William or Ambrose

[BlueWhiteGreen]

Hi all, baby boy due this Christmas.

Top 2 are William and Ambrose, just can’t decide which!

I love William and would probably choose it, but I think I quite like Ambrose too.It's unusual but you can't say it's not an established name with lots of history. One of Guildford (Jane Grey's husband) and Robert (Elizabeth I's, um, admirer) Dudley's other brothers was called Ambrose, so you can't say it's a trendy made-up name. I also quite like it as a collection of sounds. Re short forms, obviously you don't have to use one at all, but I was reading some books recently (by Catherine Fox, very enjoyable) where a character called Ambrose was Brose to his partner and close friends.

Ambrose would easily end up as 'Bro' once he's a tween. There's a lot worse nicknames out there.

Ambrose is a great cat name.
William is lovely.

Ammy or Bro are SO much nicer than Willy!!

Will is such a confusing nickname imo as it’s a noun and verb - “Will Will’s will be written” or “Will Will come?”

Ambrose is a great name.

I have an Ambrose so naturally I voted that.

He’s 6 and we are in Croydon so not a natural Ambrose area.

He makes a beeline for the Ambrosia tins in supermarkets and likes to have them on display in his room. I called him Mr Custard when he was small. We’ve kind of embraced the connotations!

Maybe one day he’ll hate me but I love the name!

"Bro" is horrific. That alone would deter me, despite my frequent insistance that diminutives bestowed by others can just be corrected.

100% William.

William is lovely - a timeless classic that suits all ages and backgrounds. It’s very international too which is a bonus. I disagree that he’ll get called “Willy”…well possibly once or twice by very young kids, but it’s hardly a sophisticated or clever shortening that adults or even teenagers are going to bother teasing with is it? It’s a bit like calling a girl named Pooja “poo” - only impressive/funny if you are a four year old.

And I disagree that there will likely be 2 Williams in a class these days. 2 or 3 in the whole school maybe, but ime it would have to be a fairly big all boys private or naice grammar school to get 2 Williams in a class today (because as with other similar “timeless classics” like Edward, Alexander etc, these sort of names are all rapidly dropping down the popularity charts compared to even 20/30 years ago). More likely to be 2 Noahs or Theos in a class if there happens to be any repeats at all in most of the schools I’ve been in.

Ambrose is personally too feminine sounding to me. I suspect it might be why it hasn’t made the “Great-Grandad” hipster comeback in the way that similar style names like Ernest, Percy etc have. Though I do love the sound of the Welsh variant- Emrys. Now that has definitely made a comeback, as I know a few young Emrys.

I knew a William Ambrose and thought it was a great name. I liked the combination of "safe" first name and gorgeous middle name. Is William Ambrose Surname a possibility?

William.

That's the thing though! Cat names do take off, look what happened with Noah.
I agree with the poster who said it was quite "Catholic", my first thought was Ambrose Barlow. It wouldn't harm his chances of getting into a Catholic school 😂

That's the thing though! Cat names do take off, look what happened with Noah. ???

Ambrose is cute but I think he'd thank you for going with William!

Ambrose is not good. It almost sounds like a slightly lower class woman's name, Amber-Rose.
That or a very twee looking chubby Victorian child from a Beatrix potter book wearing shorts and a cap.

He won’t thank you when he gets teased with Willi!!

Of all the Williams I know, I don't think any get teased with Willi.
Ambrose will probably get called Rosie.

I don't think that happens 😂

William.
Yes, Ambrose is effeminate to my ears.

Yep, this happens. He is far more likely to get teased by being given a name like Ambrose! I mean really?! 😂

My DS has a best friend called Ambrose but he has definitely grown into what his name suggests - clever, posh, geeky and will no doubt be gay.

Will also add, Ambrose goes to private school so fits in well. He would likely be annihilated in state school.

Are you suggesting the name Ambrose suits geeky, gay men? Wow!

Definitely William. I've never encountered an Ambrose IRL.
It makes me think of tinned rice or custard.

My DS is Ambrose. I'm Catholic and love the history of the name. He mostly gets called Ambie. We often get compliments on his name, but my mum was the worst for the custard jibes 😒 kids will be picked on for a whole host of things at some point, no matter their name. My son is very young but already has a rugby players' build, so balances out the femininity some people think the name has.