Stuck for baby boy names, our favourite just got vito’d by my mother!

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We are due our first baby - a baby boy in mid November but we are really struggling with names.
The middle name is going to be George after my dad.

Our top name was Archer, but when I told my mum, she quite angrily said it wasn’t a real name and I should be using Archie, as Archer sounds stupid. So it has put a spanner in the works and now we regret telling her our front runner.

The rest of our list includes:
Wilf
Charlie
Otis
Hugo
Seb (Sebastian)
Tobie (Toby)

We don’t want anything too out there but also don’t want anything too common. Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.
Middle name George.
Surname starts with a W if that helps.

Thank you :)

Our top name was Archer, but when I told my mum, she quite angrily said it wasn’t a real name and I should be using Archie, as Archer sounds stupid.
It is a name - a surname, and it's not good as a first name.

Wilf - fine if short for Wilfred
Charlie - like
Otis - don't like
Hugo - ok
Seb (Sebastian) - ok
Tobie (Toby) - like Toby but Tobie is awful

How about Danny? Your mother can DeVito it.

OP, if you’re old enough to have a baby, you’re old enough to recognise that your mother doesn’t get a veto on what you call your baby.

Archer is fine. I prefer it to many of the other slightly babyish names on your list.

NEVER share your baby names in advance! Terrible idea. Only share once baby is here and you've made a 100% decision. I do think Archer will get confused with Archie, which is far more commonly known. Otis is a lovely name.

My mum didn’t like our chosen boy name, said it sounded ridiculous with our surname. We called him it anyway and a year down the line my mum said she couldn’t imagine him called anything else.

dont let your mum dampen your name choice, she chose your name , she doesn’t get a say in your baby’s name.

Go for Archer. It's your choice. She will grow to like it because she will like him, and he will become the name.

Best thing I ever did was not tell anyone my eldest name before she was born, I know lots of people didn't like it (its a bit of a marmite name!) But they soon got used to it, including my picky MIL. Use Archer, lovely strong name!

I have a Jack and a Benjamin. Benjamin was supposed to be George but didn’t feel the name matched him when born.

other names we had were

charlie
elliot
hayden
Dylan
Joseph

If Archer is your favourite then bloody go for it! It’s got nothing to do with your mother, or anyone else apart from your partner.
Go for it!

I like Archer and think it's much nicer than Archie (incidentally, there are SO many Archies/Alfies in my school and I'm forever mixing them up)

I'm biased as it's DS's middle name but I like Sebastian (Seb is very cute) and think it goes nicely with George. My DM was horrified at DS1s first name but it didn't take her long to get used to it so I say go with what you like best!

Just adding to the chorus of people telling you it's your choice not your mum's. But as well as that, if you give in to her telling you what to name him or not name him, what else will she be dictating to you?

You should see faces of my family when I said I like name Bartholomew 😆

Of your list, I like Seb and Toby (not Tobie).

I think Hugo George sounds a good name.
Archer is a bit.....I don't know?
Do you have a background of archers in your family? Makes me think of Robin Hood.
But if you really like it then use it.
He probably will be Archie/Arch at some point in his life.

I've got two pregnancies in my immediate family. If either of them told me that they were going to use a name that I thought was 'not a real name' or actively disliked... I would smile, tell them it was lovely and reason that I would get used to it.

Not my baby, not my choice. Tell your mum that.

Elias George
Fraser George
Asher George
Xander George
Damon George
Nathaniel George
Kalman George
Albie George
Quentin George
Torin George
Ewan George

Kit George Wilson
Otto George Wilson
Max George Wilson
Jasper George Wilson
Edwin George Wilson
Austin George Wilson
Tristan George Wilson
Dexter George Wilson
Wilbur George Wilson
Sullivan George Wilson
Hudson George Wilson
Casper George Wilson
Jackson George Wilson
Oakley George Wilson
Marley George Wilson
Alexander George Wilson (Xander, Alex, Ally)
Louis George Wilson
Lenny George Wilson
Evan George Wilson

I mean, I have to agree with your mum here.

However, the golden rule is you never discuss baby names with ANYONE before you actually make the final decision.

My parents hate DS2's name, and I have to admit it did make me feel a bit sad since they love DS1's name. However, it helped that my mum suggested Barry and then I realised that we just had very different taste in names! They love DS2, and that's what matters.

I like Toby. We only know 1.
Wilf is nice with the full name Wilfred.
Otis is very common amongst babies and toddlers near us.
Charlie is generally pretty common across age ranges and the confusion from it being unisex would put me off personally.
Hugo sounds more like a dog name to me.
Archer I would agree with your mum, Archie is quite nice but common amongst teenagers.
I do like the name seb, it was on our maybe list but the closeness between Sebastian and bastard put me off.

Not on your list but what about Oscar?

Archie/Wilf/Otis/Seb/Toby are all super popular where I live. Archer is OK, I know of one age 10. I do wonder if they'll just end up being called Archie though?

I actually really like Charlie and don't think it's used as often as the others.

What about Ethan?

Oh gosh so you’re actually changing the name because of that?! Please don’t, I think Archer is lovely, unusual but not too out there. Plus to state the obvious, your mother already had her turn at choosing her children’s names and shouldn’t get to deprive you of the chance to do that! Just happily announce the name when your little one is born, she can always call him Archie if she wants 🤷🏻‍♀️

You are going to get a lot of people telling you to just use Archer Op because MN's pet hate is DMs and DMils who venture an opinion.

I'm going to go against the grain and say I think your mum is right, and I don't really like Archer if I'm honest; I think it does sound a bit more of a common noun than a proper noun. Fletcher is a similar name if you like the whole bow and arrow feel.

BUT I really like your list - and think any and everything on it is better than Archer!

The only one I would hesitate with is Sebastian because it's getting quite a following atm by people who wouldn't traditionally have used it - which at one level doesn't matter but I think the vibe of that name is in flux and will likely change. The rest are 🎯

PS don't use DM's suggestion of Archie! It's been done to death for a good 15 years now and like many on here I have the feeling they are often difficult kids!

I’m one of those people who said she should still use Archer, and mine isn’t out of hatred towards mothers, my own died before my children were born so I have no personal experience, however when my dad scrunched his face up when I told him what we’d be calling our daughter and said “that’s not a very good name”, I had the same response that I suggested to the OP - “oh well it’s a good job you were able to call yours what you wanted then!”

Fair enough if you don’t like the name Archer, but it was at the top of OP’s list so clearly her favourite name, and I still totally stand by not letting anyone else vito it, mothers, fathers, friends, cousins… whoever. It’s no one else’s choice but the parents. Plus the fact that her mother “angrily” rejected it isn’t venturing an opinion, it’s being outright weird and borderline rude!