We've finally agreed on names! And they are.....

well, I'll put one last appeal in for at least it being "Joe" on the birth certificate.

however, definately Bethany, it's lovely.

I love Bethany Megan. I would have named one of my daughters Bethany if I could have convinced my husband, and Megan was our second choice for our younger daughter.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with your name choices and I'm glad you're not letting negative comments sway you.

Enjoy Bethany or Joey when he/she arrives.

Great for a child not as he gets older though.

Joey - great nickname, daft actual name. PLease remember you're naming a person, not a baby.

Poor OP!

I think it's great you've found names you love. It's so hard to find THE name when it feels like a massive responsibility, isn't it?

Having said that, I will chuck my hat in the ring for Joe on the bc. Joey really feels too nicknamey to be the formal name to me.

And who wants a cutesy adult? Of either gender?

Yes, if he's not a cutesy adult, he's not going to thank you for calling him Joey when he's trying to get laid. I know we don't like to think of our DSs as eventual men trying to get laid, but they will be.

I urge you to use Joseph or Joe on the BC and use Joey as a nickname.

I say this as someone whose DS has a cutesy nickname that he has been universally known as since Day 1, and whose BC name almost doesn't feel like his name, so underused it is. But at least he has options in later life...

Bethany Megan is lovely :)

Bethany is a very pretty, Biblical place name that works well as a feminine given name. As another poster mentioned, Bethany Megan does sound very Welsh - most likely due to Bethan (without the Y) and Megan being common Welsh names. I don't think that's a bad thing at all (quite the contrary!) but it's worth noting.

I agree with the other posters who have noted that Joey does not sound like a suitable name for a grown man. To me, it is a nickname for Joseph, Joel, Jonah, etc. It is far too cutesy for a bloke. It also rhymes with feminine names like Zoe and Chloe, and reminds me of Joey from Dawson's Creek (Katie Holmes' character) as well as Joey from Friends (buffoon, if you ask me).

While I am pleased that you love the name, I do strongly advise, like many of the other posters, that you name him something more versatile; Joe would do. I can imagine a baby Joe, a teenage Joe, an adult Joe, and an elderly Joe but Joey just seems like a child's name to me.

Like it or not, people will judge him based on his name - consciously or otherwise. Like Alfie, Evie, and all of the other names of that ilk, I also think Joey and cutesy names in general will date poorly; I already see them as dated circa early 2000s.

Anthony is a lovely middle name and I think would also work well as a first name.

Yes- the Joey-face thing. I was hoping nobody remembered that. People still do the face, but they don't call it that any more, do they?

Joey - oh dear. I grew up in the eighties and it was used as a term of abuse by the less nice kids at school. I can't really get past that. Or the budgie connection.

Bethany is pretty, a bit medieval, but I like it.

I'm not convinced middle names matter much as who uses them on a day to day basis? I have no idea what my friend's middle names are.

I personally don't like Joey as I think it is neither here nor there. It does remind me of a budgie sorry! Bethany Megan is alright but I would use it the other way round Megan Bethany. That's just my opinion though if you've got your heart set on them then use them.

"Bill Gates" is actually William - and anyway, Bill is more 'professional' than 'Billy'.

I work for a headhunter, solid names do matter. They really, really do. I do think, however, they matter more for woman than men, who can 'get away' with a 'cutesy' name on their CV if their CV is fabulous. Woman unfortunately are treated as lightweight much more than men anyway, however Bethany is a very grown up solid name that she can do anything with - you can imagine a Judge called Bethany, a CFO of a FTSE 100, it also works for the lead singer of a super cool band, the woman cutting your hair or a mum on the school run - Bethany is one of those really great names that would never hold her back and it's hard to pre-judge what "Bethany" would be like just off her name.

Joey, however, is cutesy. Cutesy is good for a child who is cutesy. I would think carefully about putting a cutesy name on a birth certificate rather than a solid traditional one.

the other issue is you have to "ee" sounds in the first two names - Joey and Anthony - doesn't sound right said outloud.

chickydoo

Joey as a nn is fine.

Personally I cannot wait until this country has a high court judge called Poppy or Dwayne.

Seriously there is far too much snobbery in the UK about names.

How about Joel? Think Joey Anthony doesn't sound right, both ending in ie sound maybe?

To add My rather dashing son is neither a kangaroo or a condom

My Joey is now 6 foot, dark eyes and hair.
Very clever, funny & has lots of friends.
He is Joseph on Bc but he has always been Joey. It suits him. I sometimes call him Joe, but everyone else calls him Joey.

Joey is a bit of a comedy name. Sorry.

Joe, however, is fine. Nice and solid. You wouldn't be embarrassed to introduce yourself as Joe.

Do you think an adult man would like to be called Joey? And he really will spend his life saying "no, just Joey. No not short for anything."

I dont like either boy or girl names, very boring and ordinary. Joey? is he a baby animal? they just sound to me like very boring, normal, couldnt-really-be-arsed-so-these-names-will-do kind of names.

I'm probably dating myself, but to me, a joey is a condom... :-/

I doubt Bill Gates would use Bill on his CV. It would be William. Bill Gates isn't the best example though as he probably doesn't need a CV at this point of his life. I bet he used his full formal name when he was applying to Harvard though.'

Unfortunately for the Apple Blossoms of this world (and the Poppys -- see another thread here about Ken Livingstone's comments on this name) they will all need a job at some point of their lives and unless Daddy/Mummy has one available, then someone else is going to be reading that piece of paper that will either get them in the door for an interview or get them a 'thank you for your interest' letter. For most people the thing that they hope will jump out at the average HR paper pusher is their experience and their education and that nothing will distract the attention of the reader from those elements of the CV, like poor spelling, or a name that seems inappropriately informal, too friendly, and over familiar when the HR dept hasn't even met the applicant yet.