I like scholarly, gentle, masculine names. Nothing cartoonishly manly.
historical depth and namesakes are very important to me
no more than 1 middle name (brightline rule per husband)
at least one of the two names must be that of a saint recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church. This includes all [name]Christian[/name] saints canonized before the Great Schism in the 11th century, and all Greek/Russian/Arab/Slavic saints canonized since.
baby’s surname is distinctly Arabic and phonetically works like “Nawaal” or “[name]Nasim[/name].” First syllable is Na-.
since I’m not Arab, I’m not looking for an Arabic first name, but would consider one for the middle
French names are great; I speak French fluently as does husband’s Lebanese family. However in the States diacritical marks aren’t allowed, so nothing whose pronunciation depends on one. For boys, French names need to be very easily recognized & pronounced to be considered (there aren’t many).
if we picked one of the more… ornately Byzantine middles (like Auxentius) we’d pair it with a very traditional first like [name]John[/name], [name]Peter[/name] or [name]George[/name]
should pair coherently with son [name]Antoine[/name] [name]Raphael[/name]
Thanks [name]Kitty[/name]. The diacritical marks make it tough… and I would need the name to be a bit more familiar for a boy than for a girl (for a girl I can dip into really obscure French names, as most Americans stereotype French as feminine). I’ve got [name]Laurence[/name], [name]Victor[/name] and [name]Blaise[/name] right now. [name]Don[/name]'t want anything too nasal like [name]Etienne[/name] or [name]Arnaud[/name].
[name]Blade[/name], congratulations! I don’t think I’ve said it yet…? Lots of new little berry babies on the way! I don’t have any creativeness in my brain at the moment I’m afraid, but I think your list is basking in glittering sunshine already. I like so many so very much (not surprised there as we share a lot of our favs), but [name]Cyprian[/name] and [name]Leander[/name] strikes me as the most suitable for a little bro for [name]Antoine[/name]. I love [name]Sylvan[/name] and [name]Rainier[/name] as middles, but holy moses, Athanasius and Auxentius might’ve stolen my heart. Beautiful awesomeness!
Oh, congrats! [name]How[/name] exciting. Most of your first names are on my lists of favorites, and your middles sound like the kind of name my boyfriend loves. I don’t have time to make sure all of these are what you’re looking for, but here’s some I just pulled off of boyfriend and my list which at least feel similar to ones you’ve listed.
For the record, my favorites from your list are:
Cadfael
[name]Cassian[/name]
[name]Cyprian[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Evander[/name]
[name]Leander[/name]
[name]Malcolm[/name]
[name]Marius[/name]
[name]Peregrine[/name]
[name]Victor[/name]
From the first name list:
[name]Cassian[/name], [name]Edmund[/name], and my favorite- [name]Elias[/name]. Have loved that name a long time.
From the middles list:
[name]Sylvan[/name], [name]Ignatius[/name], and my favorite [name]Rainier[/name].
[name]Elias[/name] [name]Rainier[/name] would be so handsome.
[name]Laurence[/name] is a very popular girl’s name in [name]Quebec[/name], maybe [name]Laurent[/name]? I like [name]Blaise[/name] a lot. It has great history and sounds handsome.
I love, love [name]Lionel[/name] or [name]Malcolm[/name] with [name]Antione[/name]. [name]Lionel[/name] [name]Ignatius[/name] or [name]Malcolm[/name] [name]Rainier[/name] [name]Do[/name] you like [name]Louis[/name]? I think [name]Louis[/name] (prn. [name]Louie[/name] not [name]Lewis[/name]) Auxentius is a stunner.
[name]Edit[/name]: [name]Just[/name] saw someone suggested [name]Pascal[/name]- moved and seconded!
I said the same thing on your girls’ thread, but this is an awesome list. My first thought when I read it was [name]Malcolm[/name] [name]Ignatius[/name].
Congratulations [name]Blade[/name]! Your list is great.
My favorites from your list are (and all of them would go well with [name]Antoine[/name], though some better than others):
[name]Ambrose[/name]- I like this name a lot (though I prefer [name]Emrys[/name]). You would be having the two ‘A’ name kids, but if that’s not a big deal for you, then this would be a solid choice. Doesn’t go quite as well with [name]Antoine[/name] as some others, but would work. I personally prefer it as a MN though.
