Julie B's list

Julie has very specific name criteria. This is a surprise baby, we will learn the sex at birth. She would like to use the initials N.S. for a girl but she really likes the names Clara, Claire, Nora and Maeve. Family names include Annie, Mary, Nancy and Sue. Ella may be a middle name option. So here are my girl name suggestions:

Claire Ella
Clara Sue
Clara Mary

Nora Susanna
Nora Sophia
Nora Sloane
Nora Shea (pronounced Shay)

Maeve Ella
Maeve Anne

Lily (Susan means 'lily')/Lillian/Lillia

Natalie Sue
Neva Sophia
Nina Scarlett
Nola Sloane
Nola Suzanne
Nola Sage
Neve Simone

Boy name options right now are William, Noah, Samuel, Caleb and Keegan. Family name options for a middle name are Joseph, Frank, Mack, Peter and George. Julie is open to using Brian to honor a family member as well.

My suggestions for boys are:
William Mack
Noah Peter
Keegan George
Caleb Mack
Samuel Frank (Francis?)

Brendan, Brennan and Bryant are also similar to Brian and are of Irish influence.

Vincent Joseph
Colin Mack
Nolan Peter
Oliver Frank
Conner Joseph
Sawyer George
Anderson Mack
Keaton Joseph
Holden George
Elliott Frank
Grady Joseph

Jaime's Names

My friend Jaime likes unique but not trendy names. She is looking for a name that flows well with her children Gage, Kennedy and Emerson. I am not listing the names by gender because they are pretty neutral and I can easily picture a Murphy as a pigtailed little girl as I can a freckled little boy. I stuck with more English/Irish inspired names for this list. I skipped the names that end in 'son' so it wouldn't be too similar to Emerson. I hope I found a winner for you!

Adair
Adler
Ambrose
Beckett
Bennett
Cohen
Collins
Davis
Donnell
Everly
Greer
Greyer
Harlow
Harris
Harper
Keaton
Kieran
Kingston
Madden
Marlowe
McKinley
Morgan
Murphy
Reese
Reilly
Rowan
Sullivan
Teagen
Quinn
Vaughn

Reworking the top 20--Girls

I am a posting machine today! Rather than clean my house or watch Bravo while my kids nap, I decided to rework the top 20. The Social Security site may be a little off because they do not combine spellings so Aidan/Aiden/Aydan are counted individually. The first name is the most popular, followed by my suggestions. So if you like the idea/sound of some of the most popular names out there but are a little freaked at the idea of your kid being Madison L. for the rest of her life, then here you are. I knew a ton of Katies/Jessicas/Erins/Sarahs growing up and I still call my friend Erin M., it's never just Erin. That's probably why I freak out a little whenever they get married, I just can't process the name change.

1. Emily
Emery, Marie (560 on SS site)
2. Isabella
Isadora, Isolde, Isla
3. Emma
Emme, Ember, Gemma
4. Ava
Avery, Avril
5. Madison
Madina, Madea, Madeleine
6. Sophia (my oldest would have been Sofia if he had been a girl, I thought I was so creative)
Josephine, Pia
7. Olivia
Olive, Odelia, Oralee
8. Abigail
Abra, Ariel, Aria
9. Hannah
Anne (517!), Johannah
10. Elizabeth
use a derivative like Elsa, Isobel, Eliza
11. Addison
Adele, Adara, Adelaide
12. Samantha
Samara, Simone
13. Ashley
Ashlinn (or Aisling if you like the Gaelic spelling), Ellery
14. Alyssa
Alice, Elise
15. Mia
Clea, Pia, Mya
16. Chloe
Cleo, Clarissa
17. Natalie
Noelle, Natasha
18. Sarah
Sasha, Sierra, Shauna/Seanna
19. Alexis
Alexa, Alia
20. Grace
Greta, Graciela, Charis

My wrists are hurting. My darling three-year-old popped off all the keys on my laptop so I have it rigged right now with a regular keyboard, but it's not the most comfortable for typing. I'll have the boys names in the next day or so. :)

Julie's List

This comes from a Michigander with a son named Benjamin Louis. She wants something classic that flows well with Benjamin but nothing trendy. So any surnames (Tucker, Wilson) are out as well as anything that rhymes with maiden. ;)

Her girl name is already picked out but I offered to throw some suggestions out there for fun. The middle name for a girl would be Louisa (love it!) or Louise.

