Your 3 Biggest Influences in Boys' Names?

Boy Names
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I’m equally curious to hear your answers about boys’ names.

Mine are:

  1. Anne of Green Gables (Gilbert, Barry, Cuthbert, Jem, Walter, Moody, Spurgeon, Harmon…)
  2. Soft, sensitive male names, think Mr. Rogers more than Arnold Sch. (Timothy, Pascal, Clement…)
  3. Little Old Man Names (I love Harold, Hector, Chester, Stanley, Douglas, Sherwin…)

What about you? I think my #2 and #3 have to do with liking intelligence, humor, and sensitivity in men as opposed to machismo (no Wrecker for me, sorry!).

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This is hard! But I think I’m going to have to go with, in no particular order…

  1. Literature (I learned about a lot of names I love from books, or have been inspired to love them by books). Names that fall in this category for me include: [name_m]Edgar[/name_m], [name_u]Percy[/name_u], [name_m]Colin[/name_m], [name_u]Indigo[/name_u], [name_m]Simon[/name_m], [name_m]Claus[/name_m], [name_m]Alasdair[/name_m], [name_m]Lysander[/name_m], [name_m]Malcolm[/name_m], [name_m]Ross[/name_m], and many more.

  2. [name_u]Nature[/name_u] (This one is pretty self explanatory, I think— I love nature names for any gender). Examples: [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_u]River[/name_u], [name_u]Ash[/name_u], [name_u]Heron[/name_u], [name_m]Heath[/name_m], [name_u]Oleander[/name_u], [name_u]Cedar[/name_u].

  3. Heritage/History/Ancestry (I love the idea of using names that reflect my heritage— Irish names in particular are very close to my heart; hence my choosing a Gaelic middle name for myself when I decided to change my own name). Examples: [name_u]Rory[/name_u], [name_u]Sean[/name_u], [name_m]Eamon[/name_m], [name_m]Tadhg[/name_m], [name_m]Ronan[/name_m], [name_u]Callum[/name_u], [name_u]Fionn[/name_u], [name_u]Liam[/name_u], [name_m]Conor[/name_m], [name_m]Aran[/name_m], [name_u]Christian[/name_u]

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  1. [name_u]Nature[/name_u]. I love being outside, so any name that reminds me of bubbling brooks and sunshine through tree leaves is a name I LOVE.
    Examples: [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m], [name_u]Forest[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_u]Asher[/name_u], [name_u]Cove[/name_u], and [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u].

  2. Literature. (especially Classic and English) I’ve always been a reader, and I love the quiet, smart-boy vibes these give.
    Examples: [name_u]Milo[/name_u], [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], Wilde(r), [name_u]Oliver[/name_u], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], [name_u]Elliot[/name_u], [name_m]William[/name_m] “Wilkie”, [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_m]Caspian[/name_m].

  3. Gender Neutral & Soft Names. I love Gender Neutral names for boys. I think it’s because I find naming girls so easy.
    Examples: [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_u]Finley[/name_u], [name_u]Parker[/name_u], [name_u]Oakley[/name_u] and [name_u]Ellis[/name_u].

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1)Literature has been very influential over my boys names! (Sholto, [name_m]Felix[/name_m], [name_u]Ezra[/name_u], [name_m]Ozias[/name_m], [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], [name_m]Silas[/name_m], [name_u]Percy[/name_u], Fergus)
2) kids I’ve met (Tristan, [name_m]Rafferty[/name_m], Barnaby)
3) biblical names (Jonah, [name_m]Gideon[/name_m], [name_u]Ezra[/name_u], [name_m]Boaz[/name_m], [name_u]Azariah[/name_u], [name_u]Jesse[/name_u], Shiloh)

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  1. Traditional names (Jack, [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_u]Oliver[/name_u], Christopher)
  2. Biblical names (definitely not on purpose, I think mostly because they are both traditional and soft: [name_m]Samson[/name_m], [name_m]Simon[/name_m], [name_u]Ezra[/name_u], [name_u]Jonah[/name_u], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], Gabriel)
  3. Celtic origins (Aidan, [name_u]Rhys[/name_u], [name_u]Owen[/name_u], [name_u]Evan[/name_u], [name_u]Rooney[/name_u], Riley)
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Copying @tfzolghadr and listing 4:

