more ideas (apologies for repeats):

Christian, Nicholas, Michael, Alan, Mark, Douglas

Those are sib suggestions from BNW.

I'm looking for advice and 35 weeks pregnant with a boy.

We had some strong finalists with Theodore/Theo and Jonas as front runners, and Ezra as a weak third. Then my husband swoops in with Everett. My immediate reaction was no, I can't name a child Everett. But now it's sort of growing on me, though I'm not sure if it's growing in a good way or a bad way. Everett. Hmmmm....

I'm wondering if any of you have thoughts on Everett, or other suggestions for us. If a name can come in at this late date and be a contender, I wonder if we've missed anything else.

I like Everett. What are your concerns with it? There's also Emmett. I like your other choices too though. Does your husband like Everett better than those? Hrm... maybe Julian, Julius, Tobias, Cyrus, Elias, Ethan, Jasper, Matthias?

Christel- I love Everett! It would definitely be on my boy list if my last name didn't also start with Ev. I also really like Theodore/Theo which I noticed is on your list. My other favorite name is Oliver if that helps you any. Good luck!

Everett has never been a favorite of mine, I think it's just a personal preference though because I have nothing against it, it's just not my favorite.

I like both Jonas and Theodore quite a bit. Personally I would be hesitant to use a name I'd only had five weeks to mull over - sometimes I find a name will make my list for a couple months and then I'll be sick of it.

I also really like all of RobynT's suggestions above, although Tobias makes me think of the character on Arrested Development with the denim cutoffs...

Chrstel-Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm not a big fan of Theodore/Theo but no particular reasoning for it. Jonas would be nice-I like the sound but then again there are the Jonas Brothers (singing group). Ezra seems too old fashioned for my family. So if it were me and those were the only 4 choices I would have to give Everett the nod. I also like similar sounding Elliott. RobynT has some good ideas too. Others to also consider: Leo; Oliver; Eric; or Noah. You know I think Everett John sounds very distinguished.

I'm the guest who posted about Georgiana and now I'd better introduce myself and fill you in on the whole naming situation.

I for one have always had an easier time with boys' names. I know what I like - Old Testament, slightly unusual. I feel like I could pick any name in this category and still be happy with it in 10 years.

Girls, on the other hand - I struggle. The Bible is unfortunately lacking in good girls' names that I like and aren't boring. So, of course, we're having a girl. I *think* Georgiana is the right pick, mostly because it's to honor a relative George, so if I'm sick of it a year from now that will reassure me that I made the right choice. Still, it's the only thing I can think of right now and I'd like to have other options.

Some close-but-not-quites:

Amelia, Clara - Wish I'd thought of these before they became so popular. Of course, they probably wouldn't have become cute to me until others started using them anyways. I told you, I'm no good at naming girls.

Josephine - after DH's grandfather Joseph, too "plain" for my taste to use on a boy

Cleo - interesting but just don't love it

As you can tell, I like a bit old fashioned. Popularity in itself doesn't bother me, but trendiness does. The problem I'm having is thinking of something I like before it becomes trendy.

One more thing (this is getting long, sorry), future brothers would probably be Asa and/or Zacharias (my current faves) or something similar in style. I know, I don't even have one kid yet but I like to be prepared. Can anyone think of some girls' names I might like that sound OK with OT brothers?

MGH, a friend of mine has a similar style to you -- her boys are No@h and Isaac, her girls are Sophia and Lilli@n (Lilli@n was going to be Zeph@niah if she had been a boy).

I like Georgiana, also Georgina (although Georgiana may offer more in the way of nicknames). How about:
Adalaide
Emmaline
Caroline
Cordelia

re: vague and bag, with my "Minnesota" accent I thought, "Of COURSE they sound the same!"

