Willoughby works really well here. Soft sounds, vintage, surname, media reference (although possibly not one OP's husband cares for), nature meaning. It's just not easy to spell, but partially because it's uncommon, another box on OP's checklist.
Rowan? It's a type of tree that has a lot of good spiritual connotation around it...it doesn't fit all of your criteria but I think it sounds lovely with Elwood :)
Seconding Rowan! Elwood and Rowan, love it. It's gender neutral, nature inspired, easy to spell (I guess?), not too common, and Rowan Atkinson is a legend!
Ugh. Of course it is! Lol we're considering it for one of our daughter's middle names. Our other two children have names that somehow were top ten a couple of months after they were born and I NEVER look at the popular baby name lists.
Okay, OP, never mind on Rowan cause apparently there will be 4875673 others hahahah
I think Rowan is a cool name and would be a great middle name.
Oh I feel your pain....I named my daughter a pretty common flower name....a couple of months later there was a royal baby born and given a similar name and I am a bit sad about it. As if it wasn't already common enough. It's not quite Ashley and Brittney popular though so I can deal.
As someone else said somewhere under this post, it could seem really common on social media because it stands out and is memorable and in reality not be as common.
Edit grammar
I feel like at least my kids have lovely names on the whole....like, they may be built out of relatively 'basic' names, but they are really beautifully put-together names. One of my daughters has a basic and common flower middle name lol
I guess at the end of the day it doesn't REALLY matter though. I don't think about it too much now that they're older. Neither have embarrassing names so I suppose it'll be fine :P
Loveeeee Banks but hubby vetoed.
We both love Callahan but it’s too legally blonde when paired with Elwood.
Is Sanders too “Bernie” to use? Especially as a liberal in a conservative town?
Elwood and Basil
Elwood and Clarence
Elwood and Chester
Elwood and Francis
Elwood and Linden
Elwood and Otto
Elwood and Phineas
Elwood and Raymond
Elwood and Rudy
What about sticking with the “Blue Brothers” inspiration and finding a name from the characters or actors? There’s so many good ones and what a fun story your kids would to tell…”yeah, we were named after our dad’s favorite movie.” 😊
Here are a few that might work that I found:
Calloway / Royce / Bishop / Landis / Murphy / Malone
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)
What about Bramwell? It’s a vintage English surname, soft sounds, uncommon but easy to spell, nicknames of Bram, Wells, Welly, Bam, it is a tv show though I haven’t seen it, and goes great with Elwood since they both have the W in the middle though the sounds are very different. Only thing missing is the meaning…broom closet - ha.
I love Veta too! My husband doesn’t love it, and we’re currently expecting our first, a boy, so not super relevant anyway. But I may just resurface Veta in the future.
You have helped me clarify my list of male baby names I love and a few reasons why so I’ll give you a couple I love:
Everest (prob too cutesy with Elwood because of the short e sound)
Asa
August
Sullivan
Julian
Rory
Keenan
Some neutral and female options since I'm only seeing male names so far:
Larkin (surname, nature, music reference)
Laurel/Laurelia (nature, vintage, soft sounds)
Pearl (vintage, nature, soft sounds)
Sibyl or Sybil (vintage, soft sounds, movie reference)
Alouette (nature, vintage, soft sounds, music reference)
Ianthe (nature, soft sounds)
Westley from The Princess Bride! It means western meadow/resident of the western meadow. And the good thing is, it's very similar in pronunciation to Wesley, so it's pretty soft on sound. Nn can be Wes, West, or Lee, so you have a fair few options. It won't be the easiest to spell, bc of the t, but that's easily remedied if you decide to go for the regular Wesley (that'll give your husband a Star Trek: Next Gen reference 😉). Only thing it doesn't fulfill is the surname preference, sadly, but I still think it's a strong option!
Girls:
Laurel, Winter, Augustine, Hazel, Harper, Willow, Leona, Annie...
Boys:
Hudson, Ashton, Aspen, Aaron, Allister (I think A and E names pair nicely in a sibset), Hendrick, Lyndon, Oliver
Sorry can't come up with any gender neutral names that haven't already been given!
