Please help, which boys Name do you like best, out of these two?

[Thinkingsticks]

Hello,

We have narrowed boys names down to Rowan and Nathan now. I like both but have slight preference for Rowan.
(We have a Luke and Isaac already )

DH prefers Nathan.

I do like shortening of 'nate'
Not as keen on the shortening of 'row' but I don't mind others calling him this, I just would not call him this personally.

I'm not really concerned with popularity
(I know Rowan is more popular but as long as not in top 20 i don't mind too much)

Just interested to see which name people like best? This may help me to decide
I won't be offended at all, if not your cup of tea!

Many thanks for your help x

Nathan is more popular than Rowan so given what you've said then Rowan. Personally I prefer Nathan though.

I prefer Rowan.

@spacepyramid

Thank you, is it?

I thought Rowan was more popular, I suppose it depends where you live. I'm in north west England x

I think Nathan goes better with the names you already haves I like both though!

Nathan

Nathan is not more popular than Rowan @spacepyramid - see the Uk top 100 lists

Nathan is currently just outside the top 100 and is on a downward trajectory, whereas Rowan is well within the top 100 names and is currently on a fairly steep upward trajectory.

I personally vote Nathan as it’s a classic and I love the nickname Nate. I don’t like inevitable nickname “Row”, it feels unfinished

Rowan is a top 100 girls name in Scotland (and rising sharply up the girls lists), but is outside the top 100 for boys in Scotland. So is definitely seen as a girls name there.

If you’re wanting to avoid top 20 names @Thinkingsticks, then I’d avoid Rowan if you think it sounds similar to Roman (i personally do think it sounds extremely similar). At my sons little nursery theres 2 Roman’s and 1 Rowan and they get very muddled up. The boy called Rowan ends up being called Roman all the time. 🙈 It depends if that would bother you given the sharp rise in Romans about

A couple of years ago this wouldn’t have been an issue, but last couple of years both names ( especially Roman) have been on a huge upswing.

Both Roman and Rowan are the top rising names within Uk top 100 this year. Roman (with an M) is currently top 50 but it climbs so much each year that it will be top 20 soon on current growth trajectory. It’s the new Noah. I think that means it could date pretty badly if the name suddenly booms (as it happening now) then disappears

See graph below if you want to see how RoMan (and Rowan) are shooting up the charts whereas Nathan is holding steady and falling. Nathan/Nate is likely to be the only one in his class.

names.darkgreener.com/#roman

I think popularity depends on when you live as well tbf. Also, Op has said she isn’t concerned too much about popularity so your long post is a bit out of place.

Nathan will sound better with Isaac and Luke as they are all pretty timeless names that won’t date.

On the other hand Rowan and RoMan has never ever been in the top UK 100 until the last couple of years. So it could mean the names date quite quickly and become a ‘Keith’ or ‘Darren’ or ‘Sharron’ type name . Sorry just my opinion of course 😊

I have a ds Roan 18. He loves his name!!
Obviously so do I!!

I much prefer Nathan and it goes better with your other names.

@plantainchips sorry if long post is out of place 🤣🙈 silly me I do tend to be a bit of a chatterbox when it comes to baby names 😆 So sorry xx

OP did say that she didn’t want the names to be top 20 though so I looked at the growth trajectory on RoMan and that is likely to be top 20 on current growth trajectory. Whereas Nathan will not be (based on current growth trajectory over the past 15+ years). I remember OP saying she was slightly dissapointed that Isaac boomed after she chose it so I just wanted to make her aware. If you search for Isaac on the graph, the boom in numbers was foreseeable (It’s been on a fairly continual steep upward trajectory for 15 years!), so I was just trying to help. 😃

Sorry another long post probably! 🤐😆

Neither Rowan or Nathan are that popular looking at that link, 633 Nathans and 708 Rowans last year (excluding girls called Rowan). Over 1000 boys were called Roman, poor things - I am biased though as the Roman I know is one of the most horrible boys I have ever met, I'm sure there are lovely ones out there.

I like Nathan and agree it goes best with the other names but that's not that important seen as they are all individuals and as they grow you probably won't say their names all together as much as you do when they are little.

Much prefer Nathan too and love nickname Nate ❤️ I think it goes best with Isaac and Luke

Think I said this already @Thinkingsticks OP but I work with newborns and have been inundated with baby Roman’s lately. I read it’s the fastest rising boys’ name and wasn’t surprised. I find Roman and Rowan very same-y and slightly faddy/trendy/ very ‘of the moment’. In the same way I’m finding the sudden influx of the name “Hunter” and “Ezra” a bit trendy and likely to date, in a way that Luke and Isaac won’t as those two names have been in use for centuries (albeit on and off) and buzzing around the uk top 100.

Yes I’m sure names like “Keith” and “Darren” sounded fresh and lovely to parents naming babies in the 1970s but those names have dated and don’t have that same ring now. I can see the same thing happening to “trendy” names like Hunter Roman and Rowan in 20 years time.

Yes @MissHenty Rowan is predominately a girls name in Scotland and I was interested to see it shooting up the girls’ names charts there (but not being used much for boys). I do know some girls and some boys called Rowan. Depends if that bothers you OP.

@MissHenty

Thanks for that link, really interesting.

Thanks everyone, it seems Nathan is the winner!
Reason I like Rowan, is that it's a tree, I love nature names but have never been brave enough to use one. Nor had a girl (there seems to be more girls)

Also a big lord of the rings fan and I like how Rowan sounds like Rohan!
Was considering Arwen for a girl 😊

P.s Luke is named after luke skywalker 😂

X

@spacepyramid

Thanks for the info x

That’s funny about Luke @Thinkingsticks 🤣 Great name though.

Yes nature names seem to work better on the whole for girls but there still is a good few options for boys.

Perhaps if you do pick Nathan/Nate at the first name, you could do a “nature” middle name? So either “Rowan” or something else. I expect you think the below are too quirky for first names (and probably wouldn’t work too well with 2 classic names like Luke and Isaac), but here’s a few boys nature names you could use as a middle name if you wanted:

Robin
Jasper (it’s a gem stone) ❤️
Aspen
Cliff(ord)
Woody/Woodrow
Ash
Clay
Oak(ley)
Cedar
Griff(in)
Logan (as in the berry)
Forrest (maybe that’s going a bit OTT)
Herbie/ Herbert
Sage

Nathan - great name and goes really well with Luke and Isaac

Nathan by a long way, not keen on Rowan.

@spacepyrami yes suspected the numbers must be in the thousands for Roman now. It definitely seems to be having ‘a moment’. The Roman’s I know are trouble makers too- very very naughty (but so is my child 🤣 so I can’t really talk)

I also prefer Nathan.

None of the Nathan's I know ever got Nate as a nickname, it was always Nath. Maybe something to consider?

Rowan. I love it.

Definitely Nathan. Classic and goes well with your other names. Using Rowan as a middle name is a good idea.

Blindmanbluff interesting point! The 30yo Nathan I know goes by his full name and the 4yo Nathan I know is called Nate by everyone. I think to some extent it’s easier to control nicknames these days as the school and nursery will ask what the child wants to be “known as” as well as their “official name”.
There’s a child called “Grayson” at my sons nursery whose parents put down “Gray” in the “known as” section and everyone calls him Gray and his coat peg has “Gray” on it and it’s “Gray” in the register. I only found out the full name because his mum told me. Otherwise I’d been none the wiser even after knowing him 2 years!