Small person continues her campaign to have the baby called Hippo. She just came out, very hopefully, with "if you both changed your mind though, we could call the baby Hippo!". Please do feel free to throw your favourite boy names at me, we're a bit stuck still. - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

samanthalf.bsky.social • 106 days ago

Small person continues her campaign to have the baby called Hippo.

She just came out, very hopefully, with "if you both changed your mind though, we could call the baby Hippo!".

Please do feel free to throw your favourite boy names at me, we're a bit stuck still.

Comments

jamesarosen.com•106 days ago

Anchor
Bandy
Crambe
Darcy
Egon
Future
Gryphon
Hatch
Indolence (Indy)
Joconde
Keeper
Link
Maverick
Nobody
Optimus
Panache
Quincy
Robert
Stoic
Tendon
Unctuous
Venerable
Warlock
Xerxes
Yarrow
Ziggurat

aliceponderland.bsky.social•106 days ago

You could go with Augustine of Hippo, as a compromise?

superteadrinker.bsky.social•106 days ago

I was thinking this or Moo Deng

jaffne.bsky.social•106 days ago

Haggis is the new hippo kid on the block, Haggis is a good name for a child...

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Genius! Though, t'husband has already refused Theobald, Cuthbert and Anselm so my chances of getting any pre-20th century saints through are limited, though not for lack of trying.

aliceponderland.bsky.social•106 days ago

I think Anselm could work, the other two would definitely be fodder for playground teasing though

aliceponderland.bsky.social•106 days ago

Oh, Hippo means horse, so what about Eligius? Patron saint of horses. Possibly a bit weird, but there won’t be another one in the class!

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

I mean it can go on the list but I can't see him being keen. It's really hard to find a not-too-out-there but not-12-in-the-class name for a boy!

aliceponderland.bsky.social•106 days ago

Yeah and the name trends change all the time, so it must be very difficult to choose something that’s not unfamiliar but predict and avoid anything ubiquitous

gwenynen.bsky.social•106 days ago

I had a friend in uni a few years younger than me called Anselm.
Also, my college philosophy tutor was a Bede.

porschespider.bsky.social•106 days ago

I've known a couple of Cuthberts, though we live in Durham so he's our own pet saint.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

I think it's super cute! But southerner husband is not sold.

gwenynen.bsky.social•106 days ago

Ooh, I also met a Dunstan a few years ago at a conference (again, younger than me)

porschespider.bsky.social•106 days ago

No, it would never have been my first choice 🤣

katherineschof8.bsky.social•105 days ago

I LOVE Gus for Augustine!

florilegia.bsky.social•106 days ago

I struggled with boy names too! I have a few that I liked for R but which got vetoed by my husband, but I’m afraid they’re all various shades of Celtic: Ruaridh, Cillian, Ciarán, Ossian. I also contemplated Seamus, as Seamus Heaney had just died and he was a pal of my FIL, and Seán.

florilegia.bsky.social•106 days ago

Obviously we couldn’t have Seán, though as it means the same as my Eldest’s name!

florilegia.bsky.social•106 days ago

My eldest wanted to call his brother Cheddar Biscuit Baby: I do not recommend that you do that!

etusty.bsky.social•106 days ago

Boys names are so hard. I only had 2 on my list but a whole A4 page of girls names. One I liked was the most popular name for years Oliver. Luckily the OH preferred the other one which still hasn't made it into the top 100 in the UK, despite us knowing quite a few now.

etusty.bsky.social•106 days ago

I also like Sebastian, but wouldn't go with our surname (and I'm not keen on Seb as a nickname).

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

We both like it but again, family name... There's not enough boy names to go round!

etusty.bsky.social•105 days ago

Yes we also had that issue.

researchandv.bsky.social•106 days ago

I found boy names really tough. G probably would have been an Isaac David.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

We are definitely finding it tricky, that is for sure! We had R's first name for a very long time, struggling this time.

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

Here are names we liked but didn't use: Lachlan, Seamus, Ludovic, Wyatt, Fraser, Patrick (Paddy)

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Ooh Fraser is very appealing in particular! I'll add it to the mix. We already know a little Lachlan and I'm trying to avoid repeats.

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

Yes my middle child would've been Lachlan if she'd been a boy, then when she got to nursery her best friend was an Australian Lachlan!

