Ethan Paul and Ava Cate need a name for their brother... Ian, Ely, Nolan, or ?

Boy Names
1

I’m 34 weeks and starting to stress about a name for our little guy. My son is [name]Ethan[/name] [name]Paul[/name], daughter is [name]Ava[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] ([name]Cate[/name]). [name]Both[/name] middle names are family names. I didn’t realize how popular either of their names were when I fell in love with them. Oops.

I guess I have a thing for vowels and short-ish names. I also like easy to say, easy to spell… nothing funky. Classic spellings. Though my other kids have popular names, that’s not my strong preference necessarily. I do want it to sound good with [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]

Middle name will be [name]James[/name]. Last name ends in “____ks”

Our current top considerations:
[name]Ian[/name] [name]James[/name]
[name]Ely[/name] [name]James[/name]
[name]Nolan[/name] [name]James[/name]

Names we like, but for one reason or another (dh doesn’t like, friend/enemy, doesn’t flow with siblings, too popular) won’t use:
[name]Dylan[/name]
[name]Ben[/name]
[name]Tyler[/name]
[name]Carter[/name]
[name]Evan[/name]
[name]Gavin[/name]
[name]Reid[/name]
[name]Liam[/name]
[name]Aiden[/name]
[name]Jake[/name]
[name]Isaac[/name]

Not interested in:
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Aaron[/name]
[name]Ivor[/name]
[name]Asher[/name]
[name]Eric[/name]
[name]Elijah[/name]
[name]Noah[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]

So, 1) what do you think of our top 3 considerations and 2) what other suggestions do you have pretty please? I’m desperate and feeling stumped and stressed. My friends and family are frustrated with me because we haven’t loved their suggestions yet… not to discourage you! LOL

Thanks!

2

I personally think [name]Ely[/name] and [name]Ian[/name] are a little too close in sounds to [name]Ethan[/name]. But I think [name]Nolan[/name] sounds good. It has the same ending as [name]Ethan[/name] so they are compatible, but not too matchy. [name]Nolan[/name] [name]James[/name] sounds really good. [name]Ethan[/name] [name]Paul[/name] and [name]Nolan[/name] [name]James[/name] are great for brothers! I think [name]Ely[/name] would better than [name]Ian[/name] if you really like [name]Ely[/name] a lot. [name]Ely[/name] [name]James[/name] sounds nice.

3

Thank you. So, btw, what does [name]Ely[/name] make you think of?
My mom hates it because it makes her think of death and doom… book of [name]Eli[/name]…

4

[name]Nolan[/name] [name]James[/name] ____ks is my favorite I am not too keen on siblings having the same letter name unless all the siblings have the same letter name, one of my quirks haha so [name]Ely[/name] is out for me, I agree with [name]Libby[/name] [name]Ian[/name] also sounds too close to [name]Ethan[/name]. :slight_smile:

5

I really love your two older children’s names!

I agree with pps that [name]Nolan[/name] seems the best on your list. [name]Ian[/name] sounds just like [name]Ethan[/name] except without the /th/ in the middle. [name]Ely[/name] might be misspelled, and when people see it in print, they might confuse it with the girl’s name [name]Ellie[/name]. [name]James[/name] is a terrific middle name.

6

[name]Ely[/name] & [name]Ian[/name] depend on how you are pronouncing them
Does [name]Ely[/name]=[name]Eli[/name]? To me it doesn’t. There is a school near me called [name]Ely[/name] “ee-lee”. If you want “ee-lye” you should spell it [name]Eli[/name]. I like [name]Ely[/name] & [name]Eli[/name], but they are a bit close to [name]Ethan[/name]. I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Ely[/name] but of the two, [name]Eli[/name] is the best with [name]Ethan[/name]

“ee-an” is way too close to [name]Ethan[/name] but “eye-an” is fine

[name]Nolan[/name] is also close to [name]Ethan[/name] but I’d go with that

7

I think [name]Nolan[/name] goes best with your older children’s names

8

I definitely think [name]Nolan[/name] is best with your other kids.

