Is my mom right? Do my boys names suck?

absolutelymaybe

I'm bringing this to you awesome ladies because I know you will give me an honest opinion.

We recently found out I'm pregnant and I was throwing some names out to my mom if we have a boy. Her response: "Well, let's just hope you have girls." (Meaning: "Your names suck!").  

I think my names are pretty normal, but I'lll let you be the judge. Is there anything wrong with these names? Am I way off base when it comes to boy names? Honest thoughts welcomed and appreciated.

Ari

Max

Ethan

Liam

Ian

Luke

Grant

Trent

Owen

Henry

Tobias (Toby)

**Edit -- Add**

I'm totally game for suggestions if anyone has any! 

SuperFreakedFirstTimer

 I, in no way, think that they're out of line ...or something to 'snarl' at. I think they're fine
What are her suggestions?

Harveys11

Lol. Gotta love moms... right?

Ari - Dislike

Max - Very cute

Ethan - Cute

Liam - Very cute

Ian - Ok

Luke - Love it

Grant - Love it

Trent - Best on the list

Owen - Ok

Henry - Cute

Tobias (Toby) - Don't care for... I think of a puppy

Jags8

Ari- dislike
Max- ok
Ethan- ok
Liam- love, but very popular
Ian-ok
Luke- dislike
Grant- love
Trent- dislike
Owen- ok
Henry- love
Tobias (Toby)- ok

So overall your list definitely doesn't suck. And even the ones that I dislike aren't terrible names, they are just really not my style.

absolutelymaybe

She likes Jack. She didn't offer any other suggestions for a boy. I told here we were thinking Clara or Caroline for a girl and she said they were OK, but liked "Arial" (yes, she spelled it like the font). 

NerdyLucy

She's being a butt-head.  Your names are fine.

absolutelymaybe

OK, thank you! I thought I spent enough time on this board to prevent myself from concocting anything too terrible. Evidently my mom is just a butthead. (She's also kind of pooh-pooh'd my grey/white/yellow nursery idea "I just can't get used to the idea of grey in a nursery." So I'm kind of backing off on divulging too much to her.)

homediva

Sounds like a generational gap! Your names are rock solid.

I would send her a new list incorporating these suggestions

Comic Sans
Edwardian
Verdana
Futura
Helvetica
Times (with New Roman as a fun double middle name)

absolutelymaybe

@homediva LOL! Yes! What about little Franklin Gothic? He is just bound to have some moody teenage years.

rmbrjry

absolutelymaybe said:

OK, thank you! I thought I spent enough time on this board to prevent myself from concocting anything too terrible. Evidently my mom is just a butthead. (She's also kind of pooh-pooh'd my grey/white/yellow nursery idea "I just can't get used to the idea of grey in a nursery." So I'm kind of backing off on divulging too much to her.)

First, I think all of your names are perfectly fine Second, our DD's nursery had grey walls and it was adorable (if I do say so myself). We paired it with green but I want to do yellow with our second. It sounds like you've got a good head about it based on your last sentence - just do what makes you happy and she'll have to deal

Helenahhandbasket

I actually like all of your names to varying degrees.

Ian, Henry and Ari are my faves.

SCP081206

I think your names all sound normal and none are cringe-worthy. My mom has also turned goofy on me since we announced our pregnancy... Beginning with her rolling her eyes at the announcement. I am 30 and in a stable marriage with a steady income. I can't imagine what she'd do if I was 16, not married and on welfare. Sorry it just pisses me off!

shamyfowler

I think your names are great!  Ari isn't my style, but it's ok.  We are doing grey in our nursery.  It's a spare bedroom that we had painted grey.  I didn't really want to have to repaint, so before we knew what we were having, I was planning grey, white and yellow too.  Found some really cute ideas on Pinterest.  Since we found out we're having a girl, we are going with grey and purple.

catahoulatte

Um no. Most of your boy names are great. I loooove Tobias. LOVE it. I would use it if a family member didn't already.

theholmanherd

While many of these names aren't my style, I think your mom was wrong on this one. Good luck!

Ari - Doesn't even sound like a name. Maybe as a nn for something else? Although the only names that come to mind are Aristotle and Aria....

Max - No.

Ethan - LOVE! My favorite on this list!

Liam - I love it, but it is quite popular.

Ian - A little overplayed. I know several Ians.

Luke - I am your father....JK! I like this one as a nn for Lucas

Grant - Ooh, like Cary Grant! I like this one

Trent - It's alright.

Owen - NMS

Henry - I think it's going to get overplayed. It's the name of a couple cute kids in TV shows now.

Tobias - Love, but not with the nn Toby. Reminds me of Toby the dog in the great mouse detective (sorry, I watched it a lot as a kid)

sharksfan

Your names are perfectly fine. My personal favorite is Tobias, but I hate the nn Toby. I'm also a fan of Grant and Max.

VOR

Yes, stop sharing so much w/ your mom!  Once there is a BABY attached to the name, she'll shut up.

Dr.Loretta

A few are NMS, but they're not awful. Quite a few seem trendy/common to me, maybe that was her angle?

Just don't tell your mom. it's the easiest thing, truly.

Although I'd LOVE to hear what her ideas are.

dancingmatilda

Love your names! Pay no mind to the naysayers.

AmandaB0614

I like your names

AlphabetFish

They're fine. Your mom's just gonna have to get over it if you pick any of these names.

She had her chance to name a kid, now it's your turn. Choose what you love; your taste looks perfectly good to me.

FutureMrsW9

Ari - is this a name?

