six days to go, getting closer to an agreement

[easpurk]

With six days to go to due date we are narrowing our list down. Baby boy to join 4-year-old sister Avery. Our last name is a one syllable one that starts with S.
Thoughts on these name combos? Feel free to rearrange middles if you have an suggestions.

Gabriel Owen S***K (this is our last name)
Ethan Reid....
Oliver Ryan
Ian Quinn
Nathan Henry
Jude Alexander
Henry Alexander
Collin Henry
Alexander...(do not have a middle name for this one but I really like Alexander. I think I could get hubby to go for it with the right middle combo)
Everett (husband's suggestion and I love but might be too similar to Avery)

Avery's Favorite is Ethan. Husband loves Gabriel and Cameron. I shot Cameron down as Avery has a unisex name and I didn't want to do that for both of them. I am not too concerned about popularity as we are having such a hard time agreeing on name combos from names that are actually available to us that I just want to find something we both like. If he has two kids in his class with the same first name I am willing to accept that at this point. We live in a very rural area, I don't think Oliver would pop up around here too much even though overall it is popular. If we went with Hunter, Remington, Gunner (anything with a hunting vibe to it) we would probably be sharing a name with someone in the same age bracket. Actually a few of those are taken by family members. We don't share the same tastes. I went to elementary school with two other girls in my class with the same name and it didn't bother me too much.

Thanks for any feedback.

[zaelia]

The 'A' sound in GAbriel and NAthan sounds too similar to me when paired with Avery. I would pick a boys name that won't mimic that sound from your daughter's name.

My favorites from your list:
Everett
Ethan Reid
Oliver Ryan
Ian (but I don't love Quinn...) perhaps I would use Gabriel as a middle with Ian
Alexander
(Apparently I really like vowel names paired with Avery...)

For middles for Everett and Alexander I don't have any brilliant suggestions but I think Thomas would go nicely with either.
Good luck!

[kala_way]

you definitely have a knack for putting fn and mn's together! I usually dislike people's combos, but yours are great

Gabriel Owen - okay, I love Owen, not so fond of Gabriel
Ethan Reid - LOVE! love this name!
Oliver Ryan - this one is very nice also
Ian Quinn - another great one
Nathan Henry - very patriotic sounding.
Jude Alexander - beautiful! love it. probably 2nd favorite
Henry Alexander - very nice, though this one sounds more formal than any of the others
Collin Henry - I don't like this one. Not fond of Collin or of the combination
Alexander Reece/Rhett/Rowan
Everett - and Avery is definitely kinda matchy, but it's not terrible.

[jessicat11]

My favorite is Oliver Ryan. A 3 syllable first flows best with a one syllable last name, and the v in the middle is an nice connection to big sister Avery without being to rhymey or matchy.

[claireelise]

If you like Everett (with I agree is a little much with Avery...though a wonderful name) maybe you'd also like Emmett?
From your list, I think that Ethan, Oliver, Jude, Collin (I love Collin...it never gets much love here on NB, bit it's a great, solid name!) and Alexander all sound wonderful with Avery.

Middle names for Alexander (some great choices lurking in your list):
Alexander Jude
Alexander Reid
Alexander Collin
Alexander Ian
Alexander Quinn

Other suggestions:
Alexander Rhys/Reese
Alexander James
Alexander Brian

Good luck!!

[mischa]

1 Jude Alexander
2 Ethan Alexander (Ethan Reid has too much "ee" sound)
3 Oliver Quinn

[kittyx2]

From your list I like Oliver Ryan, Henry Alexander, & Gabriel Owen get my vote.

Not a fan of Ian or Nathan.

I agree that Everett is too similar-sounding to Avery. And Ethan is just so 5-10 years ago in popularity.

Cris

[easpurk]

Husband wants to go with Ethan or Gabriel. I do agree that Ian and Nathan are probably a little too boring for us. I like how they sound though. I still love Everett. I love Oliver, but my husband is afraid that if our son is on the smaller side and a little geeky that it might be a disservice to him. I don't know if I agree with that... I got him to leave it on the list, I hope to have three final name combos by Wednesday (the due date) and then hopefully once we meet him we will know what to do.
I think Ethan Reid is a strong contender, Oliver something and Gabriel something.

[101mom]

So I'm soliciting boy names too and several of the ones on your list have been on mine. My kids' names are Ethan and Ava... so I obviously love "Ethan" and "Ava" is much like Avery. I like your style!


Gabriel Owen S***K - By default, I pronounced this with the short "a" sound like a girl. I also think of names ending in the "el" sound as feminine.
Ethan Reid - I like it!! The "ee" sound in both doesn't bother me.
Oliver Ryan - I like Oliver, but would hate it if people called him "Olly"
Ian Quinn - Love this. Ian is/was on my short list, but it's getting nixed due to being "too matchy" to Ethan
Nathan Henry - Like Nathan, Henry not so much
Jude Alexander - Don't think this complements Avery
Henry Alexander - Nah. Sorry, but Henry just isn't my style.
Collin Henry - Nope.
Alexander - Not with Avery
Everett - Too matchy.

[gm4xcyw]

My favorites are
Oliver Ryan
Jude Alexander (but Jude and Avery don't really work well together), so Henry Alexander

I also like Ethan, but paired with another MN - maybe Henry?