I only like [name]Eli[/name] spelled this way, and [name]Ian[/name] is way too close in sound to [name]Ethan[/name].

9

If its ee-LYE it should be spelled [name]Eli[/name] although I am not into siblings having the same first initials. [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ian[/name] are way too similar, practically the same name! [name]Nolan[/name] is nice but has the same ‘an’ ending as [name]Ethan[/name] making them a little matchy for my taste.
[name]How[/name] about…

[name]Callum[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Zac[/name]
[name]Caleb[/name]
[name]Connor[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Harry[/name] ?

10

If its ee-LYE it should be spelled [name]Eli[/name] although I am not into siblings having the same first initials. [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ian[/name] are way too similar, practically the same name! [name]Nolan[/name] is nice but has the same ‘an’ ending as [name]Ethan[/name] making them a little matchy for my taste.
[name]How[/name] about…

[name]Callum[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Zac[/name]
[name]Caleb[/name]
[name]Connor[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Harry[/name] ?

11

I agree with the PP on [name]Ely[/name] and [name]Ian[/name] being too close to [name]Ethan[/name]. [name]Nolan[/name] is great! I think it fits well with [name]Ava[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name].

Suggestions:
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Alaric[/name]
[name]Nick[/name]
[name]Drew[/name]
[name]Cody[/name]
[name]Evan[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Levi[/name]
[name]Luke[/name]/[name]Lucas[/name]/[name]Luca[/name]
[name]Cole[/name]
[name]Ryan[/name]
[name]Wesley[/name]

Input: [name]Ely[/name] does make me think of death…I have no idea why though. I love [name]Eli[/name].

12

I think [name]Nolan[/name] [name]James[/name] goes best with your other children’s names and it’s a very handsome name, [name]IMO[/name]. I think [name]Ely[/name] and [name]Ian[/name] are too close to [name]Ethan[/name].

13

I agree with the comments about with [name]Ely[/name] and [name]Ian[/name], so I would pick [name]Nolan[/name], but it’s just nms. So here are some suggestions for other possible names:

[name]Ethan[/name], [name]Ava[/name], and ____ [name]James[/name]–

[name]Adam[/name]
[name]Andrew[/name]
[name]Caleb[/name]
[name]Calvin[/name]
[name]Carson[/name]
[name]Cole[/name]
[name]Daniel[/name]
[name]Elias[/name]
[name]Elliot[/name]
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Joel[/name]
[name]Levi[/name]
[name]Luke[/name]
[name]Mark[/name]
[name]Peter[/name]
[name]Philip[/name]
[name]Ryan[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Sean[/name]
[name]Seth[/name]
[name]Thomas[/name]
[name]Tobias[/name]
[name]Wesley[/name]
[name]Winston[/name]

14

I love [name]Nolan[/name]!!

15

I love [name]Ian[/name], but agree it’s too close to [name]Ethan[/name] so I’ll have to go with [name]Nolan[/name]. As for [name]Ely[/name]… I’m not sure if you’re supposed to say it like [name]Eli[/name], or [name]Ellie[/name], or eely (lol).

16

Sorry I am not onboard with the choices available but I love the names of your children so here are a few ideas

[name]Joel[/name] [name]Lucas[/name]
[name]Lucas[/name] [name]Everett[/name]
[name]Silas[/name] [name]Jonathan[/name]
[name]Grant[/name] [name]Xavier[/name]
[name]Flynn[/name] [name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Dashiell[/name] [name]Nolan[/name] nn [name]Dash[/name]
[name]James[/name] [name]Isaiah[/name]
[name]Jamison[/name] [name]Tate[/name]
[name]Declan[/name] [name]Peter[/name]
[name]Cruz[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]

rollo

17

I was afraid you’d all say that [name]Ian[/name] and [name]Ely[/name] were too close to [name]Ethan[/name]! Bummer. I guess I like that sound.

