William, Eric or Albert? Help me to choose

[ThatLilacExpert]

Has anyone been through a situation where you cannot decide on your baby boy name because you like three names all the same?
I live in the UK and would like a British name but with an international feel. I think these 3 names fit that, however I cannot decide on one. Which of these 3 would you choose? Eric? William? Albert? Why? Please don’t give me a 4th option as it would make my life even harder. :-) I appreciate your comments and insights! 😘

Erik is a fantastic name, bold and strong, with a long history. I prefer the Erik spelling.

In order:
Albert
William
Eric

I don't like Eric much. Albert and William I really like both but I prefer the nickname option for Albert (Bertie, Albie, Al) and also it's not much of a mouthful if you didn't want it shortened

William is the most handsome.
Eric is great.
Albert is too quite stale and the short form of Albie is too popular.

William, no contest imo - it’s incredibly international (as well as used in most countries with their own spelling variations, it’s even Top 100 with the “William” spelling in at least a dozen non-English language countries, probably thanks to Shakespeare). It’s also incredibly timeless in the UK (has been Top 100 in the UK since records began) and has many great diminutive options - Will, Bill/Billy, Liam. The “Willy” thing is not an big issue imo - the name is too popular in the UK for major teasing (outside the odd primary school joke) and the meaning isn’t applicable in most other countries.

Eric is okay but no where near timeless in the UK - it’s either a very young boys name or an old man’s , plus no obvious nn if he dislikes it. Albert is the same (not timeless, old man/young boy) plus has the penis piercing association (although less so now its more popular), but the nn’s potential is at least quite cute -Al, Albie, Bertie.

@IamnotwhouthinkIam thanks a lot! You have saved me now. :-) I was appalled to find out about the Albert penis piercing. I am reading about it now. I didn’t know about this. So, I am taking the name Albert out of my post and introducing a new name: Thomas. I hope it doesn’t have an unpleasant or unpopular connotation. Thanks again!

Associate all 3 with Prince in front of them

Prince Eric- little mermaid
Prince William- Royal family
Prince Albert- unfortunate piercing

So I'd go for Eric

William, timeless and classic
Eric and Albert, both seem very old fashioned to me.

I said earlier up thread that Erik is awesome - that’s because one of my DS’ is called Erik.

We love Erik the Red and the associated Nodic mythology.

We do shorten it though, we call him Eri (pronounced Erry).

Actually we call him all sorts. We use a lot of derivatives when it comes to names, in my family.

Eric is the best. It also travels well.

The shortenings for William (Willy) and Albert (Albie, Bert) are unfortunately not nice at all.

I like Eric.

Thomas is another good, safe bet, and I'd categorise it most closely with William. Actually, Thomas was the only name DH and I agreed on for a boy... until I had a little troublemaker called Thomas in my class. It wasn't a problem in the end - we had two girls!

Just avoid John Thomas, and you'll be fine.

Thomas is a good solid name. I still prefer William, though.

Thomas is my favourite of all your name ideas - I would have used it myself but my cousin used it first.

I like William with the NN Liam. Bill/will are more old fashioned but I like that he would have options.
Eric and Albert are both old man names to me, but given Arthur is back I imagine they might well be popular again and I've just missed it!

I don't care for Eric (Although I do like Alaric, sorry, I know you said no more names!). Nothing wrong with it. Just not an especially pleasurable name to hear or say for me. A bit sterile.

William is solid, relatable and likeable. Billy or Will are nice nicknames, not babyish. Although very well known and historical it has a certain joviality (maybe from Just William?). Can't go wrong.

Albert my favourite in full but not a fan of the short forms except Al or Ali. I'm not personally into Albie and those sorts of names.

William definitely. More options later when he wants to assert himself

What options? Big Willy?

Don’t like any of them, sorry op. Eric is just ugly. William and Albert have too many royal connections and daft nicknames for me. Sorry. If you forced me, I’d go with William as the last terrible option.

Of the 3, Eric is the only one that has an "international feel"

My favourite of them is William but it has international variants (Guillaume, Guilherme, Wilhelm etc) so William just feels very British.

I think Albert has too, or with slight but recognisable variations, Alberto, Alberti, Albrecht and so on

Eric is definitely the best of the bunch! I teach an Eric and the name has really grown on me. Bonus- here aren't that many Eric's around atm, although I definitely think it's a bubbling under name

I like Will or Wills and Bertie

So my favourite is Albert but biased as I have one. It's really interesting seeing all the comments about nicknames as ours is never shortened and unlikely to be as already a few Albies in his year at school. I would think about the full name you like and yes be mindful of the nn but pick which name you like most ( to add my eldest only goes by a nn of his name so it's not that we won't shorten names)

William for me, by an absolute mile. Classic, suits all ages, lovely nn potential.

'bert' is such an ugly sound. Albert itself is ok at a push but the nn options are not nice (imo). Albie is infantile, Bertie awful.

Eric feels like an old man name to me. I don't know of any little ones, personally, so I can't imagine it on a baby.

Definitely William!

Thomas is my absolute favourite boys name ever. So handsome and manly, suits all ages. Tom is a really down to Earth, friendly sort of name. Tommy is ok for a cheeky chappy youngster.

Thomas first choice, William second. Definitely not the other two.