I really need your help. Our little boy is now 3 weeks old and embarrassingly, we haven’t found a name for him yet.
I feel this is mostly my fault as I’m a self confessed name nerd who looks up names constantly. Because of this I feel like I’ve fallen into a hole that I can’t seem to get out of; I feel like I’ve looked at every name under the sun but can’t find anything i love. To make things worse, I find boys’ names really difficult. Our eldest son is E D M U N D and it took me ages to find his name and now unfortunately I think it’s the only boy’s name that I actually do like. I also keep comparing every name to his and unfortunately nothing seems to measure up. Our daughter’s name is A D E L A I D E so I’m trying to find another Victorian vintage name that isn’t too overused (preferably not in the top 100).
I thought that [name_m]Evander[/name_m] might be ‘the one’ but the more I say out loud I’m not quite sure it is. I like rare names but it makes me worry when I see that historically, it’s barely been used at all. When I say it aloud I also think it could be easily mistaken for ‘[name_f]Amanda[/name_f]’ and I don’t want a boy to grow up having to worry about that confusion. Another reason why [name_m]Evander[/name_m] doesn’t feel right is because it’s not a Victorian name and doesn’t quite fall into the same category (for me anyway) as A D E L A I D E and E D M U N D.
But here’s the thing: I’m pretty sure I’ve looked at all of the other lesser used Victorian names for boys and for some reason or another I can’t use them. To narrow things down a bit, here are some names I’ve suggested but have been vetoed:
[name_m]Wilfred[/name_m]
[name_m]Gilbert[/name_m]
[name_m]Rupert[/name_m]
[name_m]Clement[/name_m]
[name_m]Leopold[/name_m]
[name_m]Frederick[/name_m]
[name_m]Ernest[/name_m]
[name_m]Theodore[/name_m]
[name_m]Oscar[/name_m]
[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] (husband likes but is too popular for me)
[name_m]Cedric[/name_m]
[name_m]Clarence[/name_m]
[name_m]Franklin[/name_m]
[name_m]Louis[/name_m]
[name_m]Archibald[/name_m]
[name_m]Ambrose[/name_m]
[name_m]Albert[/name_m]
[name_m]Alfred[/name_m]
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m]
Other non-Victorian names I like but husband doesn’t:
For years and years I loved [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] (I know - not Victorian!) but I’m worried that due to its popularity on Nameberry that it’s a sign that it will soon become popular in real life… And I’m not sure it really works with A D E L A I D E and E D M U N D?
Sorry for the super long post. Please, if you have any suggestions or advice I’d be most grateful for your input xo
P.S. Name suggestions don’t strictly need to be Victorian. I’m up for anything that qualifies as being vintage and underused!!
I like the suggestion of [name_m]Gordon[/name_m]! Some other ideas:
[name_m]Winthrop[/name_m] “[name_u]Win[/name_u]”
[name_m]Matthias[/name_m]
[name_m]Martin[/name_m]
[name_m]Orson[/name_m]
[name_m]Terrance[/name_m]
[name_m]Victor[/name_m]
[name_m]Harland[/name_m]
[name_m]Luther[/name_m]
My top picks -
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], and [name_m]Whitaker[/name_m]
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], and [name_m]Augustine[/name_m]
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], and [name_m]Gustav[/name_m]
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], and [name_u]Leighton[/name_u]
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], and [name_m]Bax[/name_m]
Thank you for all of your lovely suggestions and support x
You’re spot on @sugarplum.fairy - This is an extremely stressful time, but I feel much of it is my fault as I’m finding it difficult coming to terms with naming our last child
From all of your suggestions I like:
[name_u]August[/name_u]
[name_m]Leonard[/name_m]
[name_m]Clyde[/name_m]
[name_m]Orlando[/name_m]
[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m] - too popular?
[name_m]Laurent[/name_m] - I like this but worry about pronunciation issues
[name_u]Claude[/name_u], [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_u]Sidney[/name_u], [name_m]Magnus[/name_m] & [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u] I like but can’t use
Did you think that [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] works ok with both our son’s and daughter’s name? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you see [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] becoming too popular? I’m worried that (according to Nameberry) it is the next hipster name for boys and may therefore end up being quite trendy?
Thank you for your beautiful words. Right now it feels as though we’ll never find a name for this little one and I feel terrible that we’re being so unfair on him by not having something to call him by. He’s just the most peaceful and calm little man who doesn’t seem seem to be phased by much at all. And because we’ve known him now for three weeks it’s almost like it’s harder trying to find that name that ‘suits’ him. sigh I’m sure our friends and family think we are crazy not having named him yet!
(sorry for any repeats)
I do think Atticus is becoming more popular but I still think I sounds really good with Edmund and Adelaide.
