Our top 3 boy names - opinions?

Boy Names
1

We’re not sure of the gender of our baby yet, so we’re currently discussing both boy and girl names - we’re trying to settle on a top choice for both. I [name]LOVE[/name] so many names, but have found it surprisingly hard to settle on one that I love enough to consider using.

I love unusual names and would hate for my child to share a name with another child in class, but I also don’t want to subject them to any bullying - its also important to me that their name has meaning to us.

Our Top 3 choices for a boy are:

[name]Tyne[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Henry[/name] - [name]Tyne[/name] is the name of a river where my partner is from. He just suggested it tonight and wants to use it to honour his home, I actually love it! [name]William[/name] is the name of my father, [name]Henry[/name] is the name of his father.

[name]Kylan[/name] [name]Henry[/name] - [name]Kylan[/name] is a name I discovered on a baby names website, I just love the way it sounds. [name]Henry[/name] is my partners dads name,

[name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name] - my surname begins with [name]Mack[/name] and my mother suggested using a name that included this, and [name]Mackenzie[/name] was our favourite. [name]William[/name] is my dads name

Thoughts?

2

I have to say, I adore [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name]! So handsome, and [name]Mackenzie[/name] is one of those unisex names that seems like it would actually be do-able in the UK (like [name]Bailey[/name]!). I have only ever known boy Mackenzies, but I know that’s not the case for most Americans, so I haven’t even tried to let it grow on me. But I think it’s super awesome, and a little boy named [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name] would be just the coolest. :slight_smile: I like that it has history for you, too. If you’re willing to switch it up, I think something like [name]Henry[/name] [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name] or [name]Henry[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Tyne[/name] (or even just [name]Henry[/name] [name]Tyne[/name], or [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Tyne[/name]?) would be really great.

Good luck!

3

Yeah I think most people here expect [name]Mackenzie[/name] to be a girl too, but then there’s the actor [name]Mackenzie[/name] Crook - I think it works well for a boy :slight_smile: We thought about Mackinley for a while, but my name is [name]Hayley[/name] and I’m not keen on having both our names end in “ley”.

I’m open to switching the names around, but I’m not loving [name]Henry[/name] as a first name - my OH would [name]LOVE[/name] it but [name]Henry[/name] is quite a common name here :confused: x

4

I really love [name]Kylan[/name] [name]Henry[/name]! I recently discovered [name]Kylan[/name] on here too, and I love it!
good luck!

5

I actually love [name]Tyne[/name]! And it could be use for a girl too. There’s an actress here in the states who was on television in the eighties that went by that name. (I don’t think the association is strong enough to make it gender specific.)

6

[name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]William[/name] :slight_smile:

I don’t know about [name]Tyne[/name]- I grew up partly in the NE and have spent a few years in the South as an adult; much as I love Northumberland, County [name]Durham[/name], and Newcastle (and I do, it is my very favourite part of the world), I’m not sure how well it would go over in the rest of the UK. A surprising number of people are prejudiced against the north in weird ways- despite the fact the pits have been closed for 20 years, a truly astounding number of my Londoner friends (born after the strikes!) think of Newcastle as a post-industrial wasteland, and would associate ‘[name]Tyne[/name]’ with grubby coal trains and the drunk teenagers of Byker [name]Grove[/name]/[name]Geordie[/name] Shore and [name]Daily[/name] Mail headlines (more fool them). [name]Tyne[/name], I think, would be safer as a middle, given that people our age will be the ones hiring your son in 20 years’ time. Sad but true.

I’ve posted this before, but [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]Bede[/name] used to be one of my favourite names for a boy- [name]Bede[/name] in honour of [name]Durham[/name] :slight_smile:

Other names strongly associated with Northumberland, [name]Durham[/name], and [name]Tyne[/name] and Wear: [name]Bede[/name], [name]Hadrian[/name], [name]Oswald[/name], [name]Cuthbert[/name], [name]Aidan[/name], [name]Neville[/name], plus lots of great place names :slight_smile:

7

Excellent points raised above. [name]Tyne[/name], paradoxically, might work better in the US.

