So we are still trying to figure out a name for our little guy (less than 2 months to go!) and my older daughter keeps suggesting [name]Johnny[/name]. My husband likes it and I might like it too but not quite sure. Some days I love it and other days I don’t know if it’s the name for us.
I would love to hear thoughts/opinions/impressions of this name and also do you think it would stand alone as a given name, or would it need to be [name]John[/name] on the birth certificate and then we call him [name]Johnny[/name] as a nn? I’m not quite as into [name]John[/name] but I would use it on the birth certificate if it would serve him better as an adult.
I have read some not so favorable opinions of this name when I searched it on the internet, but at the same time I think you can find negative things on pretty much every name out there. Still, I would like to hear all opinions on here whether good or bad.
Also what do you think of [name]Johnny[/name] as a little brother for older sisters [name]Sophie[/name] and [name]Violet[/name]? [name]Sophie[/name], [name]Violet[/name], and [name]Johnny[/name].
Some of the other choices on our mutual list for this baby are:
[name]Oliver[/name] (my favorite)
[name]Jack[/name] (husband’s favorite)
[name]James[/name]
[name]Rhett[/name]
[name]August[/name]
[name]Asher[/name]
Any name we use will be paired with an earthy/nature name in the middle name spot.
Thanks as always for all your help! My husband will pretty much never talk about names with me since it always leads to arguing, so its really nice to have somewhere to discuss names!
It’s an adorable name that works great with [name]Sophie[/name] and [name]Violet[/name], but definitely put [name]John[/name] on the birth certificate. Unlike [name]Jack[/name], [name]Johnny[/name] is very cutesy and 99% of people would assume he was [name]John[/name], anyway. [name]John[/name] is an incredible name with plenty of namesakes that will serve him well no matter where he goes.
[name]Jonathan[/name], [name]Jonas[/name] of [name]Jonah[/name] would work as full names, too.
You don’t seem sure about [name]John[/name] nn [name]Johnny[/name] but if you put that name on the birth certificate you get to call him either [name]Johnny[/name] or [name]Jack[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you like [name]Jonathan[/name] at all? Personally, I like some of the other names on your list a lot better for [name]Sophie[/name] and [name]Violet[/name]'s brother. [name]Johnny[/name] seems so overly casual compared to their names ([name]Sophie[/name] is often thought of just a nickname for [name]Sophia[/name] but it’s the French version of the name). [name]Oliver[/name], [name]Jack[/name] and [name]August[/name] would be my picks for names that go well with your girls.
[name]Johnny[/name] is a totally guilty pleasure name for me. I love [name]Johnny[/name] while [name]John[/name] and [name]Jonathan[/name] are only okay. But, it I were to use [name]Johnny[/name] (which is unlikely as I have a nephew named [name]John[/name]) I would have to use either [name]John[/name] or [name]Jonathan[/name] on his birth certificate.
I have friends with a son named [name]Johannes[/name], but they call him [name]Johnny[/name]. I feel pretty neutral about [name]Johnny[/name] (but I love [name]Johannes[/name])
I think [name]Johnny[/name] is fine as a given name, but [name]John[/name] nn [name]Johnny[/name] is a good alternative if you have concerns. And [name]Jack[/name] could also be used as a nickname for [name]John[/name].
Meh. I wish I could like it, because it seems like you all do quite a bit and it’d be cute to say [name]Sophie[/name] named her little brother. But [name]Johnny[/name] is my brother’s name, and I quite honestly can barely stand it. I really only call him [name]Johnny[/name] when talking about him to anyone outside of my family–I call him [name]Buddy[/name] 90% of the time (not because I couldn’t bear to call him by his real name, which is ridiculous. It’s his name, he seems to like it, I have no problem with that. But he’s my little (okay, kind of big, haha) buddy! I can’t imagine not calling him [name]Buddy[/name], haha.) That being said, my brother comes from a long line of Johns nn [name]Johnny[/name]. It’s so terribly overdone in my family, and I’ve always preferred [name]Jack[/name]. I do think [name]John[/name] is a great idea, though–you could use both [name]Jack[/name] and [name]Johnny[/name] if you liked.
