Nicknames

Baby name consultant: A little brother for four big sisters!

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Kelly and her husband are expecting their fifth baby, a boy, after four daughters! Their girls are:

Cora Rose
Della Maria
Adelaide Katherine
Luisa Claire

This list just makes me sigh with happiness. So lovely! (And did you see how the middle names nearly exactly match the length of the first names? Wow!)

Some of the names they’re considering include:

Peter
George
Henry
John (“I’d like to use John as a middle name. Or possible first name.”)

Kelly writes,

“We like traditional names [and] names that aren’t super popular but that isn’t the number one concern. We are Catholic and like a tie-in to a Saint name if possible (middle or first) … names that end in -son don’t work well [with their last name].”

My first idea when I was reading Kelly’s email was whether she and her husband might like the name John Henry? I know a little John Henry who goes by John Henry (I’ve never heard it shortened to just John), and I thought that might be a nice option for them.

On that vein, because Kelly said they’d like to use John as a first or a middle name, I wonder if a different John+ name might appeal to them if John Henry doesn’t? John Paul is the most familiar I think, and I love it for this family, especially (as you’ll see below) Paul was a pretty big style match for them. (Also John and Paul have the same number of letters!) Or John Peter, or John George, drawing from the other boy names Kelly said they like — one of the fun things about a John+ double is that it takes two fairly “normal” or popular names and makes them much more unusual by combining them into a double name. (For the foodies out there, John George is fun because it reminds me of uber chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.)

For additional ideas, as you all know, I almost always start a consultation by looking up the big siblings’ names and the names on the parents’ current list in the Baby Name Wizard book, which has the awesome feature of listing, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. Looking up all of the names for this family was so fun because it revealed that their style is really really consistent! I always look for “overlap names” — names that are listed as similar to more than one of their current names/ideas — and there were loads for Kelly and her husband! I’ve broken them down into three main ideas:

(1) Charles/Charlie/Charley/Carl
The Charles names were by far the biggest match for this family, appearing in one form or another in the lists for Rose, Della, Adelaide, Henry, John, and George! I’ve seen Charles used as an honor name for St. John Paul II (pre-papal name=Karol, which is Polish for Charles), as well as such saints as St. Charles Borromeo and St. Charles Garnier. Charles John is very handsome, and blogger Dwija at House Unseen, Life Unscripted has a little John Charles (who actually goes by Charlie) so that’s a nice idea too.

(2) Thomas, Samuel, or Hugh
I included these three together because they all tied for second place in terms of matching up with the big sisters’ names’ styles (whoa, apostrophes!) and the boy ideas.

Thomas is solid and traditional, and Thomas John is a great combo. John Thomas is great too (I have several relatives named John Thomas who go by various nicknames, including Jack and Tom).

Samuel is just a great name — there are few nicknames for boys that I like better than Sam! Samuel John is so handsome.

Hugh feels different to me than the others, even though it was as well matched for this family as Thomas and Samuel — it was listed as similar to Cora, Adelaide, and Louisa (the spelling Luisa wasn’t listed in the BNW). If Hugh isn’t quite right, maybe they’d like Hugo? It’s a variant of Hugh; Hugo John has a great rhythm, and there are saints variously known as Hugo and Hugh. The girls’ names strike me as having a little bit of a funky twist, a little unexpected, in the very best way possible, I love them — Hugh and Hugo strike me as similar.

(3) Stephen, Paul, Harry, Everett, Porter
Lastly, this group tied for third as a good match for Kelly and her husband’s style.

Stephen and Paul remind me of each other — New Testament martyrs and obviously saintly. I like Stephen John, and I’d mentioned the idea of John Paul earlier (I don’t think Paul John works as well).

Harry kind of reminds me of Hugh — kind of a Brit feel, which can be fun. Other names that have that feel for me are Simon and Oliver, which are great too. While Harry can stand alone, it’s a traditional nickname for Henry, so that’s a possibility too.

Everett and Porter both really surprised me — neither one are usually on my radar, so it was really interesting to see both Everett and Porter listed matches for Cora and Adelaide. Kind of a fun connection! I love Everett John and John Everett, and Porter John.

Those are my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little brother of Cora, Della, Adelaide, and Luisa?

Baby name consultant: A little green bean to join a solid, saintly set

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Jessica and her husband are expecting their fourth baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown)! Their other children are:

Stephen Joseph
Paul James
Theresa Rose

You can’t get much more solid than those names! Beautiful!

Jessica writes,

“I love reading your baby name ideas, and now I’m in need of some help myself … My husband really likes Brady for a boy’s name because that is his mom’s maiden name [but] I don’t think it matches our other names. For boys, I like Leo and Dominic. Samuel is a possibility, but I don’t like Sam or Sammy. For girls, I like Gianna, Lucy, Cecilia, Elizabeth (for middle name). Madeline Sophia is a name I’ve always liked, after St. Madeline Sophie Barat … My dad is Kenneth, but I haven’t figured out a first name I like with it to use it as a middle name … [Also] My husband’s mom’s family is Irish.”

