Let's talk baby names

[SMC]

Niel - I really like Elias as a name, though if it doesn't work with your middle/last name, I hear ya.

Have you considered:

Elijah (same general sound but works better with Francis)
Emmett
Toby
Leo
Julian

I'm kind of late to the game so I can't tell if Francis is a middle or last name, but I think that those names sound awesome with Francis!!

Thanks! We had considered all of those for a moment or two, but don't work for either me or my hubby. I've been on a baby name search like a mad woman, so its hard to find a name I hadn't considered, though. Hahaha.

Francis will be his middle, as it is my husband's middle. And I got to pick the last middle. Its a strong underused name though. So I like it.

We are down to Walter James Francis and Marshall Francis.

James is in there because I am all emotional about my DH having his family name and his surname for the baby, I'm all , what about my.family, am I chopped liver??!

But it doesn't work as well with Marshall so I left it off there. Still simmering on it though.

Both names sound fine to me. What about Warren? I also don't seen anything wrong with Marshall James Francis, but that could just be me! Good luck with your decision!

 

[Niel]

Niel - I really like Elias as a name, though if it doesn't work with your middle/last name, I hear ya.

Have you considered:

Elijah (same general sound but works better with Francis)
Emmett
Toby
Leo
Julian

I'm kind of late to the game so I can't tell if Francis is a middle or last name, but I think that those names sound awesome with Francis!!

Thanks! We had considered all of those for a moment or two, but don't work for either me or my hubby. I've been on a baby name search like a mad woman, so its hard to find a name I hadn't considered, though. Hahaha.

Francis will be his middle, as it is my husband's middle. And I got to pick the last middle. Its a strong underused name though. So I like it.

We are down to Walter James Francis and Marshall Francis.

James is in there because I am all emotional about my DH having his family name and his surname for the baby, I'm all , what about my.family, am I chopped liver??!

But it doesn't work as well with Marshall so I left it off there. Still simmering on it though.

Both names sound fine to me. What about Warren? I also don't seen anything wrong with Marshall James Francis, but that could just be me! Good luck with your decision!

You're right. Marshall James Francis isn't bad. But I feel weird about having a double middle name when M doesn't have one. But I ONLY like Walter with the double middle name.
We had considered warren but as its a city near us, it doesnt sound like a first name.

 

[maccers]

Hello!

I need help too. Something to go with Meredith. We have a family tradition where the baby gets one of parents' first/middle names. My sister's middle name is after my dad's middle name. My niece's first name is my sister's middle name....My middle name (Meredith) will be the first name (if we have a girl).

We seem to have the boy's name sorted out, so far.

Niel - I like the inclusion of James, it flows well in my opinion.

 

[Niel]

Hello!

I need help too. Something to go with Meredith. We have a family tradition where the baby gets one of parents' first/middle names. My sister's middle name is after my dad's middle name. My niece's first name is my sister's middle name....My middle name (Meredith) will be the first name (if we have a girl).

We seem to have the boy's name sorted out, so far.

Niel - I like the inclusion of James, it flows well in my opinion.

Congrats maccers I didn't know you were expecting!
Its hard to pick a middle name when I don't know your last name.

You don't have to tell me, but is it a one syllable, 5 syllables? Is it Italian? German?

 

[maccers]

Fair question! The kids get DH's last name (I get to pick first and middle, hahaha), Chow. It's so common, I'm not too worried about privacy. Plus I don't use it.

 

[Niel]

Fair question! The kids get DH's last name (I get to pick first and middle, hahaha), Chow. It's so common, I'm not too worried about privacy. Plus I don't use it.

My husbands last name is one syllable too. It always lends itself to name picking I think.

Meradith chow hmmmm

Meridith Caroline chow?
Meridith Olive Chow
Meridith Anabel Chow
Meridith Willow Chow
Meridith Adelaide Chow
Meridith Coraline Chow
Meridith Margaret chow.
Meridith Juniper Chow


I don't know your style .... So I'll stop in case you hate them all haha

Eta: just realized I spelled the name wrong. Sorry lol

 

[maccers]

Thanks for those!

I don't hate all of them, hahaha. I'm not a fan of Willow and Juniper, not my style.

I don't mind Olive, Anabel, and Adelaide. But those are very trendy where I live which makes me feel a bit weird. I'm trying to stay away from common but also not have it be obscure and/or difficult.

The 2013 10 top girls names where I live are: Olivia, Emma, Emily, Sophia, Ava, Avery, Abigail, Charlotte, Chloe, Lily. Also popular among friends/acquiantances: Eva, Hannah, and Rose.