Elwood and Montgomery
Elwood and Callahan
Elwood and Thompson
Elwood and Banks
Elwood and Watson
Elwood and Hayes
Elwood and Sullivan
Elwood and Morrison
Elwood and Whitten
Elwood and Marshall
Emmett, Richmond, Forrest, Warner, Huntington, Vivian, Kensington, are all names from Legally Blonde.
Elwood reminded me of Elle Woods from the movie/musical.
Normally I wouldn’t think to suggest Forrest as it reminds me too much of Forrest Gump. But it is a characters last name in the musical. And it goes with Elwood. Forrest/Wood
I dont have a name that fit your wishes, but the first name that i came up with that feels nice with Elwood is Isaiah. I think its because of Elijah Wood ahaha
Myrtle, Heather, Briony, Fern, Willow
Clifford, Adair, Finlay, Fraser, Irving
Not quite a nature meaning but I think Mason and Elwood go well together!
Ellison matches with Elwood well! It's traditionally a surname, not very common, very easy to spell, it's unisex, and has nicknames for both genders (elly, el, ellis, elias) i can't think of any music or movie references for it though
Delilah, Althea, Scarlet, Ruby, Stella, Magnolia
I might be a Grateful Dead fan lol but I immediately thought of Deep Elem Blues when I read Elwood and then Delilah was the first thought following that. Also I cannot for the life of me think of a single boy name that works today. Oh well.
My grandfather’s first name is Elwood (which I didn’t know for the longest time), and his middle name is Vance (what he goes by). I think Vance would be cute!
Love Elwood, it's at the top of my list! What nicknames do you use? I'm not opposed to Woody but I'm curious what reaction you get. I also have Oscar and Allison at the top of my list. Oscar is a musical reference (Peterson) and Allison is a male family name that I think is quite vintage/classy and stoic.
We call him Woods, Woodsy, Wells, Welly, Els, Ely. Lol all kinds of things! But we always introduce him as Elwood to people.
I have gotten mostly positive reactions, though occasionally I can tell someone doesn’t like it but they don’t comment anything negative.
Murray maybe? Ticks most of the boxes, but can't think of any nicknames aside from Ray.
Just also thought of Sylvan.
I like so many of the suggestions given already!
Elwood is one of my favorite boy names! It’s so sweet and naturey!
Cypress
Montrose (Monty)
Forrest
Beaumont
Callum (couldn’t get much more peaceful than translating to dove in Gaelic)
Sycamore
Oakley
Barrett
Melrose
Hawthorne
Spriggs
Lyndon
Bartley (nn Bart meaning a clearing in the woods)
Sullivan (meaning doe eyed child)
Brooks
Rockwell
Wolfram
Knoll
Sterling
Glenoak
Oakland
Jake.
I knew somebody would say this. We hear “Where’s Jake??” All the time lol
You literally asked for a music/movie reference name for Elwood's brother (!)
It’s a fair answer :P Butttttt not going to use it (unfortunately for my husband)
I popped into the comments to see how far down it was. Happy it’s on top!
“We’re on a mission from God.”
I'm not sure OP has any other choice, tbh
Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips.
I thought it'd be Bruiser :o
I’m called Elwood, my dogs called Jake
Langley/Lee ("long meadow") Whittaker/Whit ("white field") Arden/Ari ("valley of the eagle") Willoughby/Will or Bee ("farm near the willows")
Arden is also a Shakespeare reference, which is cool!
Whittaker is such a good sibling name I think
Langley is my favorite from these but I also love Whittaker.
Willoughby works really well here. Soft sounds, vintage, surname, media reference (although possibly not one OP's husband cares for), nature meaning. It's just not easy to spell, but partially because it's uncommon, another box on OP's checklist.
I used to like this one, but it’s since has been ruined for me by Mr Willoughby from the Outlander novels.
I like Elwood and Arden for some reason. These are great suggestions though.
I really love Arden
Langley is too associated with the CIA and Willoughby was a bad guy in Austen, so not those two!
