Hi Duana!
We are expecting our second son in a week, and he has no name. You were so helpful with our firstborn! I knew I had to turn to you for our predicament: We had a list of one syllable names (Hugh, Dean) but have lately realized that we like those names written down more than we like to say them (though I love Huey!) We need another syllable to chew on. (And we do not like lengthening Hugh into Hugo — those are different dudes.)
His big brother is named Roger; we’d prefer a different beginning letter for the little guy and a similarly known, but uncommon name. The only name we have so far is Ira, which we both like, but I’m not completely sold. I feel mostly stumped by its hard-to-nickname vibe, and a little held back by the fact that the only people I know with this name are Jewish, and we are not members of any religious faith.
We must be missing some great names since we zeroed in on these shorter names that I don’t think fit. Would you please dig up a few gems for us?
Thanks so very much!
Lee
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Well hi there, welcome back, repeat caller!
I really like the work you’ve done for yourselves on realizing that a short name isn’t the same as a one-syllable name, and that you can, in fact, have one without the other.
The next element here is to decide whether you need the name to be visually short, or just ‘sound’ short – that is, Ira (which I would happily endorse if you loved it) is short, but sounds longer than Dan, or Ben, or even Graham for that matter (depending on whether you pronounce it ‘Gram’ or ‘GRAY-em’). Do your requirements exclude two-syllable names that look longer, like say, Dashiell or Ephraim? Or is it only the sound (of the length) that matters?
Discuss.
While you do, I’ll plunge forward. Given the style you’ve already gone with in Roger (which I remember as a triumph for everyone involved!) and your requests for ‘known, but uncommon’, here are a few names to get your imagination going…
I read your concerns about Ira and immediately thought of Ezra. Yes, it’s similar, but somehow has more grounding from that ‘z’, and also has an echo of Roger’s ‘R’ sounds that I really like. Or you might like something like Eli – it works on its own, of course, but also as a short form for Elijah or Elias, as is your preference. Keeping on a vowel-heavy tip, you could also go with Orrin or Omar or Asa or Elan or Arlo. What about Eugene for an individual choice but also a stylistic match with Roger? Or Oscar, if you like the sound of the two names ending the same way?
Beyond that, into the wild world of consonants, and keeping your earlier style in mind, you might like something like Giles or Magnus or Caius? Is it a coincidence that all of those names end in ‘s’? Oooh, how about Hollis?
You could go with Cedric or Hamish or Garrett, or Callum or Griffin, or what about something like Malone? Or Jarvis? How about Merrick or Kieran or Otto or Louis?
I hope this is a solid list to start from – I didn’t even get into Simon (possibly because I love Simon with Roger so much I’d start to influence things that way) or Tiernan or Wilfred – but I know you’re on your way to finding exactly the right one.
Thanks for your continued patronage, lol, and let us know!
