Our son is almost a month old and still has no name. You guys are probably getting tired of seeing me on here.
So my husband is determined to name him “Rutiger” (pronounced RUTT-e-ger). He thinks it’s the most manly, kick-a$$ name he has ever heard (is it even a name?). I hate it. I shuttiger every time he says it. I would just call him “[name_u]Rudy[/name_u]” instead, which I don’t mind so much.
The thing is, there is no other name that I am totally in love with that I can push for to save this poor little guy, and everyone’s just been calling him Rudiger as a joke and it’s starting to stick. It’s on cards people write for us, even our 2 year old has stated calling him that. Meanwhile people overhear this and say, “for your child’s sake, do not let your husband name him that.” He will be forever spelling his name for people. Or if he chooses to go by [name_u]Rudy[/name_u] people will ask what it’s short for and he’ll have to explain that his dad named him Rudiger just for fun.
I am hoping some of you can weigh in on this name. Is it so terrible? I hate it, but maybe it’s just me? Could this child ever be taken seriously or get a job or find love with a name like Rudiger?
I don’t love it, but names have a funny way of sticking once a person is branded with it. They take on a whole new level of acceptance. I think once you say “this is his name, we call him this…” It’ll be fine. If you like the rud part, maybe consider names like [name_m]Roderick[/name_m], [name_m]Rody[/name_m], etc. if you like the “iger” sound how about a more traditional name like Holger, [name_m]Tiger[/name_m], or the like?
I’m with you… Isn’t appealing at all :-/ of course you can “unstick” a name, just takes a little time for ppl to forget, especially if you find a name you both love. I’ll chuck out some suggestions but I don’t know what your flavour is
[name_m]Mordecai[/name_m] / Malachai
[name_m]Lucius[/name_m]
[name_m]Xavier[/name_m]
[name_m]Tobias[/name_m]
[name_m]Reuben[/name_m]
[name_m]Atticus[/name_m]
[name_m]Tiberius[/name_m]
Names do have a way of becoming the person, and maybe our little victim here could make it cool some day.
I think [name_u]Rudy[/name_u] is OK. It’s too bad we can’t just make that his legal name and then everyone’s happy. But it seems to casual to me, I’d like to give the boy a name that carries some weight.
I do like [name_m]Reuben[/name_m]. Maybe that could be his excuse to be named [name_u]Rudy[/name_u].
I personally don’t like it, but honestly, you have to think of your baby first. I don’t think he would get teased, but I do think it is the sort of name where people might go ‘why the heck did they name him that?’ (I can’t talk though, I love Badger for a name). Honestly, while a name is never going to completely determine career or anything like that, Rudiger does project a very ‘blokey’ image- more plumber or builder than doctor or lawyer, not that that is necessarily a bad thing. No, I am pretty sure it is not a ‘real’ name.
Unsticking a name is really hard- my name is [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], but nobody ever calls me that. I just get called Nooshi (as in rhyming with tooshy), after the eggplant dip [name_f]Baba[/name_f] Ganoush- nobody remembers why, but my nn of [name_f]Baba[/name_f] Ganoush as a baby just stuck and got shortened. Maybe just explain to your partner that you hate the name, think it would project a bad image and that you could come up with a compromise.
If you have some names that you ‘like’, let me know, and I will try to help and come up with a list. [name_u]Rudy[/name_u] is sweet though, you could always put that on the birth certificate… I don’t know whether or not you find it too nicknamey. For some reason, I just thought of the name [name_m]Boaz[/name_m]. I don’t know if that helps at all, and you have probably already heard it. Okay, let me know if I can help :).
If I were you I would put my foot down. If there are two parents, then naming is a collaborative process, right? If one parent vetoes a name then that really ought to be it. Maybe a bit of pushing for a name you really love, but if you are repeatedly met with a solid no, then you just have to let it go no matter how much you love it. If you hate Rudiger (and oh my days, I can see why you would, I hate it as well), tell him it’s your baby as well as his and he doesn’t have the right to choose a name you hate. It is not fair of him to keep on pushing for it after he knows that you really don’t like it.
It is a real name - apparently it’s the [name_m]German[/name_m] form of [name_m]Roger[/name_m], seems to be pronounced more like ROO-dig-er from what I can hear. But I honestly don’t think it’s a great choice for an English-speaking country.
[name_u]Rudy[/name_u] is a nice name. If you can reconcile yourself to it as a legal name I would suggest that and tell your husband he can use Rudiger as a nickname (there’s no rule that says the nickname has to be shorter). I don’t quite get [name_m]Reuben[/name_m] -> [name_u]Rudy[/name_u], but if you can see that as a solution go for it! [name_m]Even[/name_m] if it means dropping [name_u]Rudy[/name_u], if you like [name_m]Reuben[/name_m], push for that! [name_m]Reuben[/name_m] is a beautiful name. Does your husband not have any other names that he likes?
I don’t think this is fair against neither you or your son. Besides, Rudiger is not even correct- I believe the proper version is Rüdiger, prn with a y-sound (had an awful gym teacher with this name once). You should have a saying in this as well.
Bad ass, masculine names of different sorts:
[name_m]Maximus[/name_m]
Viking
[name_u]Flynn[/name_u]
[name_m]Colt[/name_m]
[name_m]Ryder[/name_m] (good compromise?)
