What are some boy names that are not over used but are still recognizable as names?

[CheerfulYank]

I love names like Jack, Ben, Will, etc, but they're all so overused! What are some boys' names that don't seem made up or ridiculous, but are still nice and wouldn't lead to a lifetime of being the tenth of that name in the class?

I like Peter for this reason...I don't know any little boys with this name but it's still a name iyswim.

Toby
Casper
Harvey
Louis
Kieran
Angus
Theo

(Sorry if any are bit too common, I was trying to think of boys I only know one of, IYSWIM)

Howard - Howie is cute.

Oh well, at least I was on the right lines

I think it is perhaps a good thing your parents didn't call you Bryn, good name though it is . . .

What about
Gregory
Stephen
Dominic
Patrick
Quentin
Christian
Adam

I'm the same as you, I like proper names for boys, no nonsense made up scally names.

My DS is Joseph/Joe, it's not unusual but I've only come across one other Joseph, well he actually spells his Josef.

Other 'proper' names...
Adam (my DS's middle name)
Bill/Billy
Oscar
Oliver
Harry
Alex(ander)
David

Some of those, especially Dan and Alex, are fairly frequently used.

Peter will probably stay less frequent (because of Perfect Peter in the Horrid Henry books - are they well known in US?). And the older variant Piers has never been that common.

Solid but currently unfashionable names might be the way to go: Paul, Ian, Nicholas, Nigel, Colin, Kevin, Kenneth, Jeremy, Geoffrey, Mark, Andrew, Guy, David, Ray, Ronald, Stephen, Terence, Victor?

Freddie?

Simeon, Edwin, Edward, Michael (but Mick Brick?)

No, we don't have Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter books here Edith. :)

Am liking these suggestions!

David
James
Luke
Thomas
Kieran
Liam
Steven/Stephen
Jake
Joel
Gavin
Vernon
Phillip
Marcus

My DS is David. We were looking for a solid name that every adult would know how to spell and pronounce but wouldn't be ten in the class. Plus it was my Dad's name, so it really fits the bill for us.

Have you considered Richard? Ricky is a sweet nickname.

With a few exceptions, traditional Scottish, Welsh and Irish names seem to be quite rare in the US. Names like Ian, Gordon and Neil; Huw (Hugh), Gareth and Ivor; Sean, Seamus and Eamonn ....

Not suggesting any of these in particular, just giving some examples. None of these would cause anyone in the UK to raise an eyebrow, but they are not names that ever seem to appear in the US name charts.

I might raise an eyebrow at Gordon. For me it has the associations; Gordon Brown, Gordon the Gopher and 'Gordon is a moron'.

Ian is fairly popular here. :) It is nice!

I actually think Gordie is cute...we don't have the Gordon Brown associations here.

Also can't be doing Ricky Brick Saffron

:o

Names seem to go in cycles, if you choose something associated with your own generation then chances are it won't be popular amongst your children's generation (it being more common to call your child after a grandparent than a parent). Although that may be different in the States - do lots of people do the George Bush Senior/Junior/III thing, or is that a bit of a myth?

hohoho What I meant is that everyone is familiar with those names, they are not weirdly esoteric.

Like I said, they were just random examples .... for instance I wasn't putting forward "Hugh Brick" as a name :o

CY interesting that you say Ian is popular - I was basing my impressions on quizzes on the Sporcle site where there are many variations on 'most popular baby names'.

Ross
Paul
James
john
Kevin
Ryan
Bradley
Alan
Martin
Craig
and my personal favourite I've offered you before
Shittah

Yes, Shittah does have a special something to it, doesn't it? :o

Ian was more popular for my generation; my brother was nearly named that. He's Matthew instead, which is a nice name...but every one I've ever known has been quite naughty. :)

Nooka the Jr, III, IV thing is done more in the South. Usually they have different nns for each person...you could have a long line of men named Charles Jonathon Wilcox, for instance, and they would each be called something different: CJ, Charlie. Chip, Chad.

I have a friend who is pregnant. Her husband is Daniel Graebel Surname VI. He's called Skip, for some reason If they have a boy, he'll have the same name and be called Grae.

Have to admit I do find that deeply weird. Choosing names, although stressful, is surely part of the enjoyment of bringing a new person into the world. Seems very very odd to have even the nn picked out before your child is born. However I'm sure it doesn't feel that way to them.

Names are very geographical so I don't know how much help we'll be to you. My two have ended up with names that have turned out very popular in the UK, but where we live now are much less so. I suspect dd will always meet other people with her name (it's one of those names that is always popular), but ds's name had a bit of an explosion in popularity in the UK after he was born (not because of him I hasten to say!) here I have to spell it out.

I met a little boy today named Ralph, I thought that was cute, he was a little cutie too which always helps when deciding whether u like the name or not

George is cute too but that's really popular in the uk at the mo

I know a little one year old Pete, he's a sweetie.

I think Dad names fit the bill - very recognisable, but not at all over-used. DS has one such name and it is even mentioned on this thread - that never happens! He's universally known by a diminutive version, though.

The benefit of going down this route is that once he's in his 30s and in his prime, the name will be fashionable again. This happened to me - my name was deeply unfashionable and old lady when I was given it in the 70s but now you can't move for babies/toddlers with it.