Thoughts on the boys' name Woody if we have a son?

[MaxiMoomins]

Really struggling with boys names. My partner loves Woody and I’m trying to get on board. I think it’s cute but I don’t LOVE it yet..
How do people feel about it??

we don’t know the gender yet! 😁

I love it, it was on our list. But we had a girl. Interestingly her name was slayed on Mumsnet and I was told I would regret it. But guess what? I have not regretted it. She loves her name and always gets nice comments about it.

Pretty much everyone on this thread who actually knows a Woody - ranging from child-age ones, teens through to 40/50 year olds (including the 40 year old one at my workplace too) has said none of them get teased for those reasons.

I was really just pointing out that a professional workplace is probably the last place someone would have to worry about their name. We have Americans called Randy that we work with regularly. You just don’t think about it at all - just a name - because the person doing the work is doing a professional job.

There might be other less professional places where someone using that kind of nickname could get teased, but it seems that everyone with experience of the name on the thread so far hasn’t encountered that kind of mockery.

I really don't like the name anyway but my more pressing thought was poor kid as it's a nickname for an erection - like being called Stiffy

I know a Woody. I was a bit taken aback at first but it suits him now and feel like a normal name.

All the people saying they know a Woody in their child class or a friends child and they don't get any comments about erections... how do you know that they don't? Would a 15 year old boy even tell his Mum he gets teased for his name that she had chosen? Probably not

Utterly ridiculous. Bad enough if someone ends up with it as a nickname, but if your parents actually put it on your birth certificate they need an intervention, as they’re clearly too stupid to make such decisions.

But would you call a child Randy in the UK?
BTW, I spent all my working life interviewing people. Some had given their children awful names, I've even had the proud parents tell me that they made up the name, I didn't pass any comments as it was inappropriate, however behind the scenes we often raised our eyebrows or made a comment.

Randy, as an American name has been around for generations. Randy Newman springs to mind. That doesn’t mean you use it in 2026! Ditto Woody - Mostly used as a nickname. Apart from Woody in Toy Story, I’ve heard it as “Woody Wizzer” - used as toilet training slang for a 3 year old. The risk of jokes is just too great.

Same. Horrific name. 😅

Was that meant for me?

DH is a big WG fan hence wanting the name for our son. Most people had never heard of WG but I thought more would now at least because of the film. I wasn't assuming you in particular only knew him from the film 😄😄

Since you can’t be bothered/don’t know how to use the quote function, I’m not sure who you are replying to.

But if it’s me, I’m perfectly calm. You’re the one with an aggressive, unnecessary response that’s been deleted 🤣

His full name is Woodrow.

Yep.

Woody Guthrie’s full name was Woodrow. Give him choices. Call him a name that can be shortened Woody. Edward for example. And don’t ask questions you might not like the answer to.

And in 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years' time... is he still going to love having a cute, adorable little name?

Would you like it if people fluffed your hair, pinched your cheeks, asked you what your favourite dinosaur was and told you to be good for Father Christmas when you're 40?!

Hey, I am 44 and I still stan for diplodocus and triceratops!

I know a 23yo Woody, I was surprised at his name when he was born but he really suits it. He’s also just a very cool young man!

It's not a name IMO

I teach an Elwood, nn Woody and I have heard some sniggering about it from teenage boys. The girls prefer to call him "bend and snap"! He takes it with extremely good grace.

Are you mid pregnancy? I came up with some bonkers names then. My now young adult dc are horrified at what they were nearly called.

My brother used to say that women should not be able to choose names for babies for 3 months either side of the birth.

I know a cantankerous old sod called Woody do its a no from me

Lovely.

When they learn that it's another name for an erection the bullying or even playful pisstaking (pun sort of intended) will be relentless.

It's cute as a nickname for a baby or child but I think you should give him a proper name too.
Edward would give him a lot of options