Ask Ava to Zeke: Offbeat but Traditional Baby Names

A reader writes in for baby-name help for kiddo #4. Siblings are Niamh, Arthur, and Benedict and the baby’s last name will be Blake. For this baby, they’ve considered the name Luke but would like to find something more unusual. Had this baby been a girl, she might’ve been a Theia or Marilyn. Their preferred baby-name styles are classic, bohemian, sophisticated, vintage, and romantic. They’re currently living in the UK.

Now, for the no-gos. They want to avoid anything short, too modern, or nickname style, and they don’t want another Gaelic name. We’ve also been told no Harry Potter names 😆. They have a long list of names they like but can’t use for one reason or another, including George, Rupert, Spencer, Jasper, Tiberius, Jove, Sebastian, Edwin, Edmund, and Tristan. Sadly, we love them all!

The reader shares her guilty pleasure for offbeat names but wants them rooted in tradition. No made-up names here!


So with a challenge ahead of us, we got to work on a list of just-right names for baby Blake. 


We’re especially excited about this list, because it’s such a fun style! One part regency romance, one part vintage bohemian, one part classic sophistication = the PERFECT baby name. 

First, we looked over your other kids’ names and those that you like but can’t use. We made a list of names that are similar in style and took out any that were too similar in sound to Arthur and Benedict. We then added names that seemed to “match” the style of your girl name choices. Since you say you don’t want anything too short, we *mostly* avoided one-syllable names. But since the name you’re considering (Luke) is one syllable, we did keep a couple shorties. If they’re too short for a first name, perhaps they’d work for a middle? Finally, we sprinkled in just an itty bit of quirk to keep things from leaning too traditional. 

After that, we ended up with a big ole’ list of names that we personally LOVE with your sibset:

  • Aegis
  • Alaric 
  • Albion
  • Ambrose
  • Anton 
  • Atticus
  • Bertram
  • Bertrand 
  • Bohan 
  • Cadmus
  • Callum 
  • Calvin 
  • Campbell
  • Caspar
  • Cassian
  • Cedar 
  • Clifford 
  • Collin 
  • Crispin 
  • Curtis 
  • Damian
  • Dashiell 
  • Elden 
  • Elias 
  • Emory 
  • Emrys
  • Enoch
  • Ephraim
  • Evander 
  • Felix 
  • Florian
  • Forrest 
  • Foster 
  • Fraser 
  • Frederick 
  • Gavin 
  • Gideon 
  • Griffin 
  • Harland 
  • Harold 
  • Harvey 
  • Hiram
  • Hugo 
  • Ignatius
  • Jarrett 
  • Jude 
  • Judson 
  • Julius 
  • Junius
  • Landon 
  • Langston 
  • Leander
  • Leland 
  • Linus 
  • Lionel 
  • Louis 
  • Lucien 
  • Lyndon 
  • Lyon
  • Marius
  • Matthias
  • Nathaniel 
  • Nelson 
  • Peregrine 
  • Rasmus 
  • Reuben/Ruben
  • Roland 
  • Sidney 
  • Silas
  • Simon 
  • Sterling 
  • Travis 
  • Vaughn 
  • Wallace 
  • Walter 
  • Ward 
  • Winston 
  • Wyeth

Now let’s break down that list into manageable chunks.

One question is whether you mind (or even, prefer) a name that starts with the same letter as another of your children. I’m an everyone-in-the-family-has-their-own-first-initial kind of person, but I realize it’s a totally idiosyncratic trait. If you’re on board with another A-, B-, or N- name in the family, these are our favorites of the bunch:

  • Aegis
  • Alaric 
  • Albion
  • Ambrose
  • Anton 
  • Atticus
  • Bertram
  • Bertrand 
  • Bohan 
  • Nathaniel 
  • Nelson

Nathaniel is so classically handsome and Nelson feels a bit like Rupert and Edwin, names you like but can’t use. Alaric and Ambrose sound different enough from Arthur to be usable and they’re just so darned charming. And we couldn’t decide between Bertram and Bertrand, so we included them both.

When we think bohemian, we can’t help but think of the outdoors, so some nature/animal-inspired picks made our list:

  • Callum (“dove”)
  • Cedar (“cedar tree”)
  • Clifford (“lives by the cliff”)
  • Florian (“flowering”)
  • Forrest (“dweller near the woods”)
  • Foster (“forester”)
  • Fraser (“strawberry”)
  • Gavin (“white hawk”)
  • Harland (“rocky land”)
  • Landon (“long hill”)
  • Leander (“lion-man”)
  • Leland (“meadow land”)
  • Lionel (“young lion”)
  • Lyon (“lion”)
  • Lyndon (“linden tree hill”)
  • Silas (“forest”)

While animal-inspired names are certainly trending right now, we love the idea of using one of these to honor a favorite place, memory, or element of nature. Some (Lyon, Forrest, Cedar) are more literal, while others (Callum, Landon, Harland) are so subtle only you would know their meanings.

To touch on your love of the offbeat, we included some unusual–and even rare– baby names. These beauties are not ranked in the top 1000 in the UK. 

  • Cadmus
  • Campbell
  • Caspar
  • Crispin
  • Dashiell
  • Elden 
  • Emory
  • Emrys 
  • Enoch
  • Ephraim
  • Evander
  • Griffin
  • Harold
  • Hiram 
  • Ignatius
  • Jarrett 
  • Judson
  • Julius
  • Junius 
  • Langston
  • Linus 
  • Lucien 
  • Marius
  • Peregrine 
  • Rasmus 
  • Roland
  • Sidney 
  • Sterling
  • Vaughn 
  • Wallace
  • Ward 
  • Wyeth

I was never a huge fan of Ignatius until reading the book Iggy Peck, Architect to my daughter. Now I’m dreaming of a little Iggy. And how sophisticated are Cadmus, Dashiell, and Marius?! While none of these names is commonly used in the UK, we think they still fit with your sibling set. Your children’s names vary quite a bit in popularity, from the popular Arthur (ranked #4), to the “sweet spot” Niamh (#131), and the unusual Benedict (#787). So a name outside the top 1000 won’t seem out of place.

The names that follow are all currently ranked in the top 1000 baby names in the UK, but some just barely. They’re those names that we can easily recognize but don’t hear every day. 

  • Calvin 
  • Cassian
  • Curtis 
  • Damian
  • Elias 
  • Felix 
  • Frederick 
  • Gideon 
  • Harvey 
  • Hugo 
  • Jude 
  • Louis 
  • Matthias
  • Reuben/Ruben
  • Simon 
  • Travis  
  • Walter 
  • Winston

Some of these are more classic (Damian, Winston, Frederick, Louis) while others are more quirky (Felix, Calvin, Harvey, Walter). But they all give you that offbeat-but-traditional feel. 

And now . . .  we’ve made some first-middle-middle combos for you, just for fun! Since the other siblings in the Blake family have two middle names, we stuck with that pattern:

  • Aegis Peregrine Frederick
  • Crispin Ignatius Louis
  • Damian Elias Cassian
  • Ephraim Gideon Luke
  • Evander Wallace Jude
  • Harland Ambrose Ward
  • Jude Florian Fraser
  • Lyndon Hugo Ward
  • Sidney Elden Vaughn
  • Wyeth Judson Luke

Those are our picks for baby #4. We hope you find something to love!

💕 Ava to Zeke


Readers, what are your favorites? What would you name baby Blake?

If you want baby name advice or have baby-naming stories to share, we’re here to listen. Send us an email or DM us on Instagram, or check out our Consulting page.

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