Help with baby boy names please!

[pinacollama]

I’m 28 weeks pregnant and my husband and I have finally started discussing names for our first, long-awaited baby. We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl, so are thinking of names for both. Girls names have been relatively easy to come up with a shortlist. There are a few boy names we both like:

Noah
Elijah
Tobias
Gabriel
Isaac
Sebastian
Theodore

These are all quite high up in terms of popularity/usage and we’re not sure if that puts us off. I would love your thoughts and any other suggestions that you might have for us.

Thanks!

I like them all. Isaac is my favourite.

Thank you. Isaac is a newish one to my list but I do really like it and don’t know any (adult or child) either.

Noah -like but very popular so personally I’d avoid

Elijah - love and love nn Eli
Tobias - like
Gabriel - love but don’t like nn Gabe
Isaac - ok
Sebastian - like but don’t like nn Seb
Theodore - like but very popular, Theo’s everywhere around here

I have a Theodore so I'm a bit biased. Sebastian is one of my mum's all time favourite names 😁 so one of those two

Theodore because I have one (almost 19).

But also:

Rex
Otis
Amos
Atticus
Levi
Felix
Finn
Elias
Isidor(e)
Axel
Sylvester
Jude
Benjamin

Lovely list, really like most of them

You seem to like T names how about Tristan

If you want a classic name that's pretty unused these days how about Peter, Matthew, Laurence, Nathan, Wilfred, Seth, Christopher nn Kit, Ellis

I had all of those names on my boy list and used one of them.

Other names I had were, Casper, Caspian, Ellis, Elliot, Rafael, Evan and Koa.

I'd avoid Noah and Theodore - both are very trendy at the moment and will likely date.

All your other choices are fine - fave is probably the classic Gabriel, least fave Elijah (a bit too strongly biblical sounding for me).

Other similar suggestions - Elias, Nathaniel, Ezra, Asa, Xavier

Jasper
Rafe
Josiah
Xavier
Zachariah
Xander
Gideon
Finnegan
Rafferty
Alistair
Dominic
Elliot
Barnaby

I have a Gabriel but I do also love Sebastian and he would have been Noah but a friend named her ds that so felt I could not use it!

I'd avoid Noah and Theodore - both are very trendy at the moment and will likely date.

There are as many Gabriels as Theodores. Theodore never dates. Nor does Noah. They go through popular surges but these are old school names, i.e Theodor Herzl, Theodore Dreiser, Theodore Roosevelt.
DS is 19 and in all of his years of primary/secondary school/sixth form- in West London- he shared his name with ONE Theo who started year 7 with him and left in year 8. There was never another Theodor (his spelling) or Theodore in any other year.

Noah is a bit done to death. Theodore is lovely, but Theo v v popular. Still a gorgeous name though. I don't like Elijah - Eli is such a whiny sound! - and not a massive fan of Isaac but it's nice. Sebastian, Gabriel or Tobias would be my choice.

How about Rufus?

Noah - no due to the ark
Elijah - no
Tobias - nice
Gabriel - nice
Isaac - nice
Sebastian - nice
Theodore - nice

Noah and Theodore are overused. I like Gabriel, Isaac and Elijah best.

Noah - I think this is a bit boring myself. I don't dislike it but it's meh
Elijah - I'm not a massive biblical names fan. It's ok though
Tobias - really like this
Gabriel - this is one of the biblical names I love
Isaac - not a fan. I know loads.
Sebastian - lovely. I've always loved this name
Theodore - I like it but I think that it is very popular. Round here (n London) i think it peaked a few years ago though.

I would go for Tobias or Sebastian.

I only like Tobias and Gabriel.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and some great suggestions, I’m going to go through them with my husband later. I’m terrible at decision making at the best of times!

My fav is Isaac but I also like Noah

Congratulations on your pregnancy OP.
My favourite is Isaac. Our DD was going to be Isaac George if she’d been a boy.

@TheVanguardSix

I'd avoid Noah and Theodore - both are very trendy at the moment and will likely date.

There are as many Gabriels as Theodores. Theodore never dates. Nor does Noah. They go through popular surges but these are old school names, i.e Theodor Herzl, Theodore Dreiser, Theodore Roosevelt.
DS is 19 and in all of his years of primary/secondary school/sixth form- in West London- he shared his name with ONE Theo who started year 7 with him and left in year 8. There was never another Theodor (his spelling) or Theodore in any other year.

If you have a 19 year old Theodore then you used it before it was trendy. While it is an "old school" name (as are all OP's choices - they are all well known/traditional names!), Theodore has shot up in popularity from outside the top 100 20 years ago to top 20 now (Noah is the same - outside the top 100 20 years ago, now top 5).

With Theo also at number 16 (and Teddy at no 32) it is an overused name now. Previous to the 2000's it was last popular in the UK more than 100 years ago, so most Theodore's/Theo's/ Teddy's will be under 20 (therefore it will likely date/ show his age, I'm sorry to say - the figures don't lie).

The OP's other choices - Elijah, Isaac, Gabriel and Sebastian have slightly less dramatic popularity curves (although they have all increased in popularity recently). Only Tobias has remained relatively steady.

Love:
Tobias
Sebastian
Theodore

Okay:
Isaac
Gabriel

Dislike:
Noah
Elijah

Tobias
Gabriel
Sebastian

Really like Tobias.

Other similar suggestions:

Caleb
Nathaniel

How about Reuben? Similar feel to your list?