Names that can’t be used include:

Clare
Jacob
Emily
Monica
David
Nicholas
John
Christopher

Alrighty, first off, my thoughts about their current list:

I was most intrigued by Brady — I totally get how Jessica’s husband feels (it’s SUCH a cool thing to have a family surname that can work as a first name, especially one as important as a mom’s maiden name), but I also totally get how Jessica herself feels — Brady as a first name is a very different style than Stephen, Paul, and Theresa. If both Jessica and her husband liked it and were on board with it, then who cares, but since Jessica doesn’t like that it’s so different in style, my favorite thing to do in situations like this is find a compromise that both parents can live with. Like:

  • Brady as a middle name. I think this is the most likely possibility, and works for either a boy or a girl.
  • Brady as a nickname (even just as a family nickname/just used at home), perhaps by mashing up first and middle names that are better style matches for their other kids’ names than Brady is. Like: Brendan Henry, Ambrose David, or Brian Andrew. Each of these first+middle combos has a strong Br- in the first name and a middle name that could make Brady as a mashup nickname make sense, and I think Brendan, Ambrose, and Brian all fit the style of their other kiddos’ names better than Brady. (I know David’s on their no-go list, I only included it with Ambrose as an example.) (Ooh, maybe Ambrose Edward?) (Fun coincidence [or not?? 😉 ] — today’s the feast of St. Ambrose!)

The second thing I particularly noticed was that Jessica would like to use her dad’s name, Kenneth, somehow, but she’s struggled to find a first name that works with Kenneth as a middle. I know two guys named Kenneth Brian, which I think is a handsome first-middle combo, so I thought I might suggest that as a possibility, as both Kenneth and Brian fit the feel of the other kids’ names well I think. Otherwise, I think some of my suggestions below might work as first names that can take Kenneth as a middle.

I love Leo and Dominic, as well as Samuel (though I do think Sam and Sammy are somewhat inevitable, more so perhaps than with other boys’ names — there’s just something about Sam/Sammy that everyone loves! That said though, if they’re firm and consistent and immediate about correcting people, it might work.)

Their girl’s list is gorgeous, I love all the names on it. Madeleine Sophie is a favorite combo of mind as well, gorgeous! (If they decide to use this combo, Sophie the Giraffe would be a perfect toy for her, as it was named after St. Madeleine Sophie Barat!)

I do of course have some other suggestions for Jessica and her hubs based on the names they’ve already used for their other little ones and the names that are on their current list:

Girls
(1) Catherine
One of the first things I almost always do when starting a consultation is look up all the names (already used and on the list of possibilities) in the Baby Name Wizard book, as it has the awesome feature of listing, for each entry, boy and girl names that match the entry in terms of style/feel/popularity. Once I make a list of all those names, I look for overlap — names that are listed as similar to more than one of the names the parents like. Catherine was the big winner for Jessica and her hubs, showing up in one spelling or another in the lists for Joseph, Paul, James, Theresa, Cecilia, and Elizabeth. (The Catherine spelling was the most common for them, like St. Catherine of Siena, followed by Katherine and Kathryn; there’s also Katharine, like St. Katharine Drexel.) It’s a great name (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Katherine! 😀 ), and it has a bunch of great nicknames: K/Cate (which I go by exclusively), K/Catie, K/Cat, K/Cathy, Kay, even Casey. I thought Brady went particularly well as a middle for the super saintly Catherine (and, because I love to think about things like this, Catherine Brady would make sense of the spelling Cady, which I love!). (Jessica and her husband should, of course, just ignore me with the nickname/mashup thing if they think it’s/I’m crazy! Haha!)

(2) Sarah
I was surprised that Sarah was such a big hit for them, but it really was, listed as similar to Joseph, James, Samuel, Lucy (in the form of its traditional nickname Sadie), and Elizabeth. Sarah is a beautiful name with an awesome biblical namesake and enviable meaning (“princess”). I know a Sarah Elizabeth, which I’ve always thought was a pretty combo. Sarah-Lucy is striking me as an unexpected and appealing double name, if they’re into that kind of thing. Or Sarah-Kate. I really like Sarah Brady too, as a first+middle combo. I don’t know if they care about repeating initials, but it’s funny — I purposely didn’t put Thomas on the boy list, even though I thought it was a great match for them, because they already have a Theresa, who’s the next child up from this baby, and not only were the sounds the same and the initial, but with the first two letters of both names being the same (Th-) it seemed a little much. But I don’t mind Sarah as a sister to Stephen, probably because St- strikes me almost as an entire letter of its own, different from just S- (I know, my namey brain is weirdly wired!). Also because there would be two children between them.

(3) Rebecca (nicked Ruby?)
I’m worried that Jessica and her husband may be tiring of my love for nicknames (!) but this is the last one I’ll do for the girls, promise! 🙂 (I just like to make sure they have lots of options and ideas.) Rebecca was already a style match for this family through Stephen, Joseph, and Samuel, and then I saw that Ruby was matched up with Rose, Leo, and Lucy, and it reminded me that I know of a little Rebecca who goes by Ruby — when I first heard that, I thought I would die of name happiness! Even if Jessica and her hubs don’t care for Ruby as a nickname for Rebecca, or at all, I still think Rebecca is nice for them — it has a similar feel to me as Sarah, and it’s a substantial name that grows well from girlhood to womanhood.

(4) Anne or Anna
The BNW says Anna’s a better match for them, and I do love it, but I’m kinda feeling that Anne might be more their speed. I love Anne (Anne of Green Gables! And dear St. Anne, who’s the patroness of the blog), it’s solid and substantial, and even sophisticated in its simplicity. The only downfall with either Anne or Anna is that I think it would make Gianna unusable if they wanted to consider it for a future daughter. I’m loving the idea of Anne Cecilia, pretty! Or Anne Lucia (instead of Lucy)? (Or maybe they don’t want to use their first name possibilities as middles? I understand that — I’m the same way. I have very distinct first name and middle name lists.)

