I've always loved Shepherd, but it's in a constant limbo between usable and GP for me. I think it's a much nicer occupational name than
Hunter or
Tanner (very sweet, as you said, but there's also a quiet strength that I admire) but it'll probably never receive the kind of love that those names do. I dunno. If I ever did talk myself into using it, it'd probably be as an "interesting middle name" only. I'd love to meet a Shepherd of any age, though; maybe he could sway me into seriously considering it as a first name.