I was in between sleeping and fighting my belly last night and it came to me, “[name]Cay[/name]”. The meaning is “Pure” or “Righteous” as a name…but it’s also a small low island. It is quite fitting because my husband is from the Bahamas so it speaks to his origin.
His middle name could be [name]Oliver[/name] - from my mom, [name]Ollie[/name] and Dad, [name]Carver[/name] = [name]Oliver[/name]. So [name]Cay[/name] [name]Oliver[/name]! What do you think?
My fears are 1. [name]Cay[/name] sounds like “[name]Kay[/name]” which is a girl name…and it also sounds like 'kay as in okay. My son’s name is [name]Nile[/name] and my daughter’s name is [name]Ariel[/name]. Sooo…it would be [name]Nile[/name] Arold (mn after his dad), [name]Ariel[/name] [name]Morene[/name] (mn after both our moms - my mom is [name]Ollie[/name] [name]Lorene[/name], his mom is [name]Marie[/name]) and [name]Cay[/name] [name]Oliver[/name].
I absolutely love the name, but I also want it to be livable. I don’t want to give him a difficult name to live with, so throw whatever you can think of at me! I think I’m ready for it!
I thought about making it a nickname for [name]Caleb[/name] or [name]Cayson[/name]…but I think I just like [name]Cay[/name] by itself. Neither of my children have nicknames that they go by, as of now…they’re still very young.
I thought you were contemplating it for a girl, and was surprised to see the put in the middle name [name]Oliver[/name]. With just hearing the name I’d expect to see a little, but the spelling does look more masculine.
I’m unsure to be honest, I do think it would be better as just a nickname to avoid the gender confusion. I think [name]Caleb[/name] nn [name]Cay[/name] would be lovely, or even [name]Cassius[/name], [name]Casper[/name].
I’m not sure how it’s pronounced if it’s not “K” (rhyming with eye?), but using it as a nn for [name]Caleb[/name] I’m sure you’d get “K” over “[name]Cay[/name]” however. Though I don’t like the made up look of [name]Cayson[/name], it seems more substantial than just [name]Cay[/name]. In addition I think if you use just [name]Cay[/name] it would be very difficult to find a middle name that doesn’t create one word - [name]Cay[/name] [name]Oliver[/name] sounds like Colliver to me.
Id it does indeed rhyme with eye, Cyson would seem like better. People would connect it to “tyson” and make it rhyme, if that makes sense.
Anyway, long story short I prefer a longer name with the nn [name]Cay[/name] (or [name]Cy[/name]) for you. Good luck!
First I was confused how to pronounce it: [name]Kay[/name] or [name]Say[/name]? Second I think it’s too close to [name]Kay[/name] for it to work on a boy… However this is coming from the girl that loves [name]Sydney[/name], [name]Cassidy[/name], and [name]Tempest[/name] on boys so you could chose to ignore this
However you/he would probably have to correct people all the time on both the spelling and pronunciation of this name. I think making it a nickname is a very good idea as in my opinion it doesn’t stand very well on it’s own.
Since you have a son named [name]Nile[/name], I picked up on the water theme with [name]Cay[/name]. I don’t mind it. Some parents are using [name]Bay[/name] for their daughters so why not [name]Cay[/name]?
FYI - To allay your fears about [name]Cay[/name] sounding like [name]Kay[/name]…In Arthurian legend, Sir [name]Kay[/name] is [name]King[/name] [name]Arthur[/name]'s foster brother and one of the first Knights of the Round Table. You can tell that to people who question your sanity!
The more I weigh it out, the more I like just “[name]Cay[/name]”…even with the risk of mispronunciation…I still want to know the complete downside, but I’m loving even more…thanks, [name]Mischa[/name]…great feedback
I like [name]Cay[/name] and I don’t think the pronunciation is that much of an issue. I’ve always pronounced that word as sounding like “[name]Kay[/name]” (not Key or [name]Kye[/name]).
As to sounding like the name [name]Kay[/name], honestly even though it is a woman’s name, I’ve never met a [name]Kay[/name] and it hasn’t been in the US top 1000 for 20 years, and only 7 UK girls were given that name in 2010. I doubt that kids today would see it as a female name. If in the future your son wanted to make his gender more clear on resumes, etc., [name]Cay[/name] is short enough that he could use “[name]Cay[/name] [name]Oliver[/name]” to clear up any potential confusion.
Given the Arthurian link I personally prefer [name]Kay[/name] to [name]Cay[/name], but can see how that could lead to confusion over gender. If there is a water link then [name]Cam[/name] ([name]River[/name] [name]Cam[/name]) could be an alternative to [name]Cay[/name]. But anyway, I don’t think there will be confusion over how it is pronounced.
If I heard [name]Cay[/name] I would immediately think [name]Kay[/name] and female. I’ve never heard of a male [name]Cay[/name].
I do prefer the idea of using it as a nn to [name]Caleb[/name] or [name]Cable[/name] or [name]Cato[/name] or [name]Cayson[/name]
Or what about [name]Quay[/name]/Key/[name]Cay[/name] pronounced key?
Honestly, it sounds very nickname-y to me, and it might be a little hard for a boy to live with a name so commonly associated with the female persuasion. However, the meaning is quite nice.
Actually I’m kind of surprised that the majority seems to think it sounds feminine. Too me names like [name]Kay[/name]/[name]Jay[/name]/[name]Bay[/name] etc. (all except [name]May[/name]) could be feminine or masculine, I do like the subtle water theme and the connection to your husband’s heritage. Though I’m still slightly confused about the pronunciation. I’ve always been taught the correct pronunciation of small island is ‘key/kee’ but I think it depends on your area. So you might have to correct pronunciation… Other than that I think it’s a great option for you
