Can I be boring?

[BananaSkin]

Sorry to jump on the bandwaggon, but can you tell me about these too please (what their parents are like, what they do for a living, and whether they are Burberry or Boden?

Xander
Charlie
Freddie
Toby
Joshua
Alfie
Monty
Will

OK - IMHO so don't shout...
Don't want to offend anyone but seeing as you have used the terms Boden and Burberry I will work on these lines!

Xander - trying too hard if that's his name, doesn't sound quite complete.

Charlie/Freddie/Will.. all posh teenagers names but in this case all nicknames. All Boden types will have proper names. Very Burberry to give child nickname as proper name. Many many children called Charlie, Alfie, Freddie etc.
Don't shout, it's just an observation

Toby pretty posh, ditto Monty. For what it's worth I prefer Monty.

From your list I prefer Monty!

My favourites from your list are:

William (Will)
Montgomer/Montague (Monty)
Alexander (Xander)

Xander - 20 something parents who used to be buffy fans
Charlie - 30 something parents trying to hard to be hip and cool and giving a nickname instead of a name
Freddie - ditto
Toby - the family pet right?
Joshua - nice parents, as long as they don't call him joshie , definitely more bodenesque
Alfie - middle aged parents trying to be cool.... horrible name to inflict on a child
Monty - burns... simpsons fans taking the joke too far
Will - [iam], you meant william right?

Charlie
Freddie
Toby
Joshua
Alfie
Will (iam on bc) (like a lot)
All nice names, not my faves but neither offensive or embarrassing.

Monty
Xander
Erm no - Use ALExander by all means but Xander is a bit try hard.
Monty is a cat

I like Toby, Monty and Will, all of which are just good, solid wax jacket and Hunter wellies kinds of names.

Charlie, Freddie, Alfie are all very common in Boden-circles I think. Joshua is (fake) Burberry imho. Xander I just don't like but don't know which designer it would be!

Xander - bullied all his life because of his awful name
Charlie - is a darling
Freddie - is very camp
Toby - likes cakes
Joshua - has no personality at all because 15 other people he knows are called Joshua
Alfie - parents used to like Shane Ritchie
Monty - looks like Kirk from Coronation Street
Will - is cool

Proper names proper names proper names

Don't give your child a nickname as a full name!

Otherwise -
Alexander
Charles
Frederick
Alfred
William
All fine names (wouldn't chose Frederick myself) I agree with twosofar on the analysis side.

Joshua a bit more unusual, makes me think of Big
Toby, sorry have to agree I associate with dogs, what about Tobias or Tobit?
Monty, our neighbours cat, and very very Boden - I can only think of it said in a very very upperclass voice!

Why can't you use Charlie instead of Charles? It's not against the law. Charles is a shit name. Charlie quite nice.

Because it's not a name in it's own right. The only Charles I know is always Charlie (or Chazza) but that is his choice, and he is a teenager, so I don't know what he will choose when he has grown up/does to work etc. I think "ie" endings are not very grown up, especially for men. I can only think of one adult "ie" (a Jamie) which suggests to me that most adult men grow out of their childhood family names. Not giving your child that choice seem a bit unfair really. If you don't like Charles then don't use Charlie. It's not as if there aren't hundreds of names to choose from.

I agree - use the proper name, Charles, on the birth certificate. That gives a child more options later on (Charles, Charlie, etc).

It's not a name in its own right????!!! Says who? It can be whatever it wants to be. Times are a changing, names are evolving. That view is an old fashioned load of poppycock if you don't mind me saying! If I didn't like Charles, but liked Charlie it's entirely up to me if I use Charlie as a proper name - free country and all that.

Of course you can name your child what you want, but some of just feel that by giving the 'full' version of a name, the child has MORE options later on. In the case of Charles, he can use Charlie OR Charles.

Personally I also feel that -ie endings are cute for small children, but less appropriate for adults (and yes, there are exceptions).

Oh I don't really care what other people choose to call their children (well except for the truly ridiculous when I will along with everyone else snigger in private). It's the child who might mind, or not as the case may be.

Xander - Strange parents who want a DC whos name begins with X because no-one elses will.

Charlie - trying too hard, but IMO better than Charles

Freddie - Dad is a Cricket Fan

Toby - always reminds me of Toby Jug

Joshua - straight laced parents

Alfie - Agree with parents trying to hard, its a nice name for a Toddler but not for an adult.

Monty - Dad likes Golf

Will - William is much better

Xander: I do not know him nor his parents

Charlie : we know two families with Charlies, one is is a lovely one the other the parents are really nice but Charlie I am afraid...is a bit of a tearaway!

Freddie nice little boy with a wealthy family

Toby : I do not know any but like the name.

Joshua : same as for the Charlie comment!

Alfie : very nice shy little boy with pleasant down to earth parents.

Monty : never heard the name but quite like it. It has a certain ring to it.

Will : the one we know is a real gem and so are is parents.

Nearly all of them are more Boden than Burberry - provided they actually have the 'full' version on their birth certificate (probably followed by a string of other names, poss inherited from around the family - go for at least 2 middle names as a bare minimum)

Nearly all, I said. But Alfie, I'm afraid, cute as it is, has slidden waaaaay down the demographic slippery slope. Last baby I heard named Alfie was behind me in the queue in Asda. His mum looked about 20, had scraped her hair into a pony tail and had mahoosive Elizabeth Duke gold hooped earrings. More fake Burberry than even the real thing I'm afraid.

Xander works in IT support. He plays dungeons & dragons at weekends. He doesn't wash very often and is still a virgin.

Charlie is training to be a plumber like his Dad. He's quite short and stocky. He left school at 16 and likes going to Spain on holiday.

Freddie was very spoilt as a child and consequently has grown up rather arrogant. He 'experimented' with his friend Giles at public school but is now convinced he prefers girls.

Toby is a young farmer. He wears country clothing and likes riding and pigeon shooting.

Joshua calls himself J-Lex because he finds his name so dull. He's proud to call himself a chav and is quite embarrassed of his middle class upbringing.

Alfie is six and believes his mother's purpose is to serve him. Father is a stockbroker so she should serve him too.

Monty has a weak chin and receding hairline. He deals antiques but he's not very good at it.

Will is a ladies man. He's well endowed and uses that fact to his advantage. He works in sales, on a commission basis.

LOL Cuppa-tea

all posh except joshua ans sometimes charlie