Rowan for a boy..

It’s a lovely name. The only male ones I know are Rowan Atkinson and Rowan Williams (both English) The ones I know in person are female (all Scottish) There is also a pronunciation difference, but I don’t k ow of this is a male/female or English/Scottish thing. There is Rowan to rhyme with toe, roe, mow, and then Rowan to rhyme with cow, how.

I always think of Rowan as a girls name, maybe as the Anne ending sounds feminine to me

It doesn’t have an Anne ending

The stress is on the first syllable and the “a” is a schwa sound.

No, it makes me think of The Wicker Man. Not a positive connotation.

I have a little boy rowan and I love it. I've never met another, Male or female. This was the only name me and my husband could agree on too! x

I love it for a boy or girl.

@rainbowdroplets so difficult to pick when you have different names you love. Sending positive thoughts.

Now you've got opinions from people about the name 'Rowan', why don't you start a whole new thread totally leaving/'parking' that name for now (to potentially come back to later) and just say something like:

"Different tastes, cant agree, help!

My husband loves: Caleb, Tobias and Orlando.
I hate all of them.

I like Frankie, Zachary and Albie (although the baby in eastenders is now called Albie so that's massively puts me off that one)

With those in mind, any suggestions for names we both might like? I feel like we've been through every name"

Maybe you'll get some good options or will at least have tried and can then go back to your original lists.

I think of it as a girls name but only because the Rowan's I know are girls, so it sounds very feminine to me. It's unisex really though but that depends on country. The American statistics show the name is really increasing in numbers for girls in America so I suspect parents will get wind and stop using it for boys over there; we shall see!

I'm sorry to hear you're stuck in a name rut @rainbowdroplets . Baby names are hard, just postpone your appointment if you can't decide in time. Your baby will be none the wiser and I'm sure it'll be a nice story when older. When there's so many lovely names to pick from, I myself would avoid Rowan and all of the Ro_an names. Partly due to massive sudden rise in popularity but I also would worry about my son being teased if he had the same name as a girl in his class or on TV (I know I know- Rowan is a unisex name. Please no one attack me, I'm just being honest. Girls with boy names are apparently cool but boy with girl names are apparently not)

Rowan is one of those names that to me is completely gender neutral (ie I imagine River as a boy, Bailey as a girl etc).

It’s a really sweet, wholesome name.

Love it. I wish I'd used it for DS and would definitely have used it if we'd had another.

all it connotes to me is beardy bishops talking obscurely in druids robes.

It's okay, but prefer it for a girl.

I prefer it for a girl. I know a couple of young Rowans who are both girls (and both Scottish).

My 2 year old son is called Roan

I prefer it for a girl, it seems a bit “wet” for a boy.

Sorry I posted before I saw your updated post @rainbowdroplets

First thing first- don't panic. 6 weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things so take a deep breath. If you don't love this name then maybe go back to the drawing board for a bit and see if you come back to it. Easy. Don't get stressed though, registering births has been put on the back burner and you must be exhausted so take some time.

What sort of names do you and your husband tend to like? Something unusual? Traditional? Modern sounding? Are you concerned about popularity or is that not even a factor for you?

Maybe if you tell us more about the type of names you like, people here will suggest names you've never thought of or might make you revisit names you previously discarded.

Rowan reminds me of Rowan Atkinson - Mr Bean!

Totally love it. Don't like Roman at all.

Rowans are always nice too!

Prefer the name Rowan on a girl. Roman with an 'm' very popular now too -- all that subset/tranche of names sound too trendy now sadly. Definitely having a moment so ignore me as loads seem to like Roman and Rowan right now. Reuben Rory and Ronnie all sharp risers too.

I always think of Rowan as a girls name, maybe as the Anne ending sounds feminine to me and all the adult Rowan's I know are girls. I think it's a nice enough name but wouldn't use now Roman and Rowan are both shooting up the top 100 at the same time and do blend into one for me now whereas they never used to until I began hearing them so much together. Neither name has been in the top 100 in history until now so could "date" (whatever that means 😆) and become a Sharon/Darren type name, if that's a concern.

The girls I know did get shortened to "Row" whether they like it or not so have a think if you mind that.

Ronan?

I'm not keen.

Lovely name. For both sexes.
Reminds me of The Wicker Man.