Haley and her husband are expecting their second baby, and second boy! Their first little boy is:
Miles Howard
which I love, so handsome! She writes,
“I love that Miles is a strong name, especially paired with Howard, named after my grandfather/father … Our last name … proves to make things a little more difficult as it is such a guttural, one-syllable name … I do think it’s important for a least one half of a name (whether first or middle), be connected to a family member whose character I would wish my child to look up to.”
Some family names they could consider include:
Joseph
Spencer
Strong
Lee
Francis
Mark
James
Bowen
Jacob
Henry
Clegg
Andrew
Hyer
Other boy names they’ve discussed include:
Micah
Lane
Donovan
Philip
Henry
although, according to Haley,
“Thus far Henry is the only name still viable from that list, as Jake thinks Micah is a girl’s name … Lane is also one I really like, but I’m not sure how I like it with [our last name] … Donovan is Jake’s choice as of late (he likes that it has “Don,” as both our grandfathers were Donalds), but overall the name does not resonate with me at all. Philip is another one of my choices that Jake feels is too nerdy … where he gets that from, don’t ask me! Henry we both can agree on, although my hesitation is on its current popularity … For girls, we considered Sloane and Anna, but in the end I was completely set on Anna Louise.”
First off, Haley’s husband made me laugh — he sounds JUST LIKE mine! I’ve long loved Micah but it’s a no go, Philip was on my list for a long time, and Donovan! My hubs has bugged me about that name for years because he was a big fan of Dononvan McNabb when he played for the Eagles. (He’s sort of joking.) (Sort of.)
(I will admit though that I kind of love Donovan as an honor name for a Donald!)
I love their ideas, and Henry too (especially because it’s a family name!), and they all gave me a lot to work with inspiration wise. So I always shoot for three suggestions, but I came up with four for Haley’s second little guy:
(1) Colin
As you all know, I use the Baby Name Wizard book a lot when thinking of ideas/suggestions for people — it has this awesome feature where, for each entry, it lists boy and girl names that are similar in style/feel/popularity. Colin was listed as a style match for Miles, and Cale as similar to Lane, and Charles as similar to Philip and Henry — Colin, Cale, and Charles all strike me as somewhat similar in that they visually look similar and if you consider that a viable nickname for Charles is Cal, there’s a sound similarity among the three as well. Colin was my favorite of them for Haley — I get a little bit of a fun vibe from Miles, and Charles doesn’t seem to fit that quite as well, and Cale doesn’t sound great with her last name. Using the family names she listed as possibles, I love Colin Francis, Colin James, and Colin Spencer.
(2) Isaac
Isaac was another that was listed as similar to Miles, and it seemed right in line with the feel of Micah as well (without the being-used-for-girls baggage). I love the name Isaac, and I think brothers Isaac and Miles sound awesome together. I quite like Isaac Francis, Isaac Bowen, Isaac James.
(3) Spencer
According to the BNW Spencer is a style match for Donovan! And it’s a family name! I can definitely see brothers Miles and Spencer, and Spencer sounds nice with a one-syllable last name. My favorite first-middle combos for Spencer would be Spencer Francis (two family names! So cool) and Spencer James.
(4) Samuel
Samuel fits the general areas Haley’s taste is swirling, and Sam is such a great nickname. And Miles and Samuel as brothers — so great! They sound like they just stepped off the Mayflower, in the best way possible. Samuel Francis, Samuel Bowen, and Samuel Jacob are all quite handsome.
Other names that seemed to fit but that didn’t make my final cut for whatever reason, are: Thomas, Asher, Emmett, Jasper, and Elliott.
Those are my ideas for Haley’s little boy! What do you all think? What names would you recommend for Miles’ baby brother?
Sancta Nomina 
My husband’s name is Collin so I am a big fan of that pick. 🙂
Other suggestions:
Dominic
William
Gabriel
Peter
Ian
Patrick
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Nice ideas! Some of my favorites!
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Ian is a great match!
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I love the suggestion of Colin, it has been my go-to suggestion for years when people ask for boys’ name ideas. I think it’s incredibly versatile.
I think Henry goes perfectly with Miles, they both have a hip, urban, sophisticated feel to me.
But the true winner in my opinion is Jasper that you tossed out at the end, and I reeeaaallllly hope they (or someone soon) takes the plunge with it. I feel like Jasper is just REALLY cool, it can communicate so many “styles” from traditional to modern, “down home” to modern. While Miles and Henry could make a more traditional and “safe” side of the hip/urban/sophisticated/modern coin, Miles and Jasper would make up a pair that would be on the same coin, but more gutsy and, honestly, rad. Brothers named Miles and Jasper makes me feel all swoony!
I would use Jasper myself if I didn’t already have a James and a John. I feel we have used up our “J” quota at this point.
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That should say, “from traditional to modern, ‘down home’ to hip.”
Phone typing makes me lose my train of thought.
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Haha you and Jasper!! It is a cool name … I didn’t think of it with Miles the way you did, good explanation!
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PS: The only suggestion on your list that gives me any pause is Isaac just because Miles & Isaac both share the same long “i” sound as well as the “z” sound, although perhaps that would actually be a selling point for some people!
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Such a good point, I didn’t see it at all! Yes, I could see it going both ways — too similar, or just perfect.
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My first thought for a brother to Miles Howard is:
Nigel Gordon.
Hip, not super common firsts with similar sounds, paired with rare-in-this-generation Baby Boomer middles.
But really, they MUST use something off that amazing list of family names. Too good to pass up.
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Wow! Nigel Gordon is cooool!
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[…] was motivated to ask by the dad’s opinion in yesterday’s consultation that Micah “is a girl’s name,” and so therefore he doesn’t want to consider […]
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First off, Miles Howard is a perfect combo! So adorable.
I love the suggestion of Samuel, one of all time favorite names. I also feel like Miles and Isaac would be a little too similar for me personally. I know a Miles who as a brother named Ian which I always thought was very cute.
Colin got me thinking of Jon and Kate Plus 8 (don’t judge, lol), and I thought maybe Joel would be a really cute brother name. Joel and Miles. Miles and Joel. I think it sounds pretty nice.
Oliver was another name that came to mind. Same with Caleb and Gideon. So many awesome names sound good with the name Miles 🙂
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Ha! No judgment here! One of my special “talents” (though it’s been waning in recent years) has always been the ability to tell you the name of every celebrity’s child. 😉
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love the Samuel… Donovan and Colin sound like possibilities for a middle name?…or James or Francis or Joseph? maybe not Francis, but James and Joseph still,,,for middle…such great names.
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[…] did a consultation for Haley and her hubs a while ago, and she recently updated me on the name they chose for their handsome little guy — the […]
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