Henry, Harry, Freddie or Bertie?

[Josephine82]

Pls help! Our baby boy is already here and we can't decide on a name. It's causing endless of arguments. We've currently opted for Henry but neither of us seem to love it ( my husband prefers Harry and I Freddie (Frederick)). We're also considering Albert/Bertie but not sure we're brave to go with the name. Pls let me know what you think. Makes me sad that my rainbow baby (had 2 losses last year) still hasn't got name. :-( x

I was in this situation! Couldn't decide between William/Billy and Henry/Harry until a week after he was born. I went for Henry in the end. We call him Harry, which REALLY suits him.

My friends have a Burt, which is just the coolest name ever! Or what about Alfred/Fred/Alfie?

Definitely don't rush it. Why not go for Frederick Henry, then you can narrow it down later?!

I think you can easily change their name on the BC for their first year. Passport makes it slightly more expensive to change your mind, but sod it.

I'm still not convinced by my DS1's name. It's a lovely name, but it's not "him". He's almost 16 now...

Go with Fred if it's what he feels like to you.

I have a Bertie so I'm biased .
Not shortened from Albert though.
We don't know any others and it suits him.
He has a touch of the 1920s top-hatted gent about him.

ShackUp
Just waving at you - I have a Bertie too.
We've never met another one

I love the name Bertie. If I had another boy he would be Bertie, but short for Bertram. There was a little Bertram in one of the Scandi dramas - Borgen I think.

Thanks all, so helpful. We’ve already registered him as Henry but it was such a rushed decision and the name wasn’t even on our list. Know I could leave it a bit longer but really want to make a final decision now as I’m even avoiding seeing people as I dread them asking about his name. Just need an end to it now. I think it is between Freddie and Bertie now with Henry as the middle name if my OH let’s me. Thanks again, all your comments have been great.

Henry is lovely. Really nice.

BevBrook
That's what we shortened it from

Hi threewheeler the weirdest thing happened today, the people in the queue behind us for soft play had a seven-year old Bertie, literally the first time we've ever met another out and about!

My Bertie is a dude, all surferish and white blonde and very sociable! DS1 gets overlooked somewhat when they're together because he's a bit more aloof...

ShackUp
It's such an uncommon name, think it'd surprise me too if we met another in real life!
Mine's really sociable too. I always think of it as a sort of warm and friendly name, sounds like it suits yours!

Have you decided!?x

You can’t go wrong, they’re all nice. Personally I prefer Harry to Henry because of the “Horrid Henry” books/programmes.
My order of preference would be
Harry
Freddie
Henry
Bertie

Henry is a lovely name. I also like Harry. But if you love Freddie I think you should make your DH aware how much it means to you and stick to your guns.

Love the name Henry, it's timeless. Harry is a genuine nickname for Henry too so you have options with it.

Ive literally met four Beeties in the last month...ranging from few months old baby to 7-8yrs. It’s a very popular name here in Wiltshire.

Henry is ridiculously popular...with a MUCH broader age range, same as Harry. I feel like they’re sooo characterless as a result of they’re popularity. Shame, perfectly nice name. Good choice to go with second name.

I live Freddie and all it’s variants.

As an aside, it’s perfectly reasonable to go with, say, Frederick Henry and call him Henry. Or Henry Frederick and call him Freddie. There’s a quirky story behind it if you don’t actually address him later on by his first name....it’s quite common for the reasons you are experiencing now.

Ok so today is decision time and I think we will be going with Frederick - Freddie for short. Henry is still in the running though but we’ve ruled out Harry and Bertie (love this one but realised it’s a difficult one if we move back to where I’m from).

We have a Henry and have come across surprising few other Henrys.

It was my pick but my husband prefers Harry. We agreed to do Henry on the birth certificate and he can go by Harry as he gets older if he chooses or my husband can call him that since he prefers it.

Anyway, Harry originated as a nn for Henry, so not much of a stretch to use it that way!