Thoughts on these crushes?

Boy Names
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[name]Nathan[/name] (maybe nn [name]Nate[/name])
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Kai[/name] (I love how international [name]Kai[/name] is! With origins in [name]Hawaii[/name], Japan, and Scandinavia, it just seems so cool and effortless to me. I’ve heard one of the meanings is “delight”, which I think is pretty awesome)

[name]How[/name] do they measure up to the names in my signature? Particularly [name]Sam[/name], [name]Charlie[/name], and [name]Boaz[/name]? While I am still very much in love with [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Charles[/name], and [name]Boaz[/name], I’d ideally like to get my list back down to a top 10, and I’m trying to figure out where these crushes would land. [name]Do[/name] any of them not really fit in with my favorites?

Thanks, ladies!

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I think [name]Nathan[/name] is okay. I prefer the similar [name]Ethan[/name], though I like the nn [name]Nate[/name]. [name]Nathan[/name] is underused and would age well.

I can’t get behind [name]Owen[/name] with this spelling. I prefer [name]Eoin[/name] or [name]Eoghan[/name], though those spellings are completely impractical outside of [name]Ireland[/name]. I think it just loses a little of its charm when spelled phonetically.

[name]Kai[/name] is an extremely low-rent name where I live. In my area, [name]Kai[/name] has a brother called [name]Jaidynn[/name] and a sister called My’kenzee. I love the meaning but its overuse where I live makes it very unappealing to me. This might not be the case in your area, but in the UK, [name]Kai[/name] does have quite a down market feel.

As for the others, I adore [name]Charles[/name] nn [name]Charlie[/name] and [name]Samuel[/name] nn [name]Sam[/name], so handsome, classy and timeless. I can see [name]Charlie[/name] and [name]Sam[/name] with sisters [name]Bella[/name] and [name]Arianna[/name] very easily. I’m not a fan of [name]Boaz[/name] at all, I find it a clunky, unappealing and whiny in sound (sorry). I do love [name]Beau[/name] as an alternative though I appreciate [name]Beau[/name] is like marmite - From what I’ve seen, its a name that is either loved or hated!

So, in conclusion, I like [name]Nathan[/name]. I would drop [name]Boaz[/name] from your top 10 and swap it for [name]Nathan[/name], leaving [name]Sam[/name] and [name]Charlie[/name]. I really love all the names in your signature!

3

[name]Nathan[/name]: Although I like [name]Nathaniel[/name] more, [name]Nathan[/name] is very handsome. Perhaps that’s because I fancied the pants off a TV character called [name]Nate[/name] once, but it’s still lovely and I can see it on a male of all ages :slight_smile:

[name]Owen[/name]: [name]Love[/name] [name]Owen[/name]. I can easily see this on a man of all ages too (admittedly these men are all Welsh in my head). A lovely name which fits in perfectly with [name]Sam[/name] and [name]Charlie[/name].

[name]Kai[/name]: He is very cool. I love all the sea-related meanings myself and don’t see it as downmarket at all. I’ve seen it used across the social classes over here. The trouble I have with [name]Kai[/name] is that I can only envisage it on a young boy, not an adult :confused:

Overall, I think [name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Owen[/name] fit in much better with names like [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Charles[/name], [name]Jack[/name], [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Everett[/name] than [name]Grayson[/name], [name]Boaz[/name] or [name]Bailey[/name] do :slight_smile:

4

[name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Owen[/name] fit your style, but [name]Kai[/name] not so much. I get a very different image from [name]Kai[/name] than I do from your other favorites. [name]Boaz[/name] is out of place too; it’s a rare find, whereas the other eleven are at least familiar to the average person.

From your current top twelve, I would strike [name]Boaz[/name] and [name]Bailey[/name] and replace them with [name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Owen[/name]. From there it’s hard for me to get it down to a top ten. If I let my personal taste interfere, your top ten would be [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Asher[/name], [name]Jack[/name], [name]Grayson[/name], [name]Spencer[/name], [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Charles[/name], [name]Nathan[/name], and [name]Owen[/name].

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Thanks, ladies!

@pinkballerina - I don’t know, I keep coming across all these connection to the name [name]Owen[/name], and I’m loving all of them! I’m not sure about actually using it, but I am quite liking it, and it has been on my list in the past as a MN ([name]Daniel[/name] [name]Owen[/name]). I do sort of like [name]Eoin[/name], and while I generally prefer the original Gaelic spellings, here I prefer [name]Owen[/name]. As for [name]Kai[/name]–I had always seen it that way, too–or at least, for the past several months/couple years. But every time I see it used in Scandinavia/Germany, it seems to always have this classy sort of charming European light to it, and I’m really loving it because of that. I saw the double-barrel [name]Kai[/name]-[name]Peter[/name] the other day, and I’m massively in love with that. :slight_smile: As for [name]Boaz[/name], it has a very special tie to my grandmother who passed away in 2010, so for now, it stays. I know it’s really different from the rest of my list, but for some reason I don’t really like it as a MN. And [name]Beau[/name] doesn’t hold the same tie at all, although I’d probably call him [name]Beau[/name]/[name]Bo[/name] a lot. :slight_smile: I think [name]Sam[/name], [name]Charlie[/name], and [name]Beau[/name] would be adorable for brothers. :slight_smile:

