My husband and I are at a complete standstill. Our son is ten weeks old !!! and we still can’t agree on his name. The only name my husband really likes is [name]Max[/name]. His last name is a harsh-sounding [name]German[/name] name, so I think with “[name]Max[/name]” it’s all a bit much – especially since he is 3/4 British.
It really bothers me that his last name doesn’t reflect his background more, so I was really hoping to find a name that seemed more “English”. I really like [name]Finn[/name] and [name]Griffin[/name], these sort of softer names. Our daughter has been calling her brother [name]Teddy[/name] (which we both like a lot, and which really suits him), so I’ve been trying to come up with name that [name]Teddy[/name] could be short for (but we don’t like [name]Edward[/name] or [name]Theodore[/name]). I thought we could call him [name]Aidan[/name], and then call him [name]Teddy[/name] for short – but hubby says he hates [name]Aidan[/name].
I’ve also tried to come up with names that I like that [name]Max[/name] could be short for, other than Maximiliam, [name]Maxwell[/name], [name]Maximo[/name] etc etc which I don’t like (maybe [name]Mason[/name], [name]Magnus[/name], [name]Maddox[/name] or [name]Cormac[/name]?) Husband not too keen on any of them. I feel like I’ve over-analyzed everything to the point where I’m just paralyzed, and my husband seems unable to compromise at all. Does anybody have any great ideas?
If you don’t like [name]Edward[/name] or [name]Theodore[/name], I think the [name]Teddy[/name] nickname is going to be hard to come by, but at a stretch you could possibly use :
[name]Nathaniel[/name] (it has exactly the same meaning as [name]Theodore[/name] - ‘gift of God’)
[name]Edgar[/name]
[name]Edwin[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Don[/name]‘t count out giving him a completely different name, but still with the nn [name]Teddy[/name] - I know a lot of people who go by nicknames completely unrelated to their actual name, especially just within their families.
If [name]Max[/name] really doesn’t suit your surname I’d avoid it, especially if your husband is not fond of any of the max— names.
Other English names :
[name]Albert[/name]
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Algernon[/name]
[name]Alistair[/name] (Scottish)
[name]Ambrose[/name]
[name]Andrew[/name]
[name]Archibald[/name]
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]Bartholomew[/name]
[name]Benjamin[/name]
[name]Bernard[/name]
[name]Cecil[/name]
[name]Cedric[/name] (Celtic)
[name]Charles[/name]
[name]Christopher[/name]
[name]Clarence[/name]
[name]Clement[/name]
[name]Clovis[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]
[name]Cosmo[/name]
[name]Corin[/name]
[name]Daniel[/name]
Dickon (I’m sure you can see the potential problems with this one)
[name]Ernest[/name]
[name]Everard[/name]
[name]Fabian[/name]
[name]Felix[/name]
[name]Florian[/name]
[name]George[/name]
[name]Harry[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]James[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Jonathon[/name]
[name]Joseph[/name]
[name]Leopold[/name] (Germanic)
[name]Lorcan[/name] (Irish)
[name]Marmaduke[/name]
[name]Michael[/name]
[name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Ormond[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name]
[name]Oswald[/name]
[name]Percival[/name]
[name]Peregrine[/name]
[name]Reuben[/name]
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]Ronald[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Tarquin[/name]
[name]Thomas[/name]
[name]Timothy[/name]
[name]Victor[/name]
[name]William[/name]
Saints’ names in general : [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Mark[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]Peter[/name], [name]Paul[/name] etc.
I hope this helped!
What about using [name]Max[/name] as a middle name and finding a first name that is more British sounding and good with the surname – a compromise of sorts. That way you could still use the name [name]Max[/name] when he is older if that is your hubby’s favorite but he’ll have a nicer sounding name and more option as he grows. [name]Max[/name] is so short that even if you already have a family mn picked out you could use two middle names without much trouble.