My husband and I are at a standoff. I like [name]Nathaniel[/name] for our boy, he likes [name]Silas[/name]. Neither of us is willing to budge…lol. We considered using both as first and middle but then, what would he be called? Any ideas for a compromise? I’ve been looking for other names that make me feel the way [name]Nathaniel[/name] does with no luck. Help!
hmm, they are both great names, so I understand your dilemma. What do you both like about each name, maybe that will help people respond. In the meantime, I would suggest these:
Other longer names:
[name]Matthias[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Harrison[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Donovan[/name]
I have always thought [name]Asher[/name] would be a good sib match for [name]Silas[/name], maybe your husband likes this one?
[name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Silas[/name] are both perfectly good.
[name]Simon[/name], [name]Elias[/name] and [name]Thaddeus[/name] might substitute for [name]Silas[/name].
[name]Bartholomew[/name], [name]Christopher[/name], [name]Gabriel[/name], and [name]Jonathan[/name] might substitute for [name]Nathaniel[/name].
I love both [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Silas[/name], so if you could compromise with either that would be great.
Other ideas…
[name]Atticus[/name]
[name]Evander[/name]
[name]Orion[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Marshall[/name]
[name]Jonah[/name]
[name]Emmett[/name]
[name]Lucas[/name]
I know this is going to sound really stupid (and probably a bit sexist), but here goes. I had serious doubts about our kids’ names (well, definitely the names of our older two) when my husband suggested them. But I followed his lead, basically just to please him, and now I am very glad I did. Pretty much everything in marriage and co-parenting is built on compromise, and a son’s name can be an especially important issue for a new dad.
[name]Both[/name] [name]Silas[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name] are fantastic names. [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] is a great combination, I think, and you would still have the option of using the middle name in everyday life if you wanted.
Of the suggestions, my faves are [name]Jonathan[/name], [name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Marshall[/name], and [name]Atticus[/name].
I tend to like a longer name with a short nickname ([name]Nathaniel[/name]/[name]Nate[/name]). [name]Nathaniel[/name] also goes great with our dd, [name]Gabrielle[/name]. He says that the name sounds too stuck-up (I blame Gossip Girl 
).
[name]Silas[/name] was a name that we would have used if [name]Gabrielle[/name] had been a boy. Since then, I’ve grown apart from it. We live in the south US and [name]Silas[/name] with a southern drawl is not attractive to me. Also, the show Duck Dynasty is popular with some folks and one of the main characters is [name]Silas[/name]/[name]Si[/name]. I don’t want people to think we named our son after that show.
[name]Both[/name] names are great! [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Silas[/name] or [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] nn [name]Nate[/name] or [name]Cy[/name]… it’s not uncommon for Mom & Dad to call a child different nn’s. You might want to just wait & see what everyone likes best.
I’d go back to the drawing board and find something that both of us can compromise on and bring all three names to the delivery room. Who knows, maybe you’ll decide he looks like a [name]Silas[/name], your husband will think he looks like a [name]Nathaniel[/name], he’ll look like the third name, or you’ll agree to a different name entirely!
[name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Gabrielle[/name] are most definitely too close!
[name]Silas[/name]:
[name]Sirius[/name]
[name]Severus[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Simon[/name]
[name]Simon[/name]
I like the suggestion of [name]Sebastian[/name] as a compromise. It is long like [name]Nathaniel[/name] and has the great nicknames of Sebi and [name]Bastian[/name]. I think [name]Nathaniel[/name] [name]Silas[/name] or [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] are both great names as well. Either way, you will have a well named son!
I’d pick another name altogether. There are so many great names out there, surely you can find one you both love equally!
I love the suggeston of [name]Sebastian[/name]!
others -
[name]Thaddeus[/name] nn [name]Thad[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Hawthorne[/name] nn [name]Hawk[/name]
[name]Bradford[/name] nn [name]Ford[/name]
[name]Everett[/name] nn [name]Rhett[/name]
[name]Leander[/name] nn [name]Anders[/name]
[name]Burton[/name] nn [name]Burt[/name]
Idk… I’m pretty old fashioned about a lot of stuff and I totally get that a son’s name is important to a dad. But… You’re carrying and delivering the baby. I’m not gonna go all feminist or anything but I feel like maybe his pick should be the middle. I’m not trying to downplay the importance of the father at all, and if the name you liked was something crazy like [name]Ulysses[/name] or something I could see it. But his is actually the more uncommon of the two so… I just feel like the tie should go to the person who carries, delivers, and in most cases does 90% of the work of caring for him. That’s just my opinion, take it or leave it. 