MGH- my first thought was to wonder whether there are any OT girls' names that are a little Clara/Amelia-like. Of course, there's Jemima, which would work very well in the UK, but is very controversial in the US (see many previous conversations). So I also thought of:

Tabitha
Kezia(h)
Junia
Susanna
Lydia
Leah
Miriam
Naomi
Phoebe
Sapphira ( I did know a girl with that name)
Talitha (ditto -pronounced TAH-lith-a)
Damaris
Chloe
Abigail

with some help from this link:
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/bibl_f.php

Oh, actually some of these are NT. Don't know if that makes a difference to you...

Wow, I've never heard of vague and bag rhyming--I can't imagine. So, do you say vague like the first syllable in vagabond (which WOULD rhyme with bag in my world, lol)? Or do you say bag differently? And how do you pronounce The Hague? Inquiring minds want to know, lol.

MGH-- Can I proffer my old stand-by, "Augusta", once again (apologies to regulars who are tired of hearing this!)

It's charmingly old-fashioned, and not yet becoming trendy like "Amelia". Has much of the stateliness of "Georgiana" but perhaps a bit more serious (which I like, but you may not). Darling, un-starchy, nostalgic nickname: "Gussie"

It isn't Biblical, but would certainly fit with Biblical boys' names nicely. When I fantasize about girls' names to go with my Old Testament-named son Benjamin, "Augusta" and "Phoebe" always seem like good sibs for him!

Valerie, I love your choice of "Damaris" and always wonder why more people don't go for this ravishing, unusual name...

MGH:

I think Georgiana hits the right notes to match less common OT names like Zacharias. In fact, I like that pairing particularly well. Georgiana has a certain stately, historic strength about it that's stylish, but not at all trendy (I agree with what you say about popularity vs trendiness - couldn't agree more.)

Amelia and Clara are pretty and sweet and I love both, but... they seem a little plain next to a striking name like Asa. (And if you plan on using Asa, I'd avoid giving a similar 2-syllable-ends-in-A name to your daughter, too.) I think you need a name that's stronger, a little bit more distinctive, yet still unapologetically classic. How about: Matilda, Susannah, Theodora, Louisa, Adelaide, Penelope, Millicent, Miriam, Constance, Hester, Honor, Pearl, Edwina, Eugenia, Verity? Just some ideas. (Or if you're especially daring: my old favorite, Harriet.)

I started work at a summer camp today, working with kids about 18-24 months old. The ones I remember:

Girls:
Jorgia
Anelise
Annabeth
Maddie
Jada
Mia
Sloan (has older brother Major)

Boys:
Jack
Matthew
Reid
Pierce (has older brother Saxton)
Seiji (SAY-jee)

MGH: Is there a reason you prefer Georgiana to Georgia or Georganne? I guess Georgia seems like a perfectly nice way to honor a George with less fluff. Although... maybe you want to lessen associations with the state?

I'm not sure *Clara* is that popular. I don't know any and can't really imagine anyone I know using this name (aside from folks on this board. :P)

I think a lot of the names you list would work well with OT boys' names. Though I suppose something like Amelia might seem too common in contrast.

re: vague and bag: Minnesotans say bag kind of like beg.

Wow, you sure know everything about names. I love your blog, I'll be back here often!

Just to back up Valerie - it's Northern Brits who say scon for scone. We southerners definitely say scone - although my Northern husband fals around laughing when I do so.

I'd be very shy of Jonas, because of the Jonas brothers - what about Jonah? Love Theodore and Ezra, not that keen on Everett because it reminds me of Everready batteries and the drumming rabbit. But maybe you don't have that in the US.

MGH: via nymbler: ANNABEL - JOHANNA - ELIZA - CAROLINE - CAROLINA - ALEXANDRA - CHLOE - LOUISA/LUISA - LEONORA - CORDELIA - BEATRIX - CECILIA - GENEVIEVE - VICTORIA - AURORA - AURELIA - ANTONIA - AMALIA - ANNIKA - MARCELLA - EMILIA - AUBREY - MAHALIA* - TALIA - ANNELISE - STEPHANIA - SERAPHINA*
oops, may have gotten a little carried away. i really like Mahalia, although this may be because I know a great little girl with this name. I also think it's a good "bridge" between Asa and Zacharias though. Seraphina seems like a good fit with the Biblical theme for the boys' names.