[name]Cassian[/name]- I think this would be a great choice, and works really well with [name]Antoine[/name].
[name]Cyprian[/name]- Same for this one.
[name]Edmund[/name]- Doesn’t have quite the same flair as [name]Antoine[/name], but it would still be a great choice.
[name]Elias[/name]- Pairs up with [name]Antoine[/name] a bit better than [name]Edmund[/name], but not as well as [name]Cassian[/name] or [name]Cyprian[/name].
[name]Evander[/name]- As you well know, I really really like this name, so I’m pretty biased about it. It’s one of those names that I feel could fit with most sibsets. I feel it goes great with [name]Antoine[/name], though [name]Leander[/name] would perhaps work even better.
[name]Julian[/name]- A great name, though perhaps it doesn’t work quite as well with [name]Antoine[/name] as some of the others.
[name]Leander[/name]- This one works exceptionally well with [name]Antoine[/name]. There is something about [name]Antoine[/name] and [name]Leander[/name] that makes me think they are brothers. [name]Leander[/name] is a little softer than [name]Evander[/name], which might make it match up with [name]Antoine[/name] even better. It’s a great name.
[name]Lionel[/name]- This one would also work very very well. [name]Both[/name] [name]Antoine[/name] and [name]Lionel[/name] have some sort of (I don’t know if I can quite explain it) like ‘holding back’ on a vowel sound, that makes them work really well together.
[name]Lucian[/name]- Another great name. Would work very well.
[name]Malcolm[/name]- I like this name a lot, though perhaps it doesn’t match up with [name]Antoine[/name] quite as well as some of the others.
My stand-alone favorites (though all of them are great), not considering how well they match up with [name]Antoine[/name], would be:
[name]Evander[/name], [name]Julian[/name], [name]Lionel[/name] and [name]Lucian[/name]
But thinking about them paired up with [name]Antoine[/name], my favorites for you would be:
[name]Cassian[/name], [name]Cyprian[/name], [name]Leander[/name] and [name]Lionel[/name]
And my favorite of your middles would be:
[name]Esmond[/name]
Gratian (could be a good FN too)
[name]Ignatius[/name]
[name]Rainier[/name] (could be a good FN too)
[name]Sylvan[/name] (could be a good FN too)
Theodosius
Some other possibilities (I don’t know if these would meet all your criteria or not):
[name]Armand[/name]
[name]Emmanuel[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Dante[/name]
[name]Callum[/name]
[name]Cassius[/name]
[name]Celio[/name]
[name]Altair[/name] (as FN or MN)
Friends of mine have a young son named [name]Basil[/name]. Fits your bill perfectly (his Dad is also of lebanese ancestry). There are few Orthodox saints more revered than [name]Basil[/name].
[name]Blade[/name], when do you find out baby’s gender?
From your list, I like:
[name]Ambrose[/name]
[name]Elias[/name]
[name]Malcolm[/name]
[name]Peregrine[/name]- While I like this, I’m not sure if it’s as easy to use as [name]Antoine[/name], and some of your other choices.
[name]Victor[/name]
I love [name]Malcolm[/name], [name]Cyprian[/name], and [name]Lucian[/name] from your list. I also second the suggestions [name]Louis[/name] ([name]Louie[/name]), [name]Dante[/name], and [name]Dmitri[/name].
I really, really like [name]Cyprian[/name]. However, if the baby’s surname starts with Na- it may not work.
From your list, [name]Sergius[/name] is my next pick.
[name]Leander[/name], [name]Malcolm[/name], [name]Lionel[/name], [name]Edmund[/name], [name]Gerard[/name] and [name]Victor[/name] seem a little too tame for you and also with [name]Antoine[/name].
I can’t believe diacritical marks aren’t allowed in [name]America[/name]! Many names are dependent on them; it’s weird and wrong that they’re not allowed.
I’m in the US and I wasn’t aware they weren’t allowed. What does that mean exactly? I know that official documents will leave them off and no one would ever remember it, but I don’t think they are banned or anything.
Missed the part about the diacritical marks.
