Please pick: Hamish, Archie, Will, Mac?

[Poppy339]

Hi mumsnet,

We are choosing between the following names for our boy, due in a matter of weeks . Which is your favourite?
Im also happy to hear anyone's alternative mixing suggestions using our shortlisted names. He will be brother for Arabella.

Hamish Archie Ho..es
Archer Jack Ho..es
Archie Jack Ho..es
Archer Mac William Ho..es
Hamish Jack Ho..es

Thank you for your comments!

Hamish Archie

Hamish William or William Hamish would be nice too.

Hamish Archie has a nice ring to it.

My favourite is Will though, I might be biased

Archer Mac William

Archer Mac William x

Archie Jack!

Archie Jack

My favourite is Will though

Hamish! Great name.

Archie is too cutesy/trendy and will probably sound dated soon. I'm not keen on Will(y) at all, which might become a nickname for William.

Archer is too trendy. I'm not a fan of occupations/surnames as first names.

Hamish is very nice. Hamish Archer has too much sh/ch though.

Hamish William?

Are you Scottish/Scottish descent?

Hamish William or William Hamish

My favourite is Archer nn Archie. Both Mac and Jack are really nice as middle names.
Second choice would be Hamish, lovely name, and Hamish Archie is good.

Archer is a very handsome name! Archie is cute too.

Thank you for the comments!
My husband is English and I am Scottish descent, so middle name choices reflect family names.
Does anyone think the double H H for Hamish Ho..Es is too much?
Or equally, would Arabella and Archie be too much?
And do you know a Hamish, and is so, what's his nickname?

I'm trying to find a good reason to choose one over the other, thanks.

HH is fine. All the Hamishes I know are called Hamish. (All three of them over 40 years, it's not like we're awash with them.)

Archie/Archer plus Arabella does sound a little like you planned it.

Although Archer was my favourite, there is a similar sound with both Archie and Arabella starting with not just 'A' but 'Ar'. It does sound quite matchy, but personally I still like them together!
I think a double H initial is totally fine, however only you know how Hamish sounds with your surname. For example Hamish Holmes is a mouthful, whereas something with two syllables and more consonants might sound great.
I can't think of any nn for Hamish but I don't think you need one. He can be Squishy Mishy when he's a baby, but will use his full name as a boy and man.

Archer Mac

My favourite is Hamish Archer. I don't think HH initials are a problem, but I like alliterative names. The only Hamish I know has nn 'Hame', but I agree with pp that you don't really need one.

Hamish. Hamish William as a full name (Hamish Archie would be my second choice).

I'm Scottish and I don't like Mac as a middle / given name. It's a prefix to a surname (meaning "son of"), occasionally used as a nickname for men with "Mac" surnames. But using it as a first name in its own right doesn't sound Scottish to me, just a bit silly (or possibly a bit American fake-Scottish). Sorry!

Thanks For your comment RontheR, it's nice to hear a Scottish perspective!
My mothers maiden name was McDonald, so Mac was an attempt at tributing her name, rather than lumping the lad with the full McDonald. I quite like Mac as a name in its own right, but it's good to hear a scottish perspective on it.
Is Hamish common in Scotland? Is it considered an 'old man' name?
Thanks!

I would use MacDonald .

Hamish is reasonably popular where we are. Definitely not an old man's name any more. It is fairly unusual in my generation (I know one), but I think it's on the rise again - I know a small baby, a 2 year old and a 10 year old Hamish (I have 3 children though, so know a lot of kids - I'm not tripping over Hamishes or anything!). To my mind it's a Fergus / Magnus / Ruaridh / Alasdair type of name - traditional, very Scottish, now mainly used by middle class parents (I don't mean this in a bad way, I'm just trying to explain how it is viewed up here).

I know both Archie and Hamish (brothers).

Hamish gets called Ham, Spam, Smish, Ham-ish, Hames and Hamster.

Archer is a lovely name.

Archer McDonald H...

I'm not a fan of Hamish but it does sound nice with Arabella.

The Hamish in my family gets called Hamster - his hair is hamster coloured :-). He will be 20 this year.