Should I (dad) join the brave new world?

[Dadmaq]

Hi Mums, sorry to crash mums net but Dad here.
I need some guidance.
Already dad to a 3 year old with a name constantly in the top 10.
Next one is due in 2 weeks for the blue team and wifey and I can't agree on a name. I am mr safe. Safe names bring now expectation, judgment, or ridicule.

Mrs unsafe wants something that isn't 'boring' and says I need to get with the times. Something that is different but not so zaney

Anyway, long short, she wants Hugo. A name I haven't been able to fully commit to . I constantly hear myself in the situation of the supermarket or (hopefully) on the football sidelines shouting his name and everyone turning to look at me with "you called your kid Hugo? Phaah!"

Being welsh I wanted Huw, my son has a welsh middle name so I wanted to continue with the theme. Huw James. Mrs would like Hugo James. So I suppose a nn would be Huw. So both winners right? But to me what's the point in calling him Hugo if we are going to constantly call him Huw?

Should I step into the light and into the brave new world? Is Hugo a bit of a whacky name or am I just mr boring?

[TreeLuLa]

Hugo is lovely, so is Huw.

Congratulations on another DS

[flowerygirl]

Not wacky at all! Thought you were going to say the name you picked was Banana Hammock or something!

[Meringue33]

Both names are great. Hugo is not wacky at all.

[Floweryhat]

Hugo is adorable and fairly mainstream to be honest.

[AnAirOfHope]

Both names are good but i personally dont have a preferance as they are so close.

[Yama]

Hugo is a great name. Honestly.

Huw a terrific nn. You both get what you want. Win win.

[TheFallenNinja]

Did you not agree a veto system?

[mistressploppy]

I prefer Huw but Hugo is a good solid real name too. Congratulations

[MoelFammau]

Fellow Welshie here!

Well, I remember when I first heard the name Hugo used in real life - it was in Hyde Park one summer and this braying arse of a woman was screaming it across a rose garden at some poor toddler with bushy hair. I made a mental note that Hugo was a name for posh folk.

HOWEVER. There has now been a mainstream film called 'Hugo', I've met other, more normal Hugos and it's fine.

But being Welsh I LOVE Huw. Outside of Wales, Huw will look a pretty brave choice though and Hugo will be far more common. So, your 'safe' option might actually end up being the interesting one.

Weird, huh?

[DessieLou]

I agree with MoelFammau. To me Hugo is boring & Huw is the different cool name. So Huw gets my vote!

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

They're both fine.

[SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots]

Round here it's Hugh, and that's the old fashioned boring one. Hugo is the cool version.

[ChasedByBees]

I love Huw but DD has a very welsh name. Hugo is a good name too. Not helpful. :)

[Artichook]

Neither name would raise an eyebrow round here (London), both totally normal. There are probably more little Hugos than Huws but I know quite a few adult Huws.

[delilah88]

Hugo is a bit posh to me, like Hector. Huw is amazing though! Stand your ground. She is probably dazzled by all the naming websites / pregnant gossip into choosing a poncey name. Huw is way, way, way nicer.

[MoelFammau]

Aw, I know a lovely Glasgow toddler called Hector. As grounded as they come. It suits him so much.

[Toptack]

I love the name Huw - would use it myself if my first boyfriend hadn't been called it! Hugo has always sounded a bit pseudo-posh to me, even though it is trendy.

[ScrambledSmegs]

Hugo Weaving was the baddie in the Matrix, and some big elf thing in LOTR

I prefer Huw personally. In fact, as you're welsh... I wanted Hywel as middle name for potential DS. That's not safe, and sounds pretty awesome

[delilah88]

Moel Ok, I rescind my comment and instead say Hector is posh only with a southern accent

[survivingwinter]

Love Hugo and also really like Huey. Not so keen on the spelling of Huw but like the name itself.

I don't think of Hugo as a 'posh' name although my DH vetoed it from my list on those grounds!!

[MoelFammau]

Southern accents are the problem, I agree. Because Hugo in Cumbria would be pronounced Yoo-gor, which is a million miles away from 'Hewwwgeaux'.

[buwink]

[CheshireDing]

I love Hugo, it would have been pfb middle name had she been a boy.

Huw is nice but just makes me think of a news reader.

Do they both go with your Welsh surname equally?

[sandberry]

Hugo is trendy, I've met seven newborns called it in the past few months (N London), it is one of those names where I now want to say "oh another one" when people announce it. I don't think it is poncy anymore, so need to worry about stares

Huw is far more unusual without being wacky, I'd go for Huw.

[DontmindifIdo]

OK, how about this way of looking at it: Hugo - I only know that spelling, but outside of Wales, if someone said Huw to me, i'd assumed it was spelt Hugh. As someone who has an Irish spelling of a name that is far more commonly known with a different spelling, I'm very anti picking a name where it's highly likely they will spend a large percentage of their life either on the phone to a call centre correcting the spelling, or explaining they didn't get that important e-mail because it's been sent to the wrong address (with the other spelling), or arguing with an airline because someone in his office has booked the flights for him with the wrong spelling etc (drives me insane, I do know why my mum picked the spelling she did because I'm named after her Irish cousin, but really annoying)

If it's Hugo to be known as Huw, then at least for all formal things, he's going to be Hugo. Plus he'll have a lifetime of saying "no, it's not short for Hugo, it's just Huw".

So sorry, I'd let your DW win this one. It's not that different name that you would be calling your DS a name you don't like. Oh, and both aren't "out there" names, they are rather mainstream.

[soontobeslendergirl]

Hugo to me is posh - encounter in Waitrose - man pushing trolly with two kids sitting/standing in it - one boy about 4 and the other a girl aged about 2.

The guy was a total tosspot - kept blocking the aisles with the trolly while boy bashed lumps out of girl.

I can still hear his ineffectual voice saying "Hugo, Hugo, say sorry to Poppy and give her a kiss" Made me want to say, "man up for Christ sake and get Hugo out the trolly and give him a proper telling off"

So, between the father being a emasculated tosspot and Hugo being a wee shite, I can't hear that name (or Poppy) being said without thinking that the Dad needed to grow a pair for allowing his offspring to be so named.

Apologies to everyone I have just offended :o

So.....Huw for me everytime!!!