@charlieandperry1 - thanks for your thoughts! It’s good to know that [name]Kai[/name]'s not downmarket everywhere. :slight_smile: I’m also thinking of possibly using [name]Schuyler[/name] nn [name]Kai[/name], too. I suppose I could spell it Cuy/Chuy, but I like the [name]Kai[/name] spelling so much more. I love that [name]Schuyler[/name] means “scholar”, too. I’m just not sure I can see me using [name]Schuyler[/name], even though I love it. Unfortunately, at this point, none of those three are going anywhere (that’s my problem, my top 9 is set, and I really don’t want to let go of [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Charles[/name], or [name]Boaz[/name]–I love them all pretty much equally!). [name]Grayson[/name] and [name]Boaz[/name] honor both my grandmothers, and I’ve loved [name]Bailey[/name] for eons upon eons. And for now, I’m nowhere near having children of my own, so I’m not terribly opposed to having a less-than-perfect top 10–I just don’t want an unmanageable list…

I think [name]Nathan[/name]'s out–I seem to have a love-hate relationship with it. I do like [name]Nate[/name] but I can’t really see me with a [name]Nathan[/name]. I did like a bunch of ties to it, but I think it was mainly because I read a sweet story with a good [name]Nathan[/name] in it, and it made me crush on it for a while, but I can never seem to commit to [name]Nathan[/name]/[name]Nathaniel[/name]. [name]Owen[/name] and [name]Kai[/name] are much more likely to make the cut.

Thoughts on [name]Schuyler[/name] nn [name]Kai[/name]? Is that an improvement to just [name]Kai[/name] at all?

6

Well then, special family names and much-loved names must stay on the list! I’ll come clean… I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce [name]Schuyler[/name]. I hadn’t heard of it until NB. I’m guessing the ‘kai’ sound has to be in there somewhere though??? :confused:

7

Yes, just like [name]Skyler[/name]. I believe it’s Dutch? Although I’ve been told the traditional Dutch pronunciation isn’t really like [name]Skyler[/name], but I don’t know what it is. Most Americans traditionally pronounce it like [name]Skyler[/name], though.

8

I love [name]Nathan[/name] nn [name]Nate[/name]! We have an uncle [name]Nate[/name] in our family!! I really like [name]Kai[/name] too but it sounds a bit at odds with your other names… I can picture [name]Kai[/name] with surfy brothers called [name]Bodhi[/name] and [name]Taj[/name]…Or it could work with another name that’s equally international… sisters [name]Amara[/name] is the only one that springs to mind but I’m sure you could find lots of others! I’m also a fan of [name]Boaz[/name] (wow!) and [name]Sam[/name] and [name]Charlie[/name] are great too…

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[name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Owen[/name] fit your style, but [name]Kai[/name] does not.

As a side note, [name]Boaz[/name] is one of my major crushes! I love the imagery of [name]Boaz[/name] as [name]Ruth[/name]'s kinsman redeemer in the Bible, and [name]Jesus[/name] as our kinsman redeemer. I would seriously consider using [name]Boaz[/name].

10

That’s why I love it so much, despite the fact that it’s so at odds with the rest of my list! (Plus, my grandmother was [name]Ruth[/name]. I just love the idea of [name]Boaz[/name] to honor her!)

ETA: I should also add that I am open to using [name]Owen[/name] or [name]Kai[/name] as a MN since I really don’t have combos set yet for [name]Charles[/name], [name]Samuel[/name], and maybe even [name]Boaz[/name]… I was thinking [name]Charles[/name] [name]Owen[/name], [name]Samuel[/name] [name]Owen[/name], or [name]Samuel[/name] ______ [name]Kai[/name]…

11

Ahhh ok. Although I prefer just [name]Kai[/name] myself, I think [name]Schuyler[/name] nn [name]Kai[/name] is alright. There are loads of names out there with tenuous nicknames; at least the sound of ‘kai’ is actually in there. There aren’t many other ways to spell that sound anyway (unless you went [name]Skyler[/name] nn [name]Kye[/name]). Chuy doesn’t work so well- I’d be tempted to pronounce it ‘chewy’ :stuck_out_tongue:

If they can’t make your list, perhaps these gorgeous names will have to be saved for middles?

[name]EDIT[/name]: Haha, you beat me to it with the middles thing :smiley:

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[name]Samuel[/name] & [name]Charles[/name] ([name]Sam[/name] & [name]Charlie[/name]) I prefer far more than [name]Nathan[/name] & [name]Owen[/name].

I don’t know why, but I think they’re a lot more classic.

13

[name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Owen[/name] fit seamlessly with your other names (I prefer [name]Owen[/name] personally), but [name]Kai[/name] would be an oddball. I do love the name [name]Kai[/name], though. I think it’d make an interesting middle with one of those names.

14

[name]Nathan[/name]: I like this name (though I think I slightly prefer [name]Nathaniel[/name]), but it’s not a name that I have particularly strong thoughts about. It sounds classic and timeless, but perhaps a little bit boring. It’s a bit overused though, as I’ve met countless numbers of people named [name]Nathan[/name], [name]Nate[/name] or [name]Nathaniel[/name].

[name]Owen[/name]: I quite like this name (though I prefer [name]Ewan[/name]). It’d be my favorite of your three mentioned names. It feels like a ‘worldly’ name, the kind of name I wouldn’t be surprised to find in any country. It also has a somewhat intelligent vibe to me, which is always cool.

[name]Kai[/name]: I think [name]Kai[/name] could make a good nickname (for example, for [name]Caius[/name]), but on it’s own it feels too unsubstantial to me now. Before doing baby name research I didn’t know much about this name, but it does seem to be one of those names that’s caught on with the trendy cliques and teenage parents, as well as the occasional surfer family. I do appreciate how it has roots to several languages though, and it does have a cool/effortless vibe to it. [name]Just[/name] not one I’d choose.)

From your other three mentioned names, I really really really like [name]Boaz[/name]. I heard it a few weeks back when a friend of mine from high school named his baby that, and ever since then I’ve thought it was a really great name. In fact, of all the names in your signature, it might be my favorite (battling with [name]Everett[/name] for the top spot— though honestly, I like those two names significantly better than the rest).