1. Paris
2. Ivy
3. Seraphina
4. Joseph
5. Bliss
6. Nicolas

I went with my first thoughts.

Ha ha, that was my exact same thought!

1. Brooklynn
2. Lucy
3. Atticus
4. Timothy
5. Trinity
6. Felix

I have to admit that I cheated a bit and looked at about half of the first page's responses. Atticus I knew straight away (perhaps because I have an Atticus? Although none of the siblings names I used and only a couple were considered.)

And when I was reading the names, I'd get about halfway through the set and think I knew it for sure, and then that name would show up! Happened in Set 2 (I thought Alice) and 5 (I though Nevaeh).

SO MUCH FUN!

Sorry to post so much, but I really wanted to pose a question about the post overall, especially with regard to #3

If parents are drawn to naming kids with a literary theme [or artistic/mythological/religious etc.], do they in reality tend to stick to the same genre or timeframe? OR, do they tend to cross those natural groupings within literature (or art, myth, etc.)??

Would we see a Guinevere and Ramona pairing?? That seems unlikely just to my ears, even if the parents' favorite books growing up were Arthurian legends and the Ramona Quimby series.

And would the factor of current trends in fashionable sounds play a role in creating a literary or such sibset?

If someone chose Emerson for the literary connotation, which also fits a lot of other current trends, I would tend to think perhaps they might like Auden too, rather than, say, Channing or Virgil.
That's my guess, but not being a parent inclined to name a child after a notable someone, I'm not sure if my own preferences are blinding to me to others'...

"… Think you've got the best name I've heard," she was saying, still apparently to herself; her glance rested on him a moment and then flitted past him—to the Italian bracket-lamps clinging like luminous yellow turtles at intervals along the walls, to the books row upon row, then to her cousin on the other side. "Anthony Patch. Only you ought to look sort of like a horse, with a long narrow face—and you ought to be in tatters."

"That's all the Patch part, though. How should Anthony look?"

"You look like Anthony," she assured him seriously—he thought she had scarcely seen him—"rather majestic," she continued, "and solemn."

Anthony indulged in a disconcerted smile.

"Only I like alliterative names," she went on, "all except mine. Mine's too flamboyant. I used to know two girls named Jinks, though, and just think if they'd been named anything except what they were named—Judy Jinks and Jerry Jinks. Cute, what? Don't you think?" Her childish mouth was parted, awaiting a rejoinder.

"Everybody in the next generation," suggested Dick, "will be named Peter or Barbara—because at present all the piquant literary characters are named Peter or Barbara."

Anthony continued the prophecy:

"Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shop-girls—"

"Displacing Ella and Stella," interrupted Dick.

"And Pearl and Jewel," Gloria added cordially, "and Earl and Elmer and
Minnie."
"And then I'll come along," remarked Dick, "and
picking up the obsolete name, Jewel, I'll attach it to some quaint and attractive character and it'll start its career all over again."

from Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned.

This scene takes place in 1914: Gloria is 22 and Anthony is 25.

Fitzgerald chose a popular name at the time of publication (#40) rather than her in-story birth year of 1892 (not on charts) in Gloria. Not used until George Bernard Shaw used it in 1898.

Anthony peaked at #7 in 2007-2008 but has not been out of the top 100 since the SSA began tracking names. It was #93 in the 1890s and #37 in the 1920s.

Barbara did indeed vault from 154 in the 1890s to #18 in the 1920s, but the prototypical Barbara would be the Patches' Lost Generation's granddaughter: 1.5% of 1940s girls had the name!

Gladys peaked sharply at #14 the 1900s, while Eleanor would have indeed struck twenty-somethings as a "baby name," peak ing at #31 in the 1910s from #102 in the 1890s.

to be continued . . . Jewel is one of my favorites . . .

What I came up with on my own:

1) Sienna? Sierra? Harper?
2) Charlotte? Lucy?
3) Atticus? August?
4) Edward? John?
5) Eden? True? Aria?
6) Giovanni? Matteo?

