Thoughts on Lennard / Leonard as a name?

[PlumPudd]

DW and I are having hypothetical discussions about what to name the next baby if it’s a boy (too early to know yet). I really like Lennard / Leonard, with either Len or Lenny as a nickname. To me it feels literary, unusual and distinguished with no risk of having a sudden surge in popularity and becoming the new Arlo / Milo. She’s not keen. Feels it’s a bit old fashioned in a grandpa who worked down the pit with a flat cap and a bag of chips for tea way (we both had grandpas that came from this kind of background so we can make these jokes).

Says she’s going to sit with it and see if it grows on her.

Wondering what other people’s associations are with it, given that hers and mine are quite different?

She’ll be Stella or Sylvia if a girl

I like it - and it's all of a set with popular names like Ernest and Arthur.

Spell it Leonard though, a misspelling is not literary. (Lennard is a surname)

Pass judgment in what way? It’s a very chic and stylish name to me. I know two Stellas aged about 11 and 16. They are both from very posh and wealthy backgrounds.

I do also find Stella a bit déclassé personally. I know one and she’s lovely but by no means posh!

It's like spelling Laurence Lawrence

Lawrence and Lennard are surname spellings.

But with Lennard people will endlessly misspell, especially as it's probably about to get popular. So best to spell it Leonard.

Ignore this. The PP is either taking the piss (there are names people say this about), or associating Stella with the beer. It is in fact a very popular middle class name.

Leonard Cohen was my first thought then Leonard Rossiter. It's a classic name so lots of namesakes. A bit old fashioned but fits in with all the Arthurs etc. Lenny and Leo are both nice nicknames.

What kind of judgement? Stella is such a mainstream name these days. I wouldn't think anything of it.

I like Leonard/Lenny and can see it becoming uber-trendy. People who feel that Theo/Theodore has become too popular will be Leonard fans. The names have the same vibe for me.

I know a lovely seven year old Leonard, and he's never shortened. I do like Leon or Lenny as nicknames though. I think it's classic and it fits in with the current grandad names without being overly popular.

I've never seen the Lennard spelling either.

Love the full name, not too keen on Lenny, dislike Len. Leonard rather than Lennard though.

I really like Leonard and it gives him loads of options as previously mentioned. My favourite diminutives would be Leo & Len. I think it’s very wearable on a little boy and a grown man and not too old fashioned at all.

Oh and my association with Lenny is the detective from Law & Order.

Why does it feel literary to you, OP? It feels prosaic and earthy to me. Solid, and not terribly inspiring. It feels a lot for a child to carry until they are old enough to ‘fit’ most people’s idea of a Leonard.

In literature, like others I would think Of Mice and Men, and Leonard Bast, who isn’t a particularly aspirational character.

Leonard Cohen is a positive association, I suppose, if you like misery 😁

Probably the combo of both Leonard Woolf and Leonard Bast giving it a bit of a Bloomsbury Group feel to me.

Always thought Leonard Bast was quite a sympathetic character. Idealistic, a dreamer, wants to better himself intellectually but ultimately let down by the Schlegels and doomed by the fixed snobbish class system. Not aspirational you’re right, but definitely a character to empathise with.

I definitely get Leonard Woolf vibes- marvellous- but Leonard Bast isn't great despite being a sympathetic character, crushed to death under a giant metaphor bookcase. Not sure what naming a baby after him would say- maybe "you too can be destroyed by your very humble dreams".

Could be a good warning to him not to get any posh girls pregnant?

😂

I think Leonard is going to make a comeback.

Leonard is a great name! Lots of positives.

Bishop Len Brennan was my favourite character in Father Ted.

I thought of Leonard Nimoy first. Not a terrible association.

I think when there's more than one possible spelling of a name and one is both more common than the other historically and considered "more correct" by a fair chunk of the population, it's probably a thoughtful thing to do to give your child the more common/"correct" spelling, even if you prefer the other one aesthetically, just to avoid them having to have the conversation about how their name is spelt and whether it's "wrong" quite so many times. But other people feel differently, of course.

I like Leonard, Lenny & Len.

@ClumpingBambooIsALie I was just about to say how come no one's thought of Leonard Nimoy! He comes to mind first for me.

I also think Lenford is a great name. And Leon.

I think of Lynyrd Skynyrd too, but that's not relevant.

Every third German boy seems to be called Lennard atm (spelled like that because a 'Leonard' would be pronounced approximately Layo-naaahd). I wouldn't mess with the spelling for a UK-born child. Leonard is nice.

The English Leonard I know also pronounces it Leo-nard. Like Leonardo without the o.

Lennard is always Lennard!