Callum

Agree that in Scotland Callum is just one of those names which has been around forever and you will find Callums of all ages from a baby to a pensioner.

It's similar to nams like Fraser, Euan, Rory, Donald, Jamie, Alistair.

I really dislike the sound of Callum, especially the UM part.

It is definitely extremely popular here, several in each of my children’s year groups particularly my 13 year old’s year.

Callum, Connor and Charlie are the most used names here.

I like both Fraser and Callum. I don’t think they are too popular.

I also really like Caleb.

Callum was very popular in the 90s and at the turn of the century in England so it feels quite dated to me. It's more of a classic in Scotland and Ireland. Calum looks fresher.

I really like Fraser. I don't think many people will have trouble with the spelling.

My DB is Callum (in his 20s) and my other DB is also on your boy list 😂

I’m in Scotland and they are pretty common names. When I say them with an English accent they sound so strange to me!

I don’t think they match your girls names though :(

I have a Callum. He is 13months. We like the fact it's a name that everyone knows of but that (here where we are in London at least) is not a name that is everywhere. I've not met another Callum his age at any group we've been to, and actually don't know anyone else in real life called Callum at all.

Ignore the 'naughty name' list. Anyone, and any name, can be naughty. I work in universities and could band a few names about of students that always cause problems, does that mean everyone with that name will be like that.... Some paper probably did a crappy piece of journalism one day and a few names got tarnished from that.

Pick a name that you and your partner love, ignore the rest.

I teach in a school in the Midlands and Callum is very popular with probably at least 10 in the school out of 400. It is a "disadvantaged" area but I darent say chavvy ! Given previous comments. I think it very much depends where you live. To me it's a very common name so if you want something a bit different I wouldn't go for it.

I actually much prefer the two l spelling! It's a nice enough name.

Not so keen on Callum as it's quite popular at the moment. Fraser is lovely, especially if you have Scottish heritage.

What about Callan?

I totally agree with @SporadicNamechange and @chunkyrun and indeed have pointed this out on here many times before. It's almost always the Irish and Scottish names that are labelled in this way.

I think @chunkyrun might be on to something.

This ‘naughty boy name’/‘chavvy’ connotation really doesn’t occur to Scottish or Irish people. It’s just a normal name that you come across in people of all ages.

But on MN (where Scottish and Irish people are resolutely fed up of defending their traditions and ways of speaking against consistent complaints about them being lesser and/or ‘American’) perfectly normal Scottish of Irish names are singled out as ‘a bit downmarket’ etc.

Surely Clive is due a come back?
Don't like Callum...it sounds naughty boy name to me. Fraser is nicer.

Fraser is nice, yes. Interestingly, the only Ocean I've ever taught was a boy. Just throwing that in there!

I don't know any littke Callum. Only a couple of grown up ones.

I suspect some people think Callum is chavy because it is a Common Celtic name and I've noticed these often come up on the worst dc/chavy lists.
I'm assuming it is unacknowledged racism against the Irish which may even have been subconsciously absorbed and repeated.

^^thats an interesting take, would never had made the connection

I'm in the North West and have a five year old Callum. We don't know any others. I still love it. I didn't want him to be one of several in his class with the same name, but also didn't want anything too unusual. His little brother is Zachary, same criteria.

Brogan and Rogan downmarket (to put it nicely). Boyd is odd, Gareth will probably be shortened to Gaz by his mates. Not keen on Callum, Fraser is the best of the bunch

Fraser/Frasier is gorgeous!

It's a lovely classic name, don't hear of many in north west England

Fraser is a good name.

I suspect some people think Callum is chavy because it is a Common Celtic name and I've noticed these often come up on the worst dc/chavy lists.
I'm assuming it is unacknowledged racism against the Irish which may even have been subconsciously absorbed and repeated.

Know of one or two but they are all early 20s.

@SporadicNamechange Yes, sorry, I did mean to write England (which is where OP lives) rather than UK

Fraser is a common name in Scotland (which was part of the UK last time I checked). I’d imagine people are more familiar with Frasers than Frasiers this side of the Atlantic.

Sometimes people might spell it Frazer. Thing us just about any name might occasionally have a spelling issue. It’s not that big a deal. All parts of my name can be spelled in different ways, both my children have names where people will use a variant spelling sometimes. It’s easy to ignore really.

Fraser is a lovely name.