Finally agreed on a name! Help please...

[Rhubarbx1]

So we've chosen Rhodes for our little boy.

We both really love the meaning and can't decide if it's a middle name or first name at this point.

My husband has suggested the following....
Rhodes Benjamin our surname is Eaton.

I think I prefer it as a middle name but I don't know if that's because I was hankering after something hebrew / biblical to match my little boy Elias Grey.

Do Elias and Rhodes go together or is it too much of a mish-mash?

I'm desperate for the boys names to sound nice together.

Just want some opinions before I get my heart to set on it.

Thanks all xxxx

People are so weird about names on here. "Oh he'll forever be telling people how to spell it" WHY?! How often do you really need people to know how to spell your name in day to day conversation?

And realistically it doesn't matter how simple your name is, people are thick and will get it wrong even if it's written right in front of them. I can't tell you how many work emails I've had saying "Good Morning Sarah/Rachel/Charlotte" when that's not even close to my very boring, normal, easy to spell name. Or spelling it wrong when it's right there in my signature, or I've already told them how to spell it. Or calling me sir when it's a very very feminine name. Colleague of mine has a very ordinary four letter name and people get it wrong constantly. Spelling and pronunciation, somehow. Four letters!

Rhodes is nice, first or middle, and I've definitely heard more unusual ones over the years. If the worst insult people can come up with so far is "crossroads" or "dusty" I think he'll probably be ok. On the whole I think it goes better with Elias Grey as a middle name though, with a biblical first name, but I'm a sucker for a biblical name so I would say that.

Rhodes is definitely a middle name... If you must at all, that is.

Sorry but I think this is awful. It’s just a random noun, no more a name for a human than Radiator, Lanzarote or Greyhound are.

Also- I don't think the only person called Rhodes anybody would have heard of is someone you'd want to be associated with....

me to. poor kid. With the surname, I would hear it as "rose eaten". And the Cecil Rhodes connection is pretty awful.

I agree. It's all so Insta worthy all this matching.

Call your baby what you like. Rhodes is unusual (personally I worked in Faliraki in the 90s, so it's not for me, but obviously you like it), but so are many other names.

Good luck with the birth.

I don't think Elias and Rhodes are "stylistically coherent" at all. One is a classic biblical name and one, er, isn't. If you're set on Rhodes, I think it works better as a middle name.

Potential issues with spelling is a red herring TBH. Think of the varieties of some traditional names like Catherine for example!

Hardly proposing to call my child Cecil rhodes am I.... get a grip women!

Says the pot to the kettle.

Don’t be shy, go the whole hog and call him Zakynthos. Zak for short

Some people on here need to actually learn a little more before trying to talk about history they clearly don’t understand.

Would your husband like to be called Rhodes? Would you?
Poor child..............

Clearly you are far superior to the rest of us. Would you care to impart your wisdom?

My first reaction to that as a name was not the island but 'that was some infamous racist wasn't it?'.

So first impressions not ideal.

But if I met Rhodes I'm sure would get over it (I know a very sweet little girl called Melania, it had Trump connotations for me, but I got over it).

Just take him to Rhodes at some point so he knows it's an awesome place and quickly dispel any 'infamous racist' vibes.

Rhodes Eaton...roads eaten. I can't unhear it I'm afraid.

Such a shame you don't like Benjamin. Elias and Benjamin are a lovely sibling pair.

I think Benjamin Rhodes is much nicer. And goes better with Elias .Than using Rhodes as a first name.

I'm curious for your source for this, OP.

Depending on your source the island is named for the sea-nymph Rhode or the goddess Rhodes, wife of Helios, or possibly a Phoenician word for 'snake'.

The surname comes from Old English 'rod', meaning 'clearing in the woods'.

I do think Rhodes Eaton sounds lovely. He sounds like a handsome academic :-D

Cecil Rhodes was my first thought… Rhodes must fall. I’d assume you were racists.

Benjamin and Elias is a lovely combo.

I hated having a name I had to constantly repeat and spell out to people that I changed it.
The names you've chosen do sound nice together though.

I think Ezra Rhodes sounds nice.

Benjamin Rhodes Eaton is far better than the other way round.

Benjamin also goes far better with Elias than Rhodes does.

my first thought would be the Greek island and assume he was conceived there or you got married there.. sorry

It doesn't matter that the Cecil Rhodes connection wasn't uppermost in your minds. You're not going to get the chance to explain to most people reading or seeing the name that you consider it a nature name with a positive meaning for you, and I'm afraid they are going to draw their own conclusions.

This is from a site called The Bump and makes no sense! Meaning “where roses grow,” Rhodes can be a beautiful way to describe your new rosy-cheeked baby. Derived from the Old English surname Rhoades and the word rod—meaning ”clearing in the woods”—Rhodes conjures images of enchanting forests, fields, and gardens.