Names like Percy

[MonkeyBirdy]

We're expecting a boy and I'm having such a hard time finding names I love. Like they're all ok but nothing really stands out. Then DH suggested Percy (with Percival on the birth certificate) and after an initial wtf reaction I think I really love it.

It has everything I like in a name - classic, not too common, nice to say, 2 syllables (so it fits with the rest of our names - I don't know why but this is a big deal for me).

I think it's due a comeback...

I know about Percy pigs. They're a nice sweet though! Plus we don't live in the UK and they're not really a thing here.

Is Percy really that awful? If you think so can you suggest some similar names.. he'll hopefully end up going to a posh school unless we have some financial catastrophe so I'm not concerned about the name being too public school.

What is a shagable name then? And do people really reject guys based on their name? I think it's more about personality tbh. I get that people have a preconceived idea of what someone called Percy is like but that doesn't mean they are like that. Just like not everyone called Fox or River is going to be edgy and trendy. I think in real life you quickly get over the preconceived notions pretty quickly.

I have no idea who Lord Percy is.

I think Rupert is similar in tone. And Simon. Also agree with Edwin & Cyril.

I know a 5 year old Percy. I love it!

I like Percy too! But I also like Rudy, Bertie, Monty, Woody etc so I might not be a good test of the general population

I really wanted sons Rudy (Rudyard) and Woody (Woodrow) but then realised neither of these were proper first names for the historical figures who used them and just mean “Red Yard” and “row of wooden houses” which isn’t very romantic :(

I love Percy. It's on our list

@midsomermurderess

Who on earth uses 'point Percy at the porcelain?' Do these people live in the 1950s? It's a cute name, no different to all the other cute, little boy names.

Percy was my dad’s name and he hated it and used his second name until he could get a dead poll to drop the name

Percival, (Percy), Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan, Gawain, Vivienne, Elaine, etc were popular at a time when the Arthurian myths and legends were going through a popular revival in the late 19th century until the 1910s. I quite like Percy.

I think it's beyond awful. A truly terrible name.

I’m sorry, it’s awful. There are a million better names out there.

I like Percy, but there was a TV show I watched (Scrubs) where the nickname for Percival was Perry, which I also liked. Would that be an option you'd consider?

@toastofthetown

Mumsnet really don't like Percy. You'll have lots of pig, penis and 'wet' comments on here. But if you look at the stats Percy has increased significantly and there were 128 Percys born at the last count. It wouldn't surprise me if Percy started to approach the top hundred in the next five or so years. So even if everyone else here says its dreadful for a variety of reasons, it's a name in moderate use so far from universal dislike.

Other two syllable names outside the top 200 you might like are:
Ambrose
Cedric
Francis
Gregor
Linus
Remy
Rufus
Stellan

I think if Percy was going to become really popular it would have done so already, as other names from that era like Stanley and Wilfred and Archie etc. have done. I think Percy will always be...polarising.

I think Percy is lovely. I don't think it will put girls off at all. I once worked with a v v shaggable Cedric and his name didn't put off any women at all, in fact his dad was a Sir so we called him Sir Shag a lot!

@IHaveBrilloHair

Christ alive no. I think it actually might make a comeback though, but will quickly go the way of Alfie/Freddie etc.

I don't think it will make any sort of comeback because it's an awful name. If it was going to it would been after the first Percy Jackson film which says a lot.

Also immediately thought of 'point Percy at the pot' and also Percy pig.

I like it.
You could also like Peregrine, Perry.

Wilbur
Wilfred
Herbert/Herbie
Walter

The problem with Percy is someone will point out its an abbreviation for Percival .

Also maybe Winston? There’s a Winnie in my son’s swim class.

These names are absolutely not my taste and appears that would be the case for half the people he meets if you go for one of them!

One of my all-time favourite TV characters was named Percival/Percy - Admiral Percival Fitzwallace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on The West Wing. He was played by John Amos, a large black man about as manly as you can get. People never called him Percy though, usually either Fitz if they knew him well or otherwise Mr Chairman. But he owned his Percy-ness and it really suited him.

Peregrine - "Perry" or Ptolemy - "Tolly"?

@KIngsySpence

The problem with Percy is someone will point out its an abbreviation for Percival .

What's the problem with that?

No! Horrible - worse than Stanley! It's a weak and wet name, conjures up images of snivelling boys who told tales in children's books! Or a snotty accountant type who looks down his nose at you through his pince nez. I must have read this type of character somewhere because that's my immediate association, sorry!

Love the name Percy. DH didn’t like it though so we didn’t use it. If you like it, go for it.

Percival is in the same league as Cyril, Stanley, Bernard, Desmond, Horace and Earnest. There is a reason why they haven’t made a comeback!

Different generation perhaps but names like Lynda, Janice and Jeanette are similarly unpopular for babies...