Help with a baby name

MOMANUFACTURER · September 2003

I am in need of help and what better people to ask than my HR buddies. My husband and I are getting ready to have our first child. We are going to be old fashioned and not find out what it is (other than a baby) until it arrives. Our problem is finding a name that we both can agree on. (I know this is an unusual problem HA HA). We finally came up with a nice girl's name that we both like but our problem is a boy's name. He is convinced, I know because I detest it, that he should name our son Otis. Now to any of you named Otis or have a spouse or relative with this name I apologize now, but I can't help but think of the drunk on the Andy Griffith Show when I hear that name. So the mission is on to help me with a name that will make Otis go away.
Thanks in advance and I'll keep you posted.
Susan

Don D · September 2003

Tell him you will agree to Otis on the condition the baby's middle name is Barney. That way, he will cave.

Floyd and Otis are two of my all time favorite people. You know that thing about, "Who would you choose to have over for dinner if you could invite anybody alive or dead?" Otis and Floyd hands down!!

Lola815 · September 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-23-03 AT 04:41PM (CST)[/font][p]That's funny that you mention the name Barney because before the big purple dinosaur became popular my husband wanted to name our first boy Barney. I'm so glad for that dinosaur!!

Parabeagle · September 2003

Depending on your last name, either of these may or may not flow off the tongue and may or may not work for you (how's that for decisive indecision?) I've always liked my nephew's name, Ryan Jamison (he was RJ growing up) or Mark Alan. Both names work well if the last name begins with a vowel. Personally, I would run very far, very fast if I were a kid named Otis. Good luck. x:-)

marc · September 2003

It could easily get worse. My grandfathers name was Olie Maroni Larsen, everyone just called him Doc.

Parabeagle · September 2003

I have a friend who just goes by Josh because his real first and middle names are "Ewell Raygo", if you can believe it.

Leslie · September 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-22-03 AT 06:10PM (CST)[/font][p]How about Nicholas? My boyfriend always says if he'd had a son (he doesn't and lives vicariously through my three) he'd have named him Nick. Nick, he continues, is a stand up guy, solid, a good friend.

And be careful if your last name starts with a vowell, as mine does. Initials can get very dicey. I didn't realize this until after my youngest was born and my ex and I named him Brett. His last name starts with an O. It doesn't get better to use the initial of his middle name...it's my first name. Oh well, what doesn't kill him makes him stronger...#-o

Parabeagle · September 2003

Guess you don't spend much on monogrammed luggage, towels, hankies, etc. for him, do you? x;-)

Leslie · September 2003

You got it Beagle! I figure if the time ever comes I can do something fashionable where the O is bigger and in the middle of the B and the L. That's about the best option of the three!

HRQ · September 2003

One of our owners is named Bob O. His personal email is [email]bobo@(whatever).com[/email]. He uses RO when initialling documents though.

Someone had to explain the humor of his email address to him. We now refer to him as Bobo.

gillian2 · September 2003

Momanufacturer

ray a · September 2003

Not Richard - see other thread.

mwild31 · September 2003

There was a movie out recently - it's on cable now & I can't think of the name, but it had Matthew McConahey(?spelling)and Bill Paxton. I thought the movie was actually very good (go figure since I can't think of the name) because it's pretty dark and reminds me of the psychological thrillers of the past. One of the main characters, an axe, is named....you guessed it Otis.

Try to talk him out of Otis.

Here's what we did:
When my son was born, my ex and I couldn't decide on a name, I would throw something out & he would and the back and forth was getting a little tiring. So, we played around with the initials. We knew the last name, and we knew the middle (it gets passed down), so the initials so far were _ M W. It turns out my favorite name was Brian & once my ex saw that the initials would be B M W, he was hooked & the indecision was over. Maybe you could try to go with cool initials & build a name from there? Good luck & congratulations!

HRsage · September 2003

The movie is Frailty. I saw it recently too and thought of the axe when I saw that name here.
It seems that the name Otis is a bit "old-fashioned" and it reminds me of names that you just don't hear anymore...meet Otis, Ethel and Bertha. And I'm not trying to offend anyone with those names, but you know there aren't a lot of kids nowadays with those names. It just seems like it should be the name of one of my grandfather's friends.

Names are so hard to suggest because they are so personal, but I swear if I meet one more 4 year old named Hunter, Conner, Holden or Dakota I'm gonna scream! It might be a California thing but it just seems like all the yuppies are naming their kids the same names these days. Maybe Otis is a big departure from that.

I'm saying the name over and over and it just doesn't flow off the tongue though. I'd imagine he would just go by O to make it easier. Sorry, I'm no help. How did Otis become an option to begin with? Is it a family name?