  1. Timeless/classic names (Thomas, [name_m]Phillip[/name_m], John)
  2. Names ending in son (Jameson, [name_u]Edison[/name_u], [name_m]Harrison[/name_m], [name_m]Ferguson[/name_m], [name_m]Benson[/name_m], Tennyson)
  3. Posh-sounding names (Everett, [name_m]Alistair[/name_m], Simon)
  4. Names that are decidedly for a boy (Oscar, [name_m]Patrick[/name_m], [name_u]Davis[/name_u], Marshall)
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  1. Old fashioned names (Theodore, [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m], [name_m]Augustus[/name_m], Christopher)
  2. Books/authors (Atticus, [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], [name_u]Darcy[/name_u], [name_m]Hemingway[/name_m], Wilbur)
  3. Biblical names (Ezra, [name_m]Abraham[/name_m], [name_m]Simon[/name_m], [name_u]Jonah[/name_u], etc.)
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  1. biblical names - i’m not really religious, but most of my top boys names are biblical (e.g peter, james, joseph, ezra)

  2. my irish/gaelic heritage - this mostly influences my girls names, but they pop up in my boys too (e.g ruairidh, flynn, knox, liam)

  3. soft, androgynous names - most of my other names fall into this category! (e.g jules, morgan, darcy, bertie)

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  1. [name_u]Royal[/name_u] names (Frederick, [name_m]Leopold[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_m]Alfonso[/name_m], Alexander…)

  2. Elegant, refined names (Augustus, [name_m]Valentin[/name_m], [name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m], Ferdinand…)

  3. Meaningful names (Theodor, [name_u]Auberon[/name_u], [name_m]Erik[/name_m], Amadeus…)

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  1. celtic names
  2. meaningful names
  3. sweet spot names
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  1. Surnames of people I know (Conrad, [name_m]Graham[/name_m], [name_m]Russell[/name_m], [name_u]Baker[/name_u], Bennett)
  2. Pop culture - like TV shows and books (Dean, [name_m]Conrad[/name_m], [name_m]Cassius[/name_m], [name_m]Dawson[/name_m], [name_m]Collin[/name_m], [name_m]Clay[/name_m], [name_m]Clark[/name_m], [name_m]Cedric[/name_m], [name_m]Sanford[/name_m], [name_u]Reid[/name_u], [name_m]Turner[/name_m]
  3. Classic Names (Tobias, [name_m]Reuben[/name_m], [name_m]Ian[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Lewis[/name_m], [name_m]Titus[/name_m], Wade)
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Both of my boys’ names follow the same naming theme, with their first name being influence #1, and their middle following influence #2.

  1. Inspired by heritage (our backgrounds are [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], Scottish, Irish, and French).
  2. Figures of exploration/discovery/trailblazing through history

And while we haven’t necessarily used this last influence (yet), I am particularly attracted to:

  1. Cowboy/Wild [name_u]West[/name_u]

Honourable mention to names inspired by the ocean :heart_eyes:

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In no particular order

  1. soft feeling names, like [name_m]Peter[/name_m] [name_u]Sage[/name_u]
  2. old man names. [name_m]Cecil[/name_m], [name_u]Douglas[/name_u], [name_m]Calvin[/name_m], [name_m]Clifford[/name_m], etc :heart: I just don’t have some on my list but I love them
  3. classic/traditional names, like [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_u]James[/name_u]
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  1. Bible names - [name_m]Boaz[/name_m], [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m], [name_u]Aquila[/name_u], [name_m]Judah[/name_m], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], [name_u]Asa[/name_u], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m], [name_m]Reuben[/name_m]! A related theme is [name_u]Christian[/name_u] heroes… [name_u]Augustine[/name_u], [name_m]Martin[/name_m], etc., are also close to my heart.
  2. International names, particularly Gaelic (Lorcan and [name_m]Eoghan[/name_m] top the list!).
  3. [name_u]Nature[/name_u] names, maybe? [name_m]Reef[/name_m], [name_u]Orion[/name_u], [name_m]Forster[/name_m], etc.

[name_f]My[/name_f] boys list is pretty eclectic but those feel like the main ones…

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[name_f]My[/name_f] top four influences (had to go top 4) for boy names are the following

  1. The bible/Torah! I absolutely love biblical names for boys the majority of my name list consists of biblical names especially names that are very old school biblical names which belong to the Jewish side of my family like [name_m]Ezekiel[/name_m], [name_m]Abel[/name_m], [name_m]Abraham[/name_m] along with more popular choices such as [name_u]Noah[/name_u] & [name_u]Ezra[/name_u]. I love using the bible names for inspiration!

  2. [name_u]Nature[/name_u] names I love nature names for both boys and girls. [name_u]Nature[/name_u] names provide so much inspiration for me I love more ‘modern’ choices like [name_u]River[/name_u] along with traditional nature choices like [name_u]Robin[/name_u].

  3. The classics! I think with boy names classics always work and just really appeal to me I absolutely love classics that have always lingered about like [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] & [name_m]Henry[/name_m].

  4. Finally honour names for me honouring loved ones is definitely the most important thing when it comes to naming for me. The majority of my combinations have honour names in them.

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