We’re having a boy!

Our little one

My husband and I are very excited!  He has been wanting our firstborn to be a son all along.  As a big brother himself, he tends to feel that role is very important.  I’ve been going back and forth, but lately I’ve been wanting to decorate the nursery in trains, and now it looks like I’ll get to.

Of course, this means we still have a long road ahead of us in terms of naming.  You see, we had pretty much settled on a girls’ name.  If it were a she, she would probably have been Clara Joy Anneliese.  We’d even jokingly come up with a hermaphrodite name, in case our child were to be born with both parts and we wanted him-her to make the decision later on.  He-she would have been Elliot Joyce.   (I know Joyce might not be ideal as a boys’ name anymore, but we want to use family middles, and it’s the only family name that even comes close to sounding decent on both genders.  Because you really can’t have a boy named Ruth or a girl named Steve.)

But our little one is clearly all boy, at least judging from the pictures the sonographer showed us.  And boys’ names are tough, at least for me. We’ve yet to find one that sounds like “the one.”  For those who are curious, here’s the current list of names that have been suggested by either me or my husband and not flat-out vetoed by either one of us.  Current favorites (of mine or his) are closer to the top:

• Julius
• Jeremy
• Elliot
• Wesley
• Henry
• Edward / Edmond
• Frederick
• Franklin
• Simon / Simeon
• Kenneth
• Miles / Milo
• Alasdair
• Oliver
• Caleb
• Duncan
• Callum
• Lachlan

As I mentioned, we’ve agreed to use family middles.  We’ve narrowed the list down to these five, and once we pick the first name, we’ll choose the middle that sounds best with it:

• Arthur:  This was the middle name of my father and my husband’s grandpa, and I love that it honors both sides of the family at once.
• Daniel:  Another two-for-one choice.  My husband is Brian Daniel and my grandpa was John Daniel, though he always went by Dan instead of John.
• Benjamin:  My husband’s dad is Ben… just Ben.  We’d use the longer form in honor of him.
• Bennett:  A less expected way of honoring Ben.
• William:  After my husband’s favorite grandfather, Wilbert Arthur.  Wilbert is just a bit too dorky now-a-days, but I think William makes a fine adaptation.

The good thing about not having settled on a boys’ name yet is that we still have several months of naming fun ahead of us!  As always, any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

After recently delving into the realm of popular teen fiction, let’s turn in the other direction today and look at a highly literary choice.

Tulliver.

Those who have heard it before will most likely recognize it as the surname of the main character in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss. The novel tells the story of Maggie Tulliver, a rebellious and spirited but fiercely loyal young girl growing up with her parents and brother Tom in a small town in England in the 1820’s.  The novel follows Maggie from childhood to adulthood.  At the center of the novel is Maggie’s moral conflict,  as she is forced to choose between her responsibility to those she loves and a desire for her own happiness.  It’s a beautifully written book, and one I’d heartily recommend.

The surname Eliot picked for her protagonist is rather rare — but it’s not unheard of.  In fact, a journey over to IMDB reveals:

• Barbara Tulliver. a film editor
• a 1917 silent Western titled Truthful Tulliver
• character Jack Tuliver, played by Wesley Snipes in the 2005 action film 7 Seconds
• no fewer than 30 minor actors or characters with the spelling of Tolliver, and one movie set electrician back in the 40’s who wore it as a first name

Tulliver, Tuliver, and Tolliver seem to be Scottish versions of the Italian surname Taliaferro, meaning “to cut iron.”  Genealogists speculate this was originally a nickname applied to either metalworkers or perhaps fierce warriors who were able to cut through iron armor with their swords.  Either way, it has a strong masculine feel.

Though this suggestion may seem like it came way out of left field, consider Tulliver’s similiarities to other popular boys’ names:

• Oliver, which has been climbing the charts nationally and is firmly ranked in the top 100 in many East Coast states
• Gulliver, which certainly seemd an unusable literary choice until actor Gary Oldman used it for his son in 1997
• Sullivan, chosen by Patrick Dempsey for one of his 2007-born twin boys, and ranked in the U.S. top 1000 for the last seven years

Other reasons Tulliver sounds ready for discovery:

• Occupational surnames are definitely in, with Carter, Cooper, Hunter, and Parker all ranked in the top 100.
• Scottish and Irish names are stylish.
• It shortens easily to Tully, an independent Irish surname and a familiar coffee chain on the West Coast.
• It has the hot V sound we’ve been hearing so much about.
• From Atticus to Holden to even Huckleberry, increasing numbers of parents are turning to favorite books in order to find names for their sons.

If you’re looking for the sort of name your son is guaranteed not to share with anyone at his nursery school but you want something that still fits in with the tastes of our time, Tulliver might be one to consider.