(5) Gemma or Veronica
Despite my heavy reliance on the BNW to make sure I’m on the right track style-wise, Gemma and Veronica were inspired by a friend of mine, who has what I think is similar taste to Jessica and her husband. Veronica especially has a similar popularity arc to Stephen, Paul, and Theresa, and is a gorgeous and really saintly name. I’ve always loved Gemma, beautiful name and great patron for a girl. I also like that it’s like the more familiar/mainstream Jenna, but not. (Like with Anne/Anna I think Gemma would disqualify Gianna for any future daughters.)

Boys
(1) Gregory
Gregory was well represented in the BNW for this family, with a popularity profile similar to Stephen, Paul, and Theresa. Its saintliness and manliness is impeccable as well, being a Pope St. the Great like Leo. As the BNW puts it (I love this!): “Popes, saints, and Gregory Peck! Can a name get any more distinguished?” It would absolutely be my tippity top suggestion for this family — the ONLY thing holding me back from unreservedly putting my #1 stamp of approval on it is that it can’t take the middle name Brady. (Well, I guess it can, if they were okay with Greg Brady jokes all.his.life.) I do quite like Gregory Kenneth. So handsome!

(2) Patrick
Patrick pretty much ties with Gregory in my estimation. I really love it for this family, for a couple of reasons: It’s similar in style/feel/popularity to the other kids’ names (saintly, mid-century peak of popularity); it’s Irish, which is a nice nod to Jessica’s husband’s family; and it takes the middle name Brady really well. Patrick Brady is a really swoony combo!

(3) Martin
Martin was a style match for Stephen, Paul, and Theresa, and St. Martin de Porres is one of my personal favorites, so it seemed an ideal suggestion for this family. I also love the nickname Marty, but the full Martin is very handsome. Martin Brady sounds great imo.

(4) Henry
As I’ve posted about before, I love Henry, it’s such a sweet name for a little guy, and totally fits a man as well, and when I saw it listed as similar to Rose, Samuel, Lucy, and Cecilia, I was excited to suggest it for Jessica and her husband. I don’t love the rhythm of Henry Brady; I don’t mind Henry Kenneth or Henry Dominic; I really like Henry Patrick.

(5) Anthony or Vincent
Anthony and Vincent are super solid, super saintly names. Jessica and her husband’s ideas of Dominic and Gianna reminded me of them both, because, like Dominic and even more so Gianna, they can have an Italian feel, but within a Catholic family with saint-named sibs, ethnicity melts away and they can work for anyone. Like Stephen, Paul, and Theresa, they’re timeless, but also not currently popular. I think either one could be a great fit for this family. I like Vincent Brady and Vincent Kenneth; I don’t think Anthony Brady works as well, but I like Anthony Kenneth a lot.

So those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Stephen, Paul, and Theresa?

Baby name consultant: My newest nephew!

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I have the special privilege today of posting a consultation for my brother and sister-in-law! They’re expecting their second boy, a little brother for Leo Patrick.

Between various conversations over the years, especially at our family vacation this past summer, and in more recent text convos, these names emerged as very indicative of my SIL’s taste:

Francis
Beau (most likely as a middle name for Francis, and he’d go by Beau)
George
Walter
Sebastian

(I will also note that my brother has his own name thoughts, but my “client” here was my SIL, so I’m focusing on her ideas in this post.) (Sorry bro.)

I thought this was a pretty fab list — sort of distinguished and down-home all at once. Her idea of Francis Beau was really great, and probably my favorite of the ones on the boy list. I love the sophisticated Francis, which is also a family name; I love the unexpected middle Beau; and I love that he’d go by Beau — perhaps difficult to pull off as a given first name, but totally doable as a middle and a call name. SIL and I talked about the unfortunate Twilight Reimagined issue with Beau, but I wouldn’t cross it off the list yet … I would wait and see what happens — that book might never be mentioned again, and I have evidence that she liked the name before that book was even known about! An alternate suggestion is Francis Xavier, which I kind of love for them — both Francis and Xavier are, separately (!), family names for us, and Francis Xavier is the origin of the name Xavier anyway, since St. Francis Xavier is where it comes from. My own hubs quite likes Frankie for a little boy, and I can see both my brother and SIL liking that — it is pretty cute. And Frank is solid for a man.

George — Unfortunately, we all agree that George doesn’t work with their last name.

Walter — It cracks me up that SIL likes Walter, but it’s totally true that names like this are coming back! It made me think of another name I see mentioned sometimes on name boards, and it always surprises me, and I won’t be surprised if they don’t like it … but I kinda won’t be surprised if they do: Wallace. The Wal- of Walter is what really made me think of Wallace, but my brother’s love of sports also made me think of it, because whenever I see anyone considering the name Wallace, they almost always say they might use Ace as the nickname. I love that! It feels very like my brother to me.

Sebastian — Love love love. My SIL said that they love that St. Sebastian’s the patron saint of athletes and that if my IronMan brother “could name a child Nike he would.” Ha! They’re not crazy about Seb/Sebbie or Bash, but I wondered what they’d think of:

  • Baz
  • Bax (especially if the full name was Sebastian Xavier — that’s a NAME! And also exactly Grace Batton’s Bash’s name)
  • Banks (feels cool and kind of preppy; Sebastian Francis would make sense of it — B+Frank)
  • Maybe even Bo, if it was paired with an O middle name?

So let’s talk about Bo. SIL loves Beau, but that spelling is difficult right now because of the aforementioned book, and also because my brother doesn’t care for it. He doesn’t mind Bo, though, so SIL asked me for ideas to get to Bo (she said they’re fine with B.O. initials as a way of getting to Bo). This is a listing of names that *I* would consider, if I had a boy named Leo and wanted to use the nickname Bo, so I knew some of them would make my brother and SIL (especially my brother! Haha!) say what? But you never know!