Hyz, "bag" and "vague" rhyme when you say "bag" like "bagel." In othe words, "vague" stays the same and "bag" changes.

I took the quiz and it says that I have a Western accent (which is right on the nose since I'm from California.) It said a Western Accent is mostly neutral, but I need to say "stalk" and "stock" differently. Could someone please explain?

With regards to Georgiana im British and I would instinctively have said George-i-anna, I have only ever met people named Georgina, which is pronounced George-jeen-a. Im not sure if they are supposed to be the same name, I would have presumed not, but now im not so sure.

Also I say scone to rhyme with bone even though im northern but my mother is from the south. There is as much deviation in British accents and pronounciation as in American, the most prominant probably being gr-arse vs. gr-ass.

On the topic of names from popular culture has anybody here ever seen the tv show Veronica Mars, I've always thought the names chosen on that show were unusual. On the cast, which is supposed to be between 16-18, the main names are:

Veronica
Duncan
Lilly
Logan
Richard "Dick" Jr
Cassidy (brother of Dick)
Wallace
Eli
Cindy "Mac"
Jackie
Stosh (sp?)
Parker (f)

always seemed a bit random to me, though I know thought was put into the names from what I've read. Maybe they seem more of a set to an American mind.

LOL all this pronunciation talk has me very amused. Thank you all.

hyz-I'm with you and Hague I believe is a "long A".

tirzah-I like hyz have a nothern accent. I say stalk with more of a "aw/too bad" sound and stock more to rhyme with things like pot/hot/etc.

MGH-Seraphina sounds like a winner to me too!

Keren-We do have Eveready batteries here, but the bunny comes from Energizer and is thus not readily associated with any names i can think of.

Speaking also b4 of names in movies, we saw Night @ the Museum 2 recently. I kept laughing over the scene where the guard says his name is pronounced Brundon(short u sound as in lunch) but it is spelled Brandon(as in the cereal product Bran). The guy he is talking with keeps trying to get that pronunciation from the spelling and just can't. Frankly, neither can I. I believe it was insanely funny and put there just to keep us NE's awake in an otherwise only moderately humorous sequel.

MGH - I also don't think Clara is at all popular if you want to reconsider it. I think it only appeals to a small sub-set of people. Amelia on the other hand is definitely out if you don't want trendy. I am a fan of Georgiana, but don't so much care for Georgia. I like a lot of the other suggestions that have been given, I can't think of anything else but happy to vote if you have preferences!

Regarding the bible names, I've personally known a Damaris and a Talitha - so they do exist. Both would be in their 40s/50s now. Also, know of a baby Kezia, who was named for the biblical Kezia, would be maybe 3 or 4 now.

one other quick sib set i came across today:
Raphael/Rafael nn Raffi or Raf (3)
Cecelia nn Sassy(2)
older sister I didn't get name of

not sure of any spellings but I thought they were interesting because they are NOT names I hear often.

ooh, movie names! Saw Up last weekend and am so pleased with the protagonist being named Russell. This is just a solid Asian American name to me, although maybe more of a boomer or boomer echo name than of today's Asian Ams. If this boy was real, I would guess he was Russell Jr.

Also, loved that the dogs had human names, like Doug. I love when Disney does this. I think of Sully, Mike, and Randall in Monster's Inc. too. It's hilarious and probably encourages people to give their pets human names, which I know some folks on here don't like. Oops.

Thanks, guys. The biggest problem is that between us, my husband and I have nearly four dozen first cousins, plus the number of aunts and uncles you'd expect with that many - and almost all of us have the same naming style, for boys at least. (Traditional/classic with a splash of Biblical thrown in.) Finding one that's not taken is murder.