Ivy? Too trendy?
Kate? Too royal? Plain?
Adelaide is a bit of a mouthful when added to Meredith.


I'm so difficult! And very confused. But we have tons of time to decide. I'm just starting my second trimester.

ETA: Looking at vital stats names where I live, in 2013, Mercedes is just as common as Meredith!

 

[Niel]

Thanks for those!

I don't hate all of them, hahaha. I'm not a fan of Willow and Juniper, not my style.

I don't mind Olive, Anabel, and Adelaide. But those are very trendy where I live which makes me feel a bit weird. I'm trying to stay away from common but also not have it be obscure and/or difficult.

The 2013 10 top girls names where I live are: Olivia, Emma, Emily, Sophia, Ava, Avery, Abigail, Charlotte, Chloe, Lily. Also popular among friends/acquiantances: Eva, Hannah, and Rose.

Ivy? Too trendy?
Kate? Too royal? Plain?
Adelaide is a bit of a mouthful when added to Meredith.


I'm so difficult! And very confused. But we have tons of time to decide. I'm just starting my second trimester.

ETA: Looking at vital stats names where I live, in 2013, Mercedes is just as common as Meredith!

NP! I really hate other people making suggestions, but then look at me I do too.

I'd say, figure out what amount of syllables you want, what letter you want it to start with (or letters I'd you don't mind a few) and what style you want.

Vintage? Mid century? Traditional? Modern? Gender neutral?

Elizabeth would be nice I think. But like you said its a mouthful.

Ivy and Kate are really short, do you prefer a short middle?

 

[SMC]

Thanks for those!

I don't hate all of them, hahaha. I'm not a fan of Willow and Juniper, not my style.

I don't mind Olive, Anabel, and Adelaide. But those are very trendy where I live which makes me feel a bit weird. I'm trying to stay away from common but also not have it be obscure and/or difficult.

The 2013 10 top girls names where I live are: Olivia, Emma, Emily, Sophia, Ava, Avery, Abigail, Charlotte, Chloe, Lily. Also popular among friends/acquiantances: Eva, Hannah, and Rose.

Ivy? Too trendy?
Kate? Too royal? Plain?
Adelaide is a bit of a mouthful when added to Meredith.


I'm so difficult! And very confused. But we have tons of time to decide. I'm just starting my second trimester.

ETA: Looking at vital stats names where I live, in 2013, Mercedes is just as common as Meredith!

I think I'd tend to go with a one (mayyybe 2) syllable middle name since Meredith is already pretty long. No real suggestions though, as ones like Anne and Rose seem to be way too popular as a middle name (Marie too, but Marie doesn't really go well with Meredith, IMO).

If your baby arrives in May, what about Meredith May/Mae?

 

[Niel]

I think the middle name would be nice 2 syllables, but like,super short. Like you said ivy, or ida is another example. Though I don't think Meridith Ida goes. But I think it the 3 2 1 syllables is very flattering.

 

[maccers]

Wow, ladies. Thanks for the suggestions.

Niel, I would say for the most part I'm traditional with a touch of vintage (this probably applies to my taste in jewelry too). I love the idea of the 3-2-1 syllables! Ida doesn't work as you say.

SMC, I love May/Mae but I'd told myself I couldn't use it bc my three year old niece's middle name is Mae. But, if I reconsider, I don't think my sister or BIL would mind at all if we used it. If anything it would be cute for the cousins to have that in common!

I'm feeling better about the whole name thing now. At least I have some ideas and ways to narrow it down, by number of syllables, my vintage-traditional leanings. This is really good stuff!

 

[Niel]

Hmm, I was trying to think of classic shorter 2 syllable names....

Lucy
Ada
Liza
Nora
Louise
Eva


If you find ones that are popular that you like, I wouldn't worry too much. one, popularity isn't what it used to be. Even the most popular names are used for, typically, less than 1k kids per state.

Secondly, its a middle name, so I think as long as you don't pick the "obvious" middle names, itll be ok. By obvious mean I mean, Marie or something

 

[packrat]

I was going to suggest Ada, I see Niel already did-great minds!

 

[swingirl]

Just a few more to add to the confusion. Meridith is so pretty.

Meridith Rae Chow
Meridith Lin Chow
Meridith Clara Chow
Meridith Nina Chow

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Dropping in just b/c it's fun

Mccers--

I love Meredith Louise Chow!

Also,

Meredith Adele Chow

Meredith Elaine Chow

Meredith Isla Chow


Niel--
My younger son's name is Elias and I love it!

