We keep casting out for other names but ultimately come back to these five, which are all essentially tied! Please help us rank them by voting for your favorite!
Middle names will be ______ James Douglas regardless of chosen first name
0 voters
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think you’ll use a nickname or diminutive? [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] and [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] have the best nicknames. [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and [name_m]Peter[/name_m] are very handsome; I like both, though not as well as [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] and [name_m]Calvin[/name_m]. [name_u]Henry[/name_u] is perfectly fine; I just hear it a lot.
All of your options are great; you really can’t go wrong!
We definitely would, if they came naturally! We love [name_u]Harry[/name_u] for [name_u]Henry[/name_u] but think it would be a harder sell in our niche of the US than it would in [name_u]Britain[/name_u], for example. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband loves [name_u]Sam[/name_u], and I’m smitten with [name_u]Cal[/name_u]!
[name_u]Henry[/name_u] is my fave!!
But if I was to rank them from favourite to least, I’d do:
[name_u]Henry[/name_u]
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m]
[name_m]Peter[/name_m]
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m]
I don’t think you can go wrong with [name_u]Henry[/name_u], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] and [name_m]Peter[/name_m] though! [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is a good name, but not sure on three -s endings
[name_m]Hi[/name_m] there.
Great list! I really am having a hard time, but am going to try my best to rank my favorite to least favorite.
Samuel-Samuel is sooooo sweet. It’s a perfect balance of gentle old soul but still really obviously a male name. You know what I mean? It’s soft but there’s no way it could be considered feminine. It’s really easy and well known, but not as popular as I feel like it could be. The built in nn of [name_u]Sam[/name_u] is friendly and lovable too.
Peter-I love [name_m]Peter[/name_m] too. Almost as much as [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], but am not as excited about [name_m]Pete[/name_m] as [name_u]Sam[/name_u]. [name_m]Peter[/name_m] is charming and classic and well known but rarely heard on little tykes. It’s strong but feels very approachable. I like just [name_m]Peter[/name_m] on its own, but also like the slightly more stretch nns of [name_u]Pip[/name_u] & [name_m]Patch[/name_m].
Henry-I love [name_u]Henry[/name_u]. It’s just like the others in that it’s sweet and kind but totally a classic male name. I mainly love it for the nn [name_m]Hank[/name_m], which you don’t hear a lot. The only downside of [name_u]Henry[/name_u] is that it’s actually every little boy’s name. I can’t believe that it’s not #1 on the SSA charts. I hear it constantly in real life.
Thomas-I love [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], but am really not into [name_m]Tom[/name_m] or [name_u]Tommy[/name_u]. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like those? I’m not sure how avoidable they are. [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is probably the most used of all of these in the past century, but not that common more recently.
Calvin-I put this last, but I still really like it. It’s a bit more unique, I think. I love the sporty spunky [name_u]Cal[/name_u] the most. Kind of like [name_m]Calum[/name_m] nn [name_u]Cal[/name_u] more.
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps. 
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] (Sam) is just so sweet. [name_f]Beautiful[/name_f] meaning, great literary connections. Can’t go wrong here.
top 3 definitely henry, samuel and peter.
thomas is a great name, but not as great with douglas. (if i understand it correctly to be the surname?)
peter is my top pick. great classic, handsome, and fresh these days.
samuel / sam is softer and sweeter, but also more common.
henry is lovely as always, just flows not as well with james douglas.
now calvin… cal is a great nickname, and also as a standalone!
calvin is just not it on the baldiness of it, but i understand my extra dislike of it comes from speaking a romance language that easily recognizes calvin for what it means, unlike english where you can disconnect. still, not for it.
Thank you! We live in an area where every little boy seems to be named [name_m]Jaxyn[/name_m] or [name_u]Brayden[/name_u] so [name_u]Henry[/name_u] feels more refreshing to us than not, but other people have also said they hear it a lot so maybe it’s the sort of thing that would drive me crazy in 5 years once kindergarten starts!
Oh gosh, I see now how the way I worded that would be confusing - no, our surname is Benn; we are doing double middle names for family honorific purposes and I was just trying to avoid having the surname on blast. Sorry about that!
that’s ok! but i do think it changes the overall flow of the name. (you can always censor the surname using dots or other characters, or just allude to its existence and sound for reference)
henry sounds the best with your surname, followed by peter.
samuel and thomas are lovely and, even calvin, sound great with your surname, but their nicknames don’t, if you ever considered using them together.
I thought that too, about [name_u]Sam[/name_u] not flowing as well with the surname, but my husband goes by [name_m]Jim[/name_m] so very similar sound/structure and it’s not as clunky together as it might seem. We’ll see, we have plenty of time to decide - thanks for your input!
[name_f]My[/name_f] thoughts…
[name_u]Henry[/name_u] ~ I absolutely love [name_u]Henry[/name_u]! He’s so handsome, wholesome and feels very classic. [name_u]Henry[/name_u] is such a gorgeous name one of my favourites sounds great with [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_u]Douglas[/name_u].
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m] ~ I think [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] is a lovely name with a jazzy vibe he’s strong striking choice feels very unexpected. I also like the nickname [name_u]Cal[/name_u]. However despite all this positivity it’s not my favourite from my list.
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] ~ I absolutely love [name_m]Samuel[/name_m]. He’s strong, wholesome, biblical and feels very sweet. I really love [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] but doesn’t have the best flow with [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] due to repeated s sounds.
[name_m]Peter[/name_m] ~ a gorgeous biblical name that seems to shy away from the limelight and deserves to shine brightly by being bestowed onto newborns. [name_m]Peter[/name_m] is just lovely wholesome with great literacy references. [name_m]Peter[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] is fab!
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m] ~ I do like [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] he’s handsome and just such a stable classic vibe I also like the nickname [name_u]Tommy[/name_u]. I think [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is great but you’ve got such a wonderful list so I do prefer others.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourites for you guys are [name_u]Henry[/name_u] & [name_m]Peter[/name_m]
Good luck
Wow! What a great list you have, I can see why they’re all tied!
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m] got my vote! I think it’s traditional but not overly common and I love the nn [name_u]Cal[/name_u]!
[name_u]Henry[/name_u] and [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] were tied for second place, but you mentioned loving the nn [name_u]Cal[/name_u], and I think [name_u]Sam[/name_u] is a little overdone (but I can see why- it’s a great name!) and I do think the nn [name_u]Harry[/name_u] would be a bit stretchy in the US.