My fiancee and I are expecting our first child, a boy, in September and though I know we still have lots of time to decide on a name for him I am a little embarrassed to say, I'm stressing out already! The problem is that my fiancee and I were really hoping for a girl, so we'd been focusing all our attention on creating a list of baby GIRL names we love. Because of this, our list of BOY names is non-existent and I feel completely lost and without direction.
In the beginning, I liked biblical names like Noah, Luke and Isaiah, but my fiancee doesn't want to go the biblical route so now I really don't know where to turn. There are, however, a handful things I'm sure of and they are:
1. Though we won't be married when the baby comes, he will take my fiancees last name, which begins with a P and rhymes with Marker.
2. I don't want his first name to end with the er sound because it sounds too much like his last name.
3. His middle name will be a Hawaiian. We are both Hawaiian and live in Hawaii where it is common for most people (even those who aren't Hawaiian) to give their children Hawaiian names. His will be Kaleomalino; 5 syllables, meaning "The calming voice."
4. On the subject of sound I've decided that a single syllable first name sounds the best when said with both his full name and with just his last name.
5. My fiancee wants a name that is strong, masculine and "boss-like" and I'd like something that I can best describe as not unheard-of but not too popular.
So, with all of that being said, this is the short list of names we've come up with: Brock (or Brocke), Vance, Ace, Gabe, and Cash (or Kash.)
Brock/e is the front-runner and I really like the way it looks with the e at the end, but want some opinions on that spelling. Vance is the second runner-up which I think fits my criteria of not unheard-of but not too popular. I think Ace is cute and different but I worry it might be too quirky and therefore not "boss-like." We've both loved Gabe for a long time (shocking for my fiancee since he nixed all my other biblical suggestions) but i wonder if you'd know whether or not it's appropriate to just name him Gabe and not Gabriel, which I don't like as much as Gabe. And C/Kash is just so-so but one of the better one-syllable names I found.
It'd be great if you could give your input about the names in our list and add more you think would appeal to us. We're open to any and all suggestions, even multi-syllable ones, and I just want to reiterate that what I mostly need is some direction!
With an -er surname, I think one of the trickiest parts is preventing the first name and surname from merging to make what sounds like a single occupational name, even a nonsensical one (Paigeturner, Cashpacker, Brantpacker).
I think if I were going to use Brock(e), I would spell it without the E to reduce its similarity to Brooke. Also, the Brocke spelling first hits my mind as if it might be pronounced "broke" or "brock-ee" or "broke-ee"---whereas Brock is immediately clear to me. But I find Brock _arker hard to say (and it might fall into the Cashpacker category), so I'm not sure I'd use it in any spelling.
Vance _arker, Ace _arker, and Cash/Kash _arker sound more comic-book-like/detective-like/action-figure-like/fighter-pilot-like to me than boss-like. The Baby Name Wizard calls them "Macho Swagger" names. They are good, tough, strong, masculine names, and it's hard for me to tell whether that's what your boyfriend MEANS by "boss-like" and I should find more of them for you (my own favorite from that category is the name Dutch, or should I suggest Cage?), or whether I should steer you toward the business suits and conference tables that "boss-like" brings to my mind. And of course the "conference table" names are going to change over the generations, just as other categories of names change (what's Popular, what's Grandparenty, what's Weird, etc.). It's hard right now to imagine a boss named Isabelle, too, but that's only because it's mostly a child name right now, not because the name isn't strong and dignified.
Gabe _arker is the stand-out to me. I can picture telling people I work for Gabe _arker, in a way I can't picture telling them I work for Kash _arker or Ace _arker. If you're worried about using a short form of another name, you could use Gage, which stands alone: Gage _arker. But I've heard Gabe used on its own before, too, just as Jack and Abby are used on their own. Another possibility is Gable, with the nickname Gabe.
If Ace is too whimsical, I wonder if you'd like Jace, or Case, or Chase, or Tace, or Asa, or Brice. Or Abe, which is also like Gabe.
More suggestions that seem to me to be masculine and strong and managerial---yet capable of wearing a business suit without their powerful muscles ripping the seams:
Brent
Dane
Dean
Flynn
Grant
Gus
Hank
Jack
Jake
Joel
John
Jon
Keane
Kent
Reid
Rhys
Ross
Sean
Shane
Saul
Teague
Trent
Troy
Wade
Zane
As I think I probably do EVERY time I mention the name John, I urge you not to let it flit through your mind unconsidered. But I think others from the list are a better fit with your style. Grant, maybe? Brent? Dane? I put Saul in there even though it's biblical, just because I like the sound of it so much with your surname.
But you say you're open to other than just one-syllable names, so let's see if we can think of a few of those, too.
Brogan
Coleman
Griffin
Hugo
Wyatt
Hm, actually there are probably a TON of 2- and 3-syllable names that would work!
