Of course I started typing that awhile ago and just got to posting it. The syllables factor was something that we considered too. Only two syllable names for us, that is what worked with our last name.

Since he's the 3rd boy, what about naming him Trey?

2 syllables...... Tyson?

We have a Troy, so Trey is too similar in my opinion. Our other son is Logan, FWIW. Also, last name is three syllables.

I love baby naming threads!

Travis
Harry
William
Trevor
Stephen
Royce
Trent
Reid
Blake

My nephews have a friend named Keenan, which I like. Also, Dax and Lucas. My nephew is Kaden, which I thought was so unusual when my sister picked it... but I think it's quite common now. I always said if I had a boy I would name him Jarvis, from my maternal grandmother's family, but alas... no kids for me. :)

Here are some of my favorite names from my childhood ('70s/'80s):

Eric
Joshua
Ryan
Jeremy
Aaron
Sean
Nathan
Nicholas
Joel
Jacob
Gabriel
Jaime
Zachary
Jeremiah

My dd married a boy with a pretty Irish name. Their choices for my grandson were Connor, Declan, and Colin.

The middle name is her maiden name.

They chose Colin. It suits him. But, I loved all of the names.

Congratulations on your new arrival!

When we were trying to name our kids it was really important that they not be able to be shortened into nicknames. I really don't like nicknames. Don't know why but whatever.

My niece named her son Kinnon. It is a shortened form of her/my maiden name. It's definitely unusual but given the names that are used these days (Apple?) not outside the realm of possibility.

There was a sports story not too long ago. A couple were pregnant and couldn't decide on a name for the baby so they made a bet. They were both diehard football fans of different teams and last fall the two teams were playing. The bet was that whose ever team won got to chose the name of the baby. His team (the baby's dad) won and the name that he chose ? - the quarterback of his team.

Please eliminate any of the following (and my apologies to those who have kids with this name): Aiden, Hayden, Brayden, Kaden, Jayden, Leydon, Peyton, or any spelling of these. I am so tired of those names!

I like Lucas, Evan, Will, and Nicholas.

Luca is one name I've been admiring lately.

rilie, you reminded me of a couple of stories from the reader's digest long ago.

One was a family who was determined not to name their new daughter any name that could be turned into an unpleasant nickname, so they named her Amber. Much to their chagrin, they brought her home and her little brother looked at her and said, "Hello Amberger!"

Another one was a couple visiting friends who just had a newborn. The mother said the baby's name was Heather Noelle....the husband leans over and whispers to his wife, "I never knew you spelled Heather with an 'L'!"

I suggest saying the first middle and last name aloud picturing him at his high school graduation...will he be cringing with a middle name like Marion?

And, of course, beware of initials....no Andrew Simon Smith....

Yes, be careful of initials, lol!

It always surprised me when people would just pick out a name they liked for a baby... when we had our children in the 80's and 90's I don't think I knew you could do that. :-) DS1 is named after his father, grandfather and greatgrandfather. DD is named after her two grandmothers (and other female relatives have the same names in other generations) and DS2 is named after his two uncles. We are a mighty boring lot, but we know where we come from by appelation, if nothing else. Also, it is a tradition that you name your kids after the relative from whom they are most likely to inherit. I realize how mercenary that sounds, but it's pretty standard practice where I come from.

Grandson is Dane Valor S******. DD/DH wanted to give him a middle name with strength~i've grown to love it. It was once pointed out to me with the initials it's 'devious'. Little sister is Gracie Rose. ;o)

Along the lines of dedtired, also avoid cutesy pootsie spellings of fine, traditional names. Ex: Cynthia-Synthia. Actually, Synthia does look pretty in writing. lol

FWIW, in my small town there are a few children in each class who have the same first name. And the parents grew up here and know each other. I know no one "owns" a name, but still....where is the individualism for the child?

That's probably just me though. As a kid I didn't like it when other girl's had MY name. lol I hated when a friend copied my hairstyle, and when another friend went out and bought an outfit just like mine. :)

I'm also not a fan of names that can be shortened. I'm Angela - never been called Angie. DH's family shortens everybody's name. That is part of the reason our sons are Logan and Troy. Although, he has an uncle who calls Logan "Logie"- errr.

I also liked being the only Angela though school. My name isn't weirdly unique, just unique (at least where I grew up). I always felt sorry for the Jennifers and Carrie, Kerrie, Kerrys because there were so many of them.

