Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Boys names - so hard!

34 replies

Leleophants · 20/05/2019 10:03

Is it just me?

It seems with girls you can be more creative whereas with boys there are such strong connotations to whatever you choose! Please note these are names I LIKE. Other people have told me the connotations already...

  • Boring e.g. James, Matthew, Sam (and tbf these would be middle names as that's half my male friends!)
  • Old man names and now just as common as the first lot! E.g. Arthur, Alfred (Alfie), Archie
  • Sound overly posh and potentially camp (and we have a long and posh sounding surname as it is) e.g. Rupert, Castor
  • Sound like a dog/cats's name or just a joke Hmm Sad e.g. Jasper, Casper,

Anyone found a name without these big assumptions? Any regrets?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
tiramisu1 · 20/05/2019 10:43

How can a name sound 'camp' Confused?

tiramisu1 · 20/05/2019 10:44

But to answer your questions, there are thousands of great normal names outside the top 100 or even top 500! Have a look.

BelulahBlanca · 20/05/2019 11:20

I love Sam- timeless and classic.

FizzBuzzBangWoof · 20/05/2019 11:29

I agree that boy's names are harder and can tend to fit into certain 'categories' which can be annoying! (eg. 'dated' 'overused' 'naughty boys names' 'posh' 'hipster' etc etc)

Names I can think of that don't have any potentially negative connotations

Patrick
Lawrence
Greg
Ross
Robert
Dominic

BlueMerchant · 20/05/2019 11:33

Isaac
Owen
Oscar
Aidan
Luke

Calixtine · 20/05/2019 12:00

Here are some that hopefully avoid those categories:

Louis
Ellis/Elliot
Isaac
Henry
Alistair
Edward
Ivan
Rowan
Robin
Patrick
Jude
Emil
Dominic
Asa
Asher
Miles
Reuben
Evan
Owen
Quinn
Flynn
Benjamin
Abel
Caleb
Soren
Flynn
Ezra
Jesse
Samson
Orson
Archer
Nate

tiramisu1 · 20/05/2019 12:14

Marcus
Dominic
Cassius
Nathan
Xavier
Quentin
Elliott
Otis
Torsten
Darius

Are just some examples of imo underused classics.

sparklysunflower · 20/05/2019 12:26

I agree with the 'overused' or 'boring' category. You avoid this (at least reduce the risk) by choosing names outside the top 250 names.

I don't agree with your last two categories. Most names aren't 'camp' or 'posh' or reserved for pets. In fact, by using them more often they lose any associations that you may have Hmm.

Proseccofuelled · 20/05/2019 14:01

Casper doesn’t sound like a joke & I'm usually one drawn to ‘boring’ names - Caspian is nice too

Astronica · 20/05/2019 16:12

I don't get why Jasper or Casper would be a joke? Or why some names sound like pets' names, admittedly something often brought up on MN. Dogs and cats can be called anything and I just can't see what that obvious fact has to do with naming your child.

I think you need to develop some confidence in your own taste and stop listening to other people's 'connotations' of your favourite names. One person's boring is the next person's solid classic. Only someone in the UK would describe a name as 'overly posh' - the rest of the world is not so worried about a name out of their class... Anyway sorry for the late night rant here, but sounds like you have lots of perfectly usable names you like but no confidence in using them.

Whoops75 · 20/05/2019 16:33

Dominic
Johnny
Alan
Matt
Elliot
Jack

I agree with a lot of what you said but a name won’t make a child anything and they will own their name in time.

EspressoPatronum · 20/05/2019 16:45

Orin
Patrick
Finn
Dominic
Jacob
Efren
Caleb
Rufus

NorthernRunner · 20/05/2019 16:46

Boys names are exceptionally hard, either common, or posh wankery, or just made up.

I have two names on my boys list. And I don’t think I really like either of them. 🤦🏻‍♀️

sparklysunflower · 20/05/2019 16:50

Boys names are exceptionally hard, either common, or posh wankery, or just made up.

Wow, I hope you're not my sons' teacher!!

stayhomeclub · 20/05/2019 16:58

You might get flamed here but I totally agree with you, I’m finding it almost impossible to find a name I like

mycatisblack · 20/05/2019 17:34

My DS has what could be argued is a dog's name but I like it and no-one else has it at his school, so that's just grand. Grin

missmouse101 · 20/05/2019 17:37

Adam is perfectly nice and straightforward.

outsho · 22/05/2019 12:45

I definitely found boys names harder than girls. It took me ages to decide on my DS’s names but DD’s were very quick and painless, also felt I had more choice.

Having said that, Rupert is a great name!

outsho · 22/05/2019 12:46

Grin at someone suggesting Alan, in 2019...

londonmarathonhalfwaypoint · 22/05/2019 12:49

Benjamin is the ultimate.

CherylLousie · 22/05/2019 12:50

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

FizzBuzzBangWoof · 22/05/2019 13:03

Benjamin is the ultimate what London?

Ben has been massively overused for the past 30 years so if the OP is looking for something what can't fall into the 'boring' category then Ben(jamin) definitely isn't it!

Whoops75 · 22/05/2019 14:23

I’d pick Alan over jasper/Casper any day Grin

Boys names are hard, just remember he’ll be a man far longer than he’ll be a boy.

Purplelavenders · 22/05/2019 14:23

Ridiculous assumptions about names, op, especially for ruling out great names for fear of them being canine or camp ConfusedShock!

Purplelavenders · 22/05/2019 14:23

Ridiculous assumptions about names, op, especially for ruling out great names for fear of them being canine or camp ConfusedShock!

Swipe left for the next trending thread