Anyone want to talk boy names?

[felicity]

Our two top contenders are Ryan and Alex. I'm wavering on Ryan because of name associations with people I know, not sure if it's kind of an 80's/90's name, and not sure how I feel about starting to rise as a girl's name. I know I shouldn't care too much about these things, but we have a ridiculously hard last name so I want to make his first name easy on him. 

I love the name Alexander, but it doesn't sound good with our last name, so if we did go that route his full name would just be Alex.

Any suggestions on other names similar to these? Our main criteria is that it has to be easy to say and spell since our last name is not.  

[Deleted]

As someone whose given name is commonly a nickname (Katie) and throws people for a loop to the point I go by a different name (Kate), don't "just" name your kid Alex. I have a friend whose brother is Greg, not Gregory, and it is a similar PITA.
I only know 1 girl named Ryan (and one Ryanne), and she was born in the 80s, so there goes that theory . The girl named Ryan's sisters are Randi and Reagan, so there's a whole family theme there. I think Ryan is still a boy's name, and a nice one at that.

[ringstrue]

I'm a failure at boys names, lol. DH wanted Max so we are going with Maxwell. I'm gonna tell everyone his middle name is Powers. (just during pregnancy) 

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 9:27:21 GMT -5 @mrsspunky said:

As someone whose given name is commonly a nickname (Katie) and throws people for a loop to the point I go by a different name (Kate), don't "just" name your kid Alex. I have a friend whose brother is Greg, not Gregory, and it is a similar PITA.
I only know 1 girl named Ryan (and one Ryanne), and she was born in the 80s, so there goes that theory . The girl named Ryan's sisters are Randi and Reagan, so there's a whole family theme there. I think Ryan is still a boy's name, and a nice one at that.

Yeah the Alex typically being a nn thing is the holdup on that one. Alex as a given name is number 110 on the SSA name list as of last year, but Alexander is number 8. 

[anna7602]

I usually prefer giving a child a more formal name, but Alex seems like a solid stand-alone name. My brother has gone by Alex his whole life and has never, ever used his formal name, nor been in a situation where anyone tries to call him anything more formal. (His Alex is not short for Alexander, by the way, which may be part of it, but no one has ever even mistakenly called him Alexander.)

ETA: My brother is in his late 40s, by the way. So, lots of years of anecdotal data. 

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 9:30:50 GMT -5 RexManningDay said:

I like both of those names very much. Ryan doesn't sound dated to me, really. Another that I LOVE that kind of jumped out of the woodwork for me (I mean, not really since it's biblical and "common" but I just never thought about it) and reminds me of those two is Adam. You never hear it for babies and it's a really nice name.

I mentioned Adam to my H last night actually. He kind of gave me a face about it. I do like it though for the same reason - classic but not super common. 

[anna7602]

What about Aaron?

[linz]

I don't think Ryan is becoming too much of a girl name. And I also think Alex is fine without doing a full name. I know a lot of people with the name Alex who aren't Alexander so don't throw it out just for that reason. Just like there are people named Jake who aren't Jacob. If you don't want people to call him Alexander then do the short version.

And I also love short names like that where people can't jack them up. Adam is a good name too. Or maybe Blake?

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 9:37:38 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

What about Aaron?

I really love the name Aaron, but I had a major crush on an Aaron in HS that spanned a couple years, and one of my best HS guy friends was also named Aaron, who I also had kind of a crush on. I guess I had a thing for Aarons which would make it a super weird name for me to use  

[Deleted]

Henry is probably what we'll use if it's a boy. I like classic names too.

Luke, Andrew, Jacob, William (Will) are all nice.

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 9:38:51 GMT -5 linz said:

I don't think Ryan is becoming too much of a girl name. And I also think Alex is fine without doing a full name. I know a lot of people with the name Alex who aren't Alexander so don't throw it out just for that reason. Just like there are people named Jake who aren't Jacob. If you don't want people to call him Alexander then do the short version.

And I also love short names like that where people can't jack them up. Adam is a good name too. Or maybe Blake?

Blake is another name I really like. I have a cousin with the name unfortunately. It's a great name though. 

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 9:29:04 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

I'm a failure at boys names, lol. DH wanted Max so we are going with Maxwell. I'm gonna tell everyone his middle name is Powers. (just during pregnancy) 

Max is a great name. 

[pennylane]

I like Ryan and Alex. I don't see an issue with just using Alex at all. Other names that come to mind for me are Adam, Andrew, Matthew (Matt), Joel, Joseph...

[ngdgtco]

Neither name is on our list, but they both seem solid to me. We like short names, and all of ours are 5 or fewer letters. Do you like Andrew? That's our middle name.

[demandypants]

i like Ryan and Alex too, and wouldn't worry about using Alex if you want to use the name Alex.

[rbp]

Ben(jamin)?
Scott 
Mark

[ewall]

I like Alex and Ryan.

Our short list: Andrew or Mark

Others: James, Bradley, Brady

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 10:44:15 GMT -5 ewall said:

I like Alex and Ryan.

