Math or Science-y Names?

Boy Names
1

[name]Hi[/name] all! My husband is an engineer and loves all things math and science. He tends to like names that are unique, which I’m all for, but we haven’t agreed on any names so far! We thought we’d decided on [name]Oliver[/name], but he’s since decided that he doesn’t like it at all :frowning: I don’t dislike ALL of his suggestions ([name]Hannibal[/name]?? yeesh!), but I’d like to give him some alternate ideas.

His requirement for names are that it be unique but not weird, strong and not starting with a “B” (our last name starts with “B” and rhymes with Kenockovich). Middle name would be [name]Jon[/name], [name]William[/name], or a combination of both.

His favorites:
[name]Orion[/name]
[name]Phoenix[/name]
[name]Teague[/name]

My favorites:
[name]Weston[/name]
[name]Zander[/name]
[name]Liam[/name]

We both like:
[name]Simon[/name]

Thanks :slight_smile:
[name]Kimberley[/name]

2

Your choices definitely seem more along the lines of math/science concepts, rather than math/science idols, but have you discussed the math/science idol idea? I think that there are some semi-famous mathematicians, scientists, etc. who have some [name]LOVELY[/name] names. I nanny for a little boy whose middle name is [name]Muir[/name], after the naturalist, and I think that’s lovely. Others include:

[name]Ansel[/name] ([name]Ansel[/name] [name]Adams[/name], the nature photographer)

[name]Johann[/name] ([name]Johann[/name] [name]Carl[/name] [name]Friedrich[/name] Gauss, a [name]German[/name] mathematician and former child prodigy; or [name]Johann[/name] Bernoulli, a Swiss mathematician)

Euclid / Euclides (the Greek “father of geometry”… this would definitely be unique)

Evariste (Evariste Galois, a French mathematician and another child prodigy… also a political protester who was killed in a duel, which I think is awesome, but is maybe not your thing)

[name]Pierre[/name] ([name]Pierre[/name] de Fermat, a French mathematician)

[name]Rene[/name] ([name]Rene[/name] [name]Descartes[/name], a Fenc/Dutch philosopher and scientist)

Nicolaus (Nicolaus Copernicus, Italian priest, physician and astronomer)

[name]Leo[/name] (after [name]Galileo[/name]?)

This (Wikipedia) list of scientists, sorted by nationality, is very helpful: Lists of scientists - Wikipedia . It has TONS of names. On it I found the following names (only a small sampling), which, again, I think are fabulous:

[name]Avi[/name] ([name]Avi[/name] [name]Ben[/name]-[name]Abraham[/name])
[name]Arden[/name] ([name]Arden[/name] L. Bement, [name]Jr[/name].)
[name]Harvey[/name] ([name]Harvey[/name] Bialy)
[name]Stone[/name] ([name]Amasa[/name] [name]Stone[/name] [name]Bishop[/name])
[name]Joaquin[/name] ([name]Joaquin[/name] Fuster)
[name]Julius[/name] ([name]Julius[/name] Marmur)
[name]Jonas[/name] ([name]Jonas[/name] Wenstrom and [name]Anders[/name] [name]Jonas[/name] Angstrom—I love this)
[name]Anders[/name] ([name]Anders[/name] Celsius and [name]Anders[/name] [name]Jonas[/name] Angstrom)
[name]Elias[/name] ([name]Elias[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] Fries)
[name]Sidney[/name] ([name]Sidney[/name] Altman)
[name]Selwyn[/name] ([name]Selwyn[/name] Blaylock)
[name]Stewart[/name] ([name]Stewart[/name] Blusson—also a philanthropist and helped fund genome sequencing—awesome)
[name]Duncan[/name] ([name]Duncan[/name] [name]Derry[/name])
[name]Axel[/name] ([name]Axel[/name] Firsoff)
[name]Alec[/name] ([name]Alec[/name] Jeffreys)
[name]Arthur[/name] ([name]Arthur[/name] [name]James[/name] [name]Turner[/name])
[name]Caius[/name] ([name]John[/name] [name]Caius[/name])

Your family sounds wonderful and interesting and “[name]Hannibal[/name]” made me laugh out loud. You’ll find something wonderful! [name]Simon[/name] is adorable. If you want unique, I would stay away from [name]Orion[/name] (although it’s lovely) and especially [name]Liam[/name], which I’ve heard all over the place lately (I know at least three Liams under the age of ten).

