We’ve already had fun talking about baby names and grandparent names, so here’s another topic that comes up a lot in the studio: the names that almost were. Those names that never stuck but could have become part of your story. I’ll explain with a few personal examples.
When we were choosing a name for our son, boy names were especially difficult. After weeks of debating countless options, we arrived at three final contenders when it came time to go to the hospital: Arlo, Milo, and Luca. Arlo was the only one that carried personal meaning for us; the others we simply liked. The moment we saw him, Arlo felt right. Milo and Luca felt tied to that period of searching and didn’t feel right for a future child, so we never used them again.
My own parents didn’t know whether I would be a girl or a boy, so they prepared names for both. If I had been a boy, I would have been Scott Christopher. I have four half-brothers—Jeff, Brett, Mark, and John—so my parents seemed to want to follow that one-syllable rhythm. For a girl, my mom liked Tammy at one point, but a cousin already had that name, so they settled on Kelly.
Jeff’s parents knew he would be a boy but considered several names—Jeffrey, Oliver, and Moisha—before finally choosing Jeffrey.
What about you? Did your parents consider alternate names before deciding on yours? Maybe they didn’t know the sex, maybe they changed their mind at the last minute, or maybe they simply couldn’t agree. Did you pick alternate names for your own children? It’s wild to imagine people you know with different names—Arlo, Jeff, or me with another name—and how much a name helps shape identity.
Names often carry memories, meanings, or the feel of a particular season of life. Sometimes a name fits perfectly the moment a child arrives; other times a name feels like it belongs to the search itself and gets left behind. Either way, those “almost” names are interesting little what-ifs that reveal how we relate to language, family traditions, and expectations.
If you’ve got a story about an alternate name—whether your parents had a backup, you almost used something different for your child, or a name changed at the last minute—I’d love to hear it. Share what your alternate names were and why they didn’t end up being used. It’s a fun, small way to see how much a name matters.