Baby boy name, difficult criteria!

[GerrysSuccessor]

I am hugely fussy about names. This is probably because I am a secondary school teacher and therefore there are a lot of names that remind me of difficult kids. Silly perhaps, but most teachers are the same! I really like 'normal' names like James/George/Thomas etc, and actually in teaching there are so many of these names that they all kind of merge into one and I don't worry too much about whether some of the ones I've taught have been difficult to like! However, the problem is that I have a huge family. Pretty much every name I like is already the name of a brother, cousin, or cousin's child. So ruled out are:

James, George, Tom, Sam, Jack, Nicholas, William, Oliver, Edward.

Because of the teaching problem, I also don't like names that have started to become more 'trendy' in the last few years. So Archie/Alfie/Dylan etc etc.

Finally, I like names that pass the high court judge test but can also be shortened easily.

Our surname means nothing beginning with H. Our daughters name means nothing beginning with B.

Told you I was difficult!

I have a daughter, Beatrice, and it was pretty much the only name we could find that fitted our criteria. I've never taught one, it's still a 'known' name, and can be shortened.

I have ONE name that I like for our boy, due any day now. That name is Douglas. But is that one of those names you should only use if you're of Scottish heritage? Because we're not... And is it a bit too 'out there' for a baby? I think I'm blinded by how much I love the name and worry a bit that it's like calling a baby Gary?

Help!

[GerrysSuccessor]

Oh, and nothing that is on the top of the list of popular names. Because I'm ridiculous and popularity puts me off names too idiot

[Hopelass]

Daniel? Not too common but not too out there? Or is it a naughty name

[Serioussteve]

Christian?

[7to25]

Joseph

[doceodocere]

Douglas is a great name, not at all out there. I am in Scotland but wouldn't raise an eyebrow at it being used south of the border! I also like the nn Dougie.

Beatrice and Dougie are a nice pair.

[KnockMeDown]

I second Daniel. Or how about Alexander?

[mrsnec]

You have similar criteria to me and I've only got two on my shortlist which are Alexander and Gregory. DH isn't keen on either though.

I dismissed Dominic, Benedict, Theodore and Benjamin because I don't like the origin or meaning and I'm on the fence a bit about Sebastian.

I have the same trouble with family names too and if I was able to use it I'd be going for George because I think it's perfect.

Alexander is popular though but I'm getting past that by thinking we'd use the less popular diminutives which I love.

[IoraRua]

David

[DaggerEyes]

Could you just chose your favourite, and then hyphenate it with another name so it's not exactly like your nephew or whoever so, Thomas-James, 'T-J' for short??

[GerrysSuccessor]

Hopeless I tried really hard not to say that there are naughty names! Daniel should also be on the list of family names but I was getting wary of REALLY outing myself. like I haven't already Christian I'm afraid I just am not that keen on, although I do like Christopher but DH isn't keen. Joseph DH really likes but Joe is unfortunately on The List, at my school anyway.

[HildaFlorence]

Douglas is cute if you like it Ai would go with it . Alternatively what about Duncan , Nathaniel, Matthew,Fergus or Angus

[DamnCommandments]

Love Joseph and Douglas.

Alastair? I think there's no problem using Scottish names that meet your other criteria. People on here will raise eyebrows at a Scots-Gaelic spelling, but none of these suggestions would be problematic, surely!

[CountTessa]

What about a Bert name? Like Albert or Herbert? I like Douglas.

[SparklyTinselTits]

Matthew?

-"Normal"

• won't be ridiculous when he's an adult
  
• doesn't begin with h or b
  
• can be shortened if you/he wants it to be
  

[FedUpWithJudgementalPeople]

I like Douglas and Dougie is a cute abbreviation.

Also Duncan or Dougal?

I'm in Scotland and I know a Dougal.

[MangosteenSoda]

Alastair
Christopher (because I love nn Kit)
Gabriel (Gabe is quite cool I think)
Jonathan (Jon/Jonte etc)

[Borninthe60s]

Sebastian
Hugo
Hugh
Lawrence
Martin
Marcus
Arnold
Robert
Brian
Carl

[GerrysSuccessor]

Ha mrsnec we really do have similar tastes. I liked Dominic until I taught an awful one this year. I love theodore nn Teddy but DH has vetoed. Like Sebastian but know a lot of recent babies/toddlers. Really like Gregory but my mum can't pronounce the letter 'R' (think Jonathan Ross...) and Gregory has always been on the list of names that I joke about using (along with Rory!) just to irritate her! Alexander is great, and it's the only other one that we're vaguely considering because like James/Tom etc it's so popular that it doesn't really concern me that I've taught some. However it's the name of my best friend's husband. Who I love dearly and am not adverse to them having the same name, but feel it's a big decision to effectively name our child after a friend...

I am glad someone likes Douglas doceodocere, i love the idea of having a Bea and Dougie but worry people might look at me like I'm a nutter if I use it, I just can't remove myself enough from the name to look at it objectively!

[EvilTwins]

I had a very similar dilemma when I was pregnant, except that I was expecting twins so we needed two names which fitted criteria similar to you. In the end, our shortlist was Nathaniel, Tobias and Alasdair (DH is Scottish so no issues there) which could be shortened to Nat, Toby and Ali.

We had girls though.

[Duckdeamon]

Do you really have to rule out cousin and cousins' DC names? Do you see them often?

I like Douglas! And Christopher.

[cathpip]

Matthew
Alexander
Christopher
Laurence
Douglas
Elliott
Love all of these and they are not that popular.

[GerrysSuccessor]

Albert was a favourite until recently, but I'm not keen on Albie as a nn and I just can't bring myself to have a Bert and Bea. Although I really like Bertie/Bert as a nn in general. Matthew is a thought.

I'm pleased Douglas isn't being mocked :)

I just worried that it was like calling a girl Aibhlinn or similar with no Irish heritage (really sorry to anyone out there who has done this, it's just not something I want to do!)

[GerrysSuccessor]

Duck we're fairly close, I see my cousins and their children enough that I think it would be weird for our kids to have the same name.

[GerrysSuccessor]

You lot are coming up with some crackers, thank you! A lot of them were on the list when I was pregnant with Dd but have since disappeared because of new classes and therefore new irritating teenagers...