Names for baby boy

[BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw]

Husband and I can’t agree on any potential boy names for baby. He doesn’t seem to like any at all and just keeps suggesting we call a baby boy Paul after his dad and cousin 🙄

Baby boy names I like:
Elliot
Isaac
Declan
Niall
Patrick
Harvey
Nathan
Dexter
Stanley
Axel
Marcus
Marshall
Ambrose
Anderson
Jack
Hayden
Callum
Fraser
Samson
Austin
Jake
Darcy

I feel like I have suggested so many names and he literally hates ALL of them. Are they really so awful?

Lots of lovely names on that list OP. Has your DH suggested any?

@FeministThrowingAPrincessParty thank you, I really did think most of them are pretty inoffensive! He hasn’t suggested any apart from Paul 🙄🙄🙄 we agreed on a baby girl name really easily!

What girl's name have you shortlisted?

I think I can see why he's saying No to your list but I think if you edited it you might find a happy medium

Other names similar to Paul you both might like….
Michael
Joseph
Daniel
John
Joshua
Sam/Samuel

Well your list is very varied so it’s hard to believe he hates them all. Maybe he’s just not ready to think about names? If so crack on and he can come up with some suggestions himself when he’s ready.

If he likes Paul, would he be on board with John, Saul, Seth or Sean? Along similar lines but nicer!

Could you suggest Paul as a middle name to honour his father?

Fwiw, I like the name Paul.

Have Paul as a middle if he must? it’s easy to pair with most first names….

Elliott paul
isaac Paul
Stanley paul
eetc…

We already have one of all of those in the family apart from Samuel but I don’t want him to just be a Sam.

I like John. John is what I want as a middle name as it was the name of both my grandfathers and the middle name of my dad, uncle and brother. I wouldn’t “mind” using Paul as well as a middle name except I don’t want it to become “John Paul” in people’s heads

Our baby girl names are Juniper and Clio

use Paul as middle name.

In addition to what you suggested how about Alexander Paul

Thanks @BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw ,
I had pruned your list earlier to make it more 'Paul':
Elliot
Isaac
Jack
Jake Jacob
Marcus Mark
Anderson Andrew

Callum
Fraser
Samson
Austin
Declan
Niall
Patrick
Harvey
Nathan
Dexter
Stanley
Hayden
Axel
Marshall
Ambrose
Darcy

but your reply has food for thought.

Darcy is a girls name. Axel has been ruined in the same way as Myra and adolf.

My favourites are Jake, Callum, Patrick and jack.

What's obvious is that Paul for a boy is wildly different from Clio and Juniper.
Does he expect a son to have a certain personality (e.g. turn out to be a chartered accountant) and a daughter to be more creative (e.g. pop star or model)? If he does, is he about 90 years old and stuck in the 1950s?

Presumably the baby will have the same surname as his or her grandfather. I've nothing against the name Paul - it was DPIL's name and I know hundreds of middle aged ones.

If I was critiquing your list based on my own taste:

Elliot - 3 different spellings, will be misspelt
Isaac - nice but sounds a bit like 'I suck', don't like Ike.
Jack - Quite like but know an awful lot of them
Jake - like if short for Jacob.

Declan - like but know a few my age
Niall - Nigh-ul or Nee-ul?
Patrick - like, also like Paddy
Callum - like but prefer Calum (see Elliot)
Fraser - like
Samson - like
Austin - don't mind
Stanley - ok, will be Stan
Marcus - fine, a bit Rashford
Harvey - not keen
Nathan - not keen
Dexter - not keen
Hayden - too Jayden, Kayden, Brayden

Marshall - No
Ambrose - Too Amber-Rose
Anderson - No
Axel - NO
Darcy - NO, I don't even like it for a girl.

What is your surname like? Some names might not go with it.

@Tailsoftales who has ruined Axel in the same way as Adolf??

@NamingNoNames yes that’s exactly my point and his cousin also has the same last name so we would have THREE Paul Lastnames. It’s ridiculous - I already find it weird his cousin has the same name as his dad!

Say that to him. Little Paul would probably be called something else like Baby David in The Royle Family or John Ross in Dallas.

Isaac is my favourite. I also like Fraser and Jack (which is related to John).

What about Leo, Arlo, Ezra, Miles or Jasper?

We have a Leo and a Jasper in the family already.

I did have Miles on my list but I seem to see it everywhere nowadays

From you list I only really like Marcus and Elliot

you have chosen relatively uncommon girls names, if you wanted to continue similarly for the boy what about

Hugo
Casper
Vincent
Julius / Julian

He sounds very traditional - is he from a specific part of the country or a culture / religion you could tap into for unusual names?

He’s white from Essex so no 🤣

I don’t mind Paul, or John Paul (if you make it clear you’re calling him just John not “John Paul” day to day)
Or how about Apollo with Paul for short?

Apollo nn Paul 😆 Why not Leopauld?

I quite like Apollo nn Paul 🤣 not keen on Leopold - my cousin is Leothric (Leo) and I think that’s quite enough to be getting on with

From ChatGPT - anything on the list below that you like?

Essex has a mix of ancient Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and East Anglian heritage, so many traditional names associated with the county are old English rather than uniquely “Essex.” If you’re looking for names that would have felt at home in historic Essex villages from the medieval period through the 19th century, here are some good choices:
Old English / Anglo-Saxon

• Edmund – associated with East Anglia and common across Essex.
• Edwin
• Oswald
• Leofric – a very old Anglo-Saxon name.
• Godric
• Aelfric (Ælfric) – borne by the Ælfric of Eynsham, whose works circulated widely in Anglo-Saxon England.
• Wulfric
• Cuthbert

Medieval Essex favourites Names commonly found in parish records from Essex include:

• John
• William
• Thomas
• Richard
• Robert
• Henry
• Geoffrey
• Walter
• Roger
• Ralph
• Simon
• Nicholas

Tudor and Stuart Essex By the 1500s–1700s these were especially common:

• George
• Edward
• James
• Samuel
• Benjamin
• Isaac
• Joseph
• Nathaniel
• Daniel

Distinctively East Anglian feeling These names have a particularly traditional East Anglian character:

• Edmund
• Oswald
• Aldred
• Aldwyn
• Everard
• Wilfred
• Cecil
• Percival

Rural Victorian Essex If you’re imagining a farm labourer or village blacksmith from 1850–1900:

• Albert
• Arthur
• Ernest
• Frederick
• Alfred
• Sidney
• Herbert
• Cecil
• Percy
• Horace

Rare but authentically old

• Aldhelm
• Ecgbert
• Hereward
• Dunstan
• Swithun
• Alwin
• Godwin
• Wilmot (historically used for men as well as women)

If you’re after names that sound unmistakably rooted in old Essex, my favourites would be:

• Edmund
• Godwin
• Leofric
• Aldwyn
• Alfred
• Arthur
• Edwin
• Oswald
• Everard
• Cecil

These evoke the county’s long Anglo-Saxon history while still feeling recognisably English. If you’re interested, I can also suggest names that are specifically documented in medieval Essex parish registers or from the Domesday Book for an even more authentic county-specific