Our second biggest problem is our last name - it's a rather abrupt single syllable (sounds much like Mull) and so some nice options sound awkward. William, for example. William Mull is not that great and Will Mull is worse.

Anyway, I took the names I like from Amy3's excellent suggestions, and they break down thusly:

Andrew - brother
Stephen - brother
Benjamin - ex-boyfriend
Joseph - 1st cousin on BOTH sides
Isaac - 1st cousin
Aaron - 1st cousin
Matthew - 1st cousin
Adam - bad with Mull
Jacob - 1st cousin on BOTH sides
Daniel - Maybe!!!
Paul - uncle, plus bad with Mull
James - father and brother
Nicholas - brother-in-law
Michael - uncle, plus not awesome with Mull

It's pretty tough. But I read through the ENTIRE boy's name section of the BNW book and we're thinking tentatively of Thomas and Gabriel. Did you know Thomas means 'twin?' How peculiar is that? I discarded it for my other boys because I'm very careful to give names with appropriate meanings and it made no sense. In this scenario, though, it's uncannily perfect. I'm not 100% sold on Gabriel, though I do like it.

Zoerhenne, I totally agree with you about the Brundon/Brandon scene! That was the only scene I thought was funny, and the reasons I laughed were probably different from those the scriptwriters had intended.

ET, I agree with you about the names in Veronica Mars. I loved that show, but the names were weird. They worked for the characters, but they certainly didn't match, especially not Dick and Cassidy (of course, the brothers weren't exactly similar).

MelissaM- Thomas and Gabriel would work beautifully with your current sons' names! Also, if you're still looking, did anyone suggest Christopher or Christian?
Just in passing, I know a family of five with an Alexander and a Nathaniel, all aged between 25-35. They are (in descending order):

Alexander
Abigail
Jessica
Merr!c (family name)
Nathaniel

All very gifted artistically (music and drama). A lovely family...

MelissaM, I understand your naming dilemma very well. I have 11 grandsons under age 8, all with traditional names, and now still another baby is on the way. The mother-to-be has already lamented that there are no good boys' names left. But there are!

Here are some suggestions from my family. Our Alexander has an older brother called Christopher and a younger brother, Nicholas. The twins in our family are James and Andrew. The other six are Aidan; brothers Joseph, Ethan and William; brothers David and Jonathan.

The new parents-to-be are considering Charles ("Charlie"), Henry, Robert, Edward, Benjamin, and Paul so far. I've pointed out that Matthew, Daniel, Timothy, Patrick and Nathaniel are all 'available' too and each is a fine traditional names. Frederick ("Freddie") might be another possibility.

You might want to check out the London Telegraph birth announcements -- many good ideas there.
http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/births/default.aspx

I'm going to jot down all the suggestions that come your way as our family may be needing them too!

I love the names of your two sons and am betting you'll come up with two names just as fine for the twins.

MelissaM, I just read your later post. I think Thomas is perfect (it was considered for one of my *twin* grandsons too), and Gabriel is also a substantial name.

As for repeating a name within an extended family, I think names of first cousins of a baby are probably 'off limits', but names of cousins beyond first -- and particularly of a different generation -- seem all right to me, as would be reusing the name of a brother or uncle of one of the parents. Sometimes, too, a name has more than one nickname, so Bob and his great-nephew Robbie would have two different names, though both have the given name Robert (as is the case for one of my sons).

MelissaM, I suspected a lot of the names we suggested would be "taken" by other family members. I must agree, though, that esp for names from another generational group, perhaps repeats wouldn't be so bad.

Re: Thomas and Gabriel, I *love* these for twins. My father is a Thomas who is also an identical twin. (His brother is Richard nn Dick. No end to the "Tom, Dick, and Harry" jokes for those two.)

I've always liked Thomas (I also have a young cousin Tom and my daughter has two Thomases in her 2nd grade class), and Gabriel (particularly the nn Gabe) was a strong contender when we were choosing baby names.

