Otto or Ivo?

[Peaboddy]

Which do you prefer and why?

What do you think of each name?

Thanks in advance!

Otto. I think Ivo is ugly looking and sounds quite harsh.

I’m not fond of either, sorry, not sure why but kind of incomplete sound with the o at the end. I like Ivor and Ivan though.

Ivo. Though I prefer Ivor - it’s an nice earthy Welsh name!

Otto makes me think of Nazis so it’s a no from me.

Ivo, no contest for me - kinda cool and a nice meaning. I understand Otto is becoming trendier again now but to me it's still a comedic sounding old-fashioned German stereotype of a name (like Bruce for Aussie boys or Nigel for Brits, Chad or Randy for Americans etc).

Prefer Otto, how about Ivan?

I have an Ivo, named him after a Cocteau Twins song.
He’s now an adult and I still love his name.

Otto is my favourite. It gives a European vibe.
Not keen on Iva. I can't place it or identify anything with it.

Ivo

With Otto I just picture moustachioed walrusy Otto von Bismarck

Otto.

It reminds me of this favourite book from my childhood: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fish_Out_of_Water_(book)

Otto. I just prefer the sound of it.

@Sprig1

Otto. I think Ivo is ugly looking and sounds quite harsh.

I think exactly the opposite!

I prefer Ivo - think Otto sounds a bit too posh/try hard.

I like them both! Fab names

Much prefer Otto as long as you don’t live somewhere where the accent has a glottal stop (that’s what puts me off using names with a medial t where I’m from). Makes me think of Otto and Aurelia Plath, Sylvia’s parents. Ivo looks incomplete to me, much prefer Ivar.

Thanks for all the opinions, it’s pretty divided by the sounds of it! My main concerns are that Ivo is unclear in terms of pronunciation (eye-vo vs ee-vo) and that Otto is a bit trendy at the moment. Love both names though.

Any thoughts on this? How many Ottos do you know? How would you pronounce Ivo?

I think Otto is having a bit of a moment, but I don’t know any where I’m from. Otis seems to be more popular here. I’d pronounce Ivo eye-vo, and I think most people would do the same based on the sound of similar names like Ivan, Ivor.

Ivo I would pronounce “Eevo”. A Croatian friend of mine has an Ivo. Otto is one of my family names but not used, except for middle name, for at least two generations.

The only Ottos I've know have been dogs. No Ivos.
The latter sounds like it's short for something, but is ok.

I’m surprised to hear that Otto trendy! I only know one, who is nine.

I don't know any Otto's OR Ivo's personally (so for this reason I'd likely instinctively pronounce Ivo the "British" way - "Eye -vo" although I like "Ee- vo" too) but I seem to live in a very "safe" baby naming area in North Wales- the vast majority of the kids I've met/know have top 100 English or Welsh names (I have met a couple of older Ivor's though).

But if you look on Darkergreener which has the stats for the whole of England/Wales, Otto is much more steadily rising/"trendier" than Ivo (although both were bound to rise somewhat due to the popularity of other 2 syllable "o" ending names (Leo, Theo, Milo, Arlo etc)).

I still much prefer Ivo of the two - actually wish I liked Otto more as it is one of the few palindrome names for boys, which is kinda cool.

Otto for sure, but my secondary school was called St Ivo which was always just called The Ivo. I can't imagine a real person called Ivo now.

FWIW it was pronounced I-vo

Thanks for all the comments. I don’t know any Ottos personally but have seen it described as trendy before. It’s not the end of the world but we both have common/dated type names and would prefer not to give DC something similar.

Eye-vo is the pronunciation we prefer but I do like ee-vo too. I think I prefer it to Otto in any case, so it’s nice to see some positive comments here.

We still have several months to decide but I think Ivo is feeling like a strong possibility. I like how short yet kind of weighty it is. We have a pretty plain 3-syllable surname (think Robinson) so I think short but unusual works well for the first name.

Ivo

@malovitt

I have an Ivo, named him after a Cocteau Twins song. He’s now an adult and I still love his name.

The Cocteau Twins song was what I immediately thought of too!

I really like both names, OP, which I guess isn't remotely helpful! And I prefer Ivo pronounced "Ee - co".