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!
Teondra writes:
I’m hitting a baby name road block here with my third child.
I feel like I’ve committed to “Ar” names with my first two children. My daughter is Arden, and son is Archer.
Now I hate every male “Ar” name I’ve come across!
Arlow is okay but seems too feminine alongside Archer.
Argyle, Argus, Ari/Aries, Argon… I’m just not feeling the sounds.
So then I thought maybe we’ll try a new letter. Crew, Lincoln, Hunter, and Wilder, maybe? While I like all of those names, I don’t absolutely love them.
And I’m a little worried that Hunter and Wilder are a little bit too matchy-matchy for Archer. (Like Arrow or Beau, LOL.)
What do I do?
Our last name ends with an ‘s’ sound.
Any advice is appreciated!
Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Abby replies:
Congratulations on your new son!
I wonder if it would help to re-frame the question a little.
Arden and Archer do both begin with a strong Ar sound. But what if we just think of them as A names?
First, it broadens the list of possible A names to consider. Asa, Alaric, Axel, or Apollo all become possibilities.
But it’s also true that lots of families have two siblings who just happen to share an initial. If families can have Edward, Elizabeth, and James, well … you don’t have to stick with a single initial, either – right?
Something else strikes me about Argyle, Argus, and Argon.
Arden is very unusual, not even ranked in the current Top 1000. Top 200 Archer is closer to the mainstream. But Argyle, Argon, and Argus? They’re almost completely unheard of as given names.
Hunter and Lincoln, though? They’re Top 100 names. That’s not to say you can’t choose something more popular. But I’m wondering if Argyle, Argus, and Argon aren’t just problematic because of sound. They’re just a little more daring than you’d prefer.
Crew, on the other hand, seems like the right level of familiar. It’s just inside the current Top 300. And while it’s rising in use quickly, it’s still not super common.
So let’s look at more boys’ names that feel strong and interesting, but hit somewhere between, say, Hunter and Argyle in terms of popularity.
A BROTHER FOR ARDEN and ARCHER
ANDERSON #307
A little longer than the names on your current list, but another A and another name with a strong R sound. It’s just in the middle syllable, instead of the first.
AXEL #72
More popular than Archer, but behind both Lincoln and Hunter. Plus, Axel is another A name with a strong, cool sound.
BECKETT #209
Beckett sounds like a brother for Arden or Archer – polished, complete, fun to say!
HENDRIX #284
Much less common than Hunter, but with that same surname style, and all the appeal of legendary musician Jimi Hendrix, too.
KNOX #236
Famous as the home of the US Gold Repository, Fort Knox adds a level of interest to this surname name.
ORION #326
From the constellation – and another name with a strong R sound.
REMY #356
A rising favorite for boys and girls alike, Remy is originally a French name meaning rower. It’s most famous as the given name of one of the X-Men.
XANDER #187
Short for chart-topping classic Alexander, Xander stands on its own.
Overall, I’m most drawn to Orion. It seems similar enough to Arden and Archer, but still a distinctive name. It’s more mainstream than Argyle, less expected than Hunter.
So that’s my pick for the perfect brother name for Arden and Archer, but I know there will more great ideas.
Readers, what would you name a brother for Arden and Archer?
My first thought with Orion was the connection with Archer. Maybe that’s good for you, maybe not.
My second thought was that Avery sounds great in the sibset: Arden, Archer and Avery. I think you could absolutely just do an A theme, rather than Ar-, if there is an A name that you love.
Otherwise any other name you love will probably be fine. Crew works well if that’s what you like best.
Arlo
Arnold
Ary
But really, any A name would keep the pattern just fine. Like:
Angus
Axel
Adam
Atticus
Atlas
Orion would be a great choice. Similarly Artemis would do well in your set, it is historically female, but in current pop culture it’s masculine. Arlan could be a good fit as well. I think a vowel forward name ending in -er could work well too, perhaps Alexander or Evander. Perhaps another vowel forward name with the first consent r, Erised or even Aerised would be a plausible spelling. I would use the E spelling if you think you will have more kids and the A spelling if you think you are done.
I like Anders, Aaron, Adler or Alder with Arden and Arccher.
I personally think Orion is great with the other two.
However, you could always go with other “Or” names:
Oran / Oren / Orin / Oron / Orran / Orren / Orrin
Orchard
Ori/ Orie / Orrie
Oriol
Oriole
Orlan / Orlin
Orlando
Orson / Orsen / Orsin
Oryan / Oryon
Orville
Ory
Some of these have some lovely meanings: golden, my light, bear, in laurel or pine tree. They are all from Nameberry.
If you really want to or feel the need to stick with the Ar theme, then here a few names…
Aric/Arik – but as someone named Arika, I can tell you that in the future he might have to correct people on the pronunciation of his name, but maybe less so then I have to.
Ariston – it means “the best”.
Artair – the Scottish version of Arthur.
Arthur – likely a bit mainstream and old fashioned for you but still a great name.
Of the names I have presented I have loved the name Artair for a very long time so I would say go with that. However I also very much like others suggestions of Ambrose and Anders, or Ander.
Arden, Archer, and Orion are really great together sound-wise but they also subtly link the brothers since the constellation Orion is a hunter. If you don’t want Ar or A names I think R names might work well: Rafferty, Rafe, Ryder, Ryker, Rhett, Remington, River, Reed, Rhys, Rylan, Roland, Ronan.
Abby’s suggestion of Anderson just makes me think of Anders! Arden, Archer, and Anders sound great together, and they all have that strong A+R combo (albeit in different places). I also love Alison’s suggestion of Ambrose!
If you really want to stick to Ar I wanted to suggest Aris. I think some other A names that match really well with Arden and Archer are Ambrose, August, or maybe even Atlas. I also think Orion and Beckett sound really nice if you want to move away from the A initial.
I wonder if the strong “ar” sound in the middle would make the name tie in with the sibs without being overly matchy? Something like Harvey, Clark, Marco… On Nameberry’s advanced search, you can look for names that contain “ar” rather than ones that specifically begin with it.
YES this is what I was coming to suggest. Two is a coincidence, three is a pattern? Here are some that I think would be gorgeous with the sibset:
Barclay
Barrett
Carlyle
Darian
Farley
Garcia
Harlan
Hartford (maybe too much with Arden?)
Marlin
Marshall
Quarry
Sheppard
Warrick (maybe too much with Archer?)
Love Abby’s suggestion of Beckett – sounds so snappy with the sibset.
(Personally I’d avoid Orion, because you’re back to the Hunter association…)