Naming the Hall Boys
This post is LONG overdue but I am thrilled to finally be writing it as naming the boys ended up being a fascinating, super cool experience! Also doesn’t hurt that one of their names is very, very holiday related :) The second that we transferred two embryos I told C that they were twin boys that would look just like him and have big blue eyes (nailed it). Since I qualified for the NIPT test we knew pretty early on that I was right, so we didn’t spend much time on girl names. If it HAD been a girl or two girls, the names we liked included:
Celine
Kemble
Collins
Covie
Quincy
C only liked Celine on that entire list but I would’ve talked him into Kemble or Covie if I had needed to ;)
Now that that’s out of the way - on to naming our BOYS! I am a nut about names. I take it very very seriously - I’ve worked in marketing/creative fields my entire career and to me naming a person is just about the most important branding moment of someone’s life. We all know people that perfectly fit their names… the kind of match that when you hear the name, someone you know with that name immediately comes to mind. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes, that makes naming your own babies pretty tough :) Combine my high-stress, high-risk approach to naming with a husband that works in a school and knows someone with just about every name and you’ve got a recipe for naming gridlock.
Before we really got started on naming the boys we made a deal. We would make a list of names that we both “approved” and then we each could make the final call on one. Whichever twin was born first would get the name that came first in the alphabet. Fair and square. Thankfully we both landed on one name for the list pretty quickly. It’s not secret that C is an avid fan of all things Christmas and he makes us watch Christmas Vacation a minimum of six times per season - we jokingly call him Clark Griswold. Last Christmas I was a few months along while we watched it for the first time and I told C that I actually really liked the name Clark and he laughed that he did too. So, there you have it - one of the boys was named after Clark Griswold.
After this easy win, however, we didn’t make much progress. We like the same kind of names, generally, but we couldn’t put our finger on what it was that we definitely liked in a name, what it was that we didn’t, and what it was that kept landing us on different pages. We’d already done the basics like scrolling endless lists of names on the internet (C) scouring social security lists from 1900-1950 and then ranking any winners in order of popularity in the last 20 years (Meg). I’d also done the real crazy stuff like searching street names in locations that were important to us (Mystic, CT where we got married, several towns in Maine and Rhode Island) and mayyybe had even research owners of old homes in those towns to see if I could turn up any cool sea captains names, etc. I know, I know…
Right when both of us were feeling antsy to lock down the names (C so he could sleep at night, me so I could go nuts getting things monogrammed) Sophie at Nameberry shot us a note offering to help us with naming if we were up for it. I was elated!! Sophie is one of the senior editors at Nameberry, one of the largest name websites in the world (if you’ve ever named anyone or anything, I promise you’ve used it). She is also a perinatal therapist by day and full-time….NAME CONSULTANT. Basically the coolest job I can think of aside from naming OPI nail polish colors. We jumped at the opportunity.
First Sophie sent over a detailed questionnaire to gather a bunch of information - some things we had mindfully considered (how many syllables, how traditional) and some I hadn’t realized but definitely matter (any letters we wanted the name to start with? any we were avoiding? did we have any religious considerations?) It also asked which names we had considered but ultimately passed on and way (fun fact: one of our names ended up being one of these!), as well as any that were still in the running. It was a great exercise in helping us understand what things we (C&I) agreed/disagreed on as well as what elements we needed to think about in order to find the right name.
After this was submitted Sophie did some foundational work on her end and then scheduled our consult call. Sophie was very intuitive - within a few minutes on the call she identified that I had an anxious energy around finding the name (see beginning of this post - I felt so much pressure!) which actually made me feel some relief that she understood where we were at (and what C was dealing with HA). She reassured us that it wasn’t just us with a few fun facts:
There are actually more girls names then boys (meaning in our case, less to choose from). This is because traditionally, boys were named after their fathers to carry on the family name. Historically, girls were named to be “married off” so they were much more likely to be given trendier, “cutesy” names
This is changing now with many more modern names being introduced.
She also elaborated on a few criteria that she had identified from our questionnaire:
We like surname names i.e. last names as first names - we are modern in that sense as it’s a vintage idea that’s taken off in the 20th Century
We like undated names - i.e. if you meet a Hudson or an Everly you innately assume they are relatively young, while if you meet a Grant for example they could be any age. The number of Grants that you knew growing up is relatively similar to the number of babies named Grant born today. Grant was on our list by the way, but we didn’t care for it combined with Clark, which is another good example of an undated name! This helped reassure us that Clark was a good name for us.
A big challenge for us, however, is that we prefer uncommon classic names. This makes perfect sense in our choice of the names Nell and Clark - both classic names people have heard before but not often, and are unlikely to have another in their class at school.
