Boys name Tiago....advice needed

[Lillyella]

Really struggling with a boys name. My partner is from Portugal I am English. He really likes afonso and Tiago and I really can't imagine calling my little boy names like that. They are so different to names I like. But I'm slowly coming round to Tiago. Would my boy be bullied at school with such an unusual name? Honestly, I'm so worried. I like jake and Charlie but it's not going to happen

[Elaete]

This name confusion is exactly what I’m struggling with right now. I feel your pain over this. I’m 17 weeks pregnant and it’s becoming hard to convince my Muslim boyfriend that I’m not comfortable with my baby carrying a Muslim name. I’m a Christian in a Christian dominated country; I prefer a neutral name. Am considering asking him to allow me give the first name and he gives the middle and last name. That will be fair enough; he can’t just take all the names. So maybe you could consider this option too.

[Hidden]

I think there are lots of children with different names these days so I wouldn't worry about the bullying in that sense.

Naming a child can be quite stressful! My partner is Irish and wanted a traditional Irish name with Irish spelling - I wasn't keen on having the odd spelling but i felt we comprised - we kept looking until we found a name we both liked, we chose the Irish spelling and I chose his middle name after my dad which made me happy.

I did take comfort that my son has an obvious Irish surname which makes it look less 'odd'.

I think I would say keep looking at different names regularly and also revisit ones previously discounted as you can often change your mind. Try and keep an open mind. When your little bundle arrives it'll be easy to choose a name that fits 😊 xxx

[Dad101]

I agree with Dublin 77. Both names are nice and not unusual at all. I say this as a Dad who has a 6 year old at school. Personally I'd go with it.

[jimothybell]

I suppose you could consider using the English equivalent of Tiago for school (James)? Although TBH if he's going to be going to a school in a big city then there is likely to be a good mix of ethnicities and cultures, so his name is unlikely to be that unusual.

We found that once we had named our LO we very quickly couldn't imagine him being called anything else, so if you are both happy with the name then I'd go for it and once he has arrived you won't believe you could have called him anything else!

[Zahara]

I am Nigerian of Igbo desent and my husband is English. Our daughter was named Somadina as per my tradition as we tend to give names with meaning. So far although it is too early to deduce whether she will be bullied for her name, but we love the fact that she has a unique name and her teachers at the nursery make an effort to get it right.

You and your hubby have to be comfortable with the names you chose. With that said, I am pregnant with my second and my husband has the responsibility of chosing his or her name.

[SilkeP]

I'm a secondary school teacher at a boys' school. In my opinion Tiago isn't any more unusual than many of the other names out there! There are so many children from so many different backgrounds that he won't stand out unless maybe you happen to be an a very remote small village where there are almost exclusively English children? I wouldn't be surprised to see such a name on my class list.

Alfonso... I personally wouldn't. But that's because I'm German and Alfons in German is a very outdated name and Id think that German children relatives would take the mick out of my son. So if I were you I'd see whether Alfonso and Tiago are current children's names in Portugal!

And on another teacher's note: I have a Jake, Jack and Charlie in every single class pretty much, if not two... We considered Jake ourselves but dismissed it as there are just too many around.

Boys' names are so so hard as either they are SO common or rather odd, I find

Thankfully No2 was a girl! We settled for Joseph in the end - also popular but not as popular as Jake etc.

[babe66]

I don't think anyone should get too worried about what a baby name really sound like but just be sure its a name that make meaning to yourself/partner. none of you should think negatively on child`s name, more so if your partner is from different origin or religion you should expects his or her view on naming the child relating to origin, religion, incident, remembrance or society. if you think a child can be bullied because of there first name, then can still be bullied relating to the last name. so to me bullying has nothing to do with name but its about individual because I am full English person that school all my life in London still was bullied when I was little by white English person.

both partner should try and understand reasons for a particular name of a child.

[Lillyella]

Thank you all for your responses!

Good advice Dublin77. I will keep an open mind and will revisit names previously discounted.

I like James and thought about giving an English second name so he can be called by his 'English' name but I feel strongly that the first name on his birth certificate is his name.

