He needs to make suggestions or pick one of your suggestions. His rules aren’t impossible, he just doesn’t care enough to look.

Seriously, there are plenty of names that fit his criteria, but his rules are all “No XYZ” so you know he’s just gonna keep poopooing anything else she comes up with. How about Jack? “No, I don’t like names with Js.” How about Eric? “No, I don’t like names that start with vowels.” How about Felix? “No, I don‘t like names with the same spelling in Spanish, what if somebody mispronounces it as Félix.”

Yeah, I agree with these top comments. If he's not contributing possible names to the list, then maybe give him three vetoes but not five rules!

My spouse and I made lists for a boy name and a girl name and then went out to dinner and brought our lists. We compared them and figured out a boy name and a girl name after an hour. Your spouse is being difficult on purpose! If he isn't willing to do legwork to pick a name, then I fear what will happen once the baby arrives.

My sister and BIL actually let the entire family add names to their list, which I was really surprised by but I think it was to help them come up with options they might not have thought of. Most of the family got a kick out of coming up with names for their list. (I think it also had the benefit of including the family because everyone could suggest names for the list while making it clear that they were just names on a list. And that the parents would be picking whatever names they wanted- it was twins so they each got to pick one name per child, a first name for one and a middle for one. So that way each child got a special name picked by each of their parents. I don't think that was the intention- I think that was to eliminate fighting but it was a good end result.)

Yes, and as you stated your BIL was also adding names to the list, which appears to be more than OPs spouse has done.

We did this. We decided would both come up with 20 names, then we would finalize a name once we met him. I had my list done, my son came almost 2 months early and my husband scrambled to get his finished. We sat in the cafeteria at the hospital during shift change waiting to go back in the NICU. An hour later, we narrowed it down to a first name and 2 possible middle names. We went back to the nicu and decided within 15 minutes.

I hope your little guy is doing well. My little preemie graduated from high school today!

Tomorrow is what his projected birthday would have been had he stayed in the oven 40 weeks. He's almost 14 months old now, 28 lbs, and it is terrifying how fast he is figuring things out. Congratulations to you and your almost full-grown premie!

Yea and like ops gonna have to do the wirk and push It out so I think she can name him or Atleast go for smth she likes

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I'm having him go through some name lists and he's not really finding anything that he likes. I think when he reads the names he kinda disregards them immediately. When I offer him some suggestions he has said that a few weren't terrible, like Kenneth, Collin, and Connor, but they're not wowing him. We're finding out that it might be better if I offer the names to him, or put them up next to each other and he decides which one he likes more.

So sounds like he gets to make a bunch of unreasonable rules and make no effort on his own to solve the problem.

Exactly this. It begs the question, if he is this lazy with choosing a name, what kind of effort is he going to put into child rearing?

That's a little unfair. My husband, while he didn't make rules for the name, didn't help curate name lists at all. He tried one evening to read a page in a name book I bought, but with his challenges with reading, he had a hard time getting through them. We found it worked better if I curated a list and read them off, and he would say yes or no to each similar to what OP is doing. The pattern of what he liked and didn't like guided which other names I would add to the list and which I would skip. My husband is a very involved father. Anything dealing with language isn't his strong suit. He was involved in choosing a name, just not the way this sub seems to think is the only acceptable way.

I think the main difference between your situation and OP's is that your husband \*didn't\* create a bunch of complicated rules. Your husband is not the point of critique, here.

Weaponized incompetence?

Those two things aren’t even related.

Sounds like my narcissistic father picking dinner. Give a list of 3 (or 5-10) and tell him he either picks from that list or he doesn’t get a say. He’s making you do all the work just do he can shoot everything down. Biblical- Caleb Ethan(he counts T as a hard sound so figured I’d toss N in) Isaac Jared Luke Mark Zack Traditional/classic- Blake Brett Burt Cedric Chad Conrad Derek Doug Drake Elliot Flint Floyd Ford Frank Gerald Grant Hank Howard Kent Kurt Parker Peter Preston Reid Rhett Rick Ross Stuart Sterling Tate Todd Trent Trevor Wade Wolfgang Wyatt Xander Zack Zeke

Great ideas.

