(no subject)

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

We found out we're having a boy. I thought that was an end to our naming problems. Then my husband says he's having second thoughts about the name we've had picked out for the past 5 years!

Henry Elliott

It was a fight and compromise to get him to agree to NOT naming him after himself, John Henry. And now he's worried that kids will pick on him for having an old man name. I have a feeling he told friend's the name and, like my mom, said all they think of is an old man. Difference is he is easily swayed by peer pressure. I'm beginning to understand why some people are so tight lipped on their name!

Now I have to try to convince him that this generation doesn't have a bunch of Henry's Bob's and George's and they won't see it as an old name, they won't see it as anything, in our area, at least, he'll probably be the only Henry. I haven't met a single person, of any age, with that as a first name, and only a few retirement aged people with that as their middle name.

If that doesn't work we're stuck trying to find another name, which will probably be harder than agreeing on a girl name since I have a handful of names I like, less I'd consider using, and he's turned them all down for various (stupid) reasons. My favorite excuse being Leopold is too french when our youngest is Esme Genevieve Collette.

So, suggestions?

Our current children are Elijah, Amelia, and Esme.
Our name choices for this baby were Henry and Audrey.
Some names I like are Leopold, Benjamin, Theodore.
My husband doesn't like names that remind him of movies, books, or old men.
We have a long German last name that starts with a G.

Comments

[redfield79.livejournal.com]

What about Elliott Henry? I looooove Elliott but that's just me :)

Though I don't really see anything wrong with Henry Elliott either.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

That was the first arrangement we had, but then we're left with the two boys having "Eli" at the beginning of their name. So we moved Elliott to the middle name since we do both like it.

[redfield79.livejournal.com]

Oooh I see! Didn't catch that. Hrm, idk dear! :( Though I adore Theodore on SO many levels. :)

[stacyinthecity.livejournal.com]

Henry is a really popular name right now. It will not sound like an old man name to any kids his age. In fact, he might not even be the only Henry in his class!

Henry was #43 on the US 2012 social security list.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

I tried telling him that it was gaining popularity, that a lot of the older names are and he was just "I don't care about being cool" which was not my point at all!

[stacyinthecity.livejournal.com]

lol

He doesn't get his own argument though.

It sounds like an old man name to us because Henry was a name from our grandparent's generation. But it will be off the radar to little kids today. They will have a cousin Henry or one of their preschool friends was Henry, or maybe there is a Henry 2 years older from the neighborhood or whatever. So it will sound like a perfectly normal kid name, the way Jennifer or Tiffany did to us.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Henry's quite popular, but up until it became popular pretty recently, the only person with that name that I knew of was my late granddad--it was his middle name.

It's not an 'old man' name, though if husband refuses to budge, I like Elliott Henry, too (though that might be too many Es in one family).

Theodore Henry, maybe? It would be a long name, but I kind of like it.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

I really like the sound of Theodore Henry:) And I like the idea of calling him Theo. When I brought up Theodore he brought up a nickname I didn't care for, saying that's what everyone would call him. He's SO STUBBORN.

We got Henry from his grandfather's middle name, I'd told him it was a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine then he was all excited because he was named after his grandfather and everything. Since then we've met two other John Henry's but, like you said, it was more of a common middle name for our older generation. Maybe our parents grandparents used it, but our kids don't know it.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Let me guess: husband insists that everyone will call a kid named Theodore 'Teddy'? Not likely, unless you introduce the child to them as 'Teddy' to begin with. If little Theo is introduced to people as Theo, that's what most people will call him.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

LOL, pretty much:) And he also brought up the president...which I don't see an issue since he was a good president and my husband is a bit of a history buff, you would think it'd be a plus on the name!

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

Definitely don't think of Henry as old! In fact, I don't know any older people called Henry, all the Henry's I know are five year olds.

I wouldn't change it, I think Henry is a good choice but some other alternatives:
James
Jasper
Owen
Charles/Charlie
Willis
Noah
Emmett
William
Liam
Oliver
Jack
Luther
Thomas

[nobodynomore.livejournal.com]

I don't think Henry is an old man's name at all! I love all of your other boy names you like, especially Leopold, because I like the nickname Leo, a lot.

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

Elliott Henry is nice! Benjamin and Theodore are nice.


I agree with Henry being an old man name, and it's my least favorite trend of boy naming lately. I can't stand old man names.

