Boy name opinions, please?

[Kitty81]

Found out today that we are having a boy (I'm 19 weeks), and now need to narrow down our list of names. I'd love some reactions from Mnetters as I am reluctant to tell friends/family just yet (lot of very opinionated people in my life

At the moment we have

Jeffrey James
Charles Henry

I also like Arthur James or Arthur Michael

Jeffrey is Dh's dad and James is my dad. Charles Henry is dh's grandad and is a wonderful man who is very dear to me also.

I'm not sure about Jeffrey for a little boy; but I was thinking maybe JJ for short until h grew into it? And Charles Henry could either be Charlie or Harry as a nn.

Go for it. Opinions please; or are we just looking at old man names? help!

[BelligerentGhoul]

Charles much nicer than Jeffry (is that how you spell it?). Don't like JJ at all. LOVE James.

[katiepotatie]

Congratulations! Jeffrey not keen on, I like all your other choices though.
My dd is Charlie, I love it!

[posey]

Like all, except Jeffrey I'm afraid. Not keen on initial names either.
But remember thi is just my opinion and it doesn't matter what I, or anyone else thinks (can you tell I wouldn't like to hurt anyone's feelings?!)

[Kitty81]

There is a bit of a tradition in dh's family. dh is named for his paternal gf, and his father is named for his gf in turn, so we are toying with continuing this, or a variant of it. I'm just not certain about Jeffrey (which is how FIL spells it) as it feels like a bit of a gruff-old-man name, although I teach a Geoff (year 12) and it works quite well on a teenager. Ah this is so hard! How on earth does anyone every choose?!

[mathanxiety]

I really like Charles Henry.

Jeffrey sounds very dated to me, sorry. James is nice.

[meadowlarks]

I think Jeffrey with a shortening of Jeff is great actually - it's the kind of name you grow into. I've met a few teenaged/young adult Jeffs before and it's always somehow been very cool and quirky on them. All your other choices are great too, I especially love James and Arthur.

[MelinaM]

Charles Henry is just lovely, so is James Not a fan of Jeffrey I'm afraid, I too think it sounds a little dated!

[ChippingIn]

Can you give us a 'feel' of your surname - long/short, letter it starts with... that kind of thing.

[Teds77]

All lovely names. Jeffrey does maybe sound a little dated but not in a bad way. Jeff is ace and Jeffy is cute when little (the book about the Burglar's Cat was one of my favourites when I was little).

[MissMashMissMash]

Not keen on Jeffrey but like all the others especially Arthur. Could you perhaps use Jeffrey as a middle name to honour you FIL. Or use one of his middle names or another family name as first name.

[Kitty81]

Thanks for these!

Surname is Holmes. Happy to just say what it is as there's millions of us :)

Arthur is my favourite at the moment. Tonight DH floated Jack, which is also nice. Think my taste in names runs to the Enid blyton/Arthur Ransome characters but I'm cool with that :) I would like something fairly unique, which is why I'm liking Jeff, as I think it is quite quirky. Oh and Jeffy is adorable, thank you Teds!

Ah well. 20 weeks to decide. Would I be being unreasonable to just put them in a hat?

[ChippingIn]

James Charles Holmes - would be my pick from those :)

But if you don't want James as a first name I like Charles James Holmes :)

One from each side of the family too!

[diddl]

Don´t like Jeffrey.

Why not have a name you like with one of your husband´s names as a middle name?

Son, husband & FIL all have the same middle name but "non family" first names.

[Hedwig3]

I really like all of your choices.

Don't tell friends and family until announcing his arrival, I promise you will regret it if you do!

[cremegg]

thought I'd add that I love Arthur shortened to Artie/Arty, v cute

[jellybeans]

I see them as old man names to be honest, sorry. If i had to choose a favourite it would be Charles Henry.

[WhyMeWhyNot]

James Jeffrey is nice. Keeping both dads names.
I didn't choose a family name for my first born but gave him a name I liked and the same middle name as his father. Our second son got a name that went with the first sons and a middle name that we both liked too. Our last was a daughter and we gave her a name I chose with the female equivalent of my fathers name for her middle name.
I think you can overthink the names if you start too early. Why not both keep a secret list of your favourites and then nearer the time see how many you have in common and whittle it down.

[expectingno3]

Charlie James. Sorry, Jeffrey is a bit drippy. This way, you combine you and your DH's family names. Good on you, but I'd be a bit miffed if all my dc's names were from DH's side of the family!

[Kitty81]

Oh, I couldn't really name any kids after anyone in my family. Lots of divorce and estrangement: long story. Apart from my dad (James) of course.

Hedwig and others; we are keeping schtum. I won't even tell my best friends the names and they are badgering me, but someone always says oh, I knew a X and they were a bully/axe murderer or something and spoils it, for some reason once the baby is here and named people seem to be more polite.

Arthur still at the top for me, Charles for Dh so I think we'll make a shortlist and then see what suits when he gets here. Oh, and my Sil asked me if he can be pageboy at her wedding, baby will be 17 months at her wedding, and I cried at the idea. Ahh how sweet.

Thanks very much for all the replies!