Ewan?

slward03

I love the name Ewan for our second boy, but our last name is McB---er. My husband thinks it sounds too much like Ewan McGregor. 
Thoughts?

Bringmemylongswordho

Well. Ewan McGregor was my first thought upon seeing Ewan. 

I think you'll get that regardless of your last name. It's just not a particulary common name, so a celebrity is going to be most people's first association. 

emilyalso

While this may be an association people your age will make, it's not likely that your child will have to deal with it. When they are older, chances are none of their peers will have heard of Ewan McGregor. 

SKZW

@emailyalso makes a great point about the generations. I LOVE the name Ewan, so it gets my vote automatically. As far as your surname, it's similar but not so much as to be prevented from using the name. Eventually the kiddo grows into the name and he's his own person with his own identity and any references to/similarities with the actor fall away. I say, good choice!

MamaWren919

I wouldn't worry about the celebrity. No one in his generation will make the association, and he isn't super famous (like George Clooney famous) anyway. My only concern would be the constant confusion with Evan, but if that doesn't bother you, go for it.

saham07

it is fine

mrs_tacos

emilyalso said:

While this may be an association people your age will make, it's not likely that your child will have to deal with it. When they are older, chances are none of their peers will have heard of Ewan McGregor. 

This. Love Ewan!

Mamabeagle

I saw it and read E-wan. Until someone brought up the actor. It's not a very nice sounding name even when pronounced correctly, which will hardly ever occur, and you will get tired of explaining to people that it is spelled Evan with a W instead of a V, but your son will gray early because of how often he will do it every day, multiple times per day, in his everyday life. 

Maybe I'm a little bitter about my own weird name today. 

Ejjaba2009

Mamabeagle said:

I saw it and read E-wan. Until someone brought up the actor. It's not a very nice sounding name even when pronounced correctly, which will hardly ever occur, and you will get tired of explaining to people that it is spelled Evan with a W instead of a V, but your son will gray early because of how often he will do it every day, multiple times per day, in his everyday life. 

Maybe I'm a little bitter about my own weird name today. 

But it's not Evan spelled with a W instead of a V. It's a completely different name. 

OP, both of my first two have very Irish names spelled in the traditional Irish way. My H and I knew it would be difficult for their names to be recognized let alone pronounced correctly. Butbwithy H being born in Ireland and the names being family names it was more important for us to use the names. My point is that we chose 'easier' middle names and are leaving it to our kids to decide as they get older how they want to be addressed. 

I do love the name Ewan and think that it's common enough to be recognized but still not used enough to be super trendy. Can I ask what middle name you have picked?

strawberrytree

I have a Ewan, last name McLastname. Surprisingly, I can't remember anyone ever reading it out and pronouncing it incorrectly. I do sometimes get comments like "what? Did you say Owen?" or "how do you spell that?" when strangers ask his name. 
I thought that saying "like the actor, Ewan McGregor," to people who were unfamiliar with the name would help, but most people who are confused by the name (95% old people) have no clue who he is. In my experience.

Nobody has ever mixed it up with Evan, btw. Just Owen.

slward03

Thanks for all of the opinions. His middle name will be Howard, after my husbands grandfather. 
We're also debating about the name Clive...

ashleyandely

Clive is awesome, too!