Brandon or Connor?

[EmFlat]

Help!

Hubby's top-two names would be Connor or Ciaran (yep, Irish family history), but mine would be Brandon or Connor... you'd think we should pick Connor because at least we both like it.

But...

I've an Uncle Connor on my Mum's side of the family, and I can't help but link that name with him. And my late Grandad, who was actually Cornelius but always called Con.

Neither hubby nor I want to name our DS (due mid-March, by the way) for any family member, living or deceased... we'd prefer DS to have a name unique to him, so that no-one gets 'misty-eyed' every time they speak to him.

So...

How to solve this? Hubby is so lovely that - of course - he'd say 'Let's choose Brandon if you prefer it', but then I'll have perma-guilt that I got my way (as you know it'll feel like that no matter how nice hubby is) and we didn't pick a name he'd put in his top two. Should we come up with another name altogether? Oh lord, I'm sounding so stupid about this...

My son would have been a Diarmuid but didnt think it would work in england.
I also like cormac.
My family has a donald and a fergus. So "exotic" (compared with fergal and donal they are!)

I hate Brandon. It screams 90210.

Brendan is a far nicer name.

Lots of great names mentioned. I love Cormac, Colm and Cillian. You could spell Cillian with a K -- Killian and avoid the soft C conundrum.

Coleman
or Colmán
Eoin (equivalent of John)
Eoghan (equivalent of Eugene)
Daragh
Donagh
Fiacra
Fergus
Murtagh
Fintan
Ronan
Lorcan
Malachi
Donal
Oscar
Senan

And Seamus - often overlooked but a great name imo.

Heheh, my Dad suggested Finbar! But the abbr. of 'Finn Flaherty' might not work...

Sooo many good ideas! Thank God we've at least 9 weeks to go back and forth between them Thank you all again xxx.

Dylan, Rory, Max & Cormac
Dylan, Rory, Max & Conrad
Dylan, Rory, Max & Austin
Dylan, Rory, Max & Crispin
Dylan, Rory, Max & Fergus

I know a Brandon, really sweet 19 year old boy - he often complains that people call him Brendan

I love Connor but I see you seem to have moved on from that! Such a simple strong name, I really like it.

Thomas
Senan
Neil
Darrach
Fergal
Enda
Pol (fada on o)
Tadgh

Oh also

Oisin (usheen fadas on O and second i)
Odhran (orun)

Probably too difficult for life in the uk though.

How is Oisin/Ossian pronounced?

An Irish friend named Conor told me it is one 'n' for a first name and two in a surname. Don't know how accurate that is.....

Oisin is USH-een. There's no fada on the O, though, just on the second I.

Ossian I have no idea..

That sounds like a good rule of thumb, HoneyandRum. The surnames Connor, Connors and O'Connor all have two Ns.

Ronan?

I have friends called Cathal and Tadgh born in the UK, Birmingham and London respectively. They both told me the difficulties that almost anyone without an Irish background has in pronouncing their names or even knowing how to attempt to pronounce them. They both chose names for their children (boys and girls) which were familiar and easily pronounceable because of their own frustrations. I love Irish names but unfortunately you can expect a lot of confusion if you step too far away from Liam, Conor etc.

Oh and a friend Enda from N. Ireland is always being called Edna even though he is about 6' 3'' and extremely male.

I hate Brandon.....That was actually a full sentence since it is exFW's name and yes, he is indeed American

Love Connor though! It was number one on my list for DS but was vetoed by that stoopid American

I hate Brandon.....That was actually a full sentence since it is exFW's name and yes, he is indeed American

Love Connor though! It was number one on my list for DS but was vetoed by that stoopid American

And it seems I have a stoopid phone too

Brandon is a naughty name. Go for Connor.

Connor is much much nicer. I prefer the Conor spelling though; looks more authentic.

Ah, Hedgehog ... hubby's name is Rowan! bit confusing.

And Captain, you makes I laaaaf (true Bristolian saying, there)... fair enough with your reasoning, though. Association is hard, always makes you think of people you'd prefer to forget xxx.

Conor should be spelt with one N not two.two ends tends to be for the surname version.
it means lover of hounds in its original form by the way if that makes a difference. conchobhar pronounced roughly con co var(must double check spelling) is the old irish name for conor.

I had an Uncle Cornelius, such a great name - he was known as Neil or Con

Definitely not Brandon, Conor is better.

Have known some very naughty Connors....

I love Shay.

Don't like Brandon, my little boy has 3 Connor's in his class so it's popular not sure if you would want that or not.