Sigh... boys names

[bluebelle2662]

Hi ladies,

After forcing a list of names he liked out of my husband, only 2 names were on both of our lists. These are Rowan and Isaac.

My only problem is that I don't like one single boys name enough to call our little boy forever, and neither of these were top of my list, but it looks like he will be one of these. Are there too many Isaacs? I didn't want my son to have the same name as loads of other children in his class at school.

It doesn't feel fun anymore, name picking is stressful! Girls names were so easy.

We had the same problem, but found one in the end. I'm sure you will too. What about calling him Isaac but using a more uncommon nickname, like Ike? Then he won't be one of many. They are both lovely names by the way!

We like Isaac with nn Zac. Slightly different. I work at a boys school and it doesn't seem a massively popular name tbh.

I love Isaac and the only one I know must be at senior school by now.

Both of your choices are lovely, so I wouldn't despair about ending up with them as your final options! I think there is still a tendency to be more conservative with boys' names, and there seem to be far fewer 'middle ground' options which are neither too common (Jack, Oliver etc) nor too outlandish (Horatio, Dante, Tarquin) so it can be difficult to get the balance right!

As a primary school teacher until fairly recently (North London/Herts) I've only ever taught one (lovely) Isaac and no Rowans. Think they're both the type of name where you generally get one per school rather than one per class.

SS3J's suggestion of Ike as NN for Isaac is a good one - I've come across far more Zacs than Isaacs due to it also being a common NN for Zachary, so choosing a different NN would make it sound more distinctive.

Both gorgeous names.

what else was on your list?

I love Isaac, and Ike is a brilliant nickname!

Ike is a super cool nn.

Both names are lovely. Popularity wise I imagine Isaac is more so though I only know one of each.

Name picking is tough sometimds! Isaac is nice, onky metbone a few years ago and thought it was a lovely solid name.

I have an Isaac who is now 8 and he is the only one I know personally although I am aware of another Isaac at school but in a different year. I like Rowan too and don't know any others so I would say both names are still unusual to hear and not common at all so I wouldn't worry about him being one of 3/4 + in his class

Rowan is less popular but I like both names :)

Love Rowan. Isaac was ruined for me when boy at school was called 'I suck...' Sorry!

Rowan and Isaac both lovely names and not overly popular.

I love both those names, Isaac is the more popular of the 2 but not overly so.

Isaac is lovely, I don't hear of many/any tbh.

My Isaac has member been called I suck so don't let that put you off but remember kids will always find a way to shorten/come up with silly or nick names in ways adults won't think of no matter what the name is