I'm seeing so many names here that I have suggested but DH doesn't care for. This is going to be a LONG process I think. Good thing we have until July. We'll need it!

Am, my DD Jennifer was the only 'Jennifer' in her class for many years. We lived in a small town/community so that could be the reason.

I'm also in favor of names that can't be shortened~my kids are Kathryn(although Mom started calling her Kathy from day 1 and I couldn't stop her), Kevin, Scott, Jennifer, and Tricia. All are still called by their 'proper' name, by me. Friends have nicknamed them thru the years, but i've stayed strong and didn't bend. ;o)

Traditional names of the grown men in my family:
Walter
Thomas
William
Richard
Robert
Jerome
James
Edward
Mark
David
Charles
Paul
Brian
Todd
Christopher
Sean
Steven

I don't think there are many babies with these names these days?

From my grammar school class of 1966.
Gerald
Kenneth
Gary
Andrew
Joseph

Kellyeng:

Jamie is a girl's name, even when you misspell it! :>)

~ Jamie

Our 3 kids (2 boys and a girl) all have family names, first and middle so I guess we are boring, too! Wesley Thomas (he shortened it to Wes in kindergarten), Spencer James, and Elizabeth Ann (I was adamant it not be shortened to a nickname).

I love the name Jamie for a boy! That was on my short list for awhile. Also, Kelly for a boy, even though you never hear of it anymore. The only trendy name I like is Aubry, but, also for a boy. That is so weird how I like names that could be for both! My son is named a boy name, but, I hear it for a girl now. Note: my DS MIDDLE name is Oliver-hence my username.

mitch, I just named my new kitty, male, Luca.

I like italian names, but they did not go with my last name at all.

I also like:

Sal
Louie
Howie
Abe
Rory (although hard to say)
Sullivan (Sully)

I love nicknames for boys!

But if you don't use a nickname, how will your son know when you're mad at him?

;)

Mother always used my first and middle name to call me when I was in trouble....

Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.
...Bill Cosby

Josiah
Victor
Joshua
Benjamin
Thomas

Seth - Everyone I have met with this name have been smart and "really nice"

Leo - I love how it is short and strong

Clark

I wouldn't want any of these shortened but here are a few I like.

Allen
Andrew
Ivan
Marshall
Michael

Two I didn't see here, Hunter and Nathan. Oh and I love Jamieson.

I don't see my boy's names here: Thomas and Shane. We wanted names that were strong, held personal meaning for us, not to weird or trendy, and were easy to spell. We, also do not like nicknames and believe it or not Thomas has always been Thomas to everyone. It is all we have ever called him as well as everyone else. Their middle names are after their father and grandfather.

Gaven
Sawyer
Gage
Ivan
Siggie
Charles
Sam
Dyer

Unlike some posters here, I've always liked names that could have multiple nicknames. Perhaps because my name has no possible nickname.

Some of my favorite boy's names:

William
Robert
David
Michael
Ryan
Thomas
Timothy
Daniel
Brian
Edmund
James
Kirby
Joseph

Connor's a fairly common name in my area--sometimes 2 or 3 Connor's in a classroom. I know a little boy named Conan who is constantly getting mixed up with the Connors in his class.

Chase
Grant

I agree with Boop, check out the meanings. DD1 has a lovely name, but the meaning is horrible. She wasn't (and still isn't) the easiest child, and I often wonder if I jinxed her.

Actually a name that generates nicknames can be good as it gives the person so many options.

My cousin has over the years been know as Elizabeth, Liz, and Liza....only difficulty is keeping up with which one she's using now. Don't recall her using Beth, Bess, Betsy or Betty yet....

My aunt's family from way back named their kids names you just don't hear that often any more:

Mabel, Alice, Fred and Elmer

Calvin
Jamison
Henry
Christian
Eric
Aaron

Shortened forms of names ----diminutives, if you will--- are not really nicknames IMO. I don't consider it a nickname to shorten William to Will or Jonathan to Jon, for instance. Most everyone I know has a nickname they use in their family and close circle of friends, and it doesn't usually have anything to do with their given name. A parent cannot possibly anticipate all the ways a name could be corrupted by mean spirited classmates or family members, especially since word meanings evolve so much more quickly now, certainly within one person's lifetime. If the intent is to prevent any possible permutations of a child's name over his or her lifetime, that just is not possible.

