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 know a teenage Woody. It’s a great name and it suits him. He’s never been called anything to do with an erection AFAIK, nor do people tell him Andy’s coming. So unoriginal.
I also know a Woody in his 50s. He has always liked his name.
Go for it, OP.

Maybe I'm just an old dinosaur, but I really don't get the idea of giving nicknames/informal versions of names as birth certificate names. Why on earth wouldn't you want to give your child more options, depending on various life circumstances, as they grow up?

How well do you know him - and in what way? If he's, say, the DS of one of your friends, do you think he would actually freely tell his mum's mate (or indeed any adult other than a parent) that the kids at school call him Boner or Hardon, based on the fact that his actual name is another well-known slang word meaning the same thing - or ask him every morning when they see him if he has an erection?!

Jonty, Ptolemy, and Lettice are a long way from 'fine'.

Very well. Yes he would tell his mum and no, nothing like this has ever been said to him.

Agreed.

I'd choose a name that can have it as a nickname.

The issue really is-if you can not give your child a name that MIGHT make his life more difficult, then why would you? Woody might well sail through life with no issues. But the potential is there. So why do it?

Indeed. Just because Lettice was (presumably) an accepted name in times past, anybody giving it to their DD is knowingly deciding to make things difficult for her throughout life, with everybody thinking they're the first person to think of asking if she has a brother called Tomato. I'll bet the vast majority would drop the 'c' in everyday life and just be known as Lettie.

Similar with Ptolemy: yes, maybe people should be educated enough to have heard the name and to know how to pronounce it, but in the real world, that isn't going to happen.

I know it's a standard MN trope, but I do think that anybody wanting to give their baby a 'wacky' or deliberately awkward/difficult name should be forced to introduce themselves to everybody new whom they meet as that name for 6 months beforehand.

I know a man about thirty five called Woody.
His name is a nick name for Edward.

Woody the Woodpecker

It always makes me think of that cartoon woodpecker, Woody Woodpecker, but I also remember plenty of sniggering round Woody in Toy Story which I didn't understand at first but was told it referred to male arousal, so doesn't strike me as the ideal name for your son.

I just think there are lots of other names ...

Toy Story

Love it

Oh and it’s not unusual really at all, there at 2 at my daughters nursery.

also - Toy Story - so what? It’s just the name of a character. 99% of names are also the names of characters in films. It’s not a negative association.

Well many of us see sex and gender as the same thing so it looks like the poster does too.

MY son had a friend named Woody. Okay with very Toy Story connotations until he reached secondary school then his life became hell to the extent he refused to go. BIg willies drawn all over his stuff and at one point on his forehead in permanent marker. At 17 he changed his name to Jack .

Please reconsider

Well my brother's neighbour's hairdresser's dog's aunt has a son called Woody and nobody he's ever met has made the very common connection to the slang word for an erection. Ever. And of course I would know if that HAD happened. So Woody is a great name.

Isn't Woody also a nick-name for Edward? I also met a bloke named Wardell who was called Woody. So there are options of real names.

I don’t like it. It’s just a bit uninspiring. Do you like the connection to nature? Because in that case I would go for something more “alive”… Ash, Forest, Oak, Sky, River.
But Wood makes me think of dead trees. It’s just so static sounding.

Yes I came to say this. Couldn't get past it.

We have an Elwood in the family who goes by Woody. He's also not been teased about it to the best of my knowledge.

Don't necessarily think you need a long name if you like Woody as a stand-alone though.

I like it.

And I hate the idea of 'prescribing' a nickname. Nicknames grow with the person and being a 'nick' name they should be only loosely linked to the real name. Like calling a Thomas 'Faceache' or something. Tom is not a 'nickname' for Thomas. Nicknames aren't the short version of a name and ought to evolve organically.

One of my pet hates. By all means have a child called Woodrow and call him Woody, but that's a shortening, not a nickname. Perfectly good name, if a bit juvenile.

It reminds me of Woody Woodpecker. I went to school with someone nicknamed Woody because his surname was Woods, and everyone joked that it was really because of his hard penis - even he went along with it!

It's certainly not inspiring enough to take on the connotations imo. Lots of other nice names to choose from OP.

If you do use it OP, at least give him it as nn so he has somewhere to go if he does run into issues.

I quite like the pp suggestion of Elwood.

It sounds a stretch as a nn for Edward to me. Firstly, I wouldn't actually say Ed-Wood, I'd say ED-ward, but also there are so many established nns for it like Ed, Ted, Eddy, Teddy that Wood is just a bit random.

Does your OH like Eric (short for Erection!😂)

I knew a Woody at universty. It wasn't his real name, it was a nickname.
No-one ever connected it to erections.
(although woody is definitely a word for erections, and it is has been for a long time, ie not a passing thing)

I personally would always use a full name and then a shortening eg Elizabeth and Liz, rather than just the shortening. I wish people wouldn't call short version of names nicknames, nicknames are things you get as you grow up because of something about you. Shortenings are perfectly normal variations on your name.
I like giving my kids options, so if you use Elizabeth, there are a dozen short versions they can choose, or use the whole thing.

Names today are so varied, no-one blinks an eye at an unusual name, and kids don't get teased for most of the things mn thinks they do (I'm an ex-teacher)

But with Woody it is VERY VERY connected to Toy Story, so I would probably want to give him options and start with Elwood, or Woodward and then use Woody as a shortening.