View Message

[Opinions] Wilbur
I am presently in love with Wilbur -- maybe as much as I love Abner (but probably not quite there). Does anyone share this admiration? It seems the next natural step in my appreciation for Jasper -- Abner -- and now Wilbur: a glorious triumvirate of onomastic brothers.You could probably also throw Oliver in there, though it is less surprising. Wilbur and Oliver are magical as brothers, too.Wilbur James makes my heart smile.The first person who makes the pig reference is actually lame. We know; it's endearing.

Visit my Pinterest gallery! http://www.pinterest.com/bhomayou/images-qui-r%C3%A9sonnent/

This message was edited 11/7/2014, 6:34 AM

Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I personally never saw the name as a first or middle mainly because its my surname though spelled differently. I've always seen it as very surname-y and not just because I have the name but also because it's very uncommon. But Wilbur James is good. It flows and I see nothing bad about it. Just from my POV, I see Wilbur more as a last name (: oh and yes, the pig reference from Charlotte's web. Been there...(:
vote up1
Bewitched and Mr. EdThat's all I can think of with Abner and Wilbur. A horse whinnying Wilbur and Agnes screeching Abner. I can somewhat see the appeal Abner. Wilbur I just cannot get behind. It's really a dumb name. Jasper is really hipster, I know at least two young Jaspers. Oliver is also a hipster, I know quite a few again . One even goes by Ollie.
vote up1
Meh. I can't work up any enthusiasm for Wilbur. I think it's the -bur ending. So unappealing.
vote up1
Is Wilbur a pig? I always forget that. Anyway, I really like Wilbur; it's always reminded me of Wilbur from Meet the Robinsons, so I think of it as belonging to a cocky, impatient teenager mostly. It also puts me in the mind of an elderly gentleman with glasses and a bushy gray mustache, sitting at a mahogany desk in his personal library. Two totally different pictures, so I think the name is quite versatile. Wilbur James is indeed nice.
vote up1
I love Wilbur, its so old and grandpa sounding.. right up my alley. Wilbur and Jasper are amazing. Oliver is too popular for it to sit nice perfectly with the other two.Wilbur James is okI'd go with something a little more interesting!Wilbur Bartholomew
Wilbur Ambrose
Wilbur Henry
Wilbur Alasdair
Wilbur Percival (ooh I like this one)
Wilbur Magnus
Wilbur Vincent
Wilbur Quinten
vote up1
Wilbur Ambrose is a great suggestion!
vote up1
Oh Wilbur. So sweet and endearingly nerdy. :) I can appreciate Wilbur (along with things like Linus, Rupert, Simon, Watson, and Giles). It also seems softer than Abner, which comes across a bit more gruff to me.
vote up1
I associate Wilbur to the movie (and book) The Cider House Rules. The doctor's first name is Wilbur.I think Wilbur is ok, but I do not like Abner.
Wilbur James is a nice combo. I like when you pair a less common name with a classic one. Oliver and Jasper (or Jesper) are seem more common to me, but I think they work well as brothers to Wilbur.
vote up1
I think Wilbur is okay. I don't think it's endearing to think of the pig in Charlotte's Web. I think the name on the pig character is sort of ironic, like a bulldog named Christina - as the pig is so hapless and naive and mushy, and the name Wilbur sounds competent and masculine, even a little cunning. I think my feelings about the name are more influenced by Wilbur Wright, and by the slight esthetic suggestions it has of the words will, bewilder, wily, bear, burr, boar. Since I've never actually met a Wilbur, and Wright and the pig are the only places I recall seeing it.I totally disagree that it belongs anywhere near Abner or Jasper. I think they all clash. Abner is sort of a crusty, mulish seeming name with a "too brainy to ever really fit in" vibe, like Reuben. Jasper is a vaguely hippier Jack - current, assertive, but less cocky and more earthy. My impression of Wilbur is more like Gilbert or Harvey or Bernard... more butch, and self-consciously out of style.Anyway Wilbur's not a personal fave - the way the bur part looks and sounds, just doesn't appeal to my taste quite right - but it's an alright name.

