Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every Saturday one reader’s name questions will be discussed.
Courtney writes:
We have two daughters, Stella Mackenzie and Vivian Joelle. I love their names, don’t really mind when we meet other girls with the same names, and didn’t really spend a lot of time coming up with them.
We wanted just one more to complete our family, and guess what? We’re having twin boys!
If we had a third girl, I liked Hadley or Sophie, but I don’t really have a boys’ list.
My husband keeps suggesting names like Matthew, Joseph, Nicholas, and Christopher. They’re okay, but we know lots of men with those names. And we don’t really love them. They’re just … names. Our dads are William and Larry. We like the idea of a baby William, but Larry? Sorry, no!
The boys are due in January, but will probably arrive sooner. Our last name is one-syllable, starts with a Q, and is used as a first name, too. So that means no super-short names, please.
Please read on for my response, and share your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Hi Courtney –
Congratulations on your twins!
Some people find it harder to name girls, but I’ve often found that boys bring up more conflict. Maybe that’s because we sometimes feel pressure to stick to more traditional names for our sons. (Though that’s changing!)
For girls, you’ve chosen names that are current but not modern. Vivian and Stella feel vintage, but mainstream vintage, as opposed to still slightly dusty names like Bernadette and Dorothy.
For boys, your husband prefers names that might be called timeless. The feminine equivalents might be Katherine and Elizabeth.
It’s possible that he prefers more traditional names for boys. But let’s look for the logical brother names for Stella and Vivian, and see if these will work.
Miles – Miles combines a current sound with a long history of use. It makes a perfect brother name for Vivian and Stella.
Theo – Theodore is another option, but it seems like lean towards nickname-proof names. Theo stands on its own very nicely.
Julian – Julian shares the same rhythm as Vivian, but I think they’re different enough to be sibling names.
Emmett – I love the sound of boy names like Everett, Beckett, and Emmett with your surname.
Felix – Felix is definitely vintage, and boasts plenty of history. But like Stella and Vivian, the name feels quite current now.
Oliver – Oliver keeps climbing the popularity charts, but if you aren’t phased by the possibility of your son sharing his name, I think it’s a great brother name for Stella and Vivian.
Henry – Henry seems almost as classic as Christopher and Matthew, but it also crosses into vintage territory, like Vivian and Stella.
Jonah – Jonah shares the possible nickname Joe with the more traditional Joseph – and yet it’s different, too.
As for middle names, I wonder if this would work: William and Lawrence. I agree that Larry feels a little dated, but it originated as a nickname for Lawrence. Lawrence strikes me as a timeless, enduring choice.
My favorites are Jonah Lawrence and Theo William, but I know others will have great suggestions, too!
Readers, over to you! What would you name twin brothers for Stella and Vivian?
Willary is an awesome combination of William and Larry.
You could do Willary with grandpa Larry’s middle name and William
Another idea would be Willary and Wyatt give them there grandpa’s middle names as there middle names.
What about combining William and
lary to make new names……. Maybe Willary (pronounce will -air- E ) and Liliam (Lil -liam).
? My combo’s problem need work but you get the general idea. Or I saw the name Lawrence suggested
How about Liam and Lawrence
I like Jasper and Calvin for off-the-beaten-path boys’ names. They feel vintage cool like the sisters’ names.
Josiah, Cedric, Leo, Harrison, Judson, Jedidiah, Francis.
Variations on William and Larry: Willem, Liam, Guillermo, Guilliam, Gwilym, Wilmot, Wim; Lars, Loren, Lorenzo, Enzo, Larkin.
I’m partial to Francis William and Theodore Lars (Frank and Teddy/Theo).
Love William and Lawrence for the middles. Or use Larry’s middle or surname instead of his first. I love Milo for you…I like Miles as well but prefer the jauntier sound of Milo. Maybe Milo and August/Gus or Milo and Felix or Milo and Jasper??
Love the suggestions of Felix, Liam, Oliver, Lucas, Ansel, Thomas, Arthur, Lewis, Oscar, Anton, Francis, Walter, Frederick, Casper, Otto, Martin
Other ideas: Willis, Noah, Conrad, Owen, Tristan, Harold, Gregory, Tobias, Calvin, Patrick, Spencer, Ronan, Jensen, Hector, Carsten, Jesper, Christoph, Norris, Jerome, Basil, Wilson, Henning, Weaver, Elliot
Stella and Vivian both sound a bit Southern to me, but also vintage… How about Shepherd, Holden, Cameron, Tucker, Lucas, Elijah, or Sawyer? I also love the suggestions of Jasper and August!
August William and Holden Lawrence might be my favorite combo.
Alfie Abby
Freddie Annie
George Dulcie
Harry Darcie/y
Jack Georgie/a
Jamie Lucy
Lewis Maggie
Mattie/y Mamie
Olly Molly
Oscar Polly
Rennie Sadie
Sam Tilly
Tom Trudy
I looove the nickname “Law” for Lawrence. Just putting it out there. Good luck!
