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!
J writes:
We’re early days into pregnancy number two. It took pretty much nine months to agree on our son’s name, Dylan Christopher. I kept our list of maybe names, and would love to hear others’ opinions about the best name for this little one.
We might eventually consider names that aren’t on this list, but for right now, I want to stick with these, as I think we would both be happy with them and agree, even though we both have our favorites.
For a boy:
- Daniel – my favorite last time, but only if it’s Daniel, not Danny/Dan
- Isaac – love the meaning, not sure about the story (from the Bible) and our last name starts with C, so it runs together a little
- Parker – a really important name for us, but it isn’t great with our last name
- Everett – really like this one, but we do know another little Everett
For a girl:
- Penelope – how can you not love this name, but maybe it’s too popular
- Cecilia – same thing with Daniel, though, don’t really want it shortened
- Kimberly – my mom suggested because it was her favorite name for her second, who turned out to be my little brother. thought it was crazy, but then it grew on me
- Josie – love how friendly sounds
- Ella, Stella, Bella – cheating a little here, but we love all three of these names equally and could never decide which one belonged on the list
For a boy, we like the middle name Harrison because it’s my grandmother’s family and I’m close to them. For a girl, we could use Catherine (for my grandmother), but we’re open to anything.
Our last name starts with a hard C and is one syllable and sounds a little bit like Court.
Read on for my response, and please leave your thoughtful reactions in the comments.
Abby replies:
Congratulations on your second!
You’ve built a really solid list for Dylan Christopher’s new sibling. It’s tough to resist the urge to add more suggestions, but I get it – sometimes you just know it’s better to work from the list you’ve built rather than add more.
RANKING BOY NAMES
4. Isaac – It’s such a great name! And I think it could work with your last name, mostly because we all recognize Isaac. But it’s not ideal, because I can imagine it being misheard. So I’m rating Isaac last.
3. Parker – Maybe I’m sensitive to it because we just talked about Isaac. And I do think Parker like-Court would be much, much easier to wear that Isaac like-Court. Still, that repeating sound gives me pause. It’s enough to put Parker at #3.
2. Daniel – I love everything about Daniel. It sounds great with Dylan. It’s a traditional favorite, a great blend of sweetness and strength. But I do think it would be tough to never shorten his name to Dan/Danny. Since that’s something you’re not in love with, I’ll put Daniel in the second spot.
1. Everett – It’s the last name standing, but I think it would be my #1 pick regardless. Love the way it sounds with Dylan and with your short last name.
Everett Harrison is great, but would you also consider Everett Parker? I think the repeating sounds are less of an issue in the middle spot, and if Parker has lots of meaning, it’s worth considering it as a middle name, too.
RANKING GIRL NAMES
5. Cecilia – Among the little Cecilias I know, none shorten it – unless their parents intended to shorten it originally. And yet, your list of names is so strong that a lingering concern that your Cecilia would end up Ceci (or Celie or Celia?) is enough to put this name at the bottom.
4. Josie – This feels a little arbitrary. Mostly I can’t think of any reason to rank Josie higher, though I like it quite a bit and think it fits your criteria nicely.
3. Kimberly – I love a longer name with like-Court, and in this case, I think the K/C is perfect. We’re naming our daughters Delaney and Avery, so why not Kimberly? It could be that perfect blend of a name we all know with a name that isn’t common for children. (Maybe she’d share it with a teacher eventually?) One hesitation – Kimberly is so often Kimmy or Kim that I think you’d have to push back against that some.
2. Penelope – I agree with you! Penelope is current, fun, sparky, and easy to like. Yes, it’s popular – but mostly because it’s such a great name. And nothing really sounds like Penelope, so it still stands out, even if there are others in your neighborhood.
1. Ella – I’m surprising myself with this pick. I’ll also add 1b. is Stella and 1c. goes to Bella. They’re popular sounds you hear a lot, which seems like something you don’t like. But all three are nickname-proof, and since that’s a concern that comes up a lot, I wonder if shorter isn’t better? You might even name her Isabella/Annabelle and call her Ella, but I’m not sure if that holds any appeal. (Do you prefer to avoid nicknames, or just those specific nicknames?)
I also love Ella because you could consider Ella Kimberly. I know Catherine and Harrison are the family names you’ve concerned for this child, but Kimberly is incredibly appealing as a middle name, I think.
Readers, over to you! How would you rank J.’s current list?
Well done on having a list prepared.
For the boy names…
1. Everett — overall, sounds great with your last name & has a relaxed image just like Dylan.
2. Daniel — I think Dylan is different enough from Daniel in style & sound but similar enough to feel like siblings.
3. Parker & Isaac — to me, these names blend sounds with your last name. It’s not what I would prefer, but if “Parker” is really meaningful for you two, that overrides all of that. Why not “Everett Parker” or “Daniel Parker”?
When it comes to the girl names…
1. Kimberly — Surprise! It’s the 80s or 90s and yet… it actually works well with your proposed middle name and your last name.
“Kimberly Catherine Court”?