So, I don’t want to be yucky matchy-matchy, but I still want the names to flow together… I have to be able to easily yell all the names at once, ya know? :slight_smile: Some of the names you have all wonderfully suggested are nice names, but I think they have a drastically different “sound” to them ([name]Cruz[/name], [name]Toby[/name], [name]Grant[/name], [name]Carson[/name]) and I don’t want our 3rd child to feel like the “black sheep”-- especially with a 5 year age difference and I will likely not have any more. Is that weird and I’m over-analyzing?

Here’s some other names I like, but worry about the sounds going together with [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]. What do you think?
[name]Tate[/name] [name]James[/name]
[name]Mason[/name] [name]James[/name]
[name]Davin[/name] [name]James[/name]

18

I like [name]Tate[/name] [name]James[/name] a lot. [name]Tate[/name] goes well with the other siblings and it’s easy to pronounce, but not overly popular. I think [name]Tate[/name] would be a great choice :slight_smile:

19

[name]Tate[/name] is a lovely name! I think that would be great with [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] as long as you don’t ever call [name]Ava[/name] by her middle name, unless you dont mind [name]Tate[/name] and [name]Cate[/name] rhyming :slight_smile:

20

[name]Ethan[/name] [name]Paul[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] [name]Cate[/name] are gorgeous sibling names.

The way that I see it not only do you like one syllable names, you like Biblical names eg [name]Ethan[/name], [name]Paul[/name] and [name]Cate[/name] (meaning pure), and you like European inspired names eg [name]Ava[/name] (my favourite name ever), so I think that the following names will fit this criteria.

[name]Jared[/name] A biblical name that is not overused but v. handsome
[name]Soren[/name] Meaning thunder and this is a Scandinavian/Danish inspired name that is perfect with [name]Ava[/name], eg [name]Ava[/name], [name]Soren[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name].
[name]Blair[/name] Isn’t this a handsome name? Sibset of [name]Ava[/name], [name]Blair[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name], very modern combo.
[name]Blaise[/name] [name]One[/name] syllable, French inspired and with the meaning of [name]Light[/name] fits the Biblical criteria too, [name]Blaise[/name], [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]
[name]Niall[/name] pronounced as [name]Nile[/name], this has the Gaelic roots that I feel appeals to you, and is one syllable and fits beautifully eg [name]Niall[/name], [name]Ava[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name].
[name]Clint[/name] or if you prefer [name]Clinton[/name], eg [name]Ava[/name], [name]Clint[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name]
[name]Seth[/name] He sounds familiar, even popular but seldom do you meet him, [name]Seth[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name] do sound similar so this may have to go into a middle name spot
[name]Levi[/name], Biblical, one syllable, On trend, mirrors the ‘v’ in [name]Ava[/name], sibset [name]Levi[/name], [name]Ava[/name], [name]Ethan[/name], seems like a good match to me
[name]Joshua[/name] nn [name]Josh[/name] I like him a lot and I think he fits too, [name]Ethan[/name], [name]Joshua[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]
[name]Kristian[/name] in this name you can choose the nn of [name]Ian[/name] or [name]Kris[/name] both easy to call out and fits in Biblically and with the European [name]Ava[/name], ie [name]Kristian[/name], [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name].
[name]Hunter[/name] I like this one, [name]Hunter[/name] appeals to me so much and works beautifully eg [name]Ethan[/name], [name]Hunter[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]
[name]Teague[/name] ie Teeg, He has Gaelic roots, is one syllable and fits a modern boy, I like the combo of [name]Teague[/name] [name]Hunter[/name] too, sibset [name]Teague[/name], [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name].
[name]Jonah[/name] a popular choice and don’t you love [name]Jonah[/name], [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] together?

Let me know if you like any of these.

Combos
[name]Jared[/name] [name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Soren[/name] [name]Jorge[/name]
[name]Blair[/name] [name]Denham[/name] (denim)
[name]Blaise[/name] [name]Elliott[/name]
[name]Niall[/name] [name]Davin[/name]
[name]Clint[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Levi[/name] [name]Jamison[/name]
[name]Kristian[/name] [name]Isaac[/name]
[name]Hunter[/name] [name]Tate[/name]
[name]Teague[/name] [name]Hunter[/name]
[name]Jonah[/name] [name]Reid[/name]

rollo