4 weeks and no name - what do people think of Silas?

Help!  I am due in 4 weeks and my husband and I are having a terrible time agreeing on the name of our second boy.  He likes traditional colonial american names and I am partial to cowboy names (our first son is named Jasper).  Given those tastes it would seem we would have a lot of overlap in the names we like but we don't!  We originally thought we woud go with Eli or some lengthening of that but we now know about 6 kids under 3 with that name and don't want the name to be that popular.  We almost decided on Silas but a few off handed comments from friends has convinced my husband that this is a sinister or evil sounding name.  So, two questions, do people feel that Silas is a "dark" or sinister sounding name? Second, which of these options seems good?  we are going with the middle name Roy, which is a family name, and his last name will be Scott.

1. Silas

2. Noah

3. Conrad

4. Gabriel

5. Levi

6. Isaiah

Thanks!

 

By xpollinate
Wed, 09/05/2012 - 7:14pm

Replies

1
By Karyn
September 5, 2012 7:41 PM

I do not find Silas to be a dark or sinister name! However, I do find Silas Scott difficult to say. When the middle name is added, I don't trip over the "S"s, but how often is a full name really said?

From your other choices, I actually like all of them! But that's not too helpful, so I will give a few more thoughts. These are just my impressions.

  • I do think that Noah feels the least matched with Jasper, but Noah Scott sounds great, so I won't say that it's a bad choice.
  • While Isaiah is a good match for Jasper, and I initially liked the repeated "S" in Isaiah Scott, I said it a few times and it suddenly felt like I was saying Isaiah's Cot because I was becoming less careful about separating the names.

Conrad, Gabriel, and Levi are all great.

  • Conrad Scott feels very strong to me, and I like the repeated "R" in Conrad Roy. It feels like the name that people would remember, for some reason.
  • With its three syllables, Gabriel gives a bit more length and melody to the very clipped Roy Scott part of the name, though it does feel a bit more classic than Jasper and feels more common (though I should note that it's a name I like very much).
  • Levi has the same feel as Jasper, and is two syllables, but a silly thing is that I find that Levi Scott to be least appealing visually.
3
By PennyX
September 6, 2012 7:57 AM

I don't find Silas dark or sinister at all.  I think it's kind of a sweet, old fashioned name, actually.  

I do agree, however, that it's a little S heavy with the last name Scott.  

Noah sounds great with the last name and I think goes just fine with Jasper.  They're not going through life as a matched set, after all.  And Levi would be my next choice.  Both names seem to straddle the old fashioned and western vibe quite nicely.  

4
By NotAGuestAnymore
September 5, 2012 8:52 PM

I wonder if people are confusing Silas with Sylar? Sylar was the villian from the TV show Heroes.  Regardless, I don't find Silas to be a dark or sinister name.  If the show is the problem, the association probably won't be strong for much longer since the it has been off the air for a couple years or more.

I really like Silas with Jasper, and while I am not usually a fan of allliteration I don't think Silas Scott is a problem at all.

Noah is also good with Jasper and the flow with middle/last is also good.  However, you might want to check the popularity of this one in your area.  Noah is much more common than Eli where I live.

Conrad and Gabriel are probably my least favorites with Jasper.  Conrad seems a little too stern and Gabriel seems a little too soft.  However, I think they both flow well and aren't necassarily bad, just not my favorites.

Levi is great with Jasper and would be my 2nd favorite after Silas.  I do agree that the end does smoosh with the last name a bit, but I don't think it's a huge issue.  Levi is a recognizable name and Levis isn't, so I don't think there will be a lot of confusion like you might see with something like Elias Scott (did she say Elias Scott?  or Eli Ascott?)

Isaiah feels almost too religous and is less cowboy than Jasper.  I realize this is odd since I don't have a problem with Noah, Eli or Silas.  In general, Isaiah is a name I've just never warmed up to.

 

5
By dorit
September 5, 2012 9:01 PM

I guess Silas does sound a little sly, sinister, stealthy to my ears. Never saw Heroes. It reminds me of Seth-supposedly a friendly name, but with the s and the unvoiced dental fricative, it just sounds a little like something a serpent would say--close to the Indo-European /sr/ phoneme for serpent, in fact. But that's just me.

6
By Emerald Bee
September 5, 2012 9:42 PM

Maybe people are thinking of the evil albino monk from The DaVinci Code?  That's all I can think of.  I think it's a great name, but it is a little rough with your last name.  If I used it I would be praying my little boy didn't have a lisp, because that would be a nightmare!

I think a lot of your others are great options.  Other suggestions, if you're still looking: Wyatt, Evan, Caleb, Isaac, Joel, Elias

7
By hyz
September 5, 2012 10:50 PM

LOVE Silas!  I don't think it sounds sinister at all, I think it goes beautifully with Jasper, and it seems to meet both of your style criteria.  My only concern about it would be the S ending running into Scott, but if you're ok with that, then I would go with it.  Of your other names, they are all really very nice, but my favorite is Isaiah.  Noah is great but a bit common these days, Conrad is fine but has just never really appealed to me personally (I think maybe it sounds too abrupt), Gabriel is nice but sounds maybe a bit weak to me (although I like the nn Gabe), and Levi is also great but definitely leans more cowboy than colonial for me these days.

8
By another Laura
September 6, 2012 9:31 AM

I love Silas but with your last name it's only okay.  The alliteration isn't the problem rather the "s" at the end of Silas blending in with the "s" at the beginning of Scott.  It all starts to sound a little slurring.  My favorite combo is Conrad Roy Scott. 

9
By Violette
September 6, 2012 1:37 PM

I agree that Silas Scott is too much alliteration, with the s at both the beginning and at the end to merge into the last name.  It's a fine name with other last names, but not in this combination.

Levi sounds like a perfect balance of Biblical and Western!  And it works well with the middle and last names you've chosen.

10
By danasurfside
September 8, 2012 9:11 AM

haven't read the other posts, but are you opposed to Cyrus nn Cy?