good baby handle?

October 18, 2005 10:13 AM

I'm due to give birth anytime and we are still stuck with a name. We already have two other boys: Hewitt Gareth Miller and Rupert Johannes Postma. It's a boy and we like old names obviously. Got any cool ideas?We are dead locked. We like names that translate into adult names nicely.
posted by gina to Human Relations (93 answers total)

Winston
posted by Pollomacho at 10:19 AM on October 18, 2005

Wilberforce. Pleeeease?
posted by contessa at 10:20 AM on October 18, 2005

Orville Louis Henry
posted by hototogisu at 10:24 AM on October 18, 2005

Orion! Orion Clemens was Mark Twain's brother. Of course Twain's real middle name was Langhorne, which is also pretty cool. Or how about Josiah?
posted by LarryC at 10:24 AM on October 18, 2005

Had I been a boy, my parents would have named me Edward Taylor St. John (pronounced SIN-jen, I understand). My husband and I have considered Anselm, and I had an infamous great-uncle named Erasmus.
posted by junkbox at 10:25 AM on October 18, 2005

Watson

Willard

Millard

Gordon

Ashley

Raphael

Chester
posted by Pollomacho at 10:25 AM on October 18, 2005

Chance

(Character in John Claude Van Damme movie: "Why are you named Chance?" A: "My mama took one.")
posted by johngoren at 10:29 AM on October 18, 2005

Being the litgeek that I am, I would name a boy James Ulysses.
posted by scody at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2005

I love the name Tobias. Also, Jonas, Ezra, Eli.
posted by amro at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2005

"Rupert" reminded me of the nephew in The Swimming-Pool Library, which has the following list of names that "were a kind of time-travel, the words people whispered to their pillows, doodled on their copy-book margins, cried out in passion when my grandfather was young":

Archibald
Ernest
Lionel
Hubert

One of the characters is also named Arthur.

I also like Charles, and Percy or Percival.
posted by occhiblu at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2005

You could always go the historical-source route. Assuming this one is going to be a Miller, you could try John Marshall Miller or John Marshall Harlan Miller, after the justices (or Hugo Black Miller, etc etc, depending on who you like), or Jefferson Something-Other-Than-Davis Miller, or Ethan Allen Miller, James Madison Miller, William Sherman Miller (or William Tecumseh Miller, or William Tecumseh Sherman Miller), etc.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:32 AM on October 18, 2005

Have you tried the Baby Name Wizard? If you look at only boys names from, say, the early 1900's, that'll give you quite a set to choose from.
posted by 5MeoCMP at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2005

Oh, or Sebastian. Might either be too cute or just cute enough with the "Johannes," though...
posted by occhiblu at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2005

Ooh, Holden, too. And Caleb.
posted by amro at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2005

Preston
posted by cdcello at 10:35 AM on October 18, 2005

I think that both Ezekiel and Jebediah are underrated names. Easily nicknamable, too: Zeke and Jeb, both of which are cool.
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:38 AM on October 18, 2005

Chester
posted by Pollomacho at 10:25 AM PST on October 18 [!]

No way. Then he'll be Chester the Molester.
posted by chiababe at 10:39 AM on October 18, 2005

"I think that both Ezekiel and Jebediah are underrated names. Easily nicknamable, too: Zeke and Jeb, both of which are cool"

yeahhhhhhhh but Zeke and Jeb?? They sound like that could fix your car but that's about it.
posted by cdcello at 10:39 AM on October 18, 2005

Jasper.
posted by daver at 10:40 AM on October 18, 2005

they*
posted by cdcello at 10:40 AM on October 18, 2005

No way. Then he'll be Chester the Molester.

At least he'll aspire to be so at around age 14.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:53 AM on October 18, 2005

Edgar.
posted by blag at 10:53 AM on October 18, 2005

Peregrine? Gideon?

And another vote for Anselm.

Our "boy name" was Linus. If ever we should have a third child, I am naming it Elvis, regardless of gender.
posted by padraigin at 10:53 AM on October 18, 2005

Edmund
posted by I Foody at 10:56 AM on October 18, 2005

Wiglaf.

Your poor, poor children.
posted by trevyn at 10:57 AM on October 18, 2005 [1 favorite]

Earhardt, Bartholomew, Balthazar, Theodore.
posted by deborah at 11:01 AM on October 18, 2005

First name Henry, middle name James.

Or: Horace!
posted by scratch at 11:02 AM on October 18, 2005

Burl was my grandfather's name. Can't get any more masculine name than that!
posted by cptnrandy at 11:13 AM on October 18, 2005

I've been liking Porter lately. My family ancestry has a Middleton, Rufus, and a Jerome from the 1800s.
posted by jdl at 11:13 AM on October 18, 2005

Wulfgar, Lucius, Erik, Darius, Hannibal, Yeshua, David. All are suitably ancient.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:14 AM on October 18, 2005

Lachlan
Aryeh
Madison
Galen
Maurice

Also, you should check out the Social Security Administration's popular baby names site -- plug in year as far back as 1879 and it will list the most popular names. LINK and also (same page, bottom right side of the page), you can get the 1000 most popular names by decade.
posted by jerryg99 at 11:16 AM on October 18, 2005

Atticus. Stuart. Hammurabi. (Well, you said old.)
posted by skyboy at 11:16 AM on October 18, 2005

Hammurabi, Plutarch and if you really have the balls: Nebuchadnezzar.
posted by any major dude at 11:20 AM on October 18, 2005

Hrothgar
Ethelred
Harold
posted by Pollomacho at 11:21 AM on October 18, 2005

Finch

Balthazar

Cage

Angus ("Hey! It's GUS!")

