Help narrow down our shortlist!

[lostlobster]

Me and DH finally agreed on a shortlist. Our last name is one syllable and begins with S. Any middle name suggestions would be helpful too.

Joshua
Otto
Isaac
Ezra
Caspar
River
Leo
Billy
Jude
Oscar
Joseph
Samuel

Isaac
Ezra
River

Otto
Ezra
Caspar
Jude

Thought I should point out that our favourite is Joshua by far, but we’re worried about him being Josh which we don’t like

Ok my top 3 are:
Joshua
Caspar
Samuel

Can't guarantee he won't ever end up being a Josh though I'm afraid

If we could make sure he’s just Joshua we’d name him that right now. We don’t mind Josh, but much prefer Joshua

I know three Joshuas and they are all called Josh. Think it's hard to avoid a shortening, especially when they get to school age, it just happens amongst friends.

you can only control what you call him.

FWIW, all of DH's siblings (4 in all) have 2 and 3 syllable names, all with common shorts - apart from one of the siblings, his parents call all the others by their full name, always, and they all call each other the full name too.

(So say DH is Christopher, his parents and siblings always call him Christopher, but friends usually call him Chris.)

Joshua- very 90s, had its day imo.
Otto- LOVE this name, wish I could use it but DP isn’t keen
Isaac- like it
Ezra- not keen
Caspar- like it
River- not a fan
Leo- the lion, not a fan
Billy- nope
Jude- great name, have a Jude myself
Oscar- classic
Joseph- a bit outdated
Samuel- very 90s again

I’d go with Jude or Otto

This is so difficult!. I love the name Joshua so much, I just don’t know how I feel about Josh. FWIW, my name has a very obvious nickname but my mum always corrected people and made them call me the long version.

Are you happy with some of the other names being shortened?
Samuel - Sam
Joseph - Jo
Ezra - Ez (my sons friend gets called this all the time)
Billy - Bill

We don’t like Sam or Joe either, just Samuel and Joseph. We prefer Josh to Sam and Joe. I don’t mind Bill or Ez

Your DS might also prefer the longer version, lots of people do and are never called the short. At DD's nursery there was a Margaret and an Elizabeth and that's what they were always called.

Joshua and Isaac are two of my favourite boys names. I don't think Joshua is dated. I like Oscar too, although very popular.

Jude is a bit faddy at the moment, Casper still reminds me of ghost, and Otto will date quickly I think. Neutral ob the others.

I like them all. Joshua will be Josh though.

I think I’m just so stuck now. Because if I chose another name I feel like I’ll always wonder if he would’ve been called just Joshua.

I’m sorry that I’ve completely derailed the thread to debating over Joshua v Josh

I love Jude!

Joseph is gorgeous!

I also really like Leo.

My shortlist for my youngest were Gabriel and Elijah. I also love Noah, Jacob and Zachary. (I like a biblical name lol)

River,Joseph or Jude

Btw everyone will call him Josh in the end so if you really dont like the nn I wouldn't call him it

Isaac Jude is a nice combination of names.. Joseph Stanley.. Joshua James Surname i like too but then he might get JJ...

I love Bertie too and Arlo!

Funny you should say that @Mammyloveswine Because I was just saying to DH (been texting the poor sod all day when he’s at work) that we could go for Joshua Jude, and then if he was going to have nick name it could be JJ, which we prefer to Josh.

I also love Arlo, but it’s the dogs name😂

Joshua is lovely. Honestly, you’re lucky that you have a clear favourite (presumably the same for both of you?) — many couples can’t find anything they can both tolerate, let alone love. I would go for it!

Re. Josh, it is quite likely that a Joshua might be Josh to some people, some of the time. But it’s actually nice that he’ll have options like that. You can give him the name you love (Joshua), call him the name you want (Joshua in full, or JJ, or maybe Joss if you like that?), but you’ve also given him the gift of other options if he wants to use them at any point. You might actually find that Josh grows on you anyway — I gave my children “un-nickname-able” names but all 3 have acquired nicknames which I would never have chosen, but now actually really like because it’s them.

I also like Otto, Isaac, Caspar, River, Leo, Jude and Oscar from your list (great taste!) but in this case I really think you should go for your clear fave. No danger of regretting your choice then.

I think we are going to go with Joshua. I think we’d definitely regret it if we didn’t go for it, and like Calixtine said Josh may grow on us. I think we will go for Joshua Jude, to give him the JJ option.

Sorry again for completely derailing the thread.

I love Jude.. its my sons middle name too!

Lovely name Op! Congrats on Joshua Jude

Joshua - do you like Josh?
Otto - no
Isaac - depends on the surname but ok
Ezra - no.
Caspar - yes
River - sounds wet
Leo - nice but very popular
Billy - short for William is ok
Jude - just no
Oscar - not keen
Joseph - great
Samuel - great