[name_m]Wyatt[/name_m]
[name_m]Thor[/name_m]
[name_m]Magnus[/name_m]
[name_u]Orion[/name_u]
[name_m]Odin[/name_m]
[name_m]Axl[/name_m]
[name_m]Leonidas[/name_m]
Ares
[name_m]Julius[/name_m]
[name_m]Zebedee[/name_m]
[name_m]Mars[/name_m]
[name_m]Perseus[/name_m]
[name_m]Jupiter[/name_m]
[name_m]Peregrine[/name_m]
[name_m]Apollo[/name_m]
[name_m]Percival[/name_m]
[name_m]Alastair[/name_m]
[name_m]Angus[/name_m]
[name_m]Poseidon[/name_m]
[name_m]Alaric[/name_m]
[name_u]Tristan[/name_u]
[name_m]Lancelot[/name_m]
[name_m]Ruben[/name_m] & [name_m]Ryder[/name_m] are great suggestions. If Rudiger is the [name_m]German[/name_m] version of [name_m]Roger[/name_m], could you go with [name_m]Roger[/name_m] on the birth certificate & [name_u]Rudy[/name_u] & Rudiger as nn? [name_m]Russell[/name_m] also seems like a ‘strong’ name to me, & [name_m]Russ[/name_m] or [name_m]Rusty[/name_m] are good nn.
I’m going to be the odd one out here and say I don’t mind Rudiger at all. Rudiger - Name Meaning, What does Rudiger mean?
it means “spear fame, famous warrior, or famous spear”, I do like the sound of it too, and [name_u]Rudy[/name_u] is a good nickname. I think the problem is if you position it as “not a real name” and just something “husband likes the sound of”, then it devalues the name. If you give it it’s proper due, it’s a real [name_m]German[/name_m] name, and
IMPORTANT - YOU PRONOUNCE IT PROPERLY,
Pronunciation for Rudiger: R as in “race (R.EY.S)” ; UW as in “two (T.UW)” ; D as in “day (D.EY)” ; IH as in “it (IH.T)” ; JH as in “joy (JH.[name_m]OY[/name_m])” ; ER as in “hurt (HH.ER.T)”
so not “rud-ig-er” but “ROO-dig-er” (in my mind at least!) then wow shazam it’s a legit name with a great meaning and a cute nickname.
While Rudiger is a nice [name_m]German[/name_m] name, I don’t think it works so well in English, especially when it’s being mispronounced. I really like the suggestion of [name_m]Reuben[/name_m]/[name_m]Ruben[/name_m]. Before the sandwich, I think of [name_m]Reuben[/name_m] as being a biblical name. It means “behold, a son”, which is a great meaning, I think!
Rudiger isn’t the worst name but I certainly don’t love the harsh sound of it. Maybe suggest something like [name_m]Rupert[/name_m], [name_m]Rufus[/name_m], [name_m]Reuben[/name_m], [name_m]Berenger[/name_m], [name_m]Cooper[/name_m] or [name_m]Rune[/name_m].
Congrats [name_u]Nat[/name_u] you are the first one to introduce [name_m]Berenger[/name_m] to the forums! I actually kind of like that one.
Alphabetters you are right, it’s dumb to pronounce it the wrong way. Rudiger, as its proper name, is a different name from Rutteger (which doesn’t exist). From looking at that pronounciation though it looks like it’s telling us it’s “ROO-di-jer” like intiger. This is even farther from the made up name my husband likes, leaving it even more out in the land of unicorns.
I’d like to clarify myself a bit: a [name_m]German[/name_m] ü sounds something inbetween a ee- sound and a y-sound or something. Listen to the link provided by @casilda.
Name him [name_m]Rudyard[/name_m] or [name_m]Roman[/name_m] or [name_m]Roderick[/name_m] or [name_m]Rodney[/name_m] or [name_m]Rufus[/name_m] or Rialto and call him the other name as a nickname (or [name_u]Rudy[/name_u]).
Life is not a video game and a semi-decent name helps.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] asked my husband if he liked the name Rudiger and he said yeah I love it its from this show:
Pasted above sorry lol
Maybe you could find an episode, listen to the pronounciation, and see if you both like it lol.
And to be fair you dont have to have perfect german pronounciation, as a former front desk worker I saw many canadians and americans butchering their own name with german roots they had completely anglicized it. For ex, Mueller (the e after the u signifies that it would normally be a u with an umlaut) and they corrected me, I pronounced it the proper german way and they said no its muller. Lol
From my point of view, it doesn’t make any sense to say “just you”, since you’re the boy’s mother! Your opinion is paramount. If you’re not a shaky maybe, you actually do hate it (and you clearly do from what you’ve said), nobody should be wasting time trying to persuade you on it. Rudiger should be off the table, no matter if there are other people on this forum that like it. You should not be pressured into giving your child a name that makes you shudder. Full stop. If the name was something like Leo, very popular and well-loved on these forums and surely not a name that would cause problems for the child, but you absolutely hated it, it would be the exact same story. In that case, no way should you name your son Leo. So I’m going to say no way should you name your son Rudiger.
Edit: To elaborate, from what you said and the way you phrased things, it seems to me that the situation is definitely not “I could be sold on this name but I have some reservations”. It’s “I really dislike this name and I’m being backed into a corner”. So you need to be really firm, tell your husband that under no circumstances is his birth certificate name going to be Rudiger, ask him to let it go and help you find a different name, discourage people from using it as a joke, maybe gently correct your toddler, say “little brother doesn’t have a name yet” or something, and most of all, don’t let yourself be pressured as if time is somehow running out. There’s no rule that says your son has to have a name yet. In my country babies aren’t usually named until they’re 3 or 4 months, sometimes as old as 6 months. So don’t stress, it’s not crazy to take a little longer to find a name you both can live with happily, even if it’s nobody’s first choice.
