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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Need a "won't be one of seven in his class" boy name!

64 replies

moominleigh94 · 04/01/2014 09:59

Me again... still don't know what we're having but I realised that I hadn't given much thought to what if it's a boy... and now that everyone I know thinks I'm having a boy, I realised I'd probably better get a move on all the names I love for a boy, I'm worried (not too worried - not enough to put me off a name completely, I don't think) that he'll be one of six or seven in his class. Here are the names I like a lot (some have particular reasons for choosing them)

Dylan - I want Welsh in there somewhere but this is one of the only Welsh first names I like (grew up in a very very Welsh village where all the boys had Welsh names and they've put me off them!). Also love Dylan Thomas, which is what attracted us to the name in the first place. But seems like every classroom has four Dylans in it right now.

Tobias nn Toby - I really like it but not sure it's 'right' for us, OH loves it but there was a character in a children's film and he keeps saying the name in a Scottish accent and it drives me insane plus with Divergent coming out next year, it's going to become popular.

Rory - OH likes it, I think it's cute, just can't find a middle name (and Rory The Tiger/Rory The Racing Car puts me off)

Oscar - I love this one, but OH has a distant friend with a son called this and apparently it's reason enough not to use it, but last night he said he does really like it.

Alexander - I think it's a bit more 'classic' than my other choices. I'm just not keen on the nickname Alex, I much prefer Xand or Xander (a la Alexander Armstrong ) which I'm worried people think is too 'trendy' or whatever. OH really likes it too.

Tristan - OH really likes this, it's a nod to his and his family's passion for medieval history. I like it but hated the character in Stardust and also knew a very annoying boy with this name but different spelling.

Christopher - OH likes it. I don't.

Archie - Would be short for Archer. We're both quite keen on this one.

Joseph - Would probably be known as Joe. Again, just worried he'll be one of many in his classroom.

Basically I'm after opinions on whether the boys would be one of many with all these names, and any others similar to my choices (so not Clement or Horatio) that might be better?

Names I like but we can't use -
Monty - it's the name of my car
Alfie - Friend's sister is due month before me and they're calling their little boy Alfie.
Jack

OP posts:

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Turvytopsy · 04/01/2014 16:45

It really depends on area op. I have an Oscar and a Dylan and although admittedly neither are babies anymore we have never had another of either in any class they have been in. I still love both names and they have suited my boys through all stages of their lives so far.

Good luck with the new arrival

Original poster

moominleigh94 · 04/01/2014 16:40

flatmum - I'm worried it will be really popular with the 100th anniversary of Dylan Thomas's birth this year, and every name thread I read, everyone seems to say "avoid Dylan, it's overused".

footle I'm not sure what pronounciation we'll be using - his family are Welsh and mine are English so it's a bit of a Gavin and Stacey situation needs to be something they'd all be able to pronounce, and I don't want to be correcting everyone that it's duh-lan, not dillon all the time.

Surname is 'W' if that makes any decisions easier

OP posts:

Footle · 04/01/2014 16:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

flatmum · 04/01/2014 16:11

oh and round here the popular names with multiples in classes are:

Thomas
Joseph
Ethan
Harrry
Charlie

flatmum · 04/01/2014 16:09

I also have a 9y old Dylan - only one in his school, but we're in the SE. I think it is a really lovely name (obviously) - He gets called Dyl, Dilly, Dils, Dips etc all of which suit him too (never be under any illusions that the name wont be nicknamed or shortened by his friends - it will!).

I think if you like Dylan go for it - is it really still that popular in Wales?

Worriedthistimearound · 04/01/2014 15:59

My Alexander is Alex but I also know one known as Lex which is cool.

Footle · 04/01/2014 14:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DaleyBump · 04/01/2014 14:34

I have a Tobias (nn Toby). Never even heard of another. I think it's a beautiful name :)

ilovesmurfs · 04/01/2014 14:20

noah and toby are names of a few little ones ie under threes here.

just choose a name you like.

i wouldnt choose a top ten name and when wr chose oscar and theo they werent even in the top 100 names, they are now tho.

our dd has a name that is only givem to about 30 babies a year, its not even in the top 500 names but i met someone recently who said their grandaughter had the same name.

BikeRunSki · 04/01/2014 14:16

Rhodri
Emrys
Euan

Original poster

moominleigh94 · 04/01/2014 14:12

Thanks again for all the comments :)

Other names that I absolutely adore but OH isn't keen on are Noah, Theo and Finlay. I love the name Ellis but a horrendous ex put paid to that idea

I'm not too worried about there being others in the class with the name to be honest... I think it's just that I'm so used to never having met anyone with my name (I'm a Madison, named before it became hideously popular ) that I can't quite get my head around it

OP posts:

ilovesmurfs · 04/01/2014 14:06

i have a dylan, he is 9 and the only one in his class.

i have an oscar who is 11 and the onky one in his yr group but it has got more popular in the under fives but according to ons statistics it fell down the list last year so is becoming less popular.

i also have a theo who has always been the only one (14) but it is more popular now.

bizarely ds4 is rudi, not a popular name at all but when he started reception thete was another rudi! however he and the other rudi love that thete is someone else with their name.

so ime you can choose an unusual name and still end up with another in your class.

alfie, archie, tom, finn/finlay are popular names where we are.

if you look at the ons statistucs there is a bit where they give you the most popular names according to region.