Whether you’ve read the books or seen the movie or not, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Twilight saga, by Stephenie Meyer. And chances are, if you’re a name enthusiast, you appreciate some of the names she chose for her characters. What about those, though, who aren’t followers of Twilight but have always planned to call their first son Edward or their first daughter Rosalie?

One reader wonders, can you still use these names without sounding too much like a fan?

Jane writes:

My favorite and second favorite names are Rose and Alice, respectively. In Twilight two of the characters are Rosalie and Alice, with Rosalie sometimes called Rose for short. Do you think having Rose and Alice as siblings, especially with Twilight so popular right now, is a bad idea? Will people immediately assume that I am a huge Twilight fan and named my children because of that?

Also, do you think that Alice will make a leap forward in popularity because of Twilight? Jacob and Isabella are already popular. I can see Emmett and Jasper jumping. Do you think Alice will?

Here’s my helpful guide to using a Twilight name without sounding too fannish. Keep in mind that these rules can be applied to names from other books, movies, or TV shows as well.

1. Consider naming just one child after Twilight. If you name your firstborn Jasper, sure you might be a Twilight fan. Or you might be a gemologist. Or you might like the Three Wise Men. Or you might hope your child grows up to be a petty British crook like the one in 101 Dalmatians. It’s silly to assume fanhood based on one name alone.

2. Choose names that are less marked. Edward, Alice, and Rose have been in the U.S. top 500 for the past century. They have tons of literary and historical namesakes. In fact, 100 years ago, they were all in the top 20, so chances are very good that you have a relative on your family tree with at least one of these names. On the other hand, Rosalie, Esme, Jasper, and Emmett have never appeared in the U.S. top 100. (Well, Rosalie did briefly back in 1936.) They’re much less common, and thus much more marked as Twilight names.

3. Don’t name your children after famous lovers. You wouldn’t call your kids Romeo and Juliet or Adam and Eve, would you? Of course not — that would be gross! The same thing goes for Edward and Bella.

4. Add in some extra padding. If I met a family whose first two kids were called Jasper and Rosalie, I might assume they were fans. However, if I met a family with kids named Jasper, Hazel, Sylvia, and Rosalie, I likely wouldn’t make the connection at all.

5. Consider using a variation. If you really like Edward, consider Edmond or Frederick. Instead of Emmett, try Everett. Instead of Jasper, what about Casper? Rosalie could be substituted with Rose or Rosalind. Parents fond of Esme might also like Amelie. Isabella-fans might go for Arabella or Annabella. Instead of Alice, consider Alison or Adeline. Siblings called Edmond, Casper, Adeline, and Rose would be stylish without being fannish.

6. Don’t use an invented name. If you name your daughter Renesmee, you might as well face it — you’re a fan.

7. Remember that Twilight won’t be popular forever. The parents of a child called Hamlet or Ophelia are probably pegged for life as Shakespeare enthusiasts. But Meyer isn’t Shakespeare, and as with all things pop culture, the associations tend to fade over time. For example, in 1985, a character on All My Children had a daughter and called her Emily Ann. Apparently when I was a little girl, people used to come knowingly up to my mother and say things like, “You watch All My Children, don’t you?” or “I bet her middle name is Ann!” It drove my mother crazy for about a year or so. But you know what? I’ve never heard those comments. The association was lost with time. (And I’ll have you know I was NOT named after a character from a soap opera. My parents were much more sophisticated than that. They named me after a character on The Bob Newhart Show.)

In summary, Jane, I think using Rose and Alice for your first two daughters would be just fine. As to the question of whether these names will jump in popularity, it’s hard to make accurate predictions. Jacob and Isabella were already top-10 names before the advent of the Twilight series. Jasper and Emmett were also on the rise, and most of the names Meyer has chosen for her characters fit in well with the choices stylish parents were already considering. (In fact, most appear on Nameberry’s “Yupster” lists for boys and girls.)

Popular book and TV names can both influence and reflect names that are popular in the culture as a whole. For example, Emma had been a fast rising name since the early 1990’s, but it was propelled into the top 10 in 2002 (the same year Rachel and Ross from Friends chose it for their baby). It’s likely that classics like Edward, Alice, and Rose will also rise, but considering they last peaked about 100 years ago, that might be largely due to normal name cycles. Still, it’s probable that the Twilight series could give them a bit of an extra boost.

It’s also worth considering that, while some adults are certainly reading the Twilight series, the target audience seems to be teenage girls. And while some teenage girls are certainly having babies, the average age at which women in the U.S. have their first child is 25. The TV show Friends, on the other hand, was targeted mainly at young adults (of average childbearing age) and was thus perhaps more likely to immediately affect baby name statistics. Consider your average 15-year-old of today — she’s a sophomore in high school, she’s avidly reading the Twilight series, and she has resolved to name her first children Edward and Rosalie. Ten years from now when she is ready to have children, will she still like those names best, or will she have moved on to something else? It’s hard to say. Let’s carefully watch the rankings over the next couple of years and see where these names stand.