8

[name]Maple[/name]-[name]Blythe[/name] - I know what you mean about southerners and the [name]North[/name], but tbh I SO dont care. I am a FIERCELY proud Northerner (I’m from Liverpool, Partner is from Gateshead) and we live in [name]Devon[/name] - I would just [name]LOVE[/name] anybody to make any mention to me of any bad associations with the [name]North[/name], I would be SO up for that argument :slight_smile:

I like the idea of a name linking our Northern roots with this baby, as it bothers me that it won’t be raised there - we considered the name [name]Lennon[/name] to link it to my Liverpool roots but my partner, sadly, is not a big [name]John[/name] [name]Lennon[/name] fan.

xx

9

I quite like [name]Tyne[/name]. As noted above, there is a semi-famous actress here in the US named [name]Tyne[/name] [name]Daly[/name], but she is th eonly person that I’ve neard of with this name.

Most Mackenzies in the US are women, but there are a few men. (e.g. Actor [name]Mackenzie[/name] [name]Astin[/name])

I’ve never heard of [name]Kylan[/name], so I can’t really comment on its connotation.

10

To be honest I can see that you have thought hard about the names you have listed but there is nothing unusual about [name]Kylan[/name] and [name]Mackenzie[/name]. [name]Both[/name] are extremely chavvy names, the latter, Mackenize a little dated too.

I know of 3 baby [name]Kylan[/name]'s and several little [name]Rylan[/name]'s. These types of names are very trendy right now, other would include [name]Caelan[/name], [name]Jaylan[/name] etc. I would stay away from this type of name.

[name]Tyne[/name] is interesting. I wouldn’t consider it personally but it has significance to you. [name]Tyne[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Henry[/name] flows really well and if it is out of these three names then it it definitely my favourite.

11

[name]Tyne[/name] isn’t bad, but might get misread for [name]Tina[/name]/[name]Tyna[/name]. I really don’t like made up names because they don’t have a meaning, so [name]Kylan[/name] is out for me. [name]Mackenzie[/name], although definitely more commonly used for a female, is my favorite of your list. [name]Mack[/name] is a great nn. Maybe it is time it goes back over to the boys’ side!

12

Huh - I’ve just noticed that the link to “[name]Kylan[/name]” on here states it as a made up name! The website I found it on was a list of Irish/Gaelic baby names and the meaning was listed as “Strait of Water”?? I’ve just googled it and other websites list that origin/meaning too.
I’m new to Nameberry so I’m not sure where the information on the baby names comes from? Is there a way for that to be amended?

13

Ok, I think it would be cruel to name a boy [name]Mackenzie[/name] in this day and age. I don’t even consider it unisex anymore. There are other [name]Mack[/name] options you could try, or just go with [name]Mack[/name]. [name]Kylan[/name] seems very trendy and made up to me. I love [name]Tyne[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Henry[/name].

14

I love that your partner is a proud [name]Geordie[/name], and my vote would automatically be for the handsome combination of [name]Tyne[/name] [name]William[/name] [name]Henry[/name], but I do wonder if naming your child after the [name]River[/name] [name]Tyne[/name] is something that’s done in the UK? It might be like naming your kid [name]Erie[/name] here in the US.

[name]Kylan[/name] is a smash name of [name]Kyle[/name] + [name]Aidan[/name], joining many others ([name]Kyler[/name], [name]Brayden[/name], etc.). It’s very close to some beauties however, like [name]Killian[/name]/ [name]Cillian[/name], [name]Keir[/name], [name]Kieran[/name], [name]Callan[/name], [name]Declan[/name], [name]Keelan[/name] or [name]Keenan[/name]. However, with the exception of [name]Keir[/name] these are all Irish and if you’re not then perhaps you’d be interested in something like:

[name]Harlan[/name]
[name]Stellan[/name]
Rillian
[name]Lachlan[/name]
[name]Dylan[/name]
[name]Nolan[/name]
MacAllen

Or, a short one-syllable first name like [name]Tyne[/name]:

