Tessa and Patrick are expecting their second child in a few weeks, a sibling for their son Lucas. They already have middle names picked out – Marguerite for a girl, and Philip for a boy. These are both family names, and Lucas has a family name for his middle name too.

Tessa loves lots of names which start with the letter H, but the family surname also begins an H eg Howitt. She thinks names such as Henry Howitt or Hannah Howitt sound very sing-songy and she doesn’t like them at all. This has made choosing baby names a bit more challenging for her.

So far their name lists look like this:

Girls
Gemma (front runner)
Jemima (Tessa loves this name but Patrick doesn’t)
Zoe
Imogen

Boys
Felix (front runner)
Milo
Toby
Charlie
Oscar

Tessa wants to know what people think of their name lists, and if they can suggest any other names they might like that sound nice with Lucas and don’t start with H.

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Bad luck with the surname issue, which can indeed change what names you decide upon (my husband outlawed anything ending in S or X). Luckily there are 25 other letters in the alphabet, leaving you with plenty of choice.

GIRLS

Gemma
Very pretty (Gemma Marguerite is lovely), and it sounds like a great match with Lucas. It also seems like an excellent compromise for a couple where one person loves the name Jemima and the other doesn’t.

Jemima
I also love this name (so stylish), and feel sad you’re not allowed to use it. I’ve noticed dads often can’t get into the name Jemima.

Zoe
I like Zoe Marguerite a lot, and Lucas and Zoe make for quite a modern-sounding sibset.

Imogen
Imogen and Lucas are wonderful together. Somehow this reminds me of both Gemma and Jemima, so it almost seems like another good compromise choice.

BOYS

Felix
I love this name, and like how it sounds with your surname, and with Lucas. However, if you don’t like alliteration, how do you feel about Felix Philip?

Milo
This actually sounds really good with Lucas, even though Milo is a bit more daring. To me Milo sounds like a very energetic young boy – maybe because you “go and go and go with Milo”, or because his initials would be MPH (miles per hour). Pretty cool.

Toby
You’ve picked another winner as a match with Lucas, because Lucas and Toby just sound brilliant together.

Charlie
Adore this with your surname – it just sounds so breezy, yet competent and trustworthy. Amazingly I couldn’t find any examples of people using it online, so even though it sounds completely normal, it doesn’t appear to be common.

Oscar
I like Oscar Philip as a name combination, and I like that it’s an Irish name, like Patrick’s.

Other Names You Might Like

Annika
Clara
Eloise
Isabel
Romy
Stella

Dexter
Jasper or Casper
Jonah (it means “dove” like Jemima)
Maxwell
Rafe
Rafferty (if Rafe seems too stuttery next to Philip)

These names all seem stylish, yet are simple and fuss-free, which I think might be what you and Patrick are looking for. Although I think you have a nice shortlist already, and with only a few weeks to go, adding more names to the list may not be what you really need at this point.

UPDATE: The baby was a girl, and her name is Gemma!

POLL RESULTS
The public’s clear choice for a girls’ name was Gemma, with 35% of the vote. The top choice for a boy was Toby with 26% of the vote, but Milo and Oscar were close behind, with 24% and 21% of the vote each.