Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

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

Original poster

Rockabilly/Americana baby name help!

93 replies

Foxy1949 · 07/06/2025 23:27

We are having a baby boy and struggling with names! It seems like I've trawled the internet and know every name there is... I just keep seeing th same ones over and over! I feel there must be 'the one' out there that I haven't heard yet?

Me and my hubby love 1950s & America (we live in UK) so really wanting a name that fits this theme as it's what we love. We don't want it to be popular but also don't want it to be silly. Ones we like are Memphis, Phoenix, Texas
Also Reggie, Freddie, Vinnie but feel these are too popular in our area
Love old rockabilly names , also American places and ones related to rock N roll music/ cars

If anyone has any suggestions that are outside the box and we may not of heard of we would be really grateful! Thank you :)

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
MrsSkylerWhite · 09/06/2025 17:41

Rock

MrsSkylerWhite · 09/06/2025 17:41

Dean

minnienono · 09/06/2025 17:40

Can’t beat James, number 1 50’s make movie pin up, choose a more American name for middle name if you must. They may not like the whole vibe, being American is certainly not cool at the moment

DineDen · 09/06/2025 17:39

Chase
Roy

DipsyDee · 09/06/2025 17:38

JimmyGrimble · 07/06/2025 23:57

Cleetus
Hoss
Earl

Hoss is perfection

MsMiniver · 09/06/2025 17:36

Dylan
Tyler
Dean
Atticus
Frank(ie)

These fit your theme but not too much in case he’s not into Americana too.

WhimsyWhim · 09/06/2025 17:29

For some reason, I always think of the name Mickey/Micky when I think of 1950s America. I guess because it makes me think of Mickey Mantle. It was sometimes used as a nickname for Michael, but it was also used as an actual legal name in the 1950s in America. Unfortunately, Mickey/Micky might not be the best choice to use in the UK for obvious reasons.

I'm not a fan of place names, but you might like some of the suggestions below.

AMERICAN PLACE NAMES
Austin (city in the state of Texas)
Branson (city in the state of Missouri)
Charleston (city in the state of South Carolina)
Dallas (city in the state of Texas)
Denver (city in the state of Colorado)
Destin (city in the state of Florida)
Hershey (place in the state of Pennsylvania)
Houston (city in the state of Texas)
Jackson (city in the state of Mississippi)
Lehi (city in the state of Utah)
Montgomery (city in the state of Alabama)
Ogden (city in the state of Utah)
Orlando (city in the state of Florida)
Portland (cities in the states of Maine and Oregon)
Prescott (city in the state of Arizona)
Reno (city in the state of Nevada)
Richmond (city in the state of Virginia)
Roswell (city in the state of New Mexico)
Waco (city in the state of Texas)

WhatYaKnowGud · 09/06/2025 12:59

Maybe a classic traditional name that can be shortened/nicknamed such as…

Edward…Eddie
Charles… Chuck

Maybe with a wilder middle name like “trouble”…

AnotherVice · 09/06/2025 12:29

Colt? I agree about avoiding place names, unless it’s somewhere you’ve been lots and love? Doing it because it sounds cool is a bit tragic.

pimplebum · 09/06/2025 12:07

Crispynoodle · 07/06/2025 23:35

Presley

He fancied a 14 year old so not my first choice to name a child

MostlyGhostly · 09/06/2025 12:07

Elvis
Wylie
Jet
Roscoe
Wyatt
Cody
Wade
Vegas
Cisco
Dexter

crumpet · 09/06/2025 12:06

EconomyClassRockstar · 08/06/2025 01:22

Just in case you don't know what happens to Earl, he abuses his wife so her and her best friend kill him and nobody misses him. That's what happens to Earl.

I will have that earworm in my head for the rest of they day now - great song!

And it turns out he was a missing person
Who nobody missed at all…

Tuebrook · 09/06/2025 12:00

Name him after both grandfathers and create a 'nn' from the names.
e.g. Billy-Joe or Jim-Bob.

user1492757084 · 09/06/2025 11:45

John
Richard
Aaron
Roy
Clay
Rex
Dean
Carl
William
Charles
Valentine
Steven

ColdTofuSandwich · 09/06/2025 10:44

Charles nickname Buddy?

AnneMarieW · 09/06/2025 10:42

Thinking about it more, you could do similar Eddie on the BC instead of Freddie? Eddie is 50’s Americana and not too overused here yet (when compared to Freddie and Teddy). And even formal Edward is slipping down the charts too, so even if a few of those younger Edward’s do get called that, I still suspect your Eddie would still be the only one in school.

PicklesHome · 09/06/2025 10:42

I know a Memphis (girl, 15) and an Atlanta (woman, 32) - raises a few eyebrows in the small village town they are from. Surprisingly, unrelated. As PP have said, he will be an adult one day with his own personality and may not appreciate being named after an interest of his parents.

Nomoredamnmats · 09/06/2025 10:26

Cody

AnneMarieW · 09/06/2025 10:21

Yellowlab34 · 08/06/2025 00:20

You baby is going to grow up to be his own person, and may really resent you giving him a name to fit your interests. If you call him Memphis or Texas, he will be asked if he's full or part American. If he has to answer that no, his parents just liked 1950's Americana, he's going to feel embarassed and awkard, as the only reply to that is 'oh', followed by people silently wondering why he didn't change it.

He's not really likely to share your interest in 1950s Americana, most people don't share their parents nostalgia.

Please give him a normal name which fits the era - say Joe, Sam or John.

He's a person, he has to live with this name for his whole life, and a name like Texas or Memphis, or Earl or Vinnie, could be a burden. Can you imagine maths teacher Memphis? Or town planner Texas? Or engineer Earl?

I agree with this. The boy is unlikely to grow up in America unless you are planning on emigrating, so while there may be plenty of men in high earning or professional jobs called Earl or Buddy etc in the States (or indeed called Memphis, Texas etc) their culture is still different to our own.

Its might be unfair or “snobbery” but imo sometimes you have to think whether your principles are more important than your child having an easier life (especially bearing in mind your child that your child gets no say in the matter).

Tbh when I think of American rockabilly I generally think of names like Billy or Johnny anyway (and Betty, Peggy etc for girls). Basically classic 50’s style nickname names.

So if you hate the idea of that William or John are so commonplace (though John really isn’t these days!) then just use the nicknames on the BC. While Billy or Johnny are not especially popular, to other kids they will sound similar enough to Freddie, Reggie etc that they will still fit right in with their peers (and will have no issues when older as half their age group have those “nickname names” - 50 years from now there are going to be a lot of engineers , judges etc called Alfie!)

Gundogday · 08/06/2025 20:42

Wyatt
Todd
Tate
Garth
Brad
Marty
Travis
Cole

Tuebrook · 08/06/2025 20:41

Randy

ItsPeggyOlson · 08/06/2025 20:30

Chet

Theyreeatingthedogs · 08/06/2025 20:28

Aaron. Not too obvious and won't taint your child with a chavie name.

Babyenroute · 08/06/2025 20:21

I knew an amazing Dallas and an Austin
Other names i have only ever heard on Americans are Chip and Chuck 😀

honeyfox · 08/06/2025 20:20

Marlon is the first one that came to mind. Unfortunately it has a Dingle connection!