I’m 10 weeks today!  According to www.babycenter.com, my baby is now the size of a kumquat.  I like kumquats.  They’re little and silly, and they have a fun name.  I think I’m going to enjoy calling the baby a kumquat this week.

Speaking of what to call the baby, I got my husband to sit down and talk baby names yesterday.  I’ve been wanting him to come up with his own list of names he likes instead of simply picking and choosing off mine.  To facilitate the process (and since I thought a huge book of baby names might intimidate him), I introduced him to Nymbler.

On the boys’ side, he put in six names he already likes (a few originally from his list, a few that were originally mine).  I have starred the ones we put in as our inspirations.  We then added to the list any of Nymbler’s suggestions that he said he liked.  Here’s how his boys’ list currently stands:

• Wesley*
• Diego*
• Jeremy*
• Julius*
• Simon*
• Elliot*
• Oliver
• Curtis
• Kenneth
• Edmund
• Milo
• Jared
• Duncan
• Bradford

For the girls, he put in our currently agreed-upon top five (starred).  With the Nymbler suggestions, his list now looks like this:

• Clara*
• Sonia*
• Susanna*
• Miriam*
• Eleanor*
• Audrey
• Adelaide
• Celia
• Cecilia
• Helena
• Rachel
• Beatrix
• Adelie
• Adeline

Overall, I’d say the boys’ list still feels a little all over the place.  I do like most of the names, but I find some far more exciting than others.  The only one I don’t care for at all is Curtis — I have a vague sense that I must have known a very unpleasant Curtis in my formative years.

I am extremely pleased with how the girls’ list turned out.  I’d happily use just about any  name from the list.  One thing Brian and I do agree on is that we don’t want a very common name, so I’m guessing Audrey and Rachel will get crossed off the list at some point, lovely though they may be.

This all led to a bit of a scary offer last night.  You see, I’ve been trying to convince him we should consider using two middle names for our daughters.  I have a strong desire to pass on my middle name (Joy), as it has been used in some form by women in my family for three generations now.  However, combined with our current two-syllable top girls’ picks and our one-syllable last name, the combos seem a bit bland.  Clara Joy Grey.  Sonia Joy Grey.  I have this feeling that I should be able to come up with something better.  Something like Clara Anneliese Joy Grey or Clara Gwendolen Joy Grey would just sparkle a bit more.

Brian is very skeptical about the two middle name idea.  I told him last night that I would let him have final say on the girls’ first name if I got to give her two middles.  It was a scary offer to make — after all, it does leave us open to the slight possibility that he’ll suddenly fall in love with McKayla or Destiny.  Still, considering the names he’s already picked, I think I’d be pretty safe.

Fortunately or unfortunately, my offer was refused.  Oh, well.  I do think it’s better for naming a child to be a collaborative process, and we do have almost seven months to work this out.

I’d love to hear your reactions to his list — favorites, least favorites — or your opinion on using two middle names.  And since school is out, I should be back to regular posting this week.  Thanks for reading, as always!

Hello, everyone!  I have some exciting news to share.  My husband and I found out about a month ago that we are expecting our first child!  I just got back from the doctor today.  We had an ultrasound and all appears to be going well.  The baby is measuring at 8 weeks and 2 days, which means it’s somewhere between the length of a kidney bean and a grape.  It has a big head and a normal heartbeat, and it even kicked its teensy little leg.  Who knew kidney beans could kick?  Weird.

Anyway, you have probably noticed I haven’t been posting quite as much as usual.  I’ve been very tired recently, and surprisingly enough this news has made me want to spend more time with my husband (while I still can) and less time thinking about baby names (at least for the moment).  But as soon as the school year is over next week, I should be back to posting regularly.

We have been talking about names a bit, of course.  How could we not?  At the moment, we feel we have a good list of girl possibilities, including our one clear front-runner (Clara).  The boys’ list definitely needs work, so I’m sure I’ll be calling on you all for help on that front.  We apparently have until January 4, 2010, to figure this all out.

We’re very excited, and I’m glad I’ll finally be able to replace the generic baby in the picture above with one of my own making!

As a teacher, I spend countless hours correcting spelling and punctuation of my students’ papers.  But one reader wonders, are there spelling and punctuation rules when it comes to baby names?

Renata writes:

I was wondering what you thought about names that are hyphenated, such as Anna-Simone over Anna Simone, or Samantha-Rose over Samantha Rose. Also, I was wondering what you thought about taking a common name (Sophia) and using a less common spelling (Sofia). Thanks!

First of all, congratulations are in order.  Renata recently had a baby girl whom she named Sofia, choosing the less common Russian spelling in honor of her Russian heritage.