MOMANUFACTURER · September 2003

No it's not a family name. My husband just came up with it one day and I wasn't smart enough to just say we'll think about it I said no way. So now I think he keeps saying it because he knows that it annoys me. I know you men out there don't actually do things like that to your wife on purpose. Besides our last name starts with an R so I'm thinking the initials OR could cause some blood shed as a child.

Nat · September 2003

I saw this movie - Frailty is the name!! I was up until 2:00 am watching it one night because I couldn't stop. I thought it was awesome. I usually can figue out the endings but this one caught me by surprise.x:o

Make sure any name you choose is playground safe! Can't remember where I heard that but I made sure my son's name was.

HRQ · September 2003

With our second son, my husband REALLY wanted to use initials and suggested TJ. I didn't like any of the "T" names (sorry to all you Toms, Tims, Terrys, Theodores, Taylors, etc.) but I was OK with the initial thing. Sooo we went with AJ. A for Andrew (we just liked the name) and J for Jeffrey - my oldest brother.

My older son is Michael. For while, we semiseriously considered naming AJ "Ike" instead. So the boys would be Mike & Ike like the candies.

My husband also suggested we call AJ "Tyson Jeffrey" so he could be TJ and the boys together would be Mike & Tyson. I didn't go for that one. It's just asking for trouble. x;-)

System · September 2003

Gillian: Did you pass out in the middle of your comment?

gillian2 · September 2003

No.

Rockie · September 2003

Mo: I agree. I just can't get past the "Otis the Drunk" image (no matter how lovable). Why don't you and hubby put all your favorite names in a hat - you draw one and he draws one and that's the kid's name. (See if you can keep Otis out of the hat).

Otherwise pray for a girl and hopefully he doesn't like the name Thelma Lou!

System · September 2003

My favorite name is David. I really like it - strong, simple - I also like Thomas, a popular name in my family. I hope you'll post pictures!

HRanna · September 2003

My husband's name is Roy, and his family tradition is to name the first son after his father, so he was convinced we would have a Roy, Jr. R.J. for short. Not too bad, but I'm glad we had two girls anyway!

I have a friend who's son is Jonah, and they call him Joe.

I am also a new West Wing junkie, and I love Josiah (call him Jed, or Joe).

Harrison (if you don't mind Harry?)? Maybe not.

Jackson -- Jack for short.

Human Resources Manager · September 2003

Jackson is my all time favorite boy's name.

I also like William (if you can resist calling him "Billy" for his entire life.

I personally would stay away from Robert, because I've always had bad experiences with guys named "Bob."

Michael is also a solid favorite.

rad · September 2003

I like the traditional or biblical boy's names - Thomas, David, Matthew, Michael, Paul, Isaac, etc. I also like Italian names like Alessio, Alessandro, Colergero, Michele, Paolo. But the latter group typically works for those with Italian last names, but not always.

I had to name a friends baby because the names she selected were ridiculous, I could not let her set her child up for a life with a dumb name. Every day I chose names I liked from a baby name book, one letter of the alphabet at a time. She then selected her favorite name starting with that letter. At the end, we took all the names she liked and narrowed it down until she decided on the one she liked.

Don D · September 2003

Rockie has a great idea with pulling the name out of a hat. Just be careful not to name him 'Medium' or 'One Size'. Don't you know your folks will skin you alive when they find out you got the grandchild's name off a chat board?

Colugero Smith? Paulo Jones? Naaaah. But, you could check with Frank Zappa!

celeste · September 2003

Choosing a name is a great "road trip" game. My husband and I couldn't agree on a name either so we shot out names (one after the other) and finally agreed on Quinton Lee. We ended up picking a name and it made for conversation that made the miles fly by. By the way, we ended up with a girl, Libby Celeste.

Lockerbie · September 2003

My son's name is Bridge. His son's name is Kaolin. BOth are a bit unusual in this country.

Rockie · September 2003

>Rockie has a great idea with pulling the name out of a hat. Just be
>careful not to name him 'Medium' or 'One Size'. Don't you know your
>folks will skin you alive when they find out you got the grandchild's
>name off a chat board?
>
>Colugero Smith? Paulo Jones? Naaaah. But, you could check with Frank
>Zappa!

Hey Don! Don't forget Frank called his kids "Dweezil" and "Moonunit"

annie1992 · September 2003

I like Dominic, closely followed by Patrick, James, Christopher and Nicholas. Of course, I have two girls.

Annie

Nrdgrrl · September 2003

I didn't have time to read all of the posts, so if I'm repeating, I apologize.

How about naming him after your husband and make your son a Jr.? It worked for George Foreman 5 times!

Nrdgrrl

MOMANUFACTURER · September 2003

My husband says that under no circumstance will there be a Jr. He want's our children to have their own names.
No offense to those of you who are, are married to, or have Jr's.

Help with a baby name

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