I have always liked the idea of naming our kids after places that are important to us, especially in the middle name slot.
For a girl, we are likely to use the name of the county I grew up in ([name_f]Rhea[/name_f], pronounced like “[name_u]Ray[/name_u]”) as an only or second middle name. It has the added perk of also being my great-grandmother’s middle name. I feel like it works well as an honor name, and its position in the middle means the inevitable pronunciation issues with people outside the county would not be a daily occurrence.
For a boy, we are considering using the name of the county my partner grew up in, [name_m]Sumner[/name_m]. I feel like it fits well enough with the [name_m]Palmer[/name_m]/[name_u]Walker[/name_u]-esque trend that it isn’t particularly "out there. What do you think of [name_m]Sumner[/name_m] in the middle slot?
For reference, we do not currently live in either one of those counties, but we do still live in the state.