Stuck at the Short List: Exciting New or Safe Traditional?

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, we discuss reader’s name questions, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. 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! To have your question considered, email appmtn (at) gmail. Looking for your own private #namehelp post? Order one here.

DECIDING BETWEEN THREE GOOD CHOICES

Claire writes:

Our first child, a boy, is due next month. We followed all the advice and after trading lists back and forth and talking about our priorities, we’re stuck with three names on our short list.

Those names are:

• Crosby
• Thomas
• Soren

It’s not as if my husband really likes one name and I like the other one. We keep switching back and forth.

There are no family connections behind any of the names, but they all have reasons/stories behind them, just not necessarily something you’d tell a total stranger.

Here is our wish list for a name:

• More than one syllable, because our last names sounds like Hall
• Not a Top Ten name, but doesn’t have to be that different
• Ideally is a “boy” name
• No specific family member shares the name
• Not a character name/athlete name that others would assume we were referencing
• Doesn’t necessarily need to a nickname
• We both like it

We would most likely use one of the other names as our son’s middle name. We’ve even toyed around with the idea of using all three names, but choosing an order has completely broken my brain and I think they all sound like too much now.

If you’d asked me a year ago, I probably would have said we were more traditional when it comes to names, but looking at lists, a lot of the names we both crossed out first were like William or James.

We really don’t need any new suggestions, just helping choosing one!

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

HOW TO GET UN-STUCK AT THE SHORT LIST STAGE

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your new son!

This is a tough call, right? All three names are very different in key ways. But they all meet your criteria and any one of them would wear well.

If we’ve eliminated the obvious ways to decide. What does that leave?

Let’s dive in to what we know about the names.

CROSBY (unranked; given to 162 boys in 2025)

This is a place name with Old Norse roots. It referred to a farm by a cross. A handful of famous figures have answered to the last name: ice hockey player Sidney Crosby; musicians Bing Crosby and David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It ranked in the US Top 1000 from 2011 to 2021, but as of 2025 was falling in use. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. The name was never that popular, so it feels familiar, but uncommon – a sweet spot.

The sound is crisp and current and tough to shorten.

THOMAS (#34; given to 6,197 boys in 2025)

Thomas means twin and this name has deep roots, tracing all the way back to the New Testament. That’s the origin of the Doubting Thomas story. Countless men of accomplishment have answered to Thomas. Pop culture references are even longer – Thomas the Tank Engine, Thomas’ English Muffins, Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton. It’s never left the US Top 100 and spent decades in the Top Ten, though it’s less common today.

Thomas sounds traditional, and would easily shorten to Tommy or Tom.

SOREN (#464; given to 665 boys in 2025)

A Danish name ultimately derived from the Latin Severus or Severinus, Soren means stern. meaning. It’s strongly associated with philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Though mostly Soren is an uncommon name, one that sounds like “soaring,” which feels strongly positive. Speaking of soaring, this name has ranked in the US Top 1000 since 2003, and is at an all-time high right now. That said, it’s still fairly uncommon.

Soren is tough to nickname and would probably be reasonably familiar, or at least easy enough for others to spell and pronounce.

HOW TO DECIDE?

A few things leap out at me:

• I wonder if you should start by deciding to include the name Thomas as either a first or a middle. Here’s why: it’s a very traditional choice that would anchor a less conventional first or be balanced out by a more surprising middle. Based on your comments, it sounds like you’re drawn to the idea of a more traditional name, but it’s really only Thomas that you like.
• If that feels right, I’d experiment with two combinations: Crosby Thomas and Soren Thomas. You have the assurance that your son will have a traditional name in the middle spot. Does that make either of your other favorites more appealing?
• Assuming you can identify a frontrunner, I’d also try flipping the names: Crosby Thomas or Thomas Crosby? Soren Thomas or Thomas Soren?

If I had to put my thumb on the scale, I’d probably vote for Crosby over Soren. It’s crisp and modern, but not at all invented. I think people will understand how to spell and pronounce it. I’m assuming you might get asked if it’s for the ice hockey player (Sidney Crosby), or a musician (Bing Crosby or Crosby, Still & Nash), or even if it’s a family name.

But Crosby sounds like a boy’s name now, one that fits with Colby and Chase and Callahan, Beckett and Dexter and Tate.

Between Crosby Thomas sounds-like-Hall and Thomas Crosby sounds-like-Hall, I’d vote for putting Crosby as your son’s first name. I wonder if part of your hesitation is the feeling that you’re supposed to choose a more traditional name?

If you are open to three given names, I’d vote for Crosby Soren Thomas sounds-like-Hall. I think! Three two-syllable names can be tough to string together.

Readers, over to you! Any advice for getting un-stuck at the short list stage? Between Crosby, Thomas, and Soren, what would you choose and how would you combine the names?