My husband and I are expecting our second son (and last child) on 8/14/11. We have one son, who is three. His name is Carter William. We call him Carter but I often find myself using both names together “Carter William”. I just love the charm of using both names if they flow well together. Naming our first son was a breeze. This baby really has us at a loss.
We have FINALLY narrowed our list down to two possible names. John Robert (“Jack”) and Reed. It seems weird that we have one “complete” name that we like and another that we can’t find a first/middle name to go with. Sometimes I wonder why we are so stuck on Reed when we have a perfectly wonderful full name, but I just can’t let it go (maybe that’s a sign?). I would love some suggestions from you (or blog readers) on the name Reed.
We love classic names that can stand the test of time and can transfer easily from childhood to adulthood. I’m not a huge fan of trendy/popular names, and I definitely dislike odd and very uncommon names or anything that has celebrity buzz with it. So far, our biggest hurdle with naming comes from a few issues I have with how the name sounds with our last name. Our last name is “Knick” (pronounced just like the basketball team). I’m having a hard time with our short one syllable last name. It’s been hard for me to find something that “flows” with it or doesn’t make is sound too harsh. Our names are Andrew Clark (“Drew”) and Melanie Bree (“Bree”).
Here are some other names we considered during our search:
Davis
Miller*
Jackson
Andrew*
Clark*
Cordley*
*Family Name
Hopefully this provides you some insight on our dilemma. I’m really looking forward to your suggestions!
I like the name Reed/Reid very much, but I agree with you about the difficulties with the surname: both "Reed Knick" and "Jack Knick" sound awkward to me. Clark Knick sounds similarly awkward. But "sounding awkward" is subjective, and a certain amount of awkwardness might be unavoidable; and of the three, I think Reed Knick sounds least awkward by far (since it doesn't repeat the -ck sound). I like the idea of using a middle name that parallels the classic middle name of your first son: Reed Andrew Knick, Reed Henry Knick, Reed Thomas Knick, etc. I can picture you calling out "Carter William and Reed Henry, hang up those backpacks before you go outside!"
With Carter, one of my two favorite names from your not-quite list is Davis: Davis Knick, Carter and Davis. I like Davis Reid Knick. If you don't mind repeating the -er ending, my other favorite is Miller: Miller Knick, Carter and Miller. I'm less certain about a middle name for Miller: some of the names I put with it make Miller sound like a profession: "Take this grain over to Miller Jack." Miller Cordley Knick is my favorite, I think. Or, to parallel your first son's name with a classic middle name, Miller Henry Knick or Miller Thomas Knick or Miller Robert Knick or Miller Stephen Knick. I like this idea with Davis, too: Davis Henry Knick, Davis Robert Knick, Davis Andrew Knick.
Additional possibilities---I tried to avoid -n and -er endings, but eventually avoided only -n:
Archer
Charles
Finley
Grady
Harris
Henry
Jared
Malcolm
Redford
Ridley
Samuel
Spencer
Trevor
Turner
Wesley
