I’m pregnant and we’re trying to pick out names (we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet). If it’s a boy, my husband likes the name Harrison, with the nickname of Harry. I like it, too, but I don’t think there’s any way we could name a second son Harry because our first son is named…William (with the nickname Will).
The kids are/will be dual Australian-American citizens and will be brought up in the U.S. We’re not at all Anglophiles and the fact that we like these names is not at all related to the royal family (in fact, both names occur in both of our families).
Do you think this is something they’d get teased over or would it only really click with a few people?
Can’t comment on American reactions but to my mind if your kids were the same age as “Diana’s Boys” it would be more striking but as long as you don’t start referring to the older one as Wills you should be ok.
If anyone makes snide remarks, you can tell them to mind their own business.
I think they are both lovely names, and hopefully no one would give you or your children any trouble over such silliness. Congratulations on your pregnancy, may it be easy on you all.
I know one Harrison, he also went by Harry, and he’s Scottish.
It’s a nice name, don’t worry about it.
It’s not like you called them Paris and Nikki or Michael and Ralph, you chose two very nice names, with nicknames that happen to be the same as someone else.
Forget about other people.
The average American knows about Princes William and Harry because they’re Princess Di’s kids. She’s dead now, and will have been dead since before Harrison was born. I can’t imagine that many kids his own age would care about the William/Harry connection.
I would imagine that in the US, Harrison would be more likely to be teased with reference to Harry Potter than to Harry the Prince. I can’t imagine that kids (boys, in particular) are likely to be sufficiently Anglophilic (with the aforementioned exception of the whole H. Potter cult) to make the connection and tease them. Their parents may be another matter.
In short, if Harry is harried, it’s more likely to be due to Harry than to Harry.
Clear as mud.
(Hope your last name doesn’t rhyme with “Potter,” either. Reminds me of when my niece was born. I was lobbying my brother to name her “Ariel,” then was made eternally grateful that my brother had not done so when the Little Mermaid movie came out. And, yes, I do know that Ariel is a boys’ name.)
Don’t even worry about it. At one time I was a big Diana nerd. Really it was quite silly. Anyway, I work with this guy William. When we first met, he had occasion to mention he has a twin brother. The twin’s name? Harry. And guess what, HE had to point out to me, the Diana nerd, that they had the same names as the princes. So, totally, don’t worry about it.
Oh, and I also work with the mother of a Harrison-called Harry.
