I'm considering the name Siegfried....be gentle with me!

[Helzapoppin]

Finding a girl's name for my tiny bean of a foetus was a doddle (and MNers were generally enthusiastic about my choice of Rafaella).

It's proving much harder to choose a boy's name....

I love the name Siegfried (for it's traditional, germanic sound and connotations of noble war poets and flawed Wagnerian heroes!). I know it's pretty 'character building', but do you think it's too unusual to get away with? DH has a very, very unusual name, and DD and I have pretty uncommon ones too, so it wouldn't seem out of place in our family.

I figured he could shorten it to Freddie if he turned out square or Ziggy as a sure fire way of becoming a rock star....

Middle name would be George. The other names we are thinking of are Arthur, Wilfred and Rafe- but there seem a lot of them around at the moment (perhaps that's just relative to Siegfried though!)

Any thoughts?

I love Wilfred. Siegfried is a step too far to me. Then again, I was one of the few who didn't like Rafaella, so I don't think you'll trust my judgement. :)

Are you in the UK? It's not a name i have ever heard here.

You can't have Rafe and Rafaella. That is like having George and Georgina!

First thought was "All Creatures Great and Small", second was "The Blessing" where nn was Siggi.

I like the name, but think it night be hard to live with unless you have Germanic ancestry.

We're going to hang out the washing...

I like it, Freddie as a nn is fab choice too! Love Rafe, Arthur and Wilf, all excellent names! Gosh, good luck deciding!!! x

I love it - I like Ziggy as nn. I know one who is lovely.

Thanks for the thoughts. I imagined there might be a mixed response and actually more people like it than I thought (phew!)

I'm amazed that someone knows a Ziggy who isn't an eighty year old psychoanalyst (I presume....). It's quite a cool sounding name!

I mentioned Siegfried to a friend and her first thought was 'All Creatures Great and Small' too. As I recall Siegried was pretty down to earth with a fondness for tweed, which are surely admirable qualities for a son to emulate??).

I don't know if anyone agrees, but the thing with unusual names is that once you know the person, they seem perfectly normal and you stop really thinking about it (or maybe this is just wishful thinking....) :)

If you all have bonkers names, parents included, then no problem.

Otherwise it's a bit try hard.

that would be considered laughably pompous in Ireland, but it could work in parts of London I think. I'm not going to say 'go for it' though.

Ziggy is better. Zachary Ignatius on the bc though.

I really like it and love Ziggy as a nn.

My friend has a Siegfried. They are a bonkers, hugely intellectual, quirky family and his name really suits him. It's not shortened to anything.

If you think it is too 'out there' how about Magnus - or is that not the same kind of vibe?

Siegfried is a fantastic name! I like it much better than the others you mentioned, which sound a bit stodgy to me.

I love Siegfried as a name! As long as you don't have another boy and call him Tristan (Siegfried's brother in ACGAS). Although to be honest I love Tristan too... but having the pair would be a bit crazy-James-Herriot-fan!

yes thats what i thought of (ACGAS). good old Robert Hardy.

does seem old fashioned IMO. like Tristan more.

and Roy....sorry (google Las Vegas)

I think I like Sigmund better (and I think Sigmund suggests the nns Siggy or Ziggy more then Siegfried does).

I also like Otto and Arnold, and Frederick but only with the nn Fritz (don't like Fred or Freddie). I love Leopold too. And Soren, Florian, Conrad, Casimir and Gregor.