At the moment we are TTC, and have a girl name we are happy with. But boys names…arghhh!!!
Previously I had just [name]William[/name] (nn [name]Liam[/name]), [name]Oliver[/name] or [name]Liam[/name].
Please don’t tell me how popular they are… I KNOW! In [name]Oz[/name] they are all very popular. But I do love them!
I have had [name]Liam[/name] (20yrs on a list) and [name]Oliver[/name] (15 years on a list), so I think that qualifies as not randomly following the current trend. Nevertheless, I am entertaining new ideas for less popular names.
What makes it VERY hard is DH is from a boy heavy family who have used most of the ‘classics’, I am a teacher so some names are off the list forever, plus all my BFF’s have classically named boys.
I prefer simple ‘see and say’ names (learnt my lesson after naming the older one). Ideally names which will be written correctly first go, (however I realise some people can’t even spell [name]Jack[/name], there is no 100%!). I have been searching for some less popular but still known names to add to my list.
The original list:
[name]William[/name] (#1) (nn [name]Liam[/name]) (Note: [name]William[/name] is a family name)
[name]Oliver[/name] (#5)
[name]Liam[/name] (#15)
[name]Henry[/name] (#39 top 50 here) (but probably as a mn, I feel it may be a little old fashioned with [name]Brooke[/name] and DS)
My new additons:
[name]Leo[/name] (top 50-100 here)
[name]Ryan[/name] (#23 top 50 here)
[name]Evan[/name] (not in top 100)
[name]Nathan[/name] (nn [name]Nate[/name]) probably on of the few classics not used by people I know (top 50-100)
[name]Finley[/name] (nn [name]Finn[/name]) (top 50-100 for boys in [name]Oz[/name], not on girl list at all)
[name]Finn[/name] (top 50-100) [name]Just[/name] use the name as is.
[name]Zane[/name] (not in top 100) DD thinks this is amazing due to “[name]One[/name] Direction”, but I had that name on my list since #1 child!
[name]Declan[/name] (not in top 100)
[name]Jonah[/name] (not in top 100- but might be too biblical for me)
[name]Dylan[/name] (#41 top 50 here)
I did crush on rollo’s suggestion of [name]Lachlan[/name]- but it is even more popular (#3) than [name]Oliver[/name] or [name]Liam[/name].
As you can see generally I am not a nn person, and I am pretty sure he would almost exclusively be known by the nn (eg [name]Nate[/name] or [name]Finn[/name]).
Anything too weird or terrible? I need to cut this list back!!!
I love [name]Evan[/name] and [name]Zane[/name] from your list. They are both easy to say and spell, and not to popular there at least. [name]Evan[/name] is fairly popular here in the U.S. [name]Nate[/name] and [name]Finn[/name] are both nice too. I like [name]Nathaniel[/name] better than [name]Nathan[/name] though. I really don’t like [name]Declan[/name] and [name]Dylan[/name]. The others are all ok, just not my style. Good luck with your TTC! I am in the middle of fertility treatments right now too, though not IVF.
I love [name]Henry[/name], [name]Oliver[/name] (although I slightly prefer [name]Oscar[/name]!), [name]Finley[/name], [name]Zane[/name] (lol, I think it’s awesome that your daughter loves this because of [name]One[/name] Direction…), [name]Jonah[/name], and [name]Dylan[/name]!
[name]Jonah[/name] is actually my favorite, I think… I really like [name]Jonah[/name] [name]Finley[/name], [name]Jonah[/name] [name]Zane[/name], or [name]Zane[/name] [name]Finley[/name]…
I love [name]Zane[/name], [name]Finn[/name]/[name]Finlay[/name], [name]Jonah[/name] and [name]Leo[/name]!
[name]Zane[/name] is gorgeus but I’m a little worried how popular it might become because of [name]One[/name] Direction, the same with other names from the band; [name]Liam[/name], [name]Niall[/name], [name]Louis[/name], [name]Harry[/name] (the latter is already too popular!!).
[name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Ryan[/name] seem pretty dated to me, but still nice enough names. [name]Nathan[/name] used to be my favourite ever name, but then I moved to the more classic sounding [name]Nathaniel[/name].
[name]Evan[/name] and [name]Dylan[/name] get a lot of love but I don’t really see the appeal.
[name]Finlay[/name] (prefer this sp.) and [name]Finn[/name] are both gorgeous but I must say I’m seeing [name]Finn[/name]/[name]Finlay[/name] discussions everywhere I go.
