Phineas and Barnaby?

Boy Names
1

I am expecting my first children (twin boys) and I’m really loving this combo right now! But I have some questions that I am hoping you lovely ladies could help me out with, like…

Would [name]Phineas[/name] go by Phin(n) or [name]Fin/name?

[name]Do[/name] you think I could call [name]BarnABy[/name] [name]Abe[/name], or is that too much of a stretch? I don’t mind [name]Barney[/name], but I do prefer [name]Abe[/name]…

We plan on having one more after the twins, but I just can’t find any boy names that I like as much as [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name]…any suggestion?
And if we had a girl, I really like [name]Genevieve[/name] or [name]Penelope[/name]. But would it be odd to have a [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Penelope[/name], even if they sound differently?

Oh and of course, what do you think of the names, together and individually?
Okay, I’m done for now, I promise! I’m really looking forward to your thoughts and opinions. Thanks in advance!

2

[name]Hi[/name] there, [name]Jane[/name]! :slight_smile:

I think [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] is a great combo (amazing, actually!), and you can nickname them anything you’d like!

I think both Phin and [name]Finn[/name] are great, so it’s really just a matter of which you prefer.
I grew up with an [name]Abraham[/name] who went by [name]Abe[/name]/[name]Abie[/name], and think it’s a great nickname for [name]Barnaby[/name]; not a stretch at all! :slight_smile:

I love [name]Genevieve[/name] (one of my favorites) and [name]Penelope[/name], and don’t see any problem with a brother named [name]Phineas[/name].

Potential brothers for [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name]:
[name]Augustin[/name]/[name]August[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]
[name]Charles[/name]
[name]Conrad[/name]
[name]Chester[/name]
[name]Dashiell[/name]
[name]Dexter[/name]
[name]Edward[/name]
[name]Everett[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Truman[/name]
[name]Xavier[/name]

Good luck, and have fun posting away! :slight_smile:

3

Thanks, [name]Jill[/name]! Hmmm, I think [name]Phineas[/name] would be Phin to me, makes a little bit more sense that way, in my opinion. Oh and I’m so glad that you don’t think [name]Abe[/name] is too much of a stretch! [name]Abraham[/name] is okay, but I absolutely love [name]Barnaby[/name]. The more I think about, I’m starting to prefer [name]Genevieve[/name] over [name]Penelope[/name], but glad to know it wouldn’t be too weird to have two children with the same first initial. I’m glad you like the names, I love them together and individually (which I think is how it should be with any multiples). My husband has been wonderful with the whole naming process, thankfully. I really wanted it included in our vows
that I would pick the names of any and all of our future children, but decided against it because my mother-in-law would have had a fit. Speaking of my mother-in-law, she ‘stumbled’ upon my notebook of names (which was cleverly hidden, might I add), and now she has decided to ‘help’ us. She then proceeded to say that [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] are very odd names and thinks we could much better. After hearing this, my right eye began to twitch violently, steam flew out of my ears, and I had to clench my fists and bite my tongue. Thankfully, I succesfully resisted the urge to slap her several times. And possibly the desire to kick her. There may have also been some thoughts of biting and hair pulling. THIS IS WHY I DIDN’T WANT ANYBODY TO KNOW THE NAMES BEFORE THEY WERE [name]BORN[/name]! Anyway, what do you guys think? Are [name]Barnaby[/name] and [name]Phineas[/name] too ‘odd’? And it’s okay, I cannot physically harm any of you, so be honest! :slight_smile:

4

Forgot to add that from your suggestions, I really like [name]Gideon[/name]! [name]Phineas[/name], [name]Barnaby[/name], and [name]Gideon[/name]? Hmm, I like that a lot! I also like [name]Edward[/name] and [name]Charles[/name], but I would probably save them for middle names. Same with [name]Henry[/name], too bad he’s getting so popular. I like [name]Dashiell[/name], never heard that one before, but I like possiblity of a little [name]Dash[/name]! Oooh [name]Milo[/name] is nice too, but feels too short next to [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name]… So, [name]Gideon[/name] is my absolute favorite! I will wait to look for more on possible siblings, it’s just good to know that there are others out there that I like that could work with [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name]. Geeze, my posts have all turned into novels, sorry about that… Guess I need to get out more! But thanks again!

5

You’re so welcome, [name]Jane[/name]! I personally don’t think either [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] are odd, and I know that [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name], the name experts, authors, and creators of this site, totally endorse [name]Barnaby[/name] (it was recently in a blog focusing on underrated names).

If you search for the names in this advice section, you’ll see that the majority of posters often recommend both names, too. (The vast majority of people here are classic name fans, which makes sense, considering that [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name]'s books are geared toward guiding people away from the trendy names.)

I hear you about [name]Henry[/name] becoming popular, but it’s still one of my favorites, along with [name]Edward[/name] (I love [name]Edward[/name] [name]Gideon[/name]), [name]Oliver[/name], and [name]Nathaniel[/name].

For some reason, while I can’t stand the thought of my favorite girls’ names becoming popular, I’m not too shaken by the boys’ names. (My favorite girls’ names include [name]Genevieve[/name], [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Juliet[/name], [name]Georgiana[/name], [name]Eloise[/name], [name]Beatrix[/name], [name]Celia[/name], and [name]Clementine[/name], and only [name]Annabelle[/name] is too popular for use, making me lean towards [name]Anne[/name] or [name]Anneliese[/name].)