We like short names (this is true) and names that were not within the top 250 most popular names. A bit more on name popularity:
This is 100% true but I learned a lot from Sophie on how to look at it. My formula had been to use the Social Security website to search for names by current popularity and then to use it in reverse, searching old lists from eras with more classic names like the 1920’s for inspiration. My overall goal was to have none of our children’s names in the current top 1000 (I achieved this with Nell) but that’s a pretty arbitrary goal as “popularity” has many dimensions.
For example, the Social Security site counts any spelling/version of a name as separate (i.e. Allyson and Allison would be different numbers) and it accounts for the number of babies born with certain names overall.
Sophie had a more specific take on popularity by narrowing the rankings 1) to count all spellings and nicknames of the same name as one, 2) by pulling geographical versions of the list - this one proved to be extra critical for us as a tie-breaker! and 3) by sharing the historical and future likelihood for a name to become popular, which she defined as in the top 250 overall most used names in a single year. This was also super important for us!
Ok so that’s a lot but let me put it all together for you with an example. One of C’s top names that I was on the fence about was Ford. We both really like the name but I felt that it had become incredibly popular and would continue to grow rapidly in popularity over the next few years. C disagreed as per MY criteria, it was only #459 last year, far from being a common name. Sophie broke this down a bit for us two ways:
1) Geography: while C was right that overall it isn’t incredibly popular nationwide (yet) it IS very popular in the northeast where live, especially in CT! So I wasn’t wrong either that we’ve been hearing it quite a bit more lately.
2) Potential popularity: While Ford was #459 in 2021, it was all the back at #642 in 2020. Most names that rise through the ranks over 100 places in a single year do have a high likelihood of becoming popular.
Make sense? Now we can get into the nitty gritty of our top two names for Hall twin #2! Drum roll…
We were deciding between Tate (C’s #1 and one a ton of you recommended!) and Tad (my #1, that literally no one but me liked lol). I told C I’d play it easy and “take” Clark as my choice since we were much more divided on #2 and I wanted him to feel like he really loved both names. Sophie’s fast take on both:
Tate feels clipped well like Nell but is rising quickly in popularity
Tad is very uncommon (it was actually Abe Lincoln’s sons name) with only 10 babies born last year with this name but sounds a lot like Ted which we didn’t want
Both were good options with our middle name choices which were Sheehan (C’s maternal great-grandmother’s last name) and Jeffries (C’s dad and oldest brother are named Jeffrey). We originally had it down to Clark Jeffries and Tate or Tad Sheehan and ended up swapping that after this process too!
After a discussion around these final two and some good food for thought, Sophie ran us rapid fire through a list of 65 other names that fit our “criteria” as defined in this process. A few, York and Moore, stood out to us, as well as one she had included that she noted was on our “discarded” list… Penn :) She asked us why we’d decided against it and I shared my totally over-thought concerns about it sounded with Hall and we all ended up laughing that none of my concerns made any sense at all. And just like that, Penn was back in the running. We decided to think about York, too, which was only given to 14 babies last year and had a personal tie for us as we love visiting York, Maine.
Sophie ended the call with Tate, Tad, Penn and York as our final contenders as well as confirmed Clark Sheehan and Jeffries as our other decisions and then went off to create her final report (and give us some time to think it over). A week or so later she came back with our final report which, to be honest I wasn’t sure what there was left to consider until I read this and wow. It was next level and made decision making a snap! As to avoid paraphrasing, and because it’s fascinating, here is the full report:
Hi Meg and Chris,
It was so nice to meet you both on Wednesday! We made progress towards finalizing your twin
sons’ names. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, one of your boys will be named Clark
Jeffries Hall. It’s a strong, timeless choice — much like Nell Marin — and fits your family
aesthetic to a tee.
Your second son’s name is still up in the air. After our discussion, we narrowed the list down to
Tad, Penn, Tate, and York. Let’s take a look at each in depth.
Tate
If we could halt Tate’s rise in popularity right now, I’d tell you to go for it. Tate is a snappy,
bright surname name, and the strong T ending pairs well with the crisp K in Clark. It’s a
sophisticated and creative choice thanks to its connections to London’s Tate museums. At
present, Tate checks all your boxes — at Number 353, it’s similar in popularity to Clark (Number
390) and has the same traditional-but-fresh vibe.
However, Tate is rising quickly. Between 2019 and 2020, Tate rose more than 100 spots in the
national rankings and will likely break the Top 300 for 2021. It’s difficult to say exactly how high
Tate will get at its peak and when that will be, but it is at risk for losing the timeless quality you
appreciate in the other names on your list.
