The Henry Higgins Conundrum

Boy Names
1

Hello all,

I’m here in the fervent hope that some of you may be able to help us decide upon a middle name for the little boy that we are expecting in [name_u]March[/name_u]. Despite its rampant popularity, we have decided upon [name_m]Liam[/name_m] for his first name but cannot seem to come to a consensus on his middle name.

I adore the name [name_m]Henry[/name_m] (and would have loved to have used it for the first name) but my husband cannot seem to shake the My Fair Lady connection (i.e. Professor [name_m]Henry[/name_m] Higgins). In the ten years that we have been married, I have only heard two people reference the musical in relation to our last name (one being my beloved Grandfather, who now suffers from Alzheimer’s and may not even be able to make that connection any longer and the other being a very kind elderly gentleman who informed my husband that he has a “very famous last name”).

I have attempted to argue that most of the people we know that are around our age have little to no idea as to who [name_m]Henry[/name_m] Higgins even is. This has made him soften a bit but he says that he remains unconvinced and would welcome your unbiased opinions as to whether you would associate it with the musical and whether that association would matter to you.

We have also been throwing around [name_m]Liam[/name_m] [name_m]Silas[/name_m] Higgins (this one admittedly makes me feel a bit tongue tied when saying it out loud but that could be just me) and [name_m]Liam[/name_m] [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Higgins (DH is slightly worried about the alliteration there, though he does not mention this as a potential issue with [name_m]Henry[/name_m]).

We would also welcome any additional suggestions you may have for us to mull over. DH is solidly against using any family names, so [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], [name_u]Michael[/name_u], [name_m]Charles[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]Robert[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u] & [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] are all out (and probably 100 more that I’m not thinking about).

Thank you so much for any help you may be able to provide us with!

2

It’s his middle name, so not very many people will even know it. That being said, I would certainly make the connection. However, My Fair Lady is my favorite musical (and I’m a HUGE musical fan), so the connection is pretty awesome to me.

3

Ooh la la I absolutely love your last name!
Big [name_u]Rex[/name_u] [name_m]Harrison[/name_m] fan here, but [name_m]Henry[/name_m] Higgins on a real boy sounds silly to me.

[name_m]Liam[/name_m] [name_m]Harrison[/name_m] H…? If you’re looking for an H name close to [name_m]Henry[/name_m], there’s [name_m]Hector[/name_m], [name_m]Harold[/name_m], or [name_m]Heron[/name_m].
Higgins is so adorably formal. [name_m]Liam[/name_m] is sleek and handsome, but if I were you and I wanted a [name_m]Liam[/name_m], I’d use the full name [name_m]William[/name_m] Higgins because I think it sounds more old-fashioned and buttoned-up. [name_m]William[/name_m] with [name_m]Liam[/name_m] as a nickname.
[name_m]Silas[/name_m] is beautiful, but the S runs together with the H of Higgins, resulting in “siggins.”
I suggest [name_m]Simon[/name_m] in [name_m]Silas[/name_m]’ place. [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Simon[/name_m] H…

If I really had my druthers with a name like Higgins, I’d go formal-nerdy: [name_m]Alisdair[/name_m], [name_m]Frederick[/name_m], [name_m]Horatio[/name_m], [name_m]Edwin[/name_m], [name_m]Archibald[/name_m], [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_m]Timothy[/name_m], heck even old [name_m]Ebenezer[/name_m]!

4

Yeah… [name_m]Henry[/name_m] Higgins is a bit too referential for me. I would either think of My Fair Lady immediately or spend all day going “WHERE have I heard that name before???”

I think [name_m]Liam[/name_m] [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Higgins is absolutely perfect.