I’ve been on Nameberry for many years now, and I’m a self-professed name nerd.
My husband and I are having our first child at the end of June/beginning of July (I’m actually due July 4th)- and it’s a boy! The problem is we can’t agree on any boy names! Part of it is that now that I’m responsible for actually naming a human I can’t find a name that I like that I can see on a person (so no Lysander, Sinclair, Ferris or Heathcliff, as much as I love them (and my husband hates them anyway hahaha)).
I’m American, my husband is Scottish, and we currently live in Scotland. My husband has been pushing the really traditional Scottish names (think Hamish, Angus, etc.), while I’m trying to find what I would call “Modern Scottish Light” names (Grant, Alexander, etc). We’ve narrowed it down a bit but keep adding to our shortlist and I’m still not sure that we’ve found “the name”. I’d love to hear your thoughts as baby boy will need a name soon! I’ve made a poll with some of our current individual favorites.
Middle name sounds like Holden (honor name) (95% sure we’re using this one)
Last name sounds like Ervin
We both love the name Alasdair but can’t use it for family reasons
If he’d been a girl his name would have been Eleanor (likely nn Nell), or maybe Margaret, so I would like his name to work with Eleanor/Nell in case we have a girl in the future
I’ve always liked the name Andrew but now it feels a bit “blah” to me. If we don’t use Andrew I think I would use it for a second son so ideally it would work with Andrew, too
I really like [name_m]Fraser[/name_m], [name_m]Grant[/name_m], and [name_m]Archibald[/name_m]! [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] especially sounds perfect. I’d consider [name_m]Struan[/name_m] another “modern Scottish light” name (that’s such a good description), as well as [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], [name_u]Cameron[/name_u], [name_u]Blair[/name_u], [name_m]Lewis[/name_m], [name_u]Finlay[/name_u], and [name_m]Ross[/name_m].
[name_m]Grant[/name_m] is my favorite and along that line, [name_m]Graham[/name_m] or [name_m]Graeme[/name_m], which would also work well on the American side. [name_u]Finlay[/name_u], called [name_u]Finn[/name_u], would also be really nice with Eleanor/Nell and [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]. I think [name_m]Harris[/name_m] and [name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] would work nicely as well!
I really like [name_m]Fraser[/name_m], [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] and [name_m]Edgar[/name_m]! They all feel familiar and classic but not dusty, and they’re grounded but have some of the flair of things like [name_m]Heathcliff[/name_m] and [name_u]Sinclair[/name_u]
[name_m]Grant[/name_m] and [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] seem like the perfect American-Scottish names. Mainstream enough but keep their Scottish flare. Good luck!!
Honestly naming is so hard and I think when you are a major name nerd the whole process is even more challenging! You have fabulous shortlist so that’s a really great start
From your list my favourite is [name_u]James[/name_u]. I think [name_u]James[/name_u] is just so classic, understated and handsome. I love the nickname [name_u]Jamie[/name_u] and I think [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_u]Holden[/name_u] sounds very distinguished. I think [name_u]James[/name_u] works perfectly with [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] & [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]. After [name_u]James[/name_u] my favourite is [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] which is a lovely vintage choice with the fab meaning ‘bear’ I think a bear inspired nursery would be beyond adorable. [name_f]My[/name_f] concern with [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] is sharing the same initial as [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] in a sibling set I’m not overly keen on sharing initials unless they all begin with the same letter. Then after [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] my third favourite is [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] which is an understated classic that I think feels refreshing I just think the fact that you find him a bit blah means he may not be the ‘one’.
If it was me I would go with [name_u]James[/name_u]! Wonderful name.
Too bad about [name_u]Sinclair[/name_u]. I love that one!
[name_m]Fraser[/name_m] is a lovely choice, light sounding.
Actually, I like all the names on your list except I’m a bit tired of [name_u]David[/name_u] (Daven? Davian?) and [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] reminds me of an old man (probably because I knew an old man named Edgar!).
I love [name_m]Archie[/name_m] and [name_m]Hamish[/name_m] and [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] too. [name_u]Pierce[/name_u] is fine, but I love [name_m]Piers[/name_m] more.
