Why are boy names so hard?! :(

[winterbabyrose]

Currently pregnant with #2 and unsure of the gender as of yet. We have a girls name chosen and have had for a while, but are struggling with finding boys names we like. We like the more 'unusual' boho / nature themed names. This is the current list of names I like, but not love yet, so you get an idea.

Bear
Elijah (I like this but potentially too 'common')
Tate
Hendrix
Fox
Oren
Lennox
Wolf

I know 1 Elijah but apart from him I've never heard the name.

You can try Oran its an Irish boys name, instead of Oren.

Also Acer for a boy it's a type of tree.

With Tate and Fox they make me think of Andrew Tate and Fox News. So would be a big no from me for that reason.

Hendrix is nice but also makes me think of Jimmy Hendrix.

Good luck!

I love the name Elijah and am glad those OT names are coming back into fashion. Have you thought of others from the OT:

Ezekiel, Zaccheus, Zachariah, Ezra, Elias, Kemuel

If you like Wolf, how about the Anglo Saxon name Wulfric/Wulfrich?

What about Torin, Corin, Kyrill, Theodore (Theo or Ted/Teddy)?

The more edgy names are definitely more common now ! My kids have super common names on purpose because I hated my unusual one, and they are each the only ones in their year group with that name, there are some unusual names in their classes such as Woody, Delilah, Elodie etc....
Just never thought my daughter would be the only Ellie !

My neighbour (in his 30s) is called Orion .. he blames Californian hippy parents, but I think it’s actually a lovely name and kind of fits your ideas

I like Vinnie, Perry and Asa.

Tate like the trafficker and misogynist? Please no. Unless you’re happy with people who know you assuming you’re endorsing that kind of thing.

Elijah is nice. The rest just sound like someone trying to be cool and are probably much more common the elijah.

Tate is to like Andrew tate.

Cant take bear seriously at all, I know we had love bear grills but we don't have giraffe or horse and it's cute for a baby but a grown man? No.

Cruel? Wolf is short for Wolfgang.

What seems cute will be a source of torment when children get to school. Yes you can teach them resilience but why put them in the firing line for bullying? It’s hard enough for children to navigate school, starting in day 1 named as an animal is the quickest way to have it ripped out of them.

Don’t name a child Fox, it’s just really cruel.

elijah bear is a cutesy name for a baby when you’re doing baby talk but can you imagine a 40 year old man introducing himself as that?

If you want something unusual why not have it as a middle name but call him by it. Then he always has the option of using his more conventional first name as he gets older.

Not in this case.

We both love the creativity and individualism having a more unusual name gives.

Having an unusual name doesn't give creativity or individuality. That comes from personality alone.

I think Fox is great and it's not so out there these days.

Boys are hard because the common names are so much more used (about twice as common each as the top girls names) so the common ones feel so very overused, even the medium ones (e.g. 50-200 in the popularity lists) feel common as well and anything over that is so rarely used that it sounds naff.

We liked nature names too. What about these

Merlin
Rowan
Orion
Idris
Alfred (because it means king of the elves)
Rupert
Robin
Tawny
Brambling (Bram)
Aiken
Ash
Calhoun
Oakley
Finley /Finn
Silas (man of the forest)

tota agree
some people sound like they’re naming an animal not a child that has to live with the name for years to come!

Agree that Hendrix James definitely sounds like a homage to Jimmy Hendrix. If that's the aim no problem. If it's unintended, be aware!

Please don’t be one of those people that thinks they are unique but everyone knows they are just ridiculous your son won’t thank you for calling him caspian, finch, everett, torin, cosmo, flynn, griffin, ludo (🐶 popular dogs name) or fletcher, fox 😂😂
where as bohdi Grey Lennox Lennon and Hendrix are all now popular names that loads of other people thought they where being “unique”

Maverick?! Dear god. Do parents know the meaning of these words?! Imagine if he’s very much not a maverick!

Bloody awful.

I hear you, OP! Also struggling to find a boy’s name I love. Like others have said Eli is a great nn for Elijah or a name of its own right 🙂 your list also made me think of Kit and Laurie, both gentle but a little different.

@SoupDragon absolutely! I love the idea that parents think if they give their kids a unique name it’ll make them unique 😬

Exactly this he will just grow up resentful and probably get people to call him john or Dave 😂😂

Thing is these are not that unusual, the kids all have these types of names where I live. Oren is only one I don't know.

Peter or Geoffrey or Robert would be really unusual

Thank you for the suggestions and note about Andrew Tate - didn't even think of that! There was a female Taite in my school growing up and I've always liked the name so was looking for a boy version, that's where Tate came from.

With regards to everyone who thinks these names are silly, or not suitable for an adult. As per the message from Rachael, we want our children to feel unique and not carbon copies of everyone else. Both me and my husband have unique names and loved that growing up. Anyone else I have come across with a unique name, had said they didn't hate it or anything growing up.

As per my last message and original post, I've asked for ideas for similar names to ones on our list. If you have nothing to add, you have no need to put your two cents in and tell me it is 'unfair' or that you personally would go for something 'traditional' - that is not what I asked.

Thank you to everyone else, you've given us some great name suggestions that we had never heard of or considered!! 🥰

😂😂😂😂 I know so many men that are just dying to be known as the king of elves or named after a wizard

@winterbabyrose my children don’t feel like carbon copies of other kids because they might share the name with others 🙄. You might love your name but having worked as a teacher for many years I know many kids don’t.

But a lot of these “unique” names just aren’t everyone thinks they are being different yet all think of the same “unique” names or just go too out there and it gets stupid, and a name does nothing for your child’s personality (maybe make them a little embarrassed) but won’t shape their character they could have the most common name in the world and be creative, witty, fashion forward, imaginative or they could be called rainbow and be dull, follow the crowd, shy, quiet and have zero imagination