So my 8 y.o. daughter is STUCK on a name for our new son are we crazy to use it WDYT?

[breadandfig]

My husband and I were tossing around names, and we threw out Burl (Burt and Birch are family names and we were brainstorming something similar). My daughter decided that Burl would be the baby's name and she and my five year old have been calling him that for about 3 weeks. Now, it is hard to think of him as anything else. What are your first reactions to the name. Are we crazy to use it? In the girl's minds, he is already Burl. Their names are Avonelle Rose and Viviette Eloise.

We are curious what thoughts/images the name conjures up and also if anyone has any middle name ideas! Thanks so much!!

[whit32]

Ha ha, that is really cute! I kinda like Burl. We have an elderly man at our church named Beryl, but pronounced like Burl. I can see it working on a rough and tumble little boy. Option 2 would be using that as his middle name. Your girls can still use it as a family nn, but you can use a more normal name up front. I kinda like Birch too, which they could use the nn Burl for. I understand how easy it is to get attached to a name like that though. We joked with our friends about naming our son Laszlo, but then the name really started to grow on me. We didn't use it, but a part of me wanted to ;-)

[mayjune]

In all honesty I don't really like Burl. It makes me think of burly or a burl on a tree (a large deformation). It is definitely a very masculine name, which if you went with it would make a good pairing with your daughters' very feminine names (beautiful, by the way!). I can see it as sort of a nickname for Albert. Your daughters' names are both three syllables while Burl is only one, but I don't know if this would make a difference to you.

If you've grown attached to it and love it, I say go for it!

[mischa]

I think of actor singer Burl Ives (full name: Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives) who played Big Daddy in the old film "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof . He's also known for his Christmas songs of "A Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". This name reminds me of childhood so I like it. It's rare yet familiar, warm, down-to-earth, friendly and woodsy kind of name.

[clover]

I think if you like Burl, use it, but not because of how your daughters might react. I know plenty of children who call their unborn siblings by a nickname in the womb, but aren't traumatized when they come out with a different name. My oldest called my youngest "Orange," for some reason, but wasn't fazed when that wasn't his name after birth.

[nat108]

How about
Burlin/Berlin
Burley
Berkley

I think of actor singer Burl Ives (full name: Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives) who played Big Daddy in the old film "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

That was my first thought. It's my mom's favorite movie so I've watched it hundreds of times

[dancersventure]

I really like the pp's suggestion of the spelling Beryl! Love that, and it goes a lot better with your girls names than the spelling Burl, IMO.

[east93]

I like the idea of Albert nn Burl a lot more.