Thomas or Samuel?

[Fifi80]

Brother for Benjamin - Thomas (Tommy) or Samuel (Sam)?

Love both equally - I would use either in a heartbeat! I found it hard to choose but went for Sam as it’s such a personal favourite of mine.

I prefer Thomas which I voted for, but I think Tommy is awful. But either Tom or Sam are fine. They're very popular, verging on generic, so in that respect it doesn't really matter unless your surname is Cruise or you had a daughter called Ella. I know so many brothers with any mixture of these names.

@toastofthetown which boys names are less generic but not too crazy or fashionable?

I like them both.

Thomas I think if I had to choose.

I’ve got a Thomas so I am biased but hate Tommy and he’s never called that by anyone. Tom and Sam are both equally nice in my opinion.

Boys names are tough for that because I find there's not much between George and Oliver, and Horatio and Aloysius. Boys names very quickly go from being popular classic, to way too out there. Names I like which I feel are somewhat in-between this are Robin, Patrick, August, Rufus, Stellan, Felix, Raphael, but appreciate that may not be to your taste, and some are also fairly popular now.

Having a super popular name isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's pros and cons. A Tom or Sam X is going to be far less identifiable online that Odysseus X, so they will be less easy to search online if they want to. Names which are so popular, means that people are probably not going to have strong opinion on their names because they already know so many of them. If there's a serial killer called Thomas or Samuel it won't affect public perception of the name because there's many other associations to dilute it (like Myra vs Ian).

Adam, for example.

Thomas over Samuel but definitely not Tommy.

This is hard I really love both. Maybe Thomas if I had to choose but both are great.

I love both, I think because they both have positive associations for me. I’ve got family members with both names, and known lots of each growing up. I think of the two I would go Samuel as it’s not currently as popular as Thomas/ Tommy. Both Thomas and Tommy are fairly high in the charts, in fact I think combined more than Oliver (although I know not every Thomas goes by Tommy). Samuel has never been as popular as Thomas, and is on the way down now so won’t be one of many in his age group, and less likely to get another in his class.

I prefer Samuel.

Thomas. I like Sam but Tom suits all ages better. Tommy is great for a young child but not an adult.

I have a Benjamin and a Samuel Thomas , so love them all !

Both go perfectly with Benjamin. I prefer Thomas as a full name, but dislike Tommy (would shorten to Tom, personally). Samuel I'm less keen on as a full name, but I really like the simplicity of Sam.

I would ignore the poster rudely calling them 'generic' names. We all have different tastes and, from Benjamin, Thomas and Samuel, it's clear to see that your taste leans towards handsome classics. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Not everyone wants a name which 'stands out'. Personally I'd much rather pick a name which has stood the test of time, than one which is of the moment and will probably date quickly.

I have a Thomas and a Samuel - whose initials are S.A.M. which he likes - Samuel Aaron Matthew- so I like both ! Maybe let your partner make the final cut !

They are both fine - prefer Thomas but it’s being overused right now so I’d go for Sam of the two.

How about Daniel though? Far fewer of them around and nicer than Samuel IMO

I have a Thomas, but would never shorten it to Tommy. Same as I personally wouldn’t shorten Samuel to Sammy. If my husband didn’t know so many Ben’s his baby brother would have been called Benjamin :)

I have a Thomas who all through my pregnancy was going to be Samuel. When he was born we decided he didn't look like a Samuel so was Thomas instead. He's an adult now and is known as Tom. It's a good solid, ageless name.

Tough call - I love both - they are rock solid, classic names that won’t be easy to make an assumption about their age, nationality or social background ( a big plus in my book).

I prefer the sound of the full Thomas over Samuel - but the nn Sam has such a friendly sound. Overall I think Thomas very slightly has the edge for me - mainly because it seems to rise and fall less in popularity than Samuel. I’ve met Thomas/Tom’s of all ages but Samuel/Sam seemed to have a surge about 20/30 years ago.

Either. Both lovely names but I agree with pp - Tom rather than Tommy.

@theduchessofspork thank you for your suggestion. I love the name Daniel if it wasn’t my sibling’s name.

@Babyroobs 😊❤️

@Sunnnybunny72 I like Adam but have a few friends who had used the name already.

Tom and Sam. They’re both from the same camp really, aren’t they? Popular and common for centuries, both.

I do prefer Thomas, personally, just because Samuel makes me think “spaniel”. That’s just a me thing, though.