It also helps to tell us some of how each of you came to lock in on the names you did. When we had boy/girl twins in 2008, both of us agreed instantly on the girl's name, Audrey Rose, but the boy was much more difficult. Kristina wanted either Owen or Spencer, but I wanted Declan. She didn't have much beyond liking the sound of it, but she was very wary of going with Declan, feeling that it was too obscure. I liked some of the religious history of the name (Declan being the name of a native missionary who brought the Gospel to Ireland before Patrick's more famous career), and one of the alternate meanings of the name, "man of prayer" was important to me. We probably debated for the better part of 5 months on this, until our oldest daughter (just short of 3 years old at the time) broke the deadlock by insisting (and I had not been coaching her) that he was a Declan, and would not be moved. When the boy came out looking every inch an Irishman (despite having parents who were Filipino/Dutch and Swedish/German), it was obvious that he was indeed a Declan, and his mother now says she can't imagine him being anything but a Declan either. Except when the Dr's office calls to confirm De-CLAN's appointments. Then she grits her teeth and shoots me dirty looks.
Sounds like it's time for option C or D. You may not pick another option, but you might decide they're worse A or B.
fischerw - It's still in the oven cooking and despite my preference we're not going to find out the gender. All we're debating is the first name but both the boy & girl options. I want to stick with my initials (which are my dad's as well) as kind of a throw to the ol' Man. She's into matching it to our 3-year old daughter's name, something "old-fashioned." Our daughter is insiting on Amelia Bedelia so she's been no help.
It seems like you could BOTH have the future son's/daughter's initials match your own, AND make it old fashioned. What's your current daughter's name, if it's not too much to ask? And what names do you and your wife prefer for the new kid?
I'm usually cool with letting the wife win when it comes to dinner options or even paint colors or something like that. But this is a kid's name! Dad's got to get his two cents in here too. Tess is our daughter's name (which already matches my initials if you could't figure that out ). Here's the deal, if its a girl I could really care less (I already have my preference fulfilled in Tess). BUT her choice for a girl name is Meg or Violet. Meg I might could do but not Violet. No disrespects to any Violets out there, but I see it best applied to names of craft stores or candles or something to do with knitting. Any thumbs-up/thumbs down for Titus, Tyson, or Trace? My options for boys.
Titus= thumbs up Tyson= non-committal thumb Trace= thumbs down Trace doesn't strike me well, but hey, it's your kid! There are plenty of names I like that people would find bizarre.
All three are horrible imo. My Mrs picked our first kids name and I never liked it and tried to get her to change it but she didn't. It grows on you is all I can tell you!
I have to admit, I'm not crazy about any of them. Titus would be my first choice of the three, however.
Thanks for the help guys. Might have to go back to the drawing board again (or the 1001 Baby Names book).
I'm generally opposed to giving all the kids names that start with the same letter. You don't have to paint yourself into that corner. My wife's parents did that to their kids. Titus is problematical in that there's no good nickname for a 4 yr old. You have to be able to say a kid's name and not sound mad at him. OTOH, Titus is a very strong name. Tyson is the largest grower of chickens in the known world. Need I say more. Trace is another name with no nickname, unless you do Tracie, which is sort of unisex, but not really. I like Trace OK, but it's in that yuppie-pretentious category, unless you're from the South, and then it's preppy, which suggests Bass loafers without sox and pink oxford cloth buttondown collar shirts with chinos. Risky.
Listen to your daughter. One of our twin 5 year olds is named Amelia (after Amelia Earhart). I love that name, and even more now than when she was born. It really grows on you. The other daughter is named Alethea, which I stilll like, but it hasn't stood the test of time as well as Amelia. Although I don't know about Bedelia?
In the UK, the feminine of Adrian is Adrienne. I suspect that there is a strong French influence in that. In Britain, it's not uncommon for male and female names to be very similar, the addition of a feminine suffix being enough to differentiate. George becomes Georgina, Alan becomes Alanna, Paul becomes Pauline. You get the drift. With regard to boys names, there have been a number of subtle shifts in spelling. My middle name is Jonathan. As a boy growing up in the 1950s and 60s, whenever I wrote my name in full, I would be corrected.... told that it should be spelt Johnathan (note the inclusion of the 'h'). Indeed, the spelling of my middle name was considered an oddity, although the spelling was a well established and legitimate variant. Now, in the 21st Century, almost all boys given the name of John / Jon are spelled with the 'h' omitted. Not only this, but there seems to be a cultural shift in formally giving children abbreviated versions of traditional names. Jonathan is becoming simply Jon or Jonny, for example. Other names I have noticed being formally registered in an abbreviated form include: MALE Ben (rather than Reuben / Benjamin / Benedict) Sam (Samuel) Tony (Anthony) FEMALE Terri (was Theresa) Ali (Alison) Jenni (Jennifer) and the worst of the lot (I have actually seen this happen....) Shaz (Sharon)...That's not an abbreviation, it's an appalling corruption. But these are trends and fads in naming children which, unfortunately, have come about, I feel, as a result of the general dumbing down of our society. Perhaps the parents are too educationally challenged to give their children a name which they may not be able to spell (or possibly even pronounce) in full. Perhaps though, the final word has to go to the practice of naming children after celebrities. Once, at a supermarket checkout I saw two horrible little brats misbehaving, whereupon (I presume) the mother berated them, in her best Essex chav accent: "Ronan, Kylie, stop that" The poor little sods have to spend their lives saddled with the names of transient pop warblers who will be long forgotten before these kids become adults. I blame the parents.
i think more people are just realizing that it's pointless to formally name a child something even though they will never go by that name. my parents named me rebecca. nice, pretty. but they have never. ever. called me that. it's always been becky. i now use rebecca for work but not with friends/family. the only reason i got rebecca was because it was biblical and we were catholic. now, i actually like rebecca better though. i do agree about shaz though. that's a little much. although i guess over here down in the south people will actually name their kid "bubba", whereas i believe it used to just be a nickname.
I'm in the same boat. My parents named me William, but they never ever called me that-- I was always Bill to everyone I know. The only person who ever calls me William is my 90-something year old grandmother and she does it as a joke.
thanks for posting this names this quite interesting for picking names for new born babies.... nice post
we have friends where the wife is "Becca". probably a sort of yuppie variation. i don't think Kylie is a horrible name. if you're of Celtic ancestry, it's probably preferable to Luighseach.
I think the longer/formal names are better though because it gives the kid some options to go by later on. If you officially name a kid "Andy" then he's stuck with that forever, but if you name him "Andrew" then he can go by Andrew, Andy, Drew, etc... he has some options. So if you like Andy, you can still call him that while he's growing up, but if he doesn't necessarily like it, then he can at least tell all his new friends at college "yeah, my name is... [whatever he likes]". Like you, you said you actually like "Rebecca" more than "Becky" now, so you can actually tell new people that you meet that your name is Rebecca and not be lying about it. Whereas if your parents were short-sighted and had just named you Becky, you'd be stuck.
One of my former bosses' legal name is "Katie", but she goes by "Kate" in professional settings. It's kinda funny. But she's totally a "Kate", not a "Katie". Really, I know plenty of people who've switched to more formal versions of their names after leaving college. I know some people prefer nickname-proof names, but I like the flexibility (FWIW, my daughter is Josie, but legally she's Jocelyn).