If you're planning on having more children, you could use one name now and save the other one for kid #2.

For example you could use Edward as a middle name for baby #1 and save George (or Georgina, Georgia) for baby #2.

It was sort of accidental, but our son Brendan's name incorporates the first half of my husband Brent's name and the first three letters of my father Danny's name. That said, it was more happy coincidence that a plan as it was a name we happened to like that also had a spiffy extra feature.

I had the option of naming my dd Kimberley Elizabeth which just so happens to have the same initials as my husbands name. I chose to name her something different but serendipitiuosly(sp?) found out that as a family we all have first initials that spell a nice word. Think LOVE.

My grandparents named my aunt this way at the suggestion of my great-grandmother. My grandparents names were Jane and Ivan, so they took the first three letters of each of their names and mashed them together for their daughter: Janiva (pronounced like Geneva). Growing up in the 50's and 60's, she went by Jan, and switched to using her full name in college.
I have a hard time imagining doing this now, but her name suits her perfectly and she wears it well.

Or you could always just use the initials. I met a baby named Matilda named for great grandma Mary and great grandma Margaret. But if you liked say, Evan or Geoffrey or Ethan or Gabriel or whatever you could use them.

I'm going against the flow, but I think that once you deviate that much against the original names, the meaning is gone. It might be an 'secret' meaning for you and your family, but nothing more. It would be like saying that my son Joe is named for his father Gerard because they both start with a J sound. Or dd Madalyn was named for grandmother Dolores because they both contain a D.

It also seems almost offensive. "I love you grandmother Dolores, but I hate your name. So I'm going to honor your by choosing a name vaguely related to yours. But not yours - because that would be too awful!'

I was named for my grandmother who was born at the turn of the century. A lot of people assume my name is a modern trendy name, but its really not. Some people think its a Russian name and never know how to pronounce it, I've been asked if I speak English after someone sees my name.

Off topic, but in your case, I think George and Edward are perfectly nice names. There are other equivalents to George and Edward. You might like the Italian Giorgio or Gio instead. That's just one cool George alternative that comes to mind. For Edward you might liked Edison.

Another good choice is to use a family last name. We named our son Samuel after my grandpa. His name was Duane Samuels. Interestingly enough, his middle name, MacMillan, sounds like a last name but is a first name that runs in my husband's family. So he has a last name for a first name and a middle name that sounds like a last name... all using our family names.

you could always give the baby two middle names: *first name* George Edward/Edward George *last name.* I agree with above Anonymous, if you stray from the original name, it's not really the same.

I think George and Edward are nice, solid names. What's wrong with using them in original form? George or Edward would be far more distinctive than a trendy non-name.

If the baby is a girl, then Gaia is a nice choice that has a common root with George.

I like to look at name meanings, try to combine them and see where it goes.

For example, Edward means "Wealth protector" and George is "Earth worker." So, I like the "earth" meaning. By searching for names with "earth" in the meaning, I found that the the name Kai means "Keeper of earth." Keeper and protector are pretty close in meaning. So Kai might be considered a combination of Edward and George.

Then I searched for "protector" and found Hammond, which means "home protector." Home and earth sort of a have a similar meaning. So Hammond might also be considered a combination of Edward and George.

Variations:
Eddy
Edwin
Edie (EE-dee, for a girl)
Georgette
Georgiana
Georgia
Georgie
Geo (G-oh)

Sound Similar:
Elodie (Eddy)
Teddy (Eddy)

You could use one name, and a middle initial. Examples:

Georgiana E. Baldwin
Edwin G. Harper

So, am I only the only one who thinks some mishmash of a name doesn't really honor anyone? Either use the name or don't -- but don't then try to say you named your child Mackenna to honor your grandmother Mary. It don't work like that! (And, yes, I realize it should have said: "It doesn't work like that ...")

I agree that if you don't use the original name than you may as well not use it at all! I think using Edward/George with a well chosen nn is the best solution. Or simply use Edward/George as a middle name as a small tribute and pick a first name you actually want your child to have.

georgedwards can be his name.

When you go 100 years or so back in my family tree, there were SUCH missteps trying to combine 2 names: Tessiebelle (for grandmothers Tess and Annabelle); MerceAnn (for Mercedes + Anne), Johnita (why??). Thanks for writing this and showing that, with some care, parents can honor relatives but still use attractive, fresh names.

i think its perfectly normal to want a cooler version of an old fashioned name.
my godmothers name was wynona but i love the more modern nonnah.
my moms name is barbara but im not having a little barbie like her nickname, however i love barbriella and babette as middle names.
my aunts name is marsha and my cousin honored her with a little marcie.
dont listen to these people that say it has no meaning anymore because you are going to have to explain one day why you named your child that name.
you are the one who has to say their name 100 times a day, and you are the one who has to love this name forever.
so dont let anyone bully you.
i love boy names that are strange and "silly" but im the one who has to live with it. everyone else just has to visit....
so i do like the person who said use a first name and two middle names and the one who talked about their meanings.

let's see.....edward and george....

edric
edrian
edson
eddell or edell (like the guy on private practice)
eddison
edge ....thats how that lady got gage
edair
edmund

and george

geon
geordan (pronounced just like jordan)
georgian

jordan adair = geordan edair

eddison jorge

my favs personally....

and dont forget jorge with a j because that guy is always smokin!

and edward in portuguese is duarte which is a pretty cool one.

hope i helped! good luck!

Isn't there a UK brother set on some reality show that have been nicknamed Jedward?

Not YOU have to live with the name but the baby will have to. And your child has to suffer if the make jokes about it in school.

Oh please not Jedward!!!

Georgeward is the obvious solution.

Or Edward George/George Edward, nn "Skeeter."

You could use one as the first name and other other as the middle. Or give him a double name lie Edward George Paul Smith. When I want to make a portmanteau name, sometimes I use more of the middle/end letters. The end of Edward + the Middle of George gave me Ardor (which is a bonus as well. It's an actual word that can mean warmth/heat and also passion). You have to think about them and try to be creative, or else you'll wind up with a crazy convoluted name like Georgeward.

I think it is ok to stretch- because you know the meaning. I agreed that if we ever had a dd we would use the middle name Rose after my late MIL. One day 6+ months prego my dh said that if we were having a girl, he would like to keep an "R" middle name, but not Rose. I asked why and he responded that there was a number of "Rose's" in the family, including his niece- so we went with Renee. The "R" to honor his Mother and a French name to honor my heritage.

I loved this post! I have 2 sons, one is named George, the other is Edward. They are the only ones in their school and we get tons of compliments on the names!

My daughter is named Rosalinda for both of her grandmothers. My husbands mothers name is Rosario and my mothers name is Linda. The end result is beautiful.

Hmmmm..... how's about Edgerge or Gedwerd? Not working out well, oh well, that wasn't gonna work.

I have 2 sons, George and Edward and I think they are fabulous names.