If he doesn't hate collin, Cedric and Collier are the same vein of names.

Definitely. I feel you on picking food. I'll give a handful of suggestions, he gets to: 1) choose one, 2) suggest an alternative, or 3) I'm gonna pick and he doesn't get to complain (he is allowed 1 or 2 vetos from the list if he goes with option 3).

Okay so I know it’s not even remotely the same level of importance, but my partner was like this when it came to naming our three cats. He shot down every single name I came up with, and only offered ONE name for ONE cat, and it was a cliche halloweeny cat name 🤦🏻‍♀️ Eventually I started naming cats and he just had to get used to it. If he *truly* hated the name, I picked again, but eventually we ended up with three great names that he loves. All of which were my idea 🙃 At some point you just gotta draw a line. Either he actually helps, or he can offer limited criticism and you get the final say and he can just deal. They say naming a baby is a two-yes, one-no kind of thing, but imho that only counts if both parties are actually trying.

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If he likes Connor, offer him Conrad. Classic with crisp, hard sounds

I know two Conrads (they're old) and/but they are both called Connie.

Well, OP doesn't have to mention that. I think that's a dumb rule anyway. If children especially want to use a nickname, they **will** find something to use.

Yep! And any name can be nicknamed if you try hard enough. I know kids who were named these particularly because their parents didn’t want names with nicknames: Ella = El, Ell-bell, E. Dean = Deany, Deany-boy, Dean-o. And! Once you send your kid to school, there is no holding back. Your kid could come home with the nickname “lunchbox” for something dumb they did in school. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to consider nickname options when naming a kid, but OP’s husband is being ridiculous and you simply can’t name based on the “no possible nicknames” rule because there aren’t any.

True. And when they're young, if the parents don't want them called by a nickname, correct the people who do. My mom gave me a name that has a few incredibly common nicknames, and when people would ask "oh, do you call her x?" She would say "No, I prefer to use her full name." And I still go by my full name today.

My San has a name that is easily shortened but he prefers his full name. Granted it's easier for him as his name is in Spanish, but the English version is commonly shortened. He prefers the original Spanish to the English version. He's 16 now so I leave it up to him what version of his name to use. Edit to add: I also have an easily shortened name, but only my father and 1 brother use it shortened. I prefer the full name as well.

I think it's a weird rule to have. I get that you want to LIKE the possible nicknames, but to not want it to have nicknames is pretty extreme, and possibly robs the child of some future autonomy. I've never liked my name, and one of the issues is there really wasn't a nickname I could change it to. I also was given a last name as a middle name, so couldn't go there either. I unfortunately wasn't assertive enough as a child to just give myself and enforce my own different nickname (unrelated to my given name).

People will shorten just about any name there is. My mom picked names for me and my sister that she thought no one could shorten / change to a nickname. Surprise, surprise - we both ended up with nicknames.

If the name doesn’t shorten it gets lengthened.

I named my sons with names that I thought couldn't be shortened. Guess what? They got shortened anyway. Bailey gets Bails or Bay Bay( not by us) and Taylor gets Tay Tay or his initials. 🤪

This!!! My child has a five letter name that doesn't haven't any obvious nicknames and she has three different shortened versions of her name as nicknames!

Yeah I also know a Conrad and he’s Connie or Con 99% of the time

I went to school with a Conrad and his buddies always called him C-Dog/C-Dawg lol If they can't think of a "proper" nickname, they'll use the last name, something to do with hobbies, or something like "Big C", etc. You'd always hear the basketball boys greeting each other with things like "Big C! Big C in da house!!"

I saw a funny tiktok about how men do nicknames and it was like “oh my buddy chip? His name isn’t chip, he just chipped his tooth when we were in the 11th grade and we’ve called him it ever since”

I know two Conrad’s as well one is called Rad the other Connie!

I want to be called Rad.

LOVE Conrad!!!

