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Baby names

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

Original poster

Theodore

38 replies

duchesse · 17/03/2009 19:14

Never thought I'd start a thread in baby names, but here goes...

I have a dilemma: 16 years ago when we were expecting our first child, our boys' names were Benedict or Theodore. In the end, he didn't look like a Theodore when he was born. Now we're expecting another, and still like Theodore, but it seems in teh intervening 16 years to have become really popular, thanks to Theo Walcott I presume. (who is a lovely lad and supports breastfeeding so he gets my vote any time)

The other three children all have relatively unusual names and have only ever met one or two others of their kind, which they mostly think is a good thing. What I'm worried about is that if we call Bump Theodore, he'll be one of two or three in any class he's in. I don't even know if he's a boy yet, but I have a feeling, you know?

So, Theodore, too "popular" or not?

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cybershirls · 19/03/2009 15:57

When our son was born 12 years ago we called him Tudor, the Welsh derivative of Theodore. We called him the nickname Toddy when he was little, but now he prefers Todd. He may prefer Tudor when he's older. Theodore and Tudor both mean gift from God, which he is, of course.

MargotBeauregardesGavel · 19/03/2009 13:53

Thaddeus has the same feel now that Theodore had 16 yrs ago. I know a 4 yr old Thaddy. Love the name. Bit tired of Theos. It's ok. Would prefer the more classic Leo over trendier theo.

Original poster
duchesse · 19/03/2009 12:53

Otter, was your cat into pillaging and taking over other people's gardens? Nuts about the possible shortening. Back to the drawing board then.

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NotAnOtter · 18/03/2009 20:32

duchesse my cat was Genghis we called him Genghy!

Blackduck · 18/03/2009 14:11

Theodore was one of my three..... (but I chose something else) I know one Theo in ds's year

thumbwitch · 18/03/2009 13:59

That's the best one yet (except for the dog in Eastenders being called that, of course - mind you, if your DH comes out covered in shaggy hair then you've got yourself a winner!)

Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 13:57

Ghengis!!! There'd be no shortening that!

OP posts:
thumbwitch · 18/03/2009 13:56

oooh I lurve Vlad - what a great idea!

Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 13:41

thumbwitch- actually I was thinking of Attila. Or possibly Vlad. Not decided yet.

OP posts:
thumbwitch · 18/03/2009 12:39

how about Rasputin as a very uncommon name?

SouthernMeerkat · 18/03/2009 12:19

Duchesse - me too!!!!

I was gutted when we moved and joined the NCT coffee group, to find that 8 months after my Rufus was born, a new lady joined the group with a 6 week old....Rufus. ARGH!

Just have to console myself that she also has impeccable taste

Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 12:01

meerkat- my 11 yr old nephew is Rufus! My sister will be gutted if it becomes popular.

OP posts:
SouthernMeerkat · 18/03/2009 11:51

I have a Theodore (Theo) who is turning 5 this month. When we chose it, everyone commented on what a fantastic name it is, and how unusual. It was outside the top 100 when we picked it - but it's now around number 50. I don't regret it, but it is becoming very popular, although I hope we're slightly ahead of the curve......!

We are in T Wells, and there are one or two of them around, although I think in his school he's unique, but there is now another Theo in his swimming class. So it's definitely gained a lot of popularity - whether that's down to Theo Walcott (who appeared on the scene after we'd picked it), or the Wessexes using it as a middle name for their son, I don't know - I'd rather think of it as being the latter than the former, being a royalist rugby fan .

We've done the same with DS2 who is turning 1 next month - he's called Rufus - and again, that was rare when we picked it, but now I can't seem to turn around without hearing it.

(Your other names are lovely - they were all on my list - just not on DH's!)

thumbwitch · 18/03/2009 10:51

It's such a great name that even DH is considering it for no. 2 if we ever get there!

Conrad is a lovley name; how do you feel about Crispin?

100yearsofsolitude · 18/03/2009 10:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

shoobidoo · 18/03/2009 10:47

Yes, duchesse that is what i mean...

We had excactly the same naming dilemma, with many names we loved (like Benedict, Maximilian etc) inevitably being shortened, and a one-syllable name with our short surname sounds very silly....

In the end we went for Felix, Annabel and Quentin and, so far, none have been shortened...

Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 10:41

love Felix but can't use it because of Felicity.

Really dislike Tobias because of very very strange little boy over the road.

Conrad nice. Also Quentin.

OP posts:
Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 10:39

shoobi- you mean for example a lovely name like Benedict being shortened to plain "Ben"? [grr] , or Felicity to Flick or Flea, or Cecilia to Cecil? [triple grr]?

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shoobidoo · 18/03/2009 10:38

Lovely names duchesses .

We too have a short, one syllable surname. Like you, we wanted a longer first name, but not too long in case it gets shortened to a one-syllable name (hope that makes sense).

Theo would sound long enough, though imo.

I also liked

Conrad
Quentin
Tobias
Felix

BonsoirAnna · 18/03/2009 10:21

I think Theodore is a lovely name. I wouldn't choose it myself however as Théo is right up there at the top of the name charts in France and has been for quite a while.

Original poster
duchesse · 18/03/2009 10:12

shoobi- I have a Benedict, a Felicity and a Cecilia. They're all early saints -kind of by accident, but they have a one-syllable surname and need a polysyllabic first name to counterbalance, and early saints often seem to fit the bill. There's no religious reason for the saints' names, so they're not mandatory.

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shoobidoo · 18/03/2009 10:02

Lovely name but becoming more popular... Depends how 'unique' a name you're looking for. What are your other ds' names?

hulabula · 17/03/2009 22:01

Theo is very popular round here (Surrey), so I personally wouldn't use it on that basis....

We too liked Benedict and Theodore (amongst others) but ended up naming our ds Quentin.

Dottoressa · 17/03/2009 20:59

It's popular here, but it's still nice!

BonyM · 17/03/2009 20:58

The Bounty site says that it is ranked 506 in 2009, up from 575 last year. So not very popular at all if this is correct.