Sorry

[AverageMummy]

Really sorry for posting so many threads but this naming malarkey is hard work & I love the brutal honesty I can get here !

Please let me know what you think of these for a boy. We’d also like a name that doesn’t scream a particular class (any) - are we achieving that?

Rowan
Arthur
Robin
Peter

Peter is nice. Don't much like Rowan or Robin.

Rowan- more feminine
Robin- feminine
Arthur- hate this old man trend
Peter- boring

@MissHenty I forgot to say thanks yes I do really like Ralph & Otis but I have a really hard time getting the husband to agree to anything!

sweet, delicate teeny tiny bird.

Robins are insanely aggressive! Nothing sweet about them!

I would pick Rowan or Peter. Hate "Pete" though.

@AverageMummy glad you like the names. You say you have a hard time convincing DH. What I’d suggest is to tell him that when he is picturing names he may well be picturing them in the playground when he was growing up. Yes Ralph, Otis and Wilfred would have sounded a bit wacky then but they absolutely won’t now. Show him the top 100 names. Names like Albie and Hunter. You’d never hear them back 20-30 years ago but totally normal now. How about Dylan?

@AverageMummy just read your earlier post about changing name at 3 months. Good for you. Do you mind me asking what you changed it from or what you changed it to (appreciate you may not want to reveal both or even either of them)

Anyway my issue with Rowan and RoMan being so similar isn’t me just trying to find problems. I had this growing up. I have a fairly common name that’s similar to another common name (think Lauren/Laura type thing....) and was forever being asked if my name is X or Y. So i know what it’s like and wouldn’t want to inflict on a little RoWan/RoMan/RoNan/RoHan x

Barnaby ?

Peter is you want classless/ ageless and classic.

Robin would be my second choice.

How about Jonathan or Robert? Both classics which aren't currently very popular.

Arthur’s the best but really you’ve named a group of 50+ trainspotters.

Peter

@MissHenty I changed to Clara. There was nothing ‘wrong’ with the first name but it had initials I didn’t think were good & I just couldn’t learn to love the name. It didn’t matter how many times people told me how nice it was, I just couldn’t get past the feeling of it not being ok / right. Not everyone likes Clara but I think once you have the name that you’re happy with, you can accept people disliking the name without feeling so focussed on it. So I’m very conscious of avoiding that whole situation again!

My husband likes names like Michael, Simon, Peter which are all perfectly fine but I just struggle to love them. I like names like Sebastian, Theodore, Seth etc.

I think we struck gold with Clara because he’d been indoctrinated by Dr Who

@Frith2013 yes I struggle to not feel that way. What names do you like?

Rowan or Peter. Or Robert with the nickname Robin.

Clara is a gorgeous name. Well done for changing it. It’ll be a funny story to tell her once she’s older.

I really like Seth. It’s got a lovely soft sound to it yet is very masculine. Maybe if you kept suggesting it your husband may come round (if he’s anything like mine). Familiarity can change someone’s perception of a name

Peter but that's cause it's my dads name and he's a great man but the name itself is great

I don’t like Peter. It sounds weedy, as in the phrase “to peter out”. I may be biased as I’ve met three Peters I detested and only one decent one!
I know Arthur is a bit old fashioned but I like it. Connotations of heroic King Arthur. And I know two Arthurs who are lovely - one an excellent surgeon with a great sense of humour and one anaesthetist who’s not only brilliant at his job and hugely well informed, but genuinely humble and would go an extra mile to help anyone. Against that, I suppose there’s Arthur Daley from the series Minder, as a dodgy spiv!

Robin 100% for me
Makes me think of Robin Hood and Batman & Robin.

(Even though DS middle name is Arthur haha!)

Peter makes me think of Horrid Henry.

I think Peter is the only one that’s ‘class free’, the others are more middle class. I may be wrong, just the impression I get from those names.

I like Arthur best but Rowan is also cool.

I haven’t met a Peter under the age of 25 and that Peter seemed young to have that name. I always imagine a middle aged man when I think of Peter. My Grandma had a brother called Peter so I think of him too. I haven’t met a child named Peter before.

Peter, definitely.

It's funny how Rowan and Robin are now considered too feminine to give to a boy, when they started out as men's names and it's only been in the last 30 or so years that they have been given to girls too. I think it's blatant sexism that once a name has been used for girls, it's no longer considered fit to be given to boys. Doesn't seem to work the other way around though. Just my two pence worth - I like both of them and definitely prefer either of them to Arthur.

@FatherFintanFay yes it’s so true. Dressing girls in blue, giving them boys names etc is fine but a bit irritating when people think they’re doing it in the name of equality but wouldn’t dream of giving their boy a ‘girly’ name or dress them in pink & flower prints. I think the colour pink was originally a ‘boy’ colour & got ditched once girls started wearing it more.

I like Rowan, then Robin , then Arthur. I don’t know a single Peter and my only association is with goody two shoes Peter from horrid Henry!

What about:

Ralph
Oscar
Owen

I think Peter is the most classless and Robin the most "posh sounding" with the others somewhere in between. Arthur is my favourite.

I love Rowan. The others I'm not mad keen on tbh. They are a bit boring.

i work for child maintenance whatever amount they calcualte will be to cover everything, if he wants to contribute more then he can obviously xx