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

I've not met any young Fraser's actually in my now 17 years of parenting

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

Bot names are super tricky. We went with something we thought was unusual and then there was another in his small village Reception class of 30 kids!

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

*boy* names. Bit names are something else entirely. Tbh to your eldest, Hippo is likely to be unique

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

And he is measuring massive, tbf, I've had two glucose tests just in case it's gdd. Midwife reckons he's just long.

cjclib.bsky.social•106 days ago

I never trust those measurements, they are not often accurate but I'm starting to feel that you might have to just both change your minds about Hippo....

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

I'm dubious about them too but we've another scan coming up so we'll see, I guess! Midwife isn't concerned but then midwives never seem to be too concerned. Drs have been like, induction! Consultant led! Danger! And my midwife is like, nah you'd be fine with a homebirth 🤣

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

So hard!!

katywrathall.bsky.social•105 days ago

Has Zebulon been rejected yet? Zeb for short?

ayeshabarb.bsky.social•106 days ago

I can give you some from my family tree. Family trees are a rich source of names: Eliab, Deliverance, Ralph, Giles, Aquilla.

unpopularhistorian.bsky.social•106 days ago

What's wrong with Hippocrates? A perfectly good Greek name.

janjonesauthor.bsky.social•106 days ago

My brain just came up with Griff. I am so sorry.

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

I actually had Griffen on the list for a while but I decided it was a bit too high fantasy. Sweet, though.

katherineschof8.bsky.social•105 days ago

I know a very nice adult Griff! What about all those excellent early English names? Edmund, Edward, Edgar, Alfred, Wulfstan….

danielmclaury.bsky.social•106 days ago

Personally, my favorite name for a boy is Hippo. It's an old Greek word that means "horse" or "horseman."

girlinthe.bsky.social•106 days ago

'Hippo' would be great. A whole life of saying 'like the early Christian Synod, whatdya mean you've not heard of it?'. (My chap constantly says 'like the saint' of a name which is the name of a not-very-well-known saint...)

girlinthe.bsky.social•106 days ago

(Or, slightly better know, 'as in Augustine of...'. Still no good?)

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

Himself won't go for it. I've tried a wide variety of early and medieval boy saints and he's not having it. No Anselm. No Baby Bede. Very against Cuthbert.

orangeaurochs.bsky.social•105 days ago

Aidan sounds modern?

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

It is pretty nice, isn't it!

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

Patron Saint of Firefighters, according to actual reliable sources, and of England, according to the complete nonsense on Google's ai results. Honestly that thing is an absolute menace.

jaema.bsky.social•105 days ago

Guthlac might be worth a shout?

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

Ooh worth a shot - t'husband's family has a lot of fenland connections. I can't see him going for it mind.

girlinthe.bsky.social•105 days ago

Botolph is also very East Anglian? And to return to Anselm, have I dreamt Dorset connections? -- There's an St Anselm's Head near Swanage, isn't there?

vtheobscure.bsky.social•106 days ago

Felix, Thomas, Ash, Rowan (yes I like tree names), Nathaniel, James (short to Jem, I read too much Anne of Green Gables), Toby

vtheobscure.bsky.social•106 days ago

Louis, Finlay, Luke, Leon, Daniel, Edward...

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

I love tree names too! Several of those are on my long list but not t'husbands 🤦

vtheobscure.bsky.social•106 days ago

I wanted a Laurel or Rowan girl but twas not to be.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Oh beautiful names! Laurel in particular. I've always found girl names to be easier, so much more of them some how?

abbybarker.bsky.social•106 days ago

Literally the only boys name we liked was Alexander. Genuinely think Dora would have been Alexander Jr if she'd been a boy. Go with hippo, it'll be fine.

gen3cats.bsky.social•106 days ago

My eldest would have been Aiden or Glyn if she had been a boy. 16 years on and still not met any Glyns...

samanthalf.bsky.social•105 days ago

I do know a Glyn, but he's one of my parent's friends so not quite this generation! I also know a Glynis, but wrong gender this time.

kikithehamster.bsky.social•106 days ago

My niece’s name will forever be Tortuga - we ended up with something more traditional for common use, but still call her that. 💚

I’ll submit David, Virgil, and Ezekiel (Zeke) ☺️

revengenotebook.bsky.social•106 days ago

What about like Filippo or something? Common Italian name, strong history, means (roughly) “friend of the horses.” Very neat.

Three syllables is kind of long, so might want to think of a nickname. Maybe Fil? But that sounds too close to Phil.