[name]Bard[/name]
[name]Blaine[/name]
[name]Brandt[/name]
[name]Clark[/name]
[name]Keane[/name]
[name]Hart[/name]
[name]Jules[/name]
[name]Kyle[/name]
[name]Neil[/name]
[name]Reid[/name]
[name]Thane[/name]

My favorite idea is to thing of something associated with Newcastle. [name]One[/name] idea is coal:

[name]Cole[/name]
[name]Colton[/name]
Colburn

Football:

[name]Keegan[/name]
[name]Robson[/name]

Place Names:

[name]Selby[/name]
Jesmond
[name]Hadrian[/name]
[name]Seaton[/name]
Hetton
Rainton

Also, I agree re: [name]Mackenzie[/name]. There’s absolutely no reason for it, but it’s gone to the girls. If you’d like a [name]Mac[/name] surname, what about:

MacKinnon
MacIver
MacLeod

15

[name]Just[/name] checked the [name]England[/name] and [name]Wales[/name] name stats, and there were 145 boys called [name]Mackenzie[/name] born in 2011 and just 22 girls called [name]Mackenzie[/name]- so I wouldn’t worry about the gender issue in the UK.

The thing about [name]Tyne[/name]…would your son be up for that argument? He’s the one who will live 80ish years with the name! I really, really like it in the middle, though. [name]Mersey[/name] in the middle for a second child?

Adding to the list of Gateshead-related names, there’s [name]Dunston[/name] and Jarrow which might also work in the middle, and [name]James[/name], if your SO is a footie fan :smiley:

16

I love [name]Tyne[/name]! Such a cute name. I had a boyfriend from Newcastle, and I love it up there! It sounds really handsome with [name]Henry[/name] [name]William[/name] as middles.

17

No, my SO is a bit of an odd one - being that he’s a [name]Geordie[/name] who is NOT a footie fan at all! lol. He doesn’t like the idea of naming after areas either. They don’t mean anything to me but to him and his NE based family and friends they all have negative connotations. I’m not sure what the connection with [name]James[/name] is? I REALLY dislike commonly heard of names though, so that would be a no-no for me.

I really don’t think [name]Tyne[/name] will be an issue at all, personally - certainly not enough for people to make any negative associations. My SO also suggested [name]Mersey[/name] but I just don’t think it sounds like a name - whereas [name]Tyne[/name] IS actually a name, admittedly its more a female name with the actress [name]Tyne[/name] [name]Daly[/name] - but its a name at least!

Interesting about the stats - how do you find those?

Thanks for your suggestions. I actually am of Irish heritage, which is why I was googling Irish names to begin with :slight_smile: Unfortunately, we already have a LOT of Irish names used in my family already - and the others that I like (I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Declan[/name]) my OH has ruled out (He dislikes Irish names a lot, meh).

As for [name]Mackenzie[/name] - I know in the US it is much more common for girls, but here it is actually more common in boys. The actor [name]Mackenzie[/name] Crook I think has helped in that. The other [name]Mack[/name] we liked is Mackinley. But to be honest - I feel like I’m comprising with these names as its my mum that loves the idea of having [name]Mack[/name] as a nn, I actually quite dislike [name]Mack[/name] and the more I think about it…the less I want to name MY child something that someone else wants me to :confused:

I [name]LOVE[/name] the idea of [name]Keegan[/name] and [name]Stellan[/name] though - I will suggest both to my OH. He’s not a football fan, but [name]Kevin[/name] [name]Keegan[/name] is still a local hero! And my OH’s late mother was [name]Stella[/name] - so that could work :slight_smile:

18

That is very interesting indeed.

19

Please use [name]Tyne[/name]! What a great name! Different and yet not too out there. I’ve been on the search for a name that I like AND has some personal meaning to myself/my husband. This name seems perfect for you in that aspect.

20

I really like [name]Tyne[/name]. It is a family name for us, short for [name]Valentine[/name] who was a wagon master in the US in 1870’s and broke horses for the US military. For that reason, it has a very romantic association for me.