strong, romantic baby boy names: orion, augustine, salem, sebastian, milo?

[montrose2132]

So, we are having a very difficult time finalizing our name choice for our baby boy who is due in only a few months.

Our finalists include: orion, augustine, salem, sebastian, and milo.

Our last name starts with an f sound and rhymes with hill-ups.

We like Orion a lot, but we are worried it will lead to a lifetime of frustrated introductions and pronunciation controversies. We also love sebastian, but worry it is way too common.

Mostly, we are looking for a name that is strong yet romantic, unique enough to support the independent individual we hope to raise, and that travels and ages well. I also like the idea of using a name that has been used in multiple cultures for more than a thousand years, as a way of honoring our collective legacy and acknowledging that meaning and wisdom lie not just in the present or the future, but also in the archaic, simpler past.

Combos we like:

Orion Augustine
Salem Augustine
Milo Salem
Augustine Orion

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

No way !!!!!!!!!! LOL! Do they still pay a tenner?

I just spotted it too and came hotfoot to this thread to report back but I see I've been pipped to the post. [sulky, foot-stamping emoticon]

I promise I didn't send it in, though it did cross my mind.

well, we are outed as reading the Eye!

not guilty either (it was only the Eye that brought this to my attention). Someone has earned a tenner.

sorry, OP. All in fun. :-)

Seriously though? How could you mispronounce Orion?!

As a child I thought Orion was pronounced Or-ee-uhn (based on Oriel College Oxford which I had seen on University Challenge).

Zakken that's a fair point, actually, although I never know whether pronounce Oriel as ORR-ree-ol or O-ree-ol (more like Oreo...um, depensig on how you pronounce Oreo...never mind.)

I've always liked Balliol as a name for a boy, if you don't mind the Oxford connotations.

OP never came back - do you think s/he posted it her for a laugh and sent it in to Private Eye to get the tenner?

Salem is the truncated 'Jerusalem ' - the pilgrims deemed it appropriate for their new gaff. Wouldn't use it unless I was a very religious Christian.

When we saw the quote in PE I told DH that the OP would have been laughed at for pretension by MNetters. But I see things are different on the baby names thread...

Sebastian is the teddy-toting alcoholic from Brideshead Revisited.
Milo Minderbinder is the spiv from Catch 22.

Maybe you should research your names a bit before choosing one.

Another (very slow) Eye reader arriving on this thread far too late!

Isis

Good god.

I don't see Milo as string or romantic!