So it’s repeating C or K sounds, the rhythm is melodic. I’m gonna call it a number 1 name.
2. Penelope — It is a nickname-heavy first name, thus: “Ella” is built into it very easily. Also a winner.
3. Cecelia — Not my favorite, but I wouldn’t put it at the top either. You benefit from it starting with “C” so your daughter would have an alliterative name, if you feel inspired to go with that: C-times-3 because if “Catherine” even!
4. Josie — Balance-wise with Dylan being 2 syllables, it works. However, it feels like it needs to lean on your proposed middle name, “Catherine”.
Hope we’re helping! x
4. Daniel – Least favorite due to too many overlapping sounds with Dylan. Plus you are not a fan of Danny/Dan.
3. Isaac – Agree with you that it’s a great name but runs together with your “C” last name
2. Parker – I don’t mind this with the last name – a great option
1. Everett – Great with brother name, last name, and middle name choice. Everett Harrison or Everett Parker gets my vote.
5. Cecilia – I love this name personally the most, but it very well may get shortened.
4. Josie – Not my favorite because it sounds nick-namey
3. Kimberly – On the fence about this style wise, but I think it can work!
2. Ella / Stella / Bella – These are nice options, but they do sound a bit more popular since Ella is a nickname for other popular names. I think Stella would be my top pick from these.
1. Penelope – I really like it with Dylan. It sounds like such a fun and friendly pair. Works well with a 1 syllable last name. I vote for Penelope Catherine.
Dylan and…
Penelope Catherine “Court”
Everett Harrison “Court”
Best wishes!
I think any of the names could work, if you enforce the full name with those that could be nicknamed (I have done it successfully with my kids, who all have names that could be easily shortened but aren’t).
My only comment is that I actually love the idea of Kimberly with Dylan, not only because they share the “l” and “y”, but because they both are names that were more popular in previous generations and sound a lot more interesting today. I also love the idea of using your mum’s favourite name that she didn’t get to use – we did similar with one of our kids’ middle names.
Daniel – too close to Dylan in my mind. I’d totally mix them up all the time – the D and Ns. And he’d 100% be Dan or Danny at some point, probably by his own choice.
Isaac – I love this one best if you can overcome the combo with the surname. It could sound really memorable? Just need to say it slower. I love that it’s pretty nickname proof, no one uses Ike anymore that I’ve heard.
Parker – I can imagine the bump against the surname so I agree. I’d totally consider it for the middle either gender though! Love meaningful kiddies!
Everett – I like this with Dylan. I think of all the strikes against in your list, this is the easiest to overcome. Unless it’s a close relative or friend, I’d totally use it! You may not know that other little Everett long.
Penelope – I do love it. I only know one who goes by Penny primarily, and I know a few more Pennys. I think you’d need to choose a preferred nickname as it’ll come up with all those syllables. Penny? Poppy? Lola? Nell? Ooh yes you might like that given your love for EllaStellaBella.
Cecilia – my adult friend Cecilia went by Celia until she was like 40. Cece to family sometimes. All those syllables are hard for people! I’d avoid this one.
Kimberly – this is totally a fresh option for this generation, but again Kim or Kimmy would emerge at some point. How about Kimber?
Josie – she does sound friendly! I really like this one with Dylan.
Ella/Stella/Bella – I agree these sounds are way more popular than Penelope. Stella probably least common, so if you have to do it, I like Stella with Dylan. Though Nella would be amazing.
I think you need to stick with Harrison or Catherine or Parker! You’ve got great middle names options that are also meaningful, those are slam dunks to me.
My votes are:
Isaac Harrison C-
Josie Catherine Parker C-
If you love the Ella sound, maybe you could do Penelope nicknamed Nell or Nella? I think Nell is a lot less popular then Ella-Bella-Stella, and even Penelope.
I wouldn’t do Daniel, it repeats the sounds in the name Dylan, just in a different order. I would get them confused all the time.
I vote for Parker, considering the special meaning.
For a girl, Penelope nn Nella.
Or, if you really don’t want to short it, Stella (because, out off the short names on your list, it’s the one that sounds more complete to me).
I do think that if you can’t stand the nickname, then the name itself should be thrown out. You may choose Daniel but he can easily come home one day and declare himself a Danny. So I would toss out Cecilia and Daniel, lovely though they are.
If sound is important to you, then toss out Isaac and Parker.
Which leaves Everett for the boys, if hearing little Everett’s name every time gives you a warm fuzzy glow then perhaps you just really like that name.
Penelope is great, and popular now days is not the same as it used to be. She might run into one or two Penelopes in a class, not five or seven.
Josie is cute an upbeat, though a bit nicknamey in comparison to the other names on your list.
Kimberly will be out of style now, which will ironically make her stand out in her generation.
I would recommend coin flipping for Ella, Bella, and Stella to see which one you feel the greatest disappointment in not being able to use.
Honestly I love Everett for both genders
My top votes would be Everett and Penelope! I think Ella is actually way more common than Penelope once you factor in all the Eleanors and Ellies out there too.