'Classic' boys names? ? about poll...
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'Classic' boys names? ? about poll...
| Tue, 10-19-2004 - 10:53am |
Hi - I was just thinking about the results of a poll I just did about the name Henry. A number of people answered that they did not like the name and I wondered you could tell me why you do or do not like that name? Also what other names do you consider classic (or as some might say 'old-fashioned')? We also had Benjamin and Jack on our list at one time and I guess those might fall under that category.
TIA!

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To me "classic"are names that have been around awhile,but never loses its spark.Like:
Thomas,Ben,Sam,Max,Timothy,James&Jack.Names along those .Ya know?FYI-I didn't do the
poll,but I do like Henry.But,I too like classic names.I'm going to name my dd either
Olivia or Claire.GL:0)
James, John, JAck, William, Thomas, Joseph, Henry, Charles, Edward, Peter
Andi
Laura, Lucy, Maria, Olivia, Rachel, Rebecca, Sarah, Sophie & Victoria for girls and Alexander, Daniel, David, Edward, Henry, James, John, Joseph, Joshua, Matthew, Michael, Nicholas, Patrick, Robert, Samuel, Simon, Thomas & William. To me, they're the names that have been used throughout history.. to the point that everyone's familiar with them, they have at least 10 or more variants of the original name and there's a version of the name in just about every country you can imagine.
Old fashioned names, however are names that go in & out of fashion a bit more slowly, a few examples : Adele, Audrey, Beatrice, Camille, Evelyn, Josephine, Lila, Sophia & Violet for girls and Cyrus, Dorian, Elliot, Felix, Graham, Jasper, Judah, Leo, Miles, Niles, Oliver, Silas, Tobias & Warren. At some point in time all the names on this list have seemed "out of date" "that's an old people's name!" and THAT, to me, is what differentiates between classic & old fashioned.
I love Benjamin although I do find it a bit lengthy so in that case I prefer plain "Ben" instead (as a given name) which is odd for me because usually I always go for the longer name and using a NN.
Other names I love and consider classic would be William, Thomas, Joseph, Charles, Luke, Andrew...of course there are more I'm sure but that's a few I could think of.
There are five true classics, in my opinion, and they have the following characteristics-
1. Never go "out" of style; remain in the top 100
2. Used with regular frequency but are neither trendy or overdone
3. Have variants in several languages
4. Are appealing to most people whether they'd actually use them or not
5. Are easy to spell and recognize
For girls, the TRUE classics to me are: Rebecca, Sarah, Elizabeth, Caroline & Catherine.
Honorable mentions are Mary, Rachel, & Emily but all have fallen out of favor at times, and Emily is just plain trendy now.
For boys, they are John, James, Joseph, Matthew, & Daniel with honorable mentions Michael, Christopher, Samuel, Benjamin, Andrew, & David. Again, Jacob is somewhat trendy at this point, to me, and so are Zachary, Joshua & Alexander.
One thing I've noticed from other posts is no mention of the Biblical factor- Many of these can seem very classic, very old fashioned and/or very trendy all at the same time!
momtokat nailed my view of old fashioned.
However, your first two kids are in neither category, in my opionion. They fall into my own special category- Traditional but hip. Names that I tend to view favorably right now are old but fresh- hence Eva! Henry has also just recently earned itself a place in this category, to me, along with Timothy & Oliver.
I think the reason you encountered some negativity on the poll is because there are three overwhelming trends right now, and none of them are very similar to each other.
1. Parents looking for old/classic/traditional names.
2. Parents who like and want a popular/trendy name.
3. Parents who like surnames as first names.
Looking at it that way, you should only get a 33% favorable vote toward Henry at best---OR any other name! On the other hand, Henry is a great fit with what IS trendy right now, without being trendy at all! He won't stand out as being the only "old man" name in the class, nor will his name be the most popular old fashioned name in the class. I don't think you'll find that people are by and large totally opposed to it. AND, with the three very prominent and yet very different view of baby names right now, you're not going to find a HUGE number of people who are in love with it either. Another thing I've noticed about the recent use of "old" names is that it takes a little while for folks to go from viewing at as their "grandpa's" name to a name they can picture on a new baby. Henry is fresh out of the "old" category, and I predict will become viewed more and more favorably with this amazing trend toward very "old sounding" names.
Hope this helps! Ginger
Good commentaries here!
I just want to add my short opinion - I really like Henry. It brings to my mind an earnest little boy with a lot of heart.
Good luck!
Kira
Hi there Ginger! Thanks for the reply...you always have such good insight! I really feel like we have found 'the' name if this baby if it is a boy and you are right - we know not everyone will love whatever name we chose - we have to choose what we like best. My other question (and this is looking EXTREMELY far into the future and making quite a few assumptions!) - we love Audrey for a girl's name - if this baby is a boy and ends up being Henry and we have one more and it is a girl do you think Henry and Audrey are too close for siblings w/ the 'ry' sound at the end?
As always, thanks so much!!!!
Hi again! What an interesting question i.e.- Henry & Audrey.
You are definitely not looking too far into the future. It is the ultimate irony, that I, the baby name freak, somehow amidst my raging pregnancy hormones, forgot to consider my future dear Gretchen when I named ds#1 Grantson. I, despising matchy names, effectively eliminated my favorite girl name!!! Not to mention ds#1 just so happened to be Grantson Metz...my never realizing these were the same initial of the name my hubby and I had always had picked out for a ds#2- Gainer Michael!!!
I learned a hard lesson, so I always remind parents and point out the obvious---THINK ABOUT FUTURE KIDS when you name each child. I believe I've shared with you already that I feel this way about using family names too. I LOVE family names, but only if you have enough to disperse them fairly among your children!
With all that said, I'm about to commit the ultimate hypocrisy in my book because I always go on and on about not liking matchy or too-similar names- but here goes-
I ADORE Henry & Audrey together, but ONLY for your children! LOL
Why? Because Eva & Erik, the first girl and boy, start the same, Henry & Audrey, the second girl & boy end the same. AND, (this is very important)- it's Eva-three letters, Erik-four letters, Henry-five letters, Audrey- six letters!!! What subtle appeal! The most quiet and classy of connections among all four. Thumbs up from me...and I'm hard to please when it comes to baby names! Best wishes, Ginger P.S. Still loving Henry for #3, esp. with mn Luke.
i wasn't one who participated in the poll you sent out, but i can give you what i think. i think that the name Henry was probably not liked because it is the type of name used in the early 1900's. names such as that, as well as George, Edward, and Philip are rather old names, and may not be the most up-to-date name when your child begins school. These names, however, are excellent names for middle names. The same goes for girls names, such as Mary, Margaret, Dorothy and Mildred. On the other hand, if you really want ot name your child with a good, strong classic name, that is perfectly al right. remember, it's your child and no poll should be the deciding factor for what name you bear your child. I hope this helps you somewhat. ~chiara
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