American Mom, British Dad - name question

[ForestHillFirstTimeMom]

Hi,

I'm new here but hoping to get some help from all of you regarding names. I'm American and living in London with my British husband. We don't know the gender of our baby so need to come up with two names. I'm keen to pick names that work on both sides of the Atlantic, so no matter where we wind up, our child will feel at ease.

So far, we have:
Eleanor for a girl
Walter (Walt) for a boy

My husband doesn't know of any Walts over here. Would it still work? I realize it's a bit of an old-man name, but... I know so many young boys with the name Will (which I also like) and want something a bit different. Thoughts/opinions? Thanks in advance!

Just looked him up on Wikipedia - Anne of Green Gables was 1985!!

Call him Patrick

Yank thank you very much for that - I'm so glad time has been kind to the gorgeous Gilbert Blythe!

Can't believe it was made in 1985 though [feels old].

I can remember "dumping" Walter the Softy, and replacing him with Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie) as my heart-throb, early in 1988.

This is quite an old thread, I wonder what the OP chose.

I knew an American boy called Walter at school and he used to get teased because of his name.

Eleanor is nice though.

My American friend has a dd called Eleanor (no nn).

Walter is an awful name to my mind, but seems to be making a bit of a comeback on mn. So some people obviously like it.

Eleanor is great, Walter's only redeeming quality is that it's better than Walt. Please don't.

Walt is fine.. I think. Not common and it is different. I haven't heard anything bad about this name but I think William/Will is a much stronger name. I know it's more popular but that's because it's a fine name!

Our daughter is Eleanor and it's a pretty name. Our daughter gets called Ella for short (we called her this from birth but wanted a longer serious name for adulthood because we have a very DULL surname!) but you can also shorten it (if you wish) to Nell/Nellie or Ellie and I think there are others but I can't remember them!
Best of luck x

Hi all, in case anyone was wondering, our baby's a boy and we did call him Walter. Have had so many lovely comments on it and have met a few baby Walters here in London since he was born! :)

Missed this thread first time round. I used to read the Beano and don't remember Walter in that. As for being a "Walter Mitty", I've never heard it shortened to describing someone as a "Walt". And the stuff about Walt Disney being a racist/anti-semite is, from my understanding, unfounded.

Glad you weren't put off using the name - I think it's great!

Another American married to a Brit here. Not a fan of Walt and can't recall meeting any n the UK. I agree with Yank that it's old-mannish in the US.

Also, although I like Eleanor, have you noticed a discrepancy in pronunciation? In my experience, the English say Ellen-ah, while Americans (and the Scottish people I know) say Ellen-or. Just something to be aware of

Good luck!

It sounds a bit comical in this country I am afraid. Like a cartoon character or a pet.

I think with names its deffinatly down to where you live, here a very working class town you would get a lot of grief with a name like Walter.

My dear old Dad's name was Walter and he got fed up with being called Wally (never Walt) and decided to change his name to William. It is definitely an old man's name and Wally is not good.

How about Cosmo - a very cool name .

I think Walter is a great classic underused name and Walt a great nickname. I'm not a fan of Will as it reminds me of Willy. Walt is stronger sounding and nicer imo.

Also love Eleanor but find the nickname Ellie a little overused.

Congratulations!

Congratulations and Lovely name I like Walter a lot and I think Walt is cool.

Hello OP, we are the opposite; British mum, American dad. Pronunciation is very important when finding a name that will straddle the Atlantic. For example DH really wanted Verity for our 2nd dd (quite a British name) while we were living in the US, but when I tried it with American friends they all pronounced in Verredee with no "t" sound at all. Therefore it was a totally different name to me and just did not work.

In the South East of England "L" is often dropped completely so Walt will lose the L and be Wart-a. I think there are some names that are more popular in the US than in the UK that will work - will let you know when I think of some!

OK for W names Wesley would work. Sounds American to Brits and will be pronounced the same in both nations.

Wade
Warner
Watson
Wolf (NN Wolfie)

Wyatt
Wynton

And of course ta-da!

Winston