Honest thoughts on Arthur James please

[wineandcatsandlego]

Just that really!
33 weeks pregnant with a little boy, literally the only name me and DH have agreed on since we found out is Arthur (not named for them, but our deceased grandfathers share the name so a nice family link) but there's a teeny part of me that's now leaning away from it and I can't think why.
The only other name I love is Benjamin, DH isn't 100% keen, but the only other suggestion I can get out of him is Louis but I'm really not a fan! So can I have your honest thoughts on Arthur please? James is non negotiable as his middle name 😁.

Just to throw a curveball in there, we both absolutely love Sid as a name (I'd give my back teeth to pick this for our boy, but the look of horror on my mum's face has scarred me for life ) also Sid James "surname" won't work for obvious reasons!

Other names I like if it helps
Matthew
Benjamin
Thomas
Seth
Daniel
Reuben

Thanks for your input!

Could you not use James as his first name?

Please call him Sidney and use Sid. We called our daughter by a full name but always used the obvious nickname. She changed to the full name when she was in her late 20s when she changed jobs. It's all about choices. Everyone will assume he's Sidney anyway. It's a great name. (I know who Sid James is but I don't think it is an issue.)

Really wouldn’t worry about Sid James, it might only matter if James was your surname. I had no idea about the link and I imagine his generation won’t have a clue.
If you prefer it to Arthur then use it. I’d agree that Arthur is getting really popular and seems like an ‘on trend’ name & if you don’t like the nicknames then that could be a problem as you gave little influence over it as they get older. Benjamin is lovely & classic imo.

Also don’t be influenced by your mum, she may feel completely differently when he’s born. Names are so personal, she may just have known a Sid she didn’t like, you’ll never find the perfect name to please the whole family!

Best friend is Benjamin James, everyone mocked him and called him BJ once we knew what one was in school... not a great idea imo.

Arthur James just makes me think of the singer James Arthur and Sid James is in the Carry On films.

I think I'll have a sit down with DH tonight and go through it all again!

I know what you mean about Arthur becoming quite popular as I believe it's now nearing top 10 on baby name lists? However luckily where we live I've only ever met one toddler Arthur, the most common names for boys round here seem to be Teddy (just Teddys, not short for Theodore or Edward), Harry, Jackson/Jaxon, Jayden/Brayden/Kayden/ - ayden sounding, or Noah. All gleaned from friends, Facebook, local baby groups I'm on, and my nephews' classes at school. So a mixed bag, but luckily no large influxes of baby Arthurs just yet! I just wish I hadn't thought too much into it and just stuck with it after me and DH both fell in love with it

I'd be slightly concerned about the initials for Benjamin James. Might not matter though.

Arthur James is lovely. My son is Andrew James. Some people call him AJ which I'm not a huge fan of but could be an option if you are particularly 'cool'

I think Arthur James is lovely although I'd probably put it the other way round. I'm just wondering what his nickname will be. Art?
I wouldn't worry too much about a name potentially becoming more popular. You can't predict it. I chose ds1's name because I'd never come across it in five years of teaching then as soon as we named him, it seemed every second baby boy was being given that name!