Orlando?

[thing1andthing2]

Me again!
Expecting DS in 7 weeks. DH and I still can't agree a name. Current front runners are Nicolas and Alexander which tick the boxes but don't thrill or excite us.
DH has suddenly decided he really likes Orlando.
DD's name is Eva.
I kind of feel if we'd called her Xanthe, or Anais, or Venus Electra (like we considered ) we could get away with Orlando.
I like it but I'm not sure I could brazen it out (not very brave with name choices). What do you think?

LOVE orlando.

Eva and Orlando sound so nice together. Go for it.

So much nicer than Nicholas and Alexander

I like it - I've known two, one when I was at primary school, the other is in dd's class and both were/are very ordinary boys for want of a better word (not in a bad way, but not posh or anything). So for me its just a nice normal name for a nice normal boy.

I think if you want a name where you won't have six in a class, but everyone can spell/pronounce it, then it would tick those boxes. And it goes just fine with Eva IMO

Thanks again ladies. Our other first choice is Nico (full name Nicolas, french spelling, not keen on Nick as a nn). Still can't decide which I like more. Hopefully we'll get a feel for which is right when we see our little boy.

Oooh I really like Nico. Very crisp and European. He'd be handsome too, and he'd be in a band.

Nicolas and Alexander are both really nice.

Orlando... sorry but it sounds pretentious to me. You could probably get away with it in North London.

I have a friend called Orlando. He tells everyone he's called 'Olly' as he hates his name so much. Sorry to be a damp squid.

Orlando's a great name, but needs a big personality to live up to it!

Oh, Nico is much better choice of the two.

(Still liking Roland though)

Oh Rolaaaaaaand

I like it.
There are too many Alex's at the moment

I just want to be your friend Rolaaaaaand.

(Very bad acting from a character in Grange Hill in the 80's)

Guess you had to be there.

Nah, Roland of Gilead. Those kids at Grange Hill were not aware of 'The Dark Tower'. :)

Well my litmus test for names it to imagine myself yelling it across the playpark when my kid is doing something naughty. Sorry, but Orlando does not make the grade for me.

Orlando is not too weird AT ALL. I wouldn't name my kid it, but wouldn't be fazed in the least if my friends did, although my friends have all named their kids unusual names such as Soren, Kaiya, Navi, Vienna and Alora. I am biased by an irrational love of both Nicholas and Alexander (my DS's middle name) which i don't think are boring AT ALL.

Now to me Nico sounds much more North-London than Orlando - but as I say just because the two Orlando's I've known have both been farm kids . . .

Thanks for the feedback. We've decided against Orlando as it doesn't really pass the "yelling it out in tesco" test for us.
Nico(las) is still top contender. DH speaks French with the kidlets so a French name works well for us.

Although now after reading him the classical names thread, DH has decided he loves Orpheus. What do you think?

I love it! Didnt even think of the Florida connection - or the Orlando Bloom one come to that! It is very Shakespearean!!