Our son will be born any day now, and we still don’t have a name! I’ve come to the conclusion that we aren’t going to find The [name]One[/name], so we are looking back at the first names we discussed. Last name is pronounced ben-key. What do you think of the name:
[name]Erik[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name]
Be brutally honest, please! In addition to just wanting opinions, I’m concerned about whether the name flows well, especially when using just the first and last. And what about spellings? I do like [name]Erik[/name] with a k, and the last name has a k (sister [name]Katherine[/name]). Any other suggestions? We toyed with other 3-syllable middle names since [name]Erik[/name] is short.
I’m curious as to the other names you and your husband liked or didn’t like. Can I ask what name was your favorite and hoped for? And same for your husband. Maybe there’s something else.
I do like [name]Erik[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name], I think it flows well, and [name]Erik[/name] Benkey sounds fine together without the middle name, but I just don’t like you “[name]LOVE[/name]” it.
I’m the picky one on names. My husband likes familiar and traditional names ([name]Michael[/name], [name]David[/name], etc), but I think most of them sound too generic. I looked and looked for a traditional name that’s not trendy and not too common, but the closest I came is [name]Calvin[/name], which I just can’t commit to. We both like but don’t love [name]Erik[/name], but it’s a little boring (and dated?). Would love additional suggestions (bonus points if it’s a good international name!)!
These made our long list when just browsing through classic names, but most are either overused or not perfectly our style:
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Andrew[/name]
[name]Anthony[/name]
[name]Calvin[/name]
[name]Christopher[/name]
[name]David[/name]
[name]Daniel[/name]
[name]Elliot[/name]
[name]Erik[/name]
[name]Gregory[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Matthew[/name]
[name]Maxwell[/name]
[name]Michael[/name]
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Otis[/name]
[name]Patrick[/name]
[name]Peter[/name]
[name]Philip[/name]
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]Sean[/name]
[name]Stephen[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Thomas[/name]
[name]William[/name]
Thanks for the feedback, and thanks for the suggestions!
From your list I like the sound of [name]Aaron[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name] and [name]Walter[/name] [name]Milo[/name], but none of these names are quite right for my picky taste.
I’ve also though about the names [name]Felix[/name] (but too cute and cat-associated) and [name]Leo[/name] (since my grandfather was [name]Leonhard[/name]). I would have loved to do some form of [name]Leo[/name] as a middle name, but never found a variant I liked. [name]Leonhard[/name] is pronounced Leh-own-hard, which I think is too difficult. I dislike [name]Leonard[/name] and [name]Leon[/name] and think [name]Leopoldo[/name], [name]Leonardo[/name], etc. are too fussy-sounding. Also think [name]Erik[/name] [name]Leo[/name] is too short. Any thoughts?
Hmm, [name]Erik[/name] [name]Leo[/name] doesn’t sound too short to me, but it does look short. I like [name]Erik[/name] with your last name, but don’t love how the -ik sound repeats at the end of [name]Erik[/name] and the start of [name]Nicholas[/name]. But that’s me.
Here are a couple more ideas on the classic-but-not-too-common front. Not sure which of these were considered and discarded before the above long list was in place. Mix and match the last names
[name]Colin[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name]
[name]Davis[/name] [name]Alexander[/name] - a slight twist on [name]David[/name]
[name]George[/name] [name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Geoffrey[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] or [name]Jeffrey[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Graham[/name] [name]Elliot[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name] [name]Anthony[/name]
[name]Ian[/name] [name]Patrick[/name]
[name]Isaiah[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Isaac[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Jude[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Julian[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Lewis[/name] [name]Calvin[/name] or [name]Louis[/name] [name]Elliot[/name]
[name]Lincoln[/name] [name]Milo[/name] (nn [name]Linc[/name] or [name]Cole[/name])
[name]Miles[/name] [name]Theodore[/name] (since [name]Milo[/name] made your first list)
[name]Malcolm[/name] [name]Leo[/name] (nn [name]Cole[/name] if you want)
[name]Nolan[/name] [name]Michael[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Paul[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Pierce[/name] [name]Christopher[/name] or [name]Piers[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name]
[name]Roger[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Russell[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]
[name]Spencer[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Simon[/name] [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Victor[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name]
[name]Winston[/name] [name]Robert[/name]
[name]Wills[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
All those said, I think that sometimes a name hits you right away and sticks, but sometimes it can start as something you like and grow into the perfect fit. Maybe that’s [name]Erik[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name]
I think [name]Erik[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name] is very nice…I also prefer the K spelling. [name]Erik[/name] [name]Leo[/name] doesn’s SOUND short to me…it LOOKS short though…but I suppose that shouldn’t really matter. [name]Erik[/name] [name]Leo[/name] Benkey sounds fine…I actually prefer it over [name]Erik[/name] [name]Nicholas[/name] because it breaks up the K sound in all three names.
Thanks for the responses! I was worried about the rik/nik rhyming thing, but wanted to see if it sounded obviously bad to others. I think it helps that they aren’t both the accented syllable.
I still think [name]Erik[/name] [name]Leo[/name] is too short on paper, and IMHO middle names are largely there for the visual effect. Any other middle name suggestions? [name]Kinda[/name] thinking three+ syllables sounds good. We seem to like k sounds in names, but maybe we do need something to break up the sound.
