Help me and my partner pick a name

[LoudDenimNewt]

We can't decide on a boy name. We are not finding out the gender on scans and have our girl name picked, but just can't agree on boy name. I like more British and traditional names where as my partner likes American and modern names. We both really like Harry but it is my brother's name, he is ecstatic that we might call the baby after him, but part of me feels this may just be confusing at family gatherings.

Harry - fine, but you're not sure. I don't think him having an uncle with the name is a problem, but I wouldn't give my sibling's name to a child (DSib's name is dated and not a favourite)
Elliot - fine but has several spellings, which means it'll get misspelt. Lots of El- names around especially for girls.
Rory - Wowy or Vovy here so I wouldn't pick it. Fine otherwise.
Billy/William - fine. Will probably be Bill as an adult.
Elijah - a bit too long and I don't like it shortened to Eli, which is a separate name.
Sidney - a bit different. Sid James and Sid Vicious put me off it.

Which sounds best with the surname?

Harry, Rory and William are my favourites.

Elliot is also nice but the one I know gets shortened to Ell, which feels a bit feminine.

Sidney could grow on me, at the moment I don’t know any in real life so the famous Sidney’s are the ones I think of (Sid James etc)

Elijah - the one I know goes by Eli, and this gets mispronounced as Ellie by teachers in secondary school reading the register, and it’s stuck.

Rory or William. What about Riley

Elijah is gorgeous x

Elliot is my favourite, and I think it's probably the one which suits both of your styles the best.

Harry is nice enough, but I wouldn't call your son the same name as your brother. I think babies deserve their own name within the family where possible. It's different if it's in memory of someone, and all family members concerned are comfortable with this, but uncle and nephew with the same name feels a bit twee to me. They'll end up as Big Harry and Little Harry and family gatherings, which is a bit naff.

Rory is nice, as is William but personally I don't like Billy. Sid is quite cool, but I'm not a big fan of the full name.

The only one I dislike is Elijah. This one feels particularly American as it's very popular over there. In my experience, many young children can't pronounce it and he'll end up answering to Eliza.

Billy, but not William.

William is gorgeous and would be my pick as it’s such a timeless classic with great namesakes. It seems to suit men of all ages and backgrounds but is sadly slowly declining in popularity in the UK. It’s still popular worldwide though, including in non- English speaking countries which can be handy if he travels. Billy is a cool nickname, makes an interesting change these days from Will (or Liam in Ireland and the USA).

I love Elijah.

Harry is just a bit boring sorry, there are sooooo many of them. There is one Elijah in my DC’s school but endless Harry’s.

I voted for Elliot, and Rory would bey second choice. I love them all, apart from Sidney, which is very old-fashioned and not in a good way. I don't like Sid either. It sounds too much like slid or skid.

I love William and lots of choice for nicknames. Or how about Henry for bc and then you could use Hal or Harry (so need not automatically be the exact same name as your brother).

Faves ..
William
Harry or Henry
Sidney.

I voted Elliot.

I like Sidney but tbh the only ones I know of are female.

William contains Willy and is very teasable among silly schoolchildren.

I like Sidney

Love Sidney

William or Rory, unless Henry gets a look-in!

William. Will.

Thanks for the suggestions all, to answer a few common concerns and give a bit of background. I do really like Eli, but it was also the name of a highschool bully for me, which has just put me straight off. Everyone in the family is onboard with Harry, and my brother loves the idea however I have the same concerns about individuality and also it being confusing for the child, however my brother is very special to me and we have a very close relationship so it would mean a lot. The surname goes with everything, my partner has an incredible surname credit where it is due. I cannot use Henry as it's already used by a cousin although it would be both our first choice.

You do not need to decide your child's name via a committee of your family.

Make Harry a middle name if it's important to you to nod to your brother.

Also - you don't have to have the name decided in advance, nor do you need to tell everyone. You can wait until the baby is here.

I wouldn't use your brother's name for the reasons you listed, but I don't think Henry is off the table just because a cousin used it personally! You obviously like short H names so what about Harvey, Hector, Hugo, Hendrix, Harrison (although maybe too close to brother's name) as alternatives?

Elijah is gorgeous

Why not use Harry as a middle name? It doesn’t matter what your family think. Depends how bothered you are about popularity as he won’t be the only Harry.

William/ Billy is my pick. Billy is adorable for a baby boy and other options too such as Will.

Rory is also nice.

Is your brother Harry or Henry? If he's Harry you could go with Henry. But you could go with Harry, anyway I think.

Elijah would be my choice from your list but I prefer Isaac.

You say that both of you really like Henry, so use that. It doesn't matter that a cousin has already used it. That is just one side of your family, the other side presumably hasn't. The family will develop away of distinguishing between the 2 Henry's, and realistically how often will then be together?It's a cousin not a sibling who has used it.