What do you think of Balthazar?

[Paquita]

The name I mean.  I really like it, but a lot of people look at me sideways when I mention it.  I normally wouldn’t care what anyone thinks, but one of those people is my husband and I feel like he should have at least a little say in naming his son.  He admittedly hasn’t come up with a better name though. 

I know, why not give the kid a normal name like Bill or George?  Well, I come from a pretty big family, my mother was one of nine children, and my go-to excuse is that all the traditional male names are already taken around here, some several times over.  Also, my daughter’s name is Lotus, which I think is a lovely, unique, whimsical, feminine name.  She loves it and gets a lot of compliments on it.  When I was 9, I was begging my mother to change my name to MoonStarHeartDiamond, so I must have done something right here.  I can’t just name her brother Ronald (sorry RC)…  I’d feel like I failed the kid.

I’ve never really thought about how difficult it would be to name a boy.   It’s been so common to name the first son after the father, and if there are more, they just get named after other male members of the family and nothing new gets added to the mix.  Girls get all the cute and creative names.

My hope is to settle on a name that’s masculine, and a bit wizardly and metal at the same time.  I think Balthazar fits that and I thought I could nickname him “Bat” and that would be super cute.

So, I am looking for opinions and suggestions, if you have any.  I’m not a fan of last names for first names, and before anyone says it, I have heard of some people with the last name Balthazar, but if you ask me they have a first name for a last name.  I’m also not crazy about androgynous or female sounding male names (Francis, Terry, Percy, etc.)  Single syllable names sound a bit too dull for me – we’ve kicked around Wolf, Brick and Oak and I they just don’t feel right.  We’ve semi-seriously considered Amadeus, but it’s just a bit silly and grand sounding, not to mention, everyone knows it from the song and he’d never hear the end of it.  I also have a weird problem with association, as in if I know someone with that name, even a celebrity, and I don’t like that person or am too close to that person, it’s out.  I don’t know much about Balthazar Getty, so I’m going to try to keep it that way for now.

[ER]

I like Balthzar a lot but it would also require a lifetime of heavy lifting. Might make better middle name? Mebbe?

[ER]

Celtic names are best avoided too since people over here are not good at spelling them. If I had to do it over again I may not give my son the old Irish name we did.

[indianasmith]

I have always been fond of Roman names.  Marcus, Julius, Antony (or Antonius), Cornelius, Belisarius, etc.

[ER]

I have always been fond of Roman names.  Marcus, Julius, Antony (or Antonius), Cornelius, Belisarius, etc.

Lewus?

[Allhallowsday]

Celtic names are best avoided too since people over here are not good at spelling them. If I had to do it over again I may not give my son the old Irish name we did.

Took me 50 years to appreciate my own name, 2 words 3 syllables and it's on my birth certificate with no middle name.  Old Irish.  And the name of a well known old actor, though,  he is not Irish.  


Balthazar?  I like it, but one has to consider names perhaps practically.  I mean, what's liable to be his or her nickname?  Baltee?  Tazar?   Sometimes names are burdens, not badges.

[indianasmith]

I have always been fond of Roman names.  Marcus, Julius, Antony (or Antonius), Cornelius, Belisarius, etc.

Lewus?

If I were to Romanize my name, it would be Lucius, I guess!

[Trevor]

Call your son Trevorus 

[Rev. Powell]

I like it as a middle name. I would worry about kids teasing him if it was his first name.

[Alex]

I agree with the good Rev. I like the name, but I'd have something else just in case he doesn't like it. Then again our boy is going to have a choice of four to pick from.

[Paquita]

Thanks for all the feedback!  To answer your query AHD, I’d call him “Bat” as a nickname, but I imagine he’d eventually get called “Balz” someday later in life.  Not sure if that’s a bad thing or a good thing for a boy.  I’m not worried about him getting teased, if it’s not going to be for his name, it will be something else… kids are jerks.  I’ve gotten pretty good at striking fear into the hearts of children’s foes so I am up for the challenge.

Indy – I like the sound of Roman names too!  The “us” at the end really does ring well with our last name.  We’ve mulled some of them over, but nothing really has really stuck yet.

We’re still searching for an alternative.  My husband just doesn’t have a strong enough opinion about any other name yet and I think this one is growing on him.  I told him he has until I get the birth certificate in my hand to think of something else.

[dean]

As someone whose daughter is called Ripley I fully support slightly off centre names (Lotus is great). If you really like it go for it: just give a normal middle name (can always go by that one if need be rather than the other way around!)

Could go with the flora theme as alternatives. Some to chew on below:

Hawthorne (maybe Hawk for short)
Florian
Forester
Rowan

[Trevor]

As someone whose daughter is called Ripley

Nice 

[The Burgomaster]

I had a girlfriend about 25 years ago who would have loved that name. She wanted us to get married in a castle and wanted me to wear a suit of armor. I ended up getting married to a different woman in Las Vegas and I wore a short-sleeved shirt. Fate is a funny thing. But I digress.

[The Burgomaster]

Call your son Trevorus 

Trevorus Underpantus