New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees crowd-sourced the name for his second son via Twitter. His requiements? The name had to start with B, as in wife Brittany and firstborn Baylen Robert. And, preferably, it had to be different – not in any baby name book.
The name they picked? Bowen Christopher. New baby arrived on Tuesday. Congratulations to the family.
My reaction to the name? Bowen appeals to me far more than Baylen, and I can see it catching on. What are your thoughts?
Bowen makes me think of David Bowie too, and I am a mad fan of the music stylings of that particular gentleman (am listening to “Heart’s Filthy Lesson” as I type this). Also, Bowen is a very classy and regal name, and Bo is nice for short.
I love LOVE Bowen. I love Owen, but being one of a million Ashlies/Ashleys , I try to stay away from common names. Bowen is unique, while still sounding familiar.
I don’t like this choice for Brees though. I think that he and Brittany are a little too matchy. You’ve got Bowen and Baylen, and in my opinion those names are way too similar for a sibset. And there’s mom with a B name too. Not to mention their last name starts with a B as well.
Oh, and I rather dislike Baylen. Bay I think makes a great middle though.
Bowen is miles better than Baylen! Bowen can be shortened to the cute Bo. Baylen has no such cute nickname.
I don’t know – I like Bay, just Bay. Not Baylen. But Bay always strikes me as a possible option, as wearable as River.
But Bowen is still infinitely more appealing, and Bo as a nn is great!
OK, this is when the surname-snatching starts to irk me. A friend of mine named her son Bowen after her maiden name. It is an unusual choice with a lot of meaning to her family. Now Drew Brees comes along, takes a perfectly nice, traditional surname and makes it seem trendy. Ugh. I know the lines are blurry, but I could never use a surname without some family connection to back it up.
That’s the worst, Caroline! Ouch.
Baylen makes me think of bailing hay and Bowen Beers sounds like a packing list for a deer hunting trip.
ick. baylen makes me think of baleen, like whales. and i’m staunchly opposed to alliterative names (even though I married a man with one! ha!)
I LOVE alliterative names.
Signed,
Joy Jennings 😉
I agree.. Bowen is much better than Baylen. A friend’s little girl has Bowen for a middle name, I still havent asked her where she got that name from, I always assumed it was a family last name.
It does make me think (David) Bowie. I guess it’s “Owen with a B” – which makes me think they would have been better just with ‘Owen’, but I guess they have a thing for ‘B’.
I do like Bowen better than Baylen too. I supposed Bow sounds more masculine than Bay.
At first I was put off by Bowen – but then I read his firstborn was Baylen. In comparison, Bowen is much more attractive.
Neither Baylen nor Bowen excite me at all. It’s like they took the popular Bailey and also took Bowie (which does have some acceptable vibes for me given the reference) and added the ends-in-n trend and got the two names. Meh.