TheNightIsDark · 04/01/2014 14:01

I love Loki. It would've suited DS1 to a t. I wasn't brave enough though. And we would had to have called DS2 Thor and I can't say the 'th' sound reliably

WidowWadman · 04/01/2014 14:00

If my youngest had been a boy we'd have called her Leander.

absentmindeddooooodles · 04/01/2014 13:57

Love alexander. I considered it for ds. Others we liked were:

Rory
Jesse
Christopher
Reuben
Myles
William
Sebastian
Seth
Jacob
Loki
Sonny
Tobias

We ended up calling him jude :)

ISpyPlumPie · 04/01/2014 13:52

I'd agree that just because a name is popular it doesn't automatically mean you'll come across loads of them. DS1's name is now top 5, but so far he's been the only one in his class. There were however two boys with the same name that is somewhere in the 110's (only know this as it happened to be next to Ds2's name in the list, I'm not some strange baby name rankings obsessive )

I like all the names on your shortlist of three. Toby was a serious contender for DS2. I couldn't use Alexander due to nightmare ex though - such a waste of a perfectly good name!

GimmeDaBoobehz · 04/01/2014 13:45

I like all these names except Tristan. It just sounds too Americanised to me and seems a little too try hard - but that's only my personal opinion.

I know an Alexander who is called Alex and it's classic but not overly popular. It wont be spelt incorrectly and there is a number of nicknames that are available, as well as the full name.

I like Rory but whenever I think of Rory I think of an Irish name not that it's a problem of course. It's a lovely name and I would consider using it myself with DC2.

Archie is a nice name but my partners dog is called Archie so would seem weird for me personally but I think it's cute. But cute names sometimes don't carry when they are grown up.

My sisters dog is called Toby so wouldn't be in our list but it is a nice name.

Dylan is nice but I imagine would be very popular in Wales.

Joseph is simple and OK although wouldn't be on my list personally.

Oscar reminds me of the cat in the adverts but it's a nice name and is my cousins name.

Christopher is pretty generic and you can't go wrong with it.

As far as name suggestions perhaps a few of these might be useful as you seem to like similar names to us:

Joshua
Charlie (Charles)
Daniel
Gregory
Kieran
Liam
Noah
Sean
Thomas

I am sure there must be others just a couple of suggestions that you may like.

DoTheStrand · 04/01/2014 13:32

Oh and as i think someone else said look locally, don't go by the national lists - unusual names do seem to occur in clusters (either chance or people overhearing round town...)

EvilTwins · 04/01/2014 13:30

My friend has an Archie whose full name is Archer. At the time she thought she was being original, but now knows of 2 other Archers the same age.

DoTheStrand · 04/01/2014 13:28

I love Dylan though it is v popular (and we are nowhere near Wales). Tristan is my favourite of all your suggestions and I've never actually met one.

My DS2 is Cassian - we've had nothing but positive reactions to it though no one had ever heard it before (and we hadn't met another until I took him to a new dentist who me with a big grin and said 'I've got a Cassian! Never met another before.')

Coconutty · 04/01/2014 13:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheNightIsDark · 04/01/2014 13:17

Alexander is good. I have an Alexandra who currently answers to Lex although I love Alex for a girl so I'm working on her

She's only called Alexandra at home. People will always use their own nicknames if you tell them the child's full name. If you say "this is Xander" then they will more and likely refer to him as Xander.

TheArticFunky · 04/01/2014 13:16

You never can tell what will be popular in your sons cohort.

There are two little boys in ds's nursery class with the same very unusual name that I had never heard of before.

The name Jack was number 1 for years and years and yet we have never come across a single one.

Original poster

moominleigh94 · 04/01/2014 13:12

We're in Wales which is why we're worried Dylan is likely to be really popular as that's our favourite at the minute. Alexander is a close second at the moment, and I'm not fussed on what others call him really, I don't mind Alex that much - he'd probably be Xander to us but Alex to everyone else which is fine by me

Little boy in my family called Jack so can't go for Jack otherwise it'd probably be top of the boys list.

blackandwhite Thanks for the suggestions :)
OH hates Gethin
Huw is the name of my lecturer
Rhys is very likely going to be the middle name as it's a family name
Geraint is OH's Dad's name
I'm not keen on Tomos

At the moment our top 3 is looking like

Dylan Rhys
Alexander Rhys
Toby Rhys

Thanks for all the advice!

OP posts:

ShadowFall · 04/01/2014 11:39

If you're worried about name popularity, it might be an idea to dig out the most recently published set of offical babyname stats to see where your suggested names rank.

Obviously there's regional variations in naming, and names sometimes get more popular very quickly, so no guarantees, but kids with lower ranking names are less likely to be one of 7 in a class.

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