Thoughts?

[Mamajules43]

Hugo

Magnus

Or Louis

Yikes don't hold back!!

My Magnus is neither pretentious nor arrogant, but he's only 5 so I guess there's time for that. We're not Scandinavian but we are Scottish and I think it's a much more normal name in some parts of Scotland than in England.

It's horses for courses though isn't it? There are plenty of names I hear about on here and in real life that I think are bloody awful too.

Erm Magnus is latin it just happens to be popular in Scandi.

[quote PattyPan]@Mamajules43 It just seems very pretentious to be honest! And self-important/arrogant. Unless they were actually Scandinavian I imagine a Magnus to be a bit of a jerk and even then it sounds like the name of a Scandinavian villain [/quote]
Why would Magnus as a name be any more ‘arrogant’ or ‘self-important’ than common names that mean beautiful/beloved/strong etc?

Love Magnus. My husband refused to use it because he associated it with a person but it is gorgeous!

@SecretCiderCellar I think it's because it's the meaning is more obvious from the word than a lot of names maybe? So it's more obvious that you're basically saying 'I'm so great'? I think that might be how it comes across to me. I think there's a difference between great and beloved as well. Beloved is less arrogant because obviously you love your child but greatness is more subjective!

@TatianaBis I know it's Latin - I studied Latin at university. I've just never come across a non-Scandi Magnus so I think it is more normal there whereas it comes across as more of a statement in the UK because it's unusual. I do think the kind of overtly Latin names come across as pretentious - obviously something like Emilia or Claudia is fine but anything Latin ending in -us (Gaius, Augustus, Atticus etc) sounds poncey.

It's not particularly unusual in the UK, I've come across several. And why would an unusual name be a problem anyway? Unless you're very conservative. It's odd that who's has studied Latin to degree level would think a Latin name was 'poncey'.

So many names are about being strong, brave, beautiful, leader, wise etc. People tend to want to have positive associations for names.

Why would Magnus as a name be any more ‘arrogant’ or ‘self-important’ than common names that mean beautiful/beloved/strong etc?

Xpost - quite.

It's not that a name being unusual is a problem, it's just that because the meaning is more obvious from the word and it isn't a name you hear every day it comes across more strongly to me. Greatness is of course good to aim for but it seems more arrogant than other 'value' names because of the loftiness of it maybe.

I was well aware of the ponciness of studying Latin throughout my course! For me it's more something to be slightly embarrassed about (should have studied something useful) than something I would want to advertise via my children

Hugo.

Greatness is of course good to aim for but it seems more arrogant than other 'value' names

More arrogant than Belle, Beau, Max, Grace, Bonnie, Sophia (wisdom), Louis (victorious in battle), Alexander (defender/leader of mankind)?

Personally yes I think so but I wouldn’t name my child Belle/Beau either those are dog names

@TatianaBis

Greatness is of course good to aim for but it seems more arrogant than other 'value' names

More arrogant than Belle, Beau, Max, Grace, Bonnie, Sophia (wisdom), Louis (victorious in battle), Alexander (defender/leader of mankind)?

What's wrong with those names? Specifically Belle / Grace?!

Nothing that's the point. They are names with a strongly positive meaning like Magnus. (Max and Magnus mean the same thing)

Louis.
I couldn't imagine anyone being called Hugo or Magnus outside of Made in Chelsea.

A friend has a grandson called Magnus. Definitely not a Made in Chelsea type.

Magnus is a perfectly ordinary name, to me. Not wildly common, but it's hardly Jacob Rees-Mogg territory.

It must be where I live (Scotland) but my Magnus was one of two in his nursery class and I know three others! It's not a really uncommon name at all and certainly not posh, arrogant or try-hard - they are all normal people from normal families.

I live in the south of England so maybe it is different here then. I just looked in my work address book - organisation of 3000+ people and there is not a single Magnus! I’d put it in the same category as something like Humphrey.

Magnus

In 2019 there were 107 babies named Magnus, making it the 402nd most popular name.

*in England and Wales that is, sorry.

I just looked in my work address book - organisation of 3000+ people and there is not a single Magnus!

Well, that's not surprising, surely. Names go through up and downturns like fashion. I just looked it up, and it's only been in the top 500 in England and Wales since 2014, though more widely used in Scotland.

I know three, but none are over ten. The comedian Ed Byrne has a Magnus, I think.

All awful and pompous

@riverrunner

I just looked in my work address book - organisation of 3000+ people and there is not a single Magnus!

Well, that's not surprising, surely. Names go through up and downturns like fashion. I just looked it up, and it's only been in the top 500 in England and Wales since 2014, though more widely used in Scotland.

I know three, but none are over ten. The comedian Ed Byrne has a Magnus, I think.

Yes - I was a bit surprised to see there were two more Dennises in E&W in 2019 than Magnuses since that’s rather old fashioned and has obvious ‘menace’ issues! I just meant to show that it is actually quite uncommon in the grand scheme of things. Fwiw my work has an office in Edinburgh but evidently no Magnuses there either.