boys names

11 replies

toughgetsgoing · 29/04/2020 09:33

How do you feel about 'classic' names that are v v common - you know, Harry, Leo, Will, Thomas, George, Oliver, Archie, James... does it bother you that your son will have to go by his last name or as James A, James B etc or is it worth it for a solid, classic name. I find it less so for girls - their names are often similar but not the same iyswim e.g. Lily and Layla, Milly and Molly etc, so more a problem with boys names ? Is it worth trying to find a less common boys name or is being referred to by your last name / Tall Tom etc alright for boys ?

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SpicedCamomile · 29/04/2020 09:41

Well one of those is my son’s name and despite it being in the top ten he has never had to go by name X - there was one other with the same name in his year of 60 children at primary, but DS goes by a shortening and the other boy doesn’t. No others in his quite ethnically diverse secondary year of 120 children as far as I know, certainly no other in his class.
I like classic names because they tend to have a lot of options for nicknames - due to the fact there were twenty million James in the family, so they had to be known as Jim, Jamie, Jimmy etc. I also like them because there tend to be a lot of people in history with that name, and you can identify yourself with them if you want - I don’t know, I think it gives you more solid roots. Just my own opinion as somebody with a classic name.
I don’t agree about the girls, I do reading in DS2’s primary school and it is the girls that have the same names - two Erins, two Amelies, two Amelias, two Sophies, three or four Isabelles.

Fiflowertot · 29/04/2020 10:05

Personally I wouldn’t pick a classic name if it is very common. Like you said they’ll end up being referred to for example ‘George A, George B, George C’. Or different nn’s of their ‘classic name’ like SpicedCamomile has mentioned. I also find when they hit secondary school, especially boys end up with friends using their surname more than their first to distinguish.. Then it is the same in the work place!
However saying that names are regional, a classic popular name in the top 100 might not be a popular name where you live!

Flymetothestars · 29/04/2020 10:38

There’s 2 children called Fox at my child’s school

All the children have to put their initial on everything anyway whether there’s 1 of them or 10 of them. That’s our school rule

TheSkyWasDark · 29/04/2020 11:03

I would rather a classic name than some of the made up monstrosities you see.

SnowdropFox · 29/04/2020 11:31

One of the reasons I'm not keen on "classic" names myself is just that. You might be one of several in a class. For example when I was growing up there were 5 Kirstys in my year. And many more in other years. Everyone was a Kirsty X. For that reason I always look at the top 100 names and avoid the most obvious trends.

IndiaMay · 29/04/2020 11:44

I would avoid, avoid. Ive always disliked the idea of using a popular name at the time for my child. I dont understand why you would want your child to he one of many. Tipping point for me being the lady I sit next to at work has a daughter with a VERY popular name and her daughters best friend has the same name. So they go by (for example) 'Amelia B' and 'Amelia R' at school and to all their friends. She has now started to refer to her own child as 'Amelia B' in conversations! She just has no separate identity

87Callista · 01/05/2020 23:07

I'm trying to avoid very common names. With that said you could choose a name out of the top 100 or even 533 on the list and it could be #1 in 1 or 2 years times so whatever name you pick could end up being pretty popular.

A lot of people due to give birth this year will be searching for uncommon names that's aren't too out there and lots of ppl will end up using the samw "uncommon" names thus making then more common. I ideal don't want my baby to have a name that is #1-#10 in the top names but if it happens it happens I won't cry about it.

Rubywhox · 01/05/2020 23:12

It depends how much I liked it but in general it would put me off knowing that my kid could become one of 3 in a class.
My DH teaches an A level class of 7 boys- 2 of them have the name Joe and 3 of them have the name Tom which can complicate things a lot especially in a tiny class! And 2/3 Toms have the same surname initial!

DennisTMenace · 01/05/2020 23:19

I really can't get worked up about it. Throughout history there have been a few popular names. Mary and John have had an astonishing percentage of all children over the past 500 years, it's just what people do. I have a name that was common then and is common now, but still only had one other girl in the secondary school year with the same name and none in primary. We picked names we liked for the kids, so ds1 has an unusual name and ds1 a very common one. They are both great names.

DramaAlpaca · 01/05/2020 23:29

One of my boys has a very classic name that was top ten when he was born in the mid-80s. He's always been the only one in his class, surprisingly. I didn't care anyway as I loved the name so much.

yikesanotherbooboo · 01/05/2020 23:30

I've said this before but I had a very common but classic name to which I had no objection growing up. If anything it made me feel part of a team of some sort. My DH has an uncommon but known name that is easy to spell and has no negative connotations. He absolutely hated it and saw it as a vanity on his mother's behalf. He is not a shrinking violet and was the sort of child who was always team captain/ head of house etc. My point is that children like to belong and on the whole don't want to be the odd one out in any way. By all means avoid very popular names and particularly those that are very of the moment but choose names that you actually like .

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