Other names on our short list were/are:

Aaron, Benjamin, Judah, Solomon, Bennett, Leo, Emmett, Ellis, Drew/Andrew, Isaiah, and Ryan

LovesVintage-I like Benjamin (see above and think it sounds fab with your daughter's name, especially if you have a slightly nontrad middle name like she has...Benjamin is not uncommon, but it's not like he'd be Ben R in his class. I don't actually know any Benjamin/Ben's in my son's age group.

 

[maccers]

Wow, I have a lot to work with here.

My mom would be over the moon if we chose Louise. And my MIL would love it if we chose Lynn/Lin etc.

I talked to DH about middle names, he'll partial to May/Mae at the moment.

LovesVintage - I also like Benjamin. It's nice sounding, solid name.

 

[SMC]

Wow, I have a lot to work with here.

My mom would be over the moon if we chose Louise. And my MIL would love it if we chose Lynn/Lin etc.

I talked to DH about middle names, he'll partial to May/Mae at the moment.

LovesVintage - I also like Benjamin. It's nice sounding, solid name.

I know this is slightly overused as a middle name - but what about Grace? It's classic and goes well with almost any first name.

 

[Niel]

Dropping in just b/c it's fun

Mccers--

I love Meredith Louise Chow!

Also,

Meredith Adele Chow

Meredith Elaine Chow

Meredith Isla Chow


Niel--
My younger son's name is Elias and I love it!

Other names on our short list were/are:

Aaron, Benjamin, Judah, Solomon, Bennett, Leo, Emmett, Ellis, Drew/Andrew, Isaiah, and Ryan

LovesVintage-I like Benjamin (see above and think it sounds fab with your daughter's name, especially if you have a slightly nontrad middle name like she has...Benjamin is not uncommon, but it's not like he'd be Ben R in his class. I don't actually know any Benjamin/Ben's in my son's age group.

Elias is a very handsome name so I can see why you love it.

I just really have had a hard time accepting the S S sound in Elias Francis.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thanks for the name support ladies! Our other contender is Harry. It sounds kind of perfect with our last name.

Bella - Thanks for chiming in. I've been trying to think of cool middle names, but again, I find it to be tougher for boys! My DH is like -- please do not suggest something like Benjamin Eagle, haha!! Benjamin Elm . . . Benjamin Pine Tree . . . see, it's not working!!?!

 

[luvsdmb]

I have a Madelyn Grace, Rylee Brooke and Emerson Gus.
Everyone hated the name Gus, they all thought Augustus but I was determined to use just Gus now everyone loves it.
When he was born he actually looked like a Gus (well he actually looked liked George W. Bush and his grandpa)

 

[maccers]

Do you know of parents who picked out names prior to birth then once the baby was born, the parents realize their picked name was totally wrong for the baby? (most babies look the same to me, lol)

This is my first kid so I'm not sure if the "wait until I see the baby and then I will just know what the name is" would work for me.

 

[luvsdmb]

Rylee hates her name she says it's a boys name. She was a tough one to name, it was four days until I named her even then my sister in law pretty much picked it out.

It's funny you asked that, I worked in a hospital and was drawing blood from a new born baby and said he looked like an Aaron, he reminded me of my blonde haired cousin what's funny was the parent's looked at each other and told me that was what they named him.
So yes I think babies can look like a certain name.

 

[SMC]

Rylee hates her name she says it's a boys name. She was a tough one to name, it was four days until I named her even then my sister in law pretty much picked it out.

It's funny you asked that, I worked in a hospital and was drawing blood from a new born baby and said he looked like an Aaron, he reminded me of my blonde haired cousin what's funny was the parent's looked at each other and told me that was what they named him.
So yes I think babies can look like a certain name.

We're naming our daughter Riley too and our families have been vocal in expressing their feelings about how it's a boy's name! We're still going to use it unless we come up with something by 1/31 that we like better (so far, nothing yet).

 

[luvsdmb]

It's 50/50 I think. She does have a boy classmate named Rylee with the same birthday. I spelled it this way thinking it was a little more girly, but now you can't find anything with her name on it.

My best friend had her baby 8 hours before me, she named her Morgan Christine.

 

[maccers]

Riley makes me think of a girl - then again, I've only met two Riley's (not sure of spelling) and both were female.

Ok, I just looked up Riley, Ryley, Rylee, etc on my area's vital stats baby names list for 2013 - Riley seems to be more common spelling for boys and Ryley/Rylee is more commong for girls.

But in the grand scheme, it's not a common name.

I LOVE the name Morgan....that would have been my first pick but my sister used it. But it is the perfect name for my niece. She has so much character.

