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Baby names

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

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Original poster

John? Or an Irish name?

86 replies

whattocallhim · 14/03/2021 10:21

Hello everyone. Baby number 2 due in a few weeks. What do people think of John as a name? It doesn't seem to have come back like a lot of the other older names and I don't know why. Is it a bit boring? DD has a common Irish name (living in England) and we cant really think of an Irish boy's name that we like...which leads us to John which is a family name. Thoughts please?

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M0rT · 14/03/2021 11:17

I think it's a good name. Well known but he is likely to be only one in his class/friendship group and not that uncommon as pp have shown.
It's nice to have the family connection too, especially if your in England with family in Ireland.

Slacktide · 14/03/2021 11:11

@whattocallhim

Thanks everyone, when I say family name I mean big time, it's unreal! On one side, there's a Granduncle (of the baby) Sean, Grandad and Great great Grandad John, and on the other side John - theres's a Granduncle , Uncle, Grandad and every Great great great going back x number of generations Grin
That’s pretty usual. At one point there were FOUR John Samesurnames living in my house when I was a child — my great-uncle, grandfather, father and little brother. You can imagine the postal situation.

I think it was pretty much Default Male Name for generations. I wouldn’t use it myself for that reason — it feels too generic to me — but you clearly feel differently. It’s a perfectly nice name.

Apileofballyhoo · 14/03/2021 11:09

I like John.

Original poster
whattocallhim · 14/03/2021 11:05

Thanks everyone, when I say family name I mean big time, it's unreal! On one side, there's a Granduncle (of the baby) Sean, Grandad and Great great Grandad John, and on the other side John - theres's a Granduncle , Uncle, Grandad and every Great great great going back x number of generations Grin

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TheFoz · 14/03/2021 10:43

That’s fair enough. I wouldn’t be concerned what others think. If it’s a name you like and has special meaning attached to it then go for it. I recently had a baby and his name would probably be classed as boring, but he’s named after my late father so God help anyone who would tell me it’s boring!!
You want it, you like it, go for it.

Shandilarr · 14/03/2021 10:42

I love John. It's my sons middle name as it was my late fathers name.

IslaRoseGraceEtc · 14/03/2021 10:33

I have a John. He's 2. It's a family name for us too. It's a fab name and quite unusual these days. There's a thread in baby names about Guy that I started, which has lots of lovely comments about John.

Lots of people are a bit Hmm and say things like "oh my grandad was called John".

Sudename · 14/03/2021 10:33

John is a lovely, classic, strong name, go for it!

Original poster
whattocallhim · 14/03/2021 10:30

Hi Foz, I've kinda ruled out Sean as it would normally be with a fada for the correct Irish spelling and I don't want a fada. Also not keen on the other spellings of Shawn and Shaun which I think may get mistaken for in England. Jack yes is John but a little more popular than I would like. When I say DDs name is popular I mean top 50 I think and practically unheard of in England.

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TheNorthWind · 14/03/2021 10:27

I like John. Think it's due a bit of a resurgence actually.

TheFoz · 14/03/2021 10:25

What about changing it up and having Sean. Or Jack I believe comes from John.

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