A reader named Marg is expecting her second child (gender unknown) and would like some name suggestions. Her first is a boy named Liam Isaac. She says:
For a girls name I am really loving the name Eden, but don’t have a middle name for it yet?
But its really with the boys names that we are stuck. We live in Canada, but both come from families that have immigrated from Holland, and the dutch culture is a big part of our family and our traditions. We actually named Liam after my Opa, William, but wanted to shorten it to Liam.
Anyway, all that to say that we do like some Dutch names, such as Johan (which is already taken by a family member) Hendrik (ditto) and Theo. Theo we both actually REALLY like but it reminds us of two people that we really are not big fans of, and we’re not sure we can get over that.
My first thought was: Don’t give up on Theo! Not-so-hot name associations can sometimes be overridden when you give the name to a baby (who will mean a lot more to you than those two other people combined–a much stronger association). Doesn’t work for everyone, but has worked for some.
Because Liam is a take on William, maybe Henry for Hendrik, or Hans for Johan? I think “Liam and Henry” is especially cute.
Here are a few other boy names that might work (many are also found in Dutch):
| Adam Alexander/Alex Benjamin Caleb Felix Gabriel Jacob Jonas Joseph Max | Nathan Nicholas Noah Owen Paul Philip/Filip Robert/Robin Samuel Simon Thomas |
As far as middles for Eden go, I think I’d opt for something decidedly feminine:
| Abigail Amelia Charlotte Elizabeth Felicia Harriet* Henrietta* | Johanna* Katrina Michelle Olivia Sabrina Sophia Theodora* |
*Family-inspired
Which of the above names do you like best for Liam’s younger sibling? What other names would you suggest to Marg?
Boys:
Alfred, Arthur, Aaron, Albert, August, Anthony/Anton, Brian, Casper, Cristian/Christian, Christopher, Daniel, Darius, David, Dexter, Dennis, Duncan, Edwin, Elias. Ernest, Fabian, Francis, Gerald, Gerard, Graham, Justin, Laurence, Lucas, Luke, Marius, Matthew, Michael, Oliver, Peter, Richard, Sebastian, Victor
Girls:
Agnes, Alberta, Amalia, Amber, Angela, Annika, Annabel, Anna, Annette, Anneliese, Annemarie, Annamarie, Antonia, Bridget, Carla, Caroline, Carolyn, Carolina, Carlotta, Catherine, Cecelia, Christine, Dahlia, Danielle, Daniela, Daria, Emily, Emilia, Evelyn, Eva, Gabrielle, Hannah, Heidi, Helena, Hilda, Irene, Isabel, Isabella, Joanna, Joan, Jeanne, Julia, Julianne, Julianna, Katherine, Laura, Leah, Leslie, Louise, Margaret, Mabel, Marianne, Natalia, Nicole, Ophelia, Opal, Penelope, Patricia, Patrice, Rebecca, Rosemary, Rosemarie, Silvia/Sylvia, Sarah, Susanna, Tamara, Ursula, Valeria, Victoria, Valentina, Vivian, Vivianne, Vivien, Vivienne, Vanessa, Wilhelmina
I gave a long response and it wasn’t posted! I’m too tired to write the names again, so I just want to see if this particular comment is posted…
It was! Good. Here are some, in that case…
Anthony, August, Benedict, Christian/Cristian, David, Daniel, Darius, Duncan, Edwin, Eduard, Fabian, Gerald, Lucas, Matthew, Victor.
Anna, Annemarie, Annabel, Annika, Annette, Caroline, Carolina, Carla, Daria, Evelyn, Geraldine, Hannah, Julia, Julianne, Julianna, Katherine, Lillian, Marianne, Mary, Magdalena, Madeleine, Margaret, Natalia, Nicole, Ophelia, Penelope, Rebecca, Rosemary, Sylvia, Theresa, Tamara, Ursula.
Anya, thanks for all the names! I apologize about the first comment not showing up. My blog thought it was spam, so I had to go in and manually approve it.
Oh, okay, thanks.
William is not a Dutch name, Willem (nn: Wim) is. Willem has always been an extremely popular name in the Netherlands because a lot of our kings were named Willem. William is in use in the Netherlands but as a borrowed name, the English version of Willem.
Usual nicknames for Hendrik in Dutch are Henk or Dirk. Johannes has numerous nn’s over here: Jan, Johan, Joop, Jo, Han, Hans and Hannes for example.
Other traditional Dutch male names that might appeal:
Cornelis (nn in Dutch: Kees, Cor)
Frederik (nn: Freek, Fred)
Marinus or Martinus (nn: Maarten, Mart, Rinus, Tinus)
Gerard or Gerrit (nn: Geert, Gert)
Jacob (nn: Jaap)
Antonius (nn: Anton, Toon, Ton)
Nicolaas (nn: Klaas, Niek, Nico)
Albert or Albertus (nn: Bert)
Most, if not all, of these names are considered old-fashioned over here. And somehow I don’t see most of the nicknames catching on in the US.
At the moment very short names are in fashion for boys (for girls as well actually) in the Netherlands. Those include Sem, Daan (from Daniël), Luuk (Lucas), Mees, Thijs (Matthijs), Bram (Abraham), Stijn and Gijs (Gijsbert).