 

[amc80]

Riley is totally a girl's name at this point. It is #156 for boys and #45 for girls. And it would be even higher for girls if you added in Rylee/Ryleigh/all of the other spellings.

 

[packrat]

Do you know of parents who picked out names prior to birth then once the baby was born, the parents realize their picked name was totally wrong for the baby? (most babies look the same to me, lol)

This is my first kid so I'm not sure if the "wait until I see the baby and then I will just know what the name is" would work for me.

We had Ayla Jo and London Jo picked out, I was leaning more toward London, JD was leaning more toward Ayla--he was convinced London was a boy name. We went in both of us w/open minds, waiting to see what she looked like and we decided that a name would "fit". I hadn't even seen her yet, JD took one look at her and he's like "Oh wow, she's a London, there's no possible other name for her". And yeah, she's a London, no doubt about it.

We'd decided on Gunner with our son, and everyone referred to my huge belly as Gunner, up until I was about 8 months along. I started to about have panic attacks, thinking about him. One day, JD asked if I ever thought about different names (he knows I'm a freak about names, they're fascinating to me) and I burst into tears. I'd seen a guy that used to work w/my dad that had a nickname and ended up legally changing his name to his nickname b/c everyone had called him that most of his life. And I loved it. So I told JD Gunner just didn't feel right to me-he says he feels the same way and wanted to run a name by me, but was unsure how set I was on Gunner, and the name was kind of "different" so he was hesitant. (um yeah cuz we're so traditional w/our baby names?) Aaaand it was the same name I'd thought about. Trapper. We never told anyone we'd changed it either, we managed to keep it to ourselves for those last couple weeks. We did go in w/Gunner still on the table "just in case", but yeah, when he was born, we knew we'd made the right decision.

 

[amc80]

Do you know of parents who picked out names prior to birth then once the baby was born, the parents realize their picked name was totally wrong for the baby? (most babies look the same to me, lol)

This is my first kid so I'm not sure if the "wait until I see the baby and then I will just know what the name is" would work for me.

We had Ayla Jo and London Jo picked out, I was leaning more toward London, JD was leaning more toward Ayla--he was convinced London was a boy name. We went in both of us w/open minds, waiting to see what she looked like and we decided that a name would "fit". I hadn't even seen her yet, JD took one look at her and he's like "Oh wow, she's a London, there's no possible other name for her". And yeah, she's a London, no doubt about it.

We'd decided on Gunner with our son, and everyone referred to my huge belly as Gunner, up until I was about 8 months along. I started to about have panic attacks, thinking about him. One day, JD asked if I ever thought about different names (he knows I'm a freak about names, they're fascinating to me) and I burst into tears. I'd seen a guy that used to work w/my dad that had a nickname and ended up legally changing his name to his nickname b/c everyone had called him that most of his life. And I loved it. So I told JD Gunner just didn't feel right to me-he says he feels the same way and wanted to run a name by me, but was unsure how set I was on Gunner, and the name was kind of "different" so he was hesitant. (um yeah cuz we're so traditional w/our baby names?) Aaaand it was the same name I'd thought about. Trapper. We never told anyone we'd changed it either, we managed to keep it to ourselves for those last couple weeks. We did go in w/Gunner still on the table "just in case", but yeah, when he was born, we knew we'd made the right decision.

Funny, Gunner/Gunnar is one of the names on our boy list, if we happen to have a 3rd boy. I really like it but I'm not sure if I like it enough to use for my kid, vs. a great name for someone else.

 

[Niel]

Do you know of parents who picked out names prior to birth then once the baby was born, the parents realize their picked name was totally wrong for the baby? (most babies look the same to me, lol)

This is my first kid so I'm not sure if the "wait until I see the baby and then I will just know what the name is" would work for me.

I know people who have done it both ways. I have said, for me and my husband, that it really wouldn't work.
I need to make an intellectual decision, not an emotional one. I know when my M was born, I had a bit of postpartum. I felt just zero attachment to her. took me maybe a week or so. Also, if my labor is anything like it was last time, Im certain my husband would let me have any name I wanted lol. And really, I don't wanna do that. I want us equally certain and happy with the name we pick. I don't wanna feel like the situation influenced my husband to give in more than he would have normally.

Essentially, I just don't want too much emotion, one way or the other..to make me choose a name that I may not have, otherwise.

 

[amc80]

I know when my M was born, I had a bit of postpartum. I felt just zero attachment to her. took me maybe a week or so.

Ditto. I didn't feel any connection to B for a while, at least a few weeks. It felt really awkward to even call him by his name instead of "the baby." Thank goodness we had his name picked beforehand.