  • Bonaventure, Boniface, Bartholomew, Balthazar, Barnabas — these are super-duper heavy-hitting saints’ names that are totally my style, and I think all of them could take the nickname Bo, with or without an O middle name.
  • Boaz — Not only do I think Boaz is a really cool name, but I love the biblical Boaz, who was Ruth’s husband. It’s short and zippy like Leo, it’s got the snappy z at the end, and it very naturally takes the nickname Bo.
  • [John] Bosco — this is one that I could actually see them going for. Grace Patton named her newest baby Bosco, but I’m thinking that they might like the full John Bosco (first name-middle name) even better, with the nickname Bo. St. John Bosco is a great saint, a great patron for a little boy, just like St. Leo the Great.
  • Ambrose — we’ve actually had Ambrose on our list for a while, mostly because he’s one of the Church Fathers and a great saint, and because my father-in-law had a connection to St. Ambrose, but also because we both really like it. I’ve always thought Sam and Bram would be perfect nicknames for it, but it occurred to me recently that Bo works as well. (Along with all of the suggestions in my first two bullet points, I can picture my brother saying, “Ambrose?” with a baffled/not-loving-it look on his face, so I thought I’d link to this cutie here named Ambrose, and this one‘s now a teenager! Ambrose has a little of that old-man feel to it that my SIL seem to like. Also, fun fact: the term “sideburns” comes from Civil War general Ambrose Burnside, who had some epic sideburns! Also the Baby Name Wizard says about Ambrose, “Ambrose is like a handlebar mustache, so cheerfully outdated and overblown that it’s actually a lot of fun.” Love it!
  • Benedict or Bennett — I suspect my brother and SIL would like Bennett more than Benedict, but Bennett’s a medieval form of Benedict, so it gets the saintly reference in there anyway. Bennett would be a prime candidate to pair with an O middle name for the nickname Bo.
  • Brendan — this is another of my top choices for them — it’s Irish (they like Irish), it’s traditional, it’s a solid boy’s name. Brendan O– would be a great way of getting to Bo.
  • William — this too is a top choice for them — I was thinking of names that don’t start with B but have a traditional B nickname (like Robert, which is not usable for them) and I thought of William/Billy. William is a family name on both my parents’ sides, which is great, and I def think Bo could work, initials for Billy O. I really like it for them.

So my top choices for this baby if he were to have the nickname Bo are John Bosco, Brendan O., and William O., but I do like all the ideas on this list.

And of course I have a bunch of new ideas as well! I always shoot for at least three, but I came up with seven for my new little nephew:

(1) Henry
Henry was one of the first ideas I had for them — I love it with Leo, but honestly it was the nickname Hank that clinched it for me. I could totally see my brother and SIL liking Hank! Hank reminds me of George and Walter, they’d all be smoking their pipes on the porch together. I also liked that it has a connection to my SIL — in a very roundabout way — via the fact that she studied abroad Scotland, because Wills was at St. Andrew when she was (so cool, right?!), and of course his brother is Prince Harry, whose given name is Henry (Harry’s a traditional nickname for Henry). (Very roundabout.)

(2) James Blaine
I was on a little bit of a first name-middle name kick when I was doing this for my SIL, with Francis Beau, Francis Xavier, and John Bosco on the brain. James Blaine was my great-grandfather and he went by Blaine. I suspect that if they used James Blaine they’d prefer to call the baby James, but there’s Jamie and Jem too (I LOVE Jem — it’s one of Anne Shirley’s sons, a nickname for James, and I’d totally forgotten until I looked up that link that another of Anne’s sons was Walter!), or I think Bo could work for Blaine, no? I also have a friend who married a man from Scotland, and one of their boys is James, just James, so it feels “Scottish” to me, which, again, I associate with my SIL.

(3) Gregory
I started out thinking about Rory for this baby, which reminded me that I’d suggested Rory as a nickname for Gregory to Grace Patton, and then I thought Gregory actually seems like a great fit. Again, this might be one of those names that I would be more likely to use as a brother to Leo than my brother and SIL, but there aren’t that many St. the Greats and St. Leo the Great and St. Gregory the Great are two of them, both popes, so I’ve always thought they make good brother names. I actually love the nickname Rory for them too — it gets away from Greg (no offense intended for anyone who loves Greg!) and has the Irishness going on.

(4) Oliver
My hubs and I talked about Oliver through my first two pregnancies and had decided on it for our No. 3 but then cooled on it when I was six months pregnant. I’m not sure why either, we both love it, it just hasn’t felt like one of our boys. But my brother and SIL seem to love O (Leo and Bo), and Oliver’s serious, bookish, sort of Irish-y or Brit feel I find really attractive.

(5) Simon
I consider Simon to have a similar feel to Oliver — serious and bookish — but with a good dose of biblical, which I personally love. I think Leo and Simon are a great brother set!

(6) Russell
When Leo was on the way, I asked everyone what their name ideas were — what did we all think they would choose, based on what we knew of their taste (my brother and SIL didn’t share their name ideas until the birth) — and my husband’s only idea was Russell. I was so surprised by it, but he said he could see my brother liking Russell, and the nickname Russ, and this time around I feel like it’s a good suggestion. It reminds me of the old-man names SIL likes, and was listed as a style match for Rosemary, which is a name I know she likes, so I thought it was a good suggestion. My hubs did want to go on record, though, as saying that this time around he actually doesn’t think my brother will like it because of the Seahawks quarterback. (I would never have thought of that.)