I looove the suggestions of Theodore (Theo) and August (Gus)! Lawrence and William as middles are also excellent.
What about..;
Alexander Laurence and Maximilian William,
Daniel Laurence and Benjamin William* or
Francis Laurence and Jonathan William
*= if your not 100 percent certain sure that you don’t want traditional (biblical) firsts’ and if your definitely not going to have other children after -I can’t abide people who has a son called Benjamin and then have another son-.
Too bad short names are off the table (I actually like one syllable given names with one syllable surnames, but I understand that’s not to everyone’s taste) — because a nifty form of Laurence that is both familiar but unusual, easy to pronounce, and “modern” in its usage in the US is the Scandinavian form Lars. (I’d also suggest Lasse, except that some people find its pronunciation, rhyming with Lassie, off-putting for a person.)
Not sure how the original poster feels about matchy-type names but what a great idea! I love the idea of doing a spin off the original names.
Liam and Lars for William and Larry!
Stella, Vivian, Benjamin Lawrence & Donovan William
or Martin Lawrence & Frederick William
or Casper & Elijah
or Lionel & Edmund
or Otto & Louis
I love Stella and Vivian! Congrats on your twins!
My favorite would be George and Oliver.
Walter and Theodore. Walt and Theo.
Theodore and August. Theo and Gus.
Other names:
Franklin
Frederick
Charles
Giles
Henry
Arlo – I know it’s short but because it is still two syllable I think it sounds good with your last name
Good luck!
Oh I forgot a few. Edmund or Edward are both dashing names!
Louis (Louie).
I like Victor but not sure if you’d want to double up on first initial.
Here are a couple more ideas:
Winston
Hugo
Stella, Vivian, Oliver, Emmett
My favorites from the list are Julian Lawrence and Everett William.
I like Miles Lawrence and Theo William. August and Oliver are great suggestions too. August William and Oliver Lawrence.
Congrats on the twins. My first thought was LIAM, short form of William and it starts with the same letter as Larry. Since you like 6-letter names for girls, I stuck with that for boys. Some ideas: Cooper, Harvey, Hudson, Jasper, Marcus, Walter, and Wesley.
I like Max & Leo. Strong well known boys names with just a little something more like Stella & Vivian.
If you wanted like longer name options Maxwell William and Leonard Lawrence.
Stella, Vivian, Max & Leo
I also like Miles, Grant, Carter, & Donovan for you.
From the suggestions my favorite would be Theo and Miles or Theo and Oliver. I would suggest Grant, Jay, and James but I’m afraid they’re all maybe a bit choppy with the surname. Perhaps Calvin, Harvey, Gus (August), or Jack?
I think Theo William and Gus Lawrence are a stunning set. Or if you want to be more formal you can do Theodore nickname Teddy/Theo and August nickname Gus.
Stella, Vivian, Theo, and Gus.
Stella, Vivian, Teddy and Gus.
Howard & Gordon!
Howard William and Gordon Lawrence.
Stella, Vivian, Howard, & Gordon Q.
And congratulations!!
I think Stella and Vivian are dashing! Boys names in the dashing category for me that haven’t been mentioned are Oscar, Roman, Iver, Anton and other sort of Euro flair names at home in a bohemian den or a manor house or a casino table in Monaco.
Fave suggestions: Miles and Felix
Extra suggestions: Lewis and Ira
Oh wow…Stella and Vivian are stunning together. The boy suggestions offered above are all excellent! I especially love Emmett & Theo. A few ideas i have:
Arthur
Barnaby- sounds cool with your surname!
Chester
Elliott
Gabriel
Graham
Leo
Nathaniel
Peter
Ruben
Solomon
Xavier
My favorites from the suggestions are Felix & Oliver. Stella, Vivian, Felix & Oliver sound wonderful together.
I’m not usually a fan of Miles but I do feel like it is handsome here, and I agree that Emmett and Everett would sound good with the last name.
If repeating initials are okay, I like Sebastian or Vincent, but perhaps not with each other.
John is short and ends with n, but I like it with the last name.
Samuel & Charles
Calvin & Evander
Franklin & Thomas
I actually know brothers named Sebastian and Vincent! I skipped a beat when I heard it but they are both Saints with that dominant S sound so I guess they are linked in that way.
I love Stella and Vivian because they seem super feminine in an extremely strong, solid way. My suggestions for brothers: Ansel & Orson.
Ooh I love these!
I think any of these would be great with your girls’ beatiful classic names: Hugo, Leo, Timothy, Dominic, Lucas, Raphael, Darcy, Milo, Reuben, Alexander, Xavier.
I love all of your suggestions on this one. My favorite combos would be Oliver William and Henry Lawrence.
What about August? I love Theodore and really like the idea of using grandpas’ names as middles using Lawrence.