Max - this is cute

Ethan - this is the best of them all

Liam - this is OK, but I prefer the full name William

Ian - meh

Luke - meh

Grant - no

Trent - no no no

Owen - meh

Henry - classic

Tobias (Toby) - dog name

absolutelymaybe

FutureMrsW9 said:

Ari - is this a name?

Max - this is cute

Ethan - this is the best of them all

Liam - this is OK, but I prefer the full name William

Ian - meh

Luke - meh

Grant - no

Trent - no no no

Owen - meh

Henry - classic

Tobias (Toby) - dog name

As PP mentioned, yes Ari is a real name. 

JMU_Bride09

Your names are all amazing! You're not off track at all.

Eta: my unsolicited advice would be to not share any more names with family members. We kept them a surprise for both boys, and it worked out nicely. No one can make negative comments when they don't know what you're considering

Ecat504

These are incredibly normal names!

Ari - NMS

Max - NMS

Ethan - Like

Liam - Like

Ian - Like

Luke - Love

Grant - NMS

Trent - LOVE

Owen - Love

Henry - Love

Tobias (Toby) - NMS

g8trkim

Your mom sounds like a Debbie Downer... to say it nicely. Those are all great names! I'm pretty partial to Grant though (it's DS's name).

Zimger

I think you have a nice list! I love Ari, Liam, and Tobias. DS 1 is Liam and we considered Tobias for DS 2.

 

theholmanherd

MauiBliss said:

Joy2611 said:

theholmanherd said:

Ari - Doesn't even sound like a name. Maybe as a nn for something else? Although the only names that come to mind are Aristotle and Aria....

oh my... this is like a knife in my heart.

Ari is a legit and amazing Hebrew name.

It means "lion". Very good, strong name.

I didn't know this! That's awesome! It just jumped up to number one of your names.

KatieKim0815

No offense. You mother is nuts! Those are awesome names!!!

diamondduck13

You have a great list of solid name choices, I cannot imagine someone not being able to find at least one or two in this list that they like. For me the run down is:

Ari - dislike

Max - dislike

Ethan - don't share the love for this that gave it top 10 status but a solid choice

Liam - prefer William

Ian - dislike

Luke - love, a great classic

Grant - NMS, makes me think of $, as in seeking grant funding for a business or research project

Trent - NMS bordering on dislike

Owen - NMS, but a solid choice

Henry - love, another great classic

Tobias (Toby) - love

sunnyday016

Your names are great!

moonfaerie

Ignore your mom. Your list is fine. My faves are Liam, Luke, Grant, and Owen.

Suzanne237

Yes your mom is a butthead. Your names are all great. It's such a subjective thing. My mom suggest Neil as in Neil Diamond and says that should be the MN too. Yeah, her vote doesn't count!

CKleinfieldt

Name him Verdana, I'm sure your mom would approve. lol. 

No, All your names are good. 

The only one that makes me -meh- is Ari, I think it'd be better Aria, or Arius, and Ari for short. 

stahlop

Your mom is nuts. These are all great names.

Ari - I would only use if you're Jewish. I've never heard it on a non-Jewish person before.
Max - Good
Ethan - Really like
Liam - Too popular for me
Ian - Good
Luke - Too populate for me. I know at least 4 baby Luke's.
Grant - Like
Trent - Very 80's to me
Owen - Like
Henry - Our boys name if our DD had been a boy
Tobias (Toby) - I've been trying to sell my DH on this for a long time, he doesn't like it though. May be on the rise due the book/movie Divergent.

neverblushed

In general, your name choices are perfectly acceptable and normal, but these names are pretty representative of this decade, and your mom might prefer boy names of the late 20th Century more, and feel that these are "weird."  It's totally subjective, and your mom is overstepping.

Here are my specific thoughts on your name list:

Ari -- are you Jewish? Because this name will suggest that you are, much like naming a girl "Mary Margaret" would suggest that she is Catholic.  I teach at a Jewish school, and this is one of my favorite boy names.  Max and Ethan are also common names where I teach, but the difference is you hear those names used outside of the Jewish community with some regularity; I don't know a single kid named Ari who is not Jewish.

Max -- it's one of the few single-syllable names I like.

Ethan -- like it!

Liam -- never a favorite of mine, but it's gotten too popular where I live

Ian -- like it, but not as much as Ethan.

Luke -- rhymes with puke.

Grant -- this name gets a ton of love on this board, but I am not a huge fan.  I always think "grunt."

Trent -- again, I'm just not a fan of single syllable names.

Owen -- like it!

Henry -- like it!

Tobias (Toby) -- I really like Tobias, but I strongly dislike the nn Toby.  Be aware that Tobias is a character in the popular YA fiction novel Divergent.  The movie just came out, and the books are pretty popular right now.  Proceed with caution.

LittleBlackRainCloud

Ari- I'm torn on this one because our daughter is going to have Ari as a nn but if you love it, it'll be fine

Max- like, don't love

Ethan- eh

Liam- I like it but I think it's a bit too common

Ian- I like it 

Luke- eh

Grant- Don't love

Trent- eh

Owen-eh

Henry- I like it

Tobias (Toby)- I love this name. My favorite of your list.

Beegirl99

Most of your names are on my list too, so I do like them.

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Jaytee501

I like quite a few!
Other than Luke (which would have been DD's name), I also like

Ethan
Grant
Owen
Henry

queenbone

No, your mo is just from a different generation and doesn't have the same taste as you. All your names are very on trend right now and are perfectly nice. The only one I dislike is Trent. Love Henry, but it is super popular in my state.