My grandfather hated his name–[name]Melvin[/name] [name]Elton[/name]–and made us all swear we’d never name a child after him. While I agree that both [name]Melvin[/name] and [name]Elton[/name] feel really unappealing, I’ve been trying to think of other boy names that could get me to [name]Mel[/name] (which is what everyone called him). It would be a middle name, and the single syllable “[name]Mel[/name]” doesn’t work with all of the names I like; actually, it makes most names sound like locations in Middle [name]Earth[/name]. (example: [name]Griffin[/name] [name]Mel[/name]).