Stuck for baby boy names, our favourite just got vito’d by my mother!

Dont discuss your name choices query anyone, except your child's father.

You're giving your mum to much control here.

My friends Gs has a friend called Arlo, I love it

Name your baby what YOU want. I regret listening to my mother's objections over 30 years ago.

I like Vito, go with that.

Your baby
Your choice

You can call your baby George Archer Fandango Blue River if you want, its not her choice

If you don't want anything too common then stay away from Charlie, Otis, Hugo, Sebastian, and Toby! They're all in the top 100. Archer is 179 so still pretty popular but Archie is tenth so if you're going to shorten it at all then again, you may want to reconsider.

Look at the site Dark Greener if you want to check any other potential names.

Your mother doesn't get to have a say.

Just don’t talk about it, your mother has no say.

We have the Archer christian name in our family tree since early 1900s, its been carried thru the generations …. Go for the name you love …and its different, unusual xx good luck xx

Your mother doesn't get a veto on names, she named her child(ren).
I'd not give into this kind of interference or she'll think she gets a say in all sorts of parenting decisions.

I'll not comment on which of you names I like because it doesn't matter one bit what randoms on the internet like. Call your baby what you and you dh love most.

Tell her tough! It’s your baby name him what you want.
I like Archer.

Archer is a family name in my family back at least 4 generations so... Direct your mum to their gravestones I guess?

No it's not just down to that, you are right.

I still think it stokes the ire of many though!

ETA and even I didn't like her DM's suggestion of Archie!

I liked Archer. My husband didn’t but I had it on my list. Persoanlly - I don’t like Archie as it is bit common now and I am not a fan of giving children nicknames as their full names.

I don’t think you should use Archer. I’m saying this not because I dislike it, but because I think the name has been spoilt for you now. It’s better not to discuss names with opinionated relatives and friends before the birth imo.

Your list is great apart from the misspelling of Toby. My favourite is Sebastian George.

Understandable. I just wanted to point out that people suggesting she still use it isn’t automatically down to people not liking their mothers or mothers in law giving opinions. But yes, agree it’s good to have alternative perspectives

Well she's had lots of opinions saying to use it anyway. I just wanted to give a different perspective.

I’m one of those people who said she should still use Archer, and mine isn’t out of hatred towards mothers, my own died before my children were born so I have no personal experience, however when my dad scrunched his face up when I told him what we’d be calling our daughter and said “that’s not a very good name”, I had the same response that I suggested to the OP - “oh well it’s a good job you were able to call yours what you wanted then!”

Fair enough if you don’t like the name Archer, but it was at the top of OP’s list so clearly her favourite name, and I still totally stand by not letting anyone else vito it, mothers, fathers, friends, cousins… whoever. It’s no one else’s choice but the parents. Plus the fact that her mother “angrily” rejected it isn’t venturing an opinion, it’s being outright weird and borderline rude!

You are going to get a lot of people telling you to just use Archer Op because MN's pet hate is DMs and DMils who venture an opinion.

I'm going to go against the grain and say I think your mum is right, and I don't really like Archer if I'm honest; I think it does sound a bit more of a common noun than a proper noun. Fletcher is a similar name if you like the whole bow and arrow feel.

BUT I really like your list - and think any and everything on it is better than Archer!

The only one I would hesitate with is Sebastian because it's getting quite a following atm by people who wouldn't traditionally have used it - which at one level doesn't matter but I think the vibe of that name is in flux and will likely change. The rest are 🎯

PS don't use DM's suggestion of Archie! It's been done to death for a good 15 years now and like many on here I have the feeling they are often difficult kids!

Oh gosh so you’re actually changing the name because of that?! Please don’t, I think Archer is lovely, unusual but not too out there. Plus to state the obvious, your mother already had her turn at choosing her children’s names and shouldn’t get to deprive you of the chance to do that! Just happily announce the name when your little one is born, she can always call him Archie if she wants 🤷🏻‍♀️

Archie/Wilf/Otis/Seb/Toby are all super popular where I live. Archer is OK, I know of one age 10. I do wonder if they'll just end up being called Archie though?

I actually really like Charlie and don't think it's used as often as the others.

What about Ethan?

Not on your list but what about Oscar?

I like Toby. We only know 1.
Wilf is nice with the full name Wilfred.
Otis is very common amongst babies and toddlers near us.
Charlie is generally pretty common across age ranges and the confusion from it being unisex would put me off personally.
Hugo sounds more like a dog name to me.
Archer I would agree with your mum, Archie is quite nice but common amongst teenagers.
I do like the name seb, it was on our maybe list but the closeness between Sebastian and bastard put me off.

My parents hate DS2's name, and I have to admit it did make me feel a bit sad since they love DS1's name. However, it helped that my mum suggested Barry and then I realised that we just had very different taste in names! They love DS2, and that's what matters.

I mean, I have to agree with your mum here.

However, the golden rule is you never discuss baby names with ANYONE before you actually make the final decision.