On to more cheerful news. We had the anatomy scan yesterday, and everything looks good, and I can't quite believe it, but it's a boy! Kevin's a little bewildered, as I think he was pretty sure it was another girl. My family is stunned, as we've trended heavily towards girls so far (I'm the oldest of three girls, my mom is one of eight girls / one boy, my grandmother is one of seven girls / two boys). I've actually been vaguely thinking boy for a few weeks now, but for no good reason. Regardless, we're very happy about it -- another girl would have been lovely too, of course, but this will be new and interesting. Fun, trying to raise a feminist boy!
Also a challenge to dress attractively, from what my friends with little boys tell me. Much as I like brown and blue, I refuse to dress him in those colors all the time! :-) Red / orange / yellow / purple? Also, please please please if you're thinking of getting him clothes, no sports themes! They will just languish in his drawer, unworn. Construction / airplanes / dinosaurs are fine. Knights / astronauts / dragons / monsters are preferred. :-) When he gets older, if he turns out to be a sports nut, we'll deal with it then, but I don't want baseballs all over his onesies.
I spent a while packing up all of Kavi's dresses from the first two years yesterday (plus the super-pink and/or super-flowery tops and pants) to send to my parents' house; they can store them for my sisters until needed. Satisfying, from a de-cluttering point of view, but also a little bittersweet. At least Kavi is still young enough that I can indulge my tastes in dressing her a bit longer. Though she's starting to have opinions... She likes to look at herself in the mirror and pronounce herself "cute!"
My dad still needs to check these names over to make sure they're actually viable Sri Lankan Tamil names (when you find names on the internet, you can make some funny mistakes). So we're not asking for votes yet. :-) But if you have suggestions for other Tamil names to add, please do leave them in the comments, or if you have thoughts/preferences on any of these names.
The field is also wide-open for a Anglo middle name or two (Kavi has two, one for each of her grandmothers, but we don't love either of our dads' names, sadly). I tend to like longer names, like Nathaniel and Jonathan. So more suggestions along those lines? Although if we choose a long Tamil first name, maybe a short Anglo middle name or two would be good. (Maybe something Scottish? Kevin's middle name is McLeod.) The last name will probably be Whyte again. (Note: long names do run into the tikki tikki tembo problem... :-)
Just to remind you, Kavi's full name is Kaviarasi Ann Jacintha Whyte. Kaviarasi means 'queen of poetry', Ann means 'grace', Jacintha probably means either 'beautiful' or 'hyacinth', depending on whom you talk to. I love her name, so our little boy needs an equally fabulous name. :-)
I'm going to *star ones that people have liked, just for my own info, and cross out ones we decide against as we go on.
Tamil boy names:
- ** Ahilan (worldly, knowledgable, universe)
- Alaiarasan (king of waves)
- *
Anand(happy) -- friend's name - ** Arun (sun)
- * Athavan (sun)
- * Devan (like a god)
- Dhiraj (patience / consolation)
- Giri (mountain)
- Girish (lord of mountains)
- *
Gyan(knowledge) -- too close to my sister's boyfriend's name, Gian - Harij (the horizon)
- Hasan (handsome / good / laughter)
- * Iravan (king of ocean)
- * Jaison (son of victory)
- Janak (creator)
- Jeevan (life)
- Jitendra (lord of conquerors) -- sounds too like title to fantasy novel?
- ** Karthik / Kartik (bestowing courage and pleasure)
- * Karunanidhi (kind-hearted)
- Kesavan (man with long hair)
- * Krishanu (flame)
- Madhav (sweet like honey / relating to the spring)
- Madhavan
Madhuran(honey) -- too close to one of my sisters' middle names- Mahavir (the most courageous among men)
- Mahendra (god of the sky)
- * Manas (mind)
Mani(gem / jewel) -- too girly- * Manish (wise)
- Manoharan (one who steals the heart)
- Mathavan (great sage)
- Mirza (prince)
- Mithilesh (a king)
- Mohan (charming)
- Mohandas (son of Mohan, Gandhi's first name)
- Muhilan (cloud or rain)
- Murali (flute)
- Narayan (the abode of beings / son of man / son of water)
- Narendra (king of men)
- Nataraj (king of dance) -- too close to Kavi's name?
- * Nihal (blissful)
- * Nikhil (complete / whole / entire)
- Nilavan (moon)
- Nirav (silent)
Nishith(night) -- sadly, too much like 'shit'- Parithi (sun)
- Senkadhir (brilliant like a ray of light)
- Shankaran (one who brings happiness/prosperity)
- Selvan
- Singan (brave like a lion)
- Sidhan (enlightened)
- * Thayalan (kind)
- Vijayan (victorious)
- Vivek (true wisdom)
- Aidan (little fire)
- * Alastair (defending men)
- Alexander (defender of men / protector of mankind)
- Benedict (blessed)
- Benjamin (son of my right hand?)