(7) Tristan
This suggestion is a little out there — I personally love the name Tristan, and I thought it made sense to throw out an offbeat suggestion, just in case. It’s a style match for Sebastian and Xavier, and it’s got the Irish-y connection. I’m not sure I would use the nickname Tris, as that’s the name of the main character (female) in the Divergent series, but I could see Trip (if with a P middle) or Trio (haha!) if with an O middle. I don’t know, maybe it’s a crazy idea … For some reason I can see my brother liking it more than my SIL. When I asked my hubs what he thinks of it, he said he doesn’t hate it and that Tristan Thompson is pretty well known right now as a basketball player, so it’s not unheard of anymore.

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? If you had a Leo, and your taste was Francis-Beau-Walter-George-Sebastian, what would you name his little brother? Thank you from an excited Auntie! 🙂

Baby name consultant: First baby!

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Jackie and Mike are expecting their first baby, a boy! Jackie writes,

“We are at a stand still when it comes to boy names. Early on I was convinced that the little one was a girl, and picked the name Felicity Marie — I loved its meaning, it had family connections and I just fell in love with it. but then we found out its a boy after all. And though I am really excited to have a boy, We haven’t found a name that seems to hold up to the girl name … [It’s] important to note that faith, prayer and the holy spirit definitely played a huge part in our journey, and we are so excited to share our faith with our new family, starting with an awesome name.

As for naming style — we agree strongly that we want a saint’s name, and that a family name would be great as well. My husband likes simple names (his term), whereas I like names that are traditional and familiar, but I get worried about being too ordinary or too popular. I’m also struggling because I soooo felt like Felicity was perfect (it means happy) and Marie has been in my family 500 years….“

(Haha! “500 years”! I laughed out loud the first time I read it, and I laughed again now as I typed it in here. 😀 )

“Additional considerations: we have a very German surname … which has been difficult to match with. Also we both come from large families which leads too lots of name would rather not repeat as first names, but would consider for the middle.”

The names that Jackie and Mike are considering include:

Gabriel
Gavin
David
Thomas
John
Simon/Simeon
Zachary
Jacob
Jules/Julian

And family names they love but wouldn’t use as first names:

Anthony
Neal/Cornelius
Gerold
William
Michael
Steven
Edward/Edmund
Andrew
Eugene

Alrighty, the first thing that jumped out at me was that Jackie noted that “faith, prayer and the holy spirit definitely played a huge part” in their relationship, which reminded me that I’d done a post a while back on names to use as a nod to the Holy Spirit. I took a look at the ideas listed there and thought some of them might interest her and her hubs:

  • Hugo—According to Behind the Name it comes from “the Germanic element hug, meaning ‘heart, mind, spirit.’” Hugo’s actually one of my top choices for them, as I looked up all the names on their list, including Felicity, in the Baby Name Wizard book, which has, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in style/feel/popularity, and Hugh was a pretty big match. It could also be a “Holy Spirit” name, as Hugh and Hugo are variants of the same name, but for some reason I felt like Hugo was more Jackie and Mike’s style. It seemed more similar to Felicity’s style to me.
  • Jonah—Jonah means “dove,” which is the tie-in to the Holy Spirit. It’s similar to Gabriel, Zachary, Simeon, and Jacob from their list, so I thought they might like it.
  • Colum—this is another of my top suggestions for them. As a Holy Spirit name, it also means “dove,” from the Latin columba, which is also an Irish saint’s name (St. Columba), and Colum is a variant. Malcolm also popped up in my Baby Name Wizard research as similar to their taste, which literally means “follower of St. Columba” in Irish—“mal” + “colm” (Colm is another spelling of Colum), so I saw that as another sign to include it in my suggestions for this baby.
  • Abel—The word “spirit” comes from the Latin “to breathe,” and Abel means “breath,” so I thought that might work. It’s also heavy duty Old Testament like some of the other names on Jackie and Mike’s list, I really like it.
  • Ignatius—Maybe, for Mike’s sake, this should be considered only as a middle name? 🙂 Ignatius can be related to the Latin ignis, meaning “fiery,” like “tongues of fire.” It’s a bold choice for sure, but it has some great nickname potential—Iggy, Nate, and Nash. And actress Cate Blanchett has an Ignatiusactress Cate Blanchett has an Ignatius!
  • Kenneth—this is also a fire-related name, from the Irish Cinaed, which means “born of the fire.”

So those were the Holy Spirit names that I thought might appeal to Jackie and Mike, but I have other non-Holy Spirit names to suggest as well. I gave heavy consideration toward names that I thought fit the feel of Felicity, and also the feel of Gavin, which was so different from their other names that I thought it revealed something about their taste. I also think all these would count as “simple” names (well, maybe not Sebastian as much) in keeping with Mike’s taste?

(1) Colin (Nicholas)
I was kind of blown away by how well Nicholas and Colin matched up with their taste in names! Especially since Colin is a medieval diminutive of Nicholas! Nicholas was listed as similar to Gabriel, Zachary, Julian, Anthony, and Andrew, and Colin is similar to Gavin, Simon, and Felicity. Given that Colin is similar to both Felicity and Gavin, both of which I really used as markers of their taste, you can see why Colin is my predominant suggestion here! It pairs up nicely with several of their family names too—I think Colin Anthony might be my favorite, and I also love Colin Michael.

(2) Jude
Jules and Julian on Jackie and Mike’s list both made me think of Jude (the Beatles song “Hey Jude” was written for Julian Lennon and was originally “Hey Jules”), and I love Jude as an idea for them. It’s so saintly and biblical, a great option, and really similar to so many of the names on their list. Jude Anthony (wow, what a one-two saint punch that name is!), Jude Edward, Jude William, and Jude Michael are all jumping out at me as really nice combos.

