Baby Boy #2
 

So, I'm not sure if the rest of you have talked about this or not on here when it's happened with you(to those it has applied to at least). But I'm going to be the father of a 2nd son this next year! The due date is May 1st(less than 2 weeks after the due date of my first son). Just found out the gender and that everything looks fine on the ultrasound yesterday.

One of the names(and actually a strong contender) going between my wife and I is "Leonardo." Despite being the name of a character in a certain franchise, it actually is a pretty good name I think. It is an Italian name(I'm 1/4) and there are some fairly good role models that share it. The meaning is also pretty cool too "brave as a lion". Also have a decent amount of Leo's on my wife's side of the family, as well as a Leona.

Congratulations !!
I have two children myself. What's the name of your first child ?
Just curious how well the names would mesh .

Thanks! His name is Erik. Partly influenced by his Danish heritage.

Would you just call him Leo ?
I mean I honestly dig the name.

We probably would for the most part(at least my wife would). When we first talked about this, she much prefered Leo. But considering that Leo is the unofficial shortening of Leonardo she is basically becoming more alright with it. Leonardo would reflect my Italian heritage, while Leo would reflect her Scandinavian as well as some family members.

Congrats, and Leonardo is a pretty common name. Just think of the famous actor, Leonardo Dicaprio, and so forth. You'll probably wind up calling him "Leo" most of the time anyway for short.

Congrajulations on your second son :)

Hope little Leonardo brings you all great happiness and vice versa.

Thanks to everyone!

Also, before we found out our 2nd child is a boy, I basically asked my wife pretty jokingly that if it were another boy to name him after one of the Turtles. Wasn't much serious about it at first(and when I was growing up I never actually seriously considered naming a future kid of mine after one), but when we found it it was a boy it was brought back up as a possible name. Honestly, Donatello would not work I think(Donna might for a girl). The name Michael Angelo would work as a first and second name. Raphael probably wouldn't honestly. Besides if I did call a kid of mine that, the spelling would probably be more like Rafael.

Honestly, I think Leonardo works best all around. Italian, there's a famous actor, Leonardo Da Vinci(probably the greatest artist and inventor of the Renaissance period), at least 2 close instances of Leo in my wife's family tree(along with a Leona), and if my Italian side were more well known, there are probably some of my family members with Leonardo as a first name. Plenty of great role models with a Leonardo and Leo that are both fictional and non-fictional.

Also, thanks to anyone that reads through that longish post. Just found out the gender and pretty excited. And the name has also grown a lot on both my wife and I. The name will at least be Leo. Just not sure yet whether it will be Leonardo or not.

Congrats! :) Leonardo/Leo's a nice choice. Esp with the due date so close to the anniversary date of Mirage! :D

"Leonardo" sounds like a more proper name, or full name. Leo always comes across as a nickname to me, although given we're all TMNT fans here that's probably why I think that.

Like when your son is in school or applies for a job, it seems more proper if he had his full name Leonardo put down, then simply putting, "Leo." I don't know, it just seems like more of a regular name.

I mean nobody calls Leonardo Dicaprio, "Leo Dicaprio" do they?

We exist in a time when celebrities will name their kids after fruit... I love "Leo" as a shortened/nickname, though it's among those that work fine, imo, as a first name. Some do, some don't.



Leo Dicaprio? Probably not, since he IS a Leonardo and calling him Leo would be done by those speaking more informally... while adding the surname is automatically formal and comes across slightly odd saying both together in a case like that.

I've heard it both ways when referring to DiCaprio, either his full name or just calling him Leo DiCaprio by interviewers and on Hollywood "news" media. Some magazines use the nickname, too. But Leo sounds like a GREAT name! (Personally, I'd have gone with Micheal Angelo, but that's just me....) Heck, naming after a turtle isn't all THAT strange- when I was preggers with my duckling, I was seriously considering James Logan as a name if it had been a boy. Hubby wasn't exactly for it, but I told him it was a good name, and only real comic fans would know it was Wolverine's name, lol!

I think Michael Angelo would have worked alright too, but Michael is a very common name and it didn't feel right. We're pretty much settled on Leonardo at this point. My in-laws aren't all that happy with it at the moment because they think I'm only naming him after the Turtle(while in fact it's a long way down on my list of reasons ultimately). We made the mistake of telling my brother-in-law about Leonardo being one of the choices when it was pretty much still a joke.

Weird...I was able to make a much stronger case for Leonardo than I was able to for a Jr. Now, when I was growing up and into adulthood I always wanted a Jr. My wife doesn't like the idea though and I can see her point for the most part.

Congratulations:) Leonardo sounds like a great name and pays homage to our favourite leader as you say.

Hey, nothing wrong with naming a child after a fictional character, especially if that character is a hero/role model! Perhaps they only remember the OT and think of it as a silly cartoon name, but just remind them that Leo was the leader of the group and that the comics and original movie were much more serious. That should shut them up.... :trazz:

Your average person won't even think of the TMNT with the name Leonardo anyway. Leonardo is actually a fairly common name, I don't see why people would assume its based on a cartoon character. There are tons of Leonardo's in the world and its a common Italian name.

Hell there's people who have named their son, "Luke" obviously after Luke Skywalker, and it's not a big deal.

Actually, outside of Italy, I'm pretty sure it's not all that common. DiCaprio has made it slightly more popular in recent years, but yeah, a lot of people WILL think of the Turtles!

Congrats! I've 2 boys too. The oldest is Kevin the Third, or Trey and my youngest is Duncan Andrew Rafael (Rafael because of my wife's love of Rafael Barba on SVU, the fact that the name means "God Heals", and though it's a different spelling, a little bit of TMNT.)

Actually Leonardo is in the top 100 baby boy names in the U.S. right now(like 95 or something). Leo is around 75. So, wouldn't say it's super popular
but enough babies are being named Leonardo. I have noticed a steep incline in the graph though since 2010. Would coincide with a lot of us fans of the original series having families of our own.

Huh. That's news to me. Must not be very popular in my area because I have never seen anyone with it. (Hunter is by far the most common name here....) If the chart is accurate though, it would probably coincide more with kids who grew up with DiCaprio being such a popular actor having their own kids.