On a scale of 1 to 10 - how much of a bad idea is this name?????

[coby]

1 = not a bad idea at all, it's a wonderful name

10 = what on earth are you thinking???

The name is

Portley (for a boy)

Go on - do you worst

Isaac gets a 1 from me

NO! not Isambard (looked it up - couldn't help it) or Brunel...stop giving DH ideas!!!

Isambard??????? Plus isn't Brunel now the name of a uni (ex-poly?!) in Middlesex..

Brunel wasn't a Poly it was a 60's uni.

If you're going for engineers turned into names of Unis then Herriot Watt sounds quite unusual . or you could go for James, most engineers seemed to be called James in my History O level. Or Thomas (telford)

kingdom has a certain ring.....

rosalux Barnstaple eh? The big smoke! DDs were born there. (that makes them city slickers according to the locals here ) Have you changed your MN name? Thought I would remember someone not so far away from me (who am I kidding? Brain departed long ago)

Kingdom makes me think too much of Stephen Fry - maybe i watch too much TV

NO! not Kingdom either Kingdom was Isambard's mother's maiden name you know

Too many engineers in my family already so not too bothered about naming him after an engineer. DDs do have a strange interest in bridge construction though (I kid you not!)

I have only fairly recently taken the plunge and admitted where I live, Coby. It is a small town and I am easily identifiable! Now I think - what the heck, I have nothing to hide.

nathaniel
beagle
galapagos
tintagel
arthur
booby
kingsley

just trying to go with a darwin / victorian hero / west country feel.....

Coby, if you like science-y names, and you're Cornish, you could go for Humphrey (after Humphrey Davy, of course, or even Davy (which I really like - less sure about Humphrey), or Richard (boring, though) after Richard Trevithick.

My (Cornish) grandfather was an Isaiah, and I really like that name (though it's a bugger to spell). It has something of the Isaac about it, but is less popular.

Oh, go for Davy. I really like Davy.

(I have a really vivid memory of playing my clarinet (I was in a school orchestra type thing) under the statue of Humphrey Davy in Penzance just before Christmas 1981 to raise money for the families of the crew of the Penlee lifeboat, which went down on 19th December. And this story is completely irrelevant, but it's what I think of when I think of Humphrey Davy!)

Davy Crockett ha ha

controlfreaky hmmm...how do I put this???? ummmmm......any more suggestions? No need to add the West Country feel...or indeed the victorian hero bit.....or the darwin bit in fact Tintagel is just down the road from me...once, when in a touristy shop DH and I overheard a man say to his wife (in Yorkshire accent) 'ere...look - they've got a postcard of tin ta gol over here' Ever since it has been tintagol to us

Rosalux I am easily idenitifiable to, but boring, so no-one is going to be that excited if they find me methinks

.... king of the wild frontier.....

10 Portley is a portly gentleman

OK, OK... maybe I didn't think that one through!

I was going to suggest Porter instead, but I see that someone already has.

From your list I like Elliot (our name if we ever have a son) and Monty (one just been born to a toddler group mum I know).

I think DH and I are thinking either Isaac or Montgomery or both. He will likely have a Celtic-ish middle name too as both DDs have tolkien elvish princess names so that will provide a cornish feel I guess.

Isaac above Montgomery every time

One of my A Level Science lecturer's was Humphrey Davy's granddaughter. Humphrey not good for us though.

Glad Portley's gone, I'm all for unusual names [husband not so; Orlando and Rufus got vetoed pdq] but let's not give the bullies too much ammo. Speaking of ammo, isn't Monty just a little bit waxed-moustache-and-colonel's cane?
Tamar. Dufton. Dickon. [dodgier..but I met one who was lovely.]

Isn't Tamar a girl's name?

A distant cousin of my gran's was married to Richard Trevithick, coby. (But the further west you go, the more everyone's related to everyone else... ). Agree that Humphrey is a funny old name... suitable for ... ooh, I dunno, hippos and walruses and sort of flobby aquatic creatures, don't you think?

Whoever suggessted Moby...nope! I need a new MN name. Thought up Coby on the spot - no idea where it came from it is a revealing insight into the void that is my brain . Can't think of anything suitable for me (although 'randomwaffler' springs to mind suddenly). Asked MN opinions on New Years Eve thread and was told Coby sounds like a yappy american dog

well isaacnewton would be good mn name....
or hmsbeagle, bluefootedbooby...... etc.