My husband and I like both these names, but have concerns about them.
[name]Emmett[/name]- I know it’s a boy name but does it seem girly to you? We worry about the Emm part of it and worry he will get called [name]Emmy[/name] or something girly like that. It just seems so close to girly names like [name]Emma[/name], [name]Emily[/name], [name]Emme[/name]…
[name]Beckett[/name]- Does anyone else think this sounds like a censored version of f*** it? Like “Screw it” or “[name]Beck[/name] it”… lol
[name]Declan[/name]- All I can think of when I hear this name is that someone is saying “duckling” in a weird way. I really want to like this name though. Does everyone else hear duckling?
[name]Arlo[/name] - I know an [name]Arlo[/name] who is a boy. Very masculine sounding to me. Never heard of it on a girl. [name]Emmett[/name] - the only thing I think of is the Twilight association. But if you don’t mind that, then it’s still a lovely, strong name [name]IMO[/name]. [name]Beckett[/name] - I think of [name]David[/name] [name]Beckham[/name]?? [name]Declan[/name] - I don’t hear “duckling” at all. His nn could be “Deck” - cute!
[name]Emmett[/name] - I understand the issue you have with this one, but if he had a handsome middle name starting with “D.” He could have the nn [name]Ed[/name] which would eliminate that problem.
[name]Beckett[/name] - I kind of see what you mean with this one too. But I think that’s a very minor thing.
[name]Declan[/name] - [name]Declan[/name] has always reminded me of decking or a deck chair. So its one I’ve always steered clear of.
[name]Arlo[/name] - No, I don’t see a girly association with this one at all, I know an [name]Arlo[/name] so to me its all boy.
[name]Emmett[/name] just doesn’t appeal to me for some reason. It makes me think of a farmer.
[name]Beckett[/name] isn’t my usual style but I really like it.
[name]Declan[/name] makes me think of dewclaws.
[name]Emmett[/name]: I don’t think it sounds too girly. Lots of boys’ names share the same sounds as girls’ names: [name]Donna[/name]/[name]Donald[/name], [name]Jennifer[/name]/[name]Jensen[/name], [name]Macy[/name]/[name]Mason[/name]. I don’t think anybody would find [name]Emmett[/name] too feminine for a boy to carry.
[name]Beckett[/name]: Lol…well now that you point that out, that’s all I will think of when I hear the name [name]Beckett[/name]. Since it’s in your head, that’s all you will think of too. Maybe you’d like [name]Bennett[/name] instead?
[name]Declan[/name]: I would have NEVER thought of duckling. But again, since it’s in your head, that is probably all you will think of when you hear the name, so perhaps you should keep looking. Maybe you would like [name]Deacon[/name] or [name]Breckin[/name]?
[name]Arlo[/name]: I don’t think [name]Arlo[/name] sounds girly. I think [name]Harlow[/name] and [name]Marlow[/name] sound a tad masculine. Most of the time names that end in O are boys’ names. [name]Milo[/name], [name]Thurlow[/name], [name]Jethro[/name]…
[name]Emmett[/name]: Not a girly name at all in my mind. It doesn’t even have a tint of femininity in my mind, even though it does have some similar sound qualities to [name]Emma[/name]. I think [name]Emmett[/name] is just too well-recognized as a male’s name for any worry about that. My first association has always been [name]Emmett[/name] [name]Smith[/name] (NFL).
[name]Beckett[/name]: I had never heard ‘[name]Beck[/name] it!’ like that before, but now that you’ve said it, it’s all I hear. Ha. [name]Don[/name]'t think people would hear it that way often though, unless it was pointed out to them. That being said, I’m not really a fan of this name in general.
[name]Declan[/name]: I don’t hear ‘duckling’. I wouldn’t worry about that. I think this is a solid name option.
[name]Arlo[/name]: This is another that doesn’t have an even slight tint of female to me, it’s all dude. Like southern, slightly cowboy-ish dude. I think it’s a solid name option.
[name]Emmett[/name] - I think the feminine [name]Em[/name] nicknames are a legitimate concern. To me it is similar to [name]Elliot[/name]. [name]Both[/name] are great names but the nicknames are too feminine. However, you can probably just focus on not using nicknames. I tend to prefer [name]Everett[/name] to both [name]Emmett[/name] and [name]Eliot[/name] because there is no natural nn that seems feminine.
[name]Beckett[/name] - sounds very preppy. I do not associate it all with the connotation you mentioned.
[name]Declan[/name] - I don’t hear duck at all… I hear Deck - lan. This is a great name.
[name]Arlo[/name] - stills seems firmly in the male camp to me.
[name]Emmett[/name] - Yes this has the same opening as [name]Emma[/name]-like girl names and is therefore softer than many other boys names but I by no means think it’s girly. Very different but names that have a similar softness (to me) are [name]Julian[/name], and [name]Sebastian[/name]. I think it’s really an asset. By equal measures a [name]Just[/name] a stray thought: [name]Matthew[/name] could be called [name]Mattie[/name] which is very similar to the popular gils [name]Maddie[/name], does that make [name]Matthew[/name] too girly?
