Boys names now...I have an Alex already...

[russiandolly]

Hi,

I have had so many helpful comments on our girls names shortlist that I am appealing for help with a boys name now. Four weeks to go, and I already have an Alex (boy).

We are struggling as the names we like seem to be the most popular boys names ever. Trying to decide if that bothers me or not...the only reason being if there are lots of kids with the same name in school, then they get nicknamed "tall", "small" or "first name and surname initial" etc. I know I wouldn't have liked that at school.

We want a name that is substantial / manly / great for all ages...baby, small boy, young man, old man...some names we like (Sonny for e.g.) don't seem to age so well (in our humble opinion only).

Here's what we have come up with:

Max - is this too similar to Alex when both said out loud?

Charlie

Jack

Louis (silent s) / Louie - very very similar to my name...which OH thinks is problematic but shame as love the name

Guy - I love this but OH not sure about

Gus

Any other suggestions very very welcome.

Thank you!

[thisisyesterday]

i think if you want to avoid over-popular then don't go with charlie or jack, there are thousands of them

Louis, Guy and Gus are all lovely, Guy/Gus certainly not going to be too popular

Max is middling! i like it

[bearcrumble]

This may sound mad but what about Josiah? He could be Joe or Joss for short but in full it is a very 'man of substance' type name.

[thisisyesterday]

Josiah is lovely

[russiandolly]

I really like Joe, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately OH does not, though I keep dropping it into conversation - very frustrating. If I suggested this, he would think I was being sneaky...

[1footinfront]

I like Gus/ Augustus. I think it ages really well and its one of my favourites.

I like all the other ones apart from Guy.

You have great taste!

[bearcrumble]

Well I think you have very good taste - I am married to a Joe and we have an Alex.

Of the ones you've listed I think I like Gus best (short for Augustus?).

Lucien is a bit like Louis.

Laurence?

[SpiderWilliam]

I think you are right that Alex and Max are a bit similar.

Agree Jack, Charlie and Louis are popular. Which would put me off, but appreciate not a concern for everyone.

Robert? Lots of short forms which makes it adaptable as he grows up. Rob, Bob, Bert all with ie on the end.

Alastair: I am quite liking this for my bump but is v similar to my name. Al, Ali. Personally I would avoid two names beginning with A, but this might not bother you.

[Kathleen123]

I love all your name suggestions. I personally don't see the issue with popular names.

[thisisyesterday]

bearcrumble you have excellent taste! Josiah and Lucien were both on my list for ds3

[Tillyscoutsmum]

I love Gus. We have a Fergus with a view to him using Gus if he wants to at any point (he's mainly a Ferg atm though)

Jack and Charlie are nice but both very popular

Max I like but is quite similar to Alex

Guy just has bad associations for me personally so I find it hard to like it

Not very keen on Louis

[tomatoface]

ooh I like Gus with Fergus as a full name rather than Augustus.
I vetoed Jack bec has been no. 1 for years and popularity does bother me. Max is nice and manly but I prob wouldn't choose 2 ending in X.
Guy I dislike I'm afraid. Charlie is OK.

I really like Josiah but Lucien for me is too close to Lucifer

I heard a great name the other day for a boy - Huxley. I think it's fabulous

[tomatoface]

oh and I do really like Louis but wouldn't say it was that manly, plus if it's also your name minus an 'e' or 'a' (?) then I wouldn't

[Hedwig3]

My first thought when I read the start of your post was Max!

Otherwise
Jack
Guy
Gus
Joe
these would all be good.

[SherbetDibDab]

I think Augustus/gus is fabo for an August baby.

[Thissideofchannel]

Another vote for Augustus/Augustin/Gus.

I'm afraid I'm not keen on Jack/Charlie/Max as they are very, very common.

[mathanxiety]

Max -- nice, and really only shares the X with Alex; they're different otherwise
Charlie -- ok, but quite a predictable combination, imo
Jack -- Sooooo popular, I would avoid
Louis -- LOVE
Guy -- like a lot
Gus -- like a lot (short for Augustine)

I would vote for Louis, Gus, Guy and Max, in that order.

I like Josiah very much too.

Unless you like the thoughts of Larry as a nn I would steer clear of Laurence. Lucien sounds a bit too like Lucy to me.

[coffeefestival]

I like Max and Charlie best from your list.

How about

Milo
Rufus
Nathaniel
Samuel
Evan
Frederick
Thomas
Elias/Eli
Luke
Dylan
Daniel
Gr egory
Aaron
Henry

[emmyloo2]

I love Max as it is our current choice for our baby when born in November. I don't think it is similar to Alex at all. They are similar sorts of names but are not the same sound.

Others we considered:

Benjamin
Thomas
William
Luka
Nicholas
Daniel
Edward
Harry

Jack I would avoid because I know sooooo many Jacks.....(even though it is a nice name)

[flopsy1974]

Patrick?
William?
Daniel?

[yama]

Can I ask Russiandolly and Bearcrumble - are your Alex's just Alex or Alexander on birth certificate?

Dh loves the name. I love Alex but not so keen on Alexander. I dont mind putting it on birth certificate but dont want others using the full name.

Suppose I'm the opposite of those who want to control nicknames - I want to control the use of birth cert name. Maybe if we dont tell anyone ...

[bearcrumble]

He's an Alexander but there are people who have only ever called him Alex (afraid I normally call him by various silly pet names). I think as long as you take the lead and always call him Alex, others will follow.

[chimchar]

i was going to say daniel as well. goes well with alex...dan, or danny.

also william...will, willy bill, billy....

james....jim or jimmy?

i think alexander is a really great name that works well on many levels. your new bump needsb one the same.

[cece]

I like all of your list and especially Guy.

Jow about

Jonathan/Jonny

or

Hugh
Hugo
Rory
Tom/Thomas
Christian

I like popular names. They are afterall popular for a reason...

[yama]

Thanks Bearcrumble. Don't know why I'm worrying - I'm not precious at all about dd's name.

Yes, I think we'll go for Alexander to be known as Alex.

Sorry for slight hijack Russiandolly.

[russiandolly]

Thanks everyone for all your comments and opinions. I'm perhaps veering towards Guy but still discussing. Really good to have thoughts other than our own though!

Yama - our son Alex is just Alex, not Alexander. We liked the full version but knew we wanted to just use Alex...I'm fond of names that can't be shortened and to be honest we thought it would get shortened whether we liked it or not. As we felt Alex was substantial enough a name, we decided to stick to the short version and are pleased we did. Either is lovely though.