Favorite Combination?

[CheerfulYank]

I'm due with baby #3 (a boy) in June. Last name is one syllable ending in CK.

We are quite "boring" namers, I guess. We like classic names with a nickname. DS is Samuel Robert and DD is Margaret Rose. DS is called Sam almost always, and DD is mostly Maggie but occasionally Margaret.

For this boy, William is our front runner. (We're American so "willy" isn't a concern. :o) He would be called Will day-to-day.

We also like (to a lesser extent) Thomas and Henry. I love Jack but think it doesn't sound right with our last name. I haven't entirely ruled it out, thought.

We have a lot of names that we like in the middle. They're all family names or meaningful in some other way.

Francis
James
Dawson
Carter
Ellsworth (!)
Frederick
Reeve

So...any particular combination popping out at you? :) Or any other suggestions? We're open to them!

I like all those names. William was my top choice through pregnancy but when he was born he just didn't look like one, so he's not a William after all.

I like the sound of William Frederick but not keen on Will Frederick or Will Fred (sound like Wilfred!) so i would avoid that.

William Francis would be my choice.

I do, however, like them all as combinations :-)

I can't think of any time that you might use your child's diminutive together with the middle name so I don't think that needs to be a concern.

What does your surname sound like Cheerful? I'd opt for another traditional for the middle, which to me is Francis, James or Frederick (your other choices sound like surnames really). I think William James sounds like the best combo on it's own, but William Francis might work really well with the right surname. William Frederick is a bit of a mouthful.

My surname starts with Br and rhymes with sick

I'm not related to the "journalist" who thinks she's gorgeous and is married to the misogynistic Frenchman. :o

Two syllables then I think. So from a rhythm point of view I think Francis, Dawson, Carter all sound good. Less so for James and Reeve. Not sure about Ellsworth, but maybe that works too.

I do quite like William Carter Surname, although it makes me think a bit of the libel lawyers Carter-Ruck

William Carter is probably my favorite right now too, Nooka.

My great great grandmother was a Carter before she married. Her daughter, my great grandma, lived until I was 18 so I remember her well. She was always telling stories about her wild Carter cousins. :)

I also think William Francis or William Carter sound best.

I love Henry but the r at the end seems a bit too close to the r in your surname meaning it doesn't roll off the tongue as easily. Thomas is ok but I prefer William.

I like William Ellsworth.

William James for me, lovely name. Think we would be having a William if a friend of mine due 2 months before hadn't pinched it.

I like William Carter or William Dawson.

I love Dawson Sophronia but I don't know about WilliAM DawsON. It sounds strange to my ear. Unfortunately. :(

Thomas Dawson would be nice too

It's not very classic but how about Jackson? It sounds better with your surname than just Jack, and then you could use Jack as a nickname. Or maybe John nn Jack?

I have thought of that Sophronia. I don't usually like surnames (there are so many around here like Hudson, Grady, Madison etc etc) but I don't mind Jackson. He would only ever be called Jack though.

Oddly I don't feel like Dawson is a surname because it was my grandfather's and great grandfather's middle name and my great great uncle's first name.

DH apparently wants to call him William Chaucer. That just...isn't happening.

Henry James or Henry Francis are my favourite. I do like William but like Billy as the shortened form. BTW, i'm with you on William Chaucer

Jake instead of Jack? With maybe Jacob for the long name?
The others are all nice, though.

Of your middle names I like James best, but of course it is very overused. Frederick is nice too.

From your list, I love William Francis. I have a William Peter and a cousin who is a William Joseph if that helps (I'm not madly keen on the Peter bit myself, but it is a family name on both sides so not up for discussion...)

Hello again

I prefer some of the other combination generally, but with your surname I think James is better. Now don't hold it against me when you end up choosing one of the others but I think that the other names are too surnamey/big to go with your surname, it kind of makes it sound, to me, like William Carter is his name and Br*ck is just tagged on. It sort of makes your surname sound unnecessary?!

I think William James Br*ck has the nicest sound to it.

However, you very rarely use your middle name do you, so it's not that important that it sounds perfect, it's more important (to me) to have a meaning. So using a Carter would be nice. You could never use it as his first name though

Others to consider...

Arthur. Artie.
Edward. Eddie/Ted.
Charles. Charlie.

All quite popular over here anyway.

I really like Charlie with your surname.

I love, love, love Charlie but it's my best friend's new baby. :( Maggie was going to be Charlie if she was a boy.