Clement, Clarence, Roscoe or Gilbert?

Roscoe will be forever associated with this character for me.

Maybe some US Mumsnetters can comment, but my sense from reading contemporary American fiction is that Roscoe may have an association with middle-aged and older hillbilly/hick types?

Astrid is lovely. I quite like Gilbert (Scott Heron and Blythe associations can't be bad) and Florian, but Clemence and Clarence both sound slightly clammy to me - possibly I just don't like the 'cl' sound?

Linus? Cornelius?

I'm another Londoner. None of the suggested names would have stood out as in any way unusual in my NCT/playgroup circles.

Also, Gilbert makes me think of what's eating Gilbert Grape. Not usually a fan of the name but I liked it on that character. I knew a Ghily growing up (short for Ghilyon) everyone thought it was a great name.

i like roscoe :) it makes me think of a confident, alternative young man. I don't like Ross as a nn though.

Florian I quite like but I wouldn't personally be brave enough to name a child that, I prefer Julian or Dorian.

If you are still there, OP, you have my sympathy. Yes, Baby Names can be quite robust, but some people do cross the line from robust to rude, which is uncalled for. Or maybe they just draw that line in a different place to me. I can't even relate to the concept of 'hating' a name - it's just a name! Why use such a negative, emotional word? Save it for things that are really deserving of hatred.

And I agree with pp that those parents who take care to choose popular names so that their children 'fit in', may well find the child would have preferred something more unusual, so they could stand out from all the others with the same name as them. I'm certainly glad to have been given a very unusual name and have never been teased for it (except by my sister, but that is probably allowed).

Anyway, I like Clement best of your list, esp with nn Clem. Also like Roscoe but mostly because I love nn Ross. Florian sounds to 'flowery' for a boy's name.

Just read the list to my DH. His suggestion? "Try Dave". Seriously, please don't inflict any of these on your baby.

OP, I like unusual names.
Clement is a seriously good name.
Gilbert likewise (I know of one, he's a farmer)
I also know a Florian who is a really lovely bloke (admittedly he is from Austria, where Florian is a normal sort of name).

One of my DC has a very unusual name. She absolutely loves it, always has. Another one has an almost equally unusual name and isn't desperately keen on it, but doesn't hate it enough to really work on establishing its normal-sounding nickname as her usual name.

And they both survived a state primary school entirely unscathed.

I particularly dislike Clarence not very helpful

Dorian?

Astrid is a fabulous name.
Clement or Roscoe are my other favourites.
Not sure about Florian but quite like Fabian and Tristan. I also like Emerson, Emmett and Sorrell.

If they are a confident, popular child they will be fine but you can't know this and it is a terrible handicap for a shy, sensitive child.

No, no, no and no.

I do agree Florian is quite nice though.

Just to add to your joy, anyone who has ever read a book called The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh (it was very popular book in the 70s/80s) would never call a child Roscoe in a million years and would wince at a child with such a name.

I read that more than once in the late 80s and never even made the connection here - I only thought of the Dukes of Hazzard - so it is of course an exaggeration to say that anyone who has read it would wince at the name.

OP, I'm going to buck the trend and say I love Florian! It reminds me of Onkel Florian, a minor character in the Chalet School books, who was a big strapping Austrian chap capable of carrying fainting schoolgirls down a mountain. Not at all wet.

I like Gilbert/Gil too, and don't think that would be too out of step with current name trends. I'm neutral on Clement simply because of the rise of Clementine for little girls - I knew a lovely man called Clement/Clem but probably wouldn't use it these days for a boy, and I'm not keen on Clarence or Roscoe.

I agree with those who have said that most people will be polite when introduced to someone, regardless of how 'out there' the name might be, and if you get to know a person then that name just becomes 'them', no matter what other/previous associations you might have.

And as for a child hating their name because it's unusual...I've seen far more threads where people bemoan their parents' choice of name either because the spelling (not the name itself) was unusual or for precisely the opposite reason; that they were the sixth Debbie/Lucy/Jill or whatever in their school year and so always had to be known by their surname or its initial as well as their first name.

I wont be horrible,

NO, NO, NO AND NO

People are just giving their honest opinions. Mine is that they are all really horrible names, at a push (a very big push) Roscoe is the best of a very bad bunch.

I like Gilbert. It's on my list but we probably won't go with it.

I've had my name suggestions slated on here op. I would take it all with a pinch of salt. You probably wouldnt like the names they've picked for their dcs.

I know a little Gil (full name Gilbert), Dad also a big Gil Scott Heron fan, I think it's cool. Also like Roscoe. Clem's OK but doesn't move me. Not a fan of Clarence or Florian for a boy in the UK.

I think they sound worse as a collective than they would singularly.

I don't it makes think of an Asteroid or Astral cream., Still a nice name though,

When I think of Astrid I just think of an old woman :S but that is probably just me as I have seen the name rise in popularity recently.

Are you giving birth to a 1940s Butler? If not then no they're awful names. Astrid is lovely though.

My great-uncle (because I know you're just longing for another family anecdote) was baptised 'William' by his sensible parents. When he fled the country to avoid marrying a girl he had made pregnant (in the 1930s) he changed his name to Gilbert.
Therefore, the universe is plus one Gilbert and minus one William.
Call your boy William.
Astrid isn't the worst name I've ever heard. Astrid for a girl.

BTW, I also speak Portuguese, as well as a couple of other languages. Still don't like them.

Personally, I wouldn't make any decisions for my children based on whether they will be bullied or not. It depends on the bullies, whether they are there and whether they want to buy your child.

God knows I have contact with all sorts of names and cultures. In London and outside the UK. And I still don't like those names.
If you like them fine for you, they are your kids. Be aware that your son may not like the names, as most people here. That for me would be the most important consideration.
As I said, I'd choose Gilbert as the least bad for me. And I'd get a middle name that is more consensual in case he'd rather use that.