The Boy List!

I know I announced our top boy name. It’s very likely that should this one have boy parts, he’ll be Rex. I just can’t get enough of Rex and I know my instincts are right in that he’s going to rise some more. Don’t ask me how, I just *know*. ;D

But we do have a small list, which Rex tops, just in case he’s clearly ‘not’ a Rex. It happens, and did happen with Simon, so I want to be prepared. Call me the boy scout of name nerds, but I like having stuff on hand for all eventualities!

With that said,here’s our small but handsome boys list:

Rex Aurelian Arthur: Tried Rex Arthur Aurelian but I like the flow better the way we’ve got it now.

Cosmo Henry George: I just can’t make myself take Coz off the list. He doesn’t sit perfectly with my other boys but he honors my dearest Great Granddad, and is absolutely staying, in case he suits. Henry George is for His Grandpop, well, Henry is. George is for the Trek nerd in us/My Pop’s patron St.George.

Remy Edward Xavier: Remy MacKenzie is too awesome for me to pass on just yet. And the possibility of Rex as a nickname (look at his initials!), just fabulous!

Rufus Wilder John: Rufus because we love him and he feels like family. Wilder’s one of the few family surnames that feels masculine to me and John is for Him, it’s his second middle.

Barnaby Edward Rex: Because Barnaby is so fun to say. 🙂 Actually, he’s in our favorite shared musical “Hello Dolly” (which is the only Streisand film I like). Edward for my Uncle & his oldest boy, my cousin. Rex, because Rex is stellar.

Clarence John Porfirio: Clarence is one of His cousins. The cousin goes by Ren, which is why I didn’t make thhe connection. We’d call ours Clancy. John’s for Him, Porfirio’s been my favorite name since I was 2.

and last but not least –
Cassius Barnaby Rex: Cassius because He loves it, Barnaby for *us* and Rex because he’s awesome.

So there you are, what do you think?

And, as always, thanks for reading!

We have a Boy Name!

After several, small discussions, a bit of online posting (thanks, berries!) 😀 and a huge meeting of the minds, we have an official Boy Name!

Drumroll, please, for…

Rex Aurelian Arthur MacKenzie!

Simple, sweet, handsome, sexy Rex. Aurelian honors his Great Grandma: Aurelia. Aurelius just doesn’t work or play well with Rex, for me. And Arthur was my Great Uncle. The last of the Great Uncles, too. Grandpa died when I was 11. His brother died when I was 12. Grandma’s sisters married, May’s husband Charles died during WW1 and May never remarried. Leslie/Buddy married Leslie (really!) and he died when I was 16. Carolyn’s Artie was the last one. What a lovely gentleman he was too! He died the year I turned 20. He was 97! Since his own Son (David Arthur) had only girls (Jennifer & Elizabeth) and neither girl has an Arthur, why not use Arthur myself?

Rex Aurelian Arthur MacKenzie.

Absolutely Perfect! 😀

Rex is King!

I’ve been mildly obsessing over Rex the last few days and am attempting to put him in front, which is proving difficult.

Now, I’ve had Rex as a nickname for Remy Edward Xavier (read the initials) and Remy is not leaving my lists anytime soon. Remy is fabulous with my surname!

But I digress. Rex. Rex is simple, strong, snappy and above all, regal. I like all that. So, here are my first attempts to pair Rex:

Rex Peregrin James
Rex Edward Valentine
Rex Alasdair John
Rex Willem James
Rex Willem Wilder
Rex Henry Gavriil
Rex William Valentin
Rex Aurelian Edward
Rex Taliesin John
Rex Valentin James
Rex Alasdair James

So, anything up there jump out at anyone as pretty good? Do I need to hit the lists again? I know Rex is not everyone’s cup of meatloaf, but really…talk to me! I’d love to hear opinions!

As always, Thanks a million for stopping by. 😀

Quickly!

