I've posted about this conundrum on here before, and a baby is still hypothetical at this point, but we came up with some options, and I'd like opinions or more options if anyone would like to give them.
Cliff Notes: My H's family has a tradition that all first-born boys have names that start with "B." The last name also starts with B and sounds similar to Hanson.
"B" boy names have been really hard for us because we don't like the Bentliegh, Brantley, Brentlee spectrum, but we're also not wild about the Brent, Blake, Brandon side.
Here a few we've found so far:
Benedict: our favorite of the B's. The only thing is, is there another nickname other than Ben. H's nickname, that he goes by almost exclusively, is Ben.
Bernard
Bertram
Bertrand
Branson: iffy in terms of style.
To give an idea of the general names we like, our boy front-runners, which aren't B's, are John Leonard and Hamish Dale. Our girl front-runners are Catherine, Persephone, Sybil, Lydia, and Joan. Funnily enough, there are a number of girl "B" names that, while not front-runners right now, have been climbing our lists: Belinda, Beatrice, Bernadette, Beryl, and Beata.
Re: Opinions/Advice on "B" boy names
The nn Ned for Benedict is the most wonderful lightening bolt ever. My best friend and I were going over what different nns it could have and never came up with that, and I love it.
I like Basil, but I worry about pronounciation. Do you think people would pronouce it like the herb "Bay-sill" instead of how the name is prounounced "Bah-zill"?
I do like Beaureguard, nn Beau, but we are from the deep south, even though H is in the military and we move around a lot, so I worry about how very very Southern it sounds. Our kids will be making a fair amount of first impressions.
Me-31, H-27
**Loss 1-Cycle 7(June 2013) at 5w6d-CP**Loss 2-Cycle 11(October 2013) at 5w4d-CP**
**Loss 3-Cycle 14 (January-February 2014)-M/C dx 2/10, EP dx 2/24, MTX 2/25**
Beta Hell--hCG finally down to 0 - 6/20/14
SA normal. Genetic testing normal. Hormonal testing normal.
HSG 6/30/14 - found blocked left tube and 2 'bubbles' on uterine wall.
Hysteroscopy/Lap--8/4/14 - Tubes unblocked. Polyps removed from uterine wall. Septum removed.
9/30/14--Off the bench! Unmedicated TI through December 2014
BFP 12/14/14!!! Beta #1, 12/16: 990 Beta #2, 12/18: Over 2000! Beta #3, 12/22: over 8000!
U/S #1, 12/23: gestational sac, possible heartbeat
U/S #2, 12/30: HEARTBEAT! 128bpm, measuring right on at 7w EDD: 8/19/2015
U/S #3, 1/9: BPM in the 180s, IT'S HAPPENING!!!
ETA: Bradford
I don't know if I can get on board with any of your choices. NMS. Some that I like that may be your style... Balthazar, Barrett, Bastian, Baxter, Bennett, Bingham, Bosworth, Bram, Broderick, Bronson, Buckley.
My Lunch Blog
Benson
Bradley
Brandon
Brian
Bailey
Beckett
Brooks
Bernard is my favourite from your list.
Other options: Bastian, Brennan, Boaz, Byron.
Watch the spelling if you end up using it! Beauregard is French for something like "beautiful view". The way you spelled it, it has a superfluous 'u' in it. Although that may be on purpose or for some reason I don't know of (or just a typo), as someone who speaks French I would side-eye this spelling.
First nick I thought of for Benedict was ***. Beck or Bex would work too. I know a Benedict who goes by the nn Bent, but he's not a native English speaker. FWIW, I like Benedict. You could always use the full name?
My husband is a Bernard... his family always pronounced it BERN-urd. But most people say it as bur-NARD... he doesn't really care which is used. But I've always known him as Bernie, which I like just as well. It just sounds more informal. And I generally like the name.. it's classic and very underused.
FYI... his siblings were Brian, Bradley, Barry and Barbara. Apparently his parents loved their Bs.
For girls, I like Bridget!