Toby, Robin or Saul?

[NameChange30]

Which do you prefer:
Toby
Robin
Saul

If you like Toby, would you just call him Toby or would he be Tobias on the birth certificate?

What nickname(s) could we use for Robin other than Rob (which I'm not a huge fan of)?

Would you assume Saul was Jewish?

DH really likes two of the three in the list but I'm leaning towards the other one!

FWIW, my favourite boy's name is Leo, but I can't use it sadly. I also like Maxim (Max for short) but it doesn't work with the surname.

Annilack
My book says that Saul means "the child we asked for" which is rather nice

BigBiscuits
I LOVE Ezra! Sadly it doesn't really go with the surname, and I think it's also a bit "out there" for DH's taste. I do love it though. And I quite like Reuben too. Maybe I'm a closet Jew

user
"Actually the dog Toby that I knew was in Israel so he was a Jewish dog, incidentally...."
There you go! A closet Jew
Apology accepted, thanks. Maybe Mitzy is right and I was being over-sensitive, in which case sorry (can I blame the pregnancy hormones?!)

Funnily enough DH also likes the name Felix but I just can't shake the association with cat food! Anyone know anyone Jewish called Felix?!

I love Felix

BigBiscuits
"There is also Saul in Homeland as well as Better Call Saul."
Yep, we have watched both! It's probably a factor as we've got used to the name. We wouldn't exactly be naming our child after the characters (!) but I do quite like them both.

Saul is a lovely name.

But prefer Felix. I think that is really cool.

I once fancied a bloke called Felix.

I was devastated to find out that he was gay.

Ive been watching Homeland and said to DH that if we were to have another son, I'd love to call him Saul. Just love the name.

Not so keen on Robin. Seems a bit of a 1970s name. Toby is a lovely name but would be more suitable for a child than an adult. But that's just my opinion.

Robin!

Saul does sound very jewish to me.

I have a Solomon that we can Sol for short, obviously similar to Saul. However, a problem occurs when we say "here you are Sol" or similar, as it sounds as if we are calling him Arsehole.
Im warning you, because I wish somebody had warned me! It is a cool name though other than that!

So I've just counted the votes (I'm procrastinating!) and it looks like Toby and Saul are neck at neck, at 10 each. Robin isn't too far behind though, with 7 votes.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we all have different tastes. It doesn't make the decision any easier though

I have a Robin, and really wanted DS2 to be Toby. DH absoloutely categorically refused. He's Oliver instead.

Robin, Jolyon, Fabian, Rupert, Sebastian etc are what I call 'North London names' - names for boys of the urban upper middle class who will always choose a game of chess to one of rugby.

Toby is less easy to pigeonhole, but I'll forever associate it with Joe Mangle's adenoidal son in 1980s Neighbours.

Saul is a good strong name but if you're not Jewish I wouldn't take the risk of appropriating a name so strongly identified with another religion/culture.

W8woman
LOL! One of my brothers grew up in London and he played rugby with a lot of "urban upper middle class" boys. Rugby is reasonably posh IMO, although obviously not as posh as polo or hockey

PS North London, that is, not just London

"Appropriating a name" - are you serous.

What nonsense. It's a name in the Old Testament. Just because Jews use it, it does not mean that no one else can.
This cultural appropriation business is bullshit.

I do think the "cultural appropriation" debate is a rather fine line!

I'm British, my DH is from a European country, and I wouldn't see it as "cultural appropriation" to use a Biblical name that is recognisable in our countries and languages.

However, I wouldn't use an Arabic, African, Asian or Muslim name, because we have no ethnic, cultural or religious links to any of them, and I would see it as cultural appropriation.

Of course there are many names in both the Bible and the Qu'ran (and presumably in other religious texts as well) but they tend to have different versions.

robin. Toby reminds me of a Toby jug!

There are so many popular names from the Old Testament: Adam, Daniel, David, Jonathan, Joseph, Michael, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Sarah... Maybe there was a time that they were mostly used by Jewish people before they became so popular in general?

People have borrowed names from other cultures since the beginning of time.

I come from an Arabic Jewish family (the last generation you will meet as we all got kicked out, but that's another story). I have older uncles with Arabic / Moslem pronounciation of biblical names.

That is not cultural appropriation. It's just what happens when different people of different cultures live side by side.

This fashion to condem cultural appropriation is really fucking stupid.

Yes but it would also be a bit weird for a white European couple to call their son Mohammed

Paul is from Latin Paulus, meaning small. St Paul changed his name from Saul, from Hebrew Shaul meaning prayed for. It's not the same name. I like Robin best btw.

Saul - great name.

Yes, it would be weird for a white European to call their son Mohammed

And also for me, as a Jew to call my son Jesus (as they do in Spain)

Weird is not the same as cultural appropriation!

I can't believe so many Spanish men are called Jesus! Such a strange name to use, almost like naming your child "God"

Slash from GnR is called Saul. And I mean this as a big positive! I love the name. I wanted it for ours but my partner said it was a bit too Bible-y. I also liked Ripton but thought a bit too Jamaican for two non-Jamaicans.

Robin.