Wilf - strong or weak sounding?

[3nearly4]

Having a Wilf/Wilfred conversation with DH today but I think it sounds terribly weak. I just picture a weak old man hunched over a walking stick, which is a shame as I do really like the name!

I agree that it sounds weak.

I sort of like it and then I think of a man I used to work with called Wilf who was the most ineffectual prats I have ever come across. And then I no longer like it at all

I see more of a surfer type dude. Great name.

and also, do you think that Wilf is just another one of these 'old man names' like Alfie that will date badly?

Dh vetoed this name for DS as he thought it sounded weak (along with Robin ).
I love it! It is a bit old man-ish, so perhaps avoid if you hate that group of names.

Weak

Only Wilf I know is from the Oxford Reading Tree - Wilf, Wilma, Biff and Kipper? Most kids read it at some point at school.

I can tell you are not a teacher....

WILF is/was widely used as an acronym "What I'm Looking For" to let children know what they need to do in the lesson.

(more in primary than secondary, I think, and many teachers have now moved on from using it, but still...)

The Wilf I know is the son of a teacher! I always liked it but DH vetoed it.

I love it, and think it is strong.

Bramble.

I think it's a strong name, I know a couple of baby Wilfs. I love it!

I like Wilf but not so keen on Wilfred, no idea why though! Doesn't strike me as particularly strong or weak though - somewhere in the middle?!

I think it's a daft name. Neither strong nor weak, just plain daft. Pmsl at a surfer named Wilf, sorry.

The only Wilf I know is a dog.

I have a 3 yo Wilf. He is robust and full of vitality with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. I also know a grown up Wilf who is a very sexy/rugged outdoors type (no connection to my son!), so obviously think it is a great name. Much more interesting than Will.

I don't understand how you can 'really like the name' but have a (presumably, negative) image of 'a weak old man, hunched over a walking stick.'

Do you or don't you?

Sounds pretty weak and limp to me!

Merle, I have positives and negatives for a lot of names. Quite normal I think.
Same goes for Felix. I love the name but I can't erase the image of a cat from my mind.

I love Hector but now worry about the meaning 'to bully'.

Weak. Right up there with Tim, Ashley and Lesley.

You need to know that the reading scheme used in the majority of UK schools (Oxford Reading Tree) has a Wilf and a Wilma in it.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=blog-imgs-23.fc2.com/x/r/i/xrincox/wilf-wilma.gif&imgrefurl=xrincox.blog90.fc2.com/blog-category-9.html&usg=__khUR4xfKGD0Wo5uniwlfFrqbj8A=&h=210&w=222&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&sig2=qdG--MaRdt8HFj9G41F8xw&zoom=1&tbnid=cNxxxh-nRl5Z4M:&tbnh=147&tbnw=155&ei=QW0zTY38NpSxhAe6w6WgCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwilf%2Band%2Bwilma%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D694%26tbs%3Disch:1%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=327&vpy=97&dur=3168&hovh=168&hovw=177&tx=107&ty=97&oei=QW0zTY38NpSxhAe6w6WgCw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Look, here they are. They are nice, but have quite dodgy haircuts.

This may bother you, or it may not. But be warned, if you say 'Wilf' to the vast majority of primary-age kids, that's what they will think of.

WEAK. So utterly weak. Not a name for a man at all, doesn't even sound strong enough for a baby.

I can also see it going down the Alfie/Alf route which I also happen to find weak sounding.

Awful. Just don't!