(3) Conrad
Conrad showed up a couple times, mostly as matches for the names on their middle-name list (specifically Cornelius and Edmund), and I decided to include it because it goes really well with a German last name, and I’ve recently been loving St. Conrad of Parzham, who was a German Franciscan. Cord is a traditional nickname for Conrad, and I could see it turning into Cordy, which I love—it reminds me of Gordy and Jordy, which have always been favorites of mine, nickname-wise. I would LOVE something like Conrad Cornelius, wow!! 😀 They could maybe even consider Conrad an honor name for the Cornelius in their lives, as the first four letters of Conrad are the same as that of Cornelius, just in a different order (I wrote about that kind of thing this morning here). Conrad Eugene also has a nice rhythm, and Conrad Michael would be so nice for Mike.

(4) Oliver
Simon, Julian, and Felicity all had Oliver as a style match, and I love it for this family. St. Oliver Plunket is a great Irish saint, and Our Lady of Olives could also be the patron. Oliver William, Oliver Anthony, Oliver Michael, Oliver Steven, Oliver Edward, Oliver Edmund, Oliver Andrew, Oliver Eugene all flow really nicely, it’s easy to work with!

(5) Sebastian
I was surprised to not see Sebastian on their list! It’s a style match for Felicity and Julian, and one of those heavy-duty saints’ names that often show up in lists like Jackie and Mike’s. Seb/Sebby and Bash are great nicknames for it, though I love the full Sebastian. Short middle names go really well with long first names imo, and I think Sebastian Neal Schubert is very handsome; I also love Sebastian Michael.

So those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What would you suggest for Jackie and Mike’s baby boy?

Birth announcement: David Newton, Jr.!

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Mandi from A Blog About Miscarriage has had her baby! The consultation I posted for her back in September focused on a middle name for a girl, but it was all moot because she has welcomed a son — David Newton, Jr.!

She writes,

“Our son was born Wednesday, November 11 at 6:25pm. He was several days late but when he finally came, he was born less than an hour after labor started.  He was delivered by his daddy in the car!

We had narrowed down middle names for Cecilia to two front runners, Clare and Rose, with Paloma and Zelie as wild cards still in consideration, but decided to wait until the baby was born to make a final decision. Since baby was a boy, it turns out we never needed to. 

We named our son David Newton Richards, Jr. He shares his name with not only his father but his great grandfather and great great grandfather. My husband was given that name after his grandfather who died when my father-in-law was a teenager. He has a first cousin named David after their grandfather as well (and his son has the middle name David), so we have lots of Davids in the family and we are honored to pass on the tradition. My brother is a Jr. and I always loved that naming tradition so I planned to have my son be a Jr.  long before I met my husband. It was serendipitous that the man I did meet happened to have an awesome name with a rich family history. I used to not care for Newton much but I’ve grown to love that it’s old fashioned and uncommon. It hasn’t been in the top 1000 boys names in the U.S. since 1957! 

We haven’t come up with a nickname for little David yet (which I feel is kind of necessary to distinguish him in conversation from his dad) but are using a bunch and seeing which feels right. Being the nickname queen, maybe you have some suggestions for us that we haven’t considered? I myself am a bit partial to Newt but I don’t think I’ll be able to get that one to fly 🙂 “

What a wonderful family naming tradition little David was born into!! (Also, did you catch that — he was born in the car!)

Mandi asked for nickname ideas for David (she called me the “nickname queen”!! 😀 ), so these are mine:

  • (I love Newt!)
  • Certainly there’s Dave and Davey — Davey especially has kind of a throwback little guy feel, so sweet!
  • My grandfather was from Ireland and his name was David but his nickname growing up was Daithín (I think that’s how it’s spelled) — Irish for “little Daithi,” where Daithi is the Irish for David. Daithi is pronounced DAH-hee and Daithín like dah-HEEN, so maybe dah-HEEN? (Not sure how you’d want to spell it though! Daheen looks too feminine? And Daithín too Irish?)
  • My cousin is David Jr. and he goes by DJ, so maybe that?
  • You know I’m a big fan of combining first and middle names to come up with nicknames — in this case, maybe David Newton could become Danny? Not that unusual, but distinct from Dad. Or Dane?
  • Or Junior! (I hear Sean Connery saying, “Junior!” in his fabulous accent from the Indiana Jones movies! Haha!) Or just Jay? From Junior, which is kind of like Dave but different?
  • You could also do Richie, which is such a common thing for guys to go by (their last names, or nicknames of their last names), but maybe that’s weird to start at home? Is that more of a nickname that buddies bestow in high school?
  • This is a little crazy, but could be cute — what about D2? Like David II? It’s different, it’s Star Wars-y? Or just D, for that matter?
  • Or what about Dewi? It’s the Welsh version of David, and St. David of Wales is known as Dewi Sant, and Dewi’s kind of like David and Newton smushed together!

What nicknames would you suggest for little David Jr.?

You can read more about this little guy’s car birth in Mandi’s announcement on her blog. Congratulations to Mandi and David Sr. and big sister Lucia, and happy birthday Baby David!!

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David Newton, Jr.

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Hi Mister!

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Proud big sister Lucia

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Tiny guy!

Spotlight on: Henry

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We had some great conversations recently regarding Henry, between Dwija’s consultation post and little Henry Edward’s birth announcement post, and I kind of wanted to combine everything into one place.

