A reader named Angela is expecting her second baby (gender unknown). She sent me a lot of helpful information, so I’ve broken it down into main points:
- The baby’s middle name will be Patrick (if a boy) or Josephine (if a girl).
- The baby’s surname will start with P.
- She and her husband like the name Abigail, but it may soon be taken by friends.
- They also like the name Caleb, but the initials CPP sound like “see pee pee.” They want to avoid names and initials that invite teasing.
- Ideally, the first name will be something that can be shortened to a nickname.
- Angela likes “literature or movie referenced names.”
- Angela’s husband likes “uncomplicated English or Christian names (he’s Adam…his brothers are Benjamin and Noah).”
Their first son is named Hayden Adam.
Here are the names I came up with, along with a few literature/film references. Ladies first:
| Audrey (Hepburn) Bethany Charlotte (Gilman; Bronte) Chloe Denise Dorothy (Gale) Elizabeth (Bennet) Jillian Judith Kaitlyn Katherine Leah Lillian Louisa (Alcott) Lucy (Montgomery) | Lydia Mara Marianne Mary Maya (Angelou) Michelle Miriam Molly Naomi Natalie Rachel Rebecca Samantha Sarah Shirley (Anne; Temple) |
And now the gents:
| Beckett (Samuel) Bennet (Elizabeth) Daniel (Defoe) David (Salinger) Edward (Forster) Eliot (T.S.; George) Emmett Everett Gabriel (Márquez) Jacob Jonathan James (Henry; Joyce) Jerome (Salinger) Joseph (Conrad) Leo (Tolstoy) | Lucas Martin Matthew Maxwell Micah Michael Miller (Arthur) Nathan Raymond (Carver) Samuel Sawyer (Tom) Simon Sinclair (Upton; Lewis) William (Faulkner; Golding) Zachary |
Do you like any of the above? What other names would you suggest to Angela?