Theodore
posted by ColdChef at 11:23 AM on October 18, 2005

Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Elephant and Castle, Earls Court.
posted by firstdrop at 11:26 AM on October 18, 2005 [1 favorite]

Angus ("Hey! It's GUS!")

More likely "Hey, it's Angus the cow! MOOOO".

Hamish

Willem

(my two boys)
posted by smcniven at 11:30 AM on October 18, 2005

Do what the Mathers did...

Increase or Cotton. I'm partial to Cotton.

Also: Hubert, Preston, Julius, Doyle, Otis, Elbert, Alvin, Warren, Ruben, Hiram.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:31 AM on October 18, 2005

Augustus. Boris. Lafcadio. Dashiell. Cthulhu.
posted by maryh at 11:33 AM on October 18, 2005

Unless you're recognizing a specific family or geographical connection, I'd recommend avoiding names that scream surname to an etymologically sophisticated person. This includes most of the "ton" or "son" options.

Rupert was ruined for me by an adorable but distinctly non-human kitten I used to know.
posted by tangerine at 11:40 AM on October 18, 2005

Ely (pronounced either EE-lye or EE-lee)

Whitney
Horace
Theodoric
Homer
Constantine
Jesus
Noah
Sergius

or go common but in a foreign language:

Instead of John use Jan, Ian, Ivan, Juan...

Instead of Greg use Kricor, Girigori, Gregorius...
posted by Pollomacho at 11:47 AM on October 18, 2005

Just to add: don't panic. Once you see him, a fitting name might suddenly come to you.
posted by suleikacasilda at 11:49 AM on October 18, 2005

We named our son Jasper. It's a fun name - people can spell it easily but it's still quite rare. I used to work with a Caleb. It seemed to work fine for him. Old Irish names seem popular in my 'hood: Ronan, Kienan, Kelton, Seamus are all friends of my kids. Although none of their parents are Irish to my knowledge. This page has some good old-fashioned boy's names.
posted by GuyZero at 11:51 AM on October 18, 2005

Justus

Lawton (sorry, Tangerine)

Collins
posted by Alt F4 at 11:52 AM on October 18, 2005

Thomas (Tom!)
Joseph (Joes make me swoon)
Nathaniel (Nat! Nat!)
Charles
Walker
Walter
Henry (Hank)
Harold (Hal)
Conrad
Derrick
Edward (Ned!)
James
posted by thinkpiece at 11:57 AM on October 18, 2005

Manfred means "man of freedom"
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:57 AM on October 18, 2005

Melanthios
Thaddeus
posted by schoolgirl report at 12:01 PM on October 18, 2005

My husband's name is Otis. It's pretty unusual, old-fashioned, and yet easy to pronounce. The only drawback seems to be that it's a trendy dog-name nowadays (due to a film I believe). Also: Elijah (Eli), Merrill, Silas (Si) are good boy names. My dog is named Ezekiel (Zeke) which I like as well.
posted by miss tea at 12:02 PM on October 18, 2005

I suggest checking out this site. I think I first found out about it here...
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 12:02 PM on October 18, 2005

Seigfreid (though this may lead to him being asked about Roy a lot, but by the time he's old enough kids won't know who they are, just like if you named him Laurel, Amos or Abbot)
posted by Pollomacho at 12:04 PM on October 18, 2005

I love the name Gabriel, and Gabe is such a great nickname for a pre-schooler.
posted by Sara Anne at 12:08 PM on October 18, 2005

Oscar
posted by Hlewagast at 12:14 PM on October 18, 2005

Coolio. There it is. It's done.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:22 PM on October 18, 2005

Alfred, Kent, Frederick, George, Alan (or Allen), Howard
posted by cass at 12:22 PM on October 18, 2005

Roscoe
posted by box at 12:28 PM on October 18, 2005

Oliver
Lawton
Dante
Manfred
Logan
posted by whatnot at 12:29 PM on October 18, 2005

Dougray
Lovis
Ioannes

and I second Edgar.
posted by fire&wings at 12:32 PM on October 18, 2005

RUDYARD.

