Husband and I have gone through boy names A-Z and there’s zero overlap in our lists. Ugh. His top pick is [name_m]Steven[/name_m] / [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] (I neither hate nor love it.) and I really want [name_m]Mark[/name_m].
I’m now wondering, why choose? Can we do both? Either [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m] or [name_m]Stephen[/name_m]-[name_m]Mark[/name_m] as a first name. (With or without the hyphen?) They’re kind of not my thing, but I’m willing to compromise.
Our last name is super long and very hard for people to spell. One of the reasons I wanted [name_m]Mark[/name_m] is because this kid really doesn’t need more letters in his name.
We don’t have our hearts set on anything as a middle name. Maybe my dad’s simple 4-letter name. Or maybe we just skip a middle name if the first name is doubled up. What do you think?
If double barrel names are the way to go, maybe there’s another combo here.
My top picks: [name_m]Matthew[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Miles[/name_m],
Husband’s top picks: [name_u]Terry[/name_u], [name_u]Evan[/name_u]
I love [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] I don’t care for [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] or [name_m]Mark[/name_m] [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] as a double name.
Hmm I would say if neither of you particularly likes the others top choice, maybe you haven’t found the right one. Rather than use both, maybe scrapping both is the way to go. That said, I think [name_m]Mark[/name_m] [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] is handsome. But hyphenated or not, one name is bound to get dropped.
There seems to be some overlap in style with [name_u]Evan[/name_u] and [name_m]Miles[/name_m]. [name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] or [name_m]Gavin[/name_m] or [name_m]Vincent[/name_m]?
I think [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m] works okay as a hyphenated name, but not [name_m]Stephen[/name_m]-[name_m]Mark[/name_m].
However, if I was in charge of naming your baby, I would go with [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_m]Matthew[/name_m]. I like [name_u]Evan[/name_u] as a first name pick for you because it’s the most currently stylish of your husband’s otherwise dad-name choices, and it is short, which you liked about [name_m]Mark[/name_m]. Then [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] is my favorite off your list, although [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_m]Miles[/name_m] would work just as well.
I really like [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m], it’s nice and not too common for babies today. Plus, you and your husband would both be happy then. I’m not fond of [name_m]Stephen[/name_m]-[name_m]Mark[/name_m], I think it sounds awkward.
Personally, I am not a fan of the double barrel name. Of your two options, [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m] definitely sounds better. Would you plan on calling him [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m] all the time. Could you make it first name [name_m]Mark[/name_m], middle name [name_m]Stephen[/name_m]. You can still call him by the whole thing or he could choose which one he likes better down the road. I know people who go by some combo of first & middle and I think this would be better than 2 first names, especially if you are worried about length.
It doesn’t sound like you are actually loving the double first name anyway. I would maybe think about looking at some more names. Maybe you can find something that both you and your husband are comfortable with?
What do you think about [name_m]Marcus[/name_m]? You could still call him [name_m]Mark[/name_m]. Would your husband like that any more?
From what you have given us, both of your styles seem fairly traditional. I actually think that [name_u]Evan[/name_u] fits in better with the names you like & [name_m]Mark[/name_m] seems to fit in better with his.
Some other ideas:
[name_m]Adam[/name_m]
[name_m]Alan[/name_m]
[name_u]Alex[/name_u]
[name_m]Andrew[/name_m]
[name_m]David[/name_m]
[name_m]Jack[/name_m]
[name_m]Jacob[/name_m]
[name_m]John[/name_m]
[name_m]Lucas[/name_m]
[name_m]Nathan[/name_m]
[name_u]Noah[/name_u]
[name_u]Owen[/name_u]
[name_m]Peter[/name_m]
[name_m]Robert[/name_m]
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
Hmmmm, I think you both should keep looking. The perfect name is out there. But if you’re set on [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] or [name_m]Mark[/name_m] my vote is [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] LastName. No hyphens, [name_m]Mark[/name_m] as the middle name. Call him by both if you like both.
If you’re thinking of a whole different route I like the combo of [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] from your other name choices.
I’m fine with combined and hyphenated names, but with [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] and [name_m]Mark[/name_m], I don’t feel that it works. [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] [name_m]Mark[/name_m] or [name_m]Mark[/name_m] [name_m]Stephen[/name_m], as regular first and middle names do work, and I think they are strong choices. It does mean deciding and that isn’t easy, but I think you should go with one or the other. I would personally choose [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] of the two, but [name_m]Mark[/name_m] is a great name, too.
Thanks so much for your input! I appreciate your points.
I never would have thought of it, but [name_m]Mark[/name_m]-[name_m]Stephen[/name_m] is definitely growing on me. I like the name [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] more used this way. Double Barrel biblical names strike me as so [name_m]French[/name_m]. (Maybe we go totally [name_m]French[/name_m] and name him [name_m]Marc[/name_m]-[name_m]Etienne[/name_m]. So nice! Husband would never go for that. He might not go for the double name either, but I wanted to feel it out before I suggest it.)
I’d probably call him [name_m]Mark[/name_m] most of the time, but use the full name about as much as any parent whose kid goes by a nickname. Maybe 75% nickname and 25% full name.