- Christopher (bearer of Christ) -- too Christian?
- Diarmad (free of envy)
- Gareth (gentle)
- * Gavin or Gawain (white hawk / falcon or little hawk / falcon) -- too close to Kevin?
- Iain (God is gracious)
- Jaime (supplanter -- now that's a dangerous name)
- Jeremiah (God will raise up / God will set free)
- Jonathan (gift of God)
- Justin (righteous, just)
- Keith (woods)
- Kenneth (handsome / born of fire / royal oath) -- not sure I like Ken, though
- * Kieran (dark / shadowy)
- Mathonwy / Math (bear) -- I put this down as a joke, but it's growing on me :-)
- * Nathaniel (gift of God)
- Niall (champion, also vehement or cloud)
- Nicholas (victory of the people)
- * Ronan (seal) -- I've always loved selkie stories
- Sebastian (revered)
- Taran (thunder, Gaelic) -- also common in many other languages, with other meanings
- Tavish (beloved)
- * Thane, Thaine or Thayne (landholder)
- Tobias (God is good)
- Tristan (bold / tumult)
- Zachariah (remembered by the Lord / pure) -- too biblical in flavor?
Dressing boys can be fun. I was quite partial to the little striped rugby suits Lands End carried when Matt was young. Feminist boys are also very doable. Not only does my son appreciate that his sisters can do anything he also takes Russian technique ballet classes and loves it. Congrats and good luck
I have no experience raising or dressing a boy, but I do love bright orange and many shades of green for clothing both boys and girls. My color commentary for the day :-). Congrats on the opportunity to raise a feminist boy. That would both frighten and excite me. It seems that so much of raising children comes down to setting examples. If so, then your little guy will turn out very well.
Congratulations on getting one of each. Raising feminist boys is, I suspect, even more important than raising feminist girls. Good luck with avoiding the long list of taboos for boys. I think it may take us more than one generation to break that stranglehold.
I love Nathaniel, but it leaves me singing that song from War of the Worlds – “No Nathaniel no, there must be more to life…”
Little T also loves to dance. Siblings greatly influence each other as well as Mom. My brother’s a feminist and I’d be shocked if Little T wasn’t. Little T’ favorite color at the moment is GREEN! Been pretty easy to find green of anything. Also pink and purple when he went through that phase. Special K’s fav color is brown and then black. That’s a lot harder.
I liked the suggestion from your lullaby — what is the Tamil for math or geometry or theorem?
We consigned as much of the sports themed gift clothing as we possibly could. Really, what were people thinking? That by dressing our baby as a sports fanatic, it would balance out his father’s uber artsyness and make the boy less inclined to be artsy? We were in Oklahoma. LOL.
I like Kieran, Thane (whichever spelling), Ronan, Krishanu, Karunanidhi, and Kartik. Good, strong names with great meaning.
I hear you on the sports stuff! Don’t tell the in-laws, but with the exception of one adorable baseball outfit, I don’t think I’ve ever put River in a sports-themed article of clothing. I’m am just now coming around to construction/ transportation themed stuff, but I think that’s because there’s just fewer cute animal choices once you get to 2T and above.
I discovered Gymboree last fall, and their baby boys (up to 24 months) lines almost always have cute animal options. Although beware of their “unisex” line if you’re worried about people thinking your son is a girl; River’s “unisex” Dalmatian coat was adorable, but white faux fur, even with black dots, read as “female” to almost every stranger we met. I buy a year ahead during their sales. I’ve only done the Gymbucks thing once, but it’s a good deal if you’re buying a lot from them, then a lot more a month or so later.
Old Navy and Gap also have great boys stuff and good sales.
We were given a lot of orange and green, in addition to blue, and it looks really good on River. (I’m totally jealous he can wear orange; I love the color, but it looks weird on me.) Red is also very popular for boys. I’ve put him in a couple of purple things, but so many of them have flowers or other girly things on them (or puffed sleeves or ruffled pant bottoms), they’re hard to find.
One nice thing about boys clothes is that after the infant stage, it’s MUCH easier to find bold/ dark colors than it seems to be for girls stuff, so if you’re sick of pastels, it’ll be a nice change of pace.
Oh! An unrelated tip: don’t bother with those pee-pee tee-pees that cover baby penises so you don’t get peed on. They just fall off. Easier to use a folded receiving blanket, or even your hand, should a spurt occur.
mary ann,
congatulations! a girl and a boy, lovely.
the tamil names you have selected are all lovely.
but tamil does not have the sound hi. so it is akilan, which i think has more of an oomph!also mukilan which also is a name for krishna.
i love the name arul – grace, blessing. you may add it to your list if you like:-)