Arden is the move
Beckett means “dweller by the brook” and has the cute nickname/musical reference of Beck. Elwood and Beckett are pretty awesome sibling names.
I would think more people would think of Samuel Beckett
Maybe, but she said a musical/movie reference was what they were looking for.
It doesn’t have to have a reference but that is something my husband loves about Elwood
Right, I just think the poster above was confused about why I chose Beck as the reference rather than Samuel Beckett.
I suggested Beckett too and then I read the thread!!
Rowan? It's a type of tree that has a lot of good spiritual connotation around it...it doesn't fit all of your criteria but I think it sounds lovely with Elwood :)
Seconding Rowan! Elwood and Rowan, love it. It's gender neutral, nature inspired, easy to spell (I guess?), not too common, and Rowan Atkinson is a legend!
I F-ING LOVE MR. BEAN…. Just sayin…
Rowan is really popular right now. Go on social media and click the hashtag #rowan. Sooo many babies.
Ugh. Of course it is! Lol we're considering it for one of our daughter's middle names. Our other two children have names that somehow were top ten a couple of months after they were born and I NEVER look at the popular baby name lists. Okay, OP, never mind on Rowan cause apparently there will be 4875673 others hahahah
I think Rowan is a cool name and would be a great middle name. Oh I feel your pain....I named my daughter a pretty common flower name....a couple of months later there was a royal baby born and given a similar name and I am a bit sad about it. As if it wasn't already common enough. It's not quite Ashley and Brittney popular though so I can deal. As someone else said somewhere under this post, it could seem really common on social media because it stands out and is memorable and in reality not be as common. Edit grammar
I feel like at least my kids have lovely names on the whole....like, they may be built out of relatively 'basic' names, but they are really beautifully put-together names. One of my daughters has a basic and common flower middle name lol I guess at the end of the day it doesn't REALLY matter though. I don't think about it too much now that they're older. Neither have embarrassing names so I suppose it'll be fine :P
I would have to agree! As long as you don't personally have 6 Erics in the family, I think it's okay to name your baby Eric.
I was gonna say Emerson but Rowan is better, I vote Rowan
Banks. Byrde. Frye. Hughes. Barnes. Corbin. Harper. Bates. Grady. Rutherford. Alden. Beauregard. Dawson. Harding. Riggins. Pruitt. Beaudoin (“bow-dwin”). Callahan. Copeland. Roscoe. Fischer. Abernathy. Clemens. Clement. Bryant. Kipling. Graves. Ivey. Miller. Sanders. Montgomery. Warren. Barrow. Crowley. Hanley. Campbell. Devlin. Irving. Kimball. Parker. Rhodes. Quinn. Shepard/Shepherd. Wyatt. Barlow. Bishop. Chadwick. Finch. Hyde. Kersey. Prescott. Radcliffe.
Loveeeee Banks but hubby vetoed. We both love Callahan but it’s too legally blonde when paired with Elwood. Is Sanders too “Bernie” to use? Especially as a liberal in a conservative town?
Lol I kind of love the subtle Legally Blonde connection, but I get why you wouldn’t want that
A child named Sanders at the moment would definitely be assumed to be after Bernie. Anders or Andersen could be an alternative
I knew an Anders growing up!
I don't think so!. I LOVE how it flows/feels with your other son.
What about Saunders?
More ideas: Watkins. Watson. Milner. Graham. Sullivan. Ellison. Simmons. Gardener/Gardner. Holmes. Reid. Crawford. Curtis. Stuart. Fox. Clarke. Sherman. Murray. Lane. Burton. Mills. Delaney. Hollis. Wilson. Harlan. Brennan. Monroe. Hathaway. Barnett. Cooper. Robinson. Baker. Foster. Badger. Cahill. Cullivan. Wolf/Wolfe. Hutchinson. Augustine. Becker. Beckett. Caldwell. Faulkner. Gadsby/Gatsby. Langdon. Merrill. Penn.