I’m heading out the door in a few, taking Josie to her first birthday party. The birthday boy is Blake and I’m already gearing up to collect all the rest of the names I hear today. Wish me luck and check back later for an update! 😀

Alright, we’re back! Josie had a blast; climbing “rocks”, sliding, bouncing around and playing laser tag!

As I said, Blake was the birthday boy (what a sweetie!), but there were a good bunch of well named kids (I think) there as well. Here they are:

Blake
Dylan (x2)
Wyatt
James
Nathaniel (went by Nate almost exclusively)
Frankie
Thomas
Steven
George
Will
Vincent
Xavier
Alexander
Peter
Matthew
and the three girls: Genevieve, Megan (I asked about the spelling) and of course, Josephine.

It was a fun party, hope the next one’s not too far in the future!

Better late than Never!

Sorry for the long break, Josie started school this September and I’m enjoying the bustle & routine. I have been storing ideas and finally can expand one: Josie finally came home with her class list! Without further ado, here they are:
Reid
Samuel
Edward
Alyssa
Wyatt
Mark
Blake
Dylan
Noah
Genevieve
Cora
(Josephine)
Monica
Philip
Lionel
Steven
Cassandra

And that’s them. Josie’s particular favorites are: Genevieve, Cora, Alyssa & Cassandra from the girls & Reid, Edward, Dylan, Philip & Lionel from the boys.

With the girls, I want to play “One of these Things is not like the Others” with Alyssa, whose name feels trendier & fluffier than the others. But other than that, I have no problems with any of them.

What do You think and which are your favorites up there, if any? Sorry for the huge lapse, hopefully I’ll be a bit more regular again now. Take care all and Thanks!

Some Newer Stuff

Well, “newer” is figurative. 🙂 I’ve had a few of these names on my lists before, I’m just liking them anew. Since I had so much down time, I worked on combos and came up with a handful that I really like. This is what I do with much of my free time (at least, in my head):

 

Romilly Allegra Violet
Penelope Violet Jane
India Ottilie Violet
Peregrin Henry Arthur
August James Tiberius
Matilda Esme Violet
Amos Willem Rafferty
Lucius George Pascal
Eulalie Saffron Jane

 

Romilly is back again, still searching for the perfect middles for India, Eulalie stays on the list despite Elisabeth having a brand new one while Matilda’s firmly on the list now and I’m still searching for the perfect middles for Penelope. Lucius never left, I’m still perfecting him and Amos is slowly replacing Clancy in my head.   Not entirely, but starting to. So here’s a related question for you folks:
Clancy or Amos, which do you like better (or which would you rather see on a real kid)?

 

So there they are, anything strike you as keepable?  I’d love to hear what you folks think!  As always, thanks a million for stopping by. And, I’m back!  😀

August

I’m back to August. Dignified, strong & handsome (do NOT start with me on how Month names are unisex unless you are willing to use May on a boy of yours!). yep, August is all manly for me, Augie & Gus are two lovely nickname options. I prefer Augie, but Gus is more mainstream should he want. And August honors my Mom, beloved Frances who hated her name, born 6 August 1940. I think it’s a subtle thing that she probably wouldn’t mind.  And she’d probably dig Gus. 🙂

I came up with half a dozen combos as did He and between us, we narrowed the field to these 5. Which would you choose and why?

August James Tiberius (yes, I know, it’s kitschy, and geeky, but if I could make James Tiberius ___ flow with the surname I’d use it in a heartbeat and be thrilled. What a fabulous combo! and yes, I saw the new Star Trek movie and am so jazzed!)
August James Aloysius – a bit kitschier bit not as geeky.
August Julian Oliver – I’d rather Lucian, but August Lucian doesn’t sound as good as August Julian.
August Milo Aurelian – Aurelian’s awesome and I’m still stuck on Milo, but it’s too nicknamey for up front.
August Edward Bede – gets the honoring in there, and my beloved Bede.