[name]Beckett[/name] - My first thought is always “the parents must be huge [name]Samuel[/name] [name]Beckett[/name] fans”. I don’t see this related to a f* it comment at all but instead really see it as a LN as a FN.
[name]Declan[/name] - I don’t hear duckling as much as “deck them” (as in punch them). But besides I’m also not huge on this one even though I can see it’s appeal.
[name]Arlo[/name] - It’s too grumpy old man to be girly. It’s kind of what I love about this name. Also [name]Marlo[/name] [name]Brandon[/name] is a great manly figure to hold up against [name]Harlow[/name] and [name]Marlow[/name]. I say firmly in the boys camp.
[name]Emmett[/name] - [name]Emmett[/name] [name]Till[/name] - African-American boy killed in the 50’s for talking to a white woman; part of impetus for civil rights movement. A sad association but to me gives meaning to the name.
[name]Arlo[/name] - [name]Arlo[/name] [name]Guthrie[/name] - American folk singer.
[name]Declan[/name] - If anything, written I sometimes see de-clan (which doesnt really mean anything, so it’s not a problem). Mostly I see it as a cool traditional Irish name that I’d love to use if I were at all Irish.
[name]Arlo[/name] - well, [name]Harlow[/name] and [name]Marlow[/name], etc. are technically unisex, so no, I don’t think [name]Arlo[/name] runs the risk of sounding girly.
[name]Declan[/name] - haha, I actually like that it sort of sounds like duckling! My mom had this thing where she used animal/insect/bird nicknames for all of her children, and I want to continue it. I have a few picked out for future sons (little bear, lion, etc.), but I think duckling is so cute! I’m minorly obsessed with the nn Duckling now, haha. I like that it’s so similar to [name]Declan[/name], too.
[name]Beckett[/name] - lol, that has never even entered my mind! I don’t think it’s a concern at all. Then again, my sister is [name]Rebecca[/name], and I call her [name]Bec[/name] a lot, so I’m used to hearing [name]Beck[/name]/[name]Bec[/name] a lot. I do think [name]Beck[/name] and [name]Kit[/name] are pretty cool nns for [name]Beckett[/name], though.
[name]Emmett[/name] - Yes. I’m a huge fan of boys’ names on boys and I would never give my daughter even a unisex name (even though I like some of them, like [name]Hadley[/name], [name]Jocelyn[/name], [name]Willow[/name], etc.), it took me a long time to see [name]Emmett[/name] as a masculine name, because I could see it going straight to [name]Emma[/name]/[name]Emmy[/name] as a nn. (Honestly, I even sort of like the idea of [name]Emmett[/name] on a girl–I’ve heard from several sources that [name]Emmett[/name] became a masculization of [name]Emma[/name], and that [name]Emmett[/name] was once a strictly girls’ name, before it became a boys’ name, and [name]Emmett[/name] on a girl feels like a crossover from [name]Emmeline[/name] and something like [name]Violet[/name] or [name]Charlotte[/name]. However, with [name]Emmett[/name]'s popularity on boys, I would never give [name]Emmett[/name] to a daughter!)
[name]Emmett[/name] is actually one of the very few male names that derives from a female name ([name]Emma[/name]). It still is clearly a male name but perhaps that explains why it seems somewhat more feminine. I don’t care for the name so it doesn’t appeal. It reminds me of [name]Kermit[/name].
I love [name]Beckett[/name]. We named the baby we lost to a miscarriage in [name]December[/name] [name]Beckett[/name]. With the final two "t"s it strikes me as a reference to St. [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Beckett[/name]. That detail would probably only be noticed by Catholics and English history buffs.
total sidenote: [name]Ash[/name], my sister is [name]Rebecca[/name] and I call her [name]Bec[/name] all the time and her friends in high school dubbed her [name]Becket[/name].
[name]Declan[/name] is my favorite of those names.
I like the sound [name]Arlo[/name], although it is a little too nickname-y for me to use as a given name. I don’t think it sounds feminine at all.
[name]Beckett[/name] reminds me too much of bucket. [name]Emmett[/name] is okay, just not a favorite of mine. I don’t think it is too girly, there are other boy names that end in -ett, [name]Everett[/name] comes to mind.
We have a [name]Declan[/name] and the only issue I ever have is random people (drs office or something) seeing it spelled and pronouncing it “[name]Dee[/name] Clan” which just does NOT make sense to me… But whatever. Whenever people hear it they [name]LOVE[/name] it. My older boys call him Deck or Decky, and he calls himself Decky which is adorable. He’s 2.5. We are also considering [name]Beckett[/name] and [name]Emmet[/name] (along with tons of others, lol) for boy #4, who is due in a month and needs a name :/. I love them both and don’t have those same impressions, lol. I have a cousin named [name]Arlo[/name], and he’s a [name]Marine[/name] so the name has always seemed manly to me :).
