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.

@TheSunShinesBrighter

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...

Stanley has made a comeback. It was the 67th most popular name for boys in 2019 in England and Wales! Ernest is less popular but still 167 little Ernests at the last count - pretty big rise from 5 born in 1998.

I like old man names like Ernest or Stanley, but Percy ain't doing it for me. Reminds me of the evil Percy in the Green Mile.

A friend of mine named her son Percy. I thought it was a bit brave. He is ten years old and has already changed his name.
Curtis, Peter, Terence all seem similar sounds in some way - any good?

Stanley has made a comeback

Crikey. Has it?
I work in a high school and am yet to come across a Stanley.

SeanChailleach
A friend of mine named her son Percy. I thought it was a bit brave. He is ten years old and has already changed his name.

Maybe those named Stanley round here did the same before they got to high school...

Stanley - Stan
Cedric
Miles
Hugh - Huwie
Albert - Bertie
Alfred - Fred/ Freddie/Alf
Hector
Ernest

Great list of better alternatives from @ButterflyOfFreedom there!

Percy is a great name. My cat is called Percy, and when he is naughty I call him percival.

My immediate reaction was it sounds like Percy pig?

Percy is horrible.

@Hothammock I have thought if I ever had a male cat I would name him Admiral Percival Fitzwallace and call him Percy for short.

I know various Stanleys. It’s a Notting Hill name.

I like Perceval as it’s a very ancient name. Could you call him that nn Val? Peredur is the Welsh original.

If you like Celtic myths what about Merlin? I quite like Gawain too.

Or if it’s the Edwardian vibe you like - Edgar, Lionel, Sebastian, Orlando, Benedict, Conrad, Caspar, Hector, Gabriel.

My mums cat when she was a kid was called Percy Peregrine Pericles Patch.

No I was born late seventies given a very old ladies name. All the girls I went to school with were Sarah's Rebecca's lauras. I suffered piss taking at primary school and secondary school and still occasionally in the work place. I vowed to never do it to my children and I didn't. I absolutely hate my name.

Seymour, Gilbert?

I know various Stanleys. It’s a Notting Hill name.

I was actually going to follow ‘I work in a high school and am yet to come across a Stanley’ with
But maybe that’s because I don’t live in London...
I thought I would get shouted at so stopped myself! 🤣

It's a penis name.

How about:

Stan
Archie
Teddy
Henry
Alf
George
Albie
Otis

????

Sidney

@TheSunShinesBrighter

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...

I know 3 Stanley's under the age of about 4!

Other name suggestions:
Felix
Rufus
Rupert
Barnaby
Orson
Roland
Augustus
Bartholomew
Clarence
Montgomery (Monty)
Ralph (as in Raif)

Honestly I think it's horrific, sorry. When you're naming a boy I think it needs to be something you can yell across a pub without people thinking WTF?! "Percy, do you want a pint, mate? Just no 😩

"Percy, do you want a pint, mate? Just no

That gave me the giggles

I like Percy (and Percival).

I really like it but asked about it recently on here and got similar feedback. I think it’s quite a classic, handsome name. I don’t think his peers would know the penis reference. However the fact that so many hate it has put me off!

The Percy in Harry Potter isn't really a sympathetic character.

I like Percy.

Other suggestions for similar names…

Wilf
Edmund
Arthur

Barnaby/Barney
Digby