I had both
Julia and
Julian on my list, and I used neither because I had relatives and friends use them right around the same time my kids were born.
Julian is, IMO, very "strong" sounding, but the lilting ending -lian makes it less butch and more complex seeming than
Julius. (I also think
Julia and
Julie sound like "strong" names; even
Juliet is, but I don't care for that name so much.) I can more easily picture a
Julian as an athlete or a judge, than I can picture him as a comedian, poet, or dancer. But it doesn't really evoke a specific image.
Personally I would not hesitate to name a son
Julian and I would not use a nickname. I would name a son
Adrian too, and that has even been used as a female name.
Julian hasn't, at least not often enough to be noticeable - it does sound like
Gillian, but that does not make it femmey. I would not be worried about teasing or insecurity. I think that teasing and insecurity are more related to personality than they are to names ... I think
Sean and
Hayden and
Joshua are very "soft" names, far less butch than
Julian, but whether people with those names are weak or teased depends on their personalities, not on their names.
If I had used
Julian, my son would have been J.
Bruce - but that's from my family. Other combos
Julian ConradJulian MarcusJulian Robert
- mirfakThis message was edited 8/4/2014, 9:34 AM