Hey there, baby-namers! We need help! We’re having baby #3 on 6/12 and he is still nameless. Here’s what we’re looking for:
- An Italian name that isn’t too “[name_m]New[/name_m] Yorker Italian” (does that make sense?) and will go well with his similarly Italian siblings’ names, [name_f]Serena[/name_f] and [name_m]Marco[/name_m].
- Isn’t too common. (Preferably not in the top 100)
- Starts with a consonant
- Is easy to read/pronounce/spell correctly
- Is not at all related to the names [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] or [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
- (Ideally) has a good meaning for our baby who has spina bifida. He has a very challenging road ahead… names that mean something to do with light, gift, blessing, strength, etc would all be great
- I like 2 syllable names, but it’s not a requirement
There are some names we like, but there’s something “wrong” with every one… Names we’ve considered are:
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[name_m]Roman[/name_m] (I like the sound of this a lot, but my husband isn’t crazy about it because he’s never heard of it as a name. Ironically, it’s in the top 100, so might be too common for my liking. And is it weird for someone named [name_m]Julius[/name_m]-- my husband-- to have a son named [name_m]Roman[/name_m]?)
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[name_u]Nico[/name_u] (Definitely toward the top of our list right now, but I’m afraid it’s too similar to his brother’s name, [name_m]Marco[/name_m]. Syllable-wise they’re half the same… the boys are only 2 years apart.)
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[name_u]Luca[/name_u] (I like this a lot, but my husband has ruled it out because he has an adult nephew named [name_m]Luke[/name_m] and he thinks it would be weird for their names to be so similar… might be too popular for my liking, anyway, maybe?)
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[name_m]Giovanni[/name_m] (We like the meaning of this a lot, but I’m afraid it’s more “[name_m]New[/name_m] Yorker Italian”/ overly Italian and it’s kind of long, too… I think he’d maybe end up getting called [name_m]Gio[/name_m] a lot, which I like, but think it’s probably too rhyme-y with our last name, Rios. (This is why [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_u]Theo[/name_u] are definitely out)
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[name_m]Dante[/name_m] (I love the sound of this, but my first thought it [name_m]Dante[/name_m]'s Inferno. Considering all the challenges he’s going to face, I don’t want his name to be so strongly associated with hell.)
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[name_m]Sandro[/name_m] (I like this, especially b/c my husband’s middle name is [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_m]Sandro[/name_m] comes from [name_m]Alessandro[/name_m]…related to [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]… but I’m afraid it’ll be mispronounced --as Sand-dro instead of Sohn-dro-- all the time, and I really want him to have a name that people will say correctly without needing to be corrected.)
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[name_m]Dario[/name_m] (Is [name_m]Dario[/name_m] Rios weird since his first name ends with almost his whole last name?)
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[name_m]Sergio[/name_m] (My husband ruled this one out because he has a distant relative – a half-sister’s husband-- who has the name.)
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[name_m]Renzo[/name_m] ([name_m]Renzo[/name_m] Rios…I think I like it… Our almost only nearby relatives who we see all the time have a 4 y/o daughter named [name_u]Wren[/name_u]. [name_u]Wren[/name_u] and [name_m]Renzo[/name_m]… too similar sounding?)
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[name_m]Donatello[/name_m] (I just came across this one… Too Ninja Turtles? Too NY-er Italian? I think a little too long for my liking… guess we could call him [name_m]Donny[/name_m], but I call my 2 other kids by their full names most of the time and would prefer that.)
I’m sure there are at least a dozen others that we’ve considered and ruled out for one reason or another, but these are the first I can think of… Thoughts on the names above? Other suggestions?
Thanks in advance for all your help!!! I’ll let you know what we decide…