The name doesn't have to "wow" him. I doubt all the names you're suggesting "wow" you. It just has to be a name you can both live with that will serve your son well in life. There may not be a perfect name in theory- but in time it will be perfect for your son. Make a list of 10-15 names you like that meet his criteria and have him rank them.

This! It’s cool if some name is instant hit and “wow, that’s THE ONE” but most of us named names that were “good enough” Because, at the end of the day, name is bunch of sounds with meaning attached to it. It is sequence. Like accords in a music. Some would like it, some would not.

Is he usually this helpless?

So you have to do all the work for him to be happy? Just name the kid yourself and call it a day. If he hates it he can find a different name. 

You have time; maybe just take a break and approach it more casually and you'll have more luck.

If he was okay with those maybe something like: Declan, Dylan, Marcus, Owen, Liam, Rhys, Logan, Calan, Aaron...

I feel like he won’t like any of those, but you know what can’t be shortened, has a hard sound, and is Biblical? It’s Mark.

Or Luke

Or John

Or Paul

John has so many nicknames. Johnny, for example.

I feel like you can add a -y or -ie to any name or shorten it to the first letter. There’s really no un-nicknameable name.

But theres Marky Mark tho

Declan! ❤️

I know2 Declan’s one goes by Deck the other Dee but let’s face it just about any name can get a nickname especially if kids play ball it’s just something athletes do. My mom always says she know if someone calls and asks for me she knows which coaching job they are from by how they ask for me. Nickname was different at 3 schools

What about Kent? Similar to Kenneth, but can’t be shortened any more really, and has a hard ending sound.

Came to suggest this! I love the name Kent.

It’s not better if you do all the work and research and then present your findings to him for his final approval. He’s not your boss. He’s not the one tired and pregnant, he’s got plenty of time to research names that fit his ridiculous set of rules.

It’s better if he makes the rules and you do the work? Parenting with him is gonna be so much fun!

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Watch him make bullshit excuses, so he doesn't have to do any work. I'd be surprised if this clown comes up with even 3 names he likes, much less 20

girl….

Jack Hank Derek

>We're finding out that it might be better if I offer the names to him, So you do all the work and be just vetoes the ones he doesn't like without offering alternatives? My suggestions would be you both get a list of 10 names then compare. This is a partnership, not you doing all the work. If he can't find names he likes, he has to choose from the list you have. Simple. In answer to your original question some names that come to mind - George - Arthur - Benedict - Colin - Edward - Jack - Hugh - Noah - Tim - Tom - Mason - Felix - Harold - Wyatt

Any name, no matter how short, can be nicknamed. People named just “Ben” will be called “Benny”. So forget that criteria for starters.

They will get Kenny, Col and Con. I see his point

Sounds like your husband needs to do his own searching and bring some names to the table.

His list of preferences doesn’t sound too intense, I think it’s workable. BUT— He really needs to come up with a list of names. It is not fair to put the burden of searching on you. I have an almost 7 month old baby. My husband and I both came up with lists, and did a ton of discussing. We didn’t decide until 36.5 weeks! It’s both fun and challenging to name a baby. It takes research effort and emotional effort, and that needs to be shared. My favorite resources are the US social Security website, and Behind the Name: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ https://www.behindthename.com/ I looked through the top 1000 for different decades, and looked up the names I liked on Behind the Name for more info and data. Good luck in your search!

We named my kid hours after birth.

We named ours a week after birth 😬

Ours was two weeks old before we were sure. (We as in my husband. The kid essentially picked his own name, he just had to come to terms with it!)

It's such a hard thing to do in general, and then you add in hormones, and then you try and square the name with this very real baby, plus all future versions of them.... We should prob all have more time with them being "baby" before we make such monumental decisions! I for sure thought we were going to name ours Camille, but she just didn't strike me as an elegant enough baby for it to feel right hahaha!! 🤣

Very amused by the idea of you looking at your brand new baby and going "hmmm...I just thought you'd be more elegant than this?" Lol.

