Sullivan Xavier Anderson- Too much??

[EmmaRay]

Me and my DH can’t seem to agree on names with us both wanting what seems like the opposite of each other but we have finally agreed on a name!
Sullivan - can be shortened to Sully if I can convince my DH
Xaver - My DH’s favourite name
Anderson - My DH’s Surname
Is it a bit too much though??

Sullivan Anderson is too many N plus you've got "an " from Sullivan and Anderson clashing. Xavier is fine though

Yes Floored but the examples you’ve given are of English/Scottish surnames commonly used for English/Scottish children. Do you see the difference?

I think it’s odd to take a family name from a culture that’s not your own and use it as a forename for your child. It just seems culturally tone deaf to me.

I think some people care about the origins or meaning of a name and others simply choose based on the sound. I nearly used my surname as my son's first name but I care about meaning and wouldn't have chosen a name whose meaning I didn't like. Tbf a good chunk of the white population in the Us have Irish origins so it's hardly surprising this trend seems to be stronger there.

That is just awful. Nobody uses their middle names (apart from some silly girls wanting to look super-individual on SM), Sullivan Anderson is too many syllables and too many 'n's, it'll be shortened to Sully, then unkindly, to Sally Ann. Don''t do this to a child, he will hate it.

@HarrietM87 Those names aren't only used for English and Scottish children respectively, they are used in other countries too. In fact I think it happens far more with Scottish names than Irish.

Surnames only point to one particular line of a person's ancestry. As I already stated there are many people whose surnames and family names have different origins to their nationality. Should they not use those names? There are many other given names that originate from all other the world. Names evolve all the time, as people have moved countries they have influenced one another.

Floored you’ve got a different opinion from me and the stuff you’ve said hasn’t changed mine so I think we should agree to disagree.

Personally, I see first names as much more flexible and mutable things. It’s very common for parents to choose first names from around the world for their child. Surnames are different because they, by their nature, in the vast majority of cases, reflect family heritage, culture, nationality, and are passed down through generations. You say not everyone called Quinn is Irish, but they will have had an Irish ancestor. It’s irrefutably an Irish name.

The surname as first name trend obviously conflates these two things. Personally I think it’s pretty insensitive, bordering on cultural appropriation, to choose a surname that has a strong connection with a culture that isn’t your own, for your child.

And it’s striking that, in this country anyway, it is mainly Irish names where this happens. I think most white British people would probably hesitate before calling their child say, Bashir, but why not Quinn?

It's estimated that around 10% of the population of Britain has at least 1 Irish grandparent. That's a lot of people. Plus the many others who have more distant Irish ancestry. Not sure how you would differentiate these people from the 'randoms'.

I haven't analysed the full given names to see how many Irish surnames are used, compared to those of other origins, but in my experience it really isn't mainly Irish names that are used.

So is Prince Harry unreasonable to use Harrison?

I think it’s lovely 😊

Yeah but floored all these people of Irish heritage don’t have ancestors called Sullivan. My point is I can understand it if the name specifically means something to you (mother’s maiden name say, which is common in scotland), but if you have literally no connection to it then I think it’s inappropriate.

Oops - that was name change fail above!

Reminds me of Monsters Inc.

It is a lot of N’s. Anderson is a good surname though, lots will work with it.

Do you have other children? If so, what style are their names?

Nobody will care about the Xander once the kid is born. If someone said to me their name was Sullivan Anderson I'd assume they were just saying their surname. My next move would be to say 'OK, and your first name?'.

Xavier*

Meh, DH is Scottish and I'm mixed race British. No Irish here, we named our Sullivan because he was born on St Patrick's Day. If we hadn't chosen Sullivan he would have been Lachlan.

But superficially he was named because I fancied the pants off Sullivan Stapleton, the Australian actor.

Names/naming trends are constantly evolving, I have not appropriated the Irish culture by naming my 6 year old an Irish surname.

@HarrietM87

There are 375,048 people globally that have the surname Sullivan, only 5661 are resident in Ireland. Can you really not see how this would influence names in other countries? Apparently, the highest incidence of people named Sullivan is actually in Tonga. The largest number is the US where it is the 86th most common surname. Surnames that were used as first names, may have originally had family ties, or special meaning, then people may have named children after well known people with those names, as the name has become well known as a given name, others may have just liked it, Names evolve and change all the time. The name of Sullivan is obviously significant to a lot of people who aren’t Irish. Other non-Irish surnames have been adapted similarly.
forebears.io/surnames/sullivan

I take your point, @flooredbored, but I have to say that, as an Irish person, Sullivan sounds very strange when used as a first name. Just not used to it I suppose

To me, it's like using Jones Anderson or Smith Anderson - it does sound like a double barrelled surname. And I don't think Sullivan goes particularly well with Anderson syllable-wise either.

No one cares or uses their middle name so don't worry about that.

I think Sullivan Anderson is nice.

Sully seems to be very popular at the moment. The new Noah.

floored hope you’ve enjoyed your little research project there. Unless the OP comes back and says that it’s a family name, I think it’s a weird and inappropriate choice.

Too much and he'll end up as Sully which isn't a name really apart from in an animated film. It's a word that means to dirty or to defile which is a shit meaning for a name.

I love the name Sullivan! I follow a lovely family on Instagram who have a little Sullivan/Sully and he suits it so much.

I think all the names together are strong and Sullivan Anderson doesn’t sound clunky at all to me.

He'd get bullied and rightly so