While spending some hours reading Wikipedia last night (which I tend to do sometimes, as information can actually be rather addictive), I came across the name
Othniel when reading about paleontology. It was the name of the late
Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899), a respected American paleontologist.
Having never heard of this name before and intrigued by it, I was surprised to see that it was already featured in the BtN database. I don't remember seeing this name discussed here on this message board, so I'm curious to hear how the name strikes to you all. Does it seem like a fresh alternative to overly common names like
Daniel and
Gabriel, or the completely opposite (e.g. stuffy and nerdy)?
Can you even picture someone with this name in this day and age? If so, how do you imagine a person with this name would be like?
Last but not least, what nicknames can you think of for
Othniel? Myself, I can think of Othie (also Othy, Otie and even
Otis),
Otho (or even
Otto) and Niel. I have to say,
Otis is my favourite of the bunch.
Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about the name (e.g. overly negative associations), but the way things are looking right now, I think I'm going to put it on my Guilty Pleasure List. :x