So: Henry. Some Catholics have a hard time shaking the Henry VIII association. I get it, I do! But you give something power when you give too much mental energy and worry to it, you know? I’m not blaming anyone! I’m certainly not saying you’re wrong. I do believe Henry VIII would cause problems for us here if I lobbied for the name Henry, especially because my husband came from Protestantism. (And yes, I guess if the baby is #8 in a family, mayyybe Henry’s not the best name if you’re already feeling weird about the name!) But this is totally a case of needing to Reclaim the Name, because, as I said, there are so many holy Henrys. Priests and saints, men who gave their lives for the faith. I’m feeling a little weepy about their courage and their faith and how their name still has the taint of the VIII for many. They deserve better than that!

I’m loving the story of St. Henry Morse, and this gorgeous icon of him with Our Lady and Baby Jesus. Laura also referred to a documentary about his life called St. Henry Morse, Priest of the Plague, and an out-of-print book by the same name. He was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales; another was St. Henry Walpole — both men killed for the crime of priesthood. St. Henry of Uppsala is another I have a personal connection with — a friend of mine specifically named her son for him, as a result of her Finnish heritage (he’s also known as Henry of FInland, and is Finland’s patron saint). He’d be a great patron for any Scandinavian boy, since he was sent to evangelize Scandinavia.

Moving a little away from Henry, which may be helpful, is John Henry, as in Bl. John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest who became Catholic, and was later named a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. John Henry is a sweet combo that can not only soften the Protestant connection if it’s proving problematic for a couple that might otherwise like Henry, but it also pulls together a biblical name (John) with a non-biblical saint’s name (Henry) for families who want to stick with a biblical theme but might also really like Henry. (You know who you are. 😉 ) (Yes, there’s the song and story of the hammer-wielding John Henry, but that’s not a bad association as far as I can tell.)

Basically, Henry is “totes Catholic,” according to cajuntexasmom. 😀

There’s also this scene in the movie Ever After, when Danielle (Cinderella, played by Drew Barrymore) says the prince’s name (Henry, played by Dougray Scott), and it’s just the most loving thing you’ve ever heard. Every time I hear or see the name Henry, all I think is Drew Barrymore saying, “Henry” in this scene (it’s at the 2:03 mark; do be warned there’s lots of smooching before and aft).

I do think that all of this worry is a Catholicky Catholic Problem. I know loads of little Henrys whose parents likely didn’t give two thoughts to the VIII because religion isn’t on their radar as much (even Catholics), and I love hearing it and I never think of the king, only of the sweet little guy in front of me. So if those who don’t constantly think about the names of our faith can freely and happily use Henry without any problem, so much more can we, who know of the Holy Henrys!

It’s got some great nickname potential too — Hank is just to die for. Ohmygosh, a little Hank would just make me melt! There’s Harry of course, and Hal is listed as a traditional Henry nickname on behindthename.com, and I recently heard of a little Henry that goes by Huck! Huck also makes me think of Hutch, which is also awesome — neither Huck nor Hutch are traditional for Henry, but they’re totally the kinds of nicknames I would love. (Especially if paired with a middle name that would make sense of something like Hutch — like Henry Charles. Ohhhh. ❤ )

I also thought maybe Ricky — Henrik/Henryk, Hendrick, and Enric are all forms of Henry in other languages, so I feel like Ricky is a natural (if not very obvious to those who don’t know the other forms). Some of the other forms of Henry could easily be nicknamey for a little Henry too — I particularly like the Scandinavian Henning and the Scottish Hendry (though I guess it’s not really that much different from Henry).

I did a quick search for “nicknames for henry” and “Ry” was mentioned a few times (like “ree”), even morphing into Rio, which is kind of hipster (and Rio’s been calling Pope Francis to mind for me recently, because of his visit to Brazil), so that could be cool. Also Hen and Henny … I could see both being very natural and sweet on a little Henry, especially if it’s likely to just be a family nickname.

I don’t want to talk Henry to death, but I’d love to know if all this info sways you over to the Heavenly Henry side! Also, do you know any Henrys who go by a nickname different from the ones I mentioned here?

Nickname: Buffy

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What do you all know about the name Buffy? I’m assuming most of us are familiar with it through Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I’ve never actually seen the show, but it’s familiar to me anyway, so I assume you’ve all at least heard of it), but I first heard it in college (which was around the time the Vampire Slayer show came out, but I hadn’t yet heard of it) when I spend three summers working as a writer’s assistant to an artist named Buffie (she was writing a book about art, hence “writer’s assistant”). The name baffled me — I couldn’t figure out what kind of a name it was — maybe a nickname? If so, for what? Or could it be a given name? What could its origins be? I didn’t feel comfortable asking my Buffie though, and the name was shrouded in mystery until I later discovered that Buffy/Buffie’s actually one of the trillion traditional nicknames for Elizabeth — fascinating, right? (Though I think my Buffie’s given name was actually Buffie, as none of her obituaries offer anything different.) I then found out that the late Queen Mother (Elizabeth) was called Buffy by her family, and one of her biographies is even called My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of the Queen Mother.

So I figured the case was closed, but then I recently met a woman named Buffy, and so I assumed her given name was Elizabeth, until the other day when I saw her email sign off said, “Carol ‘Buffy.'” A new mystery! So I asked her about it, and turns out her mother wanted to name her Buffy, because she liked a little girl in a show whose character’s name was Buffy, but she didn’t feel like Buffy was formal enough for the birth certificate, so they went with Carol instead (I think she said it was a family name) but called her Buffy and she’s always and only been Buffy. So interesting!

