Gregory, George, Theodore, Nicholas or Sebastian? Help!!!

[ThatLilacExpert]

I’d like a name for my baby boy that is stylish, sensible, doesn’t have thousands of this name in his classroom in the UK, and most importantly, doesn’t have a bad association or funny connotations (like Piercing Albert or Willie William that sort of thing)
I’d appreciate any sensible opinion and insights. So far I like Gregory, Nicholas, Sebastian, Theodore and George. I am struggling to decide as I find these names so elegant and distinctive. Please help!

The twee old fashioned names are ten a penny now as they became fashionable.

If you want unique, you're probably better considering names like Thomas, Matthew, James, Christopher, Alexander, etc. Nice, normal names but not used as much these days.

My daughter has 3 Theos in her class, although one goes by "Teddy" which makes me want to vomit every time I hear it!

I like Nicholas.
It can be shortened to Nicky, Nick or Nico which are all perfectly fine names.

If you want unique, you're probably better considering names like Thomas, Matthew, James, Christopher, Alexander, etc

Unique? I know sooo many Toms, James and Alexes..... they are extremely widely used.

Nicolas is probably the best if you don't want something too popular. Greg isn't really trendy.

Others:
Patrick
Daniel
Christopher
Frederick
Leonard
Edward
Alexander
Samson
Samuel
Benjamin

I have a 21-year-old Nicholas. It's a good name!

I wanted to call my eldest Sebastian but Dh wouldn't have it - said it was too posh. Eldest is now 29 and says he would have loved to be called Sebastian

Out of the others I like Theodore but as a PP pointed out its very popular right now. Having said that, when my boys were born their names were very unusual but now seem to be everywhere so my advice is choose a name that you like and don't bother about its popularity.

What level of popularity are you comfortable with? The top names aren't nearly so prevalent as 20 years ago, so there shouldn't be 4 in a class unless it's just locally very popular. However there might be a couple, and there are always rare names that get duplicated in a class you can't guarantee. All the names except Gregory and Nicholas are popular for babies now.

Gregory Rank #1071, 27 babies in 2023
Nicholas #201, 245 babies
Sebastian #42, 1313 babies
Theodore #8, 2666 babies (Theo ranked 11, and teddy 23 so more popular than it seems with nicknames)
George #4, 3494 babies

You can check ranking here: names.darkgreener.com/#gregory

Laurence is wet.

@ThatLilacExpert , the web site Darkgreener will give an indication of how popular a name is. The ONS baby names page has slightly more up to date info.

If you pick a long name like Sebastian, Dominic or Nathaniel, it will get shortened and Seb/Dom/Nat/Nate aren't elegant.

I like all except Gregory.

What about:

Tristan
Alexander
Jonathan
Benjamin
Marcus
Thomas
Edward
Sidney
Anthony

Yep- I’m being a bit flippant here, I think if ‘wet’ names as pp said bit of a mummy’s boy or a ‘posh’ name that doesn’t sound strong.
IMO Jocelyn (for a boy), yes Lawrence etc.

@MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel I also like the name Thomas. I have hear that on the UK there are thousands of Thomas and it is overwhelmingly used. I am not sure.

Gregory - I like the full name but I think it will inevitably be shorted to Greg which feels really dated.

Nicholas - again, like the full name, but dislike Nick / Nicky.

Sebastian - my favourite from your list, however growing in popularity in my area. Love Seb as a nickname.

Theodore and George - nice but very popular.

I wouldn’t say any of them are distinctive, but I think they’re all elegant.

If you want to avoid popular then definitely avoid Theodore - it's in the top 10 boys' names, as is Theo (and if you count Theo and Theodore together, they would be number 1 by a considerable margin).

I like Nicholas the best from your list - it's an underused classic

Not if you count Muhammad and the various spellings.

Some Theodores are Teddy, and both Teddy and Edward are also very popular.

I think if ‘wet’ names as pp said bit of a mummy’s boy or a ‘posh’ name that doesn’t sound strong.

Then Sebastian is very wet. It sounds so soft and oily (sebaceous) and Seb sounds so soft and unfinished.

I'm don't think Gregory, Lawrence, Nicholas, Reuben or Quentin are wet at all. All strong underused classics imo

I'd definitely avoid Theo as it's massively overused and already starting to sound dated imo

They’re all good timeless names. I knew aGregory whose family nickname was Rory.

Not keen on any of the names. Quite like Theo.
i like Thomas and its diminutives.

Correct about Mohammed - I was just highlighting that both Theodore and Theo are in the top 10 (and combined more common than Noah which is no. 1), so not one to pick if OP wants an uncommon name.

I agree, they're everywhere. The stats look lower than the names combined.

In my age group it was Stephen and Steven and John and Jonathans.

I'm don't think Gregory, Lawrence, Nicholas, Reuben or Quentin are wet at all. All strong underused classics imo

I know loads of young Reubens (1 is Ruben).
Only know 1 Greg (ok but avoid not snog/marry), 1 Gregory (marry/snog) , 1 Larry (hates Lawrence), 1 Laurence (female) and 1 Quentin (makes me think of Crisp).

George and Theodore (or Theo) are popular at the moment. Sebastian gets mentioned alot in mn also, so I think that’s on the up also.

Nicholas is long overdue fur a revival, so I’d choose that.

Gregg Wallace has perhaps put a downer on the name Gregory/Greg at the moment, but that would only be a temporary blip.

Of your list, Gregory or Nicholas. Everything else is really common and overused.
I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid at an "older" name for a girl so I don't get why it's such a problem for boys

I vote for Greg/ory. It’s good to see someone interested in it. No, I don’t have one.

One point in it’s favour is school days are very much easier when you have The Only One of the name and it’s not off the wall or way out or anything. People know it, can say it and can spell it. All useful points.

If you want unique, you're probably better considering names like Thomas, Matthew, James, Christopher, Alexander, etc. Nice, normal names but not used as much these days.

You're joking. Thomas is still in the top 20, Tommy is no. 26, James and Alexander in the top 50, with Alex and Xander also used.

Matthew and Alexander might be out of the top 100 but Mateo and Matteo are popular, and Kit is popular. They might be the only one in their group but the names have been very popular for decades.