Help me name my child

[mormont]

'Aleksander'/Alexander has the advantage of having many short forms (Alex, Alec, Al, Ally, Sandy, Lex, Xander/Zander, even Eck, if you're a Scot. ;)) So he could always pick his favourite once he's old enough...

[Larry of the Lawn]

I like Mikko, but you really can't go wrong with Anasurimbor.

[kairparavel]

Maximus and Samson

Max and Sam

You're welcome ;)

[Seventh Pup]

Thread necro:

We are going to have a baby in about a month (give or take with a hazy, changing delivery date). We have a girl name picked, but are pretty stuck on a boy name. We already have 15 month old Maximus (called just Max by everyone), and Max was the only boy name my wife really wanted. Here are some of the names I like, with my wifes reservations:

1. Shadrach, Shad for short-this one is growing on my wife but she fears it is a little too odd and people might confuse with Chad. I have liked this name for a long time (I named my baby this in high school parenting class)

2. Jarek-she doesn't have a reason for not liking this

3. Aleksei-thinks it is a little to feminine for people round here and doesn't really like Aleks for short

4. Aleksander (see above)

5. Mikail-I think people will think we are weird for not just naming him Michael, but I like Mikail a lot better.

6. Nikolai or Nicholas-can't recall her qualms with this

Some of the names she likes right now:

Saxon-too close to Max and she doesn't really think she would name her kid Saxon

Mikko-I am part Finnish so it would be kind of cool, but not sure it goes real well with our German last name

I can't recall what else she might like right now. She seems more stuck than me.

Any input? Any of those too weird?

I know someone named Shad. His does not have a longer form though it's just Shad. He hates it. His mother could not chose between Sean and Chad and so came with Shad. Most people assume that his name is Chad and that it has been misspelled. Some people ask if he's named after the fish.

Other then that I like Aleksander best from your list followed by Nikolai or Nicolas. I like Mikko, but I took a couple years Japanese so to me it sounds a bit feminine. What ever you name him he will grow into the name. Congratulations!

ETA

I like the suggestion of Samson a lot.

[Ormond]

To me personally Jarek looks like a Vulcan or Cardassian name from Star Trek.

You seem to have a thing for Russian-sounding names (which historically seems a bit odd for someone with mostly Finnish and German ancestry.)

Here are links to Behindthename's lists of Finnish, German, and Russian names which might give you some more ideas:

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/finnish

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/german

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/russian

[Seventh Pup]

To me personally Jarek looks like a Vulcan or Cardassian name from Star Trek.

You seem to have a thing for Russian-sounding names (which historically seems a bit odd for someone with mostly Finnish and German ancestry.)

Here are links to Behindthename's lists of Finnish, German, and Russian names which might give you some more ideas:

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/finnish

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/german

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/russian

Russian names are the best! Says someone who's son is named Ivan. :cool4:

Though seriously I have had a few people ask me if I'm Russian because of his name, or if it was a "family name". But generally reception has been positive.

[all swedes are racist]

Airwolf

[Ormond]

Russian names are the best! Says someone who's son is named Ivan. :cool4:

Though seriously I have had a few people ask me if I'm Russian because of his name, or if it was a "family name". But generally reception has been positive.

I don't think his son would have much trouble from a Russian name, especially those which seem to be minor variations on typical English forms like the ones he mentions. I was just thinking about the traditional enmity between Finland and Russia. :)

Of course a thread like this always seems a bit odd to me because I'm not sure getting advice from an Internet discussion board which has posters from all over the world of all ages really gets one the advice they need. If one does not expect to move during the baby's childhood, it seems that one should really just be asking people who live in the same part of the world you do -- the stereotypes and connotations of many names can be very different, even between the English speaking countries.

I also wonder if new parents really should be listening very much to the opinions of people over the age of 50 about baby names. The process by which "older" names come back into fashion usually means that the "revival" names which sound the coolest to people in their 20s are precisely the ones that people in their 50s and 60s find the ugliest and wonder how on earth anyone could give them to a baby. (Hazel and Felix are present day examples in the USA.) Since any infant being born in 2015 is probably going to have his or her life influenced more by what their own and their parents' contemporaries reactions than those of their grandparents' generation, it probably doesn't matter very much what the grandparents and their friends think. (And I'm saying this as someone who is 63 himself.)

[wolverine]

To me personally Jarek looks like a Vulcan or Cardassian name from Star Trek.

You seem to have a thing for Russian-sounding names (which historically seems a bit odd for someone with mostly Finnish and German ancestry.)

Here are links to Behindthename's lists of Finnish, German, and Russian names which might give you some more ideas:

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/finnish

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/german

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/russian

I do like Russian names. I think it is the hard K sound I like.

[wolverine]

Maximus and Samson

Max and Sam

You're welcome ;)

I like it, but I have two cousins named Sam already.

