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!
T writes:
We’re adopting a son we plan to call Max.
In the four photos we have of him, he’s wearing a onesie that says, “sweet dreams Max.” (We didn’t feel right legally naming a baby after a onesie!)
Our late daughter was named Rocket Josephine. For future children, we have the names Viva and Clementine for a daughter and Ezra and Huckleberry for a son, plus we’ve considered Hannibal, Barnaby, Simon, Russell, and Malik. (In other words, we’re all over the place!)
He’ll have my last name, which starts with a J and ends with a -y, so names ending with an ‘ee’ sound probably won’t work, with Lee as a second middle. So First Middle Lee J—y.
We’re both teachers and can’t use the name of any former students we’ve taught. We’d also like to avoid our kid ever sharing a name with a classmate.
We’re not religious at all, so some of these names feel like a lot of Old Testament.
With just a few days to go, we’re bouncing between these formal names for Max:
- Milo, Moses, Maximilian for first names.
- August, Alexander, and Oleksandr for middle names.
Please read on for my response, and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Dear T –
How exciting to be welcoming your sweet son – and so soon!
I hear a big challenge in your name choices. Teachers often remark that avoiding popular names matters. But how far will you go to give your child a one-of-one, never-gonna-repeat-in-your-class name?
Usually it turns out that parents are content to choose something that avoids repeating the names of the most, erm, memorable students they’ve come across. But that’s no guard against a future student sharing a name with your child.
Because you named your daughter Rocket, I suspect you’re willing to make far more daring choices than most!
Max misses the mark, in that regard. It’s a great name, but there are lots of Max names in the current US Top 1000, several just outside of the Top 100. And yet, it’s as if he told you his name in his pictures! So I’m not suggesting you change it.
Instead, this makes me think that it’s extra important to find a distinctive first-middle combination for his formal name.
Milo – Milo feels offbeat and edgy, but at #224 in the US, it’s actually fairly mainstream. Credit goes to cousin Miles, currently just outside of the US Top 100. But we also love so many -o ending boy names.
Maximilian – At #464, Maximilian is relatively uncommon. (That works out to around 650 newborn boys given the name last year.) It’s a big name, but that’s not a dealbreaker for you. It also leads logically to the nickname Max, which might be a bonus.
Moses – I love the sound of Moses, and I always expect it to be more popular than it is. But at #475, it’s only slightly less common than Maximilian. Of course, it will feel less popular because nothing really sounds like Moses. So in that sense, Moses might be your best bet.
I’m tempted to suggest one more uncommon Max name: Maxfield, as in the artist and illustrator Maxfield Parrish.
But let’s go back to the three you’ve listed. I’d rule out Milo because it’s the most popular. Let’s pair the others with middles to see if that makes a difference:
Maximilian August – I find it difficult to imagine a four-syllable middle with a four-syllable first, but that’s okay, because Maximilian August is a great combination! I like this so much, and it would be my personal favorite. But is it a little safe for you?
Moses Alexander – Alexander goes well with Moses, and I think it’s a good combination of the bold and unexpected with the more traditional.
Moses Oleksandr – The Olek- spelling of Alexander tends to be Ukrainian, or maybe Russian or Polish. It’s confusing as a given name, but appealing in the middle spot. Using Oleksandr over Alexander makes the name a touch more daring overall. And so I wonder if this is the best combination for your family?
Let’s have a poll, though, because I’m still more drawn to Maximilian August and Moses Alexander – but I’m not sure if that’s the right direction for your family!
Over to you, readers – what formal name would you choose for Max? And do you have any advice for teachers seeking a more distinctive name for their child?
These are nice names. I love Moses and think the long o and the s’s make it very on trend.
However, I think you should stop and think about your name requirements. You say you don’t want your child to share a name in his class. I assume that is because you don’t want him to be Max J. Or to have confusion about who is being referred to. Using an uncommon legal name and a common nickname won’t achieve that. If everyone knows him as ‘Max’ then he will still be one of two in the class if there is a Maximillian and a Maximo both called Max. If there are two kids named Maximo and one goes by Max and one Moe then they will be seen to have different names.
I think you probably need to drop one of the two requirements (to use the name Max, and to have an unusual name) because they are mutually exclusive. Personally, I would stick with the name that I loved and not worry about the other parents loving it too! There are lots of anecdotes about kindergarten classes with two kids named Persephone and kids who are named James who have never shared a room with another.
I don’t hear four syllables in August. Where I am from it has only two and it makes a great, unusual middle name with good meaning. Are you bothered or pleased that Max and August both have connotations of greatness? If pleased I would go with a more obvious Max name and August in the middle.
Christianity, Judaism and Islam all use and honour Moses in various forms (Musa, Moshe, Moses etc) for that reason I think you could get away with using it even in a secular family. I’m not in the US though.
I do like Cormac August.
Since you don’t seem to be sold on any of the somewhat obvious Max names I feel like maybe Max could be thought of as “Macks”
Maddox
Malcolm
Cormac
MacArthur
MacCoy
MacHenry
MacAllister
Madoc
Maverick
Marcus
Mannix
Maxton
Mack or Mac alone
What do you think of Augustus instead of August? It feels bigger and more distinctive. Full disclosure it’s my son’s (first name Maxwell) first middle name so I have a soft spot for it.
My cousin is Max, formal name Maxime.
There’s alot of Max names Maximus, Maximilian, Maxwell, Maximo And Maxim just to name a few…
Maximo stands out to me it feels right given your style of names
Good luck
How about the versions of the name Maximus? Maximus itself is pretty popular, but you could do the Spanish Maximo or the Italian Massimo. All could have Max as a nickname and are unlikely to be duplicated by a classmate. They are fun, energetic choices themselves and not just a way to get to Max.
How about Malcolm Alexander? Malcolm gives you a less popular first name that leads to Max pretty easily when paired with Alexander. It probably rules out Malik for a later kid though.
Congratulations and enjoy your baby!
I would completely scratch Moses off the list. It such a biblical connection it might be awkward in a nonreligious family. There are very few names that haven’t bridged the gap between religious and secular usage and Moses is definitely one of them.
I agree. I teach Kindergarten Sunday School and I know of only one Moses, who is from a religious family. If I met a Moses I would assume that the family was Christian, which you might want to avoid when you are not.
How about a variant of Mark? Marek Alexander could easily lead to Max and I don’t think it’s too common?
I like an M first name with Alexander as the middle – because I can easily see the name Max in there! For some reason, I love the flow and sound of Milo Alexander. or Merritt Alexander is interesting.
Malachi Alexander could be cool too – the Old Testament Malachi with the ancient Alexander gives it a great antiquity feel.
You could go big with Massimiliano Alexander (he could be Max or Milo with that!) or Mateo Alexander. In some Slavic languages, there’s Matyas (Matt-ee-awsh), which I really like.
There is also the name Maddox, which could easily shorten to Max. You can almost hear Max in Mackenzie (I know that trends girl, but it’s a cool name for a boy!)
You could also do Xavier for a middle. Malik Xavier is pretty cool (especially is you pronounce Xavier as Ex-avier).
Good luck and congratulations!
And I’ll add Marcus Xavier – that strikes me as such a cool name! It really has character (and I’m not normally a fan of Marcus, but Marcus Xavier called Max is pretty awesome).