Something in between Sebastian and Morpheus

We’re expecting our third boy soon and are stuck on a name. Our first son is [name_m]Osiris[/name_m] nn [name_m]Oz[/name_m]/[name_m]Ozzie[/name_m].

Our second son passed away shortly after birth but we named him [name_m]Helios[/name_m] and nn would have been [name_m]Eli[/name_m]. We weren’t thinking about the pattern we were creating at the time, just mainly the meaning and that we could go a little more untraditional because we wouldn’t say his name all the time.

For this baby, we like [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] nn Bash, but I’m worried that it’s too mainstream compared to our other boys. To go along with our other two, I like [name_m]Morpheus[/name_m] but not as excited about nn Morph.

I keep thinking that maybe there’s a happy medium. The name definitely needs to have nickname potential. We also want a nice meaning, or least something that’s not negative. For example, we like [name_m]Cassius[/name_m] but the meaning of vain, hollow is a turn off.

Middle name will be Japanese. Open to suggestions for middle names as well if you have any.

[name_f]TIA[/name_f]!

Japanese (middle) names I like:

[name_m]Reo[/name_m]
Kaito
Riku
[name_u]Ren[/name_u]
[name_u]Akira[/name_u]
Haru
[name_m]Hiro[/name_m]

Meanwhile, [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] is one of my all-time faves and I could never choose [name_m]Morpheus[/name_m] or many names over it!

Other possibilities (had to post last before phone died!):

[name_m]Perseus[/name_m] nn Persy
[name_m]Atlas[/name_m]
[name_m]Conor[/name_m]
[name_m]Evander[/name_m]
[name_m]Leander[/name_m]
[name_m]Jasper[/name_m]
[name_m]Ajax[/name_m]
[name_u]Tristan[/name_u]

In regard to Morpheus you could use the nn Moe or Mori instead of Morph.

To give you an idea of how “mainstream” the names you have already chosen are, Osiris was ranked #1082 given to 179 boys, and Helios was ranked #4963 and given to only 19 boys in 2017. From what I could tell, Morpheus was unranked, which means it was given to 4 or less boys in 2017. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

Let’s see if I can give you a few you might like…

Aram (Air, Airy): Pronounced AIR-um or AH-rum. It’s a biblical name meaning “High Elevated”. If you pronounce it the first way, I think people might confuse it with Aaron. If you pronounce it the second way though the nicknames might not stick, but it sounds cute on it’s own in my opinion. Aram was ranked at #1782 in 2017, and given to only 85 boys.

Artemis (Art, Arty, Tim): Pronounced Art-tem-is. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the moon, however, it tends to be given to both genders. (Though slightly more popular for girls). The meaning of it was a little unclear to me. I found either “Moon”, “Safe”, “Hunter”, or “Butcher”… So before using this one, I’d do a little more research to make sure of its meaning if I were you. Artemis was ranked #3975 and given to 26 boys in 2017. For reference, for girls it was ranked #1520 and given to 144 girls in 2017.

Astraios/Astraeus (Troy, Astro would be cute :slight_smile: ) I couldn’t find one common pronunciation for these two, but I think either uh-STRAI-os or uh-STRAY-os work. I’d just pick whichever one you like best. Like Anna, some people say ANN-uh and some people say ON-uh, so it should be fine. It means “Of the Stars” or “Starry One”. In 2017, it seemed to be unranked. So again, that means it was given to 4 or less boys.

Bastian (Bash, Ian): Prounonced like Sebastian without -se. If you think Sebastian is too common you could always use an uncommon variation. Of course you still get “Bash” as a nickname out of this one. You could also get Ian. I’m sure you know, but this name means “Man From the Anient City of Sebasta”. It can also mean “Revered”. Bastian was ranked at #1186 and was given to 155 boys in 2017.

Cedric (Ced, Ceddy, Ceed, Ric, Ricky): Pronounced SED-ric. According to Nameberry, Cedric means “Bounty”, and according to Babycenter.com, Cedric means “Chief”. This name ranked at #983 in 2017, and was given to 207 boys.

Hadrian (Hade, Ian, Dean): Pronounced HAY-dree-un. According to Nameberry, this name means “Dark-Haired”, which would be kinda cute if your little boy was dark-haired. This name is also very uncommon. It ranked #3376 and was given to only 33 boys in 2017.

Lucius (Luke, Luca): Pronounced either LU-shus or LU-see-us. I added this one because it has a very similar sound to Cassius, so you might like it. It has a nice meaning: “Light” or “Shining”. It ranked #1421 in 2017 and was given to 122 boys.

