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

Thank you!!!!

@BertieBotts - Silas is a great name!

I actually find a lot of the nature boho names quite sexist. Predator names for boys (Wolf, Bear, Fox). Little bird names (Wren Robyn etc) for girls. I know a lot of the names of the past are rather sexist with flowers and jewels and pretty things for girls and more warrior names for men. But a lot of older women names come from the male names so you get some cool meanings to do with warriors for women, or Charles/Charlotte which I think means Curly bearded, which I find particularly fun. But, even with the flower/jewel versus strong/warrior stuff of the past, at least with traditional names there are plenty of namesakes to mean the name isn't just about the associations with the word, but the associations with so many people having been called it and when there have been many, the association of the word is not what comes to mind. Same for many names with religious meanings, yet if you chose a very religious sounding word as a "new" name, it would immediately have religious connotations centre-stage.

I would never call a boy Bear. And I do wonder about the name Wren (tiny shy little bird). For these reasons. There are nice nature names that are less gender stereotyped like Rowan and Fern, Ash and Aspen, Autumn, Hazel, River. As Robin/Robyn is more unisex and well known and as actual Robins are quite confident and fighty things half the time, I wouldn't be so concerned that the association with Robyn is just to do with a small bird for a girl. I like Ash and Hazel better though.

I think that if you call your child Fox, Wolf or Bear you have a preconceived idea of how they are going to grow up. How are you going to feel if they grow up differently.

So many parents want 'quirky' or children who are 'individual' by pushing them to act/ look in a certain way.

Twice as common? That just isn’t true at all.

Never understand this mindset. I have a name that's consistently been in the top 100 names for donkeys, probably top ten most years as well. It's never ever stopped me from feeling completely unique and tbqh I find it quite insulting (not to mention ridiculous) you think that possibly sharing a name makes a person a 'carbon copy' of someone else. Or that a name will make a person creative or whatever.

Instill some sense of self into your child fgs rather than giving them a stupid name.

I know you don't want to hear it but trust me, it'll be what people are thinking when you introduce Bear Cosmo to them.

As per the message from Rachael, we want our children to feel unique and not carbon copies of everyone else.

If the key way your child feels unique or not a carbon copy of everyone else is to have a youuuunique name then there is something badly wrong with your parenting.

Like it or not some of these names will not look good on someone who wants to be taken seriously professionally, of course that could change in the future, but personally that is not a gamble I’d want to take with my child’s future. Many, many people will think some of these names sound very silly and I honestly cannot understand why you’d want to inflict that on your child.

I only like Elijah on your list. I prefer names that are well established names though.

In defence of OP....
Unusual names are becoming common.
I know of so many unusual names now that these generations will think nothing of having a friendship group made up of unusual names. It will be, regardless of what we think now, normal!
I was in high school form with 3 Katie's.
My daughter has 3 Evelyn's at nursery.
There's no right or wrong as long as its not got widely accepted negative connotations and none of these have.

A names would never be a burden if we all accepted that it's none of our business and our children to be accepting of others even if they are different. OR HAVE AN UNUSUAL NAME.

loads of names aren't for me... But they tend to be more traditional names or names I think are more dull than the odd Wolf or something.

I think your list is trying too hard. I absolutely hate the use of animal names. Bear is OK but only as a nickname for Edward (which is how Bear Grylls got his name.) The only name your list I like is Elijah.

The problem with this is (and yes apologies for putting in my 2 cents!)
You are thinking of yourselves and what YOU like and not the possible effect on your child.l was given a very unusual name 67 years ago, which would have been fine if l was particularly confident, outgoing, strong and had broad shoulders-problem was, or is, l’m none of those things and l was bullied mercilessly and had my name misspelt on thousands of occasions. I hated my name and what it did to me, so unless you know you’re going to be giving birth to a super confident ‘out there’ type of person-then l would think twice or even 3 or 4 times before giving them an ‘unusual’ name.

Sue

I met a baby Odin the other week

bear fox and wolf 😫😫😫you just set your kid up for ridicule and sound ridiculous yourself. people will judge. sorry but it’s truth.

I have a secondary age son with the name Bear. He has always loved his name.

I have another son with Fox as his middle name. For every person who doesn't like unusual names, there's another who loves them.
I think you'll find that whilst there are those who turn their noses up, they fail to realise that actually this is the new wave of names. That they may seem unusual they're more popular than you realise.

When I named my son, there were no other Bears. And then a few years later Cheryl Cole named her son bear and now it's a name I have heard a couple of times.

I know several Elijahs, 2 Orin's and a wolf.

Xx

It seems as though very out there and unusual names are becoming the norm though. I know three kids called Acer and so many Teddy's! I have a very well known but older classic girls name and I can reassure you that I've met very few of my name in my lifetime.

If you want something unique I'd suggest digging into the archives a bit and getting creative that way?

I have a terry. very common years ago but not now

I’ve an 8 year old Fox. We liked the name as we were fans of the x files 😂 our other child has a normal name. He loves his name and as yet has no negative comments about it at school. It took a while for our families to get use to it. There so many unusual names as school no one really bothers. A benefit of an unusual name is everyone remembers him. When he was a baby people did do a double take when I said his name but now I just say Fox like the animal. Who cares what people think! We used family names for the middle so if there is a time when he doesn’t like it he could always use those

What about Micah? Great name.

Elijah is also fab.

Merlin, fox, wolf, maverick….

LOL

Thing is with Bear or Wolf, how will the lad feel if he's a small, skinny person? He might not care at all and just accept it as who he is, but it might set him up for insecurity or self-consciousness. That would be my concern with a very bold name like that - not that it's unusual, cos that's no problem, but that it kind of denotes a very definite type of image.

I like Wolfie like Binky called her boy

I read Oren as Orion. I like Orion.

I don’t mind Bear. Elijah is popular but good still.

How about Cassian? Not one you hear if much so unusual, but a strong male name