Honest opinions? Cut down my boys names list

[SarahTTCx]

Hi! Looking for honest opinions on my boys names list, cut it down and tell me why you've removed the ones you have? It's so long and me and OH constantly argue about which names deserve to be at the top (not pregnant yet but on month 5 of trying).

Elliot

Sullivan
Harvey

Zachary

Archer

Teddy

Joey

Wyatt

Max/Maxwell

Abel

Ashton

Elias

Axel

Kian

Grayson

Harrison

Holden/Holder
Arlo
Beau
Hayes

Keep:

Elliot
Harvey
Zachary
Max (don't like Maxwell much though)
Elias
Axel
Kian

Removed:

Sullivan - not keen, he would be Sully for short, which is a word that doesn't have a great meaning
Archer - Not too bad but makes me think of Jeffrey Archer. Asher is nicer as an alternative
Teddy - Much too childish, he'll be a grown man one day. Theodore or Edward nn Teddy would be a better idea
Joey - I like Joseph nicknamed Joey, but not Joey on its own
Wyatt - too Wild West
Abel - too "murdered by his sibling" in the bible / too Puritan
Ashton - Not keen on "ton" endings. Much prefer Ashley or Asher as mentioned above.
Grayson - not keen on surnames names ending in son. Sounds like a description - "this is my grey son."
Harrison - See above. Prefer Harry or Harris.
Holden/Holder - Sounds awkward and like people will make jokes about it
Arlo - Local pronunciation of Harlow.
Beau - Too babyish
Hayes - Not heard of this. Will have to spell it out for people, so they don't assume it's Hays or Haze. Maybe acceptable if already a family name.

Get rid of:

Sullivan, Archer, Holder, Hayes (too surname-ish)
Teddy (unless short for Edward it’s infantile)
Wyatt (awful...can’t put my finger on way but makes think of an American serial killer)
Abel (too biblical)
Ashton (Seems a bit flimsy)
Kian (but I like Cian)
Harrison (dated 80s/90s baby name)
Beau (corny)

Elliot - want to like this but the 3 I've known (various spellings) have all been, umm... 😒 characters
Sullivan - not a fan of surnames as first names
Harvey - sounds like a dogs name and a surname
Zachary - ok
Archer - surname
Teddy - prefer Ted and only as short for something more grown up
Joey - same as Teddy, also prefer Joe
Wyatt - just don't like the sound
Max/Maxwell - ok
Abel - don't like the sound
Ashton - surname
Elias - like this
Axel - no I think of car axle
Kian - Cian is just about ok but I think the letter K looks harsh at start of a name.
Grayson - surname
Harrison - surname
Holden/Holder - Surname and also Holden is what Vauxhall make of car is called in NZ(where I'm from)
Arlo - like this
Beau - ok
Hayes - surname, but would be ok as middle name given your reason for using it.

My favourites from the list are Elias and Arlo, I also like Ted and Joe if short for Edward and Joseph.

The best two are Grayson and Harvey

I really dislike surnames as first names and anything too American sounding, which rules out quite a lot of your list.

I think Elliot, Zachary and Maxwell/Max are lovely, and I quite like Elias. Teddy and Joey would be fine as nicknames for Edward and Joseph but would look ridiculous on a birth certificate IMO.

Elliot - nice
Sullivan - not a fan of surnames as first names
Harvey - alright, slightly meh
Zachary - nice
Archer - really dislike
Teddy - if short for Edward, then yes. On it's own, bit cutesy
Joey - okay
Wyatt - too American
Max/Maxwell - okay
Abel - don't like
Ashton - chavvy
Elias - nice
Axel - not a fan
Kian - too Boyzone
Grayson - nope
Harrison - okay
Holden/Holder - awful
Arlo - nice
Beau - really pretentious
Hayes - car manual

Elliot - effeminate
Sullivan - a surname
Harvey - dated
Zachary - love it, by the far the best
Archer - hideous, a surname
Teddy - contrived, infanilte, faddy. Edward is lovely.
Joey - negative connotations for those of us in our 40's
Wyatt - hillbilly, a surname
Max - dull
Abel - able? No
Ashton - a surname
Elias - yes, nice
Axel - part of a car
Kian - no
Grayson - surname
Harrison- surname/ naughty boys name
Holden - surname
Arlo - faddy
Beau - effeminate
Hayes - surname

I like Elliot, Zachary, Teddy, Max and Kian.

Dislike Wyatt, Abel, Axel, Grayson, Beau and Hayes.

