Our next boy...

I’ve been posting about this on the Sibling board for awhile, but now that we’ve narrowed it down to two names, I thought I’d see if anyone on this board had any new insight!

We are either going to name our next son [name]Cavan[/name] (rhymes with [name]Gavin[/name]) or Cierdan ([name]KEER[/name]-den).

Our first son is [name]Rowan[/name] [name]Scott[/name] and the middle name for this next son will be [name]Jerome[/name] (family tradition. He will be the 4th “C. [name]Jerome[/name]”).

Our family doesn’t seem too keen on either name, particularly Cierdan (not sure why we even asked them their opinion this time around… my brother in law replied with “I like [name]Caden[/name].” No thank you.) but I know they will love it once it’s on a child. That’s just kind of how it goes.

My hubby and I are both leaning toward Cierdan, although I still have some mild concerns. 1: I’m worried it sounds feminine. 2: I’m worried it will be mispronounced/misspelled like mad.

Personally I don’t think it sounds feminine and obviously I’m drawn to softer boy’s names anyway, so it’s not a big deal to me, but I’d like to know what others think.

When it comes to the pronunciation and spelling issues, it’s pretty darn close to [name]Kiernan[/name]/[name]Kieran[/name]/[name]Ciaran[/name], so I’m thinking it won’t be as big of an issue as it seems. It’s actually pretty phonetic if you are going by international standards. The only issue would be if people try to pronounce it with a soft C rather than the hard K sound.

I survived a childhood full of mispronunciation/misspelling issues with both my first and last name without any emotional scarring, so it’s not that big of a concern.

When it comes to [name]Cavan[/name], I actually have more concerns about mispronunciation than with Cierdan; I’m sure [name]Cavan[/name] would be misheard/mis-said as [name]Kevin[/name], [name]Calvin[/name] or [name]Gavin[/name]. That would actually irk me more than having to correct long vs. short vowels/hard vs. soft consonant sounds. (When [name]Rowan[/name] was born everyone thought his name was [name]Rolland[/name] --!!!-- and it drove me nuts.)

The bonus of [name]Cavan[/name] is that it is close [name]Calvin[/name] (just take the “l” out) so it’s directly honoring Grandpa [name]Calvin[/name]. Any C name will honor him though due to the family “C. [name]Jerome[/name]” name tradition-- we don’t have to use something close to his actual name.

Another minor concern about [name]Cavan[/name] is that it is a place name in [name]Ireland[/name] with apparently negative connotations.

Whew!
So there are my concerns and my thoughts on those concerns. I’d really appreciate your always wonderful and impartial feedback! :slight_smile: Thank you!

I definitely prefer [name]Cavan[/name], and completely agree with your Cierdan concerns.

However, may I suggest the spellin Cavin? It makes it a little more obvious how to pronounce the name. People could pronounce ‘[name]Cavan[/name]’ (CAW-vin) or (CAVE-in).

Also, I read the post quickly and I’m not sure if you said your other sons names, but if not… what are they?

I would go for Cierdan of the two and I’ll try and explain why without waffling lol!

Pros for Cierdan:
** It’s interesting but has a familiar vibe due to similarity to [name]Ciaran[/name]
** It has the ‘cool’ Celtic vibe which nicely matches [name]Rowan[/name] + [name]Scott[/name]
** The ‘d’ in there looks decidedly masculine
** The prn is the most intuitive of the two

Cons for [name]Cavan[/name]:
** The spelling doesn’t lend itself to the KAV-un prn. I think you’ll get [name]KAY[/name]-vun a lot. Cavin is a bit more intuitive for your prn.
** It’s a tad rhymey with [name]Rowan[/name].
** Looks like a ‘out trendifying the trendies’ spelling. Like someone took [name]Caden[/name] and decided to make it even trendier.
** Place names don’t always make great associations when connotations are taken into account.
** When I say [name]Cavan[/name] [name]Jerome[/name] outloud the ‘avanjer’ part sounds like ‘scavenger’ to me.

Okay, I was probably being a bit brutal there. I could think of pros for [name]Cavan[/name] as well (it’s by no means a bad name) but I was trying to give you a more thorough and decided opinion :slight_smile:

elea!
I really appreciate your input and honesty! I’d hardly call it brutal, but regardless, it’s much better to hear it now than after the name was already attached to the baby! :slight_smile:

I had not even thought of [name]Cavan[/name] [name]Jerome[/name] having “avenger” ala “scavenger” in it! Wow! The things that manage to get past a person’s radar! Thank goodness for Nameberry! :slight_smile:
I also definitely do not want to have associations with [name]Caden[/name] or any of the other members of the [name]Aiden[/name] clan!

[name]Truly[/name], thank you everyone for your input-- you’ve pretty much tipped the scales to Cierdan!
Huzzah!

[name]Hi[/name]

I think you have covered most issues in regard to your baby’s name. I don’t feel that they are feminine names but they will be confusing to the general public and I am sure that it will take a while for people to say his name correctly.

I have never heard of either name, however, I definitely feel that [name]Cavan[/name] will fall into the [name]Caden[/name] camp and you don’t want that association.

Cierdan is interesting and I like the possibility of [name]Dan[/name] as a nn. I think that most people will end up saying [name]Kieran[/name].

[name]Calvin[/name] and [name]Kieran[/name] would be much more user friendly to us ignoramuses!

I love your first son’s name of [name]Rowan[/name] [name]Scott[/name] it has such oomph, definitely a strong name.

[name]Rowan[/name] and Cierdan I just realised they have the same ending. Does that bother you?

So, I would go with Cierdan from the two choices.

Congratulations! I arrived too late to voice my input, but I vote for Cierdan as well. I think it sounds the best with [name]Rowan[/name] [name]Scott[/name] and [name]Jerome[/name].
Good luck!

Thanks again everyone!
I just realized I made our decision look pretty hasty!

As I mentioned, I’ve been posting about this for ages (and agonizing about it even longer! our first son was supposed to be a C. [name]Jerome[/name], but instead he’s [name]Rowan[/name] because we couldn’t agree on anything!).

As I also mentioned, we were already leaning towards Cierdan; [name]Elea[/name]'s thoughts on [name]Cavan[/name] just closed the deal for us! :slight_smile:

Thanks again and again!!

Cierdan is handsome!

I really love Cierdan, [name]Dove[/name]! :slight_smile: I think it’s a wonderful choice!

Best wishes to you!

I definitely prefer Cierdan to [name]Cavan[/name] - all I think of when I see this name is Cavern! I actually like Cierdan more than [name]Kieran[/name] (or any of it’s varients). The more I think about it the more I like it!