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!
Cathryn writes:
We’re expecting no. five and searching for a three syllable name with five letters. Male and female suggestions welcome!
The other four all have three syllable names with decreasing letters: Nathaniel, Jonathon, Brianny, and Elodie.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Please read on for my response, and leave your helpful suggestions in the comments.
Dear Cathryn –
Congratulations on your new baby!
Since you’re an experienced parent – and namer! – I’m sure you might guess what I’m going to say. Rules were made to be broken, so if you fall in love with a six-letter, two-syllable name, use it!
Of course, once you see a pattern, it’s tough to un-see, and sometimes even tougher to break.
I’m also guessing that this will serve as a practical means to narrow down lists – and lists! – of potential names.
So let’s follow the rules, readers, and focus only on five-letter, three-syllable names. Since your boys’ names lean traditional, while your girls’ names feel slightly more creative, I’m going to draw from both styles when suggesting names.
Boy Names
Eliot – Elliot ranks #180, with Elliott close behind, at #192. The single-L, single-T spelling fails to crack the US Top 1000, but it’s a perfectly reasonable spelling. One advantage: Eliot splits the difference between the more traditional boy names and adventurous girls’ names you’ve chosen so far. If you’re feeling bolder, Elihu comes from the Old Testament and saw some use over the years. Elihu Yale founded a university in Connecticut that now bears his name. The downside to Eliot? It reminds me so very much of Elodie.
Emery – Does Emery seem too close to Elodie, too? Maybe. But it’s a great surname-name, likely related to Emmerich and other Germanic names.
Mateo, Maceo – Once upon a time, o-ending names seemed exotic. Today, they’re perfectly mainstream, with choices like Leo and Arlo and Milo topping lists of stylish boy names. Mateo and Matteo are romance language cousins to Matthew. The single-t spelling comes in at five letters, making it a candidate for you. If Mateo seems close-but-not-quite, there’s also Maceo, most likely an even more obscure Matthew spin-off.
Orion – I’ve saved my personal favorite for last: Orion. Once again, I think it’s a good compromise between the more traditional and the more daring names. Orion feels familiar because we all know a Ryan (or three), but it’s a bold name with ties to the night sky and Greek mythology.
Girl Names
Alina, Alena – Alina with an i ranks a few hundred places ahead of Alena, but both names share similar origins. They’re short for any number of names, from Magdalena to Adelina. Another plus to this name? It ends with an ‘a’ – one sound that you’ve yet to use for a child’s name.
Diana – Does Diana feel too traditional? In Roman mythology, Diana was goddess of the hunt, as well as the moon. Thanks to the new Wonder Woman movie, classic Diana feels more fierce than ever.
Lilia – Lily names have been quite common in recent years, but Lilia has never become wildly popular. it fits nicely with your older children’s names.
Livia – If Livia isn’t quite the right fit, how ’bout Livia? I’d guess Livia is often confused with the chart-topping Olivia, but Livia claims separate – and ancient – roots.
Noemi – Okay, Naomi fits the pattern and is far more familiar. Noemi appears in Italian and German, as well as a few other languages. It’s an unexpected sound, not unlike Elodie and Brianny. But Noemi keeps all the history of Naomi, too.
Zaria – I considered suggesting Zelia, too, but that always feels like Celia-with-a-Z to me. Zaria fits with all of the Zara-Aria names, and yet it does feel distinctive and different.
Overall, Orion easily wins top boy name for me. But the girls have me divided. I can argue a case for any of these, and my favorite changes every time I look at the list!
So let’s open it up to the readers: can you suggest some great five-letter, three-syllable names that aren’t too close to Nathaniel, Jonathon, Brianny, and Elodie?
Fiona! We’ve only met one, and that’s through the internet, and we live in a large Denver area suburb.
Eliza
Lydia
For girls:
Niobe
India
Aliya
Alisa
Alora
Talia
Liora
Julia
Saori
Taisa
Alexa
Erica
Samia
Boys are so much harder:
Esias
Azria
Tobia
Kezia. Was a name in a novel I read once and I fell for the name. In the story it was a female name but there’s now reason it couldn’t be a male name
I’ll try to avoid repeats.
For boys, I think Elias is a great suggestion, though the repeated initial may be an issue. Your boys both have names of Hebrew origin. Some more suggestions:
Areli
Ozias
Osias
Ilias
Non-Hebrew origin: Arrio, Isidor.
