My wife and I have been pretty tight lipped about the fact that we are expecting another child. Turns out it's going to be a boy. We don't have a very long list of names for a boy, so far we have August and Atticus picked out as potential names.
Names are important things, there can be a lot in a name that helps to determine what kind of person you are. As lil knows there's a lot in a name.
So, what are your favorite "boy" names and why?
dude. Congratulations. I, personally, would not invoke the Internet in the naming of my kid. There's no fun in that. What we did was post post-its on the glass door with names on them, and let friends and family add and comment (this is how you find out that one of the names you love, when pared with your last name, "sounds like a stripper"). Even when we knew she'd be a girl we left the boys up. Provokes discussion and you learn things. Even then, you don't know. I used my connections to reach out to George RR Martin to ask him if he was going to turn Arya Stark into, you know, Hitler (after all, he's got two more books to really piss me off). Never heard back, and decided not to risk it, despite the fact that Game Of Thrones is literally the series that convinced me prose was worth writing and Arya literally the character that made me want to do so. So we'd settled on two or three other names, nice names, great names, and then the kid camed out and Looked pissed OFF. We knew she was an Arya within about 5 hours.
Ah - but it can be useful for eliminating names, finding out what is too popular for example. If you get half a dozen people telling you that "Candyfloss" is the perfect baby girl name, you'll know that she probably won't be unique in the playground (if that's an aim). For me, I particularly like Ancient Greek names, for both boys and girls. Orion and Apollo are two particular favourites, and I also love Corydon and Thyrsis. You kind of want to use both of those though, ie for twins or brothers, not just one.I, personally, would not invoke the Internet in the naming of my kid. There's no fun in that.
as an individual with a name unique in the playground (in this country, and particularly paired with my last name), i would like to say that, based on my interactions with actual people and their apparent perceptions/first impressions of me, i absolutely love having a pretty-sounding name that is pretty uncommon. makes me seem all interesting and exotic. unfortunately, all of my shoddy uninformed internet activity is now easily linked to me. i wish i could easily undo or escape what i have done to myself. i actually decided today that any kid of mine will be named something akin to a john doe.
What an awesome story! You have a leader of men there, be proud. Thanks for the link too, according to the wizard, there were 179 Atticus' per 1 million babies in 2012. This is where we are still leaning. As for involving the Internet, I suppose I'm allowing people I "hang out with" somewhat often to stick their virtual "post-its" on our glass door. -An idea that I really love btw.
Nice suggestion, unfortunately there's no way my wife would have agreed :) Nice seeing you on IRC.
One of my kid's names is Fox. I am asked regularly how to spell that. I usually respond "P-H-A-U-W-K-E-S-E" or some other variation. "The naming of kids is a delicate matter It's not just one of your holiday games You may think that I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you a kid must have three different names" OK - so I stole that prose and changed it... but one thing to keep in mind when naming kids is how it will sound with your last name, and the middle name. And you have to consider every possible variation of the shortening of the name. I saw that you had Emerson. I love it. But there's a chance the kid could get tagged as "Em" or bullied with an "Emily". Not a showstopper - but once you've narrowed the field, do the due diligence. Make sure the initials don't give you some A.S.S or P.M.S or something like that (although given your last name there may not be that problem). And please for the love of all that is decent and good in the universe... spell the name the way that is most logical. An acquaintance named their daughter Jeweleea - but pronounces it Julia. Seriously? I'm always a fan of looking back in genealogy and finding some sort of generational connection. And if you decide to go with a different sounding name - at least give the kid a more standard middle name to fall back on.
That's much like the way my parents chose my and my sister's names. Basically my mom came up with ideas and my dad made fun of them until they settled one. My mom's plan for my name was originally to be Konrad but my dad pointed out I could be nicknamed 'Konnie' and so now it's my middle name. And then they named my youngest sister Connie.And you have to consider every possible variation of the shortening of the name. I saw that you had Emerson. I love it. But there's a chance the kid could get tagged as "Em" or bullied with an "Emily". Not a showstopper - but once you've narrowed the field, do the due diligence. Make sure the initials don't give you some A.S.S or P.M.S or something like that (although given your last name there may not be that problem).