Best of luck!

3

Palindromic names strike me as pretty mathematical, but the only ones I can think of for boys are [name]Asa[/name] and [name]Otto[/name]. Others you might like:
[name]Ronan[/name]
[name]Nolan[/name]
[name]Callum[/name]
[name]Ray[/name] (A math and science word name)
[name]Luca[/name]/[name]Lucas[/name]
[name]Matthias[/name]/[name]Matteo[/name]
[name]Cruz[/name]
[name]Dashiell[/name]
[name]Cashel[/name]
[name]Blaise[/name]

4

You could definitely use the first or last name of a famous scientist or astronomer, like [name]Edwin[/name] [name]Hubble[/name] or Euclid. If the names are a bit much, you can always give your child a more traditional first name and use a quirky math/science name as a middle.

You could use either the first or last name of men like this:

[name]Isaac[/name] [name]Newton[/name]
[name]Gregor[/name] [name]Mendel[/name]
[name]Charles[/name] Babbage
[name]Albert[/name] Einstein
[name]Louis[/name] Pasteur
[name]Joseph[/name] Lister
[name]Michael[/name] Faraday
[name]Alexander[/name] [name]Graham[/name] [name]Bell[/name]
[name]Benjamin[/name] [name]Franklin[/name]
[name]Jonas[/name] Salk
[name]Max[/name] [name]Born[/name]

Names based on math/science concepts that could (maybe) be names:

Atom (pronounced like [name]Adam[/name])
[name]Matthias[/name]
Digit
[name]Trig[/name]
[name]Abacus[/name]
[name]Alpha[/name]
Decimal (nn Deci)
Ellipse (nn [name]Eli[/name])
Pythagoras
Radian (nn [name]Rad[/name])
[name]Ray[/name]
Algorithm (nn [name]Al[/name])
Cardinal
[name]Roman[/name]
[name]Rod[/name]
Alkali (nn [name]Al[/name], [name]Kal[/name])
Volt

There are also a lot of cool space names out there, if your husband’s science tastes leaned toward the cosmic!

5

My fav science name is [name]Watson[/name], after [name]Watson[/name] and Crick. My maiden name is [name]Simon[/name], which of course I also love. If that is the one you both like, I would say go with that one! You could use one of his favs as a middle name - they seem a little more “out there” to me. Perfect for a middle name.

6

We’ve been thinking along these lines too.
[name]Blaise[/name] (for [name]Pascal[/name]) is nice but doesn’t meet your B criteria (and can be seen as effeminate)
[name]Gregor[/name] (for [name]Mendel[/name]) is a favorite, but you know it will end up [name]Greg[/name]
[name]Louis[/name] (for Pasteur) was considered, pronunciation in [name]America[/name] is a problem
[name]Linus[/name] (for Pauling and Torvalds) is underappreciated, but carries some challenges
[name]Anton[/name] (for van Leeuwenhoek) was popular with my microbiologist husband, don’t know that others would be as into it
[name]Albert[/name] (!) was discussed, but nicknames are a challenge
I think we all agree we should stay away from “[name]Darwin[/name]”

7

[name]Just[/name] wanted to throw out that I know an adorable little boy named [name]Edison[/name] (for [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Edison[/name]), I [name]LOVE[/name] it!

8

[name]Edison[/name] was the first thing that came to mind. I think it is super handsome. [name]Gregor[/name] ([name]Mendel[/name]), [name]Jonas[/name] (Salk), [name]Isaac[/name] ([name]Newton[/name]) and [name]Charles[/name] ([name]Darwin[/name]) are all nice choices as well.

9

[name]Kelvin[/name]
[name]Pascal[/name]
[name]Niels[/name] (Bohr)
[name]Albert[/name] (Einstein)
[name]Sine[/name] (kidding, mostly)

10

[name]Just[/name] wanted to say I am loving this thread! :slight_smile:

We have chosen [name]Isaac[/name] (ala [name]Newton[/name]) for our son, due in [name]June[/name]. We are still searching for a middle name and are considering something inspired by the “natural world” …animals, plants, sea, earth, outer space, etc. Are you interested in that vein?

11

Our son is named Torus for the technical term for a donut or bagel shape.