This may make me (and I guess my mom) seem nuts but here does anyway :)

My mom passed when I was 26. I didn't get pregnant till I was 38 and I was having trouble finding a name I liked. I had a dream one night of the name Connor. It was way more popular then I would have liked, but I looked up the meaning anyway. This is what I found:

Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Conchobhar which means "dog lover" or "wolf lover". It has been in use in Ireland for centuries and was the name of several Irish kings. It was also borne by the legendary Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa, known for his tragic desire for Deirdre.

Well, my mother was sick for awhile and during that time a lenape indian did a spirit guide ceremony for her and told her that her spirit guide was a wolf, and she had some pictures of wolves from then on that i have now.

So, Connor started with the same letter that her name started with, meant wolf lover and her spirit guide was a wolf. Oh and It was an irish name and our last name is irish. (we aren't though)

Poor DH had no choice but to go along with me. :) Connors fate was sealed adn that is his name.

I also looked up DS2's first and middle names till I found a combo that I liked the sound and the meaning and we ended up picking Corbin.

It seems like Aiden is every other baby name in California right now. Jaden is popular too.
Elliott
Carter
Henry
Lazarus
Mario
Larenzo

What nationality are you?

One of the neighbor kids is Charles, always Charles to his family and all the neighbors. One day he was playing in the yard with a school friend who repeatedly yelled "throw me the ball Chuck!". I had to laugh because his mother tried so hard to get everyone to only ever call him Charles and yet kids will be kids and names get shortened, changed, morph into nicknames. I do wonder what Charles/Chuck preferred but maybe he liked having separate identities for different aspects of his life.

Has anyone thrown out Peter for consideration? Simple, doesn't evoke a particular decade to me so it's sort of timeless.

We like traditional names and prefer to use family names, so all of our names come from our families. This was our boy list:

Josiah
Jonas
James
Philip
Nicholas
Levi
Warren
Warner
Joseph
Carl
Anton
Johan

Here are a few names (not from our family tree) that I think sound like a sibling set with Logan and Troy:

Justin
Jared
Jasper
Guy

I wish you health and joy!

My favorite boy name is Joseph. It isn't my son's first name, but his middle name.

We specifically called our son Jake as dh is adamantly opposed to the shortening of names. He still gets called "Jacob" a surprising amount, including the second grade teacher who insisted on labelling his locker and name tags that way until I brought his birth certificate to school! We had decided on Allan (a family name) as his middle name, but our last name starts with an M, and I didn't care for the initials JAM. He was given Flynn (also a family name) as his third middle name, which changed his initials and also matches his sister, who has two middle names also.

My 53 year old dh is named Dane, which I think was very unusual for that time frame. I quite like it, but he gets Dave or Dean frequently. He has a twin brother named Darryl, and younger siblings Dawn and Darren. I dislike the matchiness of their names, and for that reason We discarded Aaron off our short list of names for ds because it sounded too much like dd's name, Erika.

Gareth was also on my personal boy name short list. I was surprised to see it surface as the name of one of the characters in the latest Bond movie. I still think it is a cool name, but ds says he much prefers Jake :)

Carrie

Allison,

One of our children has the middle name "Chase" ( a bit of an homage to a grandfather who is known as Chas). And for our third child, if we had had a boy, we would have named him Grant for a distant relative.

Amj,
Have you ever seen the old SNL skit where they are trying to pick a baby name, and with each choice one of the spouses has a bad association? Pretty funny. Probably on you tube.

I will say that people are far more sensitive to shortening names. I have relatives named William, Thomas, and Elizabeth, all still preteens but all called exactly that, by everyone.

I used a baby name book that grouped similar names ... it turns out I liked all their "Volvo" names as they called them. I don't own a Volvo but I guess they were going for an upscale but not flashy demographic, LOL?

My girls are named for family members. My son was to be named for a relative, William, but the name was taken already. My DH selected the Gaelic version, Liam. At the time it was just barely in the Top 50 baby names. But It seems a lot more popular than that to me. I think that the problem with the "popularity" lists is that it varies a lot by demographic. What one really needs is the directory of the local elementary school to figure out if your kid would make one too many Jackson's.

Is there any branch of your family tree, either the names of the relatives, or where they are from, where they lived or even worked? I find it easier (and kind of nice) to work off of inspiration like that. Sort of like a puzzle.

In any event, all the best to you and your family.

Michael, James, Christopher, and (even though you said no "T") I do like Timothy. FWIW, I know people with all of these names and none of them go by a nickname for their name.