As I mentioned at the outset, we like the name August, but the nickname would be "Gus." I don't really like that name. I like the name Konrad quite a bit, but I would definitely not like him to be called "Connie."
I actually don't mind "Seven" but it falls in the same category of a name my wife suggested last night. The name was "Blue". It's probably cute as a kid, but nobody wants to go in to a serious meeting and intrododuce themselves as "Soda".
Atticus is going to be THE MOST POPULAR NAME. No joke, I have 3 friends who just named their kid Atticus. I love the name. Like really really really really really love it. But keep in mind that he'll probably be in a class with 3-6 other Atticus's. I'm personally really fond of the name Emerson for a boy. Plus "These are my kids, Eve and Emerson" sounds pretty great.
I know two Atticus(es?) myself. check this shit out. Went to an "orientation" for baby swimming lessons in the middle of hippie Venice. There were two Milos, two Bodhis and two Noahs (technically, one Noah and one Noa). There were only seven babies.
Maybe because we all grew up loving to kill a mockingbird...and are now not opposed to semi-weird names. My mom always said she wanted to name my brother Atticus but felt that it was too weird and he would be an object of ridicule. Times have changed and now everyone has weird names. I have worked for a kids beach camp for 7 years now and the list of weird names I pull get more and more unique every year. And not "culturally" unique. Just plain different to be different. It started slowly with the e's and i's turning to y's: Kevyn, Justyn, Austyn. Here's some from this year: MAESUN. TEYMOUR. AIDRIC (sounds badass). AMBERLYNN. AISLIN. AYALA. AYIDA. Brothers Sawyer & Finn. LEIGHTON. TILLIE. JRUE. STODDARD. MALYN. COSMO (with an awesome very jewish last name.) Brothers Crispin, Asher, and Tafton. I could go on all day. We even have two Sebastian's and a Montgomery. Those are healthy, oldschool badass names. AINSLEY. I kind of like that. I also quite like the name Sawyer. But not with a brother named Finn.
Emerson is in the mix, for sure. My wife really likes that name. I didn't realize there were so many Atticui out there. Bummer.
I know. Atticus was also on my list for when I have babies in the very far future. Now they're all over my facebook. I feel robbed.
I think it depends on the family name. I always find it odd when the first name and the family name don't run well together, like when someone has a Spanish or Italian sounding first name and an English family name. For example, if I met a guy named, "Pedro Smith" I would doubt his existence until I met him. How about Gustav? Gus is kind of a funny/cute name for a kid and then Gustav sounds pretty good as a formal "adult" name, if a little heavy on the grandeur.
We joked that it would be Claus Von Clausnitzer. -The K's give it a quality that is a bit scary. Especially with the middle name Karl.
In all seriousness, be very careful. I don't know your last name, but if I recall correctly it's heavy on the syllables. Don't match more than two syllables of first name with three+ of last name, I would imagine. Similarly, think of nicknames -- Augie/Gus and I'm not sure what for Atticus. Make sure you like those as well. Contrast it with your daughter's name, maybe. There are so many pitfalls to naming kids, I don't relish the challenge if it ever crops up in my life. I met a guy named Chisholm at work yesterday -- that's naming your kid something unique and doing it right. Seriously great name. If the kid doesn't own it it doesn't mean shit though. I really feel like more people should explore with names like that, but at the same time remember that this is one of the most important parenting decisions you can make. You can really screw up a kid's childhood with a bad name, or an overcomplicated name (or by naming your daughter after a character in a popular TV show who seems like she's doing okay but takes a sharp turn for the worse in the ensuing books that you haven't read), or a name no one can pronounce right off the bat, etc. A close friend of mine in high school had a cat named Atticus that turned out all right. Its sibling Ticonderoga didn't end up so well, though. I don't know. Nominal determination?
Chisholm sounds like his mother's maiden name possibly. Excellent way to honour the maternal line if the last name is the father's. Unusual first names can be hell on a kid early in life, but several adults have told me that they now like their unusual name because people tend to remember them and, as an adult, it can be beneficial to stand out from the crowd.
