What's happened to boys' names?

[maxnhobnobs]

Last night I was at a high school reunion with friends I've not seen for about 20 years. Most already have kids (I'm expecting my 1st, have prioristised career over settling down lol).
Hearing the names of some of their sons made me feel really out of touch with the times: Kayden, Jayden, Kai, Kian, Storm. They were suggesting names for my DS (due in May) but I said I've already picked a name I'm happy with. One friend was like 'Jordan-Jayden', another was like 'Kayden-Kai'. I feel like a snob but they all sounds like names from benefits Britain. Friends were saying my choice (Ben) is too boring. Is it really?

@MurderAtTheBeautyPageant

I can't see that anything has happened to boys' names. Looking at the current top 10 they're all very safe and middle of the road names.

1. Noah
2. Oliver
3. George
4. Leo
5. Theo
6. Arthur
7. Freddie
8. Harry
9. Charlie

10. Jack

You've picked a name you're happy with and presumably they're happy with their kids' names. Don't see the need for the 'benefits Britain' comment. Maybe stop watching trash TV that encourages you to mock the poor?

This

Ben is lovely, classic and not that popular anymore. The Kaydens and Jaydens of this world conjour up an image of a very much lower class family, as do the hyphenated names.

Stick with Ben.

Ben is a lovely name. In the Friends episode where everyone is arguing about baby names, Ben is the only name the parents can agree on!

I don’t know any Jayden/Kaiden/Storm types. Lots of Theo / Frankie / Alexander / Andrew / Jake.

What has really happened is you’re now in a different demographic than the one you went to school with…

Ben is lovely (I’m assuming Benjamin on birth certificate?).

I haven’t come across any of those names. At our school it’s full of boys called George, Thomas etc - way less faddy than with girls names.

@Snowbell99

Sorry, but pretty sure that most people do consider Ben, Will, Sam, Joe, Jim, Ted to be shortened names. Doesn't mean that that is bad.

Actually, I disagree with this. I gave my daughter a name on her birth certificate that we never use as she is known by the hundreds year's old diminutive, but Ben could be a stand alone name to me, in a way that Will or Steph could not. I agree with the pp.

Ben is not boring. Ben or Benjamin is a lovely name. It seems to be a race to name your child the rarest name one can find these days. Don't join in on that trend. Ben is absolutely fine and is a lovely name

Nobody was seriously suggesting Jordan-Jayden. Not even someone on *gasps benefits, OP.

Call your kid a name you like and move on. Even the oddest names become normal after a while. It doesn't make you superior. Just makes you sound a bit, well, a bit mean really.

[quote merryhouse]@mumofEandE where would you put Tristan? (born in 2003)[/quote]
Going to Mount Kelly or Devonport Grammar School for Boys, mostly.

Did they really say that the name you’ve chosen for your unborn baby is “boring”… to your face?

I’m not a fan of the Jayden type names, but I also don’t like Ben either. I do generally prefer more traditional names, but to me Ben is very boring - sorry. However that really isn’t important, if you like it, use it.

I really like the name Benjamin and have to say I've never taught a horrible Ben - they are usually lovely boys! I don't really agree with you on the names Kian and Kai in particular. I have well educated, "professional" friends who've used those names, along with similar, more modern/on trend names like Jenson and Ezra. I think some of it stems from not wanting to name your children the same names as people you went to school with e.g I went to school with a few Bens, Jamies, Daniels - these all sound dated to me as a result, even though Benjamin, James and Daniel are all classic names. And as I'm now mid 30s, associations with school friends are fading: I could definitely see myself using Benjamin or James for example, but in my early 20s I'd not have dreamt of it as school wasn't that long ago then!

Thinking about it, if you assume that most Benjamins are called Ben and combining Benjamin's popularity with Ben's then it would have been the #1 name in the UK for quite a few years in the early 2000s.

I don't mind popular names. Just something to consider. Lots of boys a bit older than him.

I don't like any of the names your friends have suggested but I also don't like Ben I find it rather dull. If based on the names they like your friends are Benefits Britain then you must be Magnolia-walls Megan.

your comment about “benefits Britain” does make you sound like a snob, very condescending.

This!

I don't like Ben as a name, so thankfully we all have different tastes.

I don't like the Chavy names either but Ben is a bit boring tbh

I would put money on the fact you could plot the popularity of Jayden, Kayden etc against declining incomes.

Yes, but why is that in any way a negative factor?

Ben is super boring... like Steve or Mike yawn..

Jordan-Jayden? Kayden-Kai? Jesus. I'd be mortified introducing my baby to folk with those names! Ben is a classic name, timeless. I'd go for traditional over any of these modern names.

@NeverDropYourMooncup [Tristan goes] to Mount Kelly or Devonport Grammar School for Boys, mostly

You'd think, wouldn't you? Every time we talked about S2's classmate Tristan I had to add "no, it's not what you're thinking"

He was quite bright but definitely the toughie of the class, the bit of a handful in YR. Solidly middle of the more deprived part of the school's demographic. Uncle spent time in prison* and parents were not especially supportive of the staff (took his sister on holiday the week of her KS2 SATS, then moaned when the head got her to sit them separately but didn't include her results). As an older teenager Tristan played in the team considered aggressive by the local football community (apparently).

*tbf, the same could have been said of me...

I feel like Aiden/Kayden/Jayden/Hayden are very '15 years ago' already.

As someone on Benefits, so in your snobbish manner, part of 'Benefits Britain', I have to say your comment is disgusting.

My beautiful daughter is a Freya, which is not a Jordan - Jayden type name as you suggest. Ironically, I have several companions who are not on benefits, very well off, yet have double-barrelled names for their kids of the 'Jordan - Jayden' type you mention.

Shall we skip the discussion of the sociology of names and just congratulate you on having clearly made far better life choices than your former school mates, with the whole 'prioritising your career' and giving your child the ultimate middle-class beige 'goes with anything' name?

I hope you strode into your school reunion in boardroom bodycon and killer heels, maybe accessorised with a barrister's wig and a PA, and sneered at the Waynetta Slobs with their downmarket children and Primark leggings.

My DD is 4 and most of the boys in her class have fairly common names. More than one Oliver, Charlie and Harry

You like Ben, go with it.