when the name you like, is shared by a cartoon. ugg.

[finnegansmom]

I will be 40 weeks pregnant, tomorrow.

My DH and I have been disagreeing about boy's names for MONTHS.

Actually for 2.5 years, since I've wanted Henry as a son's name since I was pregnant with #2 which he doesn't like.

We have maybe finally sort of decided on a name we can both agree on.  It's been a long road.

BUT....a BIG BUT...

The name (for our son, a traditional boy's name) was used in a disney cartoon for a girl and now is thought of as a girl's name.

Ariel.  In the little mermaid.  So annoyed.

We would call him Ari, which we both LOVE, but the birth certificate would read Ariel. 

Is this a deal breaker?  For the record, I see it pronounced more like AH-re-ul (not air-e-ELLE) for a boy.

I'm so exhausted, I feel like I'm never going to go into labor with the stress of choosing a name hanging over me...

[Ravin]

Ariel, you mean?

Just tell people it's from Shakespeare's The Tempest and to stop being such uncultured twits. The Ariel in Shakespeare was male, so there you have it!

Arial with an "a" in the middle is the name of a type font.

[PiggyPiggyOinkOink]

I wouldn't use it. Sorry. Your poor kid would definitely be mad fun of his whole life for that one.

[finnegansmom]

Originally Posted by Ravin 

Ariel, you mean?

Just tell people it's from Shakespeare's The Tempest and to stop being such uncultured twits. The Ariel in Shakespeare was male, so there you have it!

Arial with an "a" in the middle is the name of a type font.

yes.  oppsie.  i'm a terrible speller.  it's so hard to choose a name and then to find out some cartoon has defiled it.  I've never seen that mermaid movie, neither has my husband but since we've been looking online it's come up everywhere.  Although i think because it's so old, that by the time this baby is in school...the movie will be 20 years old or something and I'm sure there will be a whole new batch of names being ruined by pop culture...

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Originally Posted by finnegansmom 

 it's so hard to choose a name and then to find out some cartoon has defiled it.  I've never seen that mermaid movie, neither has my husband but since we've been looking online it's come up everywhere.  Although i think because it's so old, that by the time this baby is in school...the movie will be 20 years old or something and I'm sure there will be a whole new batch of names being ruined by pop culture...

The problem is that The Little Mermaid is one of the Disney classics, I highly, highly doubt it will be out of people's minds in a matter of a few years.  Unfortunately, it will be associated with a red headed mermaid for the majority of your child's life.  :P

Is there another name you can find that still has the nickname Ari?

[Ravin]

From Nameberry.com:

ARI  

Gender: M
Origin of Ari: Hebrew, diminutive of Ariel

Ari's Popularity in 2009: #526

This short form of Ariel stands up better as a male name than its progenitor does. Also short for Aristotle, as in Onassis, and a prominent character on TV's Entourage.

Nicknames & Variations for Ari:
Arie, Arij, Aroe, Arri, Arye  

[finnegansmom]

Thanks, yes my DH loves Aristotle as well.  Which I believe is greek, and while I'm not greek nor jewish I so find myself drawn to jewish names.

Such a hard decision - but I appreciate everyone's help!

[Banana731]

I too, love Jewish male names. I say go for it!

[tzs]

IMO Ariel from disney is pretty much out of the collective mind at this point. at least i wouldn't think of it but then i live in a jewish community so i may be biased towards just thinking it's a jewish name.

if you're worried about it and are more attached to the "Ari" nickname, you could do "Aryeh" which is hebrew for Lion. (DH always liked "aryeh yehudah" which would be "lion of judah' :) ) "leib" would be the yiddish that some people sometimes use. or they use the two together "aryeh leib."

for what it's worth, i like yiddish girl names like "dora" which is so obviously ruined for me and tom cruise and katie holmes took "suri" away from me too. oh well.

[Peony]

I've known both an adult Ariel and an Ari, males obviously. Ariel had a hard time with his name, everyone always thought he was a girl if they just saw his name written. He was in his late teens then, I ran into him around town a couple years and he was going by a nickname then. Not Ari, something completely different.

Ari was not short for anything, that was his full name. It worked for him. I'm all about giving a full name and then shortening to a nickname but in this case, if it is Ari you are after, I would hands down go with that alone over Ariel as a full name. The Little Mermaid while not as popular as it was 15 years is a classic and the name Ariel is certainly thought of as a girls name first now days. 

[happysmileylady]

I have 2 nieces 9 and 4, who both LOVE Little Mermaid.  In addition to the movie being one of the "Disney Classics" and therefore never really "old" Ariel is considered one of the "Disney Princesses" so even aside from the movie she's a popular character.  I think the name will always be associated with the movie, and even more so, as a girls name.  I have always seen it as a very girly name.  (and the pronouciation you mention reminds me very much of how the crab, Sebastian, in the movie pronounces Ariel)

I have however encountered several Ari's who were boys.  I haven't ever heard Ari used as a nickname for Ariel, so I think you could go with just Ari, and not get the association. 