I think this is a really great list. I like all of these choices except [name_m]Hamish[/name_m] (my American is showing) and [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] (makes me think old man but in a “get off my lawn” way).
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite is Pierce; I think it goes especially well with Eleanor/Nell and [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], though maybe a little less so with [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]. [name_m]Grant[/name_m], [name_m]Fraser[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], and [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] are all handsome choices too!
LOVE [name_u]Pierce[/name_u] [name_m]Ervin[/name_m], [name_m]Archie[/name_m] [name_m]Ervin[/name_m], and [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] [name_m]Ervin[/name_m] although the ending of [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] does run into the last name a little, not in a deal breaker way. Nice list!
[name_m]Andrew[/name_m] and [name_u]David[/name_u] are both wonderful names. [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] has a great association with [name_u]Scotland[/name_u], though [name_u]David[/name_u] more underused these days. [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] and [name_m]Archibald[/name_m] come across as much more [name_f]English[/name_f] names to me. [name_m]Hamish[/name_m] and [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] sound very Scottish. I love [name_u]Pierce[/name_u] though it’s a fair bit more unusual than [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]. I’d still consider using it if has particular meaning. [name_u]James[/name_u] is a great choice, and would probably be my pick for you from the list. I also like the suggestions of [name_m]Malcolm[/name_m], [name_m]Ross[/name_m], [name_m]Lachlan[/name_m], [name_m]Adam[/name_m]. [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_f]Nell[/name_f], or [name_u]Drew[/name_u] and [name_f]Nell[/name_f], or [name_u]David[/name_u] and [name_f]Nell[/name_f].
From your list I like [name_m]Grant[/name_m] and I really love [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] nickname [name_u]Drew[/name_u]! I also want to suggest [name_m]Malcolm[/name_m] for you guys! I have a little [name_m]Malcolm[/name_m] (Mal) in my life and the name suits him perfectly, it’s also a Scottish name I also like [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], there’s a lot of [name_m]Owens[/name_m] out there at the moment and [name_m]Ewan[/name_m] feels like a fresh take on the name.
I voted for [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] (really like this one for you), [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]David[/name_u] & [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]. But I also think [name_m]Grant[/name_m] would be good.
If I may suggest a few more - [name_m]Brodie[/name_m] / [name_u]Brody[/name_u], [name_u]Callum[/name_u], [name_u]Logan[/name_u], [name_u]Maxwell[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] & [name_m]Ross[/name_m] (second this) also came to mind!
Some great options here! I really like [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], and Archibald/Archie, on their own and with [name_m]Ervin[/name_m].
A bit of food for thought is that some of your names end in what (at least with my accent) amounts to an “-er” sound and I don’t love the “-er Ervin” transition, so for me that would take [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] and [name_m]Fraser[/name_m] out of the running, lovely though they are on their own.
I can’t tell if you’re looking for more suggestions but I do love [name_m]Lewis[/name_m] and [name_u]Callum[/name_u] (again, on their own and with Ervin) that folks have suggested above!
Thanks Luminen! Trying to come up with a way to describe the name vibe I was after to my husband was just the beginning as we had (and still have) very different ideas about what “Scottish” names are! Haha
From your suggestions I like [name_u]Blair[/name_u], but I worry that in the States is mostly a girl’s name (even though all of the Blairs I know in real life, American and British, are men) maybe it’s because of Gossip [name_f]Girl[/name_f]? [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I also like the name [name_m]Ross[/name_m], but that happens to be my husband’s name and he’s said from the very beginning that he doesn’t want a [name_m]Junior[/name_m], which is fine by me! It’s somewhat of a shame because it ticks a lot of boxes.
Thanks again!
Thanks CarolAnn! I think [name_m]Grant[/name_m] might be my favorite of the bunch and I like Graham/Graeme, but I think that’s the problem: especially over here I don’t want myself or my son to have to spell it out all the time! I also like both [name_m]Harris[/name_m] and [name_m]Lachlan[/name_m], but unfortunately [name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] is on my husband’s vetoed list! Thanks again!
I also like [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], there’s a lot of [name_m]Owens[/name_m] out there at the moment and [name_m]Ewan[/name_m] feels like a fresh take on the name.