Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. 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! To have your question considered, email appmtn (at) gmail. Looking for your own private #namehelp post? Order one here.
A CHOICE THEY’D LIKE TO REPEAT
Kaitlyn writes:
Our daughter, Cora Valentine, was born on February 12th, but due on Valentine’s Day. We were kicking around all the usual middle names – Elizabeth, Katherine, Marie, Rose – when a friend suggested Valentine because of my due date, and we both loved it.
We would like to find a similar middle name for our son. We plan to name him Miles, and we’d like a middle name that has something to do with spring. My due date is May 2nd.
This might be unrealistic, but we’d like his name to be obviously about the season/time of his birth, but we want it also sound like a name. Lots of suggestions we’re seeing are either not obvious (Adam, Owen) or not really names (Gemini, Spring).
Our last name is a very common and traditional first name, starts with an H, ends with -ry.
Do you and your readers have any ideas?
Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
A BROTHER FOR CORA VALENTINE
Abby replies:
Congratulations on your new son!
Cora Valentine is a great name. And I love Miles for her brother’s name, too.
But here’s the absolute, hard reality.
Cora’s due date came with an obvious, built-in name choice. It’s actually a given name with centuries of use. Everyone gets it. It’s not particularly religious, even though it’s a saint’s name, so it might be. Plus Valentine sounds quite current – after all, Valentina ranks in the girls’ Top 100 right now. Should she reveal her middle name and someone ask if she was born on February 14th, she has an easy response.
Simply put, there is no equivalent for the second of May.
Even giving a daughter the middle name May/Mae wouldn’t have the same kind of significance, because it’s such a popular choice.
Another wrinkle: May 2nd is quite close to April. So if you chose a highly May-specific middle, would it still work if your son arrived on April 29th?
I’m going to suggest the following: instead of focusing strongly on a date-specific middle, brainstorm middles that have meaning for you. Where was your first date? Consider the street name or other place names associated with places you first lived or traveled together. Do you share a favorite song, musician, athlete, fictional character, author?
In the meantime, let’s see if we can come up with some general names related to your son’s due date that might work.
A MIDDLE NAME FOR MILES
BRIGHT
I thought about suggesting Blue for the blue skies of spring. But that feels a little vague. Is Bright any more specific? Maybe not, but Miles Bright is an appealing sound.
HAWTHORN
Also known as Mayflower, hawthorn trees and shrubs flower in spring. It’s both a May-specific choice and one you might not need to change should your son arrive on the 30th of April.
MASON
I’m guessing this is too much in the Adam/Owen camp, but Mason has the month of the name built right in. (You could even spell it Mayson, though I’m not sure it needs to be so specific.)
QUINN, QUENTIN, QUINTAN
May is the fifth month on our calendar, so any name suggesting the number five has potential.
SOMMER, SUMMER
While May is very much the spring, it’s also the beginning of summer. I wonder if Summer appeals more than Spring/Springer as a middle name? Spelling it Sommer is every bit as valid, and the surname was often given to those associated with the season.
TWAIN
As in the number two, from a Middle English word. Author Samuel Clemens took it as his pen name while working on river boats. When the pilot heard “mark twain,” he knew the river was two fathoms deep – safe to travel.
I’m voting for Miles Hawthorn. It’s seasonal and surprising, but not completely out-there. Unlike Twain, the name doesn’t lose meaning if your child arrives a day early or late. I’d also vote for Miles Quentin, which is quite name-like, but has enough meaning to possibly appeal.
This is a fun puzzle! Here’s what I came up with:
-Miles Oleander (shrub that starts flowering in May, depending where you live)
-Miles Newberry (I had a great uncle Newberry (from a surname), who went by Bud… because new berries start off as buds.)
-Miles Florian (means “flowering” & sounds more flowery than Adam)
-Miles Rain (since it tends to rain in spring)
-Miles Neo (means new: everything is new in spring)
I hope this is not a stressful name hunt, but fun for you too. As Abby said, a name that means something to you, even if it’s not referring to baby’s due date, is always a winner.
What an interesting challenge!
Since there are no obvious name choices for May 2nd, I immediately thought of names related to the corresponding horoscope sign, which is Taurus. Taurus means bull, and bulls make me think of rodeos and cowboys.
Maybe a cowboy-inspired name will work for you.