As far as double-barreled names go, like Anna-Simone or Samantha-Rose, they’re not my personal style.  That doesn’t mean they’re bad for someone else to use.  I just didn’t grow up around them, so to me it seems like an awful lot of name for everyday use.  I’d be more inclined to use Samantha as the first name and Rose as the middle and then call her either Samantha or Samantha Rose depending on my mood.

For those who do like double-barreled names, there are advantages and disadvantages to the hyphen.  The hyphen obviously makes it more clear that the name is intended to be said as a single unit.  Without the hyphen, Samantha Rose is slightly more likely to turn into plain old Samantha.  However, many computerized forms and programs do not recognize punctuation in personal names, so if you pick the hyphenated Samantha-Rose, your daughter might have the complication of being Samantha-Rose in some contexts and Samantha Rose in others.  She might also be frustrated that her name appears punctuated incorrectly on most official documents.

If forced to choose, I would tentatively come down on the no hyphen side.  I’d like to hear readers’ opinions on this one, though, especially those who know people with double-barreled names.

Spelling is a hotly-debated issue among name enthusiasts.  I’ve heard many argue that choosing an uncommon spelling makes your child’s name “more unique,” while others claim choosing any but the most common spelling will make your child hate you because she’ll have to spell it out to everyone she meets.  I disagree with both positions.

There are times it’s perfectly reasonable to use a less common alternate spelling.  Some good reasons for picking a variant spelling:

• It honors your heritage (e.g., choosing Sofia over Sophia if you’re of Latin or Russian descent)
• It honors a namesake (e.g., choosing Katharine over Katherine in honor of Ms. Hepburn)
• It’s a legitimate, historically-attested spelling that you happen to prefer aesthetically (e.g., choosing Isobel over Isabelle because you like its spare look)

It’s also reasonable to choose a variant spelling when it helps to simplify the pronunciation of a very foreign-looking name, though I’d advise parents to be cautious when doing this.  For example, I don’t fault those who pick the Anglicized Neve over the original Irish Niamh, especially in the U.S. where Niamh is unfamiliar.  However, be careful when doing this that you’re not causing the name to lose all its grace.  Caoimhe is another Irish moniker almost impossible for most Americans to pronounce correctly, but Keeva looks less sophisticated, at least to my eyes.  Also, be sure you’re not catering to cultural illiteracy by choosing an “easier” spelling.  For example, there’s no reason Chloe and Zoe should ever have to be spelled as Kloey and Zoey.  Educated people should know how to pronounce Zoe.  Have high aspirations for your child:  assume she will someday mingle among an educated set.  And if people don’t know how to pronounce your child’s name?  Well, then, your child can educate them.

Of course, there are times it’s a bad idea to use a variant spelling.  Some thoughts on when NOT to go the alternate spelling route:

• Choosing an uncommon spelling of a common name does not make the name less common.  If you like Isabella but are bugged by its top-10 status, don’t name your child Izabella.  They sound exactly the same.  If there are two Isabellas in your daughter’s first grade class, they’ll still either be Isabella D. and Izabella M. or Isabella-with-an-S and Izabella-with-a-Z.  If it’s a unique name you’re craving, choose something uncommon in its own right (like Mirabella).  And if you really love Isabella, just name your daughter Isabella.
• Inventing your own spelling is usually a bad idea.  It often comes off looking somewhat illiterate.  I once heard of someone considering Kalub for her son, and it made me think of some of the T-shirts I used to see around my college campus.  You see, I went to UC Berkeley, commonly known as Cal, and our rival school was Stanford.  We would mock them by wearing “Stanfurd sucks” on our shirts, and they’d mock us by spelling our name as “Kal.”  By misspelling the names, we were implying that the students at the rival school were illiterate and stupid.  When I heard of that poor parent considering Kalub, I couldn’t help but think that she was incorporating both the K from Kal and the U from Stanfurd into her child’s name, to much the same effect.
• Be aware that newly-invented alternate spellings (especially those using K-substitution and and Y-substitution) are very trendy right now.  In 20 years’ time, Isabella and Caleb might not be fashionable, but they’ll still be classic.  Izzybella and Kaleb will look dated and probably downright silly.

I’d love to hear readers’ thoughts on hyphens and spelling for baby names.  Do you have any other baby name grammar rules you’d like to share?

My husband and I just got back from a weekend at Disneyland.  I did quite a bit of namewatching while standing in lines or walking between rides.  Those embroidered Mickey hats sure make it easy.    Here are the names I noticed on kids.  The majority of these are from toddlers and preschoolers, but I included a few who appeared to be elementary school aged as well.