This message was edited 11/7/2014, 2:27 PM

vote up1
It makes me LOL. It's not endearing.I wouldn't have thought of the pig. I think of my sister's childhood favorite well-worn stuffed animal. I can still see it, but it was ambiguous as far as what animal it was supposed to be. A mouse, I think? Oh, and its name was Wilbur.
vote up1
Well I guess I'm lame, but whatever. Yes, it SCREAMS "pig" to me. And even worse, Abner always screams pig to me also, because it was the name of Arnold's pet pig in "Hey Arnold," so the two together are piggy overload. I mean, I don't see why making such an association is "lame." It's no different that any other movie/character related connection and I personally wouldn't even view it as BAD per say. I mean, I love plenty of "cow" names like Bessie and Annabelle. They are just animals, and as you said, endearing ones at that. I like the name Templeton a million times better than Wilbur and he's the skeevy rat. I think it's just an ugly name. That's all. Something about the combination of the "b" and "er" sounds really turn me off. Pity because I do love Will and have been playing around with different ways to achieve it as a nn. I settled on liking the idea of Wilmer or Wilby, better than Wilbur
vote up1
I think she just means its lame because its overused. Everytime you bring up a name with a connection 20 people will chime in with, "Harry makes me think of Hairy." Well, duh. Obviously, the poster knows that, and they are looking for opinions beyond the obvious.
vote up1
Then he could just say that. No one has to be "lame" for it. And judging by the responses not everyone does think of the pig, so it could be valuable knowing just how strong the association still is- because it seems like maybe it's not as obvious as he initially thought.
vote up1
It's quite upper and upper-middle class trendy in the UK, I've seen a few Wilburs in the Times and Telegraph birth announcements recently. Brothers would have names like Herbert, Clement, Barnaby and Hector.

This message was edited 11/7/2014, 8:37 AM

vote up1
I love Wilbur! It's so jolly and genial. It's much more interesting than Oliver, in my opinion.
vote up1
Ditto!
vote up1
I do love Wilbur, but I love Wilfred too. If I had to pick between them, I'd be in trouble.
vote up1
Well, I'll be the first lame person then because Wilbur will always remind me of the movie. Some people it won't, but that's the first thought I have when I hear Wilbur. Even without the movie, it's just not my style. Both Wilbur and Abner make me think of toothless old men in overalls, who sit on their porches with shot guns and drink moonshine. Wilbur is better than Abner though, for reasons I'm not sure of. I think my mind could be swayed if I met a little Wilbur. It's actually kind of sweet on a little kid, but ages weird.Wilbur seems clunky and dorky paired next to the sleek Oliver. I think Isaac and Oliver make better brothers. Or even Jasper and Oliver. I'm not sure why I don't have the same feelings about Jasper as I do about Wilbur or Abner because they are similiar, it just has a completely different feel.
vote up1
"It's actually kind of sweet on a little kid, but ages weird."I don't really know about that. He can fall back on Will, which ages well.
vote up1
Bravo. Here on BtN, where tastes tend to run against those of the majority of the general public, I takes a bit of bravery to stand with the great unwashed. I agree with your opinion of Wilbur and Abner.
vote up1
I like Wilbur, and Oliver. Wilbur James is nice, but a bit boring. You can do better.
vote up1
I love Wilbur! He's geeky, but not dorky. He is serious and intelligent. I love it. I would match him with brothers Oscar, Kermit, Gilbert and Linus. Wilbur Edmund, Oscar Nathaniel, Gilbert Henry, Linus Jude, and Kermit Theodore.And I agree, the pig reference is overdone and lame.
vote up1
I'd match Oscar and Kermit ...With Grover, Ernie and Bert.
vote up1
I love Grover, too!
vote up1
Positive associations
vote up1
Ditto!
vote up1
I hope you two have only daughters.
vote up1
be careful what you hope for.Or we might have to hear a lot of fawning over how cute Curly Bear, Prairie Dawn and Grundgetta are.
vote up1
Prairie Dawn is quite good. Always called Dawn though, I do hope! (not that she exists, though!)I went to school with a girl called Dawna, pronounced Donna.
vote up1
Prairie Dawn is a real Muppet on Sesame Street ...She's a little girl who is most famous for being the narrator and pianist and I guess director, of the little pageants the Muppet characters put on, like their Christmas tree skit from the classic (1972) Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. She's usually called Prairie Dawn but sometimes just Prairie. All the other names I mentioned sarcastically in the above post are also real Sesame Street characters.
vote up1
... And you had the sheer gall to call -me- a troll, queenv. I guess, as they say, it takes one to know one.

This message was edited 11/7/2014, 12:26 PM

vote up1
Nevermind

This message was edited 11/7/2014, 9:39 PM

vote up1
I guess it takes a person without a sense of humor to call a person with one a troll. Besides, I never called you that. I guess it takes a person who falsely accuses another of putting words in her mouth to do it herself.
vote up1