Having been burdened with difficult names all of my life...I, personally, would opt for the shorter version of Finley...and forget about Baen. He'll be eternally asked to spell it [Baen] for people as he goes through life. Not to mention the attention it will bring from the adolescent crowd as he begins to grow. I can't begin to tell you the number of times such important items as passports, driver's licenses, voting registrations, etc have misspelled my names and the difficulties it's caused me throughout my lifetime.

Name the lad Finn. It's just unique enough to be remembered in a positive way throughout his life and completely uncomplicated when it comes to pronunciation and spelling. Plus...IMO...it has a delightful "ring" to it. Makes me think of lush green hillsides and heather on a dewy morn. :-)

I like Finn!

I like Finn, also.

As Anne mentioned, Baen would always be mispronounced and misspelled. I had a last name that had those same characteristics and all through my childhood it caused me no end of irritation. It was mispronounced so badly that I didn't even know my name was being called in homeroom, at the dentist or doctor's office, etc.

I'd go with Finley.

I definitely vote for Finn - if his name were Baen, kids would undoubtedly tease him and call him "Bean".

Oh Donna! You just gave me a marvelous giggle! My last name is completely bypassed these days. They just holler out my first name and hope I'm the only one in the room. LOL

Anne

Kids are gonna tease whichever name. I personally hate my gender neutral name. Hate it. I hate getting mail made out to Mr. Robin ________. Sure there is Robin Givens, but there's also Robin Williams, Robin Leach, Robin Younts... More males than female.

But Finn sounds really masculine to me. I can't even imagine a girl being called Finn? I'm probably just behind the times. He'll be a blessing whatever they choose. Or choose both--Finley Baen.

I vote for Sean - that's my Grandson's name - his Mama's family is English!!!

I love the shortened Finn but in most of the Celtic Scottish original names I have seen it is spelled Finlay for a boy, variants of the same. Might look at that not sure if one is a masculine and one is a feminine, I know in French sometimes it is that way. or they could just spell it totally different like Phinley much more masculine and a branch of Fineas or Phineas and still a nick of Phin. I definitely like it better than Baen because you know the kids will change that to Bean lol
My mother's family was from Ireland area I always loved many of the names.
One I like for a boy is
Cailean which is also spelled several ways Cailin,Caillen, and Asher I like also.

My niece named her daughter Conner which I really like for a girl.
CELTIC BABY BOY NAMES

did you know that Finlay was the name of Macbeth's Father?
Finlay

Unusual names are the norm these days. I don't think any one name is more likely to get him teased than another. He's more likely to be teased if he has an old-fashioned name like Bill or George (dare I add, anything but Sue! :-)

Big NO to Baen. I just tried this on my DH, who asked if it was like 'bay-in at the moon' or 'bane of my existence'?

Finlay is good. (I've come across a single birth in genealogy where the mother wasn't having any more, thank you, and named the boy Finis.) How about Hamish? Would he constantly be striking off an added letter if he was Donal? Duncan? Ian? Malcolm?

I have many generations of men named James in my Scots line.

Now I'm going to look at Raven's name list and practice my brogue.

Guess I'm the odd one out, I love the name Baen. Sounds way more masculine. I never worried much about nicknames either. I'm not particularly know for unusual names though, I have a Nickolas and an Amanda, haha.

Anyhow, don't like Finley AT ALL for a boys name. Finn is doable. Finley sounds girl to me all the way.

How about Quinn? Baen Quinn? Oh yeah, I like that a lot......

Good luck, so many great choices, it's hard to decide.

I like Finley or Finn better than Baen. I agree that Baen is likely to be mispronounced quite often.

I just want to point out that your kids are sweet to include you in... most parents don't want to share the name prior to delivery..so it isn't taken by someone else for their baby..
Are there are lot of Irish/Scots in the area where your DD lives? If so, Baen might not be so 'odd' and hard to pronounce... why not use both names... then the little guy can switch if he wants to a lot later on..
PS.. friends of mine taught in inner city schools and if you think either of your names are odd.. I could send you a list what what she had to learn to pronounce!!

Lochlan? OK, how about the clan name ( like Stuart, Hamilton, etc.)?

I vote for Finn. My friends' 2 yr old who calls me Grammy is Finian and is called Finn. It is sure a wonderful name, easy to pronounce and spell. Baen would be a burden with folks not knowing how to pronounce it. I have a friend named Bion and I always have to stop and think how to pronounce it. It is pronounced like Brian without the "r".

My maidan name was Jones. Married a Gilkison and it "never" gets spelled right. Our daughter married a Metschke. Names can be a real pain.

I vote for Finn. Make his life as simple as possible.. Enjoy your new grandson.

Finn

I didn't realize there were so many names! After our children were born and I was down to naming our pets names I liked I named our first cat Reece, spelled the same in the list of Celtic names...I still love it for people too. Of the 2 names given I'd pick Finn.

Finn. Not Finley. Finn sounds strong. Finley sounds kinda prissy.

