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Seems pretentious imv because of the poet, who was introduced to me in school as "Alfred, Lord Tennyson."
To me it's a bit like Byron (Lord Byron) ... but it does not sound like any first-name, and also Byron is Romantic and Tennyson is Victorian. So it seems more prissy and less poet-y, to me. I guess not every American takes Brit Lit at an impressionable age though ...
Maybe it seems more like Harrison to others.
I don't think of tennis though ...! I might notice that if I were around a Tennyson, and heard it said aloud.
Anyway, English -son surnames as firstnames are nms in any case. My maiden name is a -son name - I think that is part of why it's so unappealing to me.

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- mirfak