For girls, Idony & Unity (possible unpleasant connotations with the latter) are the only names I can think of that haven’t been mentioned, don’t repeat an initial and end in a “ee” sound like Brianny and Elodie. Amity, which has been mentioned, seems like a great fit too.
If you’re happy with other ending sounds, I’ll add
Adela
Adina
I also love the suggestion of Viola.
I particularly like Ozias/Isiah or Idony/Noemie/Naomi with your other children’s names, although they may lock you into a pattern of “Hebrew boys’ names & girls ending in ‘y'”, which will be hard to maintain if you have more children.
Siena
Idina
Ivana
Talia
Amata
Amari
Lucia
Aneli
Anika
Eleri
Eleni
Josia
The first name that came to my mind was Avery!
Lots of great suggestions, esp for girls! My favorites so far for boys are Orion and Alexi. Other suggestions:
Timeo
Amory
Romeo?
Isiah?
Seems a bit odd to use creative spelling just to fit a pattern that nobody else will likely notice. But then that’s probably it … the pattern is more for you and your family’s benefit, sort of like a secret bond.
I’ll add Emily and Erica to the girls side.
Sorry for any repeats!
Irena
Amina
Alena
Uriah
Casio
Best wishes!
I think there are lots of great options for girls suggested by Abby (my personal fave is Noemi) and readers (Lydia! Ariel!). Because got names tend to be a little more vowel friendly, I think it you have a girl, you’ll have a much, much easier time with naming.
For boys, if you don’t like Orion, Emory or Eliot (and for me, names that start with ‘el’ would be too close to Elodie), you’re in a little bit of a corner as far as names with a sort of Latin/Spanish background (Mario, Diego) or Biblical (Hosea).
I would also like to point out that Ariel is a name for men as well. I like it, especially with the nickname Ari.
But if you end up with a little guy and none of the names feel like the one, the letter requirement feels like the one I would break first. Maybe allow six letters for a sixth baby?
I like the suggestion of Lydia. I also think Celia, Maria, Lucia, Aviva, and Alina could work well.
Or Luisa!
Dalia, Leona, Eliza, Sofia.
Boys are tough: Avery, Emory?
Oh lol, Emery/Emory, already covered!
I would personally add another rule…not repeating a first initial. I wouldn’t probably care as much about the number of letters though. I do like Lydia for you for a girl which actually fits the criteria. And Gideon for you if you can get over the letter number rule.
To me the perfect brother would be Mathias or Theodore but they don’t fit the letter rule. Eliot or Elias are my favorite from the suggestions.
For girls, maybe Ariel, Amity, Reina or Viola.
Personally, I would break the number of letters pattern, in case you have more children. However:
Lydia, Nadia, Delia, Aleta, Anita, Ireni, Joana, Julia, Avery, Emily, Alysa/Elysa, Sofia, Eliza, Luisa, Ariel
Alexi, Obiah, Elija, Odion, Inigo, Zakia (longer boy names: Leander, Tobias)
For baby no. 6: Iona, Alia, Elio/Eliu
This would make a great Scrabble challenge: Pick 2 consonants and 3 vowels and see what name variations you come up with. Variation 2 for baby #6 would be 1 consonant and 3 vowels.
Well, if they also aren’t repeating initials, I’d save A for Aria if they have number 6.
Suggestions:
Fiona
Diana
Lydia
Malia
or Viola for a girl
Mateo
Orion
Diego
or
Uriah for a boy
Lydia, Ariel, Junia, Amara, Nadia
Inigo, Uriah, Uriel
(Fun challenge! Good luck!)
Fiona!
Anais
Delia
Daria
Alana
Malia
Sonia
Moana
Liana
Julia
Elias
Mario
Diego
Josue
Julio
Most of the ones I can think of are Spanish names. I guess that when you’re down to 5 letters, it’s hard to squeeze out 3 syllables.
I love Noemi and Naomi. Others for girls: Irina, Liora, Leora, Maria.
Leoni
Great list! On the whole, this seems like less of a challenge for girls names–I like all of Abbey’s suggestions.
For the boys, it seems a little tougher. Eliot is my favorite among Abbey’s suggestions. I’d also add Avery and
Elias. Good luck!