Girls:

• Aaliyah
• Abby
• Aislin
• Alana (with brother Damean)
• Alexa (with sister Kaitlyn)
• Alexis (with brother Darrian)
• Amber
• Amelia
• Annika (with brother Ronan)
• Arianna
• Ashley (with identical twin Emily)
• Avery
• Breanna
• Brianna
• Camille
• Carsen (with sister Hayden)
• Cecillia
• Cori
• Destiny
• Emily x 2 (one with identical twin Ashley)
• Erin (with brother Aidan)
• Georgie (perhaps her full name, as it was embroidered on her hat just like this)
• Hannah x 3 (one with sister Natalie, one with sister Mackenzie)
• Hayden (with sister Carsen)
• Isabella
• Jayelyn
• Jessica
• Kaitlyn (with sister Alexa)
• Kayla
• Kaylee
• Lealy
• Livvy (probably Olivia in full, as I heard this one spoken aloud)
• Mackenzie (with sister Hannah)
• Madelaine
• Madison
• Maya
• Michaela
• Natalie x 3 (one with sister Hannah)
• Talia
• Tessa
• Tiana

Boys:

• Aiden (with sister Erin)
• Anthony (with brother Joshua)
• Cole
• Damean (with sister Alana)
• Damian
• Daniel x 2
• Darrian (with sister Alexis)
• David
• Dylan x 3
• Erick
• Isaiah
• Jared
• Joshua (with brother Anthony)
• Malachi
• Matthew x 3
• Ronan (with sister Annika)
• Tyler

Overall, the names are rather what one would expect.  There are a few bright spots:  my favorites are Amelia, Cecillia (though I’m not sure what that second L is doing there), Madelaine, and Camille.  And my prize for the best sibset goes to Annika and Ronan.  There is one girls’ name on the list I find particularly bad, though I won’t say which one in order not to offend anyone.  I was surprised to run across such a huge preponderance of “A” names for girls:  they made up over 1/4 of the names on the list.

The most interesting name I found was Lealy.  I’d never heard it before, so I looked it up.  Apparently there’s an Egyptian singer named Amr Diab who released a best-selling album in 2004 called Leily Nahary (translated:  “My Nights, My Days”).  Because Leily Nahary is a transliteration from the Arabic alphabet, it is occasionally spelled in other ways, including Lealy Nahary.  Another possible source for the name of the Disneyland preschooler:  actress Carmen Llywelyn, ex-wife of Jason Lee, named her 2004-born twins Lucian and Lealy.  A Google search turns up several other people named Lealy.  It appears to be an Irish surname and a very rare given name for both males and females.  Wherever it may have come from, it’s an interesting alternative to Lily and Leila.

Kids weren’t the only ones with notable names, of course.

• Winner of the coolest adult name:  Cosmin, our waiter.  It is a Romanian form of Cosmo/Cosmas, and I like that it seems a little less space-agey than Cosmo.
• Winner of the oddest adult name embroidered on a hat:  Kenyetta.  I can see the appeal of Kenya, but please stop there.
• And an “I knew it could still work today” name:  A young teenager called Lois!

Following on the heels of The Globe-Trotting Girls, here are some boys’ names that have derivations from more than one language:

• Amal — “hope” in Arabic and “work” in Hebrew
• Amir — “prince” in Arabic and “treetop” in Hebrew
• Amit — “immeasurable, infinite” in Sanskrit and “friend” in Hebrew
• Andor — “eagle Thor” in Norwegian and a Hungarian form of Andrew (“man”)
• Anan — “fourth born child” in Akan (a West African language) and “cloud” in Hebrew
• Asim — “protector” in Arabic and “boundless, limitless” in Sanskrit
• Barak — “blessing” in Arabic, “lightning” in Hebrew, and now “President” in the United States
• Bo/Beau — the former spelling is a Chinese name meaning “wave” and a Swedish and Danish nickname meaning “to live”; the latter spelling is the French masculine word for “beautiful”
• Chi — “tree branch” in Vietnamese and an Igbo (West African) nickname meaning “god”
• Finn/Fionn — the former spelling is a Scandinavian name meaning “person from Finland”; both spellings are used for the Irish Gaelic name meaning “fair or white”
• Gil — “joy” in Hebrew; a nickname for the Germanic Gilbert (“pledge”); if pronounced HEEL or ZHEEL, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Giles (“young goat”)
• Gus – a Greek diminutive for Constantine (“steadfast”) and an English nickname for Augustus (“great, venerable”)
• Jay — “victory” in Sanskrit and a surname/nickname/birdname in English
• Kader — “fate, destiny” in Turkish and “capable, powerful” in Arabic
• Kai – “sea” in Hawaiian and a German and Scandinavian nickname
• Kamal — “perfection” in Arabic and “lotus” in Sanskrit
• Kamil – “perfect” in Arabic; also the Czech, Slovak, and Polish form of Camillus
• Ken — “healthy, strong” in Japanese and a nickname for the Scottish Kenneth (“handsome”)
• Lev — “lion” in Russian and “heart” in Hebrew
• Melek/Melech — the first spelling means “angel” in Turkish; both spellings mean “king” in Hebrew
• Neo – “gift” in Tswana (a Southern African name) and “new” if derived from Greek
• Omar — “populous, flourishing” in Arabic and “speaker” in Hebrew
• Oz — “strength” in Hebrew and an English nickname (from Oswald or Osborn) meaning “god”
• Ram – “exalted” in Hebrew and “pleasing” in Sanskrit; also the English word for a male sheep, of course
• Riku – “land” in Japanese and a Finnish nickname for Richard (“brave power”)
• Rohan — “ascending” in Sanskrit; also used by Lord of the Rings fans as it means “horse country” in the fictitious language of Sindarin
• Roi/Roy — the former spelling means “my shepherd” in Hebrew and is a short form of Rodrigo in Galician (a language of Spain); the latter spelling is a Scottish Gaelic name meaning “red”; both spellings are sometimes associated with the French word roi meaning “king”
• Ron — “song, joy” in Hebrew and a nickname for the Scottish Ronald (“advice + ruler”)
• Sami — “elevated, sublime” in Arabic and a Hungarian and Finnish nickname for Samuel (“God has heard”)
• Shad — “happy” in Arabic and an English nickname for the biblical Shadrach
• Shay/Shai — the former spelling means either “admirable” or “hawk-like” in Irish Gaelic; both spellings are a Hebrew name meaning “gift”
• Sol — a short form of the Hebrew Solomon (“peace”); also a Spanish and Portuguese name meaning “sun”:  Behind the Name lists it as feminine, but I’d love to hear from a native Spanish speaker whether this would work on a boy (much the way nature names like River work on both genders in English)
• Tore – a Scandinavian short form for names containing the element Þórr (“Thor”); also an Italian nickname for Salvatore (“savior”)
• Udo — “peace” in Igbo (a West African language) and “wealth, fortune” in German

