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.

My other half loves the name Toby if we have a boy, but i vetoed it it is a cute name, but for me it's for young boys and I don't like the name Tobias as an adult.

Felix is a bit different! I like that.

Robin is good too

Are you any closer to a decision?

Sadly not, DH and I are pretty much opposites in our pace of decision-making. I like to decide within a few days whereas some decisions can take him MONTHS! To be fair we do have months to make this decision (about 4 1/2 months to be precise!) and it would probably be wise to wait until the baby is born before we make our final choice. It is driving me a bit crazy though, the name Toby seems to have lodged in my brain and I don't want to be bitterly disappointed if he decides against it Maybe in the end we'll both change our minds and he'll like it but I won't! Argh!

Saul for me, lovely strong name xx

Aww bless you. I had a girls name I was set on and fought for for 4 months, then gave up and we compromised on another.

Hopefully will happen with the boys names too. I'm about the same as you, due mid Feb, so will have plenty of time after the scan next week if it is a boy.

If you have shortlist of names you both like and you can't pick one before, maybe you'll both agree on when you see your little man

Saul is a total cool dude name, I love it

Robin's ok. I know two adult Robins who are just called Robin. I'd agree with pp though, nn's are not something you can control so if it'll annoy you I'd avoid Robin.

Tobias is lovely, really don't like Toby though.

My son is Saul, he is 7, Irish, red-haired and we are Atheist. Nobody has every asked if we are Jewish.

He goes to a huge school and is the only Saul in the whole school, very handy for writing his name on things :-)

I like Saul best! I think of it as a Jewish name but wouldn't assume that a Saul I met was Jewish, if that makes sense.

I prefer Tobias to Toby. Don't like Robin at all - I think of the bird, the Batman character and/or 'robbing' when I hear it.

Toby is cute for babies and young children but imo not so much for a grown man.

I like Saul best - I know a Saul whose parents are not Jewish.

I also know two Robins one of whom has been known as Rob all his life except by his mum.

I like all three but Saul wins.

Pudding Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm due at the end of Feb so a bit behind you. Good luck for your scan and picking the name. I think you're right and we will just have to pick from the shortlist when the baby is born. Got to stop calling him Toby in my head in the meantime.

I'm leaning towards Saul over Robin. It was actually DH's suggestion so I think he'd be very happy if we pick it.

Update: DH doesn't like the "s" in Tobias so I'm wondering if we could use Tobiah instead? Is it too Biblical? We would just have it on the birth certificate and would mostly use Toby...
But Saul is probably the top contender atm. We've ruled out Robin because we don't like "Rob".

I like Robyn for a girl but not keen on Robin for a boy.

I find Toby super bland.

Saul is nice.

Toby is a lovely name in its own right.

I don't understand the (dare I say) 'trend' in registering a baby with a given name and then not using it.
And there have been some weird stretches of the imagination on MN.
We call her Millie but her real name is Matilda
We wanted to give her more choice later in life
No one really believes this

I would use the name Toby, and register as Toby. Or choose another name.

ample
I love Toby in its own right, too, but it's very English and doesn't work as well in DH's language. So the full name would give him more options in DH's country - Tobias/Tobiah, Toby, or another nickname (Toto for example).

Robin or Saul

We've chosen the name!
We've decided on Saul and we're both very happy with it
Now I want to tell all our family and friends but DH wants to wait until the baby is born (or at least much closer to the due date)... he is probably right but I'm impatient and hate secrets so it's going to be a long few months!!

Thank you to everyone who posted btw

I know a few adult Robins and although I like them I think the name is a bit wet - sorry!

Love Saul and Toby is ok but I'm not that keen but not for any real reason.

Toby is fine in its own but reminds me of those naff mugs from the 70's.

Robin, will get Rob

Saul, lovely babe but I do see it as Jewish. Nothing wrong with that, but I like the stories names say about the person and I like people to be named traditionally with their background. I just think it's nice to have that sense of belonging, iyswim.

Lovely name, not lovely babe, lol

Bad As I said in my update, we've already decided on Saul, but thanks anyway

DH and I aren't religious but we are both from countries where Christianity and the Bible have historically had a dominant influence. Saul is from the Bible. Although it's popular in the Jewish community, I've heard of enough non-Jewish Sauls not to worry about it too much.

We're not big fans of tradition for its own sake - some traditions are lovely and others can be pointless or even harmful (IMHO). The baby will have both our surnames so he will definitely have a sense of "belonging" to both families. We are also considering family names for the middle name.

My only bit of advice is don't tell people your chosen name, we had a few name choices spoilt for us and people thought they had a right to tell us why we shouldn't use a certain name. All it did was wind me up, I was sensitive about the name once we eventually decided on it, wish I had waited to name reveal :) great that you've chosen one.

Dixie
Thank you, that seems like very sensible advice, and it's exactly what I said before we decided on the name - I think I'm wanting to tell people because I'm just so happy to have chosen it! However, I know I need to stay strong!