I am not familiar with Victorian names so I looked it up and I tried to pick more uncommon ones since you said you have searched for a bunch.
Henry
Elijah
Simon
Nathaniel
Asa
Byron
Reuben
Simeon
Thaddeus (instead of Theodore)
Ulysses (nickname could be Sully)
Dorian
Tobias
Lawson
Miller
Luther
Wyatt
Archie (instead of Archibald)
Claude
Edgar
Floyd
Raymond
Warren
Other names that are similar to the names you suggested-
Peregrine
Oberon
Lucius
Finnian
Crispin
Alaric
Eamon
Bartholomew (nicknames: Bart, Tolly)
Sebastian (nicknames: Bash, Sebby, Bastian)
Leland
Solomon
Linus
Malachi
Kai
Other vintage, uncommon names-
Basil (I saw someone said this but I think it works well with your other kids)
Barnaby
Kenneth
Pierce or Piers(instead of Pierre)
Silas
Vincent
Abner
Archer (instead of Archibald, maybe Archie as a nickname)
Zachariah
Wilbur
Truman
Samson
Malcolm
Moses
Julian
Jethro
Hugh
Gordon
Fletcher
Conrad
Cassian
Cassius (pronounced cass-ee-us or cash-us. If you used the cash-us pronunciation, his nicknames could be Cash)
Amos
Adrian
Emile
Foster
Ferdinand
Kelton
Sigmund
Russell
Thane
Winton
Giles
Lawton
Denver
Boyd
Orin
Regis
Mack
Newell
Sumner
I think [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] is great and goes very well with your other children’s lovely names. I don’t think [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] is too popular. It seems to be more used in US than elsewhere but still not popular. I do love your style and love many on your list - [name_m]Rupert[/name_m], [name_m]Clement[/name_m] and Wifred being favourites.
Probably already suggested but I like these and think they work:
I like [name_m]Atticus[/name_m]. It’s gaining some hipster popularity, but in all seriousness, how many people REALLY are obsessed with names like us folk on here? I think you’re fine!
I really like [name_u]August[/name_u] and [name_m]Ulysses[/name_m]. [name_m]Vincent[/name_m] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] are super handsome too!
I think [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] can work! It’s considered vintage, which fits well with the sibset.
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] and [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] <3
Choose what makes you happy!
[name_u]Love[/name_u] that [name_u]August[/name_u] made your list! I was loving it for the continuous “u”'s that appear in both [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] & [name_u]August[/name_u]! I also do love [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], and while I see it on name lists more often recently, I’ve yet to actually meet one! I don’t think you can go wrong either way & cannot wait to see what you choose
If [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] is sticking and won’t leave you then maybe that’s what it’s meant to be. It will never be so popular that there are 4 in his class but he likely will meet another one at some point. That’s ok I think.
My son is [name_m]Jasper[/name_m] and that is kind of Victorian and he’s 6 and I haven’t found that it’s overused even though it’s high on the nameberry rankings. I have heard it once in the mall in reference to another kid about age 8 and then in the [name_f]Santa[/name_f] line the MOTHER of the kids in front of us was named [name_m]Jasper[/name_m] and that is it in 6 years! And it was like the #1 name for a while on nameberry.
I would go with [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] if it’s what you like best and let your husband have his pick of a middle name and let go a little bit because there’s no perfect name and you’ll be happy you picked the one you liked best.
But for fun:
[name_m]Jasper[/name_m]
These are from the top 100 at turn of the century 1900s:
[name_m]Hugh[/name_m]
[name_u]Perry[/name_u]
[name_u]Roy[/name_u]
[name_m]Raymond[/name_m]
[name_m]Earl[/name_m]
[name_m]Oscar[/name_m]
[name_m]Leon[/name_m]
Not sure if anyone has suggested this to you yet but what about Oleander? It has the ‘ander’ ending of [name_m]Evander[/name_m], the ‘[name_m]Ol[/name_m]’ beginning of [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] that your husband likes. You can also nickname him [name_u]Ollie[/name_u]. ETA - [name_m]Just[/name_m] saw [name_m]Leander[/name_m] was on your list but vetoed, but maybe Oleander is a little different?
It’s lovely to hear others say that I shouldn’t be worrying so much and that we [name_m]WILL[/name_m] find a name. It’s so frustrating to be searching and searching for that perfect name that ticks all the boxes without actually finding it… And because of that I feel like I just keep going around in circles.
I do like lots of the names that have been suggested such as:
[name_m]Leon[/name_m]
[name_u]Lyle[/name_u]
[name_m]Alaric[/name_m]
[name_m]Cassian[/name_m]
[name_u]Willoughby[/name_u]