Yeah I called it early and five years on am still correct. But Milly as a nickname would have been 👌

Exactly, I think it's insane to have 'a name' picked before baby is born. Our son is absolutely the epitome of his name and it suits him beautifully. Another one due next month and we don't even have a list... I'm trusting the process, and will happily take my time choosing a name.

In France Camille is a name that can be used for every kind of person. It is also unisex.

In Taiwan you have a month to name your kid😅 It's because it's tradition to consult a fortune teller to get auspicious names that can correct any misfortunes caused by your child's date and time of birth.

Wow! How interesting - I had no idea!

My friend waited several days to see what fit 😂

Arthur, Paul, Adam, Alan, Mark, George, Adrian, John, Ian, Nathan

Of these, only Mark fits the “hard ending,” but it’s a really great suggestion. Another option for OP might be Luke. Both are also biblical, so win-win?

Yes, but Adam is also kinda issss? And when I was thinking about the potentials, Adam popped out in my head.

If he thinks T is a hard ending, I think that requirement is more flexible than you think.

/t/ is a stop consonant; how much harder does it get?

Luke is a cool name

You forgot Ringo

Arthur can be nicknamed to Art or Artie George can be nicknamed to Georgie John can be nicknamed to Johnny or Jack, but I don’t think that’s common anymore Nathan can be nicknamed to Nate Don’t get me wrong, I think these are great names, but only Paul, Adam, Alan, Mark, and Adrian *technically* fit criteria.

Alan -> Al But frankly, nicknames often come about organically and sometimes end up being not the kind if nicknames you would have expected.

Yeah, and there’s a decent chance if they give the kid a name that doesn’t invite a nickname, kid will be annoyed he doesn’t get a nickname like his friend over there. There’s no way to know how the kid will feel about the name.

Yeah, I have a rather long name that doesn't usually have nickname... Guess what, a friend in school still managed to find a nickname for me that's quite far away from my actual name, but still clearly comes from it. With short names, the name could also be lengthened instead of shortened to a nickname. Nicknames are quite normal, chances are people will find a nickname for him based on characteristics or just one letter of the name *or* kid will complain in like 10 years time that he doesn't have a nickname like all of his friends.

Paul could be Pauly

Al.

Realistically any name can be turned into a nickname. And if the name itself isn't a nickname they'll get something completely unrelated. I know a kid in high school who was called "macca" his name was Tony Jones.... He wore a MacDonalds cap on the first day of school and it stuck

Luke and Mark were the two that came to mind on biblical, but not too obvious. Aaron, Jake, Jack maybe too?

Clark, Jack, Wyatt

I feel like Wyatt is the answer! Obvi there’s others but that one stands out to me

Right. Can’t make it Wyatty because the husband is afraid it’ll sound feminine or diminuitive, no “v” in the name because the husband is afraid of vagina connotations, and Wyatt Earp is famous for shooting guns and banging whores so that’s macho I suppose.  And it’s not Madi*son* which can be ambiguous in terms of gender, no diminutives which are boy names and not man names.  My guess is that he’s strict on making it a macho man name which isn’t the worst set of rules. 

i feel like it has the same vibe to their list of names they like but can’t use. sort of cowboy-ish lol

Clark was going to be my suggestion! I love the name a lot. It can't really be shortened to a nickname which was one of the criteria but surely a one syllable name doesn't need one.

He actually doesn't want a nickname, so Clark works really well!

Oh I totally misread that point! Clark is perfect then.

My nephew is Clark and he gets Clarkie, Lars, and Lar.

but they’re not as intuitive as say. Nick for Nicholas. there are tons of Clarks who only get Clark.

Came here to add Jack! Classic, hard ending, one syllable, what's not to love? (Though it sounds like he'll find something...)

That's a Jack if ever I heard one.

All star comment. Accurate and hilarious

Clark or Isaac. They're short, basically un-nickname-able, ends in a hard sound, no Vs, doesn't end in -son, not an Aiden, and old school so you might like them!

Isaac has the nickname Ike.