Now August honors Mom, James honors not only Him, but my Pop’s oldest Brother (who’s still around) and Edward honors Mom’s brother, and my cousin (who I like much better than the Uncle). Milo is what Josie would have been had she been a boy, and I still like it very much. The rest are just fun.

So, what do you think? I’d love to know!

Names I have an Irrational Dislike of

I think we all have some like this. Names that are perfectly usable but for some reason they turn us off. I have a handful for each sex and thought I’d share them. Then share yours!

 

Hannah – perfectly bland
Abigail – I still think of the “lady’s maid’ assocation.
Jasmine – the flower makes me sneeze and the princess is perfectly blah.
Theresa – Funny, I love Tessa but Theresa just does nothing for me . Absolutely white bread boring.
Karen – Not a pleasant sound for me.
Anna – it’s pretty, yeah but so everywhere. Simple Anne has always been my preferred variant.

Charles – He’s the Theresa of the boys list!
Paul – Nasty assocations aside, it’s a small name with a tight feel. And St. Paul is no friend of mine. Bah, mysoginistic fool.
Noah – Sounds like No with an Itailian accent to me. Old Italian nighbor ruined Noah for me.
Benjamin – Just feels a bit too preppy for my liking. Too fussy and preppy.
Harry – feels sloppy and messy.
Chase – It’s just ridiculous. Put it in the front and whatever you’ve paired it with sounds like a command, use it in the middle and it sounds like a bank. Blah.

 

No offense meant to anyone bearing these names, this is just my list of names I personally dislike and why. Perfectly good names (all but 1, anyway) just yuck to me.

 

What are your perfectly usable dislikes?  I’d love to hear!

Raphael

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time with Raphael as a first name. I’ve got Rafael in the middle in several combos because that’s how the G. Uncle spelled his name. But Raphael is more standard a spelling, I see several Raphaels on pictures hanging on the walls of the school Josephine will be attending this fall, so yeah.  I think Raphael is handsome, suave, charming and more than a bit jazzy.  He’s an archangel , so soothes the Catholic family and has jaunty Rafe as a possible nickname. So what’s not to love? 🙂

I came up with a dozen or so combos that please me in various ways but over the last day or so, we’ve whittled them down to 6. Here, for your perusal is Raphael:

Raphael Edward Wilder
Raphael Oliver Bede
Raphael John Porfirio
Raphael Arthur Willem
Raphael Arthur Peregrin
Raphael Inigo Francis

I have my favorite in there and He’s got his, can you tell which is whose? 😀  It’s funny how we go back & forth so much easier with the boys. Neither of us can narrow our girls list!  

Anything up there jump out at you as pretty good? I’d love to know!  Please, do tell! 

 

and as always, thanks a million for stopping by!

Some Surprising Finds in the MA Top 100!

As you all know, I live in MA. I hear all sorts of odd things when I go out & about, mainly Spanish things, but a smattering of good old standards too. And my particular neighborhood is a veritable treasure chest of unusual choices, for the most part.

So when they released the individual state lists, I went looking at my old state (NJ), which still saddens me to no end, and my new state (MA). I found a few things that made my eyebrows go up a notch and here they are:

(state rank) [national rank]
Tessa (98) [202]
Margaret (85) [180] (Lovely!)
Maeve (75) [638] (told you this was the Land of the Irish! )
Lucy (62) [112]
Charlotte (22) [87] (I knew I was hearing this more than most!)
Sophie (33) [74]
Lila (57) [189]

Jacoby (99) [423]
Maxwell (64) [134]
Hunter (76) [54] (I gave the folks here a bit more credit for good taste than I should have, I suppose. Funnily enough, this is one I never, ever hear!)
Oliver (72) [118] (My brother would laugh!)
Charles (45) [63] (I thought he was a bit lower)
Ryan (1) [18]

Based on how often I hear Michael on little ones around here, I wrongfully assumed it would be #1 here, It’s #2 instead. I do hear Ryan a fair bit but not nearly as often as I hear Michael!