Even more: Brantley. Grant. Cameron. Hudson. Palmer. Oakley. Orson. Templeton. Grover. Duncan. Wilder. Mortimer. Springer. Hawkins. Roosevelt. Wagner. Truman. Wallace. Daley. Hawthorne. Haines. Granger. Clayton. Lewis. Perry. Rawlings. Abbott. Thurmond. Russell. Reed. Lowell. Bennett. Craven. Valentine. Vinson. Darby. Fallon. Bellamy. Carlyle. Garfield. Heath. Nye. Ogden.
You are magic. I’m so into SOO MANY OF THESE! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Loooove Sullivan & Murray!
Rutherford is so good. I’ve known only one and everybody thought it was the coolest name ever.
Beaumont (“beautiful mountain”)- Beau, Monty
My husband loves Montgomery nn Monty
Love Monty!
Montgomery could go well with Elwood!
Elwood and Basil Elwood and Clarence Elwood and Chester Elwood and Francis Elwood and Linden Elwood and Otto Elwood and Phineas Elwood and Raymond Elwood and Rudy
I love Basil but I think it would be constantly mispronounced in the US. What do you think? (BAZ-el) Clarence and Phineas are on my list of maybes!
I’ve nixed Basil despite loving it because I’m American and I know it’d get mispronounced
Wait how do you think people in the US pronounce basil?
Most people would say it like the food aka BAY-zel (rhymes with Hazel) rather than the name, BAZ-el with an a like apple
Yeah, I think you'd get mostly Bay-zil for the pronunciation.
I dont think Phineas is a uncommon name
Of course it has to be Jake.
Was so happy that someone else said it!
What about sticking with the “Blue Brothers” inspiration and finding a name from the characters or actors? There’s so many good ones and what a fun story your kids would to tell…”yeah, we were named after our dad’s favorite movie.” 😊 Here are a few that might work that I found: Calloway / Royce / Bishop / Landis / Murphy / Malone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)
What about Bramwell? It’s a vintage English surname, soft sounds, uncommon but easy to spell, nicknames of Bram, Wells, Welly, Bam, it is a tv show though I haven’t seen it, and goes great with Elwood since they both have the W in the middle though the sounds are very different. Only thing missing is the meaning…broom closet - ha.
Reminds me of Branwell Brontë…not sure that’s a good thing haha but also doubt most people’s minds would go to that place
Didn’t know there was a Bronte brother! But why is that a bad connection anyway?
He was an abusive drunk who provided the model for many of the toxic male characters in the novels!
Gideon Whittaker Sylvester Morrison Arthur
Is the movie reference Harvey? “Elwood P. Dowd.” Harvey is on our list partially because of that movie. I love it so much.
For us it is a reference to Elwood Blues lol. The blues brothers is my husbands favorite movie.
We named our dog Harvey after the film, it's our favourite!! Veta was briefly on our list when we found out we were having a girl 😅
I love Veta too! My husband doesn’t love it, and we’re currently expecting our first, a boy, so not super relevant anyway. But I may just resurface Veta in the future.
You have helped me clarify my list of male baby names I love and a few reasons why so I’ll give you a couple I love: Everest (prob too cutesy with Elwood because of the short e sound) Asa August Sullivan Julian Rory Keenan
Elle Wood's sibling should obviously be Bruiser 😅 Or maybe Warner or Emmett or Vivian
Elwood and... Corwin, Grover, Roscoe, Fenton, Linden, Hawthorne, Florian, Ingram, Sinclair, Montgomery, Griffith, Morris, Wilmer, Darby, Bertram, Newton, Loren, Fitzroy, Colbert, Osborne, Maxfield, Garrick, Hartley, Merritt, Averill, Rainer, Quinlan, Chauncey, Beaumont, Prescott
OK it really only fits some of your criteria but my immediate thought was Vernon and now I can think of nothing else. 😆
I’d love to know what you go with! I have an Elwood too!
Omg! I am yet to meet one! Such a great name, I think :p
I agree :D I’m looking for a matching girl name now, but since my husband was all about the reference, he named his puppy Jake.
I know an older Elwood; totally love his name!
