Years ago, one of the bloggers wrote a post asking for the assistance of Hellobee readers to find a name for her child. And man, that was a great idea! So here I am, to share a bit about where we are at with names and see if anyone has any advice or ideas! Because, hi friends, we are knocking on the door of the third trimester without a clue in the world what we will call this little guy.
Finding our first son’s name (Colin Harrison) was easy, in part because we were following the Jewish tradition of naming after relatives who are no longer with us. His first and middle names both use the first letters of family we’ve lost, with a C and an H, there were limited choices in general, and Mr. Confetti and I were able to narrow each name down to 2 or 3 choices and then the right name just sung to it.
This time, we are blessed to not be tethered to a starting initial for this little guy’s first name. While I am more than thankful to not be naming after people (yay for healthy, living parents and grandparents), having the entire alphabet at our disposal has left the door too wide open. In general, we have a handful of “meh” names, but nothing that seems to be screaming this baby boy’s name yet.
Here’s the criteria:
- but I would like to stay out of the SSA Top 10 or 20.
- No more “C” names – we’re done with the letter.
- We generally like “classic” and normally spelled names that wouldn’t trip anyone up with spelling or pronunciation.
- Must flow with Colin – I figure I’ll be shouting, “Colin, ___, stop that!” as they are getting into trouble together throughout their childhood…and probably forever.
- We both tend to like biblical names, but that isn’t mandatory at all.
- Irish is acceptable (duh: Colin) but not preferred (no need to have a whole brood of Irish names, since we aren’t even remotely Irish ourselves).
- We are going to pick an “I” name for the baby’s middle name in honor of my husband’s grandfather, but there aren’t any “I” names that sing to me as a winning first. But still, whatever the first name is, it needs to flow well with a middle name that starts with “I” – which makes names that end in certain vowels a bit tricky. (“I” middle name suggestions welcome as well)
- Names Mr. C likes that I have vetoed: Jacob, Ethan, Keith, Sean
- Names I like that Mr. C has vetoed: Adrian, Jonah, Dylan, Parker
Help, help, help! Any ideas guys? I’m opening the floor to suggestions – ready, go!
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
Drew, Miles, Kent, Seth, Bennett, John, and Lachlan (possible pronunciation problems but I love love love the name!) are some of my favourites right now.
For a middle name, I like Ian.
Lachlan Ian would be my favourite!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Hmm, given C’s name and your vetoed favorites I wouldn’t describe your name preference as classic, but rather contemporary.
How about…
Asher
Tristan
Topher (Christopher)
Joshua (Joshua Ian sounds good to me)
Miles
Brett
Brandon
Matthew
As for middle names
Ian
Isaac
Ivey (my friend’s hubby’s first name is Ivey so cool IMO)
Israel (my friend’s youngest son first name is Israel and OMG love this as a name)
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
How about Simon? Simon Isaac maybe?
guest
The first name I thought of was Elijah. ALthough the only middle names with an ‘I’ that I can think of are Isaac and Ian and neither of those flow well with Elijah. I also think Declan Isaac sounds nice. What about these classics:
Paul
Thomas
Gabriel
Evan
Malcolm
guest
Some of the other comments have Miles and I’m a little partial as our first child is Miles.
I also like Milo, and David (our second son’s name), Micah.
Boys names are hard. Mostly because you find a whole bunch of meh names.
olive / 57 posts
Theodore nn Teddy or Theo
Sullivan
Benjamin
Porter
Simon
Daniel
Phillip
Landon
Eric
David
Dominic
Good luck! We are having twin girls and my husband and I have opposite taste in most things, including names
Should be fun to come up with two more girls names we love (we have a 2 year old daughter)!
guest
Asher! A friend of mine has an Asher, and despite being Jewish myself I didn’t realize that it’s one of the Jewish tribes.
Also, Simon, Thomas, Samuel
cherry / 105 posts
Seth, Samson, or Samuel. Not sure why I’m stuck on “S” names, but I love all those choices. DS was very close to being named Seth.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I also like Asher a lot but Dh vetoes it even though its a family name as he feels it sounds clunky with our last name.
Austin
Eric
James
Henry
Jasper
Brandon
Paul
Bennett
Kyle
For I names I like Issac, Isaiah, & Ian,
James Issac
Brandon Ian
Paul Issac
Henry Isaiah
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@Mrs. Chocolate: Colin & Kyle…like those two together!
Kyle Isaac
Kyle Ivey
guest
My little guy (2 year old) is Isaac. It’s classic and biblical
pomegranate / 3565 posts
I agree that boy names are hard! My husband and I joke that if we have a 3rd son he will be nameless. Our criteria is that it has to sound good in Spanish and English. That is hard! I have a Gabriel and Leonardo. Gabe and Leo as nicknames.