I vote for Finn also. I love the name Finley and Finn. Not so crazy about Baen due to it always being misspelled and mispronounced. I think most people would pronounce it Bane. I work at an inner city school too and when I first started working there I thought there was no way I would be able to remember or pronounce some of the names. Somehow I have made it through pretty good.

Another vote for Finn. I like it. I also like Quinn. (I know that wasn't a choice. That is my daughter's middle name, so it could be male or female.)

I vote for Finn, too. It's a little different, at least to my ears, but is easy to pronounce and spell and has a pleasing quality.

A relative of my friend is named Bane....maybe an Americanized version of Baen but easier. Funny - my auto correct thinks Baen isn't correct and offered 6-7 alternatives! Maybe that's an answer......

My vote is for Finn. I don't like Finley, Finlay or Baen.

Just gotta say...there is no way I can remember Speaker of the House John Boehner is pronounced Baynor when I see it in print.

I like Finn or Phin.

I like Finlay... or Declan. :-)

I like Finlay... or Declan. :-)

I like Finley, I love Finn. Baen sounds like a sentence to a life of weirdness. He will always be called Bean, or Baen the Pain.

My XH had a weird first name and I swear it made him weird, too. It was such a pain in the patoot to constantly have to spell it and pronounce it. I did not give either of our sons that name, much to my MIL's chagrin.

LOL!
All you Finn and Quinn lovers must be Glee fans, eh?

Thanks for all your responses. I can tell my DD that in my poll at the KT, Baen loses by a landslide. If they do decide against Baen, they will be naming their son Finley, (or Finlay) since a two syllable name will sound better when spoken together with their surname. However he'll be commonly addressed as Finn.

My own name is so common that I always had multiple girls in every class with the same name. So I gave my DD a very unique name which she hated in elementary school, but has loved ever since, as she came to enjoy having a less common name.

So DD and her DH just can't decide whether their son might appreciate a less common name, or have one that seems to be very well liked, but is becoming quite common and is now being given to many newborn girls. I'll let them know that most of the posters here seem to care little about how common a name might be if they really like the name!

I hate, hate, hate having a name that I have to spell for everyone....even though it is a common name....mine is spelled differently. It was even spelled incorrectly in my graduation program!!!

No to Baen, but it's not really OUR choice, is it?

Definitely Finley, and call him Finn. Baen will always have to be spelled and the kid will get called Bean. Around here Quinn is a girl's name but I don't know any Finley's.

My name was unusual growing up, and even then had an unnusual spelling (Krysta). I luuuuurve my name, and I always have. Which is why I named my daughter Krystal!

Can I buy things with my name on them off the shelf? No. But if I really wanted a cup or a keychain with my name on it, I can get it engraved or printed online or at one of those places in the mall ;).

I like both names, but for some reason I want to put a "d" in Finley and make it Findlay!. I like Baen as well, it reminds me of the word for wolf in another language I used to speak with one of my Great Aunts a long time ago (Bayun).

Dances.

Finn has become trendy. So it's likely that he will be in school with multiple kids, boys and girls, with the same name. I, personally, don't care for trendy names. So, of the 2 choices, I'd go with Baen.

I like Finn as well. You can be sure after hearing the results of your survey that they will probably go with Baen.

Just saying, last name was Miller and people would ask me to spell it...

"I like both names, but for some reason I want to put a "d" in Finley and make it Findlay!"

Yeah.. me too. Probably because there is a Findlay Township in my area!

Please name him the name he will be called, not another name or his middle name. I'm a Senior and have had to start learning to answer to my first name at this late date because it is my *legal* name -- on medical forms, insurance, etc.

Re: Glee. Nope, never watched it. I named my daughter (middle name) Quinn after Quinn Cummings, who was in a movie I saw before she was born "The Goodbye Girl." I thought it went well with Erin, her first name and Collins, her last name.

Putting a "d" in it makes it sounds more like a country than a name to me.

Marilyn, love your daughters name.

There was a family I knew growing up that all the childrens middle names were the mother's maiden name. Both boys and girls. It helped that the mother had a decent maiden name, Vincent. I remember one of the daughter's names being Alice. I thought it was pretty cool. A tribute to Mom's former name without having to hyphenate anything.

I still vote for Baen. It's a cool name but not off the wall.

My son is a Sean and people eventually learn how to spell it and how to say it. Amazing how many people pronounce it Seen.

My nieces cats name is Finn. I'd go with Baen.

I like Baen but I like unusual names better. Finn is too common for me but I don't feel it's a bad name. Who knows when the baby gets here, they may decide he doesn't look like either name and will name him a different name.

Friends of mine just named their baby Finnegan, If I was choosing between the two names I would use Finley for the first name and the other for a second name. I have a Great nephew named Liam -another good Irish name

I'd go with Finn if those are the only names to choose from.

Yes, Finley (or Finlay) and Baen are the final two names. There were many others that either DD loved but her DH didn't, or the other way around. I think they've decided against Baen, but might consider it for a possible future brother. They love Finn, which he would be called for short. However, Finlay, would be his actual name, as it goes better when spoken with his surname, which is only one syllable.