My favorites from your list are Leo, Levi, and Malcom, which I think are all great, and which are all nice fits with your older son.  

I would tend to to assume Laine was a girl, so I think your concerns there are justified.  Lee seems a little flat to me, especially next to big brother's long, formal name.  Same for Ty, although that is worse because it also seems like a nn instead of a full name, like Lee.  Weston is nice, but feels a bit more modern/trendy than Nathaniel.

Maybe Leo Weston?  Levi Owen?  Malcolm Laine?  Malcolm Lee?  

Nate and Wes sound like a cute pair. In terms of full names, Levi is probably the best 'match' for Nathaniel - but matching isn't the most important thing.

My I suggest a name? Laird. You seem to like ‘L’ names.   And if fits your style. 

Laird is firmly masculine. It seems odder on paper than it does on an acutal human being.

And I do see Laine perhaps tilting feminine in time. Though I know a Leslie who goes by his full name.  It may be annoying to be assumed a woman on paper, but when you're with him, it always feels masculine. (If that helps)

I really like Malcolm too.  Weston is nice as well. (Not really into last names as first names generally, but I do like this one.) 

I agree that Nate and Wes sound like a great pair, as do Nate and Leo (I like the idea of Lee Owen with nn Leo).

I really love Malcolm but for some reason Weston/Wes really stands out the most.  

I like Laine a lot, but with his brother often being called Nate, I fear that the long-A sound in both could lead to many mixups by sounding so alike.

Instead of Weston, have you considered Wesley or Westley with Owen as a middle? That way you get three of the names you like at once- Wes, Lee, and Leo. I think this option is the best you can get without having to give up much in terms of names you love.

Laine reads all girl to me, sorry.

Lee Owen nn Leo is great-it's my favorite of all your options.  Weston is also nice, and is probably my 2nd favorite, but it does seem a lot more trendy than Nathaniel (hence my support of the Wesley/Westley suggestion).   

I really want to like Ty-but it just seems, incomplete? Next to Nathaniel I really think I want a name with a little more heft.  Tyson or Tyler could work-but they just don't seem right.  

Levi and Malcolm just don't do it for me in this case-and I agree with your husband that Levi makes me think of Levi Johnston.  Although, it seems Levi Johnston's 15 minutes are about over, so hopefully the association will start fading soon.

I also think some of the names from your previous list would work well with Nathaniel-Gavin and Rhys are nice. Gabe could work as a nickname for Gabriel.  Nathaniel and Gabriel-Nate and Gabe.  I love this!

Thanks so much for your all your opinions.  It's nice to have fresh eyes look at the list.  I don't want to share it with anyone too close because honestly I don't want their opinion to influence our decision.  Also - I think if we receive negative feedback it would upset me especially if we chose a name that say my Mother didn't like.

After reading through the original post and replys - I don't love Laine as much as I initially did.  And I loved it for a long time!  Seeing it typed out.....it's lost it's spark.  The same with Lee.  I like the name.  I think it sounds strong, masculine and simple.  But Nate and Lee together,,, Natelee.  People might end up thinking I have 1 daughter instead of to sons. : )

Laird is nice - I have though of it before but dh said no.  It's too different for him.

I love the other W suggestions.  While I do like the name Weston - I do agree it might be too trendy.  Westley has a more classic feel to it and I do love Nate and Wes together.  I'm just not sure of the "ley" ending.  I like n's and d's.  They seem stronger to me.  Having said that, Nathaniel ends with "el" but it just feels different to me.  Other than Winston - can you think of any other W names that might suite us?  Nate and Gabe are super cute too, but Gabe seems like a little boy to me.  I can't picture him grown up.  And Gabriel, just doesn't suite us.

I also agree that Ty doesn't seem finished.  But again - Love Nate and Ty together.  I like Tyler, but I know sooo many Tylers.  It seems like it wouldn't be our name.

Lee Owen - Leo may have taken over top spot.  I still like Malcolm too.  I guess it's good to shorten the list down a bit.  But if you think of any names that we might love, please feel free to share.

Congratulations on baby #2!

I've never encountered Laine before, on either gender, but I'd assume it was a girl's name - sorry. That's not a problem in the middle slot, so if you really love it you could consider that, though I wouldn't use another short L-name for the first in that case. Owen Laine, Weston Laine, Malcolm Laine and Wesley Laine all sound good to me though.

In your shoes I'd be somewhat reluctant to use a really short name like Lee or Ty (especially since this is a nickname) after giving Nathaniel such a long name; even Leo is just over the border line for me but it does at least have two syllables. As it is, little brother will presumably have less fuss made over him in the extended family, fewer baby pictures taken, etc., so you don't want him to feel short-changed in not getting a "full" name like his brother's. You can definitely overthink trying to make sibling names "match" - after all, they'll hopefully spend most of their lives not sharing the same household - and I think if you love the two names equally and vocally, it doesn't matter much if they have a very different length, style, etc. But since that doesn't seem to be the case here, I'd probably let length help me break the tie.

Of the remaining names, Levi is the closest match stylistically but since your spouse doesn't like it and you don't absolutely love it either, I'd say cut it from the list. (I don't love it either, and it does make me think of Levi Johnston, but his 15 minutes of fame are surely about up. It's probably the most popular of your options though, if that matters to you.) Nathaniel is very flexible though in "going well" with many styles of names. I like Malcolm a lot, and Weston is just fine, but Wesley immediately occurred to me too as an alternative. If you want Owen in the middle, I think either Malcolm Owen or Wesley Owen work better than Weston Owen. Since you like nicknames, I'll point out that Malcolm has a couple to choose from: Mac, Mal, Colm, Cole.

Here are a few other names that look not-too-short on paper to go with Nathaniel but sound short (or have short nicknames) to go with Nate. They have a variety of styles, but your lists do too (I'm taking inspiration from both). Maybe one of them will appeal or give you another better idea:

Aaron, Alexander (with less popular nn., e.g. Alec, Lex, Sandy, Sasha ...), Allan, Asher, August (Augie/Gus),

Bryce, Callum or Calvin (Cal), Colin, Connor, Cormac, Desmond (Des), Dominic (Dom/Nick),

Elias/Elijah (Eli), Evan, Everett (Rett), Finn/Finley/Finnegan, Gareth/Garth, Graham, Henry (Hank),

Ian, Isaac (Ike?), Jeremy/Jeremiah (Jem), Jonah/Jonas, Jonathan (Jon/Jonty), Keith, Kyle,

Lachlan, Lance, Leif, Lewis, Lucas/Luke, Micah, Miles/Milo, Oliver (Ollie), Ronan, Rowan,

Seth, Schuyler/Skyler, Scott, Silas, Solomon (Solly/Sonny), Stephen/Steven, Timothy (Tim),

Vance, Vaughn, Victor (Vic), Wallace (Wally), Winston (Win), Zachary (Zack)

I also thought of Tycho as a longer name that gives you the nickname Ty, but this is probably a bit too "out there" for your tastes. Similarly, Arlo, Baxter, Chase, Lester, Levin, Maurice, Nevin, Orson, Oscar, Quincy, Reeve and Zebulon lie somewhat outside the style range of your list but they do have some features in common with some of your favorites.

Good luck, and I hope you'll let us know what you decide!

- kalmia (not logged in)