Bianca -

Thanks! I really like Elowen. We were also thinking of Vivienne (despite the Jolie connection) and I like like Coraline (any Gaiman fans out there?)

Honestly, I think Renesmee was just perfect. It's hard to create names, and she did a good job of explaining pronunciation. I think we were supposed to be a bit distant from the character. She was an unknown, after all...

Captcha is Fornia...

MelissaM-I will second or third (whatever we are up to) Thomas as a nice classic name. The meaning of "twin" works very nicely too. I quite like Edward as well despite its growing popularity esp on this board. Might I also offer Caleb, Jonah, Timothy, Noah, Eric, and Isaiah.

You know, I've thought about Timothy to go with Thomas, but Timmy and Tommy or Tim and Tom is too similar for my taste. (Which is too bad, as I do *like* Timothy and no one near has used it!) I like Edward, although something about Ed or Eddie doesn't suit me, so I'm thinking Thomas might end up Thomas Edward. This is extra-nice, as Edward as a middle name has been passed around up one of the family trees and my mom assured me they'd be delighted if we picked it up.

I've considered Charles as well (and Charlie is adorable!), but I want to give one of the boys James as a middle name for my father, and two names ending in 's' in a row just seems awkward. So no Thomas James, or Charles James, but perhaps a Gabriel James.

I appreciate all the input that people are giving!

I'm only skimming these posts, but I had to mention: my middle name is Galadriel (Lord of the Rings).

Ironically, I don't really like the fantasy genre, and I haven't read the books (gave up after The Hobbit), nor have I seen the movie. Ha!

I do pronounce "Harry" and hairy the same way, also Erin and Aaron, Mary and merry, etc. I'm originally from the upper Midwest but have lived in California for most of my life.

Tirzah-
Stalk, to me, is pronounced like walk or "stawk".
Stock is pronounced with a short o, like in box.

We have friends who named their daughter Lorien Olivia (Lorien from Lothlorien in the LOTR) I thought this was a neat way to honor the books. She would be 6-7 now

Interesting about the scon-scoan "scone" divide! Makes sense. In Canada where I mostly grew up, there are oodles of Scots, and as the ultimate "northerners", I guess they'd be the sticklers for "scon"...

Sidetrip: It's been so long since I've been in Britain-- please tell me you guys still say "lah-BOR-a-tree" for "LAB-ra-tor-ee", don't you?! And "Zed" and "Lef-TEN-ant"? I've lived so long in the States now I'm not even sure if some Canadians say "SHED-yule" still...

I almost included "Thomas" on my list for MelissaM! The combo of Thomas and Gabriel has a marvelously elemental "Tess of the D'Urbevilles/"Sons and Lovers" kind of feeling. I do not especially like "Gabe" as a nickname, (were it me, I'd have to make up a nn like "Gibs" or something!) but the full Gabriel when combined with Thomas is so appealing..

MelissaM-Thomas Edward is divine! Timmy and Tommy do sound WAY too matchy. However, if you did Timothy James you could maybe go with the nn TJ. Just a thought. Gabriel James is lovely too but like you it just doesn't say "wow" to me like Thomas does. Hmm just thought of Sean/Shawn would that work? Sounds great with James I think, but is it TOO Irish sounding?

EssBee-That is very cool. Makes me wonder what your first name is if you'd like to share. I will certainly understand if you don't though.

My cousin has a Thomas, little brother to Isabella nn Bella, and they are expecting another baby in July. I think if its a boy the winning name atm is Max.

I also know of a Thomas, Joseph and Bryn, an Elinor, Tomos and Aled, and a Jon, Tom and Jake.

Really Thomas/Tom is such a staple name that it goes with most things. I do really like Thomas and Gabriel as a pair though, and think it has a very similar style to Lucy and Clara, in that together they sound very old fashioned and literary, but not like an obvious combination.