Baby name needed: Boy or girl name for Aspen’s sibling

A reader named Kendra, who has a daughter named Aspen, is now expecting a second baby (gender unknown). She’d like the baby’s first name to:

  • Be “different yet familiar”
  • Be easy to spell
  • Start with something other than A, K or M
  • End with something other than A or N

She’d like the middle name to start with J. Current favorites for the middle spot are Jacob, Johnmichael (a family name), Jenai and Jane.

For first names, I think occupational and habitational names would be a good place to start:

Bailey
Carter
Chase
Cooper
Finley
Fisher
Fletcher
Harper
Hunter
Marley
Parker
Piper
Presley
Ridley
Ripley
Roscoe
Ryder
Sawyer
Slater
Tanner
Tatum
Taylor
Tucker
Turner
Thatcher
Tyler
Wesley

They are rooted in the physical (as Aspen is), but they won’t lock Kendra into noun-names (as names like Sage or Willow would). Most are also theoretically gender-neutral — again, like Aspen — though in real life they tend to be used for either one gender or the other.

These names also came to mind:

  • Bryce, Cody, Cole, Max, Rory, Royce, Ryker, and Ulysses for boys,
  • Carley, Chloe, Daphne, and Heidi for girls, and
  • Cassidy and Emery for either boys or girls.

(Daphne does refer to another kind of tree, but the connection is subtle, so I think it would be all right with Aspen.)

It’s tricky to suggest middle names without a definitive first name in place. I do really like Johnmichael and Jane, though. I also thought Kendra might find Jonah, Jett or Jude appealing, as they became fashionable (as first names) right around the same time Aspen did.

Do you like any of the above names? What others would you suggest?

Update – The baby is here! Scroll down to see what name Kendra chose.

3 thoughts on “Baby name needed: Boy or girl name for Aspen’s sibling

  1. Blaise
    Boaz
    Calder
    Dante
    Felix
    Raphael
    Saul

    Celia
    Cleo
    Eleanor
    Esther
    Iris
    Leto
    Opal
    Ruby
    Tanis

    Joelle
    June
    Juniper
    Judd

  2. Just heard from Kendra! Here’s what she says:

    We wanted to thank you for the suggestion of Tatum. As soon as we read the reply post, my husband and I were instantly sold! We just knew we’d have the coolest girl’s name around!

    However, our surprise baby turned out to be a boy! And I broke one of my rules… Trenton James is the name of our new bundle of joy.

    The middle name wasn’t decided on until about 2 weeks before (if it was a boy).

    Congratulations!

  3. I just found out a couple at my church named their twin boys Aspen and Stetson. They weigh 3 lbs.

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