Our short list: Andrew or Mark

Others: James, Bradley, Brady

Ooh I like Bradley and Brady. I have a cousin named James but I like that name too.

[estrellita]

Ryan will always be a boys name to me. Don't let a few girls with the same scare you off - that's how boy names turn into girl names. I tend to like "softer" boy names so if I crossed them of my list when I heard a girl with the name, I'd have no names left! A few examples are Elliott, Everett, Logan and Blake.

As for Alex being lower on the SSA list than Alexander, most of the ones with the longer version will more than likely go by Alex anyways. So that doesn't really mean anything TBH.

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 10:55:45 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Ryan will always be a boys name to me. Don't let a few girls with the same scare you off - that's how boy names turn into girl names. I tend to like "softer" boy names so if I crossed them of my list when I heard a girl with the name, I'd have no names left! A few examples are Elliott, Everett, Logan and Blake.

As for Alex being lower on the SSA list than Alexander, most of the ones with the longer version will more than likely go by Alex anyways. So that doesn't really mean anything TBH.

That's a good point about how boy names turn into girl names, and I'm probably just way over thinking this. I don't think Elliott, Everett, or Logan are soft at all! They actually all seem pretty masculine to me. I think I have known one girl Logan, but I'll always associate it as a boy's name. I only think of Blake being a boy or girl name because of Blake Lively, but I have a boy cousin Blake so it seems very much a boy name to me as well.  

[estrellita]

Jul 25, 2014 11:07:02 GMT -5 felicity said:

Jul 25, 2014 10:55:45 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Ryan will always be a boys name to me. Don't let a few girls with the same scare you off - that's how boy names turn into girl names. I tend to like "softer" boy names so if I crossed them of my list when I heard a girl with the name, I'd have no names left! A few examples are Elliott, Everett, Logan and Blake.

As for Alex being lower on the SSA list than Alexander, most of the ones with the longer version will more than likely go by Alex anyways. So that doesn't really mean anything TBH.

That's a good point about how boy names turn into girl names, and I'm probably just way over thinking this. I don't think Elliott, Everett, or Logan are soft at all! They actually all seem pretty masculine to me. I think I have known one girl Logan, but I'll always associate it as a boy's name. I only think of Blake being a boy or girl name because of Blake Lively, but I have a boy cousin Blake so it seems very much a boy name to me as well.  

Well, I consider them softer just because they seem a little less masculine than say, Robert, Leonard, Frank, Zachary, etc. I don't really know why exactly though, haha. I see them as boy only names but then again that's what I thought of Riley and Avery (also names I like/prefer on a boy).

[gretchenindisguise]

I really wanted to change from Alexander to Nicholas so we could call him Nico. I got outvoted by my H and kid. You should use it instead.

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 12:06:46 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

I really wanted to change from Alexander to Nicholas so we could call him Nico. I got outvoted by my H and kid. You should use it instead.

I do really like the nn Nico for Nicholas! 

[MrsDarcy]

Jul 25, 2014 9:37:38 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

What about Aaron?

I was just about to suggest this!

[azurely]

I like Alex and Ryan. They are both solid boy names. Of course, Alex could be a girl too, so if that bothers you, you might want to go with a less gender neutral name.

I think you're fine just using Alex though. I've gone by a nickname my entire life, because my parents wanted to give me a more formal name, but never called me by it. My given name starts with a different letter than what I go by, and it's annoying sometimes. So if you're calling him by Alex, I would just name him Alex.

[mrspost08]

What about Kyle? I really like Kyle and I don't hear it very often. I have a cousin named Ryan. He is one of my favorites. Hilarious guy!

[azurely]

Jul 25, 2014 14:44:19 GMT -5 mrspost08 said:

What about Kyle? I really like Kyle and I don't hear it very often. I have a cousin named Ryan. He is one of my favorites. Hilarious guy!

Oh yeah I love the name Kyle. It's my brother's name though, so I don't want to use it.

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 14:44:19 GMT -5 mrspost08 said:

What about Kyle? I really like Kyle and I don't hear it very often. I have a cousin named Ryan. He is one of my favorites. Hilarious guy!

I really like Kyle too. That was another name I've been thinking about! My H and I were talking that we like almost all of the Ryans we have ever met. Unfortunately, my most recent association is a kind of weird guy I work with. I'm trying not to let it cloud my judgment lol. 

[felicity]

Jul 25, 2014 14:49:47 GMT -5 atlas said:

I like Alex! My BF's mom named his brother just "Alex". As far as I know he's never had any problems. But he is only 18.

James
David
John
Jesse
Aaron
I like the Kyle suggestion too.
Connor

I like all of these names too. I can't use most of them, but darn you guys are good. I would have considered James, David, and John if it weren't for family members. I can't do Aaron because of past intense high school crushes (too weird). I do like Kyle and Connor. 

[MrsDarcy]

If this had been a boy we we going to use the name Bennett. I also liked Anson, Beckett, Blake, Elliott, Lance, Adrian and our son is Everett. Those may be too untraditional for you.