Gatsby for a boy?

[PerksOfBeingAMum]

General but polite opinions on the name Gatsby please.

Call him Jay?

Agree with everyone. The character, however charming and beautiful, is a tragic, deluded, sad fellow. And that name has only one connection- so you can't ignore it really. Sorry. I quite like Jay, if your partner wants to honour the book (which is a total masterpiece). Good luck.

really really wants a horse called Gatsby now

I think it would suit a rather supercilious cat. Bit unfortunate for a child.

It is a brilliant name for a superciliou cat or horse, yes; but NOT for a baby/child/grown adult. No, no and no again.

The only other literary male name I can think of at the moment is Heathcliff

In the great gatsby isn't it his surname?

It would have me laughing internally at how pretentious you were if I came across your baby gatsby.

Not a name for a baby as so strongly associated with the 'Great..' book. It's a really depressing book. I don't understand people who say they love it. JG is a very unhappy character and lives his life pretending to be someone else and then comes to a terrible end.

I'm going to call my next dog Gatsby now. Great name for a dog, not for a kid.

Jay Gatsby's name isn't even actually Gatsby. His real surname is Gatz.

Alternatives...if Atticus is not a goer

From F Scott Fitzgerald:

Francis (he was actually Frances but I'd stick to the male version)
Scott
Nick

From other early c20 literary people:

Ernest
Hemingway
Atticus
Boo
Scout (actually a girl & better for a dog too, maybe!)

There must be loads more!

Other ridiculous boys' literary names you might like to consider:
Huckleberry, Atticus, Ebenezer, Albus, Othello, Caliban

Don't do it. Not a literary character I'd name someone after.

The Great Gatsby aside I'd imagine someone with Gatsby as a first name to wear a boater hat walk, carry an ivory cane, be fond of tap dancing and saying things 'you're a well looking broad'.

'swell looking broad'

I thought of this thread today whilst watching some dull, middle aged suit talking to some colleagues and imagined if he was called Gatsby. Because there's no guarantee that your kids are going to grow up into cool adults who can carry off their unique names
Have you shown this thread to your husband yet OP? I like Jay though.

YY, KingCrimson is right. He will get called Twatsby and will make an excellent friend for the DS of the poster considering Fuckleberry.

Gatsby is the dog on the vax advert.

You are naming a child, not a pet. As has been said, it is a cracking name for a dog or a cat!

Gatsby was such a tragic character :(

NO! it doesn't sounds good.

This is a joke, right? Ridiculous.

Don't do it, old sport.

I like it as a middle name.

No. Pretentious, surname as first name, and condemning the poor child to a life of repeating and spelling it to people who don't know the book. That's pretty much three strikes for me.
Works as a pet's name though!

Has the baby's father actually read The Great Gatsby??? I can't imagine that anyone who has would consider calling their baby that. Plus he should read it, it's a brilliant novel.

But it's as firmly associated with that character as Heathcliff is with the brooding, semi-psychotic interloper in Wuthering Heights. Both seem a lot for a baby/small boy to be loaded down with.