I looked up the show she said her mom liked — “Family Affair,” which aired from 1966-1971 — and discovered a fun little namey tidbit: little Buffy’s character’s “real” name was Ava Elizabeth — how pretty! The character of her twin brother was Jonathan Joshua nicknamed Jody, and their older sister was Catherine nicked Cissy.

What do you all think of Buffy? Do you know any? If so, is it a nickname for Elizabeth, or a nickname for some other name, or a given name on its own?

T(h)erese/a in honor of Patricia?

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This is really kind of weird, but sort of recently I came across at least two different places online where I saw Theresa or Teresa or Therese (I can’t remember which) listed as an honor name for Patricia (I know that it’s at least two, because if I saw it just once I would have assumed it was just some weird thing … but two means more than one person consider it to be so, which I find baffling). One of them might even have been someone saying they couldn’t use Theresa for a daughter because there’s already a Patricia in the family. But in the last couple of weeks I have googled and googled various terms trying to find the posts (I think one was at the Baby Name Wizard, and I don’t remember where the other one was — maybe Swistle?) because I wanted to post about it here, and I canNOT find any mention of it anywhere! So you’ll all just have to humor me for a moment and assume my memory is correct — have any of you heard of this? T(h)erese/a for Patricia?

I’ve thought a lot about it because my first reaction was wha??? so I really tried to see how it could be, and then I realized it’s not that far off, for these reasons:

— Tricia/Trish and Theresa have really similar sounds

— I have a friend with a sister named Patricia and he’s always said it pah-TREE-shah (big emphasis on the TREE) whereas I have only known it to be pah-TRIH-sha, short i. But, if pah-TREE-shah is more common than I realize, then TREE-shah and teh-REE-sah are really very similar

— My mom always calls her Theresa friend TREESE — rhymes with Reese — like a contraction of Theresa and drop the a. Or like how some people say Therese (teh-REZ and teh-REESE are both acceptable). TREESE and Trish (especially in a pah-TREE-shah scenario) are also very similar.

So I guess I can see how this happens, but I’m wondering how prevalent this idea is (if it even exists and I didn’t totally imagine it). Have any of you heard of Theresa or Therese or Teresa as an honor name for Patricia, or even considered a variant?

Updated to add: I did find this obituary for a Patricia who apparently went by Teresa …

Spotlight on: Regina

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Weeks ago Laura asked me to do a spotlight on Regina — I try really hard not to forget anyone’s request, even if it takes me a while to get to it. It’s been on my to-post list since then! And today’s the day, woo!

So Regina: What do you all think of when you hear it? I think of Mother Mary first and foremost — she’s always been my first association, maybe because I never knew anyone in real life with the name except for one small baby named Maria Regina, for Our Lady, so again — Mother Mary’s the big association there, for me. It’s a lot less popular than it used to be, so I imagine it might feel pretty dated to a lot of you, especially if you know women with the name.

And then there’s the pronunciation issue … how do you say it? I’ve always said reh-JEE-nah, but I understand there are some who say reh-JYE-nah, which of course rhymes with a part of the female anatomy, and even if parents are determined to have the reh-JEE-nah pronunciation, there’s still the chance that someone will mistakenly say reh-JYE-nah. (Turns out that’s the pronunciation of Saskatchewan’s capital, so … it’s definitely a possibility. Check out Abby’s profile of Regina for more info.) I can see that being the kind of thing a little girl might be mortified over (see the conversation from yesterday about names with bullying potential). (I guess a hard G is also a possibility, according to behindthename. Have you ever heard that?)

But, if that isn’t a concern, or if the intention is to put the name in the middle spot, I think this is just one of those great Catholicky Catholic names — super Marian, super traditional, *especially* paired with Maria. It’s got cute nickname potential too — certainly the familiar Gina, and also apparently Ina (Ina Garten was born just Ina though), and I think Ree could work, or Rina, or Ria.

The variants of Regina, though, are where I *think* most people of childbearing age right now would feel more comfortable: Reina/Raina/Rayna, or the Bulgarian Raya, or the French Régine or Reine (pronounced like wren, or like rain I think — the spelling Raine would make it more obvious if you prefer the latter). The Irish Ríona is quite pretty too, and I’ve also seen Regan presented as a variant of Regina, though I’m not sure how accurate that is since it was mentioned in the comments and not in the official post at BTN (and King Lear’s daughter and the character in The Exorcist ruin Regan for a lot of people, which is such a pity, because I love Regan).

What do you all think of Regina? Would you use it for a daughter? Do you know any little Reginas? What about pronunciation — how do you say it? What have you heard?

I know you’ll all understand …

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I had a funny conversation this past weekend about names — I was talking to a couple older people (older than 70), and I was telling one of them the nickname that one of my boys goes by. “That sounds like a name better suited to a grown man with a cigar hanging out of his mouth!” he said, good naturedly but with the unmistakable tone of what were you thinking? The other person in our conversation, who knows my little guy and his nickname, burst out with, “Yes! He sounds like a stevedore down on the docks!”

I can’t tell you how much I loved both comments! Haha! I know they weren’t meant to wound (we were having a fun conversation up to that point anyway, so I think they were kind of just going with the tone — kind of jokey, kind of roast-y — and besides, I get that older generations have a different taste in names than younger), and the fact that they indeed reveal a little of what they really think of the name (not positive) didn’t matter to me at all because one of the things I love about his nickname is the Old World, little bit fusty feel it has. I’m sure they thought I was crazy when I said, in response to their “man with cigar” and “stevedore on the docks” comments, “Thanks! I love that!” 😀