Becky wrote to us: Back at it again! This time I’m having a boy we named Gabriel but we don’t have a middle name. My 5 year old called the baby “Rocket” for a long time and I thought it’d be cool to pay homage to that for his middle name. Other than “Rocket”, what other space related names can you think of? I haven’t been able to really find any lists on google. Thanks! And then she added that she had named her other children Annabelle Grace, Isaac Christian, and Claire Elise. She was interested in any traditional names, as well. The last name will begin with L. So here is what I have to sa ..read more

Sarah asked for Biblical names, either sex, which have meanings containing concepts like “join”, “heal”, or “repair”. Right away I was about to tell her that Raphael and Raphaella referred to “healed by God” (or, “God heals”), and Raphael of course is a Biblical name, while Raphaella is a female derivative. So, for me this was the most obvious (and perhaps due to my own personal preferences!), but the Bible is full of meaningful names, so let’s explore a few other options. Raphael is the angel who is said to talk to doctors, or anybody with the task of healing and caretaking. Levi, male, to ..read more

I used to like the name Cheyenne* a lot. It’s a place name and a Native American tribal name… both very hip, en vogue, cutting edge, etc. The more I grew and learned and witnessed– in terms of our culture and the ways in which we represent ourselves and even appropriate– the less fond I grew for such styles. It started to seem insincere to me, and maybe even rude of me, and so I could no longer really validate my preferences by telling myself how pretty and cute they still were. I couldn’t kid myself by telling myself I was honoring something I didn’t truly understand. The truth is, there was ..read more

Fan Question: Hello! smile emoticon I’m looking for boy and girl names that go well with the last name Swisher. I’m trying to find both first and middle names. I like the names Alexander for a boy either first or middle and Serenity and Thyri (pronounced ‘Theory’) for a girl! Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated! smile emoticon Thank you! I really, really, really like your taste in names. However, anything that is a word name (Serenity) or sounds like a word name (Thyri) is going to be extra funny next to Swisher. It creates a concept, joke, or some sort of visual in the head. Alex ..read more

Emily asks: Need help with a boy name! We want them to blend well with the names of our other boys which are William (Liam) Jack and Eoghan Henry. We would like to keep it within the Irish, Scottish, English realm. Any ideas? (Can’t do Killian because that is our dog’s name–smile emoticon–) Fans offered up the following suggestions on our page: Sean Connor Cormac Alasdair Conall Grant Logan Malcolm Monroe Neil Rory Lochlan Harland Kieran Seamus Keigan Duncan Edward I actually have a son named Cian– here is a picture of him. Declan Landon Ninian Cian Rhys Bradley Riley Joel Oliver Jarvis Fi ..read more

Michelle writes: “Hello i need help picking a baby girl name!!! I have two boys already, kaleb and keelan, so i need a name that goes with them also. I love c, k or m names, also names that are unique and barely heard of but if u have a cute name with any letter of the alphabet please shaof those too. My princess will be here in July and im clueless!! This will be my first girl!! I found a few that i liked but none that i love. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks!!”   I’m glad you’ve decided to ask for some ideas. Right away, let me say that I would avoid naming your baby with a ..read more

Someday, someday, I promise I will release this book (and maybe some other surprises with it). For now, here is a preview of what sort of content you might expect (this time, in brief) when it actually does come out. Alternate working title of this post was, “The One in Which I Help a Couple of Friends”. Now I do my disclaimer that some names have multiple legitimate meanings and origin possibilities, so I’ll just name one or the most obvious one, depending. It’s a lot easier to debunk what names supposedly are than to tell you what they are completely. There are also multiple levels of depth ..read more

Fan Question– “Hi! My sister just recommended that I like this page for help. We just found out that we will be having our second boy – yay! Our first son is named Grayson Lionel (last name Ball), he’s 4 (I swear that name wasn’t trendy 4 years ago! Lol) as a nod to his father. My husband’s name is Guy Lionel Ball IV. We broke the tradition but didn’t want to ignore it entirely. We do not call him Gray. I like semi-unique or old fashioned names, not something they’ll have to explain or spell the rest of their lives! I am not a fan of alliteration and I don’t want another name that ends in -so ..read more

Brea asks: Name help needed! Surprise baby four on board and is a girl. All our children’s first names end in N and middle names are family derived. Love names that are classic but unpopular and dislike names with frivolous Ys, Xs, etc. Last name is Bursch so plant/flower names don’t work (Rose Bursch, anyone?). Siblings: Reiken Calvin Bursch (m) Quentin Raymond Bursch (m) Gwendolyn Beverly Bursch (f) Middle Name: Dorothy   This is a fun one, thank you for the challenge. And of course, congratulations. Here is a list I made just for you to try on and hopefully either like something or ..read more

Autumn says: Exciting news. Sawyer James and Huckleberry Wilder are going to have a sibling. We will not be finding out the sex so I am in need of name ideas for both genders. My only criteria is that the name be unique and I would love to have Dean as the middle name for both the boy & girl name in honor of my late uncle. While the boys names are obviously “themed” they were not named after the Mark Twain novels so no need to carry any tradition but I’m also not opposed to it. I am drawn to nature names (our last name makes for some fun combinations) and the late great country singing g ..read more