For a middle name I like Ian. I was thinking Matthew Ian but I noticed Matthew is in the top 20. Actually I like a lot of the names on that list. Other names that popped in my head were Thomas and James.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
@Mrs. Chocolate: I like Henry too!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
You guys are all awesome! So many good options among the names you listed. A few that are vetoed because they belong to family members already are David, Joshua, and Matthew. Keep ’em coming
nectarine / 2079 posts
I know siblings named Colin and Logan.
pear / 1998 posts
Not sure what your last name is, but when the middle name is a vowel, make sure that the initials don’t spell something you don’t like!
pea / 10 posts
I love the name Kent. It’s classic sounding, easy to spell and pronounce. It’s rather rare these days and it feels strong and manly. I would have named my son this but my husband did not like it. We actually ended up with Benjamin, which is within the top 20 boy names. I initially wanted more unique but my husband and I had such a hard time finding a match that when we did I just went with it. Now…I really don’t know why I was so adamant about having a less popular name.
I can’t wait to hear what your family decides!
pomegranate / 3768 posts
Joshua, Noah, Lucas!
pomelo / 5257 posts
I like Elijah Isaac — Eli for short. I also like Samuel for a first name and Isaiah for a middle name.
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
Bryce!
pomegranate / 3032 posts
Middle names “I”
Iago, Ian, Ibrahim, Idris, Iggy, Ignatius, Igor, Ike, Immanuel, Indiana, Indigo, Ingram, Innocent, Ira, Irvin, Irving, Irwin, Isaac, Isaiah, Isandro, Isidore, Israel, Ivan, Izaiah, Izzy
pomegranate / 3244 posts
I’m stumped for a first name but I LOVE the name Ira for a middle!
cherry / 224 posts
What about Ezra or Ezekiel (I love the nickname Zeek); Daniel, Ryan, Eli, Asher, Brahm, Henry
Middle names with “I”: Isaiah?
Ezra Isaiah?
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
My favorite biblical names that aren’t in the Top 20: Micah, Asher, Nathan/Nathanial, Jeremy/Jeremiah, Joseph, Simon, and Luke.
I think Simon and Colin would sound SO SWEET together!
Some of the vetoed names you mentioned are my favorite (Joshua, Matthew, David). I LOVED the name Joseph, but it was off the list because DH has TWO cousins with that name, and they share the same last name. Asher was a top pick for us too, but it sounds off with our last name, and it’s also rising pretty quickly in popularity even though I still really like it.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@Mrs. Chocolate: I swear we have the same name preferences. Asher was so close to being our chosen boy name, but we couldn’t get over the way it sounded with our last name. Maybe we were thinking too much into it, but we ended up nixing it.
@Mrs. Confetti: For “I” names, I like Ira, Isaac, and Ian. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of “I” names out there. Toughie!
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
I think Evan is so lovely and would go well with Colin. Good luck! Naming the second is so hard! We had the hardest time with it too! Luckily Baby nr 3 was a girl which made it easier…
guest
Before we found out our currently baking LO is a girl, husband and I clicked on the name Reid. Of course finding a girl name we both were more then ‘meh’ on took four more months!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
Isaac and Ian are my favorite I names.
Benjamin Isaac
Brady Ian
grapefruit / 4355 posts
Looking at your vetoed names, your husband seems to prefer a more classic name but I don’t think your favorites are very classic. Nice names – but not classic.
That said – here are my suggestions: Patrick, Hunter, Evan, Lucas, Logan, Kevin, and Wyatt.
I really like Ian or Issac for middle names with I.
kiwi / 525 posts
Irish list presenting for duty
Aidan/Aodan, Brian, Brendan, Caolan (pron. Kale-an), Cian (pron Keen), Conor, Cormac, Dara, Dermot, Declan, Eoin (Owen), Fergus/Fergal, Finn/Fionn, Gareth, Hugh, Liam, Lorcan, Lui (pron Louis), Martin, Malachy, Neill, Oran, Ryan, Rory, Senan, Seamus, Tiernan.
My nephews are Lorcan & Lui, Ryan, Conor, Ben & Alex. If we go again for the boy it’ll be Fionnán or Tiernan. I love Senan – verrrrry old name – but Dh doesn’t. Oh and dh is Enda.
blogger / cherry / 247 posts
reading this post makes me sweat a little (because we are in the same boat). GAH! i have very little input for you but sympathize a lot. haha!
possibilities?
Winston (could go by Winn)
Wyatt
Ezekial (Zeek) – too much?
Anderson
Amos
Quinn
kiwi / 525 posts
Gaah I keep hitting the Contact button!
You won’t have heard this name I bet, and as its a middle name the pronunciation doesn’t matter as much. Iarlaith. Pron Eer-la, emphasis on first syllable. Lovely lovely name.
guest
I can relate – we didn’t find out the sex for our first child so ended up with 3 girl and 3 boy names at delivery. My favorite name one out for our daughter because after 26 hours of labor, my husband said I earned it
For our second daughter, we also went back and forth over and over.
