If you like Finn, but don't like Finlay, what do you do??

[DangerMousey]

Kicking some names around with DH tonight: we both like Finn but don't really like Finlay. And neither of us are keen on giving DC a name like Finn which sounds shortened, as an official name.

Can Finn be short for anything else?

Or, the thing I don't like about Finlay is the way it's pronounced Fin-LAY. In our SE London accent it sounds dreadful! Is there such a name as Finley, pronounced Fin-lee? It sounds softer and nicer to me somehow, but think I might have just made it up!

Yes - I know several little Finleys - it is v popular here and Finn of any sort is very high in the charts if that bothers you. Good luck

I went to school with a Phineas, a very classic name. You could shorten it to Phin.

Finnian

Fintan
Finnian
Finnegan
Finnbar

Phineas - Phin
Finnian if you have certain political leanings
Fionnbar/Finbar

I like Phineas a lot!

Finn is a real stand alone name-perhaps more than Finlay which is a surname. If you look it up Finn has a separate meaning and history. Think of the Irish hero Finn McCool.

What about Quinn or Flynn

Finnian is a lovely Irish name, much better than the others.

Finn on its own is very common as a name. You dont have to have a full version.

I know a dear old Finbar. He's a proper legend!

DH liked Finn, but we have a Felix!

Finlay is pronounced Finley! Not fin-lay. It means "fair-haired brave one/warrior".

Ours is rarely known by the full version of his name, though, and is usually just Fin. Or Finbo. Or a range of other silly derivations from it (Shark Fin, etc).

I like Finn as a standalone name, too, but I have a boring 1 syllable name and wanted him to have the option of messing around with his name, nicknames etc.

Finbar is great, too, but DH wasn't as keen.

My FIL is a Finbar.

Phineas and Finnian are both nice.

Please don't go with Finbar - if people are anything like me they will think of Finbar Saunders and his double entendres (Viz reference). Or that could just be my age.

I know a Fynn. Not short for anything.

there are about a million variations of finn born in the last year or so. i'm sure if you ask around you'll meet enough people who have a sugestion for the name.

Ooh, she was so wrong!

Finlo is a Manx name- popular here.
Also Fingal (like fingal's cave in Scotland).

I would just use Finn but then I don't see the point of birth certificate names that don't get used.

Scottish one here. We pronounce it Fin-lay - emphasis on the A, as it is a totally different name to the more English FinlEy.

DS is Finlay and I hate it when people pronounce it with an E, even when they can see the spelling. But we live in England, so I have to get used to it. Sigh.

It is pronounced Fin Lee not Fin Lay.

Phineas, Finbar, Finnien, Finley (finn-lee).

Fionn

I also don't see the point of trying to find a longer name that fits with a short name you like. Just use the short name (hence dd1 is just Abby) I think Finn is a name on it's own. If your child should happen to grow up to hate their name so much they need to alter it then they can change it to whatever they want anyway. People worry about nn as first names but this generation has so many poppy, daisy, Archie, Alfie type names that I really don't think anyone will find a Dr Millie Smith or a Judge Mikey Phillips strange.

I know a Fion, pronounced Fin.