Miles Maverick
Miles Callahan
Miles Sullivan
My favorites are Miles Maverick and Abby’s suggestion of Miles Hawthorne.
Also, since Saint Valentine is a saint (Feb 14th), maybe you want to choose another saint’s name for Miles. The only one I saw that looked like a remote possibility for May 2nd is: St. Felix of Seville.
Cora Valentine & Miles Felix
Even if you are not Catholic, it could be a nod to the day he is born. (Of course, this will probably be a game-time decision, but you can look up saints’ days from the days near your due date to see names you might consider. It would be more subtle than “Valentine,” but similar, in a way.
May 1st through 7th is apparently Wildflower Week, plus “April Showers Bring May Flowers”, so I think a plant or flower name would be really cute. Miles Wildflower H___ry, Miles Garland H___ry. Flowers that bloom in May could be great, too. Miles Campion H___ry, Miles Lupine H___ry, Miles Thyme H___ry, Miles Yarrow H___ry, Miles Zephyr H___ry.
A bit of a wildcard suggestion is Holiday. It doesn’t suggest any specific day but feels festive.
Additionally, I think a significant name that doesn’t relate to when he was born could work as well. Maybe the place he is born, or the time of day? Anything that feels important and worth commemorating could work. Good luck!
I have actually met a man named Garland. He must have been in his 60s, but I adored his name. Miles Garland is so fitting!
Another suggestion:
Miles Renat or Miles Renatus (for something a little grander)
Renat is a Russian name meaning “reborn.” Since spring is the time the earth comes back to life, I think it fits really nicely. Also, if you used the Latin form “Renatus”, it would definitely give Miles’s name a little “oomph” in the middle.
Cristina
This is a tough one and I agree with another poster who said it might be easier to find another meaningful thing to tie into his name other than his birth month.
I do like Abby’s suggestions if Hawthorn the most as Hawthorn is one of May’s birth flower. Mason (as in May’s son) is clever as well.
I can only thing of names that feel spring like or spring adjacent and may not be as obvious as what you are looking for:
Miles Lark or Miles Robin (birds are associated with spring)
Miles Peter (as in Peter rabbit/Easter rabbit)
Miles Pascal (Pascal means Easter child but this is not an obvious name)
Miles Rain or Miles Storm (April showers bring May flowers)
Miles Xavier (Xavier means new, bright, shining)
What about Miles Toro? He should be a Taurus if that is when you are due. I think Toro, the Latin version (and Spanish) is a subtle nod to his birth sign. As a Taurus myself, I think the emphasis on determination (called stubbornness sometimes) is a positive characteristic for a child.
Cora Valentine & Miles Toro
Best wishes!!
Mabon, a Welsh name meaning “great son” from Arthurian myth Mabyn is a saint’s name that might have been either a man or woman.
Mabry is a surname that is probably a respelled version of Mayberry. It’s also been used as a given name.
I think either of these would work nicely and they have the starting syllable May. I’d lean towards Mabon if your last name ends in the ee sound,
There are also other names with the starting syllable May.
Mayhew is a form of Matthew, but looks and sounds like a combination of May and Hugh (“intelligence”)
Maynard is an Anglicized form of Menard that is also a first name.
I think Mayberry would actually work nicely even with a last name ending in -ry because it has the extra syllables. That’s the most obvious allusion to May yet and it calls to mind berry picking, the fictional town of Mayberry, homeyness, community, little Opie, etc.
Also Mayfield.
Ooh, I love Miles Mayfield.
Valentine is such a lovely middle name. I can understand your challenge. I like Hawthorn best from Abby’s suggestions. With the first and last name being more common first names, I’d definitely put a noun or surname type name in the middle.
Maybe his meaning should come from his birth, just like sister’s? Instead of following a pattern his sister set, find his meaningful word instead. As in, maybe you won’t know until he gets here? Maybe it’s where he’s born and who is supporting, or where you go into labour or a show or song playing or really anything that makes an easy story for him. I really believe babies bring some hints with them (my eldest’s very loud cries after a c-section made one name stand out, my youngest held on minutes after midnight to share a bday with her great-grandma…) Anything BUT where he was conceived, those stories are too cringy to put on a kid IMHO 😉
I really like the sound of Miles Morning H-ry for example. Miles Malone, Miles Friday, Miles Twilight.
Good luck!!
As spring symbolize new beginning, I’d like to suggest Miles Nova!