Which name?

Upper West Side

I'm almost 33 weeks and still haven't locked down my baby boy's name. Our two top names are Cal and Ben. 

Option 1:  John Calvin

Would go by:  Cal

Meaning:  My father's name is Calvin.  My husband's brother is John Gregory and goes by Greg and his grandfather is John Thomas and goes by Tom.  We felt that this name would honor both sides of the family.  We know about the Methodist connection to the name and aren't bothered by it.

Option 2:  Benjamin Alden 

Would go by:  Ben

Meaning:  No meaning to Ben, just like the name.  Alden is a family name on DH's side.

cameronzmom

I like Benjamin Alden

sourpatchkids

The first thing I think of when I see/hear John Calvin is the pastor during the protestant reformation who started the beliefs of Calvinism.

I like Benjamin way better anyway and would go with that regardless.

Southerndancinmama

I think John Calvin is beautiful. It's not a Methodist connection, Calvin was a Presbyterian. He was a brilliant man.

strawberrytree

John Calvin wasn't Methodist, was he? Even if you aren't bothered by the Calvinist thing, I still think it's weird. I would flip it to Calvin John, esp if he would go by Cal.

danabsd

John Calvin

pettycrocker

Benjamin

trudibell

John Calvin was a famous theologian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin

Not sure if you want to name your son after someone like him, but other than that it's a nice name and I like it a lot better than Benjamin Aiden.  Aiden is just not my style - could you go with John Benjamin instead? 

brooksidebride

I like John Calvin, but I really really like Benjamin Alden.  So Benjamin gets my vote.

Mrs.G123

Benjamin.

kendra223

I think both names are very handsome. If I had to choose, it'd be John Calvin. I love the nn Cal.

bechtoltjm10

Benjamin. But I do love the middle name calvin

Manderlin923

If Calvin was the first name, I'd go with Calvin- Calvin John sounds great and still honors people. I am not a fan of calling someone by their middle name so in that case I'd choose Benjamin, but I don't love it as much as Calvin.

katie6/26/04

Benjamin!

alohamora

I vote Benjamin Alden.

hjk5000

If you're going with Calvin I would either pick a different first name or go with Calvin John. I like both names but I'm partial to Benjamin, it's one of our top names at the moment.

FakeFinn

sourpatchkids:

The first thing I think of when I see/hear John Calvin is the pastor during the protestant reformation who started the beliefs of Calvinism.

I like Benjamin way better anyway and would go with that regardless.

+1 

Elinetrouwt

strawberrytree:

John Calvin wasn't Methodist, was he? Even if you aren't bothered by the Calvinist thing, I still think it's weird. I would flip it to Calvin John, esp if he would go by Cal.

This. I would just call him Calvin though, I don't like the nn Cal. Calvin is a beautiful name, I like it better than Benjamin. 

capulet

Err, yeah, John Calvin wasn't Methodist.  I can see why you want to use the names in that order and it doesn't bother me that he would go by his middle name, but people are going to make that connection and I think you might want to understand what their perceptions will be before you use the name.  (I studied theology and I'm Catholic, so I know a lot about John Calvin but my feelings aren't as positive as some people's, though I do believe he was brilliant.)

I would probably go for option 1, assuming you know for sure what you're getting into with the John Calvin thing, because I love how it honors both sides of the family and we almost did something very similar in naming DS, but I like both names very much.

[Deleted User]

Another vote for Benjamin Alden.

Calvin and John are nice separately, but I'm not feeling them together. I'm also not a fan of naming a baby one thing and calling him by his MN.