Interestingly, Tate is actually less common than average in Connecticut. In 2020, it did not meet
the five-baby threshold to make it onto the state’s rankings (Clark, for comparison, was used
seven times in 2020). We expect that to change as Tate rises, but if you did choose Tate for
your second son, he’d be unlikely to meet many others in his grade level.
York
We added York to the list during our meeting, and it’s great in a pair with Clark. The names are
different in sound yet share a K ending, which nicely and subtly ties them together. York is
preppy and cosmopolitan — conjuring up New York City, the city in England, and royalty.
York is incredibly rare — it was given to just 14 baby boys in the entire country in 2020. It’s
never been common — despite appearing in the data almost every year since records began,
York has been given to, at most, 21 baby boys in a single year (that year being 1971). However,
York’s familiarity as a place name softens the popularity contrast between York and Clark.
York is a great option for you, but you don’t seem to love it as much as the two front-runners,
Tad and Penn. So without further ado:
Tad
Tad is an unexpected choice, in the best way possible. It’s practically unique as a name, only
given outright to 10 baby boys in 2020. It’s impossible to know how many others carry it as a
nickname, but it’s safe to say that number is very low. At its peak in the ‘60s, Tad was used only
265 times in a single year. Tad never broke the Top 300, so it doesn’t carry any generational
associations.
Tad is preppy but very approachable, much like Clark, and has historical precedence via
President Abraham Lincoln’s son Thomas “Tad” Lincoln.
The T-d sound is very fashionable right now, as seen in popular choices Theodore and Teddy.
This would give a Tad the best of both worlds — a name that fits in with his peers’, yet he has
all to himself. Plus, Taddy is an adorable alternative to Teddy. One potential downside is that
Tad/Taddy could get mistaken for Ted/Teddy, especially since the latter is much more common,
so you would have to be prepared to make that correction.
The middle name you’re considering, Sheehan, is a perfect fit with Tad. Tad Sheehan Hall would
be a stellar combination.
Penn
You expressed concern over Penn’s flow with your surname, but Penn Hall is a dignified and
memorable name. Clark and Penn seem practically tailor-made for brothers. Both are more
common as surnames yet have established histories as first names.
Additionally, they have a subtle writing theme. Clark is an occupational name meaning “scribe,”
and Penn, of course, sounds like “pen.” A connection like this feels especially satisfying for twin
names.
Penn has various pleasant associations, most notably Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl fame and the
Ivy League school, both of which contribute to its preppy aura.
Penn first entered the charts in 1915 but didn’t see steady use until the late ‘90s and early
2000s. Penn Badgley gave it a boost, and it reached a small peak in 2014, when it was given to
79 baby boys.
Most recently, Penn was used 72 times in 2020. It’s remained relatively stable — given to 45-80
boys each year — for the past decade. That means it’s unlikely to become a Top 100 favorite
anytime soon (or maybe ever).
It’s a tough choice between Penn and Tad, because they’re both excellent names. If we’re
splitting hairs, Tad Sheehan Hall has slightly better flow than Penn Sheehan Hall. If the combo
Penn Sheehan bothers you, you could consider swapping the boys’ middle names, instead using
Penn Jeffries Hall and Clark Sheehan Hall.
As duos, Clark and Tad vs. Clark and Penn are very close. I give the edge to Clark and Penn. They
have the additional connection points of being writing-related and surnames, unlike Tad which
is solely a given name. Stylistically, Penn feels a bit more current than Tad, and has some more
heft — Tad is generally seen as a nickname rather than on the birth certificate. However, these
are not dealbreakers by any means!
Meg, when we spoke, you seemed to be leaning toward Tad. Your instinct and excitement over
the name are the most important factors when making this decision. You really can’t go wrong
here, so choose whichever name gives you the best feeling.
We hope this analysis is helpful, and we look forward to hearing the names of your twins!
All the best,
Sophie, Emma, and Pam
I gave C the final call and he immediately felt good about Penn, with the suggestion to swap the middle names. So there you have it. If we were to do it again, a call with Sophie would be on my “must-do” list. And I am to pursue a secondary career one day, I will be adding Name Consulting to the list :)
Many, many thanks to Sophie and the Nameberry team for literally naming our babies! Our consultation was gratis in exchange for sharing our experience. You can book a name consultation by emailing Sophie directly at sophie@nameberry.com.
Thank you to Monogram Mary for your incredible generosity in personalizing these pillows for the boys (and for keeping our secret!).
Any questions? Just ask in the comments!