Here are a few suggestions – you’ve received so many good ones already! Benjamin, Max, Henry, Harrison, Nathan. I also love the name Asher – haven’t seen that one much but many people have suggested it here. Good luck!
persimmon / 1128 posts
I like Grayson, Simon, and Gavin for a first, with Irving and Isaac as a middle.
@Mamasig: Agreed, on all counts! We have Carlos and Mateo, and if we had to agree on a third name we might kill each other in the process.
guest
Here’s another vote for Ira for the middle name.
I also heart Isaac. Ideas for a first name are: Adley (Hebrew origin), Finn, Owen, Ronan, Adam, Abe/Abraham, and Abel, and Will(iam) (although this might be in the top 20).
pomegranate / 3565 posts
@shinymama: Mateo is one of our maybe names if we have a 3rd boy! Then you have to think if middle names too! Ugh.
olive / 64 posts
I names:
so of course I love that name.
Ivan, Ike, Ignatius. Why not use his namesake’s actual name though?
I have a Henry
apple seed / 2 posts
our boy is Jeffrey. And I like Ian as well.
pear / 1622 posts
We just named our son Benjamin and my Jewish family and my husband’s Christian family both were thrilled. Even though it’s on the top 20 list, I rarely hear of little ones with that name today. I also like the name Isaac with it as a middle name or Isaac would be a great first name.
guest
Nathaniel (Nate) Ian
Thomas Isaac
Jonas Ian
Jordan Isaac
(Not a lot of ‘I’ names!)
coffee bean / 42 posts
Well it’s #19 on the SSA list, but I like Joseph Isaac
watermelon / 14467 posts
I really like James Issac.
pear / 1696 posts
Theodore
Graham
Warren
Asher
Tucker
Hunter
Samson
Solomon
Lucien
How about Ike or Ira for the middle
pear / 1696 posts
@Mamagoose: I like Sullivan too. DH wanted to name DS that and call him “Sully” for short. Maybe if we have another boy…
nectarine / 2053 posts
Baby boy is due in December and we’ve chosen the name Micah! Boy names are SO HARD! Micah is one of my favorite biblical names because it’s not so popular and I just love the way it sounds.
Other names we liked:
Olin
Theo
Ivan
Oliver
Archer
Josiah
Sawyer
Good luck!
guest
Peter
Rowan
Marlon
Troy
Jesse
Nathan
Vincent
Hugh
John
Victor
grapefruit / 4717 posts
Oh my, we’d be in the same boat if we ever have another kid who is a boy. Love some of the suggestions others have given — just want to empathize
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Here’s a few we’ve tossed around:
Asher
Cooper
Parker
Chad (or Chandler)
Topher (Christopher)
Thatcher
Tobin
Dylan
Xavier
Knox
Charlie
Nathaniel (Nate)
apricot / 288 posts
How about Elliot? I like it with Israel or Isaac as a middle name. And no worries about weird words spelled by the initials. Plus, it’s not the name we’re using so you’re safe there!
pomelo / 5621 posts
I love the name Isaac, this does happen to be DS’s name.
nectarine / 2210 posts
It looks like all of the names I’ve thought of people have suggested already, but I do like Elijah, Asher, and Jordan. And Actually the Colin I knew growing up had an older brother Alex if that’s a possibility.
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
A friend of mine had a little boy yesterday and named him Jasper Noah. Wouldn’t Jasper go well with Colin? It’s unique but not weird. On a weirder note – how about Ireland for a middle name. It does sound a little child-of-actors-like, but it could be cool.
kiwi / 525 posts
There’s also Ivor, haven’t seen that mentioned yet.
eggplant / 11408 posts
We were Team Green and seriously considering Xavier Ignatius for a name! I also love Isidore. I have a thing for I names
guest
Colin and Parker Ian
Colin and Henry Isaac
Colin and Benjamin Isaiah
Colin and Zachary Ian
Colin and Samuel Isaac
Colin and Parker Issac
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
I don’t have any new suggestions… but man, you have a LOT of great options above! How will you ever choose?! (Seriously, I’m curious!)
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
@Mrs. Paintbrush: me vs mr c, fight to the death. Haha I wish I could tell you. My guess is process of elimination down to 3 or 4 and then we will wait to meet him and see if one name sticks…?
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
@Mrs. Confetti: Hahahaha! Battle to the death… I like that!
We had the benefit of seeing the child and hearing of his personality before choosing a name… so it seems so hard to have to pick prior! I like your idea of seeing which one sticks!
guest
I Names – Ian or Isaac
Other names: Andrew (Andy), Henry, Benjamin, Blake, Jacob, Sam, Zack, Daniel, Jack, Matthew…