Beowulf?

Normally, I am a super normal name liker, to the point my daughter was named a name ranked #9 when she was born.

In making a list for our next (gender as yet unknown), my husband keeps nominating Beowulf as a boy’s name. I love the name, as a book title and strong male fiction character, but can’t get over how unusual it is. Nonetheless, I see tons of people these days in the birth announcements giving their chilldren extremely unusal monikers, so it’s not as if Beowulf would be the only differently named kid out there.

So, honest opinions, too weird or doable in the age of unique names?

Sorry but it’s way too over the top.

If you want more realistic birth announcements (as in real babies) you should try looking at The Telegraph and Times announcements (based in the UK).

Beowulf is way too over the top and pretentious. If I saw someone announcing their baby’s name as Beowulf I’d assume they were desperately trying to prove how literary and clever they were.

It could be a fun pet name, though?

[name]Way[/name], way over the top. If you absolutely love it and have to have it, I’d toss it in as a middle name and call him Wolfie.

I hate to say it, but I agree. Beowulf seems pretentious; it takes cool-literary-reference-name to a whole new level of absurdity, in my opinion.

I guess I’m the only one so far who feels differently. I like it! I don’t think it’s pretentious. Everybody knows who the character Beowulf is from high school, so I don’t think it “tries to prove how literary you are,” since the story of Beowulf is actually, from what I understand, common knowledge. I think it has a nice sound and I can definitely see it on a real person, especially today with all of the more unusual names that are used.

What about just [name]Wolf[/name]? Its a little more wearable. Or another Anglo-[name]Saxon[/name] name might be satisfying, like Cerdic, Godwin, [name]Osborn[/name], [name]Aldred[/name].

I’m open to different names but I really think this one is too far. It’s a book almost all of us read in high school, almost everyone knows the name, but I think there’s some very good reasons it’s not actually used more.

My husband gets like this too, I always find myself wanting to route for anything “out of the norm” that he says just for the sake of getting him on the right path but this one isn’t a winner.

Speaking of, his best friend is dead set on us using the name “Hurricane” for a boy, thinks it goes great with our last name and is sure we’ll have an athlete… UGH… I wish he wasn’t serious, good thing he’s not the dad!

While I would be very amused to meet someone named Beowulf, I can’t recommend it.
[name]Wolf[/name], [name]Wolfgang[/name], Wolfric or Wulfric
[name]Beauregard[/name], [name]Boris[/name], [name]Balthazar[/name], [name]Barnabas[/name]
[name]Otto[/name], [name]Gunther[/name]
[name]Perseus[/name], [name]Theseus[/name], [name]Lancelot[/name]

I love it! I can’t believe anyone would think “Godwin” or “[name]Osborn[/name]” is more “wearable” than a totally cool name most of us did hear in school. Like [name]David[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name], Beowulf was a king. It’s a fantastic name that people will get used to. [name]How[/name] could anyone say it’s too different when names like “[name]Asa[/name]” and “[name]Thor[/name]” are gaining popularity? This is actually the name I have chosen for my boy, and I am glad most people don’t use it. I don’t want him to have the same name as other people. I have a more common name, and my sisters is even worse, and it just makes it much harder for us, especially as professionals when people are searching for us on the internet, when your name isn’t unique.

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I love it! Wish I’d thought of it.

Oh no, not Beowulf…that’s just super wacky. I can see endless teasing potential there…

Looking at the name for its own qualities, it’s really not any more “out there” than anything else. It has a more pleasant sound than something like [name]Wolfgang[/name] and isn’t any more lofty than [name]Thor[/name]. On the other hand, I am afraid I have to admit that my honest first thought was, “Oh, they think a lot of themselves, don’t they” with a bit of a giggle. I don’t know whether to put it in the “trying too hard to be tough and cool” category with Optimus, or “trying to be so profound it’s trite” with [name]Atticus[/name], or just “parents thought it was super cool and I’m not sure they hit the mark” with [name]Orpheus[/name].

That said, full disclosure here is that I have a son named [name]Peregrine[/name] with the nickname [name]Pip[/name]. A lot of people think [name]Peregrine[/name] is a pompous and pretentious name, and some think calling him [name]Pippin[/name] for short is way too connected with [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings (even though it has been a traditional nickname since the Middle Ages). So your “take away” summary here can be either, “Beowulf is even too out there for someone with a kid named [name]Peregrine[/name],” or you can just figure Beowulf isn’t any worse than [name]Peregrine[/name] and it’s just a matter of taste. I’m almost inclined to take the latter opinion, even on myself. I was surprised at my first initial thought, because I’m generally fairly open-minded about names. I think maybe Beowulf could grow on me. Except not.

Looking at the name for its own qualities, it’s really not any more “out there” than anything else. It has a more pleasant sound than something like [name]Wolfgang[/name] and isn’t any more lofty than [name]Thor[/name]. On the other hand, I am afraid I have to admit that my honest first thought was, “Oh, they think a lot of themselves, don’t they” with a bit of a giggle. I don’t know whether to put it in the “trying too hard to be tough and cool” category with Optimus, or “trying to be so profound it’s trite” with [name]Atticus[/name], or just “parents thought it was super cool and I’m not sure they hit the mark” with [name]Orpheus[/name].

That said, full disclosure here is that I have a son named [name]Peregrine[/name] with the nickname [name]Pip[/name]. A lot of people think [name]Peregrine[/name] is a pompous and pretentious name, and some think calling him [name]Pippin[/name] for short is way too connected with [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings (even though it has been a traditional nickname since the Middle Ages). So your “take away” summary here can be either, “Beowulf is even too out there for someone with a kid named [name]Peregrine[/name],” or you can just figure Beowulf isn’t any worse than [name]Peregrine[/name] and it’s just a matter of taste. I’m almost inclined to take the latter opinion, even on myself. I was surprised at my first initial thought, because I’m generally fairly open-minded about names. I think maybe Beowulf could grow on me. Except not.

It’s too much in my opinion. I like unique names, but you have to draw the line somewhere imo…

I’m inclined to agree with the majority. There are unusual, nearly-unheard of names, and then there are names that are just trying too hard to stand out. It’s definitely different, but not in a good way.

I also think it would be a bit odd to have a daughter with such a common name and a son named Beowulf. She might wonder why she didn’t get such an uncommon name, too. Growing up, my brother and I each had middle-of-the-road names (recognizable but not common) and I always wondered why he got a cool, spunky nn and I didn’t. Not that you’re confined to the top 10 for a boy, but it’s something to keep in mind.

I agree, but I love Beowulf