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Baby names

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Alternatives to Theo?

39 replies

bamboobuddha · 15/04/2012 07:55

After much squabbling, DH and I have stumbled on a name for DS2 that we both actually like - Theo. No mean achievement given DH's tastes usually run to things like Thor or Marmaduke (I kid you not), whereas I prefer slightly more normal names (not Tom, Edward and the like, but names like Laurence, Alistair and so on).

Unfortunately, one of our friends has a 3 year old called Theo, and we would both feel uncomfortable about "copying" her. We see this friend and her DC about every 3 months, do occasional joint holidays and have a reasonable circle of mutual friends.

So, any suggestions for alternatives to Theo? I'm actually not wild about the name Theodore (but would prefer to give the long version of a name on a birth certificate and could probably live with it). DH and I have vaguely agreed on Alexander as a fallback name if we can't come up with anything better, but we're both a bit meh about it (no offence to anyone with DC called Alexander; it's a perfectly nice name).

DS1 is called Hector. If DS2 had been a girl, name would probably have been Iona.

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lycheemartini · 15/04/2012 19:22

Louis?

BBQJuly · 15/04/2012 19:17

Rufus is a great name!

Or how about Tristan, Maximilian, Sebastian, Miles, Felix, Aidan, Jasper, Elliot, Oliver?

Janoschi · 15/04/2012 16:09

Matteo. Teo (pr: Tay-o) for short. Or Matty.

doctordwt · 15/04/2012 16:03

Hector and Hugo quite cool!

Iwan tends to be the Welsh form of the Ewan/Euan name - they're all John in another jumper basically, as is Yann, Yannis, Jan, Juan... etc.

Ioan is another Welsh one that might suit you - 'Yo-ann'.

Like Jago too.

Kveta · 15/04/2012 15:58

Hector and Rufus sound great together! (my parents had a dog called Hector, he was awesome :o)

Lewis, Hamish, Graeme, Aaron, Sean all nicely celtic sounding.

I loved Theo too - DC2 will be Teodor (Teddy/Theo) if the scans were wrong and she's not a she - but alternatives we had were Toby or Eduard.

Stellan · 15/04/2012 15:54

I love Rufus. Yes, sounds a bit like a dog's name in the abstract but no one will think that as soon as they meet one.

bamboobuddha · 15/04/2012 15:34

pinkorkid - thanks for the list of saints names! Most of them are a bit out there for us; I like Magnus, but can't convince DH.

I quite like Leo, but it sounds a bit daft with our surname. Leonardo possibly a bit better, but might sound strange for someone with no Italian roots?

Quite like Rufus (although is it bit too much like a dog's name Smile ?

Hugo's a possibility.

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Coconutty · 15/04/2012 13:58

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zxcv123 · 15/04/2012 13:58

Hmmm... perhaps "Euan" isn't a Scottish name, but a Welsh one. So perhaps Eoin (Yo - un) instead?

applepieinthesky · 15/04/2012 13:57

I know someone with a Theo and her best friend has a little boy called Leo. I prefer Leo myself.

themildmanneredjanitor · 15/04/2012 13:55

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zxcv123 · 15/04/2012 13:54

On the basis that you seem to like names with the "oh" sound in (Theo, Iona) how about Jago? Iago? Ludo? Milo? Leonardo? Antonio?

Or alternatively, Scottish names such as Rufus, Fraser, Euan etc

pinkorkid · 15/04/2012 09:42

Sounds like you both like Scottish /Scandinavian names
link here to a list of scottish saints www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scottish_anatomy/scottish_saints.html

Saints Columba and Adomnan both have links to Iona

Stellan · 15/04/2012 09:37

Leo is the obvious alternative.

I'm rather partial to Lionel too.