We have narrowed it down to two names, yet I still feel a bit unsure about either of them. What do you think?
[name_m]Calum[/name_m] (or [name_m]Callum[/name_m]) - this is currently #1. I really like the meaning “dove” as a symbol of peace. I can’t decide which spelling is better and fear people mispronouncing it as [name_u]Kay[/name_u]-lum. I’ve tested it out on a few people who seems to find its pronunciation a bit difficult…they overemphasize the [name_u]Cal[/name_u]-[name_m]LUM[/name_m]. Perhaps thats just because its not at all heard where I live. [name_u]Cal[/name_u] is a cute nickname, however, I like it more for a little boy than a grown man known as [name_u]Cal[/name_u].
[name_m]Silas[/name_m] - my husband and I have always liked this name since before we were pregnant. The biggest deterrent to using it now is its sudden growth in popularity (thank you [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake and [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] [name_m]Biel[/name_m]). I am hearing it a lot, and have a distant High School friend who used this name. I feel like this shouldn’t bother me so much, but it does. I imagine the nn “[name_u]Si[/name_u]” being used, which is OK. My husband and I value our faith above all and two of his favorite “characters” from the Bible are [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m].
Other suggestions based on our taste presented here are certainly welcome!
Both names are great! I prefer [name_m]Silas[/name_m] myself because it feels very outdoorsy and laid back. It is trendy but doesn’t appeal to a wide enough range of parents to become too popular. (That’s my impression, anyway.) If you decide to go with [name_m]Callum[/name_m], I prefer the two Ls.
I love [name_m]Calum[/name_m] more out of those two, but [name_m]Silas[/name_m] is still a favorite! [name_m]Jonah[/name_m] also means dove; and [name_u]Paxton[/name_u] means peace town, as some other possible ideas
I like [name_m]Silas[/name_m] a lot (and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] are definitely lovely namesakes!), but I definitely wouldn’t attribute [name_m]Silas[/name_m]'s popularity (or, all of [name_m]Silas[/name_m]'s popularity, anyway) to [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake and [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] [name_m]Biel[/name_m]. It was well on its way up the charts before they even were expecting. It very well could have had an affect, but [name_m]Silas[/name_m] Timberlake was only born this spring, so unless you’ve noticed a huge influx of [name_m]Silas[/name_m]-es in the last four or so months, I would just attribute it to being an awesome name. There’s no SSA data that’s come out since [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake gave the name [name_m]Silas[/name_m] to his son, but from 2013 to 2014, [name_m]Silas[/name_m] dropped in popularity, for what it’s worth.
I like [name_m]Callum[/name_m]/[name_m]Calum[/name_m] a lot, too. I can see [name_u]Cal[/name_u] on a grown man much easier than a little boy, but I think it’s fine for any age. I like [name_m]Silas[/name_m] sightly more, but [name_m]Callum[/name_m] is really great, too. I don’t think you could go wrong with either, honestly!
@ashthedreamer You are so right, the Timberlake’s haven’t made [name_m]Silas[/name_m] uber popular yet; I guess I am just anticipating it’s going to happen! It happens all too often when parents choose a name they think is not very popular, only to find their child gets to kindergarten and becomes the third child in their class with the same name. Perhaps this is just a naming fear I need to get over, because really what’s so bad about sharing your name with others? Especially if its a loved name…this is what I keep telling myself anyway…
[name_u]True[/name_u]. Popularity is so fickle, too–I’m an [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] born just before it hit number 1, and I didn’t attend school (or really even knew any Ashleys) with another [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] until my junior year of high school–which seems like a huge feat, lol. And even then, there were only three of us in the whole school, and I often didn’t attend a class with another [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] (although one of them was in my grade and we did have a few overlapping classes). That being said, I went to private schools until my sophomore year of college, so they were much smaller schools. That probably explains it.
But, that also being said, it would seem like you’d be lucky if there was more than one [name_u]Noah[/name_u] in a grade, much less a classroom in public schools these days. In 2014, there were 19,144 Noahs born, and when you evenly distribute that between all 50 states, that averages out to about 383 Noahs per state last year. Most states I’ve done the math for have about 67 counties, with about 20 school districts per county, so if you divide 383 by 67, you get a little over 5.5 Noahs per county. So then, to divide that again by about 20, you wouldn’t even have 1 [name_u]Noah[/name_u] per school district–the average is that you should have about 1 [name_u]Noah[/name_u] per school district for every 4 grades. So, in an elementary school, you’d be lucky if you had more than 1 [name_u]Noah[/name_u] per school district. Sure, it’s a popular name–the most popular name in the country, for boys–but popularity isn’t like it used to be in our school days, when we grew up with multiple Amandas, Sarahs, Katies, Ashleys, Rachels etc. And on top of that, [name_m]Silas[/name_m], at number 137, has much fewer births at 2,900 Silases born last year. Again, I don’t know which state you’re in–if I did, I could probably make the math much more accurate–but if you divide 2,900 by 50, you get 58 Silases per state, which isn’t even enough to have one [name_m]Silas[/name_m] per county in each state in the US (much less school district!). The average is such that your [name_m]Silas[/name_m] might be the only [name_m]Silas[/name_m] in the tri-county area.
I mean, the world doesn’t live by averages, so your son certainly could attend school with another [name_m]Silas[/name_m], but, the fact of the matter is, even though it seems like [name_m]Silas[/name_m] will be crazy popular, right now it really isn’t, and I don’t expect [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake, though he is popular, to affect the popularity of a name like, say, the Kardashians, Brangelina, or [name_m]Will[/name_m] and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] would. [name_m]Just[/name_m] like I’m not sure [name_m]Brandon[/name_m] [name_f]Routh[/name_f]'s [name_m]Leo[/name_m] really affected [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s popularity. It was already familiar and well-loved and well-used (if not rabidly popular). I expect the same to happen with [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake’s [name_m]Silas[/name_m].
I love both of these names! [name_m]Silas[/name_m] is so handsome and I love the nickname [name_u]Cal[/name_u] for [name_m]Calum[/name_m]. I’d never throught to pronounce it [name_u]Kay[/name_u]-lum.
I think either name would make for a great choice! Perhaps it depends on whether you want to go with a Bible name or a name that has meaning to you.
In regards to [name_m]Callum[/name_m], I prefer it spelt this way and have never though to pronounce it kay-lum.
In regards to [name_m]Silas[/name_m], it is always hard to know how to handle the current popularity or obscurity of a name as it is so changeable. And, as another posted point out, a Top Ten name today is given to far fewer boys than a Top Ten name when we grew up–there is simply a wider variety of names used today. That said, it you run in religious circles you are perhaps more likely to encounter more [name_m]Silas[/name_m]’ than [name_m]Callum[/name_m]'s.
There’s no SSA data that’s come out since [name_m]Justin[/name_m] Timberlake gave the name [name_m]Silas[/name_m] to his son, but from 2013 to 2014, [name_m]Silas[/name_m] dropped in popularity, for what it’s worth. 
Popularity is so fickle, too–I’m an [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] born just before it hit number 1, and I didn’t attend school (or really even