I Don't Know What to Name This Baby?

Updated on October 12, 2010
M.!. asks from Boulder, CO
24 answers

I have fretted over a boy name this whole pregnancy. I can't seem to find "the one" Where else can I look? I swear I have searched the entire web and read all 52000 baby names these books claim to have. I don't really have any "rules" so its not like it has to start with an a or b or whatever letter. I would just like a nice decent not too unique boy name that isn't overly popular. So far our list consists of this

Boy:
Nicholai Michael (my husbands preferance)
Bentley Morgan (I like... husband dislikes)

Girl:
McKenzie Rose (originally loved and still do, but have a new name for the list.... husbands preferance)
Gracyn Mai ( I love this and hubby is iffy about it)

We do not know the gender of baby and our girl list is pretty much finalized but still looking for boy names. I also have Ian and Hailey at home.

Thanks for any encouraging words or suggestions!!

Oh ya... 4 weeks to go till baby is here (if not sooner... hehehe)

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So What Happened?

Thanks to most of the great responses. I didn't realize Mai was pronounced My so I will be going back to our original spelling of Mae. Michael is a family name of both my husband and my fathers side (both dads are Michael along the great gpa's and so forth). Also, Mae is my husbands grandmothers middle name so we are using that in honor of her and along with Rose is a family name.

Also, I am sure I should let this go, but kind of bugged me so, had to put this in here. I asked for encouraging words or support - not to be told that I am setting up my child to be a homosexual. I think that was just uncalled for. If you don't like the the names we have picked out you could just say I don't like them. I didn't need to hear that I am setting my kid up to be gay. Gee Thanks. And I don't mind beind told you don't care for a name (it has to be expected, hehehe) just no need to be mean about saying you don't like it.

Ok, sorry to add that in there, just was upset that someone would actually be that cruel.

Thanks again!

Featured Answers

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D.L.

answers from Columbus on

Picking a name is so hard! When we were picking names, I said the ones we were coming up with - thinking of different situations, wondering how it would sound if they were in trouble, when the teacher is calling the name, when they announce the name at graduation, etc.

Worried about Bentley Morgan - they're both cars, though I do think Morgan is cute. I'd consider Morgan a boy or girl name, though I've heard it more for girls than boys. Is Nicholai a family name? (We have a Nicholas) Here are some boys names that I thought would be good since you have an Ian already -
Macaulay, Bryce, Colin, Evan, Liam, Logan, Sean, Shane, Ryan and I think they all go with Michael or Morgan as a middle.

I love McKenzie Rose but personally prefer the spelling of Mackenzie - I would worry about about how popular it is, though (but also wouldn't let it stop me if that's the name you want - it is a beautiful name!) Are you comfortable about how Gracyn will be pronounced? I assume you're pronouncing "Grace cyn" which is very pretty. Agree with the middle name Mai vs Mae. (My or Mae) Love that Mae is a family name! Also liked the Hannah suggestion especially since you have a Hailey (very cute, BTW!)

Also thought the family tree idea was good. You might find something you really like there! Another fun thing might be www.howmanyofme.com.

Good Luck! (Hope you let us know what you choose!!!)

3 moms found this helpful
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B.P.

answers from New York on

Do you want an honest answer? I really don't like any of those names. Actually, I kinda hate the girls names especially although Mai is a pretty middle name. If I had another boy I would pick Grant, Henry, Richard, or Edward. For a girl, I would go with Vivienne, Lily, Marilyn, or Ginger.

3 moms found this helpful
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A.I.

answers from Tucson on

my son is Khayman Dean (khayman pronounced like the island ) it is out of an Anne Rice novel it is egyptian for fierce warrior..he is 11 and to this day have never met or heard this name before.
2 daughters Camryn Janelle and Cassidy Renae

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More Answers

T.N.

answers from Albany on

For a boy, maybe Trey, he will be the 'third' child right?

3 moms found this helpful
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K.N.

answers from Boston on

Gracyn can be a boys name too. i like that maybe you will just have to wait and see the baby and then maybe he will look like A certain name

2 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from San Francisco on

Noah
Sean
I like these boys names

2 moms found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Redding on

For what it's worth, I love the name Nicholai.

Choosing a name can be really hard. Maybe you're worrying about it too much. I drove myself crazy trying to come up with a name for my daughter, literally. She was 4 days old. I definitely put lots of thought into it. I didn't name her a single thing on my list as dad wouldn't agree to any of them so her name was something we'd never even considered.
It fits her though.

You'll find just the right name.

Best wishes and be sure to let us know when your baby arrives!

2 moms found this helpful

J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

How about Gracyn Rose or Gracyn McKenzie for a girl,
Bentley Michael or Garyson Nicholas for a boy? Although I do like the name Nicholai too. i love the name Bentley. I know one and it totally fits his personality, very fun.
If you're looking for new names to throw in the mix In our list of boy's names we had: Thayer, Bon, Seth, Johnny, Josiah, Jedidiah, Zeke, of course i can'ty say all of them because I still want a boy and our pick isn't popular yet. =)
For girls we named her the first we thought of, but after that I came up with more just to make sure I loved her name. Some of them were, Violet, Scarlett, Jessalyn, Billie, Jessy, Zoe, Ruby, Brit.
We still went with our original choice. Roxy, she has three other names in honor of my father who passed. So technically her name is Roxy-Jo Janelle Leela. If your set on those names, maybe once you hold the baby in your arms you will totally know the name. Just breathe. =) Have a great delivery!

