Can I really not use William...

[Antonsalovelyguy]

if my surname's Lee?! Honestly, you wouldn't think it was such a difficult surname to work with.

I'm pretty sure it needs to be a longer first name, else it ends up just sounding like one word. But so many longer names are either a bit too gap yah or total snooze fest.

I have my bingo card ready for the helpful suggestions of Bruce, Frank etc etc

I'm not sure what the problem would be? William Lee sounds fine to me.

‘Will Lee’ isn’t great.

I think it sounds fine too. Can't find anything wrong with it. And I have tried.

As long as you never shorten it to Will should be ok

Ha ha - Willy

Don’t do it op.

How about Mathew, Jeremy, Edward, or Henry instead?

Yeah it's the Will thing. I like Billy as a shortening but I suppose we can't control what others will shorten to? Also the whole playground stuff. But surely, if a kid wants to pick on someone, they'll do it. That's how I think but my DH thinks you shouldn't knowingly provide any ammunition so to speak...

Only if you are sure it won't be abbreviated to Billy.

I know a lovely Joshua Lee

Richard Head sounds fine too.

I really really wouldn't, OP. What does the rest of your shortlist (or long list) look like?

I like William. :)

I agree, Lee needs a longer first name. Names like David, Charles, Alexander, Philip, Julian, Samuel, Patrick, Dashiell, Thomas etc.

Thanks @AppleKatie I like Henry. Hadn't considered that. Not keen on the others so much.

Love Joshua that's on my list, DH not keen.

I like Forrest too but it doesn't really work. Literally no other names I like that I've come across yet

We have twin boys and I really struggled to find two boys names I liked generally, let alone factoring in surname. They're all either a bit dull or massively hipster wanky (IMO - others can do as they please obviously!)

I don't think it needs to be short or long, it really depends on the name
Harrison Lee sounds quite nice
Joshua
Alexander
Oscar

I think it sounds good with a lot of names!

If you don’t shorten it it will be be fine. Will is out and Billy Lee is s bit of mouthful but just about ok if you really wanted too

William is a lovely name, but with the surname Lee you’re setting him up for a lifetime of piss taking.

I’ve a friend called Jennifer Taylor and everything be calls her Jenny (genitalia) poor girl went through hell at school. Thankfully she’s a great sense of humour and now rolls with it.

@TammySwansonTwo ha, I'm aware Forrest probably falls into the hipster wanky category. But I'm totally with you. Boys names are just so dull in general. I feel for you needing to choose two!

Firstly, I know someone called William Lee and he didn't have any problems all through school.

I know people on here always say you can't control what your child is called but you can up to a point. If you always call your son Billy or Bill, then when he goes to nursery and school you tell them he's known as Billy, so they put Billy on the name tags and the coat hook and he calls himself Billy and learns to write Billy on his drawings and thinks his initial is B.

He may decide he wants to be called William or Will later but he probably won't as his name is Billy and likely to be frequently Bill as he gets older. No one else will decide to call him Will as they will always be introduced to him as Billy.

Now what you can't control is people calling him Sploshy because he once fell in the stream on a schooltrip and that nickname sticking into adulthood.

@Thebluedog I genuinely don't think I ever would have heard that with poor old Jenny's name! I probably can't give my child this shit to deal with.

Thanks @Ontopofthesunset Good point! I was with you up until "bill when he's older". Then it just reverts to running into one word!! It just doesn't work I don't think

Ds had a friend called William Bone. The poor lad was a laughing stock.

If you like Billy couldn't you just call him Billy Lee and not bother with the full version?

Forrest is a great name imo:)! Maybe Robert, Asher, Glenn, Caleb, Cormac, Adam, Rhys, Linus, Griffin, Alaric, Alfred, Edwin, Eric, Arvid, Jonas, Henrik, Marcus or Ulrik?

David
Robert
Rupert
Lincoln
Laurie
Louis
Marcus
Michael
Nigel
Nicholas

What about Liam as a short version?

My son (15) is a William shortened to Will. He loves his name. I just read this to him and he said “Will Lee? Nah, you can’t do that to him.”