SilkeP- thanks for your input. If we lived in London or a city Tiago would be fine. But we are living in a small village and that's another reason why I am worrying. Tiago is one of the most popular names in Portugal, Brazil and Spain and Afonso is also a popular Portuguese name. No way am I having Afonso.

This is causing quite a bit of stress between us so we have decided to not talk about if for a while. Maybe a name will come to us once he is born..in May.

Jimothybell - maybe you are right. Once we call him Tiago then we won't ever think of him as anything else.

We had lots of girls names!

[SilkeP in reply to Lillyella]

Good luck!

Boys names are so hard! We couldn't actually agree on our son's name until he was two days old... Don't let it stress you out too much! Maybe have two or three possible ones and see how you feel when he's here!

[137owl]

We had a list of 7 possible names for our son and couldn't decide at all until immediately after his birth, the midwife said 'do you have a name for him yet?' and we both said the same name, nodded to each other and that was it! We have a Rory and I love it as there aren't many Rorys and he can already say it along with Mummy and Daddy. Easy phonetic spelling when he's a bit older too. You'll know when you meet him, don't put pressure on yourselves. Merry Christmas!

[KellyTrip]

I work with someone called Tiago and I really like the name. It's not too different I don't think!

[Lillyella]

Thanks. We don't have a list of names yet. At the moment we call him bean!

[LottyB]

My daughter is called Niamh (pronounced Neev - Irish/Celtic spelling) I wanted something unusual like Alva (meaning little elf) or Beera (meaning bear) both Norse viking names, but I told one friend and she rather upset me with her opinion. Then my boyfriend suggested Niamh a month before she was born, and when we met her, that was it, she was definitely a Niamh. Just stick with what you like, and be strong. So many people says Niamh's name wrong and it infuriates me. Haha. X

[Jbddcc161208]

Hi I love unique names my oldest boy is brade then dray and the baby colt x

[Lillyella]

We've got a new name now. Rui....apparently it's a portuguese name too.

[LottyB in reply to Lillyella]

Like that, a lot! 😊 x

[rel_cr in reply to Lillyella]

Hi! I'm Brazilian.

I think Tiago is a beautiful name in portuguese. actually I wanted it for my son, but my husband - also brazilian - didn't agree (yet LOL).

About Rui - it's not common at all in Brazil, I don't know about Portugal. It's more a name for old people.

But it is short form of Rodrigo, which I also like.

[Lillyella in reply to rel_cr]

Thanks for this is helps. I will think again about Rui. I want a name recent and relevant for my son. My partner likes rodrigo but I find it hard to pronounce with the r sound.

[kayakintam]

I know a half portugese little boy called Diago, that's similar. He hasn't had problems.

[evanjelina]

Hi, my partner is also Portuguese and I'm from another country, we both live in UK. We will have a girl in february and already agreed on the name. But I did make a list with girls and boys names before knowing the gender. I wanted something international, suitable for all 3 countries. The names for boys in my list were : David, Thomas, Victor, Rafael, Damien, Philip, Lucas, Samuel, Daniel, Adrian, Alexander, Mateo, Martin, Oliver.

I know is more difficult to choose for boy...but you may wish to consider the names above and who knows, you both might agree on one. Good luck

[Lillyella in reply to evanjelina]

Thank you evenjelina. Actually we have Lucas in our list. Can't call him Daniel as my bro is Daniel and that will be too weird. I love rafael but my partner doesn't. Have you heard of the name Rui? It's a new one and I was wondering if it's considered a nice name in Portuguese.

Thank you

[evanjelina in reply to Lillyella]

Hi, no, never heard of it...but checking my bf list with friends on FB, I see 5 people named Rui :), so, not so populat like Joao, David or Tiago, but still used. I will ask my bf what he thinks about the name, I'm curious

Rafael would be my pick if we had a boy...

P.S. Why don't you ask in some portuguese mums forum about the name? I did that here with uk mums and it helped me limit my list when choosing our baby name.. They will tell you if its outdated or something else...

[Lillyella in reply to evanjelina]

Thanks, I'll have a look for a Portuguese mums forum. I love rafael. I didn't think name choosing would be so hard. We had a girls name liliana. We keep hoping the scan was wrong and he'll be born a girl