River

[heffalumpwoozle]

Thoughts on the name River for a boy?

It's a favourite for both DH and me, but a bit worried family might think it's a bit 'out there' or effeminate. Family are quite traditional. I know I shouldn't care about their opinions but as I get closer to birth I'm finding I can't help it.

Alexander is our 'safe' option, we both also love it, but we're both arty/creative and River feels a bit more us.

suits a particular personality type - arty, bohemian, eccentric, a bit wild and romantic. I'd think it appealed to less aspirational parents, or to parents who thought it was bohemian...

@cheapskatemum ,I think what you mean is that in a non-rhotic accent there is no r in the -er ending.
Riv-uh & Alexand-uh

@MrsKateColumbo , I like Alec too.

I'd go with River Alexander. It flows better. He can choose then later on to go by his middle name if he wants to. I know a girl River who is an older child. I don't know anyone else with DS name and he likes this as is the only one in the school.

I like ´River Alexander’ a lot. If your child decides later that ´River’ isn’t getting him the reaction he wants in professional situations, he can swap to using ´Alexander’.

I secretly rather like the name River. It would be the abbreviations that would kill it for me - I wanted to name my last baby Rupert (she was girl, luckily for her), but I couldn't bear to live with Ru as a short form. And for all the 'oh, you just give them a nick name - WHICH IS NOT A SHORT FORM OF THE ACTUAL ORIGINAL NAME, a pet hate of mine - friends and family will shorten the name all the time. And, like Ru, I don't think I could live with Riv.

This is just silliness. Do you think that about Brook?

Less so with Brook as it seems so 1980s. Lake is also wet.

@Emanwenymyes, thank you. That’s a good point about rhotic/non rhotic accents. DH is from Glasgow, there would be a double “r” sound if he were saying Alexander River.

You're welcome, @cheapskatemum . I find that many names (e.g. Clare, Marie, Rory, Kerr, Stuart) sound so much nicer in a rhotic accent, and I dislike the linking r that you get in non-rhotic accents with names like Isla Anne (Eye-luh-rann).

Not a fan of river

Nope. Alexander yes

Awful. Imagine him as an adult and trying to be taken seriously.

River is a pretty established name and any child named River now in 2025 isn't really going to stand out as having an unusual name in 2050.
Why wouldn't you take someone named River seriously?

Exactly this. There's far more rivers than there is claires for example in that generation. Its an unusual name for an adult but won't be soon.

By the time he will get to adulthood, the thousands of rivers born before him will also be in adulthood.

Its been a fairly common/ in or hovering near the top 150 for at least the last 5 years.

I don't know any adult evies for example, but know in less than 10 years there will be loads as the current 8-10 year olds age up.

In reverse I can't imagine a single baby called paul, but doesn't mean there wasn't a generation full of them. My frame of reference for evie and river are children and my frame of reference is out.

There's plenty of my generation names that people must have struggled to imagine as adult names, simply because they hadn't reached popularity in adult aged people. Now no one bats an eye

I remember thinking it was edgy when a relative called their child brayden type name. Any university is now full of that generation

I remember thinking it was edgy when a relative called their child brayden type name. Any university is now full of that generation
Highly unlikely.
Babies called Brayden in England & Wales since 1996
Babies called Jayden in England & Wales since 1996

I mean the combination of those type name. Its hard to track in the same way that mohommed is always under represented unless you combine the multiple possible spellings

My neices year 12 cohort has more than one in each class because I imagine it's the right age group for the popularity. I meant that group of adults will also know multiple of that name group, and soon they will be entering the work force so the name that always sounded like an an unusual kids name will be a fairly usual adult name

Not in the 100 most common, but a name people won't register as odd

@Butterbly , that trend was about 16 years ago, and they're probably not at university yet
The Momommed spelling is unusual.
Babies called Mohommed in England & Wales since 1996