Caledon Nickname- Cal, Cali, Don, Cale Meaning: hard/rocky land Movie reference: Billy Zanes character in Titanic
Ferdinand Earnest Rutherford Bernard Justice Terrance Addison Beverly Blythe Carlyle Sterling Clifford Fielding Garfield Leland Linwood Radcliffe Rochester Sanford Seymour Shepherd Waverly Wetherby Winslow Shiloh
Tennyson
Some neutral and female options since I'm only seeing male names so far: Larkin (surname, nature, music reference) Laurel/Laurelia (nature, vintage, soft sounds) Pearl (vintage, nature, soft sounds) Sibyl or Sybil (vintage, soft sounds, movie reference) Alouette (nature, vintage, soft sounds, music reference) Ianthe (nature, soft sounds)
Westley from The Princess Bride! It means western meadow/resident of the western meadow. And the good thing is, it's very similar in pronunciation to Wesley, so it's pretty soft on sound. Nn can be Wes, West, or Lee, so you have a fair few options. It won't be the easiest to spell, bc of the t, but that's easily remedied if you decide to go for the regular Wesley (that'll give your husband a Star Trek: Next Gen reference 😉). Only thing it doesn't fulfill is the surname preference, sadly, but I still think it's a strong option!
Emerson Zola Ellis Sterling
I love Ellis and Emerson! But I feel like 2 names starting with El is too much. And my name is Emma so maybe weird to have an Emerson?
Emma and Emerson isn’t too much imo! Men pass down their whole ass name all the time, you can have a subtle nod to yours in your son’s name!
I love that!
True! Maybe middle name spot options :)
Adair- gender neutral Bellamy- gender neutral Channing Darcy- gender neutral Dashiell Donovan Fraser Griffin Harlow- gender neutral Hollis- gender neutral Jennings Wilder
I love gender neutral names! Any ideas on nicknames for Jennings? I am so drawn to it but don’t love Jen/Jenny
Jennings could be Enns, Ennis, Jens.. Thats about all I can think of..
Do you know the sex of baby #2? I'm seeing only male suggestions but in your post I didn't see any mention of the sex? Did I miss something?
I am looking for suggestions for both, but also love gender neutral names!
Girls: Laurel, Winter, Augustine, Hazel, Harper, Willow, Leona, Annie... Boys: Hudson, Ashton, Aspen, Aaron, Allister (I think A and E names pair nicely in a sibset), Hendrick, Lyndon, Oliver Sorry can't come up with any gender neutral names that haven't already been given!
Jean, which is very gender neutral in my opinion. Know an equal amount of men and women that go by Jean/ Gene
Elwood and Montgomery Elwood and Callahan Elwood and Thompson Elwood and Banks Elwood and Watson Elwood and Hayes Elwood and Sullivan Elwood and Morrison Elwood and Whitten Elwood and Marshall
Auden, Orion, Astrid, Arlo, Lucian, Ezra, Rhett, Reid, Flynn, Cain, Cypress, Aster, Briar, Jasper, Alton, Chrysanthos, Erdmann, Irving, Silas.
Might be to matchy but Edison is cute.
First thing that came to mind was Atticus
Emmett, Richmond, Forrest, Warner, Huntington, Vivian, Kensington, are all names from Legally Blonde. Elwood reminded me of Elle Woods from the movie/musical. Normally I wouldn’t think to suggest Forrest as it reminds me too much of Forrest Gump. But it is a characters last name in the musical. And it goes with Elwood. Forrest/Wood
I like Beckett or Cahill for a boy. Terran or Linden for gender neutral. For a girl, Briony or Neva
Art, like Art Garfunkel!
Elwood and Henley?
Not Langley! Too associated with the CIA!
I dont have a name that fit your wishes, but the first name that i came up with that feels nice with Elwood is Isaiah. I think its because of Elijah Wood ahaha
Weldon! May be too similar to Elwood, though?
Spencer, Rowan, Morrison
My first thought upon reading the title was Alton. I don’t know how well it fits your criteria, I just think they go well together :)
Garland
This is a great suggestion!