I didn't think of Brooklyn for 1, Trinity for 5, or Adrian for 6, but I think those fit at least as well as what I came up with.

This was such a fun post--thank you! I wouldn't let myself look at others responses until I had my answers. And then I made my husband play, too! Here are my picks:

1. Brooklyn
2. Amelia
3. Ernest
4. Peter
5. Hope
6. Alexander

Not to brag, but I think I've got this in the bag :-)

Thanks for the thoughts so far on a brother for Micah (b) and Avery (g). Any others are welcomed!! :)

1. Brooklyn
2. Rita (though after reading the comments, maybe Maisie)
3. Elias (though after reading the comments, I'm betting Atticus)
4. Timothy
5. Lyric
6. Maximilian

Heehee. I've been reading this blog for ages but stopped commenting years ago because I was spending too much time on it...but this post drew me back :)

This is so fun! Love it!
Here are my guesses:
1. Addison
2. Lucy
3. Asher
4. Matthew
5. Trinity
6 .Adrian

@TamaraR - I'll take a stab at answering your question. Ultimately, I think it depends on the family.

For some, themes are important to follow, while others try to avoid it, all while trying to have some sort of continuity, names that sound good together or would belong to the same family.

Case in point, my family. Our first is Atticus, named not just because of To Kill a Mockingbird, though we both admire the character of Atticus Finch. Partly it was Atticus, to whom Cicero wrote his letters, who is considered the first publisher. (We are both writers.) But ultimately, we chose it because we liked the sound and look of the name.

Our second is @vner, who is not a literary character, but shows up briefly in the Bible as Abner. It's an old name. We were drawn to the meaning (father of light) as I had many electrical incidents the few weeks before his birth. But ultimately, it was because the night he was born, every time I looked at him, I heard his name in my head. We had a shortlist of 8 boys names, and they all disappeared.

Our third is Harriet. It could be considered a literary connection (Harriet the Spy). We waffled a lot on whether or not to use a third A name, but decided against it as being too themey and not finding a girl A name that we loved and seemed strong enough with the other two. We liked it because it was an older name, too, though not as ancient, it was strong, not common, but recognizable.

We may have a loose literary theme, but it was not premeditated. It was more important that we chose names that we love and that sound good together.

I also think that your impulse to put Auden with Emmerson together is spot on. They sound great together.

Made my list and then looked at the comments--wishing I hadn't because some answers look better than mine!!!

1. Brooklyn
2. Lucy
3. Atticus
4. Stephen (although I did flirt with David for a while)

5. Eden
6. Roman

YAG-I wouldn't naturally think to put those 3 names together but I agree with you that they do work.

Husband's guesses:
1=Paris
2=Mae
3=Raphael
4=Samuel
5=Cassandra
6=Leonardo

I'm posting this before reading the comments, but I can't wait to see what you all come up with.
1. Brooklyn
2. Olivia
3. Atticus
4. John
5. Liberty
6. Theo

Fun game! I'm not going to put out any guesses, since I've already read through the others, but I thought I would attempt a closer analysis of #4, since it seems to be getting the most diverse set of responses.

Looking at the boy names, there's a clear Biblical theme going on here—MIchael and Daniel are OT, and Thomas, Andrew, Philip, Mark and Matthew are all NT. Anthony is the only one that isn't either (I think? Please correct me if I'm wrong), but Anthony has other strong connections to early Christianity. I would rule out David because I would expect to see more OT names on David's sibling list (it would *have* to include Jonathan, wouldn't it? And I would expect to see names like Joshua, Joseph, Adam, Jeremy or Aaron along with Daniel and Michael). The fact that NT names dominate the list makes me think that we should be looking for another NT name. John fits the bill, but I don't think it is John, simply because a sibling list for John would have to also include at least a couple other King of England names (George, Henry, Charles, William, Richard, James). These lists also have midcentury feel to me, and a name like John is more timeless. I would rule Luke out for a similar reason, despite it fitting well with the other apostles—it only peaked in 2004. I think we're also looking for something with Greek or Latin roots to tie in some of the girls' names (Greek: Theresa, Christine, Cynthia, Andrea; Latin: Diana, Laura).

