I just don’t see something like [name]James[/name] or [name]Jack[/name] holding up to Finkelstein - they are such common names that I think the entire focus will go to the unusual last name. My husband and his brother have these kind of names and really, the last name is all you hear.
What I meant by “swagger” is a feeling of happy confidence, not necessarily ultra cool or macho or badass-ness. A name that wears the last name without hint of being self-conscious about it - which is kind of how my husband handles his last name:-)
Yes! There have been several great suggestions - [name]Boone[/name], [name]Franco[/name], [name]Rocco[/name], [name]Rocky[/name], [name]Desmond[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Vaughn[/name], and [name]Weston[/name] are probably my favorites.
I understand better now what you are looking for–more of a jaunty swagger vs a macho one :). Given that I still think that you ought to limit the name to something fairly simple and not more than 3 syllables, and to avoid anything that’s ever been considered nerdy. Another thing I’ve been pondering is whether it would be a distraction to mix ethnicities. I tend to think that if you chose a name outside the American mainstream, with anything overtly other than Hebrew, Eastern European, or possibly Dutch roots, the contrast will draw attention to the surname. [name]Stephen[/name], [name]Alan[/name], and [name]John[/name] Finkelstein (just for examples) work, as do [name]Levi[/name] and [name]Jannick[/name], but [name]Etienne[/name], [name]Euan[/name], [name]Bjorn[/name] and [name]Matteo[/name] do not.
From the suggestions I’ve seen so far, I really like [name]Aaron[/name], [name]Abbot[/name], [name]Bram[/name], [name]Zachary[/name] (or even just [name]Zac[/name]), [name]Elliot[/name], [name]Emory[/name], [name]Drake[/name], [name]Lionel[/name], [name]Grant[/name], [name]Vaughn[/name], [name]Luther[/name]. I like [name]Andreas[/name] better than [name]Andre[/name].
Other ideas:
[name]Ivo[/name]
[name]Micah[/name]
[name]Christopher[/name], using [name]Kit[/name] as a nn or [name]Kristof[/name]/[name]Christoph[/name]
[name]Roth[/name]
[name]Tobiah[/name]/[name]Tobias[/name]
[name]Chester[/name], using [name]Chet[/name] as a nn (although [name]Chester[/name] might stray over the historically nerdy line, no matter how I love it)
[name]Jude[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
I think [name]Rocco[/name] and [name]Rocky[/name] take it over the macho/cartoonish line, but the others are great. [name]Boone[/name] might be a little too homespun and therefore jar with Finkelstein.
I really like the [name]Romance[/name] (Italian/Spanish) names with Finkelstein-- I really think they cool things down, and they’re very handsome. [name]Franco[/name], [name]Marco[/name], [name]Julio[/name], [name]Nico[/name], Azzo, etc.
[name]Desmond[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Vaughn[/name] and [name]Weston[/name] are great as-is: they’re cool, masculine, and draw the spotlight their way instead of placing it solely on Finkelstein.
I just want to reiterate [name]Drake[/name] since I think it’s so great: it means ‘dragon,’ it’s a snappy, strong-sounding, monosyllabic first name, and it’s an accepted surname which means it’s not too over the top.