Baby names-- boy

[elaine]

What baby boy names do you like? Do you like more traditional or unique names? Is it a tradition in your family for the first-born boy to be named after someone else?

(As an afterthought-- I have a friend who is expecting a baby boy soon. She is looking for help with unique boy names. Any suggestions?)

[HisHeathenHoney]

Well....I like traditional names. I'm not going to be any help about "unique" names.

I 'm not a big fan of naming children exactly after someone else. A distant relation maybe, where the person is removed enough (by time or distance of relation) that it won't encroach too much on the kid's own identity. Our boys have middle names that honor various relatives (DS1's middle name is my Dad's name, e.g.). To me that establishes a family connection without imposing too much "you're just like your F/GF/M/GM" type baggage on the kid. I might also have named DS1 Luke after my great great grandfather, but DH hated that name. Probably just as well since it has become a very trendy name and anyway no one would have believed that we hadn't done it because of Star Wars.

As for juniors and seniors and IIIs and IVs....I'm kinda with Miss Manners on that one--unless you're a king or a pope, I think it is just silly.

Not that any of this was helpful. If she doesn't know it, there is a cool, addictive little baby name website on the web, Baby Name Voyager (browser must be Java enabled).

http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

It lets you type in names and see their popularity over time, the chart responds as you type the names. It is very cool.

[grubby]

I tend to like older, more normal (not exactly traditional) but not quite trendy names. I am not big on the whole unique spelling thing, mainly because I am a horrible speller and I was afraid I would forget how to spell my kid's name.

My favorite boys (first and middle) names, in no particular order:
Kye
Corbin
Ethan
Christian
James
Michael
Maxwell
Zachary
Riley

But then again, I long the full name on some but don't care for when people shorten it, i.e., Christian to Chris.

[KayKay]

I like very traditional names. Very traditional. White bread, plain jane, everyone-can-pronounce and no-one-makes-fun-of names. (Can you tell what my name is *not*? )

My P's named me after a friend who was Norwegian, so my name has been butchered for 45 years. I hate it. I don't even think *I* pronounce it right, because I stopped caring back when I was about 10.

Couple that with my DH's last name which is very "odd" sounding - one of those ethnic-sounding-but-shortened-in-Ellis-Island names.

DH's first and middle name are total nerd names... one of our "family secrets" is his middle name LOL!! It's really sad. When we were dating and he told me his middle name, I swear I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I mean, a nerdy middle name is one thing, but a nerdy first AND middle names? Ugh... WHAT was MIL THINKING???

So come time to name our son... DH and I actually came up with the same exact name individually; I almost fell over when DS said "What do you think about naming it X if it's a boy?"

I like names like Michael, Robert, Daniel, John, James, Thomas, Patrick, Joseph, Peter, etc.

The really interesting thing is that my son's white-bread plain name is unique in his age group! There are Tylers and Travises and Ryans and Aidens and Hunters galore, and good ol' plain name DS is the only one in the whole school! LOL.


ETA: Cool website HHH!! My DS's name hit its popularity peak in the late 40's/early 50's. Yup... that's about right!

[elaine]

Thanks for the link, HHH. It's funny, I told my friend the same thing! I like more traditional names so I wouldn't be much help with something more unique. LOL.

Names I like: David, Robert, Christopher, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Kevin, Adam, William.

[Becca]

Everyone always laughs when I tell them the boy name I've had picked out since I was 15. I'll never get to use it but I still love it.

Wolfe

I know, it's different.

[Grace]

Hmm... yes that is different!

I heard a woman a shop calling out 'Cougar, Cougar' at the top of her voice a few years ago. I thought she was calling her dog -turns out it was her son....

I prefer plain names - I like Matthew but that is the name of an ex boyf so that is out... Harry, Harrison, Luke (DH hates it - says it reminds him of something Satanic - same again for Damon...), Jacob, Noah (again, DH hates it - too alternative). I think DH would call all boys and all male pets Jim or Bob or something if he had his way!!

[HisHeathenHoney]

Originally Posted by Grace

Hmm... yes that is different!

I heard a woman a shop calling out 'Cougar, Cougar' at the top of her voice a few years ago. I thought she was calling her dog -turns out it was her son....

Oh, you KNOW that kid is gonna get called "Booger" in elementary school.

[KayKay]

Originally Posted by HisHeathenHoney

Oh, you KNOW that kid is gonna get called "Booger" in elementary school.

There's a kid in my friend's son's class named Beans. I don't think that's his real name, but it's a nickname. It's actually kinda cute, IMO.

[snafu]

I liked the name Hunter, but when paired with Christian (DS's middle name) and our last name (ex's) it would have been the source of many jokes. (As bad as a girl being named "Ivy Gardener" or a boy being called Richard/?ick Little)


I also like the name Caleb James