Comparing this list to the girls’ list of last week, I immediately notice a couple things.  First, the majority of these boys’ names are rather short and many of them were originally nicknames in at least one of the source languages.  Unlike the girls’ list, where the majority of the names end in A, it seems harder to pick out a common cross-linguistic pattern for boys’ names.  Perhaps because of that, it’s usually in the nicknames where we see overlap.

Second, many of these seem on the whole less usable in English than the girls’ names.  Why is it that so many of us will tolerate more foreign-sounding names for our daughters than for our sons?  For example, I can imagine plenty of non-Indian/non-Arabic parents loving Lila for a girl, but I’d imagine most of them would never consider Asim for a boy.   I’d love to get your opinions on this phenomenon.

I’d also love to hear your favorites and least favorites.  As for me, I’m completely charmed by the possibilities of Gil and Lev.  Ken, Jay, and Roy are easy-going English standards that could be given new lift by their multi-lingual capabilities.  I find Rohan and Andor quite handsome, and Neo fascinates me, but I worry that after The Matrix it wouldn’t be taken seriously.

So, are there any of these that you would use — and why does this list seem less usable than the girls’ list?

This is the first of my advice column posts. I’d like to make this a regular weekly feature on the site, so if you have a name question or need name suggestions that meet certain criteria, please feel free to email me at the address found in the sidebar.

Danielle Hurlock writes:

Here is my dilemma: My husband and I are expecting our first baby in September. We aren’t finding out what it is. But, since the time I found out I was pregnant, I also found out that I had kidney cancer. So, exactly one month ago I had surgery to remove my kidney. Now, I am completely cancer free, and the baby is healthy. We feel that if I was not pregnant, we wouldn’t have found this so quickly, and who knows what the outcome may have been. This baby is our gift in more than one way. We are completely set on a boy name which is Cooper James Matthew. (Cooper is my mother’s maiden name, James is my husband’s middle name, and Matthew “gift of God”,). We weren’t going to do the “2 middle name game” but, decided to after the surgery. Now, we can’t find a girl name that we like. Here is where I thought you may be able to help us. These are the names that we like but aren’t set on…Caroline, Josephine, Lillian, Sophia, Cecilia, and Charlotte. I know that you may have other suggestions based upon those names. We also want a family name as one middle name, those include: Sue, Lynn, Jane, or Jean. Then we want a middle name that has meaning. (love, strength, gift of God, etc.)

First of all, Danielle, congratulations! I like the name you’ve chosen for your son, and I love the fact that each part of his name has special meaning to you. Great job!

I love the girls’ names you’re looking at as well. One thing to consider, if popularity matters to you at all, is that Sophia and Lillian are pretty common right now. They’re lovely names, but I tend to feel if you have names on your list you like just as well, it’s best to go with the ones that everyone else isn’t using. Other names that might appeal based on the ones already on your list are Eleanor, Lucia, Eliza, Clara, Adeline, Amelia, Lydia, and Louisa. Another factor to consider, if it helps you narrow down your list, is this: If you have a daughter this time, are you still planning to use Cooper should you ever have a son? If so, do you like or dislike the idea of having two names with the hard C sound (e.g., Caroline and Cooper, Clara and Cooper), or does it not matter to you at all?

