Hi Duana,
We are expecting our second son this June. We had a girl name picked out (Daphne), but no boy names. Our first son is named Eugene James after his grandfathers and goes by E.J. I'm sure you can see our last name on my email.
My husband's favorite is Edmund, and my favorites are Aaron, Remy, and Eoin (all four vetoed). The leading candidates, which we liked but didn't love, were Walter (Walt) and Desmond (Desi), until my husband found Daley on an Irish name list, and we keep coming back to it. (We prefer the daily pronounciation to dahly/dawly.) I keep getting stuck on if it's too weird or too uncommon, but I kind of love it. And since I do not love the name Eugene, I really want to love this baby's name!
Help! Is Daley too weird? I'm typically a normal name girl, so the idea of naming my baby something a little out there is unexpected. We like the idea of Irish names, but it's not a necessity, and originally wanted something old fashioned to go with Eugene, hence Walter. Any suggestions?
We'd like to get his name figured out as soon as possible, because our first son was born ten weeks early, and I'm at a high risk for delivering this one early as well. And if he comes early, doctors have said we should not have more, so the pressure is on to get it right!
Thank you!!!
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Well, this is officially one I’ve never been asked before. I like Daley, and yeah, it’s very Irish – I’m sure the first time I heard it it was attached to a first name like ‘Kitty’ or ‘Brendan’. It feels authentic.
So here’s my question – are you going to call him Daley? Like, no nickname? Daley and brother EJ kind of make sense, they go without matching and they have a similarly sprightly, energetic spirit. Daley and Eugene, on the other hand – they don’t clash, or anything, but Eugene has a more storied and elegant history, it seems, if it bothers you. And I assume you’re not going to call him by his initials, or this wouldn’t bother you so much.
I definitely don’t think Daley is weird. I do really like Walter (and Wallace!) and Desmond though. Daley Desmond is on the rhythmic side but still might have some life in it, and Walter Daley, called Daley, if you choose to go that way would be charming and only a little politiciany.
Let me know what you decide – I think Daley would be a really interesting choice and I hope this note makes you feel a little more enthusiastic about it!
A note to name-nerd letter writers,
I love getting your letters. In order to give them the best chance of being answered in a timely fashion, could I please trouble you to include the due date in the subject line of your email? Also, please send only one email – duplicates are deleted and may result in your email not being answered. Thanks!
