A Boy Name for Persephone’s Twin

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!

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LONG, ROMANTIC NAMES for a SON

Lea writes:

My partner and I have a son named Sebastian Michael. We are expecting twins in September.

The twins are boy/girl. Our daughter’s name will be Persephone Rose. It’s the name we picked out for Sebastian if he was a girl, so it was the only choice.

Our son’s name has us very stuck. We agree on the middle name Joseph, a family name like Michael and Rose. We also agree that it’s not something we would choose as a first name.

Here’s our current list, but if we were rating them, they’d all be three out of five stars. Kind of meh. Fine. But, as my partner says, it’s not fair to choose fine when we love the names Sebastian and Persephone so much!

• Percival – sort of a joke originally because it is so similar to Persephone, but I guess it’s on the list
• Maximilian – but he’d just end up Max, which is not the goal
• Zachary/Zachariah – same problem as Max with Zac
• Lorenzo – I might go for it, but my partner can’t get over the idea that we’re not Italian
• Tobias – my partner’s favorite, but I’m just not into it. Plus I had a (girl) camp counselor called Tobie and that makes it so weird to me

Can you suggest some new names? It feels like the name has to be right there and we’re just not seeing it at this point.

Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.

MORE BOY NAMES like SEBASTIAN

Abby responds:

Congratulations on your new children!

There’s something special about Sebastian, isn’t there? It’s traditional, in the sense that the name has millennia of history. Saint Sebastian lived in the third century; forms of the name occur in a dozen European languages. But it’s never been common, at least not in English, until now. That makes it feel fresh and new at the same time.

Maybe that mix of history and distinctiveness is why Sebastian reads like a romantic hero name.

That makes me think we need to look to more names that fit these categories:

• A long history of use without being especially common; traditional, but not classic.
• Names favored in fiction, like Downton Abbey or Bridgerton. To be clear, it’s not because we’re borrowing names from fiction. Instead, writers have surfaced names that fit the Sebastian model.
• Names that won’t immediately be shortened, like your example of Maximilian/Max.
• Names that have been used in English for generations.

That rules out your favorite – the very Italian Lorenzo. But it also eliminates Tobias, because I agree – Toby is a likely nickname. Then again, it feels like you’ve both pretty much used your vetoes on those names, so it’s not an issue. Still, Tobias and Lorenzo feel like good guides to find a name for this new child – even if neither is quite right.

A BROTHER for SEBASTIAN and PERSEPHONE

ANTHONY

On paper, Anthony has been very popular. It ranked in the US Top Ten about a decade ago. And yet, Anthony feels much less common than Liam or Noah. After all, Sebastian is currently a Top 20 name, but doesn’t really seem overused, does it? Another plus: an earlier generation automatically shortened Anthony to Tony. Today it’s likely to be used in full.

ATTICUS

In some ways, Atticus is similar to Sebastian. It would’ve been a rare name, but not unknown, at many moments in history. Downton Abbey introduced an Atticus in a later season, which puts in the same historical fiction category as Sebastian.

CASPIAN

Another name used for a fictional hero, as in CS Lewis’ Prince Caspian. But it’s become a more mainstream choice for boys in recent years. Sebastian and Caspian sound like they’re going on adventures together, don’t they?

DOMINIC

I tend to think of Dominic in the same breath as Anthony. Both names have been favored by Italian-American families, but neither is as straight-outta-Palermo as Lorenzo.

JULIAN

On paper, Julian and Sebastian look similar, with that -IAN ending. Except we say them differently. That makes me think Julian could be perfect with Persephone and Sebastian.

RAPHAEL

I feel like I’m suggesting Raphael/Rafael more and more, and I do think it checks all the boxes. Except … would Raphael be Rafe? I’m leaving it on this list, but that’s my one hesitation.

STERLING

A more daring choice than Sebastian, but somewhere in between popular Sebastian and the much-rarer Persephone.

XAVIER

Another name that feels traditional, but also different. It’s a little saintly, a little X-Men, and a great mix of influences.

Overall, I’m leaning towards Xavier. I think it’s a great match with your other children’s names. It hits all the right notes. And it sounds great with the middle name Joseph, too.

I’d put Sterling in second place, It’s a great brother for Sebastian and Persephone, but possibly a little too different for you. Still, very much worth considering.

Readers, over to you – what would you name a brother for Sebastian, a twin for Persephone?