Alexander - how important is popularity really?

[ribbons-and-soldiers]

I think that if you love a name, you should totally use it, regardless of popularity.

If you don't mind, I would like to make a few other suggestions:
Arthur
Albert
Bernard
Bruno
Cyril
Cecil
Clovis
Digby
Darwin
Dashiell
Edgar
Esmond
Evander
Franklin
Geoffrey
Giles
Godfrey
Homer
Hollis


HTH

[augusta_lee]

If you love it, use it. But Alexander is insanely popular, and because of that I, myself, would never, ever give my child this name. I know eight Alex's off the top of my head, and could rattle off several dozen more if I thought about it. I even know an Alex (male) who's dating an Alex (female). It's a great name, but your kid will definitely be Alex [last initial] for the rest of his life. And yes, there's a 99% chance that your Alexander WILL be called Alex, whatever you do. I can think of many names that fit your criteria and go better with Agatha than Alexander...names that your son won't have to share with a thousand other kids.

[titch]

Thanks neuilly, I think I need to find out how many Alexanders there are in my suburb to see if he is likely to be Alexander L forever more!

Thuja I’m afraid I disagree about Bartholomew being a better match with Agatha, though I know where you’re coming from since it’s a similarly old-fashioned English-style name. I did mention it to my husband just in case and he said he “really dislikes it” so I guess that’s that. But thanks for the suggestion.

We do have several other names on our list including:

Gabriel
Solomon
Evan
Lawrence
Patrick

So Alexander has some serious competition.

Thank you ribbons and soldiers, there are some great names on your list but a lot of them aren’t really our style, though I do like Evander as an alternative to Evan, Arthur (but can’t use it as a good friend just did) and Franklin. Franklin would work really well with our last name and we could use the nn Frankie which is cute - unfortunately my husband would say Franklin is a surname and he has a thing about that (annoyingly!)

Thanks for your input augusta lee, I’m not sure why you think Alexander doesn’t “go” with Agatha? And while I’m sure you could think of many other boys name you think fit our criteria and go better with Agatha, the problem is finding names that my husband and I think fit our criteria and go with Agatha ;-) Several people would suggest something like Clarence to go with Agatha for example – it has that same antique name ready for restoration feel about it, is a real name, English-sounding, a bit quirky and not in the top 1000 and yet, despite liking the sound of the name and the nn Clarry, we would never call our baby Clarence, not in a million years.

I genuinely only know one Alex but do know that people perceive it to be insanely popular (and of course in some places it might be the no.1 name) and that is what is giving me pause since perception is reality.

[lori johnson]

My recommendation is ...

Agatha [and]:

Cornelius

[or]

Beatrice
Claudia
Dorothea
Estella
Isadora
Lucretia
Marcella
Rosamund

... a sibset comprised of equivalent clunky-cool vintage names.

[titch]

Thanks Lori, we have our girls name down to three (and Beatrice is among them!) so don't think we need help with those but I really like many of the names you have picked. I like Cornelius on paper but it's a bit more high-falutin' than the style we are going for.

[roe121]

I like the name Alexander as well, but really don't like the nickname Alex or even Xander. If I were to use it I would choose the nn Xan, or when he's young Xandy.

I'm an Elizabeth but my nn is Liz. I dislike Beth and Libby. I like that I have a lot of choices for nicknames. It's usually pretty easy for people to get my nickname - they usually ask me "Do you go by Beth or Liz, etc?" and I just respond, "I go by Liz", and they get it right from then on.

From experience, even though Elizabeth was in the top 10 the year I was born, there was only one other Elizabeth in my class from kindergarden through high school - there were multiple Jessicas, Sarahs, and Brittanys.

[titch]

Oh that's good to hear Roe, thanks for sharing your experience of having a classic name. I am wondering if we could just always call him Alexander and maybe avoid the nicknames for as long as possible. I'm also wondering about Lex as the nn instead of Alex or Xander. It has a certain comic book cool :-D

I think I might be able to make a distinction in my own head between popular and classic as a way around it. I don't know, the Alexander "L" thing is really bothering me. We'll keep it on our list and play it off among our other favourites and see how he fares!