Sullivan

[Moomoo36]

I normally like more classic names but for some reason I'm taken with Sullivan.

Has anyone used it/know one/have an opinion on it?

Doubt I'm having a boy anyway as this is dc4 and all the others are girls but good to be prepared!

Not really. Ancient Greeks would often reuse names within the family (eg naming after grandparents) but the names didn’t denote specific family membership. Roman second names did, though.

I suppose it is a positive development in one sense. When I lived in England being Irish was terminally uncool. Not as bad as the bubonic plague I suppose but much worse than halitosis or dandruff.
The wheel is always turning I guess.

It's quite nice. Surnames as first names can be looked down on by some people but if that doesn't concern you, why not go for it? It's a good name and Sully is a very cute nn. Suli is quite a common Arabic nn for boys called Suleiman which is very similar so he's unlikely to be the only one.

Im distinguishing between using a first name from another culture (like Zara) and using a surname from another culture (like Singh). There is a distinction. Surnames are traditionally passed down through generations and therefore tend to have distinct and specific cultural, ethnic, historic significance; first names do not (in the same way).

@harrietm87 but Yasmine/Jasmine was Originally a Persian surname. I'm really not understanding how you can differentiate

@stingypeasant i can’t speak for Persian people. Yasmin has been an established first name for generations. Appreciate your other posts have gone back to the times of Alexander the Great so perhaps you’re taking a longer range view than me.

As an Irish person, I think the very recent trend for using Irish surnames as first names is annoying at the least and offensive at worst. Hope that clarifies things for you.

I love Sully. Makes me think of the pilot. Someone mentioned Sol, a player for the football team I support is called Sol Solomon. It’s catchy

@Moomoo36 given you are Scottish I'd use it but I'd use the Scottish spelling that the other poster mentioned.

I assumed that it was the same spelling as the hill but I'm not exactly top of the spelling class.

Not RTFT. Fine as a surname but not as a first name. Solomon has a similar sound and is much nicer.

Call me uneducated but I don't the exact history of every single name used across the world in every culture and going back 2000 years+

Presumably you have given your child a name which is more commonly used as a surname which is why you are so snappy about me sharing a very average opinion.

I wouldn't use it but that's because it was the name of my school. It would remind me of school every day! Otherwise I quite like it.

I really like it and I’m usually a bit sniffy about surnames for first names.

@harrietm87 the point is it isn't a recent trend. It's always happened. You are just having a problem with the names that have been adopted in your lifetime as they feel unfamiliar so you take exception to them. But to claim that it's cultural appropriation or chavvy it all the other judgemental things it has been called on this thread when it's always gone on us a bit 🙄

@SlippySarah Call me uneducated but I don't the exact history of every single name used across the world in every culture and going back 2000 years+

Presumably you have given your child a name which is more commonly used as a surname which is why you are so snappy about me sharing a very average opinion.
I won't bother with calling you uneducated but I will say you are a tad contrary of you are going about criticising people for adopting surnames as first names when it's gone on throughout civilised history. Some names are only being adopted now but that doesn't make them any chavvier or culturally appropriated than all the names you have known since you were a kid. You are just someone who struggles with change. If it happened before your time it's ok. If it happens now, it's an abomination. It's just weird.
And no. No surnames as first names in our family that I know of although some of them may have been

@Moomoo36 one though from a friend who has two names that can both be used as surnames, like Fraser Stewart, people sometimes mix up which way around they go.

Ive never said it’s chavvy.

And I am perfectly entitled to my own opinion as to whether or not it’s cultural appropriation. As a presumably non Irish person you’re not really qualified to lecture me on that. There’s a very long history of how Irish names and Irish people were treated by the British and you’ll appreciate that your opinion about Persian and Ancient Greek names is entirely irrelevant.

@harrietm87 I think you'll find Suilven has had its name a heck of a long time.

I like it and I don’t usually like surname type names. My sister had a boy after three girls, he completes her family perfectly.

Googled and the Scottish mountain Suilven has a completely different etymology. From the old Norse for 'pillar' and Scots Gaidhlig for mountain ' bheinn'.

Extraordinary looking place !

Bloody hell - we're all allowed to like some names and not like others! This thread has gone batshit!

I don't like it. I knew a horrible family with that name! But that's not the main reason. We've got used to some surnames as first names, so maybe it's a matter of time to get used to it. Doubtless there was a time when Martin and Duncan and Kelly were only seen as surnames. From that pov Sullivan isn't too bad, but I much prefer Suleiman or Solomon. Don't like the nn Sully. It sounds like Dull, or Silly.

Struggling to see the relevance when the OP is planning to name her child Sullivan, which is completely different name.

Love it! I often like surnames as first names.

It has a bit 😂

To be fair I don't like any of the names in the top 10 of either gender so I didn't expect everyone to like this. The outrage about a surname being used as a first name is a bit much though. Cameron and Campbell are widely used as first names and as a Scottish person it's never occurred to me to be offended!

I don't think Sullivan was ever a first name. Solamh would be the name. Genitive Solaimh and Solmhan (note no fadas ) hence O'Sullivan.