[luv my 2 sweeties]

I can understand your frustration!  My dh and I had a *terrible* time finding boys names we both liked.  We both liked Alexander, which we used for our first son (2nd child).  However, finding another was so difficult that we went into the birth of our 3rd child hoping it was a girl, because we had never been able to agree on a boy's name!  Of course, he was a boy, and I named him Ethan the day after he was born.  It wasn't any of my first choices -- dh had shot all those down.  Rather, it was one that we had not seriously considered to that point.  DH went along without fuss.  I think after seeing me go through the rather difficult birth, he wasn't about to deny me!   Now it's fine.  Ethan is *our* Ethan, and we are happy with his name.  (Though I must admit that when my cousin and my younger sister subsequently named their sons names I had really liked and lobbied for, I felt a *teeny* bit jealous! ) 

Anyhoo, when I was researching names, I remember reading that once a traditionally boys name begins to be used by girls it follows a fairly predictable trajectory:  It will be gender neutral for a short time, but within a few decades it will become almost exclusively a girls name.  Many boys names have been "lost" this way.  I remember that there were some examples on the list that I never imagined had once been male names!  Ones that are more recent change-overs include Leslie and Francis.  There are some exceptions.  Robin comes to mind, probably thanks to Robin Hood and the fact that Robin never became a very commonly used name for girls.  One of the names I really loved for our 3rd child was Emerson.  DH wasn't crazy about it, but I was still lobbying for it when I heard from 3 different friends that they knew girls named Emerson.  (Which I totally don't get --  EmerSON for a girl?  As in Ralph Waldo?   Whatever...)

Bottom line, I think Ariel is done as a boys name in the United States, at least outside of some ethnic circles. Regardless of whether  people have seen the movie or not, there are thousands -- probably many thousands -- of girls under 20 named Ariel.  For your son's generation especially, it will be a name associated with female classmates, older sisters, girl cousins, possibly even some of their mothers!  I really like the suggestion above of the variation "Aryeh".  Maybe that could be a viable alternative.  Or just "Ari" as others have suggested.  I think Ari is still common enough as a boys name and not used much by girls except as a nickname.  (Like Sam, which is still a boy's name, but can be a girl's nickname.)

Best of luck finding a name you both can live with.  It's tough!

[Drummer's Wife]

I'd just go with Ari. I know a little boy named Ari and everyone loves his name. If that's what you are going to call him, I'd use it as is.

[kcparker]

For heaven's sake, if you both love the name, use it! People name their kids all kinds of names, and somebody is always going to disapprove or have a way to make fun of it, whether it's Arthur becomes Art becomes Arty Farty, Morrigan being the name of a witch, or Ma'kynzie being a ridiculous kr8ive spelling of an already retchworthy name. I love the name Ari, and he will be surrounded by kids named Jaxen, Hazel, Shiloh, Finn, Madison, Tamsin, Adaline, and Cedar. So, don't sweat the Little Mermaid thing.

[calynde]

Personally, i would just stick with Ari...which is a great boy name. Ariel has nearly 100 percent feminine associations at this point in time.

I know how hard boy names can be...i am on my third! So, so difficult for some reason. Good luck!

[Buddhamom]

What about Erol or are you looking for it to begin with A?  Play around with spellings and you will be surprised what you come up with.

[spatulagirl]

Oooh I love Ari! Just as Ari.

FWIW, we named our third Marley, fully knowing it was a dog's name in a book and soon to be released movie.

[finnegansmom]

Originally Posted by spatulagirl 

Oooh I love Ari! Just as Ari.

FWIW, we named our third Marley, fully knowing it was a dog's name in a book and soon to be released movie.

That's funny, because my DH really wants to use Baxter, but we had a cat named baxter (one of the many ferals we kept who moved on to a horse barn for his retirement).

And my DH also loves the name Bailey, which is cute too but it's his aunt's dog's name (and they live a few miles away) although I'm not sure it's a deal breaker but I like Ari better.

It IS so hard, because every name has someone/something named with it that might not be a good connotation.  Argh....

[finnegansmom]

Originally Posted by kcparker 

For heaven's sake, if you both love the name, use it! People name their kids all kinds of names, and somebody is always going to disapprove or have a way to make fun of it, whether it's Arthur becomes Art becomes Arty Farty, Morrigan being the name of a witch, or Ma'kynzie being a ridiculous kr8ive spelling of an already retchworthy name. I love the name Ari, and he will be surrounded by kids named Jaxen, Hazel, Shiloh, Finn, Madison, Tamsin, Adaline, and Cedar. So, don't sweat the Little Mermaid thing.

I LOVE shiloh....Love it (and for the record my DH also loves Arthur and Archie).

[Baby_Cakes]

Name him Ari.