Saturday, June 04, 2011

Little Baby No Name

As my friend and due date twin Jen pointed out the other day on her blog, Ben and I still do not have a name for this baby. Not even close. I asked my awesome Facebook friends for some suggestions and got lots. But still. We can't commit.

The names we considered early on like Henry (too close to Harry) and Wyatt (cute but not totally awesome) and Holden (love, but what the heck is the nickname?) and Cooper (pooper) are't really on the list anymore.

We had some fleeting attachments to Silas (really? Nancy Botwin is our role model?) and Jules (literary, so that's a plus, but not totally thrilling anymore). We liked Noah and William and Oscar okay.

Parker is adorable. I met a little cutie at the pool named Watson, and one of H's classmates has a brother named Ziggy, which is precious. We both sort of like Tennyson. But I am not rushing to Etsy to have any of these monogrammed on a onesie or carved in wood for the nursery wall, you know?

Ben wants to name the baby Indiana or Texas. I really, really, really like Finn and Oliver. We have both vetoed the other person's choices here.

We have 3 names we are actively considering, but I have to warn you, they are all slightly off the beaten path. More than some of the above names even. We are not sharing them because we really like them, and people can be-- no offense-- assholes about baby names. It's that pause before they say, "Oh," or that little moue of distaste. YOU know. And we know that these 3 names in particular would get a side eye. Once the baby is here and already branded with an unusual moniker, most people won't be total dicks about it--they'll at least lie to us. So we're sort of waiting on our top 3. But none of the top 3 is a real winner yet.

Ben doe NOT want to show up at the hospital with a list of names and "see what the baby looks like" Because the baby will look like a red, wrinkled, geriatric primate, and we'll end up naming him Morty or Bubbles. Or maybe he is worried that after birth, he'll take pity on me and I'll get to choose, and we'll end up with a little Finn or Cooper.

Coming up with a name for a 3rd boy is HARD. If you have any insight, opinions (moues are not apparent online), or suggestions, let 'em rip. Please.

16 comments:

  1. Haha, "geriatric primate" is awesome! And so true.

    I knew James's name before we'd agreed to try to have him, so we did not have this issue.

    I've always liked Thomas, but that is Wes's middle name so we couldn't use it again. And of course Charlie, Wes, and James. ;)

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  2. Anonymous7:53 AM

    Trace.

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  3. Anonymous8:01 AM

    Max

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  4. I know what you mean. People ARE assholes about names. It's harder, though, to knock a name once it's attached to a cute little geriatric primate.

    My favorite that my husband rejected was Elias. (Call him Eli) Parker Quinn was our backup for either gender. We ended up going with Dean, which I love love love. My second choice was Nathan, but we couldn't use that because of our last name. (Lane. Can't work in theatre in NYC and name a kid Nathan Lane. Just can't.)

    Good luck with the name game!

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  5. I love Oliver! Evan's vetoed that for future boys, but I do so love it. I also love Graham and he pulled out a box of graham crackers and asked if I was talking about them. Jerk.

    You have lots of names I love--Henry,Wyatt, Jules. We love classic old names, so our favorites if we ever have a boy are David, James, Owen (which we gifted to Kyle), Thomas, William, etc.

    Good luck with the choosing of the name. Yes, people can be super jerks about it by telling you names they hate. Like you give a shit why they hate a name.

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  6. Don't feel bad. We haven't committed either. With AJU5, we had a boy name, but no girl name. She wasn't named until 36 hours old (and her middle name changed at almost 48 hours). With AJU6, we only had a boy name - and luckily he was a boy! With this one, we have an idea of a girl name, but no boy name... It is so hard!

    Good luck!

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  7. Picking a name is hard! I am a fan of off-the-beaten path names, though most of my choices were vetoed by my husband. (I still think Rhiannon for a girl is awesome, and it has nothing to do with my love for Stevie Nicks in spite of what my husband would say!) I also think keeping your favorites to yourself is a good idea -- people really can be hurtful, even if it's unintentional! I can't wait to see what you guys choose!

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  8. Michelle M.12:44 PM

    My cousin's sons have fun names that aren't super traditional--Reid, Kyler, and Mitchell. I love Finn, Parker, and Oliver. Good luck! I'm sure you'll come up with something super cute that fits Baby Jedd perfectly!

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  9. Anonymous1:11 PM

    FINN!! Love it!!

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  10. We did the same thing. Kept it to ourselves until Chance was born. People are super assholes about it and couple that with how influenced I get by other's reaction. Like the checkout lady. Really? Why the hell do I care that the checkout lady doesn't like it. Anyway, I hear ya loud and clear! What about Chase, Cole, Dylan, Luca, Niko? Picking out the name is the fun part enjoy it!

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  11. Tripod9:32 PM

    Bomma likes Sutter (to whom you would NEVER talk)

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  12. Third baby needs a name with 3 syllables - Garrison? Alexi? Gregory? Tobias? Elijah? Ishmael? Damian? Or . . . or. . . or. . . BENJAMIN (junior) who could be Benji for short :-)

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  13. Tristan, Carson, Brantley, Quinn, Elijah, Parker, Cason/Cayson. A friend's son's middle name is Rayce. Grant was my boy name (obviously I didn't get to name the boy). Or you could just call him Bubs or Bubba like the baby boy at my house. :)

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  14. I never got to name my step-kids (and if I had, they would not have the names they do!) I'm long on opinions, though....

    My boss's kids are: Noah, Addisson and Wyatt (love them all...they call the baby Quiet Wyatt)

    Oliver (a friend's son)

    Phinneas (another friend's son)

    Zebulon (my daughter's teacher's new son)

    Boaz (great grandson of a friend o mine)

    Anthing Biblical usually works...except maybe Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

    I was doing some genealogy and my great, great, great uncle named his kids: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin (no lie!)

    I actually kind of like Franklin.

    I'm a movie geek, so I like Jefferson (becasue of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington).

    It would be balls-y, but if I could, I would name my own son Atticus.

    Whatever you pick will be perfect! Good luck!

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  15. Our son's name is Adam. We like it because it was popular in the seventies and eighties, but has fallen off the radar now.

    Whatever you do, please don't name him Jaydon or Braydon. Too many of those names around these days!

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  16. Anonymous4:32 PM

    Brady, Andrew, Tyler

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