My dad came perilously close to naming me that. Oh how I wish he had, and avoided my current pedestrian name...
posted by Heminator at 12:40 PM on October 18, 2005

Finn.
posted by docpops at 12:50 PM on October 18, 2005

Horace
Clovis
Percival
Beauchamp
Clemson
Cletus
Fergus
Clarence
Ira
Alvin
Edwin
Willoughby
Casper
Ichabod
Hiram
Harlan
Somerset
Shadrack
Clark
Kent
Baxter
Hector
Gay
Grover
Chauncey
Atticus
Elmer
Wilbur
Walter
Jethro
Shadrack
Orville
Leonard
Maximilian
Amos
Harvey
Ralph
Roy
Francis
Chas
Irving
posted by Rumple at 1:00 PM on October 18, 2005

Leland
Jedediah
Horatio
Ferdinand
Aloisius
Aarvid (or Arved, or Arvid)
posted by Pollomacho at 1:11 PM on October 18, 2005

Quentin
Sterling
Wilder
Rene
posted by junkbox at 1:24 PM on October 18, 2005

Percival's lovely
posted by matteo at 1:33 PM on October 18, 2005

When we were expecting, we had Linnea picked for a girl and Zebediah picked for a boy.

She was a she, so you can use Zebediah.

Previously mentioned that I like:
Archibald ("Archie!" Awesome.)
Arvid
Franklin
Helmar/Hjelmar
Linus
posted by unixrat at 1:35 PM on October 18, 2005

Erasmus
posted by miniape at 1:47 PM on October 18, 2005

Ernst
Manfred (seconded)
Beowulf
Bjorn
Bjarne
BUCKMINSTER

(fwi, if you use one of these names, you must post here to inform us who "won")

These are "old" names, but are still popular in scandanvia. I feel obligated to popularize them (because on of them is mine):
posted by phrontist at 1:50 PM on October 18, 2005

Seriously, buckminster! You could call him "bucky ole boy"
posted by phrontist at 1:50 PM on October 18, 2005

BUCKMINSTER. Sweet

Archibald Buckminster Yourname.

Archie Bucker?
posted by unixrat at 1:55 PM on October 18, 2005

Dominick
posted by raedyn at 2:22 PM on October 18, 2005

First name: Howlin'
Middle name: Buddha
posted by dobbs at 2:23 PM on October 18, 2005

Tamerlane. Alcibiades. Castor (but don't name the next one Pollux).
posted by nicwolff at 2:32 PM on October 18, 2005

Joost.
posted by Guy Smiley at 3:54 PM on October 18, 2005

I'm tellin' ya. Cotton.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:20 PM on October 18, 2005

I'm Going to name my kid Mars
posted by joelf at 4:35 PM on October 18, 2005

Oscar
Olen
Oliver
Oswald
Orion

I am partial to the O names suggested. A leading O can make a great signature.
posted by geekyguy at 4:49 PM on October 18, 2005

Declan.
posted by Tufa at 5:02 PM on October 18, 2005

Quagmire
posted by geekyguy at 5:13 PM on October 18, 2005

I'm dismayed at the suggestions offered here.

My suggestion: Robert.
posted by megatherium at 5:19 PM on October 18, 2005

I'm thirding Josiah. Which also leads me to Bartlett, since Josiah Bartlett was one of the Signers.

Other unusual Signers:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
Elbridge Gerry
Robert Treat Paine (Treat!)
Samuel Chase


Other last names offer possibilities, too:
Braxton
Chase
Clark
Franklin
Harrison
Hart
Hewes
Heyward
Hooper
Huntington
Livingston
Lynch
McKean
Penn
Rodney
Rutledge
Sherman
Stockton
Thornton
Wolcott
posted by mikewas at 6:26 PM on October 18, 2005

Whatever name you choose, I fervently hope that you and your husband home-school.
Kal-El
posted by rob511 at 8:29 PM on October 18, 2005 [1 favorite]

I like the J-N names the best: Justin, Jordan, Julian, Jonathan, Jason (which is now too common). My brother's middle name is Josiah (first name Adam) and if that had been his first name I would not have been the odd one out--my parents are Anne and Aaron.



Castor Oil! ;-P
posted by brujita at 8:53 PM on October 18, 2005

Fletcher
Tane (tah-nay, not tayn)
Paikea
Piripi
Wiremu
posted by The Monkey at 8:57 PM on October 18, 2005

"Danger." But only as a middle name.
posted by blag at 9:15 PM on October 18, 2005

Reginald Figwink the Third
posted by Krrrlson at 9:54 PM on October 18, 2005

harper
posted by youngemma at 9:56 PM on October 18, 2005

Shiloh
posted by unrepentanthippie at 4:50 AM on October 19, 2005

Bertrand or Aldous too
posted by I Foody at 9:41 AM on October 19, 2005

Jenson
posted by badkarmaboy at 11:43 AM on October 19, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. Leaning towards: Harper, Baxter, Wallace, Theodore and Archibald. Haven't looked at the combos yet. The last name is Postma so P names are out of the question.
posted by gina at 2:10 PM on October 19, 2005

Floyd
Travis
(my grandfathers names, I love these names)
posted by smartypanties at 8:17 PM on October 19, 2005

Self link: Clark
posted by clgregor at 7:57 AM on October 20, 2005

I will need some closure in this thread.
posted by ColdChef at 12:49 PM on October 21, 2005

Response by poster: We still haven't had the young master but I'll try to give you closure. We think we've settled on Harper Wallace Postma.
posted by gina at 10:43 AM on October 28, 2005