I think the best suggestions before have been Stephen, Timothy and Paul. All of them are NT names, the first two with Greek roots and the third Latin. Stephen peaked in the 1950s, and the other two in the 1960s. Peter is a possibility too... although now that I think about it, I feel that Peter and Paul MUST have each other as sibling names, so I'm actually going to say no on both. James could fit as well, but James has the same issues as John—you'd have to have more King of England names. So yeah: Stephen or Timothy.

@ Yet Another Guest,
Thanks for your response! That really gives better insight for me as to what's going on for some families at least. Thank you!

I'm dying to know #6 as two of my three sons' names are there, and I'm hoping Elizabeth T's guess is correct--because that's the name of the third son! (I like to think they make a rather nice family set, and what could be more validating than the BNW declaring it to be so? ;-) )

EVie, I think your analysis is spot on!

Laura, I think this is the most fun ever! I too love how an individual sibling suggestion can approach different aspects of the niche one particular name occupies in namespace, but it's hard to hit all of the aspects simultaneously.

As someone planning a bunch more kids, I obviously think this is fascinating! And I've noticed that even with just two kids, we've had hugely different responses to the name of our eldest son now that there's a younger sibling in the mix. Before, people invariably asked us "How did you come up with that?" and expected that we'd made up the name as a creative spelling hitting the starts-with-J, ends-with-n trend started by Jayden. Now people are asking "Where did you get that?" - much more correctly assuming that it's an obscure variant name that we sourced from somewhere, because if we'd been into de-novo creation we would not have named our second Rup3rt. I bet by the time we have more kids, everyone will place us firmly in Masterpiece Theatre space right away... though if we have a daughter named Hermione first, we'll be placed into Harry Potter space for a while next.

1 Paisley
2 Lucy
3 Gabriel
4 Gregory
5 Trinity
6 Arianna

EVie, I love your analysis of #4. My only addition would be that I would expect the spelling Steven rather than Stephen. Steven seems more 60s to me (to fit in with Cynthia, Andrea, and Deborah), while Stephen seems a bit more timeless. The boys' names could work with either, but with Stephen I would expect names that were popular in the 60s but that didn't show sharp peaks the way those names did. Maybe a name like Elizabeth? I say this as someone who was born in the 60s and went to school with MANY people with these names.

AJ, I'm curious about your sons' names! I can't remember if you've ever mentioned them here. I know two boys named Felix, one with a brother named Sebastian and the other with a brother named Victor. Handsome names in #6 all around!

Laura, I love all your posts, but this one was flat-out fabulous. So fun!

#5--I chose Trinity because the names featured three different vibes: religious without being explicitly biblical (Genesis, Zion, Nevaeh, perhaps Journey); trendy "word" names (Maverick, Talon, Jett, Destiny, Serenity, Journey, Phoenix, Cadence, Harmony); names with a sci-fi vibe (from "The Matrix") (Orion, Jett, Serenity--swoon for Malcolm Reynolds!, Journey). Maximus and Tristan don't seem to fit, however. Do they have a sci-fi vibe that I'm not aware of?

ElizabethT, I believe Maximus was also the name of the main character of the movie Gladiator, so it might be the movie hero-connection there rather than specifically sci-fi? Not having seen Gladiator or a Matrix movie with Trinity, I can't say if that connection makes any real sense or not.
All I can think of for Tristan is the old legend, I'm sure re-told more recently, but it doesn't seem to fit with my impression of Trinity. My only guess is for the matching sound of Tristan and Trinity, which is a weak guess.

I'm really excited for the unveiling of the answers tomorrow! Sure will be fun.
At this point after reading through I'd say it seems like it's probably Brooklyn, Lucy, Atticus, Stephen or David?, Trinity, and Adrian.

I'm still hesitant about Adrian; I feel like the brother set makes for a stronger match with Adrian than the sisters. Why not have Adrian's sisters include Alexandra, and Sophia instead of Sofia?

