Thoughts on boy's name shortlist

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DC2 is due in May and we are struggling to come up with a name if it is a boy (we don't know if it is a boy or a girl).

We have a shortlist but don't feel strongly about any of the names and seem to have a problem with most of them. On the shortlist are:

Toby - not sure if we'd use Tobias on BC or just Toby.
Oliver - popularity puts me off and I can't work out whether nn would be spelt Ollie or Olly. Would it get annoying having to correct it all the time?
Rafferty - am inclined to think this will date but I do like it.
Frederick - as with Oliver, I can't decide whether nn would be spelt Freddie or Freddy.
Fergus
Giles - a pretty uncommon name and I can't work out why.
Monty - will this make everyone think dog rather than boy?!
Max
Rupert - the bear connection.

What do people think?

Any other suggestions are welcome - I seem to like names that end in ie/y but, with the exception of Oliver, prefer ones which aren't as popular as Archie, Alfie, Charlie etc. Names we have considered and discounted or can't use include Murray, Barnaby, Digby, Humphrey and Percy.

Many thanks!

Oliver

I hate the name Oliver, Ollie even more so.

I like Fergus and Rafferty from your list. Fergus particularly.

Monty, Giles and Rupert are all wet toff names. Really not keen.

Toby - love it
Oliver - nice, but too popular (but def Ollie)
Rafferty - a bit 70s? But I like it
Frederick - Freddie, but not keen
Fergus - OK if you're Irish
Giles - for posh boys and farmers
Monty - it's a nn. How about Montgomery
Max - love it
Rupert - like it

Just realised I like all of them, so not much help. Sorry OP

I like Frederick (Freddie), Giles, and Max best.

Oliver (Ollie) is nice but too popular.

Monty I do think pet.
Rupert I do think bear.
Rafferty and Feargus are just not my cup of tea.
Toby is ok but I've always thought it sounds a bit wet (sorry anyone with a Toby!).

What's your surname like?

Wet toff names is right. Sorry Op, Oliver is about the only nice one there.

Tobias!

Or Giles, because of Buffy.

I like Tobias/ Toby and Giles.

I was thinking the exact same thing about Giles - why is it never mentioned/used? I quite like it

Toby - lovely. Would use Tobias.
Oliver - never been a favourite, and too popular for me in any case
Rafferty - cute, in a 'raffish' way, but does seem a bit faddy. Like NN Raff, but would be more likely to use Raphael.
Frederick - OK. Prefer Freddie
Giles - almost a caricature of a posh name. Think of Gyles Brandreth, and the only real person I know with this name completely lives up to the toff/effete stereotype!
Monty - more usable than Giles but still a bit overly posh
Max - a bit on the bland side
Rupert - too obviously posh (in a cuddly, bear-like way!) for me
Fergus - like it

For me it would be a choice between Toby/Tobias, Fergus and maybe Rafferty.

Rory
Finley/Finlay NN Finn
Henry (bit popular)
Laurence NN Laurie
Stanley
Zachary

Oh, and I'm a tad biased towards Toby, as I taught an absolutely adorable one last year (spelt Tobi, as shortening from Tobias). Really lovely boy.

What about Miles?

Thank you for the comments so far - they're definitely helping!!

Surname is long, hard to spell and pronounce (I don't want to include it here as it would out me!) so we tend to prefer short names which don't have too many different spellings (hence my issues with Freddie/Ollie etc).

Toby/Tobias seems to be the current front runner, although BlueStars, my DH also seems to think it's a bit wet. I'm not sure why!

Toby/Tobias, Frederick (nn Fred, Freddie) or Fergus would be my picks

Definitely not Monty. Why is this so popular - have none of you seen Withnail?

Like Toby, Max or Frederick 'Freddy'

Tobias is nice, not so keen on Toby though it's OK.

Rafferty I quite like.

don't really like or dislike the others. Monty is a dog's name!

Love Toby, Max also makes me think dog.

I know 2 Giles ....extremely posh and 40

Rudi

Miller

Guy

Rafe

Your names are ok, mainly not to my taste though. I'm just surprised at Rafferty in there. The others are all classic names. That's rather common.

My husband is called Giles. Neither wet, a toff or effete.........

The only Giles I know is an accountant.

He was also the most mischievous, perpetually in hot water, but somehow escaping the HT's office, live wire, at my very ordinary comp.

We went to the same (now RG) university and neither of us were posh.

Frederick/Freddie, Max, Oliver/Ollie and Fergus are all nice.

Love Toby/Tobias, also like Oliver but not Ollie! And Frederick/Freddie is nice too :-) have u considered maverick? This was on one of our many short lists

Really dislike Monty sorry, friends dog has this name!

I think if you've got a long, difficult to spell surname, Max is the winner for me.

Frederick and Oliver - too popular for me. So many Freddies round my way especially.

Giles - see Farmer Giles of Ham

Toby/Tobias - love it, quite popular - top 50 I think.

Rafferty - a bit cool and right now.

Rupert - my favourite name. DH wouldn't permit it for DS2 because of the wet toff associations. Love the bear, and the 3 Ruperts that I have known in RL have all been lovely non wet non toff people.

Forgot Max - like that too.