Settle a baby name argument

[SalemsPot22]

My fiancé wants to call our “hypothetical” son Roland.

I think it’s a horribly old fashioned name that will cause him to be bullied.

He thinks it’s ridiculously cool and is gutted that I hate it.

Who is being unreasonable?

@sleepylittlebunnies

If you don’t like your husband’s suggestions and you have no names at all could you ask your daughters?

I don’t mind Raymond, Ray sounds pretty cool like Ray Donovan.

I found younger siblings either chose names of favourite TV characters or their best friends.

What about Rowland? Less rat-like then. Wasn’t the Dexys Midnight Runners guy called that? Or some other 80s pop bloke.

It's a hypothetical child. Secondary school intake - earliest intake 2033. Methinks some of these cultural references will be in the mists of time....

What about Rowland? Less rat-like then. Wasn’t the Dexys Midnight Runners guy called that? Or some other 80s pop bloke.

Kevin Rowland from Dexy's and Roland Gift from Fine Young Cannibals. Aztec Camera had Roddy Frame - you don't get many baby Roddys/Rodneys these days either.

Actually, I'm really hoping that Kevin Rowland's middle name was Eryl - so he had the full set

On an entirely different tangent, that reminds me of Howard Donald from Take That!, who is named after not one but two famous fictional ducks!

I can never really tell if he’s winding me up tbh so he might be

I hope so.

Roland rat. Really not cool, I agree with you.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll thank you!

Still, with a W it is less rat like and not a huge jump from Rowan!

All I could think of was Roland rat. The kids ya school might not know who he is, but their parents will.

If one of my kids had a friends called Roland, I would find it funny and laugh to myself about it. I obviously wouldn’t say anything to the kid, I’m not that mean, but I would quietly find it funny.

Yeh, Grange Hill 'did your mum not feed you Roland' vibes all over it, generational I know but for me - not good.

Neither of you. It’s not a bad name and I doubt he’d be bullied, there are lots of varied names nowadays.

But you do have to choose something you both like and agree on.

YANBU. In addition to Roland Rat and the Grange Hill character, the likelihood of abbreviation to Role

What about Ronnie? I know a Roland that went by Ron.. you can see how I got there.

Sorry OP, Roland Rat and Grange Hill immediately sprung to mind for me.

YANBU - veto it and pick something else.

I wouldn't go for Ronald either.

Sorry, saw your other one was Raymond not Ronald

I don't like Raymond either - sorry! It makes me think of that 'me too' programme that was on cbeebies when my son was little. Raymond worked on a train and used to sing his way to work (as they all did in that programme!).

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I have a friend called Rowland. Apparently when he was born his mum told her mum that the new baby was called "Roland with a W", to which her mother replied in horror "Woland? Why on earth did you call him Woland?"

It’s a shame we can’t upvote, because this has really made me laugh

Hey!!
So we got drunk tonight and managed to whittle down a top 5!

1. Niki (Dominik or Niko)
2. James (Jamie)
3. Jesse
4. Oscar (Ozzie)
5. Sidney

James (nn Jamie) is lovely, very classic, and suits all ages
Nico is a cool nn for Dominic or Nicholas (Niki is a bit girly imo)
Oscar (nn Ozzie) is okay, but quite popular/trendy at the moment
Jesse is a bit feminine sounding for me in the UK (fine in the US)
Sidney is very "old man" trendy (just with a nicer sound than Roland!).

Haven't read the full thread to see if its mentioned, but the Italian version of Roland: Orlando is quite nice imo (and Shakespearean).

I don't hate it. I've heard worse. It makes me think of the song Rolling on The River.
My husband wanted to call our hypothetical son Reginald. Thankfully I only had girls.

I like names with lots of options going forward for my child to choose from when they get older. So, if I decide to call him, say , Robert, he could then become a Rob, or a Robbie, or a Bob or a Bert or a Bobbie or probably a few other combinations too when he is old enough to have an opinion. That would probably work with quite a few names for me to go with. What I don't want is to give my child a name which is very restrictive and means they are landed with my choice rather than theirs( if that makes sense!)

That's a good list!

1. Niki (Dominik or Niko) - ok. Much prefer Nico, spelled that way - he will be Nick by the time he's 15 and for the rest of his life
2. James (Jamie) - ok. Completely inoffensive, quite good.
3. Jesse - Like a lot
4. Oscar (Ozzie) - Great, would be second choice
5. Sidney - fab, would be first choice, pretty cool without ever having been popular, I know one teen, one adult and a baby one. Sid is great.

Before DS1 was born, my DH was beyond desperate to call our son Daniel. He would go on and on about it. But I didn't like the name. I kept saying no. He would get annoyed. He kept demanding. I kept saying no.

DS1 is 10 in March and he is not called Daniel.

I like Oscar or Sidney.

Roland is terribly old fashioned to me. It was a real first world war and 1920's name. Lots of those names are making a come back though.

He would get called Ro which isn't awful.

Sidney is used for girls in the USA.
Not sure why.
I like the other names on your list more.
Robbie and Nico are the best.
Jamie is a lovely name too. Never dates.