EDIT: We would probably be settled on Isaac, but my brother already used that name for his son. I also like Mathias, but my brother is named Matthew.

[kairparavel]

Airwolf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqcQUmKJEK8

Stringfellow

[Pilusmagnus]

Just call him Tyrion and be done with it.

[Ormond]

I like it, but I have two cousins named Sam already.

EDIT: We would probably be settled on Isaac, but my brother already used that name for his son. I also like Mathias, but my brother is named Matthew.

I'm not trying to change your mind on this -- but the above is a really modern attitude. Just a couple of generations ago it was quite common for two cousins to have the same first name (often because they were both named after the same grandparent.) And there have been millions of cases in the world where people named sons after their living brothers. The idea that children shouldn't have names that even resemble those of cousins or uncles would have been very odd to most of our ancestors.

[kairparavel]

I'm not trying to change your mind on this -- but the above is a really modern attitude. Just a couple of generations ago it was quite common for two cousins to have the same first name (often because they were both named after the same grandparent.) And there have been millions of cases in the world where people named sons after their living brothers. The idea that children shouldn't have names that even resemble those of cousins or uncles would have been very odd to most of our ancestors.

Very much this. Or, look at it like this - your son will have a unique name in the family but could wind up in school with eight other Aleks etc in his class. I was/am the only Kelly in my immediate and extended family, but given my birth in 1971, I was not a unicorn. During summers as a child I was one of six (and we were ALL friends) who played together at the beach and when a mother would call they would have use the entire name as we all shared the same friggin' middle name as well. That's life.

Basically, if you like a name, go for it. Your son may very well be an Isaac or a Samson and it'd be a shame he was named Rolf or Victor instead to avoid samesies. And so what if others are as well?

[wolverine]

Very much this. Or, look at it like this - your son will have a unique name in the family but could wind up in school with eight other Aleks etc in his class. I was/am the only Kelly in my immediate and extended family, but given my birth in 1971, I was not a unicorn. During summers as a child I was one of six (and we were ALL friends) who played together at the beach and when a mother would call they would have use the entire name as we all shared the same friggin' middle name as well. That's life.

Basically, if you like a name, go for it. Your son may very well be an Isaac or a Samson and it'd be a shame he was named Rolf or Victor instead to avoid samesies. And so what if others are as well?

Oh I agree with all that, especially my cousins with the name. We are very close to my brother, see them at least weekly, and would not use his sons name (Isaac) though.

Wife also saying she likes Kai or Mekhi. With Mekhi it seems like a name a lot of people would mispronounce though.

[Maltaran]

I also wonder if new parents really should be listening very much to the opinions of people over the age of 50 about baby names. The process by which "older" names come back into fashion usually means that the "revival" names which sound the coolest to people in their 20s are precisely the ones that people in their 50s and 60s find the ugliest and wonder how on earth anyone could give them to a baby. (Hazel and Felix are present day examples in the USA.) Since any infant being born in 2015 is probably going to have his or her life influenced more by what their own and their parents' contemporaries reactions than those of their grandparents' generation, it probably doesn't matter very much what the grandparents and their friends think. (And I'm saying this as someone who is 63 himself.)

Interesting - in the UK, the average Hazel would be one of those 50 or 60-somethings. Felix is unlikely to come back, since most Brits when they hear it will think of the cat food.

[all swedes are racist]

Stringfellow

Stringfellow Hawke

[Ormond]

Interesting - in the UK, the average Hazel would be one of those 50 or 60-somethings. Felix is unlikely to come back, since most Brits when they hear it will think of the cat food.

Yes. Actually until about 15 years ago you could say the average Hazel in the UK was younger than the average American Hazel. Then it started to revive over here.

As an older American I think of Felix as being a cartoon cat, but it never became a brand name of cat food over here. A reverse example might be Jemima -- this has been fairly common in the UK for a while now, but most Americans would think it's way too identified with the brand name of pancake mixes and syrups.

[mormont]

Yes. Actually until about 15 years ago you could say the average Hazel in the UK was younger than the average American Hazel. Then it started to revive over here.

As an older American I think of Felix as being a cartoon cat, but it never became a brand name of cat food over here. A reverse example might be Jemima -- this has been fairly common in the UK for a while now, but most Americans would think it's way too identified with the brand name of pancake mixes and syrups.

Hazel's reasonably common in the UK, I think, amongst my age group (40+) for sure. Jemima is very much seen as an upper-middle-class name. You would be mercilessly mocked if you were a working-class kid called Jemima.

[Ormond]

Hazel's reasonably common in the UK, I think, amongst my age group (40+) for sure. Jemima is very much seen as an upper-middle-class name. You would be mercilessly mocked if you were a working-class kid called Jemima.

Which wouldn't be the image of Jemima in the USA at all. Because of those pancakes ("Aunt Jemima" being the full trade name) many Americans would assume it was a working class Black name.