When my husband and I were looking for baby names for our second daughter born 2 years ago, we always checked out the birth announcements in the UK Daily Telegraph. The UK seems to be ahead of the trend a little bit when it comes to names, and we really liked their traditional yet quirky style. In the end we decided on Scarlett. Her middle name is Moreau (pronounced "morrow"), which is my grandmother's maiden name.

I like the older/traditional names, especially ones that aren't overused or spelled strangely. I actually don't mind shortened forms of the name, some I even prefer to the more formal name.

Harrison

Samuel/Sam

Marshall/Marsh

William/Will

Thomas/Tom

Henry

Nicholas/Nick

Steven/Steve

Andrew/Andy/Drew

Benjamin/Ben

Gifford/Giff

Gabriel/Gabe

Reed

Barrett

Stewart/Stew or Stuart/Stu (probably my favorite, but I'm sure it has to do with my association to the name)

Corbin/Corb

One of my sons is Drew, short for Andrew. His sister named him. His twin is Brian. My other dd named him. They are both Godmothers.

Boo...enjoyed your story....

My kids are Marie, Dominic, Joseph and Patricia. None were named specifically after family but joseph was my grandfather's name (actually it was Giuseppe but he became Joe when he left Italy). Marie was a name I loved for its classic simplicity but after choosing it, I found out it was dH's grandmothers name so that was kinda neat.

I hated my name growing up - an Irish name that was fairly uncommon, even today, though I now like it. As a kid, i always wanted to have a name that had different nicknames to choose from - so jealous of the Jennifers and Christine/christa/krista etc. People often mistakenly call my dd Maria so much so that when younger, she said she wished that was her name. She actually looks like a Maria as she has my Italian coloring - olive skin, dark eyes and hair. Then there's Patricia, who has always been Tricia, who at age 8' suddenly wants to be Trish. And good thing she got the Irish name as she is my blond hair, blue eyed, fair skinned lass.

fourkids - I'm so curious. Is your name Maeve? Sioban? Noneofmybusiness?

Jaime is a total boys name! Just look at Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones!

Speaking of Game of Thrones, this is so not PC, but we currently have Boxers and I want a Boston Terrier so I can name him "Tyrion." If you're familiar with the show you can figure that one out.

When I was a kid, there was a boy in my neighborhood also named Kelly. I was "Kelly Girl" and he was "Big Kelly." Not sure why he wasn't "Kelly Boy."

Both of my siblings are called by their middle names. How does that even start? My sister tried to get her name turned back around (called by her first name) but it never stuck.

One of our children has the middle name "Chase" ( a bit of an homage to a grandfather who is known as Chas). And for our third child, if we had had a boy, we would have named him Grant for a distant relative.

Chase is actually our sons name (27yo). His middle name is my maiden name.

I've always like Grant and offered it as a suggestion to someone I met here on GW, and she used it.

This is funny to me, and was unintentional:
DH and DS both have 5 letter, 1 syllable first names.
DD1, DD2 and I all have 7 letter, 3 syllable names. All three of us girls also have 3 letter, 1 syllable middle names. The girls actually have the same 3 initials... I could too, if you jiggled them a bit and dropped an A.

Allison was never popular when I was in school. Only other Allison's I knew spelled it with 1 "l." The 2 names of my girls were not common, but 1 became a Top 10 favorite years after I had DD2. My Dr was off the day she was born (the nerve!) but the delivering Dr said (when he asked what we were naming her and I told him) "%$##^&*!" (her name, not a curse word) "%$$##^&! You'd better give her a feminine middle name, because she is not going to want to be called "%$$##^&! My college roommate - who was a boy - was named %$$##^&!" And yes, I can still hear him saying these words 25.1 years later!!!

A few years ago, I saw my Dr and the delivering Dr in the hallway of the hospital. My Dr stopped to chat, and since %$$##^&! was with me, I took the opportunity to tell the delivering Dr about the conversation we had 20+ years ago and how I thought it was the rudest thing and he had terrible bedside manners. I said I hoped he had mastered them by now. DD2 told him she loved her name and it had gotten to be very popular, I was just ahead of the times. My Dr was LHBO when we said bye to them and walked away. ;D

Fourkids, I wanted to be Tricia or Trish sooooo bad, but Mom nicknamed me Patty. When I had my last baby girl, now 36, I wanted her to be my namesake, but it would be Tricia, rather than Patricia, like myself. She hated her name for years(would rather have been Erica!), but IMO, really looks like a Tricia, petite, blue eyed blonde, much like a 'real' version of Cinderella. LOL