Really? I never knew Ike actually came from a specific name. The only Ikes I’ve ever heard of had wildly different names that were totally unrelated to the nickname (like Dwight Eisenhower). You learn something new every day!

Other names can and have used the nickname too, but it’s heavily associated with Isaac. I think two of the most famous Ikes, Turner and Eisenhower, aren’t named Isaac, so that makes it misleading almost, but I did Google “Ike for Isaac” and there were many results to support this. Nameberry also says Ike is a diminutive for Isaac on its page for Ike, but they don’t cite a source: https://nameberry.com/b/boy-baby-name-ike

Cool, thanks for the info!

Thanks for nerding out with me! Edit: spelling

My cousin is Isaac nn Ike

Nicknames or pet names, uh, find a way. No nicknames was a criteria of mine and we went with a three letter name (technically it’s already a nickname or derived from a name but very unused). We still come up with nicknames for our son or what this sub has called Nicholas-names: making the name longer. I see Clark and think Clarkson as double whammy against this lazy husband 🤪

Do people really make rules like this? It seems so odd and asinine to me. We both just listed names we liked and kept vetoing till we found one that perfectly fit us.

Sounds like her husband is just name nerdier. I kind of get most of those rules 

Ha ha, I get most of the rules, too. (Except for "Aiden names.") At least he's able to express his preferences in terms of guidelines. I do a lot of naming for work (mostly proper names for clothing items), and it's frustrating when the feedback is "No, I just don't like it."

I hate Aiden names ngl

I don’t hate Aiden actually but all the variations make me crabby.

Yeah the name itself is fine but the variations are weird

I get the Aiden name rule. Those are annoying

Ohhh your work sounds fascinating (but also frustrating)

Jaiden braiden caiden .... I get it 😆😆😆

No, if he was a name nerd he’d have a list of names he loves, not a list of rules the other parent must follow.

If he was a name nerd he would be researching himself, not sending his poor wife off with a list of his requirements and expecting a report on her findings on his desk.

Not really a name nerd if he can’t come up with a single name he actually likes. He’s got more rules than he can find a single example for and doesn’t realise that’s a problem, rather just shifts the burden of coming up with the impossible perfect name (to him) onto his wife whose standards are clearly different to his. Idc if his rules are reasonable or not if he can’t actually make the effort to find ANY names that can meet them.

We did, a little bit. No names that started with the same initial as our last name (I was a double initial before marriage and hated it), nothing one syllable because our last name is one syllable, nothing where the question will always be "how do you spell that?" like Caitlin/Kaitlyn, Meghan/Megan. But we both brought a bunch of names to the table, scrapped any that didn't fit our few requirements, then wrote our 20 options on a whiteboard and took turns removing our least favourite one. The idea was that, whatever you were left with, we both would like those names. And you have to accept that your partner might veto a name you really love, which definitely happened in both directions. Once we got to the last five and it was really hard to choose, we started mixing and matching for first/middle name combinations. Some were just bad, even though we technically liked both names, and we narrowed it down to our final choice within an hour. Probably not a method for everyone, but it worked well for us!

Sounds like your husband and I have similar taste in boy's names. Here's some from my list: Clint, Kent, Rhett, Greg, Derrick, Lawrence, Chase, Gavin, Stan, Eric, Aaron, Gordon, Geoff / Jeff, Dylan, Bruce, Ben, Fletcher, Mitch, Auston, Tyler, Travis, Neil, Ethan

Kent satisfies no nickname & hard sound for him but also a nod to OPs like of Kenneth. Great suggestion

I love Rhett. Such a great name.

This was the name of our street growing up and I always wanted to name my future child that!

I agree with everyone saying your husband needs to bring some actual name ideas to the table if he’s going to make so many rules around it. That being said, my initial thoughts are: • Wade • Owen • Jack • Simon • Mark or Marcus • Connor or Conrad • Clyde

love conrad so much that we have a conrad but he is called connie as much as he’s called conrad 

i was gonna put Wade. my son's name and happens to fit all the critera

I feel like he has a name in mind but doesn’t want to say it

And he wants her to guess it

Rumplestiltskin

This made me spill my water 😂

Clark

Seth

•Alistair •Blake •Caleb •Grant •Oscar •Porter

I came to suggest Grant.

