[eleven]

Hi,

Do you think James is ok as a first name with a short, 4 letter, one syllable surname?

Due any day and still undecided!

[Gudrun]

Not perfect but probably doable. I would say James Brown is OK but not James Jones or James Smith. All depends on how fussy you are really. Jamieson on the other hand would go well with all these examples.


ETA I think the syllable count matters not the number of letters. James Blue or James West are OK.

This post has been edited by Gudrun: 06/01/2013, 04:31 PM

[Justaduck]

Another vote for syllable....DD is Mia (so two syllables) and she has a one syllable surname (four letters as well) and it flows okay.

I wouldn't name my child a one syllable first name as imo it doesn't flow well with DPs surname.

[Jillian_10]

I am all about the syllables. I like to use my full name more often now as I have a short, 1 syllable surname.

My son has a short, 4 letter, 1 syllable surname. I wanted to give him a 3 syllable first name to balance it out. He has a 2 syllable middle name for good measure.

Our next baby will also have a 3 syllable first name.

I would personally find James too short and abrupt, and would go for Jeremy.

[kerilyntaryn]

we have a one syllable surname and FIL has one syllable first name, so do my boys, they have had one syllable first names with the short surname for about 150 years

James is a great name - a big tick from me

[eleven]

What about if James is nicknamed Jimmy?

[mad madam mim]

Really depends on the last name, personally we stayed away for all one syllable names as our last name is only one syllable and nothing we liked flowed well with it.

[Bel Rowley]

Off the top of my head I can think of both a 4 year old boy and a 30-something man I know with first name James and surname 1 syllable, both work OK. One of them is a 4 letter surname.

My biggest beef with James is that it's everywhere, at least in my circle of friends, family and acquaintances.

[casime]

I deliberately chose a longer first name for DS because I have a short one syllable surname. My first name is also one syllable and when I say my full name, I often get "and what's your surname?". It doesn't help that my first name is unusual. So DS got lumped with four syllables for his first name lol! I think it flows a lot better than my own name though.

[eleven]

Thanks Ladies... I'm inclined to agree that James Arthur Foal is a bit short, what about Thomas James Foal? It's just that James has some family history while Thomas is just a name my DH loves. It concerns me because Thomas seems to be everywhere these days.

Thomas can also be shortened and is likely to be shortened to Tom/Tommy. I guess James could be Jim/Jimmy anyway.

I feel like going back to the drawing board but with only 8 days to go (maximum), I'm feeling the pressure to have at least a couple of name combinations on stand by...

Please continue to share your thoughts and suggestions... we like really 'normal, classic' names.

Thank you!!!