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! 😘

My DH has a friend Eric, known by all as Ricky…

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!

As long as you're not putting John in front of it you'll be fine. 😆

Nope, no negative connotations that I know of (maybe “doubting Thomas” in the Bible but few people would care about that imo). I think Thomas is lovely - as classic, timeless and international as William (in fact I think the only other name that comes as close as those two to being an international timeless classic is perhaps Alexander).

It’s a very tough choice for me between Thomas and William 😀.I think William just about wins it as there is more choice of diminutive for him if he wants one, nicer name “meaning” if that matters (“resolute protection” vs “twin”) and stronger name associations (when I think of William, I automatically follow it with “the Conquerer”, a bit like Alexander “the Great” but that might just be me 🤣).

William.

William for me

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

Lovely? Willy

Thomas is much nicer, don't like the others at all.

William.

Eric and Albert sound like a pair of bachelor brothers in the East End.

Thomas or William
Eric is awful as is Albert

I agree 100%

@IamnotwhouthinkIam agree with you. I think the name William is very nice, but what puts me off is the fact that, at some point in life, someone will inevitably call him 'Willie'—especially in primary school playgrounds in the UK. I really can't stand that. So, neither Willie nor Albert piercing (or anything like that) are on my list anymore, unfortunately.

@Bigearringsbigsmile . Don't you think William will be 'Willie', Albert has a sex connotation, and Thomas is too common? Eric is bold and different.

@PurpleChrayn I'd rather go for Eric a pair of bachelor brothers in the East End than Willie William. 😊

I love Eric, if we have another boy that's our name.
I love William but DH doesn't.
I hate Albert, hate Albie even more or sounds so chavvy!
Thomas has become very popular recently.
They've just released the top 100 names of the year, this helped me with what not to choose when choosing DS name as we didn't want anything too common.

Don't you think William will be 'Willie', Albert has a sex connotation, and Thomas is too common? Eric is bold and different.

100% agree

Thomas/Tom is soo overused and too common - he'll be one of so many.

Eric is interesting and memorable.

@Elsa2025 No, I doubt William would get much, if any teasing with “Willy” - mainly due to its popularity (if most kids know several William’s in school/via groups then imo it would be bit odd to single out one in particular? A bit like most Ellie’s don’t get “Smelly Ellie”).

It’s also a completely obvious joke/reference - the sort of thing a 5 year old might realise and mention, but they’ll soon grow out of it (otherwise it would come across as childish and most older kids don’t seem to want to be thought of as immature).

Imo if the “Willy” thing is the only thing putting you off, then I wouldn’t let it- there’s a reason William has always stayed in the Top 50 so it doesn’t seem to bother most parents. But if there’s another name you much prefer the sound of, then that’s absolutely fair enough.

(The “Prince Albert” thing is slightly different imo - Albert’s been a much less commonly used name over time and it’s only the sort of reference teenagers or older people would know; so it’s a slightly more sophisticated/sexual joke. However if Albert becomes even more popular and stays for a long time in the Top 50 then I’m sure anyone will stop making that association too.)

@IamnotwhouthinkIam Many thanks for your insights! It makes a lot of sense to me now, so I will consider the name William again. :-)

The nicknames of choice are lovely, imo. Literally no William goes around choosing the nn Willy any more. Anyone who calls them that as an silly joke is most likely to be under the age of 8 so you're really showing your own immaturity here.

Thomas is decreasing in both chart position and overall usage. It use to be very popular, it definitely hasn't "become very popular recently".

https://names.darkgreener.com/#thomas

Thomas has been in the top 20 boys' names since about 1985, so it depends on your definition of recently. We have a baby one in the extended family.
Tommy and Thomas are both in the top 30, and if you add the Tom, Tomos, Tomas, Tomacz etc it's probably higher than it seems.

I'm another who loves Erik with a K

William a timeless classic - solid name - nice shortenings of Will, Billy or Liam

William! Such a bookish, gorgeous name that can also be adventurous. Eric is boring to me and Albert is too old man for me.

William, I like the best out of those choices.

William. Simply because I have one! Named after my dad and grandad. He gets Will but not all the time.