[lynxycrowy.livejournal.com]

I'm a teenager. So, while I'm not in the generation that your newest son would be in, I'm not too far from it, and Henry really doesn't seem like an old man name. Older names are coming back because they're "vintage", and Henry Elliott seems more youthful and energetic to me than anything. But, in case you want more suggestions, here are some (I did a lot of A names, so you would have two children with names beginning in E and two with names beginning in A):

Alexander Elliott
Alfie Elliott
August Elliott
Avery Elliott
Azrael/Azriel Elliott
Bennett Elliott
Duncan Elliott
Foster Elliott
Gareth Elliott
Jasper Elliott
Joel Elliott
Jude Elliott
Lawson Elliott
Oliver Elliott
Sebastian/Sebastien Elliott
Tate Elliott
Tristan Elliott
Walker Elliott

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

As the mother of a Henry, I think it's a fantastic name. However, my mother was rather incredulous too. "Henry? HENRY?" "What's wrong with Henry?" "Um, nothing, it's just, uh, not a name you hear very much nowadays."

Also, when you wrote, "We have a long German last name that starts with a G", my first thought was, "Henry Elliott Gewurtztraminer". LOL

[wolf-shadow.livejournal.com]

Henry isn't old. Can't say I've known many older Henrys, and most of the Harrys were Harolds... As an example though, Prince Harry is also a Henry and definitely not "old"! :P

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

my mom was upset that there isn't a good nickname for it since she's come up with odd nicknames for all my kids loosely based on their names.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

Harry is a pretty awesome nickname for Henry! :) And a lot of people go with Hank or Hal, too. Plus, I've always like just Hens or Hen...

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

Haha! Henry is #1 on our list, and we're constantly fretting that it is *too* popular/trendy. (And it is, but I love the name so much we're going to use it anyway, top 100 SS names be damned. ;) Sigh

Elliott and Eli as siblings seem too close, but I love Theodore Henry, Theodore Elliott, Leo Henry/Henry Leo, or Leo Elliott. And Benjamin is always handsome and nice. :) What about Max or Finn, they seem kind of your style?

I actually like Teddy, but I think most people would go with Theo waaaaay before they thought of Teddy. Or Ned/Neddy. Theo feels totally modern.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

Every time I have a baby my names are suddenly popular! I had Elijah picked out ten years before I had him, but I had him when it.was super popular. Henry is rising but if we stick with it, I too will over look popularity. if you love it you love it. that's what I told my friend who.had her first girl in her fourth child and she loved Bella but was worried about its popularity.due to Twilight just coming out.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

We loved Henry and Theodore but I wasn't a fan of the popularity boost that Henry's had lately. We are going with Louis, nickname Louie or Lou. Lewis would work too! That's my suggestion. Although, it might sound "too old" for him as well. I think Louie is a nice nickname and doesn't sound old, though (I can see Lou or Louis sounding older).

But I still think Henry doesn't sound old! It's quite popular and I think it ages quite nicely.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

Would it work if you went for Leo or Theo?

[lil-cherub.livejournal.com]

I'm biased. I have a son Benjamin. The name means "son"/"son of my old age" aka: youngest son. It fits your situation and both sons will have a J in their name. I think Benjamin Henry sounds modern and classic at the same time.

BTW - Theodore was on our list for son #2 until my husband's cousin named her daughter Theodora when I was 7mo pregnant! (She knew our name pick and took it anyway. She also stole the middle name we planned for a girl. Whole family knew what we were planning on naming our baby, so everyone knows she's a name stealing jerk. yeah... Anyway... lesson is "don't share your names" and I think we would have ultimately decided against Theodore/Theo/Ted anyway since my husband was pretty turned off by the idea of naming a child after the Chipmunks, given the popularity of the movie. He didn't want his son to be associated with the movie and teased in the future if he was fat.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

this has just sold Benjamin to me! the meaning is perfect and it does sound great with the other names.

p.s. Theodore is my fave chipmunk, awww hehe

[lil-cherub.livejournal.com]

Yay! Glad to help! I call him Ben, Benny, Benji, Jamin. I would sing my own madeup variation of Bob Marley's Jammin' (We're jammin', jammin',/And I hope you like Benjamin', too.) when he was a newborn. Your mom will love the nickname possiblities.

He's my favorite chipmunk too! I was really pushing for Theodore until the cousin incident.

[politicking.livejournal.com]

I like Henry with the set, but more suggestions:

Elijah, Amelia, Esme...

Owen
Elias
Rowan
Levi
Hugh
Noah
Frederic
Samuel
Sebastian
Declan
Garrett
Jack
Leo (just as a name on its own)
Leon
Olson
Philip
Brener
Bennett
Leonard
Wyatt
Ellis
Noe
Andrew
Ambrosius
Ambrose
Emory
Ellery
Wyler
Noel