I’ve been lurking for a while and hoping you all can help. Sorry in advance for the long-winded post. I know there was a similar post recently but if I remember correctly, that person was looking for a more Spanish name than I am.
My husband and I are expecting our first child in February and he’s a boy. We had some girl names picked out but finding boy names much harder. My husband is of Cuban descent and we have a common Spanish last name. It starts with G and has 3 syllables (think along the lines of [name]Hernandez[/name] or [name]Rodriguez[/name]). I am Irish and other European blends but am not at all Spanish and we live in an area with a large Irish population and very small Hispanic population. My husband is [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] II and we have [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] III on our list. I said we could name the baby [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] III (and he would be known as [name]Trey[/name]) if he LOVED it but my husband thinks it’s more of a “safety” if we don’t come up with anything else. I don’t think the rest of his family cares that much either. We like very classic names for boys and, while we want something that can be translated into Spanish, we do not want a real Spanish name (e.g., no [name]Diego[/name] or [name]Alberto[/name]). The other problem is that while names like [name]Lucas[/name] and [name]Marcus[/name] would work, they would be shortened to [name]Luke[/name] or [name]Mark[/name] and I don’t like the hard K next to the G of our last name.
So, two questions:
Any opinions on [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] III, being known as [name]Trey[/name]? My concern is that with so much emphasis on legal names now for passports and plane tickets, I don’t want it to be too confusing for him. Similarly, things like work email addresses may be difficult down the road since it will be unclear if his first initial should be listed as J or T. I also worry about discrimination with such a clearly Hispanic name (though that may be moot since our last name is very Hispanic).
So far, the only other names on our list are [name]William[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name], both of which I prefer to [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] III. I know they are both very popular and am ok with that but am hoping for more suggestions. My husband has shot down [name]Henry[/name], [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Benjamin[/name], [name]Asher[/name], and [name]Andrew[/name]. And, again, I do not want a real Spanish name. We are ok with Irish names but nothing so Irish that it would look ridiculous with our last name.
Personally, if your husband and his family don’t really care if the name [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] is continued for a third generation, I would just use it as a mn option. I’m not crazy about juniors, numerals or calling a boy “[name]Trey[/name]”. I love [name]Alexander[/name]. Here are some other suggestions that would work with your Spanish surname.
I was just going to suggest [name]Julian[/name]/[name]Julius[/name]. Looks like [name]Mischa[/name] gave some great options! I really like the idea of [name]Philip[/name], [name]Francis[/name]/co, and [name]Ezra[/name].
Hm… I love [name]Juan[/name] [name]Carlos[/name], but I don’t love Jrs or IIIs (my husband is a [name]Jr[/name] and is fighting hard for baby to be a III if it is a boy- sigh). I do love [name]Daniel[/name] though (well, it is my husband’s name). I was a Spanish teacher for years, so I often pronounce his name in the Spanish way (dah-NYEL vs. DA-nyel). Would [name]Daniel[/name] [name]Carlos[/name] G------ work? [name]Daniel[/name] is also very popular in [name]Ireland[/name]. Another one, which would be more of the conversion type name, is [name]Patrick[/name]. My brother in law is [name]Patrick[/name] but I always call him [name]Patricio[/name]. It is very Irish but easily converted to Spanish.
As for nicknames, if your sone was legally named JC III, he would have to use that on all of his legal documents, travel plans, etc. My legal name is [name]Katherine[/name] but nobody has ever called me that in my life- I go by [name]Katy[/name]. That said, my driver’s license, passport, credit cards, etc all say [name]Katherine[/name] and that is also how I sign my name. It happens all the time. My great-great grandma was “[name]Celia[/name] [name]Louise[/name]” but everyone called her “[name]Lula[/name].” She just made sure to sign the legal name when necessary.
Thanks for the feedback. I have considered most of the names on [name]Mischa[/name]'s list (thanks for the many suggestions, by the way) but nothing seems quite right. My two big concerns are (1) having a name that will last a lifetime, meaning cute as a child, datable as a teen/young man, and distinguished in the workplace and (2) having something kind of strong since he is likely to be short and already has a stereotypical minority name. [name]Daniel[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name] are on teh right track but there are close family members with those names already. I have proposed [name]Callum[/name] and [name]Seamus[/name] too but got shot down.
I guess I was just hoping to expand the list beyond [name]William[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name] but being down to 2 may not be the worst thing in the world.
[name]Eamon[/name] ([name]Eamon[/name] de [name]Valera[/name], who had an Irish mother and a Spanish father was once Prime Minister of [name]Ireland[/name])
[name]Niall[/name]
[name]Arran[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name] is a good idea, it easily goes to “[name]Hugo[/name].” What about [name]James[/name]? He can be nicknamed [name]Jamie[/name]/[name]Jaime[/name]?