Hi!
I recently found out that I am pregnant and want your input about these names! All are namesakes for important people in both mine and my boyfriend's life, but I won't take it personal if you hate them (my bf isn't so sure about the girl's name!). Also, because we aren't married, I really want to hyphenate our last names, but am willing to only have his (my last name: Boado, pronounced BO-AH-DOE, and his: Thomas). So here are the names: Lola Rita and Liam Joseph.
Looking forward to what you have to say!
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A lot really depends on whether or not you do decide to double-barrel the last name. Because Liam Boado-Thomas is different that Liam Thomas – by a lot.
You know how certain names are just fun to say? I’m staring at Entertainment Tonight as I write this and so the one that comes to mind is Selena Gomez. That’s a good name. It’s not only got cultural elements important to her mother, it’s straight-up fun to say. It’s because of the rhythms of where the emphasis falls. Se-LE-na GO-mez. Another one like this is Anthony Bourdain.
So the question is whether or not you’re going to be including the last name. I will say that Liam Thomas is going to be one of a few in his school – there may even be another Liam T in his class. And going by his middle name won’t change that; Joseph is still high up on the charts. If that bothers you, what about going for Leo instead? Leopold? Or he can still be Liam, but you can call him Lee? Lee Boado-Thomas? Liam is one of those names that’s going to remain stylish even in its popularity so the question is whether you mind that popularity, and your son turning around every time someone calls for Liam at the playground, or not.
Lola faces a similar fate. Lola Thomas doesn’t have a ton of rhythm to it on its own. It’s not bad, though, because the two names have very different vowel sounds. Maybe in this case you want to include the double barrel? Lola Rita Thomas? I have a friend who uses his middle initial professionally – to great effect. Nobody ever just calls him by his first name, it’s always First initial Last. Maybe that’s the case here?
As I often say, there’s nothing wrong with any of the names, and I don’t know enough about the family connections to understand how much I can expand. (Lola Marguerite? Marguerite Lola?) But knowing what you know about the popularity factors and whether or not it’s important that your child not be Liam T, go in peace.