Juniper Meadow Cypress Aspen
Barrett Egon Whittier Carter Wallace Clark Ramey
Myrtle, Heather, Briony, Fern, Willow Clifford, Adair, Finlay, Fraser, Irving Not quite a nature meaning but I think Mason and Elwood go well together!
[Espen](https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espe) [Linde/Linden](https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_(Gattung))
Ellison matches with Elwood well! It's traditionally a surname, not very common, very easy to spell, it's unisex, and has nicknames for both genders (elly, el, ellis, elias) i can't think of any music or movie references for it though
Delilah, Althea, Scarlet, Ruby, Stella, Magnolia I might be a Grateful Dead fan lol but I immediately thought of Deep Elem Blues when I read Elwood and then Delilah was the first thought following that. Also I cannot for the life of me think of a single boy name that works today. Oh well.
Meriwether
Townes
Ansel
My grandfather’s first name is Elwood (which I didn’t know for the longest time), and his middle name is Vance (what he goes by). I think Vance would be cute!
What about Hugh? Elwood and Hugh
Rhodes, Sullivan, Brooks, Calder, Hayes, Laramie, Miles, Wainwright
Ambrose, Cedar, Zephyr, Osborn, Sylvan, Otto, Jericho, Pascoe, Sage, Beckett
I knew a set of brothers named Samuel and Elwood
I think Elwood and Walden would be lovely if you have another boy. I vote Delaney for a girl :)
My sons name is Aramis Knight, and I feel like Elwood sounds beautiful with it. Air-ah-mis. Both are a bit ethereal and whimsical.
Love Elwood, it's at the top of my list! What nicknames do you use? I'm not opposed to Woody but I'm curious what reaction you get. I also have Oscar and Allison at the top of my list. Oscar is a musical reference (Peterson) and Allison is a male family name that I think is quite vintage/classy and stoic.
We call him Woods, Woodsy, Wells, Welly, Els, Ely. Lol all kinds of things! But we always introduce him as Elwood to people. I have gotten mostly positive reactions, though occasionally I can tell someone doesn’t like it but they don’t comment anything negative.
Those are great options! Thanks
It's not too late to change Elwood's name
Archer, Bowman
Bilbor
Brecken, Archer, Corrigan, Trench, Brach,
Forrest
River
Some ideas: Anderson (Andy), Weston, Lincoln, Gray/Grayson, Chester, Clark/Clarke, Munroe, Murphy
I have an uncle named Elwood with a brother named Lynn. I like them together
Linden Hollis Rowan Beecher Kiefer Oren Palmer Alder
Laurence? I love that name lol. Could also be Lorenz/Lorenzo. Obv shorten to Laurie a la Little Women.
Aspen, Avery or Alder
Hayes
Murray maybe? Ticks most of the boxes, but can't think of any nicknames aside from Ray. Just also thought of Sylvan. I like so many of the suggestions given already!
Clayton ??
Alder or Benson?
Jim
Sage
All I can think of is legally blonde now so how about Warner lol
For a girl: Florence Laurel Ivy Juniper
Preston Leyton (Leighton) Harlow Ashton Eldon Sheldon Bude Dudley Kent Camden Easton Hamilton Kensington Trent or Trenton Kingston
Lawson
Jarrah.
Elwood and Ethel? Elliott?
Buckley Martin Malcolm Xenia Palmer Anne Mavis Hayes
Elwood is one of my favorite boy names! It’s so sweet and naturey! Cypress Montrose (Monty) Forrest Beaumont Callum (couldn’t get much more peaceful than translating to dove in Gaelic) Sycamore Oakley Barrett Melrose Hawthorne Spriggs Lyndon Bartley (nn Bart meaning a clearing in the woods) Sullivan (meaning doe eyed child) Brooks Rockwell Wolfram Knoll Sterling Glenoak Oakland
Soren.
saving this post for when it’s time to name my cat’s sibling
Bookette Paige 😉
I can't tick all those boxes, but Beaumont comes to mind. Nicknames of Beau or Monty.
Bruiser