[name]Declan[/name] is great boys name, as is [name]Jonah[/name] and both slightly uncommon too.
[name]Leo[/name] is pretty popular but overly so, I like this!
[name]William[/name] - A good, strong name. Can’t go wrong! Only downside as you said is that it’s popular.
[name]Oliver[/name] - Cute!
[name]Liam[/name] - I like it but TBH I kinda like it more as a nn for [name]William[/name].
[name]Henry[/name] - This name grew on me so much, I’m really starting to like it!
[name]Leo[/name] - It’s ok. I prefer a longer given name, [name]Leopold[/name] is my favorite
[name]Ryan[/name] - I like it!
[name]Evan[/name] - Really like it but not sure if I’d use it since it’s the name of an ex, though I dated him briefly in 10th grade so maybe?
[name]Nathan[/name] - [name]Love[/name] it!
[name]Finley[/name] (nn [name]Finn[/name]) - It’s ok, just NMS.
[name]Finn[/name] - I think I like it better as [name]Finley[/name].
[name]Zane[/name] - I love this name! I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to use it though as it is a little “out there”. I also usually don’t like one syllable first names but I still love it!
[name]Declan[/name] - TBH, I don’t see the appeal of this name. I think it’s ugly personally.
[name]Jonah[/name] - It’s ok. What about [name]Judah[/name]?
[name]Dylan[/name] - It’s ok. I know a kid that used to be kind of out of control with this name. He’s older now and I haven’t seen him in years but that’s where my mind goes.
I work with kids and live in [name]Oz[/name] as well…hope I can be helpful!
[name]William[/name] (#1) its a family name for me too…but I won’t use it. It is just too popular, I don’t want my son to be one of 3 [name]William[/name]'s in his class. Using [name]Liam[/name] as the nickname rather than [name]Will[/name] makes it more unique though.
[name]Oliver[/name] (#5) such a shame its so popular, I love it too! To be honest though, as they say, whilst a name is popular, the actual number of people who use it isn’t necessarily high. There are so many names that even being number 5 wouldn’t be a HUGE number. I think [name]Oliver[/name] would be fine!
[name]Liam[/name] (#15) same as [name]Oliver[/name], I doubt there will be another [name]Liam[/name] in your son’s class at school
[name]Henry[/name] (#39 top 50 here) I don’t see the craze with this name
[name]Leo[/name] (top 50-100 here)- love it!
[name]Ryan[/name] (#23 top 50 here)- never been a fan, I like most of your other options better!
[name]Evan[/name] (not in top 100)- great name, very strong!
[name]Nathan[/name] (nn [name]Nate[/name]) probably on of the few classics not used by people I know (top 50-100)- what about [name]Nathaniel[/name]? Makes it stand out more.
[name]Finley[/name] (nn [name]Finn[/name])/ [name]Finn[/name]- I like [name]Finley[/name], but I like [name]Finn[/name] better! What about [name]Flynn[/name]? Not as popular but has the same sound.
[name]Zane[/name] (not in top 100) [name]Don[/name]'t like it really…but its ok
[name]Declan[/name] (not in top 100) I know a few Declans…it always seems to be a ‘naughty’ boy’s name!
[name]Jonah[/name] (not in top 100- but might be too biblical for me)- eh…very different to your other names.
[name]Dylan[/name] (#41 top 50 here)- not your best choice
You could spell [name]Lachlan[/name] like this: Laughlan or [name]Laughlin[/name]. Makes it different!
I don’t think any of them are too weird. I love [name]Oliver[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Nathan[/name] ([name]Nate[/name]), [name]Declan[/name], [name]Jonah[/name] & [name]Lachlan[/name]. The only one I dislike is [name]Zane[/name]… and I’m not keen on [name]Ryan[/name] or [name]Dylan[/name].
Aww, I love [name]Leo[/name]! I must have missed it when I commented earlier, haha. [name]Boone[/name] [name]Isaiah[/name] [name]Leo[/name] is actually a combo on my top 10, which kind of reminds me of [name]Brooke[/name] and [name]Leo[/name], haha. My only problem with [name]Leo[/name] is that I had a horrid boss with the name, so I’m still trying to shake the association. It still works as a MN for me, but as a FN, I still think of him. It’s a lovely choice regardless, though! I think it’s great for you. Although, what’s your son’s name? For some reason I kept thinking it was [name]Riley[/name]. If so, I think riLEY and [name]LEo[/name] are a bit close…
