Thoughts on the name Atticus for male lead

I’m kind of into unusual names for this novel. My last novel featured some pretty traditional names, such as [name_u]Lexi[/name_u], [name_u]Robin[/name_u], [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_u]Nick[/name_u], and then randomly [name_u]Piper[/name_u]. For this one, I want to have some more unusual names. So far I have:

[name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]
[name_f]Jordie[/name_f]
[name_f]Sonja[/name_f]
[name_m]Graham[/name_m]

…and of course [name_m]Atticus[/name_m]. [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] is [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]'s love interest, though I’m not sure if I [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] yet. Can this be a sexy name? Are there any possible short forms or nicknames? What last name might be good with it? If you don’t like [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], what alternatives might you suggest?

I like [name_m]Atticus[/name_m]… but it’s not really an ‘unusual’ name. It’s actually really popular now and has been around for quite some time.

“Traditional” really depends on the setting and the age and ethnic make-up of the characters. If your characters are all teens/adults in a modern English-speaking country then the names are all over the map. Personally, I find miss-matching names a real distraction in a book. Some more information would be useful in helping us give you suggestions.

Unless you make your character’s parents lawyers who named their son after the penname of the great Greek lawgiver [name_m]Solon[/name_m], or your parents so loved [name_m]Gregory[/name_m] Peck’s performance in the film of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” any fictional character named [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] is going to be following in the literary footsteps of [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] [name_u]Finch[/name_u]. You could, of course, use the name ironically and have your character be the exact opposite of Monroeville’s famous lawyer-hero, I suppose, but it doesn’t sound as if that’s the type of story you’re writing. If you want people to take this character seriously without hearing the echo of [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] [name_u]Finch[/name_u], I suggest you ditch the name.

[name_f]Nelle[/name_f] [name_u]Harper[/name_u] [name_u]Lee[/name_u]'s actual father, upon whom [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] [name_u]Finch[/name_u] was based, was actually named [name_m]Amasa[/name_m] [name_u]Lee[/name_u].