Oceanus (Ocean, Owen, Sea): Pronunciation varied quite a bit with this one. The Greek way seems to be
O-kee-an-us (Though I am not an expert on that, haha). In my opinion the Greek pronunciation would sound good with most Japanese names. Other pronunciation are O-see-an-us and O-she-an-us. It means “River” or “Water”. Oceanus was unranked as far as I could tell.

Zaven (Zav, Zavi, Zave): Pronounced ZAH-ven, though if you prefer pronouncing it ZAY-ven I don’t see why that would be a problem since most people wouldn’t know- I believe a name is what you make of it anyway. The ZAH-ven pronunciation would probably work better with the Japanese middle. I did a little research and I found two possible meanings for this name. One is pretty cool: “He Who Rides Horses”. The other might be a turn off for you: “Restless”. I don’t know which is correct, but you could give it some thought. It was ranked at #5256 and was given to only 18 boys in 2017.

*Ranking source from the Social Security Administration National Data.

I can give you more if you like :slight_smile: Good luck!

I love Osiris!!

Adonis Hiro “Donnie”
Aloysius “louie” Ren <— favorite
Ambrose Kin
Ansel Kenji
Bertram Kenzou
Balthazar Kiyoshi <----favorite
Cormac “Mac” Matsu
Cato Tadashi<----Favorite
Corben Denji
Copernicus “Perry” “Nico” Raiku
Calix “Cal” Ren <----favorite
Crispin “Kip” Reo
Caspian Kaito
Cyril Matsu “Cy”<----favorite
Deveraux Kenji
Darius Raiku “Derry”<—favorite
Digby Haruto
Enzo Gin <—favorite
Eros Tadashi “Ross”
Errol Kairi
Evander “Van” Kiyoshi
Eamon Koji “Ames” <—favorite
Finnick Kenzo “Finn”
Gideon Rai
Garrick Raiku
Gunner Kiyoshi “Nero”
Hawthorne “Hawk” Riyu
Ignatius Tadashi “Iggy” “Nat” <—favorite
Ivo Hiroshi <----favorite
Icarus Raiku “Ike”
Jareth Toshiro <-----favorite “Jerry”
Lysander Raiku
Leander “Anders” Haruki
Laszlo Akira <----favorite
Mordecai “Kai” Gin
Nicodemus “Nico” Rai
Nehemiah Hiroshi
Nero Haruki <---- Favorite
Pheonix “Finn” Hiro
Perseus Raiku “Percy” <----favorite
Quaide Kenzo
Rafferty “Rafe” Kenzou
Riordan “Rio” Tadashi
Soren Raiku “Ren”<— favorite
Seneca “Nico” Haruto
Tiberius “Bear” Raiku
Ulysses “Sully” Ren
Uriah Matsu<—favorite
Valor Raiku
Zephyhr Matsu “Zep”
Zenith “Zen” Akira <—favorite

Tricky one! [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] is a lovely name, but I agree that it feels much more mainstream than your other two.

While [name_m]Morpheus[/name_m] isn’t a favourite, I like the idea of an -s ending name to go along with the other two.

[name_m]Ignatius[/name_m] “[name_m]Iggy[/name_m]” or “[name_m]Nash[/name_m]”
Arcturus “[name_m]Art[/name_m]”
[name_m]Romulus[/name_m] “[name_m]Rome[/name_m]”
[name_m]Zaccheus[/name_m] “[name_m]Ziggy[/name_m]” or “Zeke”
[name_m]Phineas[/name_m] “Phin”
[name_m]Fidelis[/name_m] “[name_u]Dell[/name_u]”
[name_m]Tigris[/name_m] “[name_m]Tig[/name_m]”
Solaris “[name_m]Sol[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Sully[/name_u]”
[name_m]Thaddeus[/name_m] “[name_m]Tad[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Theo[/name_u]”
Rubeus “[name_u]Rue[/name_u]”
[name_m]Icarus[/name_m] “[name_m]Ike[/name_m]”
Pegasus “[name_u]Gus[/name_u]”
Aquinas “[name_u]Quin[/name_u]”
[name_m]Lazarus[/name_m] “[name_m]Lars[/name_m]”
[name_m]Magnus[/name_m] “[name_m]Mac[/name_m]”, “[name_u]Max[/name_u]” or “[name_u]Gus[/name_u]”
[name_m]Tullius[/name_m] “[name_u]Tully[/name_u]”