My husband and I are at our wits end. We just had baby number 4, who surprised us by being a boy after the three girls we already have. All through pregnancy we struggled to find a boy name and only had a vague shortlist. On the day of the pregnancy we decided to be brave and go for Jesse, as we wanted a name that was not frequently used and worked with our last name.
Since then we’ve had completely polar responses, half positive and half negative, with some people giving us unsolicited criticism. The negative half haven’t liked the name, or view it as too feminine, perhaps see it as too American or androgynous, or simply find it “surprising” – and not in a positive way. My husband also hadn’t thought that the obvious short version is Jess, which is clearly feminine.
We’re not worried about our personal feelings, but my husband now feels that in the UK it is just a bit too “edgy” and doesn’t want his boy to have to deal with unpredictable responses later in life such as the ones we’ve faced, even if they’re fleeting. It’s not that we feel it’s a massive disadvantage, but it just seems an unnecessary risk/burden. Despite this, it’s still our favourite name...!
In the last few days we’ve agreed that we both like Ross (but not as much as Jesse), and now my husband’s suggested Roscoe, a Norse name meaning “from the deer wood”, which remains unusual but is definitely male, can be shortened to Ross easily, works well with our last name, and doesn’t seem to have any negative connotations.
I am very sad about the whole thing and can’t let go of my emotional attachment to Jesse, plus we told everyone on the day he was Jesse. So I’m reaching out to you to ask for some objective views about Roscoe, Ross and Jesse, or about the situation as a whole as we’re finding it hard to know what to do next, and I want to bond with my boy!