William Bowe

[bilbowe]

Pregnant with my second child- I loved William for my first but as last name is Bowe, was put off by ‘Bilbo’- am I overthinking it or is it a real thing to be bothered by?! Had mixed reactions IRL, some saying it would be absolutely fine.

If it’s really awful, any other suggestions? I also like Louis but don’t know if L.Bowe would be setting him up as well!

Not Robert - bobbo.

Wouldn't go with William or any L name for the reasons given.

I think Bowe needs a first name with several syllables:

Julian - Jules/Jude
Edward
Nathaniel
Jonathan
Simeon

Bill, Billy, Will, Willy Bowe all sound bad, sorry.

No, not William or LouIs

What about…

Arthur
Frederick/Freddie
Charles/Charlie
Henry
Zachary

You are also two letters off William Bowery, a good laugh for the swifties in your life.

How about Alfie, @bilbowe ?

It has a certain quality.

The Williams I know under 50 are only ever called William or Will, so I think it’s not too bad. I think L. Bowe or Harry Bowe etc are much more obvious (and worse).

I might be biased though as I think William is such a fab name - so timeless and classic that you couldn’t pigeonhole one, very international, loads of interesting namesakes, popular enough to easily buy tat with his name on it (but not super popular anymore), several choices of nickname if wanted (“Liam” is big in the US and Ireland for example, although then you’d have L. Bowe again!) etc.

Imo as long as you aren’t bothered that he will potentially be sharing his name with a couple of others in larger schools, then it’s hard to find a boys name that ticks as many boxes as William does. The closest I can think of (if you want a similar style option) might be something like Alexander.

L. Bowe is a NO!

I think Bilbo would be fine!

Unfortunately William gets shortened/teased with Willy. Primary school children can be very puerile.

Will is not a great short form as it’s a verb. Will will come? Will Will’s will be written?

It’s also not very international and only works in English. It would be Guillaume in French for example

It’s very international- it’s top 100 in over a dozen countries and is spelt as William too in many non -English speaking ones (the Scandi ones for example where it is Top 10 popular).

None of the Williams I know in primary school get regularly teased with “Willy” - the name is still too popular/well used for something like name bullying (I mean I’m sure it gets mentioned once or twice but it’s like “smelly Ellie” or something, it’s fairly uncommon and hasn’t hurt use of the name).

I personally don’t think “Will” being a word is at all problem- lots of names are also words. And at the time kids are still learning more basic words (how to spell, use of them etc), most Williams in primary still go by their full names anyway -ime the nn “Will” is more late primary/senior school.

The only issue for me with the name could be that despite it falling in numbers every year, at most senior schools (especially all boys ones) there might still be several. But that could be said for lots of names.

No-one uses Bill anymore. William is fine. We nearly had a William but the Willy link with our surname was an accident waiting to happen. I think your surname is fine with it. Tbh none of the my kids friends called William ever had Willy issues to deal with. No more than usual name messing around.

@Climbinghigher , No-one uses Bill anymore. The stats suggest otherwise. Billy, Bill .

@Alexandrine , very international - not really. Most languages have their own version e.g. Wilhelm, Willem, Guillermo, Guglielmo.

You will find it’s a mix. As even in countries like those that have their own variation too, the William spelling can also be well used (or even more popular, such as in Scandinavia as I mentioned and also in some African countries) . It’s actually a fairly unique non Biblical name in that regard and is likely due to Shakespeare being the most translated literature worldwide other than the Bible and still mandatory in most schools. It might be part of the reason that William is the only name apart from Thomas that has never left the Top 50 here (since we stated keeping records) - it’s international use/recognition.

@Alexandrine . 'fairly unique' is not possible.

@AlexandrineWilliam is not at all an ‘international’ name! It’s Wilhelm in German (pronounced like Vilhelm), Vilhelm in Swedish, Guillame in French!!!

I would say it’s one of the LEAST well travelled names!

@Lollylavender , I think she has a child named William herself and wants to believe it's international.

I think it is a name that travels ok because of famous Williams or Bills., and because of the local forms of the names. Henry or Richard are probably comparable.
They're 'royal' names!

Not quite but William was on my boys list at the time amongst lots of other names because I wanted both a timeless name and an international one so did masses of online research - I even asked lots of questions of friends and colleagues from various countries.

It’s one of the most recognised names boys internationally along with Alexander, Max, Thomas, Joseph (and an handful of other Biblical names). I loved timeless James and Edward too but those didn’t work internationally. If you look at the most popular names lists including from Scandinavia and some of the African countries, William (this spelling) is on a surprising number of them. What stats have you seen to show it isn’t? Or are you just basing it on opinion?

I am aware of lots variants like the original Wilhelm and Guillaume, but that doesn’t mean the William spelling isn’t well known in those countries too. I live in Wales so it’s slightly different here in terms of popularity (although Gwilym isn’t that popular either) but I work internationally so needed names that work wherever - and William seems to.

I can’t do links on phone but look on websites like Nameberry and Behind The Name if you want to see stats collected in one place, rather than just basing it on opinion - although if you search for various countries Top 100 lists it will come up too. African countries can be harder to find the data for - I’m basing my experience there on talking to a lot of colleagues. They often have a tribal name and a “English” one and William is very popular (yes, along with names like Henry).

live in Wales so it’s slightly different here in terms of popularity (although Gwilym isn’t that popular either)
Gwilym is quite popular with Welsh speakers (especially as a middle name) as is Wiliam.

William is very popular in Sweden and Denmark. Many of the African countries are former colonies.

@Alexandrine , look on websites like Nameberry and Behind The Name if you want to see stats collected in one place Nameberry isn't reliable (and is rubbish). Behind the Name is better.
If you want the official stats look for something like 'official baby names Finland 2024' or similar.

But you just said it wasn’t popular internationally? But are now agreeing it is popular in African countries for colonial reasons and in places like Sweden and Denmark (not to mention all the English first language countries and some of Asia where they also sometimes chose an “English” name as well as a native one). Make up your mind 🤣

All the Gwilyms I know personally are over 50, I rarely hear it in schools compared to William/Wiliam.

i think you could just lean into it and affectionately give him bilbo as a nn

Why wouldn’t there be a Harry Bow?

Haribo sweets have only really been available in the UK since the mid 90s!

I know a William who’s 18 and his nickname is Bilbo.
harry is as bad as Jim, Al.
something like Freddie/ Francis / Daniel would work?

@Alexandrine , if you scroll up you'll see that I said it wasn't 'very international'.
I didn't say 'it is popular in African countries for colonial reasons'.

The names you hear in schools depend on where you are and the demographic of the area. The names most popular where I am are not the nationally popular ones.

I hope you are not a teacher given your ability to miscomprehend.