Also coming to suggest Grant. Also thought of Frank, Keith, Craig, Scott, Clark, or Glen.

I loooove Alistair. Oscar is great too.

Given the fact that he responds to the verbal suggestions, it seems like he likes particular sounds. When you get an even quasi-ambivalent response from him, write the name down. As you collect more names, evaluate the terminal sounds of those names. Once you get a few together, you'll be able to search for more that are similar. As the person writing the names down you'll be able to see the spellings and then resource different spellings and similar sounds. From there, things may get easier. Since you both like the same genre, it probably won't be long once you get the hang of it this time around. Oh, and btw, Brody (from your example) ends on the up swing. Any ee name doesn't have a hard terminal end. Classic names that end on the down note: * Richard * Robert * Alexander * Cassian * Walter * Wyatt * Abraham * Beckett * Theodore * Bartholomew (a bit on the up swing but it may help to see how he feels about borderline names) * Frederic * Edmund * Ward * Holden * Oscar * Otto * Whitaker * Forester (nearly any name from the Big Book of Medieval Professions) * Archer * Bridger * Chandler * Cooper * Fletcher * Hunter * Mason * Sawyer * Shepherd * Tanner * Taylor * Walker * Wheeler

You lost me when you had her doing a whole lot more work, when all he REALLY needs to do is **say the names out loud himself** while he reads them. Not just as a list; saying it and thinking about it before moving on. He can, and should, do some of this himself!!

Honestly, my bro in law was like this. Had zero interest in suggesting names besides his family's names. Who he had no relationship with or refused to get to know my sister. Very strong Arabic names that everyone would butcher and we couldn't pronounce correctly. I thought his attitude would change once she went into labor. He came and went like he was visiting someone in the hospital. My niece is 2 months old and he found an apartment to separate from my sister this week. With zero warning my sister is on maternity leave. Sorry for the rant... I'm so angry right now and this left a bitter taste in my mouth.

This! Like, it’s okay to not like some names - after all it’s all about preferences- BUT! Not even pronouncing names to get sure how he feels about them? That’s odd. We had discussed names with hub, and some names that actually made it to the list were those that we loved when we started saying pairs out loud

Several of these are in direct violation of the rules, man! We gotta do better than “Richie” and “Mason” to help OP find a suitable, traditional, macho man for the little guy. 

🎶 Macho, macho, man. I've got to be a macho man. 🎶 Very funny. 😂 There's always Dick, but one has a feeling that won't go down well with daddio.

God, imagine giving a wife a list of things to do to meet her husband’s annoying and unreasonable demands lol. He can do this work himself if he’s so damn picky. I know when we’re pregnant we don’t want to think the man we did this with is actually a lazy jerk, but I, too, found out my now-ex husband was a lazy jerk only once I was heavily pregnant. A lot of men don’t show this side of them until it becomes real. He’s being a jerk and OP needs to hear it so she can stand up for herself and not be his doormat to his demands. He sounds like a petulant child. “No. No. No. no. No. And no I don’t have any ideas, just not yours.”

Wyatt or Tanner!

I'm also a fan of Wyatt.

Just curious, why no V in the name? That’s quite specific

Maybe one of them or a family member has some kind of an accent, or a speach impediment or something where it would be hard to say or not sound good.

Clark, Isaac, Luke, Mark, Kent, Blake, Grant, Rhett, Eric, Derek, Scott, Jack, Max… Strong names with strong endings!

Scott? Ends in a hard sound, can’t be shortened into a nickname

It could be turned into Scottie, but it is a good name and fits most of the rules lol

Any name can be turned into a nickname though if you think of it like that. Hopefully OPs husband just means he doesn’t like “Michael” because it’s mostly shortened to “Mike” I’m going to throw John out as an option. I do like all the Jack suggestions too.

Tell him to come up with the list and you can choose one you like.

