William, Edward or something like it?

[RingInTheNew]

Our boys' shortlist is very short, because my husband and I can't agree! He's veering towards William and I'm veering towards Edward.

Any ideas for similar names that we might consider? I do feel like we've been through them all…and some we can't use because they're already in our family or don't go with our surname (e.g. Henry, Hugo).

Also, William is the middle name of our second son. I don't suppose this is a huge problem - what do you think?

Thank you!

William is the second name of my oldest DS and my DS2 is called Edward. We obviously have similar tastes in names. What about Arthur? That would have been DS3's name if DH hadn't vetoed it and then raved about what a great name it was 5 years later

What about David, Richard, George, Alan, Paul? All perfectly nice names, but rarely used these days? Gordon? Clive? Phillip? John? Mark? Michael?

Peter
Gregory
Alfred/Alfie
Samuel
James
Adam
Thomas
Oliver
Solomon
Charles

I would give your second son his own name, not his brother's middle name.

How about
George
Dominic
Quentin
Thomas

James
Charles

You seem to be looking at King names!

Andrew?

Jonathan?

Really like Hunt's suggestion of Arthur.

Stephen
Nicholas
Simon
Matthew
Robert

Personally, I wouldn't give DC2 the middle name of DC1. He should have a name that is all his own. (Plus I much prefer Edward )

Edmund

I'd go through a list of royal names / king names together and see if any others jump out.

I had my bets on Arthur Charles Michael with Albert as a runner up if Will and Kate's DC2 was a boy. You could probably track down a what should the next royal baby be called thread for inspiration.

Edward.

You can't give him his brother's middle name. Would look like you hadn't made any effort and were just recycling a name that wasn't good enough as a first name last time around.

James
Alexander
Charles

I like these better, and they are less popular:

Michael
Patrick
Gregory
Dominic

I have an Edward so obviously that gets my vote! Other names that I think are in a similar vein are:
Toby
Arthur (love this- if I have another DS this is a fav)
Alex
Samuel
Charlie
Douglas
Thomas
James
Reuben
Peter

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. This has been a real help, and it's been interesting to hear your thoughts on the use of an existing middle name. I like Charles and Alexander in particular….thank you!

Love William

Edward Alexander (or Alexander Edward) is an awesome name.
I'm not biased at all, oh no.