My DP and I are planning on doing a baby in a few months' time. We were talking about names the other day (possibly a bit prematurely, I know!) and he mentioned Atticus.
He suggested this to me a few years back, but I assumed he was joking. Turns out he's not. He said that, if he fails to be a decent dad, then at least our son will always think of Atticus (as in Finch) and that he can be a positive role model.
He read To Kill A Mockingbird for his GCSEs, so a fairly long time ago, and he would have dissected it to pieces as is the way when studying a book at school. I read the book about 2 years ago, knowing how much my DP admires it, but I just wasn't that impressed with Atticus as a character. For the era, he's great, but for a modern day father he's very hands-off and the children have to fit around him; sitting silently with him rather than talk and be dismissed to their rooms. He carries on with his adult life and the children have to adapt or miss out.
He got quite protective of his name choice, and I do want to make him happy, but I can't help but feel that our child would be mocked mercilessly if he were called Atticus, even as a middle name. It's like calling your child Holden. Moving and life changing books when you're a teenager, but not something to call your child, surely?