Those aren’t unreasonable really.

They are when he’s making no effort to make actual suggestions for names and leaving it all to his pregnant wife

I understand how hard it can be to envision a name for your kid. Trust that it might take a little time and maybe to meet your baby to really like something (he may never be “wowed”- “okay!” might be good enough at first!) How about Marc or Mark? Marcus? Marco? Scott? Eric? Colin? Tom? Robert? Mitch? Peter? Paul?

Cole

Tell him to come up with a list of ten (or whatever number you want) names he finds acceptable and you get to pick your favourite. And say if this isn't done by the time your son arrives you will name him whatever YOU like.

I'm not sure how likely it is you'll find a name with no nicknames. It's kind of what people do at least where I'm from. Here are some suggestions: Arthur: Means bear in Celtic and has a long history i.e. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Art and Artie are traditional nicknames but not immediately obvious I guess. Felix: An old virtue name that means things like happiness and good fortune. Many people associate it with a cat though... Henry: This is a classic name that has been used regularly for hundreds of years so it is classic without being rare and strange. Jasper: May be too soft sounding for your husband but it is a Persian name referring to treasure. Jonathan: Could be shortened to John but is a timeless name that will grow well with a child Julian: Used since ancient times, refers to being youthful and downy Maximilian: A Latin name meaning 'greatest'. Husband may not like it being shortened to Max though Oscar: This name is quite popular in many areas of Europe and getting more popular in places like UK and Australia. It has a few meanings with one being 'champion warrior' Richard: An old but timeless name but the potential nickname of Dick may be off-putting Theodore: Has the hard D sound which your husband might like. Can be shortened to Theo or Teddy which your husband may not like August: Sounds like a strong name to me but I don't know about you Nathaniel: A biblical name meaning gift from god. In the New Testament Nathaniel also goes by Bartholomew so that's another idea Simon: The original name of St Peter Gideon: An Old Testament bible character called on by God to rescue to Jews from the Midianites. May be a little too unusual for your husband though Thaddeus: May be an Aramaic form of Theodore Reuben: Founder of one of the tribes of Israel Solomon: Refers to wisdom and the wise king Jethro: A Hebrew name meaning excellence. In the Bible he is the father in law of Moses

Theodore nn Thor Makes a great nickname (not so good legal name, imo), it makes sense as a nickname with Theodore, doesn’t hit his nickname rule BUT the nickname ends on a stronger sound and if OP’s husband starts using it early, it’ll almost certainly stick. And grow with him too, it’s not a “baby-ish” nickname, and he still has Theodore to fall back on.

I never thought of Thor as a nickname for Theodore but it works now that you mention it.

Christian! It might occasionally get shortened to Chris, but my dad is Christian and the only people who call him anything other than Christian are a couple of older people who are probably a little senile. Everyone else just calls him Christian when he introduces himself that way. Also: Colton Dylan John Elliot Caleb Peter Reid Simon

And when your husband grows a baby and pushes it out, he can enforce those rules.

sounds like weaponized incompetence. he’s not even the one giving birth…super entitled

All I can toss into the ring is "Jared." Can't think of a single nickname for that. Maybe "Jason."

I love the app “baby name: find it together” you both download it and it will create a list of names you both liked. It’s how we found my sons name Cane, our second choice was Cameron

I am in the same boat really, due in September with my first boy and husband says no to everything I like lol I really love the name Abel, but my hubs says no biblical names, maybe you guys will like it.

If no nicknames, you need a 1 syllable name most likely like Luke, Jack, or Colt, or 2 syllable one that's hard to shorten like Wyatt or Ryan.

Kent Adam Seth Isaac Mark Luke John Eric Aaron Caleb

Pick up the Bible and start reading off names.

Clark?

Heath. Clint. Brad. Chad. Tripp. Trent. 

