Proper boys names to call your sons (that nobody else will use and aren't surnames or nicknames)

[LapsedPacifist]

David
Phillip
Peter
Timothy
Brian
Robert
Martin
Keith
Clive
Nigel
Geoffrey
Mark
Gordon
John
Kevin
Christopher
Alastair
Kenneth
Ronald
Andrew
Stephen
Jonathan
Anthony
Paul
Terence
Gareth
Alexander
Stuart
Darryl
Patrick
Robin
Frederick
Michael
Richard
Lawrence
Scott
Douglas
Dennis
Laurence
Roger
Craig
Frank
Raymond
Russell
Donald

Leonard
Vincent
Basil
Hugh
Garth
Giles
Warren

Don't think Alexander, Laurence or Andrew are not used by anyone else... but they are nice classic names.

These aren't too widely used:
Dominic
Anthony
Quentin
Marcus
Rufus
Cassian

Arnold
Oswald
Adrian
Clyde
Martin
Marvin

Conrad
Glen
Iain
Jason

Weird, lots of these suggestions are surnames which seems to violate the rules given. (Probably missing point of thread).

Between them, the Magic Roundabout and Monty Python have spoiled "Brian" for me

Are they? the only name I dont recognise is Cassian.

Lawrence and Scott are on our list for dc2 if its a boy

I would have thought Scott, Douglas, Stuart started life as surnames.

And surely Frank is a nickname?

Of those, I know boys under the age of ten called Alexander, Andrew, Douglas, Patrick, Stuart and John, plus Alexander, John, Frederick and Nigel as middle names. They are hardly "names that no-one else will use"

In fact, Alexander is one of the ten most popular boys names here in Scotland.

Alexander and Frederick are really commonly used!

My ds is called one of those names.

Algernon
Horatio
Norman
Ethelred
Cecil

My DS also has one of those names but is mostly known by his nn

Good list though!

One of those listed is my maiden name and therefore, I can attest, definitely a surname

Russell is one of my family tree surnames.

(Thomas) Frank, (Tony) Martin, (Douglas) Alexander, (Benedict) Arnold, (Joseph) Conrad, (Patrick) Stuart.

Off top of my head.

I used to work with an Thomas St. Michael (St. John is a surname, too).

Famous Patricks.
Anthony people.

Yes, but they are not surnames the way the OP meant, which is, I think, only ever a surname until someone used it, weirdly, as a first name. You know, like calling someone "Watson" as a first name.

Martin is a first name as well as a surname, that's not the same thing at all.

Yes but a name like Stuart started life as a surname until someone decided to use it as a first name.

True. Perhaps OP means recent swaps

Don't assume nobody else will use them. The names I picked ten years ago are now as common as muck!

A lot of boys names are also surnames even the ones some people consider "proper". The only difference is the proper brigade decided that they were proper enough as opposed to the the improper names. This whole proper/improper thing must die. Elitist anyone?

It was quite common in the past for a firstborn son to be given the mother's maiden surname as a first name. Loads of names (particularly boys' names) started out as surnames.

Crossed posts Sara!