Name Help: A Brother for Rosalie and Reid

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!

Allison writes:

My husband and I are having a terrible time coming up with boys names for baby #3, due in March.

We have a daughter (Rosalie Grace) and a son (Reid Augustus).

If this baby is a girl, we’ve agreed on Julianne.

Boy names are really tough for us, and we won’t know the sex of the baby until birth.

We do not want another R name.

My top picks for boys right now are Conrad, Alden, Hugo, Taylor, and Jonah.

My husband likes Louis (pronounced Lewis).

But nothing is jumping out at us. Can you help?

Thank you!

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

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your third!

I think knowing that you don’t want another R name is half the battle here. And yet, that still leaves a huge pool of potential names, right?

It also feels like your naming style for a son is just a little bit different than it is for a daughter. Which is true for most of us!

So what sounds like a brother name for Reid?

Let’s look at your current list first:

• ALDEN – Like Reid, a surname that feels well established as a given name. Reid and Alden sound great together!
• CONRAD – Maybe a little more old-school than Reid, but still a good style match. One note: the second syllable of Conrad is very similar to Reid. Say them five times fast together, and it’s easy to trip into Conreid.
• HUGO – Possibly my favorite for bridging the styles between Reid and Rosalie. It’s brief, like Reid, and strong, too. But it feels a little more like a vintage gem, which seems to hit the right note.
• JONAH – A current favorite in the US, I’m sure there are brothers called Jonah and Reid … but I’m not sure it would immediately come to mind as a suggestion.
• LOUIS – A strong, traditional option for a son. It sounds very much like a brother for Rosalie, and it goes well with Reid, too.
• TAYLOR – A surname like Reid, and a handsome choice for a son. But I wonder if its recent popularity for girls – a Top Ten name from 1993 to 2000 – and the dominance of Taylor Swift would make this a frustrating choice? Curious to hear others’ reactions to this name especially, because I like it so much with Reid.

Out of these, Hugo is probably my top pick as a sibling for Reid and Rosalie. (And Julianne, come to that.)

But let’s see if we can come up with some more ideas.

A BROTHER FOR ROSALIE and REID

ALDER

Alden meets Taylor. But it’s also a tree name, so it has something in common with Rosalie, and that strong sound brings to mind Reid. Adler is another option.

EMMETT

Emmett sounds capable and down-to-earth. It’s the tiniest bit old-fashioned, but really quite current.

HAYES

There’s something smooth about Hayes. Sound-wise, it’s similar to James, or maybe Louis/Lewis. Style-wise, it’s closer to surnames like Reid.

JUDE

Jonah mixed with Hugo, with a hint of Reid’s strong, single-syllable style, too.

KIERAN

An Irish import less popular than Ryan or Aiden, but with just as much charm.

MAXWELL

You might shorten it to just Max, but Maxwell seems like a good balance for Reid and Rosalie.

SULLIVAN

A longer surname-style name with an unforgettable sound.

THATCHER

A handful of surnames feel similar to Taylor, but are less common. Thatcher is a good choice for a stands-out/fits-in kind of name, but there’s also Thayer, Baylor, Walker, Bridger, and Turner to name a few.

WESLEY

I think Wesley hits the same traditional, but current note as Reid.

One last thought: do you have any interest in using Julian for a son? Obviously, it would rule out Julianne for a future daughter, so it’s not a perfect choice. But if you don’t imagine you’ll grow your family after this child, it might be worth considering.

I really love the sound of Adler, Emmett, or Wesley with Rosalie and Reid. They’re all non-R names, but they still feel like they go together as sibling names.

Readers, over to you – what would you name a brother for Rosalie and Reid?