As far as middles go, I know you’ve said you don’t want to adapt the family names at all. Jane, Jean, and Lynn stand well on their own. I may have a hard time working with Sue, since name combinations with two middles tend to feel rather formal and Sue feels so informal, but I’ll do my best. Jane and Jean actually mean “God is gracious,” so they seem particularly fitting for this baby.

Here are some other ideas for meaningful middles:

• Dorothea/Dorothy/Theodora: all mean “gift of God”‘; I think Dorothea is particularly lovely, but Dorothy feels ready for a comeback, too.
• Mattea/Mateja (ma-TAY-uh): means “gift of God”; Italian and Slovene feminine forms of Matthew
• Charis (KAR-iss or KAIR-iss)/Charissa (kuh-RISS-uh): mean “grace”
• Anne/Anna/Hannah (or any name containing Anne): mean “grace or favor”
• Amabel: means “lovable”
• Carys (KA-riss or KAIR-iss): means “love”
• Kerensa (keh-REN-zuh): means “love”
• Valentina: means “strong, vigorous, healthy”

When making a three-name combination, it’s good to vary the rhythm of each name as much as you can. Here are some of my favorite ideas. Keep in mind that since Jane, Jean, Lynn, and Sue are all one syllable, they’re mostly interchangeable here:

• Charlotte Dorothea Jane Hurlock (my favorite — I actually love any of your first name choices combined with Dorothea Jane)
• Charlotte Kerensa Lynn Hurlock
• Cecilia Dorothy Sue Hurlock (or Cecilia Dorothy Susan?)
• Cecilia Anna Lynn Hurlock
• Josephine Mattea Jane Hurlock
• Josephine Charis Lynn Hurlock
• Caroline Amabel Jean Hurlock
• Caroline Valentina Jane Hurlock

Readers: Which first name do you like best for Danielle’s baby? Please vote in the poll , and feel free to suggest other similar first names, meaningful middle names, or name combinations below.

In order to find names for their children, an increasing number of parents are turning away from English names and toward names that honor their family’s cultural background. But in our multicultural society, most children come from more than one ethnic background. What happens when you want to find a name that honors your Greek heritage and your husband’s Persian ancestry? Or a name that is easily pronounced by your Spanish relatives and your husband’s Jewish grandma? Or something that will work for your child whether your family settles in the U.S. or Japan?

Never fear! This is the first of a two-part installment on multicultural names: names with separate origins in at least two languages that will sound perfectly at home in a variety of countries. Today I will cover the girls’ names; look for a post on boys’ names to follow shortly.

Of course, your family doesn’t have to be multi-ethnic in order for you to use these names. They could also be great choices for the children of foreign diplomats, news correspondents, missionaries, anthropologists, or just people who love to travel:

• Alina — “noble” in both Arabic and Germanic
• Amaya — a Basque name meaning “the end” (also used in Spanish-speaking countries) and a Japanese name meaning “night rain”
• Asha — “wish, desire, hope” in Sanskrit and “life” in Swahili
• Ava — “to live” in Hebrew, “voice, sound” in Persian, and “desired” in Germanic
• Ayla — “oak tree” in Hebrew and “moonlight, halo” in Turkish; also a literary invention from Jean M. Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear
• Basia — a Polish diminutive of Barbara (“foreigner”) and a Hebrew diminutive of Batyah (“daughter of God”)
• Dalia — the Spanish word for the dahlia flower, a Lithuanian goddess whose name means “fate, luck,” and a Hebrew name meaning “branch”
• Daria/Darya — respectively the Greek and Russian feminine forms of Darius (“to possess good”); Darya is also a Persian name meaning “sea”
• Dara — “wisdom or compassion” in Hebrew, “star” in Khmer (a language of Cambodia), and “wealthy” in Persian; also an Irish boys’ name meaning “oak tree” or “fruitful”
• Dima — “downpour” in Arabic and a Russian masculine diminutive of Dmitri (“earth mother”)
• Eliana — “my God has answered” in Hebrew and “sun” in Spanish or Italian (derived from Greek helios)
• Elke — a Dutch diminutive of Adelheid (“noble sort”) and a Hebrew name meaning “God has purchased”
• Hana – “bliss, happiness” in Arabic and “flower” in Japanese; also the Czech and Slovak form of the Hebrew Hannah (“favor, grace”)
• Kala — “art form, virtue” in Sanskrit and the Hawaiian form of Sarah (“princess”)
• Kayla/Kaila – an American invention which may derive from Katherine (“pure”); also the Yiddish form of Kelila (“crown of laurel”)
• Kira — a variant of the Irish Ciara (“dark”), a Russian feminine form of Cyrus (“sun”), and a Japanese male name meaning “glitter”
• Lara – a German and Icelandic form of Laura (“laurel”) and a Russian short form of Larisa (“citadel”)
• Lila — “play, amusement” in Sanskrit or a variant of the Persian and Arabic Leila (“night”); some websites say it means “good” in Swahili, though I have been unable to authenticate this
• Lina — “palm tree, tender” in Arabic, “absorbed, united” in Sanskrit, and an Italian and Scandinavian nickname for names ending in lina
• Lulu — “pearl” in Arabic and a German diminutive of Luise/Louisa (“famous warrior”)
• Mai — “apricot blossom” in Vietnamese and “dance” or “true love” in Japanese
• Maia/Maya – Should win points as the ULTIMATE multicultural girls’ name. The former spelling is a Basque form of Mary, the Roman goddess of spring (whose name mean “great” in Latin), and a Greek mythological name (one of the Pleiades); the latter means “illusion” in Sanskrit and “water” in Hebrew; it can also commemorate the great Native American civilization.
• Malia/Melia — the former spelling is a Hawaiian form of Mary; the latter spelling is a Greek nymph whose name means “ash tree” or “honey”
• Mila — “pleasant” in several Slavic languages and “traditions, customs” in Swahili
• Mina — “fish” in Sanskrit or a short form of the Germanic Wilhelmina (“desire + helmet”) used in English and Italian
• Mira — “sea, ocean” in Sanskrit and “peace” in Slavic
• Mona — “wishes, desires” in Arabic and “little noble one” in Irish Gaelic; sometimes associated with the Greek word monos (“moon”) or the Italian ma donna (“lady”); also a Scandinavian short form of Monica
• Nadya — “moist, tender, delicate” in Arabic and “hope” in Russian
• Nana – “vegetable greens” in Japanese and a Greek diminutive of Ioanna (“God is gracious”)
• Naomi — “pleasantness” in Hebrew and “honest and beautiful” in Japanese
• Nessa — “miracle” in Hebrew; also a short form of the English Vanessa and a form of the Irish Gaelic Neasa
• Nia — “purpose” in Swahili and the Welsh form of Niamh (“bright”)
• Nina — a Babylonian fertility goddess, a Quechua (Native American) name meaning “fire,” a Russian and Italian short form of names ending in nina, and the Spanish word for “little girl”
• Nita — “bear” in Choctaw (a Native American language) and an English nickname for the Spanish Anita or Juanita
• Noa — “love” in Japanese and “motion” in Hebrew
• Ora – “light” in Hebrew and a 19th-century American name derived from the Latin oro (“to pray”)
• Orna — “pine tree” in Hebrew and “little pale green one” in Irish
• Raisa — “rose” in Yiddish, “leader, chief” in Arabic, and “more relaxed” in Russian (through Greek)
• Reyna/Reina/Rayna/Raina — the first and second spellings are Spanish (“queen”); the second and third spellings are Yiddish ( “clean, pure”); the third and fourth spellings are Bulgarian (either “queen” or “happy”)
• Rina — “joy” in Hebrew, “melted” in Sanskrit, “jasmine” (or “village of vegetable greens” ) in Japanese; also an English and Italian short form of names ending in rina, such as Katherina
• Rio — a Japanese name that could mean any number of things (“jasmine thread,” “village of cherry blossoms,” or “village center”); also the Spanish and Portuguese word for “river”
• Sarita — “flowing” in Sanskrit and a Spanish diminutive for Sarah (“princess”)
• Talia/Thalia — the former spelling means “dew of God” in Hebrew and could also be considered a short form of Polish, Spanish, and Italian Natalia (“Christmas day”); the latter spelling is the Greek muse of comedy, whose name means “to blossom”; the H in Thalia is silent, so the names are pronounced the same way
• Tova — “good” in Hebrew and “Thor is beautiful” in Swedish
• Una/Oona — “lamb” in Irish; also a literary coinage in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene from the Latin word for “one”
• Zahrah/Zara — the former spelling means “blooming flower” in Arabic; it was adopted into English under the latter spelling, which also corresponds to a Bulgarian feminine diminutive of Zechariah (“God remembers”)
• Zelda — a Yiddish name meaning “blessed, happy” and an English short form of Griselda (“grey battle”)
• Zola — “quiet, tranquil” in Zulu and an Italian surname used as a given name in English speaking countries (perhaps in honor of author Émile Zola)

You probably noticed the majority of these girls’ names are simple two-syllable A-enders. That seems to be a common cross-linguistic tendency in girls’ names, which leads me to believe that similar girls’ names might also travel well. And though some of these sound foreign, most would wear just fine on a child in the U.S., no matter what her heritage.

Please feel free to comment on your favorites and least favorites. Also, if you know of any names I should add to the list, or if you speak one of the languages I’ve mentioned and want to correct something I’ve said, let me know.