How about… hippo?

That’s right, I’m with the kid

wiilassie.bsky.social•106 days ago

If he's a Christmas baby... https://open.spotify.com/track/5P8Xvy5tzhmfyfA6GplQ8h?si=CpFkvAeBR5S3UyLZab9CyA

empresspenguin.bsky.social•106 days ago

Our list is currently:
• Joshua
• Scott
• Alexander
• Benjamin
• Zachariah
• Sam

Cannot persuade my OH of the merits of Theodore which is my actual favourite.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Theodore is lovely! My only qualm with it is the number of them. And I can't use Sam for the obvious reason that very few small boys wish to be named after their mothers 🤣

empresspenguin.bsky.social•106 days ago

Ah yes that would cause problems 😂 It's my cousin's name so we probably won't use it either. But it's very hard to have this conversation as OH doesn't think any boys' names are as good as his own 🙃

porschespider.bsky.social•106 days ago

When I was expecting youngest, his brother wanted to call him Snowflake ('because it's beautiful') or Johannes ('because he's the best dancer on Strictly') and niece suggested Bubbleguppy (for no real reason other than she was 3). You're very welcome to any of those should you want them.

porschespider.bsky.social•106 days ago

Honestly though, we struggled with a boy name for littlest, though we had two girls names to choose from (we didn't know what we were having). We ended up, quite accidentally, with two Old Testament names, and now I worry they sound too matchy matchy.

yana42.bsky.social•106 days ago

If it is Hippo on the birth certificate, you can just call him Po. Short and cute.

Sorry, I'm usually in cahoots with small people...

tinareynolds.bsky.social•106 days ago

I'm a sucker for traditional boy names but nicknames are an issue. For instance, I like Michael but not Mick, James but not Jim or Jamie. Robert is one I'm partial to. Also Peter and Alexander (which has lots of nice shortenings). Maybe Sebastian?

tinareynolds.bsky.social•106 days ago

Shane would like to contribute Thomas

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Alas a family name already! Though also an excellent 12th century saint which seems to be my main criteria...

tinareynolds.bsky.social•106 days ago

Further options: Christopher and Christian. We then went down an Irish track which may or may not appeal. I like Sean, myself, but wouldn't want to wish a lifetime of correcting spellings onto a child!

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Alas Chris and variants are right out - family again!

tinareynolds.bsky.social•106 days ago

Ah, of course, yea 😂

hennieh.bsky.social•105 days ago

My (also massive, and 33% bigger than his sister) boy is William, but Will, which I still love (obvs!). We had liked Barnaby, Sebastian. Rupert is another good one. I like Nathaniel (but then I'm married to one!) shortened to Nat.

unabridgedopinions.com•106 days ago

We had this issue! My partner wrote a computer program that matched common names to less common spellings. So something like Pietro/Peter.

unabridgedopinions.com•106 days ago

So we went with the uncommon version but they both have access to a more common nickname, in case that was how they wanted it to go. (They have both preferred to keep their unusual names as the one they are called though!)

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Bede and Giraldus also firmly rejected. Also, even I thought Boethius was a step too far!

unabridgedopinions.com•106 days ago

Awww I kind of like Bede!

thegeorg.bsky.social•106 days ago

George is a nice friendly name. I'm partial to Walter. I've also had lovely cats named Colin and Clint, and dogs named Jake and Beauford.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

George is on the long list, I agree - but currently very popular!

thegeorg.bsky.social•106 days ago

I will hug him and kiss him and love him and I will call him George. :)

thegeorg.bsky.social•106 days ago

Also had a dog named Max.

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Another good name though. I really like Dexter but that is my in laws actual current dog's name so possibly not.

katherineschof8.bsky.social•105 days ago

Our family cat when I was a child and my son share a name. It was not deliberate 😁

thegeorg.bsky.social•106 days ago

We had a dog named George when I was born.

ijclark.com•106 days ago

I always liked Cameron for a boy. Albeit 2010 onwards kinda spoilt that a little…

samanthalf.bsky.social•106 days ago

Yeah I think my in laws would probably disown us 🤣🤦

woodsiegirl.bsky.social•106 days ago

A friend of mine's 3yo wanted to call his baby brother Pineapple Windmill. Refused to call him by his actual name for some time after he was born. Both kids are in their teens now, I sometimes wonder if he still calls him that...