See the results of this poll: Which do you like?
Respondents: 61 (This poll is closed)
- River Orion : 33 (47%)
- River Ashley (my fave, but is it too gender unknown?) : 17 (24%)
- River Ash : 9 (13%)
- River Shepherd: 11 (16%)
[name]River[/name] [name]Benjamin[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]George[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]Antony[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]Gregory[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]Zachary[/name]
[name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] gets my vote. [name]River[/name] [name]Ashton[/name] could be a thought if you want avoid some of the gender ambiguity.
I agree with indianruby, I love [name]River[/name] [name]Ashton[/name]!
I love [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] on a boy and I voted for it but you are right it could be too gender ambiguous esp with [name]Ashley[/name] having “gone to the girls”. Stupid girls ;). I think you might be better off with a gender defining middle name. Pulling from your signature: [name]River[/name] [name]Nikolai[/name], [name]River[/name] Finneas, or [name]River[/name] [name]Sedric[/name] (though I prefer [name]Cedric[/name]) would all be great combos and you wouldn’t have to worry about gender benders. (Also should your kid end up wanting a more tradition name he’s have that options).
[name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] is great but [name]River[/name] [name]Ashton[/name]/[name]Ash[/name] is more masculine.
[name]Orion[/name] is one of my favorites even for a first name. [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name] is amazing!
I adore [name]River[/name] on a boy (and have met one very successful male [name]River[/name]) and while I love the sound of [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name], I do think it’s a bit too gender neutral all together. [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] is nice too, maybe too naturey. All in all, I picked [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name]. It’s very cool and handsome.
I’m going for [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name], too–cool, handsome and masculine. I’m afraid [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] is too ambiguous, and I also like to mix up the syllable count of a name for a less sing-song rhythm. [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] sounds like a place name and also, in my mind, invokes the image of a river of ashes; and [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] has the same two-beat rhythm of [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] and also sounds like the title of some sort of river god 
Best wishes!
I voted for [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name]. If you’re going with a familiar word name like [name]River[/name] as a first name, it’s best to avoid a surname in the middle spot or it sounds like a description of a thing rather than a person’s name ([name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] or [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] sounds like a river named [name]Ashley[/name]/[name]Ash[/name]. [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] is too word heavy.) [name]Orion[/name] is the best option on your poll although I would even choose something more traditional and classic in the middle spot (eg. [name]River[/name] [name]Timothy[/name], [name]River[/name] [name]George[/name]). [name]Do[/name] you have any family members you would like to honour?
I love [name]River[/name] and [name]Ashley[/name] so that combo gets my vote. The ambiguity doesn’t bother me. Have you considered [name]Ashby[/name]? Still ambiguous but [name]Ashby[/name] is slightly more common for boys
[name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] is too abrupt and sounds like river rash
Hahahaha! [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name] is really nice too. I won’t vote for it because I know most are terrified of ‘girly’ boy names and will choose the most ‘masculine’ combo
I like [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] but I think [name]River[/name] [name]Ashton[/name] would be more masculine.
Out of the names I listed, they’re mostly DBF’s choices. [name]Orion[/name] for [name]Sirius[/name] [name]Black[/name]'s middle name and/or [name]Sirius[/name]'s father’s name. Also for our love of stars. Oh, basically every time we’re outside at night, one of us says ‘THERE’S [name]ORION[/name]!’ and the other one goes ‘DUH!’. Haha it’s just a silly thing we do. [name]Ashley[/name] is a boy name DBF has liked for a while… Mostly after the Evil Dead character… his favorite movies. [name]Ash[/name] is a suggestion to turn [name]Ashley[/name] a bit more obviously masculine ([name]Ashton[/name] is a possibility - [name]Asher[/name] is not). [name]Shepherd[/name] is just a name I like. When I was making the poll I was like ‘Ahhh I gotta have one more.’ So, I just threw it in there.
You guys really want to know my top ‘regular’ name?
[name]River[/name] [name]Gabriel[/name].
DBF doesn’t like it. I may be able to convince him though. And Gabriel River is a… river. Thinking about it, Ashley is as well. So I do not know.
I love seeing [name]Ashley[/name] on a boy, but with the already somewhat ambiguous [name]River[/name] I think it’s just asking for gender confusion. I’d go with [name]Orion[/name].
My favourites are [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] and [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name].
[name]Love[/name] [name]River[/name]!
I love [name]River[/name]! It’s been on my list for a while now. None of your combos really stick out to me, but I love your story of [name]Orion[/name]! I think that would be perfect. It sounds great, it’s unique, and most of all it has a meaningful story to you and your husband.
If you’re still looking though, what do you think of [name]River[/name] [name]Jase[/name], [name]River[/name] [name]Jude[/name] or [name]River[/name] [name]Julian[/name]? All have rotated on and off my list with [name]River[/name] [name]Jase[/name] being there the longest.
I love [name]Orion[/name] as a mn but it is too many r’s with [name]River[/name] imo. I love the name [name]Shepard[/name], and the sound of [name]River[/name] [name]Shephard[/name]
I picked [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name]–though I agree it’s kind of a mouthful with all the r’s. But [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] sounded like a sediment, and [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] sounded like an occupation (if a weird one). [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] is too feminine to me.
I love [name]River[/name] as a boy’s name though. I like [name]River[/name] [name]Gabriel[/name] as an alternate. [name]One[/name] advantage of a “traditional” name in the middle is that it’s less likely to sound like a real river/place name (the problem I have with [name]River[/name] [name]Ashton[/name]).
Good luck!
Thanks everyone. Although there were a few comments reinforcing what I originally thought about [name]Ashley[/name], there were also a few that calmed those thoughts… Which I wasn’t exactly expecting. So, with almost one third of the voters’ blessing (good enough for me!), I believe [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] is going on my list as complete!
Thanks again berries! I really love this name and I’m very glad to see that it is (somewhat) acceptable :).
I voted for [name]River[/name] [name]Ashley[/name]. [name]River[/name] [name]Orion[/name] is too much “r,” [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] is an ash tree by a river, and [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] is a shepherd who lives on a river. In other words, [name]River[/name] [name]Ash[/name] and [name]River[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] sound like descriptions and not names.