Magnus, Marcus, Frederick or Ranulf?

[Sunnysummer]

Have been a longtime lurker here, as DH and I have been locking horns about boys names for so long! We have now decided to go with family names. Most of our family are from overseas, but names that we think also work in England are:

Magnus - we both like, but on mumsnet it seems very trendy right now?
Marcus - he says strong, I think weedy
Frederick - Freddie is so popular right now, would he be one of 10 at school?
Ranulf / Ranulph - the actual family names here are Randolf and Adolph, but we thought that these were too cruel! I like these names, but are they a bit too odd?

Also... My secret favourite is my great grandad's name, Leonhard (pronounced a bit like Lay-on-hart) but I don't know how an actual child would get on with this at school! My friends say that the alternative Leonard is weedy and Leo/Leon are getting too common in both senses of the word! So maybe it's out of the running...

I would be so grateful for your advice! We are living overseas now but will be back in London within a few years and don't want DS to get horribly bullied, or be one of 15 same names in the class! Any other suggestions also welcome, we like names that are traditional but not toooo common, DH likes 'strong' (whatever that means! But things like Caspian and Rafferty are way out), and nothing ending with -a/-er/-or as our surname ends with an -er and rhyming sounds terrible :-) Thank you!

I think your list is wonderful, and I'd go for either Marcus or Ranulf.

I think Leonhard would be awkward to live with - not only woul it be mispronounced frequently (or perhaps that doesn't bother you?) but it might lead to penis jokes (especially if there's a Leon too). Perhaps as middle name? Leonard is ok, but does include a 'nerd'.

Leonard isn't weedy and I think he will be known as Lenny, which is fine and usual.

From your list I'd go for Magnus. Haven't heard of another around here. Frederick is also lovely and our DC don't have any in there classes.

Only know one Marcus and he is a total twat so I maybe slightly biased on that one. Would you mind it being shortened to Mark or insist on Marcus?

Only know one Randolph, he's known as Randy and he is one of the coolest people I know

Love Magnus and Ranulf.

I find Leonard rather endearing, nothing weedy. I would say it is becoming a trendy nerdy name, thanks to The Bing Band Theory. Reading you, I can see that this is not the "strong" your DH is after.

Magnus is only trendy on sites, hardly heard of in Real Life.
Ranulf has a lovely medieval feel to it.
Those 2 are great and "strong" and would be my choices.

Thank you for your replies! It's great to hear that all the names have at least one admirer, and DH will be very pleased about Ranulf, as he loves it but thought it might sound too odd in London - i'm still tempted to fight for Magnus though. Will report back if/when we choose...

Magnus - I know 3 under 4. It depends where you'll be.
Ranulph is good.

Marcus, don't like any of the others.

Magnus

Nothing, but nothing, sounds odd in London!

I'd try to swerve Randy as nn though.

I like the sound of Leonhard but the spelling might invite teasing.
I know it doesn't have the same sentimental meaning for you but what about Leonardo?I know a v cool 3 yr old called this.
Otherwise Marcus Ranulf & Frederick

Magnus is an awesome name
I like Ranulf too = Fiennes, arctic explorer
And Marcus = a very sexy posh boy I had a huge crush on when younger. He was very successful with women.

I like Marcus out of all of your choices x

Magnus

Magnus, by a mile.

Magnus or Ranulph are great... but Randolf is fantastic!

Linus is also lovely, and I like Espen too.

Can you get any stronger than Magnus really though?

I know a nice Marcus, Magnus is nice too. Ranulf is ok.
I like Leo and anything it becomes a NN for would probably be OK.

Freddie is to twee, it was also DSIS gold fish, which long out lived mine

Leonard or Marcus for me, but all are good.

Also:
Kurt,
Thorben,
Victor,
Vincent,
Gregor
?

All nice names, Frederick maybe the least interesting. I love Leonard and I like the sound of Leonhard too, esp if it has meaning for you. I love Randolf.

So interesting to see the votes for Randolf, we thought that 'Randy' would make it a dealbreaker! DH is now considering it too though I am a little unsure about that one.

DH has also asked me to ask you all whether it is better to be Ranulf (traditional, for us) or Ranulph (like the explorer, maybe more recognisable nowadays)... Should I be offended that he trusts your opinion more than mine?

To minimise the chances of Randy, use Ran as nn so there isn't a nn 'gap' to be filled by someone else. That doesn't guarantee it won't happen at all though.

I think Ranulf looks better, but either spelling would be fine.

I like Marcus best from your list, also Leon and Leo as short forms of Leonard (or Leonhard).

I prefer Ranulf. I think it's a wonderful name!

Ranulf if that's traditional for you.

Like Marcus, Leon. Not keen on Ranulf, bit wolf-like. What about Marius or Ferdinand?

Agree about the wolf-like - suspect that might be why DH likes it! Marius is also nice and Ferdinand is great, maybe a bit less usual than Frederick and makes me think of the very sweet bull (and as I will remind DH, also a very great explorer )