In any case, I think they’re both great names and the combos work either way. I like [name]Silas[/name] way more than [name]Nathaniel[/name] but that’s just me.
I tend to agree more on the side of missusa…I truely value my husbands opinion but do feel that the mom has an extra percentage or two in naming rights.
Of your two names I like [name]Silas[/name] better with [name]Gabrielle[/name] so maybe you could suggest your second favorite name to him and see how that goes?
I think they are both lovely. To pick which one, perhaps look a the whole name - which has a better rhythm with your last name? Also think about nn options for both, this might make you lean more one way than the other.
What about [name]Ezra[/name]?
What about [name]Nathan[/name]? Less stuck up but you still can use [name]Nate[/name] and yet have your longer version.
Or [name]Cyrus[/name]? Similar to [name]Silas[/name] but without the Duck Dynasty connection and a bit more interesting.
For some reason the first name I thought of was [name]Nolan[/name]. For some reason it seems to have the masculine, strength of [name]Nathaniel[/name] as well as the short spunkyness of [name]Silas[/name].
I actually don’t like [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Gabrielle[/name] as siblings. Saying them together makes me want to naturally go “[name]Nathan[/name]-yell” and “[name]Gabriel[/name]” for some reason (meaning they kind of blend together, I suppose). For that reason, I would go with [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] to make both of you happy. [name]Silas[/name] and [name]Gabrielle[/name] sound much better to me.
Good luck!
This is tough; I feel your pain. I kind of think it’s important to not get into whose choice it SHOULD be to name the baby (no offense to pps!). That seems to me to be a little confrontational, and that seems like a bad place to go with such an emotional decision. So my vote would be go back to the drawing board and see if you can find a name you both like. Or have you already done an exhaustive search? Have you considered how each name (and middle name) sounds with your last name? That could really help with the decision. (That narrowed our list considerably.)
Personally, I love both [name]Silas[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name], but [name]Nathaniel[/name] does seem way too close to [name]Gabrielle[/name] to me. And [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] is a stunning, amazing name. He likely won’t spend his whole life in the South and maybe the people you’ve heard say it have different accents and everyone won’t say it that way. Also, don’t worry about Duck Dynasty. No one would think you named your kid after that guy. LOL! It might help more people be familiar with the name though, so that could even be a good thing.
Good luck!
Who named the other children?
Another vote for [name]Silas[/name] [name]Nathaniel[/name] entirely on the grounds that your daughter [name]Gabrielle[/name]'s name is far, far too close to [name]Nathaniel[/name].
I personally don’t believe in gender-based rights to anything. Dads don’t get dibs on sons, moms don’t get brownie points for being the ones with a uterus. If you invoke that line of argument you really are opening a pandora’s box of biological essentialism, and much of the last half of the 20th century was spent eradicating that.
I’ve never considered [name]Nathaniel[/name] & [name]Gabrielle[/name] being too close. To me, it seems that they fit well together. Interesting feedback
We never could agree on a name for DD either. Her middle name was always [name]Amelia[/name] (a family name). For the first name, I liked [name]Piper[/name], [name]Kate[/name], [name]Heidi[/name], and [name]Harper[/name] (along with about 50 other names), he liked [name]Sarah[/name]. Thinking back, [name]Sarah[/name] was the only name he ever brought to the table without me making him pick names from a list or choosing one over another.
At the hospital, DD was delivered nameless. That night, I dreamed that her name was [name]Gabrielle[/name] and we called her [name]Gabby[/name]/[name]Gabi[/name] (still going back and forth with the nn spelling). I told DH about my dream and he said that was it, [name]Gabrielle[/name] was her name. I think we were both just tired and ready to name her. I still have name regret and wonder if the name is just too much for a little girl. I just hope she likes it when she gets older.
A few have suggested [name]Sebastian[/name] as an alternative. I like it but apparently DH doesn’t. He’s reminded of the [name]Little[/name] Mermaid. Sigh, I think this might be another hospital named baby…
Our last name is [name]Wilson[/name] and I think the middle name will be [name]Everett[/name] or [name]Grady[/name] (both family names).