ETA: I definitely wouldn’t use just [name]Johnny[/name], though–my brother is pretty consistently known as [name]Johnny[/name] by just about everyone, and he’s 23 and in the [name]Air[/name] Force. But I think he still likes having the more formal [name]John[/name] to fall back on–he’s always been referred to as [name]John[/name] by most of his teachers, and employers (although he only gets our surname in the military now).
I love [name]John[/name] or [name]Jonathan[/name] nn [name]Johnny[/name]. The fact that [name]John[/name] could also be [name]Jack[/name] seems to make it a really good choice for you guys, and it straightforward fn like that will be an excellent foil for an interesting nature-y mn.
I like [name]Johnny[/name], it feels like one of those nn’s that was so overused at one point in time everyone’s stopped using them and it’s become new and fresh again. Though I would but [name]John[/name]/[name]Jonathan[/name]/[name]Johannes[/name]/[name]Johan[/name] something like that on the birth certificate
The trouble with [name]Johnny[/name] if you’re meh on [name]John[/name] is that your son may well decide he’d rather go by [name]John[/name] later in his life no matter what you put on his birth certificate (I’d go with [name]John[/name], fwiw). I know two Johns and a [name]Jonathan[/name] that went by [name]Jo/namenny as kids and now are [name]John[/name], [name]John[/name] and [name]Jon[/name].
I prefer both [name]Jack[/name] and [name]John[/name] to [name]Johnny[/name], but if you chose to put [name]John[/name] on the birth certificate you will have the flexibility to choose between the three based on what suits him best.
I love the name [name]Johnny[/name]! Its cute when they are little yet masculine when they are older!
Also, have you considered the name [name]Jonty[/name] if you weren’t too sure about [name]Johnny[/name]?
I agree with the others: my vote is for [name]John[/name] for the birth certificate and [name]Johnny[/name] for day-to-day use. It gives him something “grown up” to fall back on for job/college applications.
I love the strong simplicity of [name]John[/name]. [name]Johnny[/name] is a sweet nickname, but I would never use it as a full name. [name]John[/name] is so wonderfully neutral that I think it works with any set of girl names. I think [name]Johnny[/name] can skew very sweet & vintage despite it’s long standing popularity. It feels 1950s wholesome to me. It’s like the boy version of [name]Annie[/name] & [name]Mary[/name].
I adore [name]John[/name] <3 I’m another vote for John on the birth certificate and Johnny in real life. I think John just looks better professionally later down the line.
Thanks for the feedback guys. It seems like it’s pretty much unanimous that it should be [name]John[/name] on the birth certificate and [name]Johnny[/name] as the nickname. So I guess I just have to decide if I like [name]John[/name] enough to use as his technical name.
As Taz said, I see [name]Johnny[/name] as being very sweet and vintage. I have never come across a little boy called [name]Johnny[/name] and to me it has a certain old fashioned charm that I love. But I have known many Johns and so [name]John[/name] on it’s own just doesn’t feel quite as fresh to me. Or nearly as charming.
But when I searched the name [name]Johnny[/name] on the internet, I found people that said it was a male stripper name, and also that it sounded very southern. I am definitely not going for either of those images with our son’s name so that made me kind of uncertain about using it.
And I know [name]Mischa[/name] said it sounded too casual with my girls’ names so that is something for me to think about too, because it is important for me to have all my kids names flow well together.
But still, something about it I do love- I feel like [name]Johnny[/name] is sort of underused these days but still so classic and simple. I tend to favor simple classic names, but would really like him not to have to share his name with five other boys in his class (like my oldest does. She is always the only [name]Sophie[/name] but with several Sophias in every class she is in.)
And as ash said, I also love the sweetness of having [name]Sophie[/name] name her little brother.
Thanks for all your opinions on this name. I really appreciate hearing everyone’s perspectives, good and bad. I am still on the fence about using it so as much input as possible is really helpful. Thank you!!
My five-year-old is named [name]John[/name], and we call him either [name]Johnny[/name] or sometimes [name]John[/name]-[name]John[/name]. He is the only [name]John[/name] under 10 we’ve encountered, so I agree with you that it is underused and yet so classic.
We named him after my grandfather, who was “officially” [name]John[/name] but everyone called him [name]Johnny[/name] every day of his life. Sometimes when my dad calls my son, I can hear him calling my grandpa (his father-in-law), which always keeps the memory alive for me. So, if you decide to go with [name]John[/name]/[name]Johnny[/name], he may well keep his nickname forever.
