It’s been awhile, Nameberry!
My husband and I are the closest we’ve ever been to gulp trying to conceive an actual baby, plus I haven’t been hanging out in the forums for awhile now, so I’m just looking for feedback and ideas about a few names and combos. The surname would be @rch!b@ld, my name rhymes with [name_f]Leela[/name_f] but starts with “Sh”, his is [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]-but-with-a-K and often goes by [name_u]Kris[/name_u], our cat is [name_f]Meadow[/name_f] and our dog is [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f].
I’ve always thought that what I’d want to do is use a first name that we just liked followed by one family-related middle name and one name-nerdy guilty pleasure; however as we think about this, we’re quite sure that we’ll only have maximum one or two children and there have been some deaths in both families in recent years that make me more amenable to using two family-related middle names, much to the chagrin of my glorious guilty pleasures list. I’m thinking that [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] and [name_m]William[/name_m] would be the family names I’d want to use. Overall the goals I would have would be that a name be versatile, relatively easy to wear where we live, and not terribly popular (though my husband was always [name_u]Chris[/name_u] A. in school and seems remarkably untroubled by that, so, what do I know?).
Without further ado, here’s the short list of boy names I’ve got in mind:
[name_u]Barrett[/name_u] (BAIR-it): I can’t remember what led me to this name but I’ve carried a torch for it for a few years now. I like that it’s not super common but not unfamiliar, and that it feels versatile. In part, we’re from Atlantic [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and there’s a song that gets played at some point every [name_m]Saturday[/name_m] night called “[name_u]Barrett[/name_u]'s Privateers” that people go nuts for; it’s about an ill-fated trip on a privateering ship and to me the name feels like that of an adventurer. [name_u]Barrett[/name_u] in the song is a sea captain and the name is mentioned repeatedly in the song but somehow doesn’t seem to have bled into our naming habits - I have met one [name_u]Barrett[/name_u] and she was a girl. [name_u]Barrett[/name_u] [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] @rch!b@ld.
[name_u]Robin[/name_u]: this occurred to me a couple of years ago as I waited for a long winter to end. It seems cheerful but grounded. I can’t think of the last time I met a boy/man named [name_u]Robin[/name_u] but it doesn’t feel like it was ever a hugely trendy name so I don’t think it would feel dated (please let me know if you agree/disagree).
I can’t decide whether a dad named [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]-with-a-K having a son named [name_u]Robin[/name_u] is too much of a [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] the Pooh [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] [name_u]Robin[/name_u] reference? I don’t have strong feelings about [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] the Pooh and would probably get annoyed if that was a connection that people endlessly made. Also, I like the [name_u]Robin[/name_u] [name_m]Williams[/name_m] connection but have gotten some mixed reviews about [name_u]Robin[/name_u] [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] @rch!b@ld for [name_u]Robin[/name_u] [name_m]Williams[/name_m]-related reasons. 100% the [name_m]William[/name_m] would only be there because it’s a family name; would the name overall seem too connected to RW?
The slightly longer list includes:
[name_m]Samson[/name_m]: my husband liked [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] and I do really like [name_u]Sam[/name_u] but don’t love the “uel” sound; this appeals much more.
[name_m]Isaac[/name_m]: I’ve long thought that [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] @rch!b@ld sounded great; I didn’t realize until somewhat recently that [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] is drastically more popular than everything else I like
[name_u]Schuyler[/name_u] (this spelling): in part I can credit/blame “[name_m]Hamilton[/name_m]” for reminding me how much I like the sound of this name! My husband has some reservations and is very clear that he dislikes the [name_u]Skylar[/name_u] and [name_u]Skyler[/name_u] spellings, which is fine by me. I do wonder how [name_u]Schuyler[/name_u] @rch!b@ld works - whether it rolls off the tongue as well as the others.
In case it’s useful, boy names we like but for whatever reason can’t use include [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], [name_m]Caleb[/name_m], [name_m]Theodore[/name_m], [name_m]Graham[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], and [name_u]Owen[/name_u]. I’m going to do a separate girl names post but our favourite girl names include [name_f]Lila[/name_f], [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], and [name_f]Clara[/name_f].