Clement, Clarence, Roscoe or Gilbert?

[ammature]

We are totally settled on Astrid if we have a daughter, LOVE IT! but a little confused for a boy. We always had Roscoe in mind way before I was ever pregnant but since being pregnant have come up with a few others. Gilbert, my husband like Gil and I like Bert as nick names, worried child will have 2 diff nicknames! Also like Clarence, Roscoe and Clement, Florian is an outside possibility too. Any thoughts?

It is quite blunt in here, it's true.

I like Gilbert and Clement, but not Roscoe, Clarence or Florian.

I also like Astrid a lot. I prefer that spelling to Astrud, which sort of asks to have the short u sound pronounced, which doesn't sound as attractive, to my ear.

I agree some posters can be a bit odd in Baby Names. You asked for opinions, but it's reasonable to expect those opinions to be politely expressed.

Clement and Gilbert are super.

Clarence is too frilly (for anybody!) and not a fan of Roscoe which sounds like a supermarket hybrid.

These are off mass mainstream taste ('cept perhaps Gilbert). You'll always get a strong response to such names, one way or the other. Helpful to gauge what the average person in real life might think but not say Not so helpful if they just don't share your taste (as is often the case) or don't know whether these names would work for you (only you can answer this).

Florian. I don't know how well this would go down in the UK. Though I know one (French) and it's completely normal and fine. Cool name.

Gilbert is the nicest
Not keen on any of your other choices
Clement is a bit too pretty for a boy

I have to admit I quite like Clarence - anyone who thinks it doesn't sound manly probably doesn't think of this Clarence first when they hear it... www.bigozine2.com/MP311/BSkansas/clarences.jpg

Quite like Gilbert too. The others are not quite my style but there's nothing really wrong with them. I notice some people are suggesting Clemence but I think that is really a girl's name - at least in French.

I don't think people are being horrible for giving honest opinions and saying they hate the names and they come across as wet. No, they wouldn't say it to someone's face, but that's because they know the parents and will see them again, or because the baby has already been born and given that name, and people aren't going to be harsh about a name already given. But they might still be thinking it, and the good thing about asking strangers on the internet is that you can find out what associations a lot of people might have, however unpleasant it turns out to be.

That list just does seem frilly or fussy to me, sorry. They remind me of names like Aubrey, Maurice, Percival, Laird, and Didier, which have similar connotations in my mind.

Sebastian and Nicholas are both a little French sounding, but a bit less out there, though I know Sebastian has been a bit too popular late. Or Ian/Iain? Gets the end of Florian, but less frilly than Florian or Gideon or ones like that.

I think, fwiw, that Gil and Roscoe are great names and that the others are not so great. Maybe they provoke stronger reactions in a list together. We live in London and children have all sorts of names and are from all sorts of places and backgrounds. I think probably that if you live somewhere that has fewer small minded people than some posters then other children will not make any judgement on these names. Although if they have parents like some of these people then they may well end up bullying other children because of their names. I hope my children are not so shallow that they would tease someone for having a relatively normal name, and that if my children ever got bullied for their names they could be the sort of people to realise how pathetic and small minded the people who teased them were. Set an example people and try to be kind to others. You can give an opinion without being petty and cruel.

Just because some people don't like the names and say it here, doesn't mean that they will ever make fun of anyone with those names, nor pass our opinions to our children.

Assuming so is just, or more, as small minded.

Roscoe is not too bad. The others are uber-posh and sound like a bit of a joke.

Um swishy, I live in and have grown up in London and any kid with these names would have had the piss ripped out of them at the school I went too. Not because they're unusual, because they're frilly and sound very posh.

We live in London and children have all sorts of names and are from all sorts of places and backgrounds. I think probably that if you live somewhere that has fewer small minded people than some posters then other children will not make any judgement on these names.

I agree with maybe, swish

Another Londoner here. The names are just shit.

Not as shit as the kind of Londoners who try to talk down to non-Londoners as though everybody else was yokels, but hey, it's all relative

It depends on the character of the child as to whether they can carry off names like those. You would have to be quite strong!

Children usually just accept names - they rarely have the associations that we have with a name.

Also, the being bullied bit is bullshit. It's true people may be bullied about their name, but it's just as likely that this bullying situation would have occurred, anyway. But perhaps the bully might have chosen the colour of their coat to pick on, instead. Children with perfectly ordinary names may also be bullied. ("Luke Puke!" for example.)

The "we're in London, so we're open minded" bit is is crap, as well. There's as many closed minded bigots in London as anywhere else - more, because the population is greater than in other places. (And I live in Greater London, for context.)

What I don't get is that Caspian is apparently a "mumsnet name", whereas Florian is "wet".

In short, OP, call your DC what you choose. Only really rude people will make a comment about a name, when introduced to someone of that name. And, to be fair, I agree with Lweji that the posters here are commenting on names in the abstract, not on a particular person's name.

Personally, I wouldn't make any decisions for my children based on whether they will be bullied or not. It depends on the bullies, whether they are there and whether they want to buy your child.

God knows I have contact with all sorts of names and cultures. In London and outside the UK. And I still don't like those names.
If you like them fine for you, they are your kids. Be aware that your son may not like the names, as most people here. That for me would be the most important consideration.
As I said, I'd choose Gilbert as the least bad for me. And I'd get a middle name that is more consensual in case he'd rather use that.

BTW, I also speak Portuguese, as well as a couple of other languages. Still don't like them.

My great-uncle (because I know you're just longing for another family anecdote) was baptised 'William' by his sensible parents. When he fled the country to avoid marrying a girl he had made pregnant (in the 1930s) he changed his name to Gilbert.
Therefore, the universe is plus one Gilbert and minus one William.
Call your boy William.
Astrid isn't the worst name I've ever heard. Astrid for a girl.

Are you giving birth to a 1940s Butler? If not then no they're awful names. Astrid is lovely though.

When I think of Astrid I just think of an old woman :S but that is probably just me as I have seen the name rise in popularity recently.

I don't it makes think of an Asteroid or Astral cream., Still a nice name though,

I think they sound worse as a collective than they would singularly.

I know a little Gil (full name Gilbert), Dad also a big Gil Scott Heron fan, I think it's cool. Also like Roscoe. Clem's OK but doesn't move me. Not a fan of Clarence or Florian for a boy in the UK.

I like Gilbert. It's on my list but we probably won't go with it.

I've had my name suggestions slated on here op. I would take it all with a pinch of salt. You probably wouldnt like the names they've picked for their dcs.

People are just giving their honest opinions. Mine is that they are all really horrible names, at a push (a very big push) Roscoe is the best of a very bad bunch.

I wont be horrible,

NO, NO, NO AND NO