Friday, May 29, 2009

Name that baby!

Today I'm doing one more round of network TV pitches before baby-in-the-belly gets too big for travel. So, I apologize for the fly-by posting while I steal a few minutes of down time at a Starbucks between networks. Literally. Between USA in Studio City and ABC Family in Burbank there must be about 102 Starbucks. I had a really hard time choosing the perfect one to plop myself down at.

So, beyond TV show pitches the thing foremost on my mind lately… baby boy names. Why is it I could easily pick out a dozen great girl names I was in love with, but when it comes to boy names, they all inspire a “meh” response from me? Plus, between my family and Mr. Big's there is a long list of names we can’t use because they’re already taken. Not to mention all my male characters. Sorry, there’s just something too weird about naming my son the same thing I named that drool worthy guy in book #6, ya’ know? And, to make matters worse, Mr. Big and I are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to names. He likes modern, cool sounding ones, I like classic, cuddly ones. Help! We need a name we can compromise on before we run through the entire alphabet doing this back and forth “auto veto” thing.

("Xavier?"
"Veto."
"Zane?"
"Veto."
"Vito?"
"Ha ha. Very funny. And by the way... veto.")

If it helps any, we’ve decide the middle name is going to be William, as it’s a family name on both sides. Any grand ideas for a first name to go with that? So far he’s either “Little Buddy” or “Dude!” depending on how hard he’s kicking me. I don’t think we want to stick with either.


~Trigger Happy Halliday

18 comments:

Booklover1335 said...

My fav boy names are Liam (which does not really go well with William) & Jamie (James). Love Jamie! It can be formal with James, and cuddly with Jamie. Gook luck finding one, I think boy names are always harder than girl names

jenifer said...

Owen and Calvin are my two favorite boy names, though I doubt either fits the "modern, cool sounding" criterion.

Maybe you can find a name "theme" you agree on then look through the lists at Behind the Name. An awesome website for first names!

http://www.behindthename.com/themes.php

Terri Osburn said...

Baby names are so hard because they are so personal. As you say, you can't use certain ones, some don't sound right with the last name, and then there's taking into account the little guy's personality.

What exactly constitutes a modern, cool sounding name? I have a girl (and I'm done!) but if she'd been a boy, she would be Garrett. Not sure that sounds good with William.

I like Ethan, Caleb, Gavin, and maybe Luke or Ian. You say them with William enough, maybe they'll start to sound good. LOL!

Angie Fox said...

We had the hardest time with boy names too. My daughter? Agreed in a weekend. My son? We were still debating on the way to the hospital. Finally, we took the easy way out and named him after his dad. Although now, I say, "Jimmy!" and both of them turn around. Then again, there are advantages to that too. ;)

Good luck!

Gemma Halliday said...

Okay, I’m so glad it’s not just me that has a hard time with boy names. I was starting to feel bad for the little guy. Honest, I like boys!

Going to check out those themes – that sounds like a great way to search. I get kind of overwhelmed just going through the alphabetical lists.

Oh, and I love the name Calvin, too. Love it so much I just named my hero in my upcoming SCANDAL SHEET book that. ;)

~Gemma

Christie Craig said...

Ohh, Gemma,

I love all of those suggested. They sound like hero names. I've always liked Parker, Hunter, and Zac.

Who . . . this is fun.

Good luck on the TV pitches. Sounds fabulous!

CC

Mia Rose said...

Aaaww, baby time!
Hmmm... my fav boy names have always been Athen and Royce. Oh, and Lucas (or Luke, terrio). I've always thought Dean would be fun too.
How fun... I'm probably odd one out here but I LOVE thinking of names!

Good Luck on the pitches, sweetheart!

Gillian Layne said...

Carl William
Zane William
Layne William
Ty William
Benjamin William
Reece William


I always wanted to name my son Benjamin...but I've been blessed with three healthy girls, so no complaints! :) Naming is fun.

Leah said...

Benjamin was my mom's favorite for a boy, too. But with a last name like Hultenschmidt, she didn't figure it'd be very fair. He ended up with Jay. ;-)

Boy names are tough. It seems as though the classic ones--Michael, John, James, Andrew, Tom, Jacob, Joshua, etc.--are used tons. How do you stand out without being crazy or making the kid sound like he should be on a soap opera?

Ryan? Blake? Max? Jesse? Scott?

Gemma Halliday said...

These are great suggestions - keep 'em coming, gals!

Actually we've talked about both Jesse and Benjamin. I love Benji as a nick-name! Still trying to convince Mr. Big, though. He thinks people will think of the stray dog. I tried to tell him no one under the age of 30 knows what dog he's talking about anymore. Lol!

Big's favorite at the moment is Zac. Which I like, too, but I'm not overly hot on Zachary.

~Gemma

Keri Ford said...

Love Brett. Husband does not.

Big thing around these parts is to start the kids' names with the first letters. Sister's kids are Jenna and Jake.

So if I could have it my way, and if I have another boy, my kids would be Brady and Brett.

So what's your other kid's name start with?

Estella said...

Riley or Jerico would go with William.

Refhater said...

If Big is stuck on Zac, why not switch it around and go with William Zachary? You could call him Billy when he's little and then Bill as he gets older.

Here are some possible names to kick around. Dayton, Avery, Dalton, Ashton, Nicklas, Andrew, Brody, Evan, or Jonathan.

I'd like to suggest Harlow (Harlow William) because it's my dad's name and you could call him Harley for short. But some people might think it more of a girl's name thanks to Nicole Ritche.

Tracy Madison said...

We have twin boys, so we went crazy trying to find the right two boy names we both liked. We ended up with Riley and Aidan, and naturally, they're the perfect names for them NOW, but wow--it took is forever.

I'll share the final six we went round and round about:

1. Riley
2. Aidan
3. Connor
4. Ethan
5. Ian
6. Sean

Yep, we were into the Irish names. Funny thing is, I've since named one of my heroes "Ethan," and in looking at that list, I think I'll have to use a couple more soon!

For girls, we had Chloe and Madison. Hmm, I've since used Chloe in a book...and well, you can all see how I used Madison.

LOL :)

Good luck Gemma!

Delia DeLeest said...

My kid #3's name is Rhodey, which I think is a totally awesome name that seems to fit him perfectly. I give you permission to use it if you choose. :D

Rhonda said...

We picked out boy names much easier than girl names... of course I've got two girls :) I've always like Tanner, Tandem and Jared. Good luck!

Unknown said...

My favorite boys names are Joseph or Michael or you could go with Joseph Michael. I also love the name Bradon or Brian

conley730 said...

I have twin boys too. Their names are Connor & Riley. I also liked Cole, Aidan, Peyton...I seemed to have a thing for Irish names too!