I’ve been really struggling to come up with a name for a boy, as I’ve posted. [name]One[/name] name that I’d initially crossed off was [name]Reuben[/name], and the more I’ve been rolling it around in my mind, the more promise it has. I have a few concerns though.
For one, since it isn’t a very commonly used name, I’d hate for people to think I named my kid after a sandwich. Should this really even be a factor?
Secondly, I really prefer the traditional Hebrew version of the name, [name]Reuven[/name]. Does this name seem youneek or made up, or will it be recognized as a traditional variant?
Last but not least, I think the nn Reu, pronounced like [name]Rue[/name], is an adorable nickname for a child. However, is it too feminine?
I don’t associate [name]Reuben[/name] with the sandwich, if that helps. [name]Reuven[/name] doesn’t seem yooneek, but you may get some weird looks for it, and it would probably be confused with [name]Reuben[/name]. So I would stick with [name]Reuben[/name] if I were you, but that’s just my personal opinion. I think the nickname Reu is a tad girly, but it could work on a boy, especially if you refer to him as [name]Reuben[/name] most of the time.
I love [name]Reuben[/name] and [name]Reuven[/name] both. I’d recognize [name]Reuven[/name] but I’m a Jew.
[name]Reuben[/name] has [name]Ben[/name] as a possible nickname, which [name]IMO[/name] beats [name]Ruby[/name] (and yes I have male Rubys in my family tree, NNed down from [name]Reuben[/name]) or Reu, no offense. [name]Reuven[/name] is lovely but I would expect it to often be mispelled and mispronounced, so it depends how patient you are as a person.
I do kind of stick a glottal stop in [name]Reuven[/name], it’s not exactly like [name]Reuben[/name]-with-a-v, there’s nearly a third syllable? But hardly anyone will be very hung up on that.
I love [name]Reuben[/name]. It’s fabulous. I don’t have the sandwich association, but I’m in Australia.
Prefer it to [name]Reuven[/name]. I like the sound of [name]Reuven[/name] a lot, but I think it’ll get mistaken for the more common [name]Reuben[/name], causing problems.
I think [name]Reuben[/name] is a great name. I much prefer it over [name]Reuven[/name], and think people will struggle wit [name]Reuben[/name] a lot less as it is a name most people have heard.
Also, I think the nickname [name]Rue[/name] could work fine for a boy. I know it may seem a little ‘girly’ since the Hunger Games had a girl character [name]Rue[/name], but I think nicknames really just represent the person they are for and your son would make [name]Rue[/name] his own. People wouldn’t be thinking of whether it was boyish or girly, just whether it reminds them of him, if that makes sense.