Is Christopher boring?

[MyMN]

I've loved the name Christopher for years and am finally getting the chance to use it. Unfortunately, I saw one woman say that she knows 40 Christophers, Johns, etc. and would never consider using basic names like those for her own kids. (This was in a comment section where she was receiving criticism for naming her kids Rowdy, Arrow, and Dixie.) Seeing that discouraged me. I'm not someone who wants to give their child a super uncommon name. I actually like very traditional names, but I also don't want to pick a name that everyone will secretly be thinking is bland and boring.

I teach 7 teenage boys called Alfie.
I teach multiples of Noah, Albie and Ollie.
I can't remember the last time we had a Christopher.

The last round of Alfies are dead though. A baby born now will spend 10 years in the work place with all the dozens 90s Chris's, so will probably have the extra insult of being known as young Chris.

An insult? Strange way of looking at a nice name.

I love it, but then, I have a Christopher so I would say that 🤣
I can also confirm there are no other Christopher’s in the school so I don’t think you need to worry about it being a common name used by multiple

I really like Christopher and I don’t think it’s common at all amongst <18. I am however far less keen on Chris as a nickname. Kit is nice though if you could make it stick.

No, Christopher is handsome.

I don't think so. I definitely don't think he'd be in a room full of them among his peers, my eldest is a teen and I don't think I've heard of a child named Christopher in any of his schooling or.any of my younger children either. I know lots my age but no children.

No it’s lovely, not boring.
I don’t know many young Christophers so I think it actually won’t seem super common for a baby

OP, the person who knows loads of Christophers and Johns probably doesn’t know many young children called by those names. Apparently Christopher reached peak popularity in the eighties, but is now outside the top 100 names. Christopher is a lovely name, and he can be Chris or Kit - I wouldn’t hesitate.

This made me chuckle - my eldest two are Christopher and Alexander! So I agree with you.

Christopher is a beautiful name. I don’t think it is at all common for babies or younger children these days, I don’t know any little Christophers or Chris’.

It was very popular when I was at school (born early 80s). But as Chris. I don’t know anyone who used the full version Christopher which is much nicer IMO. So I’d be wary of that. If you weren’t keen on it being shortened to Chris then you could consider Christoph which reduces it by a syllable and makes it much less likely to be made into Chris

I like it and there are lots of nicknames for it.

Same here. In 3 schools from Yr R - Yr11, there has only been one other Christopher, who was several years above.

I like it, it’s a classic. He’s lots of options for nicknames too. A few of the names that used to be a bit more common are coming back which is nice - we’ve a baby Matthew (Mattie) and a Daniel (Danny) in our group of friends this year!

I think it's great. I went to school with several in the 70s/80s and I've also taught several myself.

It's a good name. There won't be many of his age which is a positive.

A lovely name - strong and masculine.

I would be willing to bet good money that that person has not even MET more than two Johns under the age of 5.

I feel sorry for Rowdy, who is going to spend his life being asked, cautiously, “Is that a family name?”

It’s a bit 70’s and 80’s for me, I don’t think it’s stood the test of time for a classic name like say Alexander, William, George and Henry have.

Nobody that named a child Rowdy gets to have an opinion on the names other people choose.

As it happens we know so many Christophers that DH and I joke that we won’t be accepting any more people in our life named Chris because it’s too confusing already, but they’re all in their 40s and upwards. I can’t remember the last time I met a young Christopher / Chris / Kit so it’s unlikely they’ll have tons in their peer group.

If you’ve loved it for years then use it OP, it’s a fine name.

If you love it and are finally getting to use it then go for it. I personally don’t love it but it’s not bad. It’s definitely better than some of the names suggested on here sometimes.

I love Christopher and I say that as someone who isn’t a fan of a lot of other “classic” names like George, Edward, etc.

there’s no Christopher’s in my kids classes - I would view it as classic but not common now, so a great choice. I’m not sure whether there are any in the school…there is an Adonis though 😂. I have so much sympathy for that poor kid every time his name is mentioned in assembly.

Our adult children have names that could be thought of as boring as there are lots of them about but they tell us that they like that as it means it gives them a better chance of maintaining online privacy.

It's a lovely name.
I have a cousin Christopher, his name is never shortened but some diminutives are Kit and Kester as used in Susan Howatch's Penmaric novels.
Nic Nairn, the TV Chef, has a brother Christopher who's name is shortened to Topher. A bit odd but it's maybe a Scottish thing.