Elliot - I really like it, though prefer Elliott. It's a well know, established name but a little less run of the mill

Sullivan - lovely and Sully is really cute for a young boy

Harvey - I want to like it but just find it a bit wet. I don't know why

Zachary - lovely, classic name

Archer - I like it, but don't like Archie so would take it off the list

Teddy - just no. Who would want to be a grown man called Teddy? Adorable on a toddler, not on a 28 year old man whose trying to be taken seriously in the world

Joey - see Teddy. Way too cutsy. Joseph nn Joey is acceptable

Wyatt - love it

Max/Maxwell - I really like Maxwell and Maximilian. Not so keen on Max on its own

Abel - nice enough

Ashton - dislike

Elias - lovely

Axel - it's OK, a name with decent history

Kian - OK but not really my taste

Grays on - dislike
Harrison - hate
Holden/Holder - surname to me. Dislike
Arlo - dislike, super trendy right now, will date

Beau - nope

Hayes - it's OK, much nicer names on the list

I think you should keep:
Elliot
Sullivan
Zachary
Wyatt
Maxwell
Elias

Harrison is my favourite. If I had another DS I think I would choose Harrison. I like that it can be shortened to Harry as that is the name of my DF

Elias. Pretty much love that.

Elliot Just a personal thing, I went to school with an Elliot who'd wet himself
Sullivan Surname
Harvey I like it
Zachary I like it
Archer Aggressive, and a surname/American!
Teddy Soooo overused. Half his class will be Teddies.
Joey Quite like it. Make his given name Joseph though.
Wyatt Surname/American
Max/Maxwell I really like Max!
Abel Hmm, a bit 'Biblical' for me. It's ok.
Ashton A bit surname/American, but I think it's just about OK.
Elias Ok, unusual while still being an actual name!
Axel Hmm, ok, a bit 'car wheel' flavoured. I've heard worse though.
Kian A bit 90's boy band sounding.
Grayson American, surname
Harrison American, surname Harry is nice though!
Holden/Holder American, surname. Please don't name an innocent child 'Holder'
Arlo I quite like it
Beau Dreadful. For too feminine sounding for me.
Hayes American/surname

I would remove;
Hayes
Grayson
Sullivan
Because I'm personally not keen on forenames that's sound like surnames

Also Wyatt as it's too American for me, Beau I find quite feminine
Axel abit too try hard
Hayes is more like a sound

For me I would narrow it down to
Elliot
Zachary
Ashton
Max

Arlo is the only one I like.

Grayson, Beau, Abel and Hayes are my least favourites.

Elliot - lovely
Sullivan - nope
Harvey - not my taste but fine
Zachary - not my taste but fine
Archer - nope
Teddy - nice if a nickname for Theodore (lovely) or Edward (fine)
Joey - lovely if a nickname for Joe/Joseph
Wyatt - nope
Max/Maxwell - nice
Abel - nice
Ashton - nope
Elias - not totally sure of pronounciation but I think fine
Axel - cool
Kian - horrible
Grayson - no
Harrison - no
Holden/Holder - horrible
Arlo - quite nice
Beau - lovely sound but the meaning is a lot to live up to.
Hayes - no, maybe as a quirky middle name...

Most of the names aren’t my style, but I like Zachary, Max, Abel and Elias.

All very American.

I love Elliot and like Sullivan 😃

@babynamelover those are the 2 currently fighting for our top spot! Sullivan is almost definitely the name we'll use if we have a boy, the only thing that holds me back is that our surname is very surname-y (it's similar to McIntosh) so I worry that it's too heavy. I like the idea of the mn James and that would make it flow better, but obviously most of the time they wouldn't be referred to in full mn included.

@Incrediblytired that's funny, I'm not a fan of overly American names, I would have said the only ones on my list that were very American are Wyatt and Hayes. That's what puts me off Wyatt a bit, but with Hayes it's a family surname so I don't view it as particularly American because of that!

I find it so interesting how different peoples opinions are on names though!

Harrison is my favourite (bit biased as I have one- known as Harri, though).

In order of preference...

Grayson
Max
Teddy/Ted
Harrison- although wouldn't want it shortened to Harry

I don't dislike Archer or Holden although I wouldn't pick them myself.

Elliot
Sullivan
Harvey
Zachary
Archer✔
Teddy✔
Joey
Wyatt
Max/Maxwell
Abel
Ashton
Elias✔
Axel
Kian
Grayson
Harrison
Holden/Holder
Arlo
Beau✔
Hayes

Just curious if the Cian lovers are Irish? As thats the original name and spelling of it.

Elliot phone home

Sullivan monsters inc
Harvey Wankstain
Zachary only like nn Zach
Archer prefer Hunter
Teddy cutesy
Joey doesn't share food
Wyatt for a girl
Max - as Max yes Maxwell house/silver hammer no -Maximilian
Abel will kills his brother. Prefer Caleb by miles
Ashton Kutcher
Elias prefer Elijah
Axel - I like but I am a huge Middle fan.
Kian - could live with
Grayson Perry, Larry, kid in nanny diaries maybe, just not keen
Harrison - could live with
Holden/Holder CITR/Noddy
Arlo - could live with alhough a farmer springs to mind
Beau - I quite like
Hayes - prefer Holmes if we're just doing surnames, I did quite like Hayden at one point but Panty thingy put me off it