Now, about that lovely mother-in-law of yours: You should totally leave a “decoy” name list on the counter, featuring such winners as [name]Ebeneezer[/name], [name]Myron[/name], [name]Horace[/name], [name]Horton[/name], [name]Cletus[/name], [name]Floyd[/name], [name]Norton[/name], [name]Virgil[/name], and [name]Wilford[/name], and when it comes to your list of potential female siblings, include: [name]Beulah[/name], [name]Cloris[/name], [name]Myrna[/name], and [name]Hortense[/name]. (As a special touch, be sure to star some as favorites.) :slight_smile: Not only will she learn a lesson, but [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] will look better and better to her! :slight_smile:

I really love [name]Gideon[/name], too, and I’m sure the other posters will agree that there are tons and tons of amazing names, both male and female, that work with [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name].

[name]Do[/name] you have middle names for your little boys?

6

Well for middle names, it’s very complicated… I really want to honor my dad some how. He raised me all by himself without any help from my mother. His name is [name]Walter[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you think it needs to be updated a bit, or is plain [name]Walter[/name] good? But the thing is, if I honor my dad by using his name then my husband will want to do the same for his dad. This is totally fine by me and his father has a wonderful name ([name]George[/name]), but [name]George[/name] is no longer married to my husband’s mother, that wonderful mother-in-law of mine. So my husband’s mother raised him by herself. And although my husband and his father have a good relationship now, he wasn’t around much when he was growing up. So if we honored [name]George[/name], then My
mother-in-law may be upset, especially if we don’t honor her. I really don’t want to use her name. At all. [name]Even[/name] for a future daughter. Her name is [name]Wanda[/name]. I do not like her or her name particularly well. That being said, do you think that if I used a different form of [name]Walter[/name], that I could let her assume that it is in honor of her? Or should I just suck it up and have [name]Wanda[/name] or Wandine or Wandella as a future daughter’s middle name? Or I could just forget the whole honoring thing and just go by what I like best?

7

I think it’s totally, totally up to you. You need to do what makes you feel comfortable, you know? I think using [name]Walter[/name] (or even [name]Walton[/name]) is such a lovely tribute to your dad! [name]How[/name] sweet! I love [name]Phineas[/name] [name]Walter[/name] (I think that’s [name]Julia[/name] [name]Roberts[/name]’ son’s name) and [name]Barnaby[/name] [name]George[/name].

You could always use a W initial to honor his mom. You could do [name]Phineas[/name] [name]Walter[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] [name]Wilson[/name], [name]Phineas[/name] [name]Wesley[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] [name]Walter[/name], [name]Phineas[/name] [name]Walter[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name] [name]Wallace[/name]…there’s a lot of cool W names out there!

I personally wouldn’t use the name [name]Wanda[/name], especially if I didn’t care for the original [name]Wanda[/name], but you could always use a W initial (middle name) on your little girl just to keep the mother-in-law quiet. :slight_smile: [name]Wandely[/name] is a variation of [name]Wanda[/name], but you could also use [name]Willa[/name], [name]Winifred[/name], [name]Wendolyn[/name], [name]West[/name] (the Wicked Witch’s name seems fitting), [name]Wren[/name] (or another W name).

Another idea, would be to simply use her maiden name (if it’s not awful). That said, if you don’t want to honor her at all, that’s your right!

I can’t wait to read what others have to say!

8

Wow! These are two of my very favorite names! I think they sound wonderful together. I’m not sure I love [name]Abe[/name] as a nickname for [name]Barnaby[/name]. I’d rather see [name]Barney[/name] or B or best of all no nickname at all, but I don’t think it’s a stretch and if you love it thats all that matters. I would probably spell [name]Phineas[/name]’ nickname [name]Finn[/name] if he were to use it most of the time. It just looks more natural to me. And I think [name]Penelope[/name] sounds great as well, not too similar to [name]Phineas[/name] at all. Of the above suggestions I love [name]Augustin[/name]. [name]Finn[/name]/Phin [name]Abe[/name] and [name]Gus[/name]! too cute.

9

[name]Hi[/name] [name]Jane[/name],

Twins - how exciting! Congratulations :slight_smile:

I think [name]Phineas[/name] & [name]Barnaby[/name] are fantastic names! I’d probably go with Phin as a nn spelling. I don’t think [name]Abe[/name] is too much of a stretch - if you want to use it, go for it :slight_smile:

10

First of all, Congrats on your two boys! What fun you’ll have. And I absolutely love your name combo. I love [name]Phineas[/name] and I love [name]Barnaby[/name], but I love them both even more when they are put together as brothers. [name]Phineas[/name] [name]George[/name] Lastname and [name]Barnaby[/name] [name]Walter[/name] Lastname. I think they go wonderfully. And why are you worried about upsetting a women who was so clearly not worried about upsetting you? She snooped and insulted your name choices - I think that alone is good enough excuse to never have to use [name]Wanda[/name]! Ha!

11

[name]Love[/name] [name]Phineas[/name] and [name]Barnaby[/name]! A future brother could be [name]Declan[/name]. I put [name]Wanda[/name] on the Outhip the Hipsters list, but it really is a very long stretch. I couldn’t use that name. It would be great for a kitty. So for a sister, I would use [name]Genevieve[/name] or [name]Cecily[/name].

12

I think [name]Abe[/name] and [name]Finn[/name] sound great together.