Andrew
Christian
Desmond (I like the nickname Des)
Forrest
Gabriel
Graham
Henry
Jonah
Leo
Miles
Noel
Oliver
Owen
Peter
Quinn
Simon
Theodore (Theo or Teddy are cute nicknames)
Vincent
Xander
Zachariah/Zachery

And some bonus girl names are Jane (I think Louisa Jane is really quaint and cute), Violet, Madeline, Margaret (Maggie Lou!), Jillian, Vivian, Audrey, Claire and Hope.

I tend to like one syllable names as middle names with longer first names--like Louisa Jane. But if the middle name were Louise and only two syllables it's fair game--Jillian Louise has a nice flow.

HayesW baby names

This is for one of my Alabama mom friends. She had very specific criteria--no name beginning with C, L, W, S, I and she'd prefer me not to use N or H. The classics were out--no Michael, Andrew, James, etc. And she'd like something biblical. So here is the list--mostly Hebrew names with a smattering of Latin and English derivatives.

I included the meanings and the origin--so L is for Latin, H is for Hebrew, E is for English, W is for Welsh and G is for Greek.

Abbott (H) father
Abrham (h) father of many nations
Adam (H) man of the red earth
Adiel (H) ennobled by his battles
Alon (H) oak
Alva (H) sublime
Amicus (L) beloved friend
Ari (H) lion of God
Asher (H) blessed, ahppy
August (L) majestic

Balthasar (G) God save the king
Barnabas (G/H/L) son of the missionary
Bartlet (E) version of Bartholomew
Benedict (L)/Bennett (E) blessed
Benson (H) Ben-Zion
Blaze (L/E) flame

Dante (L) enduring
Davis (W) son of David
Dexter (L) dexterious
Dominic (L) belonging to the Lord

Eben (H) rock
Elias (H) Lord is my God
Elliott (E) form of Elijah
Ephraim (H) fruitful
Ezekiel (H) strength of God
Ezra (H) helper

Felix (L) happy

Galileo (H) from Galilee
Gideon (H) tree cutter
Gracien/Gracen (L) posseser of grace

Jared (H) from Jordan
Jedidiah (H) friend of God
Jeremiah (H) God will uplift
Jethro (H) abundant
Joachim/Joaquin (H) raised by Yahweh
Joel (H) God is willing
Jonah (H) dove
Jonas (H) he accomplishes
Josiah (H) fire of the Lord
Jude/Judah (H) praised
Julian (L) youthful

Malachi (H) angel of God
Mathias (H) offered up to God
Micah(H) who is like the Lord?
Moses (H) drawn out of the water

Obidiah (H) servant
Oliver (L) olive tree
Oren (H) pine tree
Ori (H) my light
Orion (G) son of fire

Paul (L) small
Pax (L) peaceful
Philip (G) lover of horses
Porter (L) gatekeeper

Quentin (L) fifth

Rani (H) my sons, my joy
Rocco (Italian) rock
Roman (L) from Rome

Thaddeus (G) courageous
Theodore (G) gift of God
Tobias (G) God is good

Valentine (L) strong
Vincent (L) victorious
Vero (L) truthful

Zaccheus (H) innocent
Zachariah (H) God remembered
Zane (E) form of John
Zebediah (H) God's gift
Zion (H) sign, omen

My favorites of the bunch are Ari, Blaze, Dominic, Ezra, Gideon, Jeremiah, Jude, Mathias, Oren, Pax, Rocco, Thaddeus and Zane.