I was doing some research! There's this and this. I'm leaning to the latter because I'm in Oklahoma.
Well there's the list of manliest names to take some inspiration from. I'm partial to Magnus Ver Magnusson, but it probably wouldn't work as well with your last name. I knew a guy named Magnus once, strange guy. I've also been friends with guys named Tague and Leor, for less common names. There's always Anastasia.
Atticus! breathtaking, I've had many a conversation about how great a name that would be. I like Max. full disclosure, it's my name, or rather my full name is Maxim, with a Russian pronunciation it's Mackzeem, and its hebrew origin informs me that it means charming.
Saxton. I feel like had my name been Saxton, I'd get much more respect. The masculenity of the name in general would save your boy some trouble, yo.
Luckily Atticus is not one of the top 50 dog names of 2012, although blackbootz might be proud to know that Max is #1.
thenewgreen, WolframAlpha has a great (human) name analysis, if you are worried about a name becoming too common.
Thanks, kb provided a nice site for such things as well.... but now I kind of like the name Wolfram. NO WAY she'd ever agree to it though :)
Wow... a name we haven't yet considered that isn't absolutely out of left field. Thanks man, it may actually work with my last name too.
My wife mentioned the name Dylan tonight. What do you think of that?
I have the bad habit of associating a name with a personality based on those whom I've known through the years with that name. Fortunately, all the Dylans I've known have been great people (although I don't know about Dillons).
lil, By the way, this is a perfect example of how my friendships online vary from my friendships in real life. There are plenty of people that don't know that we are having a child. Almost everybody uses Facebook as a springboard for such announcements and communications. My wife is adamant that we don't. Therefore, if my friends don't follow me on Hubski, shame on them anyways. Lord knows I've asked them to check the site out. So, they may not know that the baby is coming until it has come. Not only do you guys know, but you literally have a potential hand and naming it. Advantage… Hubski
She likes the name Adrian. It's on the list of potentials, thank you.
Pff, a name for a boy. Hard one, for girls I find it to be a lot easier. I like 'Isaac', although I like the German/Dutch pronunciation better than the english one. Long 'a', real 's' instead of the cut off 'a' and 'z' used in the english pronunciation.
Yannick is also a nice name and I agree with sounds_sound on Julian (but that is already shot down I see :P).
Yannick reminds me of Yorick. As in Sheakspeare's Yorick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Shakespearean_character...) Artemidorus with Steve's last name would be absolutely epic. Same with Andronicus. Put him in a throne and call it a day. :P
I actually liked your name quite a bit. All of the "b"'s I had known had been cool. Then I met you. You share a name with one of my favorite cousins as well as one a member of The New Green. You had to ruin it though :)
Roman. Nico. James. Charles. Julian. and Aubrey cause I like giving boys, girls names.
I liked the suggestions: Nico and Aubrey. Just texted "J" though and she wrote, "too Jersey Shore". Not sure what that means, but I think it's a "no". Maybe we'll have to go with "Dr. Sanjay Gupta" again.
And why not. It's like I've always said, "Can't have too many guptas". and "More Gupta!!".
I feel like I knew that. Even though it's counter intuitive to me.
I like Owen. I don't think we've discussed that name before, I'll bring it up tonight. Thank you. I also like Gram a lot but she's has struck that one down already.
People often find it valuable to carry the name of a loved, but deceased family member. They feel imbued with that person's spirit and positive characteristics. Who are your heros? Clearly "John" should be in there. We know you love John Lennon. -- so something for music. Maybe "Nelson" after Mandela, for freedom (or Martin or Mahatma) Does your wife have a hero in medical research (Jonas?)
My sister took all of the viable family names in one child. He has my fathers middle name and my grandfathers first name. My sister just had another boy and she named him Hudson. I've been calling him..... you guessed it: Hudski. edit: My wife really admires Dr. Michael DeBakey but I don't think we are going with "Michael" or "DeBakey" as a first name.