Atticus?

TobieRose

So my husband read To Kill a Mockingbird right before we got pregnant and loved it, and now he wants to name future son Atticus. My first response was "no way." But now that we've found out we're expecting twins, I told him I'd think about it if they were both boys. 

So ... 

 1) What do you think about Atticus? Is it too out there? 

2) Our 13 month old's name is Michael; other names we've considered for boys are Sebastian, Caleb, Joshua ... names that aren't all that unusual. (For girls I really like Grace and Frances.) Would it be entirely weird to have kids with relatively common names and then an Atticus?  

ETA: 3) We also have a really unusual last name (as in if you Google it the only people who have it in the US are our relatives). Do you think that should affect how unique the first names are? 

g8trkim

I like it. It's cool but I don't think it's too too much. It's a little mismatched with Michael though. If you're not sure about maybe use it as a MN.

nicholssquared

I'm going to go against the grain here - I don't like this name. Mainly because I really didn't like the character Atticus in TKaM (disclaimer: It was a great book in general). Specifically, I find him a little poorly written - he didn't have any perceivable faults and that seemed really unrealistic to me. Just kinda irked me.

Separating from the character, as a name, it's just NMS. However, I will say that I wouldn't side-eye anyone who named their child this. It's just not for me.

Bottom line: if it has special meaning to you, and you and DH both love it, use it! It's a real name, and I don't think it will get your kid teased any more than any other name. Go for it. 

Beckel84

Atticus is a good name. I honestly think most people that meet your son would not even know anything about the book/character so would just think its a strong, family or traditional type name. I think Atticus and Sebastian go well together. It might seem a little strange with Michael but its not SO strange. It would work.

jwthoms1

DHs cousin just named their son Atticus. It's been a lot for the family to get on board with. You will probably have to defend your choice for a while. I don't mind the name but it is a little out there.

zou bisou

Very positive feelings toward it because of the book.  If only Scout were a more acceptable first name...

queenbone

Ooh! I really like Michael Augustine!

Atticus is okay, but I hear it a lot in my area and I think it will be time stamped. Based o the other names you are thinking of using I think it would be better to MN Atticus.

magsugar13

i like the name, but not with michael...and if you use it i would need it to go with another really strong name

(my sons rats are named scout and phoebe)

Zimger

It's an okay name. I do think it's a bit mismatched with Michael.

Michael and Joshua make a nice sib set.

this decaf life

Atticus is a pretty "hip" name IMO, definitely not too out there or unusual. Our last name is the same way and I don't think having a unique last name should affect your FN choice.

countrymice06

I like Atticus, and I am liking At as an informal nickname  

asickles98

I like Atticus and do not think that it is too out htere.

My daughters names are in the top ten and have been for the last couple of years. When my son is born in Sept. we will be naming him a family name that is not even in the top 1000.  I do not think it would be weird at all.

I do not think that the last name should affect the first name as much as others do. 

Blondangel

I LOVE it!

Sebastian would make a good sibset with Atticus.

LittleMommaBlueHen

1. I love the name Atticus and if the baby I am currently carrying is a boy that is the name we plan on using. 

2.  In my family my sister and I have really odd names and my brothers have really common names.  It always made us wonder why my parents would do that, but it wasn't a real issue. That being said my husband and my 1st child have the same name and it is a little out of the ordinary so when we started talking names we ended up leaning toward Atticus because it is just uncommon enough to fit with DS's name.

 3.  We have the same last name thing going on.  Everyone with my husband's last name is related. This has had no impact on how we name our children at all.

 

GrayGhost13

DaisyBlinks:

I go back and forth on Atticus more than any other name. Sometimes I love it, other times I hate it. 

My issue with it is that it WOULD be cool. If you were the only one doing it. But it's getting popular with a certain crowd, so now it just looks like you tried to be unique, but failed. Also, literary name  always kind of scream "I READ BOOKS!!!" to me. (which is so totally hypocritical cause my son is Rhett).  

But...it IS kind of cool, isn't it? I like that it's kind of clunky. And who doesn't love Atticus Finch? He was great! And the book is good. And it's not like it's sickeningly popular. He'll probably be the only one in his social circle. And it's the kind of name that I can picture on a good kid, you know? A cool kid in high school that respects his parents and treats girls right.

So...I don't know. Like I said, I go back and forth a lot.

Sorry if none of this is helpful.  

Good comment! This is pretty much how I feel, too.

We already have one kid with a literary name, too, so DH has said no to any other obviously literary names!

Oasismomma

Atticus was our second choice for DS. DH ultimately vetoed it because he is a lawyer and just thought it would be too "on the nose" to have a son named Atticus. I still love it, though, and might try to talk DH into it if this LO is a boy.

That said, our last name is one of the most common in the country. If we had a really unusual last name, I might try to go a bit less unique. I grew up with a very, very unique first and last name. In an Internet and social media obsessed culture, that gets old quickly.

Livinginclip84

If LO turns out to be a boy we are using Atticus for a middle name.  We wanted something strong, but something that also conveyed our morals and values and we both love TKAMB.