Answers, answers, can't wait til tomorrow!

EVie - An additional factor to consider in analyzing these puzzles is that Laura scrapped all sibling names from previous editions of the book. So if Jonathan is a shoo-in for David, then it must have been used as a brother name for David the first two times around - and any list with Jonathan on it can't be the siblings for David! Just in case you wanted your head to spin around a little more while considering this.... :)

So, guest123, does this mean that even if Jonathan is THE perfect sibling match for David it will not be listed in the new book? I realize that many of the names people are using nowadays they are using in different combinations as previous generations, but what if there really are PERFECT combos? Why not suggest different vibes? For instance, say something like "If you want to take this name (Jonathan) into the classic realm pair it with David, William, and James. If you want more of a biblical spin then pair it with Nathaniel, Gideon, and Elijah."

I am way too dumb to guess but very admiring of others' guesses! What a fun game. Not having any original ideas, I'll place my bets with:

Brooklyn
Lucy
Atticus
Timothy
Trinity
Leo

1. Harper or Holland
2. Lila or Norah
3.Aksel or Jaxon
4. James or Joseph
5. Haven or Bliss
6. Orlando or Lysander

Zoerhenne, that's how I interpreted this part of Laura's post:

And for the upcoming 3rd edition of the book, I've made it far, far tougher for myself. In a moment of wild optimism, I decided to expand from 10 suggestions for each name to 16: eight brothers and eight sisters. And rather than just tacking on extra names, I'm wiping the slate clean and starting each sib set from scratch.

Upon rereading, I'm not sure I was quite right though. Maybe Laura would choose the same name twice, but after going through the process of recreating a new set of siblings without consideration of the old one. So last time she took the list of siblings for David from BNW1 and revised or kept them as appropriate for BNW2, but this time she's making a list for BNW3 without looking at BNW1 and 2. Then some might be the same because they really are perfectly matched and she thought of them independently each time, rather than because she thought of them the first time and still thinks they work well enough to be republished. Hope some of that made sense....

My guesses:

Geneva
Lucy
Dorian
John
Cherish
Hudson

I hadn't Atticus on my name map at all; it sounds like attic, doesn't it? But then I took the time to read about To Kill a Mockingbird, and now I think it is a great choice.

However, the association to Arthurian names and Harry Potter names like Hermione and Guinevere is not clear to me.

Oh shoot I thought I answered this! I think these were my guesses (made without looking at the comments)

1. Brooklyn
2. Lucy
3. Blake
4. James
5. Story
6. Miles

After looking at the comments I think you guys are spot on about Atticus! I should have thought of it.

Oh shoot I thought I answered this! I think these were my guesses (made without looking at the comments)

1. Brooklyn
2. Lucy
3. Blake
4. James
5. Story
6. Miles

After looking at the comments I think you guys are spot on about Atticus! I should have thought of it.

Oh shoot I thought I answered this! I think these were my guesses (made without looking at the comments)

1. Brooklyn
2. Lucy
3. Blake
4. James
5. Story
6. Miles

After looking at the comments I think you guys are spot on about Atticus! I should have thought of it.

I'm really sorry about the triple post! I had trouble with the form.

1. Reese
2. Julia
3. Edmund
4. Christopher
5. Verity
6. Maxwell

Guest123-Thanks for that. I had read that line but it didn't properly register. I like your explanation of things.

Interesting comment by Mary Tyler Moore about her name and her fame:
When she entered show business at age 18 in 1955, Moore said, there were already six others Mary Moores in the Screen Actors Guild.

Told to change her name, she quickly added Tyler, the middle name of both her and her father, George.

"I was Mary Tyler Moore. I spoke it out loud. Mary Tyler Moore. It sounded right so I wrote it down on the form, and it looked right," she said. "It was right. SAG was happy, my father was happy, and tonight, after having the privilege of working in this business among the most creative and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all."

I'm very excited you're coming out with a new edition!!

1. Brooklyn
2. Emily
3. Maximus
4. Jordan
5. Faith
6. Carlo

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