I just found out I’m having a boy, and of course I had a million girl names and none for boys.
I REALLY need help putting a list together. And these are the things I have to consider when doing so:
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My daughter’s name is [name]Isabel[/name], a family name that we love. But we had no idea how popular [name]Isabella[/name] was and were a little remorseful because a) people always call her the wrong name and b) we might not have chosen it had we known about the popularity of a name so similar. So we’re trying to come up with something a little more unique.
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In my husband’s family, his father, his uncle, and a lot of his male cousins have names that start with A. We aren’t completely committed to keeping with that tradition, especially since a lot of the good A names are already taken ([name]Aaron[/name], [name]Anthony[/name], [name]Antonio[/name], [name]Andre[/name], [name]Andrew[/name], etc.) but will consider it if we find the right name.
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My husband is of Zambian descent, and I am of Mexican descent. We speak Spanish to our daughter at home, and we’d like a name that sounds good in English and Spanish.
A couple of names I like are - [name]Malcolm[/name] and [name]Arlo[/name].
I would REALLY love some suggestions if you have any!! Thanks.
[name]Arlo[/name] is lovely! It would be easily said in Spanish, too, which is a plus (or, if I had a Mexican family, I’d think it’d be a plus!), and [name]Isabel[/name] and [name]Arlo[/name] is a pretty kick-butt sibset if you ask me. 
My first idea was [name]August[/name]–I think [name]Isabel[/name] and [name]August[/name] are fab together, and [name]August[/name]'s variations are so international that I’m sure it could translate well into Spanish somehow, and it’s familiar yet still uncommon, and you still have a pretty cool “A” name. I think [name]Isabel[/name] and [name]Asher[/name] would be great, too, although [name]Asher[/name] doesn’t translate as well into Spanish and it’s a bit more on the popular side (not as likely to be confused with [name]Ashton[/name] and such, but it is around the top 100 mark, which is where [name]Isabelle[/name]/[name]Isabel[/name] sits. Of course, it doesn’t have an [name]Isabella[/name]-look-alike to contend with…).
A few others:
[name]Julian[/name] (although with the changing “J” sound–I’m guessing this is what you’re trying to avoid by sounds good in Spanish/English? Otherwise, I think [name]Isabel[/name] and [name]Julian[/name] would be pretty stunning!)
[name]Oscar[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]/[name]Leopold[/name]
[name]Felix[/name] (although, again, the sound changes fairly drastically from English to Spanish)
[name]Samuel[/name] (although it’s more on the popular side… nowhere near as rampant as [name]Isabella[/name], though)
If you’re looking to keep to an “A” name, I think [name]Alban[/name], [name]Abbott[/name], [name]Aloysius[/name], and [name]Avery[/name] are pretty cool, more obscure “A” names, but I’m not sure how well they’d transfer into Spanish. I think [name]Alban[/name] would transfer pretty well, though.
Good luck!
See the top nameberry boys names of 2012 blog post!
Congrats!
[name]Isabel[/name] is a lovely classic! I love the family connection and I think with your son you need to follow through with the family connection with the letter ‘a’ it would be sweet if you used the ‘a’ names, as it’s a tradition for your husband. My best friend is Zambian and I know that for the Phiri family (her family) tradition is very important and when I went to Zambia christmas/hanukkah 2011 I discovered that for ‘most’ black Zambians tradition is very important. So I would keep to the tradition I suspect most his family would love that you keep to it and as would he. I love that your daughter is bilingual and [name]Isabel[/name] works perfectly in English and Spanish so hopefully my suggestions below will work for you guys…
[name]Anderson[/name]
[name]Anton[/name]
[name]Alejandro[/name]
[name]Abel[/name]
[name]Ace[/name]
[name]Augustus[/name]
[name]Alastair[/name]
[name]Alban[/name]
[name]Alessandro[/name]
[name]Alonso[/name]
[name]Anders[/name]
[name]Angelo[/name]
[name]Archer[/name]
[name]Ari[/name]
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]Ashton[/name]
[name]Aurelio[/name]
[name]Aurelius[/name]
[name]Axel[/name]
[name]Hope[/name] this helped x
I really like [name]Arlo[/name]. It sounds great with [name]Isabel[/name] and I like the connection to family.
My favorite A-beginning boy names are: [name]Arlo[/name], [name]Alastair[/name], and [name]Arthur[/name]. So, I definitely think [name]Arlo[/name] would be the best pick for Spanish to English.
Other ideas (that might work better for Spanish & English): [name]Adrian[/name], [name]Alfred[/name], [name]Agustin[/name]