Arthur or Henry

[Wombat222]

Which is better? Henry’s nickname would be Hen? And Arthur’s perhaps Art/Artie?

Both dull. Arthur slightly better.

Why does Henry need a nickname?

God, you might as well call the child Boy#1006536899.

What are your children called bedhair?

Bladen-Lea and Tarquinius?

Tarquinius-Rae Spike , actually. And his twin La—a Pixxii Irene.

There is actually a fair bit of ground between ultra-classic and unremarkable and babies the registrar refuses to call Uggboot Sxxidream.

True, but that doesn’t mean they are nice!

Quickly looking at the bottom of the top 200 boys:

95 Aiden
96 Gabriel
97 Austin
98 Lincoln
99 Eli
100 ben

They are all about crap, and nowhere near as lovely as Henry or Arthur. You may feel a bit more yoonique, but that comes at the cost of a shitter name

Top 100, obviously!

Henry

True, but that doesn’t mean they are nice!

No, but neither does being in the top ten, or indeed the top 100. That only means other people are also choosing them it says nothing about the names. Not many years ago, the most popular boys names were Gary, Darren, Craig, Paul, Mark, Wayne, Alan, Dean, Neil and Ross that doesn't make them objectively nice names, it just shows that a lot of people were choosing them in 1984.

They are all about crap, and nowhere near as lovely as Henry or Arthur. You may feel a bit more yoonique, but that comes at the cost of a shitter name

Someone's an angry little naming elf.

Someone's an angry little naming elf.

Actually, I like Eli, Gabriel and Aidan more than anything in the current top ten.

I'd have thought Gabriel is a classic name in anyone's book. Aidan is an old Irish classic. And Eli is an ancient Hebrew name.

But sometimes on these boards I suspect 'classic' actually means 'oh yes, sounds like a nice middle class English child'.

I also find both Henry and Arthur a little dull from overuse.

But sometimes on these boards I suspect 'classic' actually means 'oh yes, sounds like a nice middle class English child'.

Yes, exactly.

"Feel yoonique with a name like Gabriel or Austin"

I think they're both lovely classic names. I prefer them to Arthur or Henry.

To me, the term classic refers to a timeless name that's well known but not overused.

Nothing to do with class

Henry we have a lot of Arthur's in the north west

Well, given that a significant majority of responses on this forum are explicitly or implicitly dealing with where a name sits on a spectrum between (a) 'chavvy' and (b) 'try-hard/wannabe posh' and the sweet spot of 'just right' somewhere between to the two not to mention the omnipresent 'Can you imagine this name on a High Court judge?' test, I think it's fair to say that social class and the class connotations of a name are a preoccupation for many posters.

The High Court Judge question surely refers to the current trend for cutesy babyish names? Eg can you imagine Senior Judge Dolly or Teddie ?Nothing to do with class imo.

Another vote for Arthur.

Henry, I really dislike Arthur. I know/know of quite a few little Arthurs and it reminds me of the rabbit cartoon

Lebkuchen, I’ve seen it used on numerous occasions for names designated ‘chavvy’ on Mn, with people sneering about how you couldn’t imagine a Judge Lexi-Mae or Judge Kayleigh.

Just out of interest, what names do you like? Do try to be kind though - post-birth is a tricky time and harsh words on the internet can be too much for some people

Has little Henry or Arthur already been born, Wombat? Congratulations!