need help, mainly with boys name. please help!

i am 16 weeks pregnant with our first (so thrilled!) and having such a hard time with boy names now! i thought we had it down pat, but as time moves along, i wonder!
i come from a dutch background and my partner is czech so we like names that will translate well to our european heritage.

we are not going to find out the gender, we have decided on

  • [name]Anneke[/name] (pronounced ‘aun-ne-ke’ not aun-ni-kah) for a girl
    our first name choice for a girl was [name]Matylda[/name], but then a friend hada baby earlier this year and named her matilda, sooo that one is out (i hate when that happens…)

for a boy;
this is the tough part…
we like the following; [name]Milo[/name], [name]Arlo[/name], [name]Henry[/name] and [name]Felix[/name]. but im not 100% sure on any of them! i like milo, but then i wonder about its popularity now… i like arlo, as in the so of woody guthrie, love his music, and i like the name… i like [name]Henry[/name] because it appears strong, unique but also classic… i like [name]Felix[/name] because it also translates well, and i adore it but don’t like the references to ‘felix the cat’, even thought i think this generation and next don’t really know of felix the cat!
we love jasper, but its out as my best friends 5 year old is named jasper. same with augustus (gus) for a boy is also out for the same reason. sigh.

i feel like i have looked and searched everywhere.
i like names from the 1800s, early 1900s, (one of my fave shows is road to avonlea, hehe, and thats why i love felix!)
classic names, also love unique names but not too out there, and names that aren’t very popular, and hopefully won’t become too popular.

hopefully with the names above you get an idea of what we like and can possibly give us some new ones to think on?

  • hoping you can help!! thanks!

I think you should pick a name that goes well with [name]Anneke[/name], like:

[name]Axel[/name]
[name]Boden[/name]
[name]Daven[/name]
[name]Gunnar[/name]
[name]Halden[/name]
[name]Henrik[/name]
[name]Mikko[/name]
[name]Niel[/name]
[name]Olson[/name]
[name]Soren[/name]
[name]Thor[/name]
[name]Tomas[/name]
[name]Viggo[/name]

[name]Anneke[/name] feels very eastern european to me, whereas the boys names you have mention don’t at all. If you want names that keep true to your heritage you should go with a more eastern european name.

Here are variations of [name]Henry[/name]:
[name]Jindrich[/name] (Czech)
[name]Hinrich[/name], [name]Heinrik[/name], [name]Heiko[/name], [name]Heinrich[/name], [name]Heino[/name] (Dutch)
[name]Henrik[/name] (Hungarian)
[name]Henric[/name] (Romanian)

Variations of [name]Felix[/name]:
[name]Feliks[/name] (Bulgarian, Polish, and Russian)
[name]Bodog[/name] (Hungarian)
[name]Felicjan[/name] (Slavic)

Czech names that I like:
[name]Aleksy[/name]
[name]Erich[/name]
[name]Evzen[/name]
[name]Justyn[/name]
[name]Ludek[/name]

Dutch names that I like:
[name]Bastiaan[/name]
[name]Benedick[/name]
[name]Dirk[/name]
[name]Gerrit[/name]
[name]Hendrik[/name]

we dont already have a girl, but if we do we will name her [name]Anneke[/name].
[name]Felix[/name], [name]Milo[/name], [name]Henry[/name] all translate to Czech/dutch well, but in [name]Canada[/name], the baby will have the english spelling, so they are eastern european as well, but we dont want to spell the childs name in a way that the culture here will have difficulty with, thats what my spouse has had to deal with.
so yes if we go with felix, in czech they will call him felicjan
milo, milosh (meelowsh) or milosku is a nn in czech. in czech they have various nicknames for all names, such as ‘john’ (jan) is honza or honzichkou they have a calendar, which has ‘name days’
so yes i do know the variations you mentioned.
thansk for your suggestions with the dutch names, just not too fond of them!

we dont already have a girl, but if we do we will name her [name]Anneke[/name].
[name]Felix[/name], [name]Milo[/name], [name]Henry[/name] all translate to Czech/dutch well, but in [name]Canada[/name], the baby will have the english spelling, so they are eastern european as well, but we dont want to spell the childs name in a way that the culture here will have difficulty with, thats what my spouse has had to deal with.
so yes if we go with felix, in czech they will call him felicjan
milo, milosh (meelowsh) or milosku is a nn in czech. in czech they have various nicknames for all names, such as ‘john’ (jan) is honza or honzichkou they have a calendar, which has ‘name days’
so yes i do know the variations you mentioned.
thansk for your suggestions with the dutch names, just not too fond of them![/quote]

Oh ok! I was completely under the impression that you wanted an eastern european name. I understood you didn’t have a girl - that [name]Anneke[/name] was the girls name you wanted. But [name]Anneke[/name] felt so european to me, and the boys names didn’t.
I see what you’re saying now - you want the roots to be there, but an English spelling of the name, right?

I love [name]Arlo[/name] or [name]Felix[/name] for a boy! I agree that the “[name]Felix[/name] the cat” reference is old enough that it’s not the first association this generation would have with the name.

I think out of the names you’ve mentioned (and because of what you said about popularity), I would avoid [name]Henry[/name]. It’s a great name, but it is becoming VERY popular everywhere. I haven’t seen Canadian stats but I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t also on the rise there. I am in the UK and my friend has a [name]Henry[/name] - he’s one of 5 in his daycare group.

I like all your other choices. [name]Milo[/name] is another name I [name]LOVE[/name], and although it is (and will be, I think) less popular than [name]Henry[/name] I’d be surprised if it didn’t still have a way to go before it stops rising. I think [name]Arlo[/name] is nice alternative if you want something more unique, especially if you’re a [name]Guthrie[/name] fan.

But I think my vote goes to [name]Felix[/name]. I just love this name - I think it fits into naming trends perfectly because of all the Maxes out there, but it’s still unique and yet familiar, and has a real spunkiness to it - perfect! I wouldn’t worry about the cat reference; I think that reference has had its day.

I think you have 3 choices there that could all work for you, but just in case, some more ideas:
[name]Levi[/name]
[name]Eli[/name]
[name]Albert[/name]
[name]Alfred[/name]
[name]Leon[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Bruno[/name]
[name]Valentine[/name]