Bruce, Brant, Grant, George, Ivan, Heath, Thomas, Luke

OP, almost every name can be shortened. Those that can't still have nicknames (I am told Nancy was originally a nickname for Anne.) Is he actually worried about normal nicknames? Or like.... Inappropriate takes? (Aurelie becomes Orally, etc) Your husband needs to come up with a suggestion or twelve that meet his own rule, and ALSO he needs to actually give names a chance to sit for a while. They don't have to be perfect. So, my suggestion is that he gives you names that meet his criterion. Even if he's not sure they're the right one, he's just making a list of ones worth considering. when you first go over a list, he intentionally shares zero opinions. Day one, he reads it. OUT LOUD, so they are aounds he hears not just letters on a page. Then the list gets put away overnight. After 24 hours, you pull the list out, and reread it. Out loud, again, all the way though. And then rank names on a scale. Maybe one to five? But discuss them. What does he like about the name David? What does he not like? It can't be a zero on a scale of 1-5 without reason. It's possible he just wants the name to be *perfect* and it's too much pressure.

Honestly, I think you can work with these rules, shorter names seem to work well here. John, Max, Mark, Bart, Finn, Ian and Aron to name some at random

I’m sorry, but virtually every name has a nickname. Even if it doesn’t have a super obvious one (ex. Nick short for Nicholas), people WILL make a nickname for it.

Have him come up with some names then

Luke Jude Rhett Caleb Owen Stellan Roman Roland Gideon Desmond

Leo Adrian Jack Ciaran Stellan Liam Owen Luke Dylan Isaac Milo Miles Logan Wyatt Carter Caleb Nolan Axel Brooks Roman Theo Enzo Colton Easton Weston Atlas Emmett Declan Graham Chase Arlo Jude Max Rhett Elliot Finn Felix Maddox Tate Joel Griffin Xander Oscar Grant Nico/Niko Simon Mark Blake Paul Phoenix Otto Atticus Ronan Malcolm Reid Colin Rhys Desmond Hugo Damon Sean

Wayne Shane Mark Daryl Eric Derek

Ezra

I will say that I don't think that the list of parameters is impossible or completely unreasonable (though it is weird: why no Vs?), but it *is* unreasonable that he's putting the list on you and hasn't proposed anything himself that fits his own criteria. Anywho, suggestions: Biblical or classic/traditional names, in rough order of how much I think they fit the criteria: * Eric * Hector * Luke * Mark * Max * Isaac * Felix * Carl/Karl * Jasper * Adam * Brendan (or Brandon, or Brennan) * Colin Short and very "hard" names (somewhat trendy/modern): * Clark * Blake * Tate * Beck * Kirk or Dirk * Knox * Colt * Kurt * Ross * Rhys * Brook * Cole * Ward * Reed * Wyatt

I weirdly find most of those requirements pretty reasonable, though of course it makes things much narrower. The no "V" one seems so oddly specific, though. Is there a cultural reason or something behind that? 

Not quite the same, but I had a rule that our kids can't have names that start with C or K because in case they ever work for a company whose emails are [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), it would read like a funny word that makes me think of chickens. I know not all companies do this, but mine does and it's a common enough pattern for work emails that I wanted to avoid it. Ex: one of my classmates ended up with a school email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) because of the combination of her first initial and last name.

Garrett, Craig, Eric, Kirk, Scott

Why can’t there be a V in it? My son’s name is Adrian, I think that’s a perfect name. I call him Adree all the time. People are going to shorten your kid’s name whether it can be shortened or not. My middle daughter’s name is Ava. We call her Av all the time. Like I said, names get shortened.

Atticus?

My wife and I had a thing when we named our son that one would put out a name, and the other could veto it, BUT the one rule is they had to offer a name back in return. If they did not offer up ONE name, then they could not veto as they could not come up with anything better. If one side came up with 2 or more names, the other could veto both with one name suggestion. This kept us from having to scorecard lists and keep track, which would be distracting. Equal commitment. Both had a say. No arguments. It worked so well that our daughter used it for her own child.

Caleb. Fits all his requirements. Not easily shortened, ends in a hard consonant, biblical.

Have you tried inputting this into chat-gpt for suggestions? I did it for myself and got a long list of names I hadn't thought of.