My husband and I are TTC, and over the weekend I gave him a copy of my “long list” (20 current fav names), and asked him to circle his Top 5 names. The first he chose was [name]Alden[/name], (which both surprised and delighted me, as it’s a fav of mine as well!), but I’ve showed it to a few people and they’ve all pronounced it different ways.
I would pronounce [name]Alden[/name]: “all-den”, rhymes with “[name]Walden[/name]”
My mother and sis pronounced it: “al-dun”, like “[name]Al[/name]” + done
My bff and boss pronounced it: “al-den”, like “[name]Al[/name]” + den
[name]How[/name] do you pronounce “[name]Alden[/name]”??
WDYT of the name? His other picks were: [name]Simon[/name], [name]Jude[/name], [name]Felix[/name], [name]Elliot[/name], [name]Ephraim[/name]
MN choices are: [name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Alexander[/name], [name]Phoenix[/name], [name]Malcolm[/name], [name]John[/name] (his MN), [name]Teague[/name], [name]William[/name]
LN starts with “[name]Ben[/name]”, is 4 syllables, and ends with “vich”.
[name]Alden[/name] rhymes with [name]Walden[/name]. [name]Do[/name] people not read/study the Mayflower anymore? Sheesh! I hate when it is a common enough word and people don’t get it.
I love [name]Alden[/name]. Very cute!! I love Smon and [name]Jude[/name] and I like [name]Felix[/name] and [name]Elliot[/name]. You have great taste! Of your middle names, [name]Malcolm[/name] is just amazing. Some of the others are okay but I just adore [name]Malcolm[/name].
I pronounce [name]Alden[/name] the way you do - I really never thought anyone would say it any differently. I think it is a great name and my favorite on your list. I also like [name]Jude[/name] and [name]Felix[/name]. [name]Elliot[/name] and [name]Simon[/name] are ok and I don’t care for [name]Ephraim[/name] at all. Here are the combos I like best from your choices -
[name]Alden[/name] - I’d pronounce is “all-den”. NMS, but it’s a very solid name without being too modern.
[name]Simon[/name] - love this one
[name]Jude[/name] - NMS
[name]Felix[/name] - NMS
[name]Elliot[/name] - love
[name]Ephraim[/name] -[name]LOVE[/name]!! My DH absolutely hates it, which breaks my heart.
MN choices:
[name]Gabriel[/name] - love it
[name]Alexander[/name] - ok
[name]Phoenix[/name] - NMS. Doesn’t seem to go with any of the names listed above. [name]Simon[/name] [name]Phoenix[/name]? [name]Elliot[/name] [name]Phoenix[/name]? [name]Just[/name] doesn’t sound right.
[name]Malcolm[/name] -NMS
[name]John[/name] (his MN) - Ok. NMS.
[name]Teague[/name] - NMS. Similar to [name]Phoenix[/name]. [name]Just[/name] doesn’t go with the classic first names you’ve chosen.
[name]William[/name] - eh. It’s a family name in my family, so I hear it a TON.
I’ve always said “All”+“den” like you!
My faves of yours are [name]Alden[/name] and [name]Elliott[/name]
[name]Alden[/name] [name]John[/name]
[name]Alden[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Elliot[/name] [name]Phoenix[/name] or [name]Elliot[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Simon[/name]: Solid name, just not my style.
[name]Jude[/name]: [name]Love[/name] this. I see it as a strong name. Always makes me think of [name]Jude[/name] [name]Law[/name] (which is a good thing…)
[name]Felix[/name]: Reminds me of the cat. Not really my style.
[name]Elliot[/name]: Great classic name. I love the spelling you chose, but with so many spellings he’ll probably always have to spell it. Additionally, I always think of this as a boys name, but with the rise in [name]Elliot[/name] for girls, there may be gender confusion.
[name]Ephraim[/name]: This is another name that I can see with pronunciation issues (“EFF”-rum or “EEF”-rum). I like it.
[name]Alden[/name] is a fabulous name. I’d say All-den. [name]Simon[/name], [name]Felix[/name], and [name]Elliot[/name] are also on my short list, with [name]Elliot[/name] in the lead. [name]Jude[/name] is also a great name; you have good taste!
I would definitely say [name]Al[/name]-den like you. It was on my list too! I think it is a great name and would love to meet a little boy with that name. I think it would grow nicely too and be a nice adult name as well. All around a solid choice I think. I also like [name]Felix[/name] and [name]Elliott[/name] from your list.
Thoughts on the rest of the list:
[name]Simon[/name] - It’s ok.
[name]Jude[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name] this name but I’m starting to like it more as a middle.
[name]Felix[/name] - Nice, NMS though.
[name]Elliot[/name] - [name]Love[/name]!!!
[name]Ephraim[/name] - Really don’t like, sorry.
[name]Elliot[/name] [name]Jude[/name] would be nice
I would pronounce [name]Alden[/name] the way you do.
[name]Alden[/name] - I like it. It doesn’t really fit my style, but it’s a nice name
[name]Simon[/name] - [name]Love[/name] it!
[name]Jude[/name] - I have negative personal connotations, so I can’t comment.
[name]Felix[/name] - NMS
[name]Elliot[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name]!!!
[name]Ephraim[/name] - I really like this and have been toying with adding it to my list.
[name]Gabriel[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name]
[name]Alexander[/name] - With your lengthy last name, this + a first name might be a mouthful for a little guy, though.
[name]Phoenix[/name] - Like it.
[name]Malcolm[/name] - Like it.
[name]John[/name] - Good strong name with a family connection
[name]Teague[/name] - Quite like it.
[name]William[/name] - [name]Love[/name] it.
Rhymes with [name]Walden[/name]! That’s how I read it, but I admit, at first I thought it was [name]Aiden[/name] when I read it!
But I like it, I also love [name]Ephraim[/name]! [name]Simon[/name] is my next pick.
[name]Ephraim[/name] [name]Alexander[/name] is awesome.
I pronounce [name]Alden[/name] like you do - lovely choice. PP is right that it will be occasionally misread as [name]Aiden[/name] but not too big a deal. I like [name]Ephraim[/name] and [name]Jude[/name] but am not wild about [name]Felix[/name].
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!! It really helps I have to say, I am really quite impressed with my hubs’ picks (considering that he once suggested we name our son [name]Hannibal[/name] Skywalker [name]Ben[/name] - - vich!). I really like some of your suggestions for name pairings, especially:
BTW: The hubby’s Top 4 fav girl’s names are : [name]Celia[/name], [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Julia[/name], and [name]Eloise[/name]. [name]LOVE[/name]! <3
[name]Simon[/name] - I like this one, but I don’t think I’d ever use it.
[name]Jude[/name] - This one is getting a lot of theoretical attention lately
[name]Felix[/name] - This one if flying up the charts, too, mostly because of Twi-dumb.
[name]Elliot[/name] - I can’t decide if I like this one with one or two 't’s more, plus, super trending right now.
[name]Ephraim[/name] - I always worry the the ‘eph’ sound at the beginning is going to make people think of ‘F- You!’ or something. Other then that I think it’s a decent name.
And I pronounce it the way you do!!