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M.G.

answers from Dallas on

Bentley is cute - very different. Never heard of naming a boy after a car, but I like it. Morgan is a girl's name, however.

2 moms found this helpful

S.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

The difficulty with Bentley Morgan is that these are the names
of classic cars. I'm pointing this out in case you weren't aware of this.

Is your husband of Russian origin?
Nicholai is a traditional Russian name.

Have you taken your husband's grandfathers' and great-grandfathers' names and your grandfathers' and great-grandfathers' names and written them all down and played around with various combinations?
Sometimes something interesting, or more modern, will "pop out" while looking at this kind of list.

Your husband sounds like a very patient man.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

I like the combo:

Gracyn Rose
Nicholai Morgan

Bentley... I know too many people who drive that car. It has the same connotation that Ferrari/ Lotus/ Porsche/ Beemer/ Volvo/ Audi/ Chevy/ etc inspire.

For some real fun... have you checked out your family trees in ancestry.com? GREAT names.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.J.

answers from Seattle on

I like bentley, but not Morgan. I like nicholai if it fits, maybe call him Nick. Mckenzie is soooo popular,maybe McKinley? I like gracyn, or Grayson/Greyson for a boy. Mai will be pronounced "my", like a Mai tai, is that what you intended, or may?

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B.

answers from Augusta on

I like Nicholai Michael don't like Bentley Morgan, Bentley is a car.
Not McKenzie it's too common.

My kiddos are Jayson Ian and Brianna Elizabeth
If we have another girl we will name her Eva Kate, my great-grandmother's name or Eva Rose
I like Morgan , that can be a boy's name or a girl's name.

1 mom found this helpful

E.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

my son is aiden Kai. i also like Bayle, Cedric, Dakota, Edge (i read that name once and loved it), Forest, Gage, Hector, Irwin, Jasper, Kato, Lawerence, Markku, Nate, Owen, Pierre, Quincy, Race, Sebastion, Talan, Uriah, Valin, Wade, Xavier, Yvon, Zaiden. I found all these names at babynames.com. i just picked one of each letter.
My other son is john james so im sure you wouldn't want that. its too popular of a name.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Kansas City on

LOVE the name Morgan for a boy. One of our sons name is Brodan(It's a combination of two names we liked, so we just put the names together and came up with Brodan), we call him Brody for short. Our other sons name is too popular, I won't even mention it! :) Loved it LONG before many have heard of it, but oh, well! Good luck to you!!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Enid on

my husbands cuzin thought she was having a girl and they had the name grace picked out, well come to find out when she had HIM, they had to find a new name. but they were so set on grace, so they named there boi gracyn :) totaly cute boi name too!

1 mom found this helpful

H.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

For goodness sake, please not McKenzie- there will be 20 in every class she's ever in.- Just sayin'.

I love Bentley Michael -skip the Morgan, if more of a girls name.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Columbus on

I say, don't sweat it. Something will come to you-even if it's after the baby is born. Both of my kids were nameless for a couple of days. I really wanted a girl with my 1st & *he* didn't look like a Rebecca. Haha. Then, when my daughter was born a couple years later, she didn't really look like a Rebecca either. None of the girl names that we picked seemed to fit her. I sat & stared at her for a couple of days before deciding on Claire-a middle name.
Good luck in your search. But, to the choices that you listed, I do like Nicholai & Gracyn (Gracelynn is pretty too).

1 mom found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Riley, Maddoc or Maddox, Max, Blake, Sam, Nicholas (Nick), Jack and Will are all great boy names.

and for a girl I love McKenna or Grace.

Congrats & good luck, whatever you choose!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Sacramento on

Like the husbands preference for the boy, yours sounds too much like a car. I have heard the boys name Benton and like it a lot its similar and combine it with Michael, not Morgan. For the girl' s name I like yours, girls name Mc Kenzie is just getting way too common and there will be lots of them in school with her, but not sure if I would spell May like Mai, it will be misprounounced, what about Mae? Hope you will call the boy "Nick" and not Nicholai. Good luck

1 mom found this helpful

L.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Gracyn, and I also really LOVE Bentley. But let me caution you... not sure if you watch or are aware of the MTV show, Teem Moms, as one of the kids on the show is named Bentley... and that show has a cult following, so there may be an awful lot of Bentley's in kindergarten when your son goes to school... I see that name spiking in popularity for kids born around this year... just a thought...

Also by Mai, do you intend it to be pronounced May? because it never will - people will read it My... My personal, humble opinion, is to stick with Gracyn May, which actually looks nice, with the two y's in both names...

I don't like McKenzie at all - sorry - plus, it is sooo over-used right now...

Gracyn Rose is also nice...

You have some really nice names picked, in my opinion!

******EDITED*********
And if Morgan is a girl's name, someone should tell Morgan Freeman!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.M.

answers from Scranton on

We have 1 girl and 3 boys, girl is the oldest. I love my daughter's name, Katarina Kristine. We named our 4th child, a boy, Andrew Robert Jr. because we couldn't agree on any more boy names.

S.Y.

answers from Sharon on

Douglas James

Jason Henry

not to common

Orrie Floyd

Earl Lloyd
are some of the names that i know right off hand if i knew u wanted old fashion or popular...
for girl

Autumn Jean

Lillian Rose

Rebecca Ann

Davanna Lynn

Leah Marie
and thats all i have for girl names

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

I love the name Hannah Grace for a girl
And Sebastian Cole for a boy

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