And just for comparisons sake, here’s the top 10 for 2008 for the State of Massachusetts:
1.Ryan /  Ava
2 Michael /  Isabella
3 Jacob / Olivia
4 Matthew /  Emma
5 William /  Sophia
6 John / Abigail
7 Jack / Emily
8 Nicholas / Madison
9 Joseph / Grace
10 Alexander /  Ella

Look at all those vowel starters on the girls! My Josephine is really going to stand out at school! 😀 I’m also pleased to announce that of my top 10, Edith is the only  girl charter this year, at 806and of the boys, Bruno (801), Clarence (938) Arthur (363) and Francis (656) are the only ones charting. And of the top 10, Lilias, Remy, Barnaby & Alasdair have never charted!  WooHoo!

Any surprising finds in your own state that you’re willing to share? 😀

Linus

Yeah, he’s back. It’s actually quite a likeable name. And reminds me of Mom; she called my brother & I,  Lucy & Linus for 18 years  (so why she named us Laura & Steven, I’ll never know, exactly). But he works in another, more subtle way for me. See if you can find the link between the boys: Leo, Simon & Linus. The best list I can find, suprisingly, is a Yahoo! Answers: “How many Popes Have there been since Simon Peter”

 

So it works for me on several levels. I love that he’s an -us ender. I think anyone who’s stopped in here more than once can attest to my love of -us enders. I love that he’s also a Pope name (I did the boys inadvertently, I wasn’t thinking “Pope Names” with them, I was thinking “Family names” and had never linked Leo to Popes in my head, ever. Simon Peter was a giveaway for this Catholic school girl, but Simon was still a family name first & foremost.  Now Linus isn’t a Family name, exactly but because Mom called Steve:  Linus for as long as she was alive, yeah, it feels like Family. And I adore that he doesn’t nickname easily, like Leo. I know he’s an L too, like me (and Leo) but I think I can figure out which is which these days. Maybe because I had practice separating Leo & I on the calendar already, Linus doesn’t feel like a huge hassle. 

 

I spent most of yesterday out in the garden, thinking about Linus. Came in and started digging for combos. Came up with a few that absolutely blow me away:

Linus Raphael John
Linus Henry Gavriil
Linus Willem Aurelian (Willem is His Mom’s Father)
Linus Arthur Taliesin
Linus Maximilian James
Linus Xavier John
Linus Arthur Porfirio (Pope, King & playboy.. how awesome!)
Linus Morgan Valentin
Linus Casimir John
Linus Henry Algernon

 

I like a good handful of those, which do you like and, if you don’t mind, why? I’m just about sold on Linus (even though my brother is groaning right now!).  😀  I’d love to hear your thoughts on him and the combos!

Raphael

I’m thinking about Raphael these days. I usually go for Rafael as that’s the family spelling. Not only that, but in my heavily Brasilian community, a Rafael is far more likely than a Raphael. But I do like Raphael and decided to try him out. Here’s what we came up with:

Raphael Edward Wilder
Raphael William Rex
Raphael Milo Valentine
Raphael Edward Aloysius
Raphael Willem Algernon
Raphael Arthur George
Raphael Milo Arthur
Raphael Ezra Jude
Raphael Xavier John
Raphael Henry Bleys
Raphael Maxim James
Raphael Alasdair Claud
Raphael Edgar Hugh
Raphael Edward Apollo
Raphael Barnaby Arthur
Raphael Felix Emil
Raphael John Porfirio
Raphael Albert James
Raphael Edgar Wilder
Raphael Oliver Bede

Sorry for the sheer number of combos. Raphael proved quite easy to work with. He’s got great rhythm!

What do you think of Raphael?  Leo, Simon, Josephine & Raphael  (Leo, Sim, Josie & Rafe)? Workable? Not? Good, Bad, ugly? Is there anything up there that jumps out to you?  I highlighted my faves, what are yours? 

 

And, as always, Thanks a million for stopping by!  😀