Connotations of names Barnaby, Roland or Jethro?

[goody3shoes]

A friend of mine has married an Englishman, actually he is from Devon. They have taken her surname but he wishes to name their first child, a boy, due in 4 months. He is keen on the above three names but my friend is uncertain of how they would be thought of to an Englishperson and asked me, as I have some experience in the English culture. Still, I thought it would be best to get you guys on the case! Any thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Why not do a poll, OP?

<finger poised to vote for "Roland">

How about the Italian form of Roland, Orlando?

Orlando Panicucci. Lovely.

(Definitely not Barnaby with that surname- too many ee sounds. Jethro isn’t great either as it’s too agricultural for such a glamorous surname. Roland ok.)

Or "Rolando" - also an Italian variation.

Orlando is lovely. But is inextricable from the marmalade cat in my head.

There was a children's TV character called Orlando in the good old days of B?W TV. He was played by Sam Kydd IIRC.

<off to google>

Edited because buggering autocarrot had corrected Kydd to kiss

Further edit - have googled - it was a series for "young adults". Thank you Wikipedia

I would suggest Rolando too. Lando is a better diminutive than Roly.

If the child is likely to grow up not speaking italian, a name like Alessandro P-ucci might give the impression of being completely italian not half-english

Lando is rather nice, @KirstenBlest - almost "Star-Warsy"

Jethro Tull - the band

If friend's DH is from Devon he probably knows of Jethro, the famously coarse Cornish comedian. That's my mental association with Jethro - Cornish yokel type telling rude jokes.

I've taught 2 Barnabys in my teaching career - one was delightful and one was really, really annoying, which has put me off the name since.

Never taught a Roland but it's unusual these days, I like it better than the other two.

If they will be living in Devon the name Jethro will be associated with a very well known local comedian who passed away a couple of years ago. In another part of the country that association would not be there.
Roland makes me think of Roland Rat.

There used to be a sandwich shop in Glasgow called Roland Butter.

That’s because in Scottish dialect we talk about “a roll and xxx” to describe a filled roll - “roll and sausage”, “roll and cheese” etc.

Love JETHRO. I tried to get my friend to call her son Jethro 20 years ago.

Nobody has mentioned my favourite character Roland Schitt from Schitt’s Creek

I'm showing my age here but Roland always reminds me of the Grange Hill character (as well as the way Janet used to say his name)

I associate Jethro with the comedian- wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_(comedian)

Barnaby with the bear -

Roland with the rat - %3D%3D

Jethro is an Old Testament / Hebrew name, like many popular classic name.

Not invented by the band (who were named after the inventor) and not restricted to comedians

Barnaby the Bear, the fat kid from Grange Hill and that Cornish comedian who did well at working men's clubs.

Barnaby is lovely. Roland nice as a middle name. Jethro is OK too. Barnaby Roland sounds very good.

Oh you win, my friend is very taken with "Lando"!

Our work here is done. 😁

I might have named OP's friend's baby. Lando is lovely.

Barnaby - a character from Midsomer Murder?
Roland - Roland Rat (puppet thing from GMTV years ago who went on to have his own programme)
Jethro - a so-called comedian from years ago

100% this.

They’re all names for 56 year olds.

Jethro - Jethro Tull, or American Appalachian mountain name. I'm sorry this is going to sound very snobbish, I'm sure there are lots of Jethros who are cultured and intelligent, but to me it's a name that just screams toothless hillbilly living in a shack in Kentucky.

Roland - Roland Rat. It's a nice enough name but for slightly older Brits it will immediately bring to mind a sunglasses-wearing giant rat.

Barnaby - Quite posh. Midsomer Murders, but that's not a bad association.