View Message

Westley or Inigo?
Which do you prefer? Even if you hate both, which would you use if you had to, and what middle name would you pair with it? This is mostly for fun, but both names are on my list :) Thank you!
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

Westley is more usable, I've met at least one and it sounds like two other names that are well-known if not common. Inigo is cool though. If I had to use them:
Westley Gabriel
Westley Gaheris
Westley Alastor
Westley Icarus
Inigo Peregrinus
Inigo Hawthorn
Inigo Alaric
Inigo OberonETA: this made me think of "Westley/Wesley Indigo" and I'm kind of liking that combo now.Also, I think Westley feels like a younger, peppier version of Weston. Wesley has the same young feel, and West is kind of in between.

This message was edited 4/21/2020, 6:47 PM

vote up1
Neither really appeal to me, but if I had to I’d choose Westley. I’d pair it with something that probably ends in -n or has stronger/consonant sounds or something that is surnamey. I’d also cheat and call I’m by his middle name.Westley Brannon
Westley Merrick
Westley Aaron
Westley Archer
Westley Oliver (random)
vote up1
Lol, one of my favorite moviesI'd go with Westley =) Westley Hugo maybe.
vote up1
They are both not my taste, but I would choose Westley.
vote up1
Definitely InigoWestley's far too trendy for me.Inigo Balthazar first springs to mind.
vote up1
Westley. Inigo is fun, but I would feel like a dork, calling for him, in the supermarket.I would go with...Westley Barrett. Why not?
vote up1
I totally get the feeling of dorkiness. Westley Barrett is preppy, I like it.
vote up1
dont like either, prefer Wesley
vote up1
You could still choose one, and a middle name to go with it. It’s hypothetical after all. I think people would like to hear a bit more on your thoughts, by the way. I know I’d like to :)
vote up1
Probably Westley then. Both names are a bit too out there for me
MN Aaron, Adam, Andre, Andrew, Alexander, Benjamin, Jonathan, Jared, Jared, Joel, Joshua, Marcus, Lucas, Matthew, Michael, Mitchell, Nathaniel, Nicholas, Oliver, Paul, Peter, Reuben, Stephen, Thomas, Xavier
vote up1
I think I’d go Inigo, because I like the sound, even though I really want to say Indigo. Combo would be Inigo Fox.
vote up1
Inigo Fox is great!
vote up1
It would be no choice, I'd use Westley. I really like Wesley, and don't like Westley quite as much, but still like it. Inigo is kind of cool, but OTT for me personally.Assuming Westley is a Virgin Birth who doesn't have a father whose first name I'd like to use as a middle name, Westley Evander.
vote up1
Is Evander a strong favourite of yours? I feel like I see you mention it a fair amount! As you mention it, I think my SO’s name would go fairly well with both Westley and Inigo, possibly better with Inigo.
vote up1
Yeah. There aren't many names I love or really really like. I'm not a name-nerd to the extent that most others here are. To me, the vast majority of names are names that are just there, I don't love them and don't hate them. I have only 180 names on my PNL, some of them I like but don't love, and I haven't added anything to it since I made it at least four or five years ago. So there's really only a very few names I'd actually use, and right now, the only two for boys I'd really use are Evander and Quentin. It does get repetitious lol.
vote up1
Westley, by miles. Wesley, the more practical of the two spellings, is one of my favorite names for a boy; however the spelling Westley was the one used in The Princess Bride, which is one of the reasons I love the name so much.I used to like Indigo for a girl, but not much anymore.EDIT: I just realized the title said Inigo, not Indigo. My bad! You had The Princess Bride on the brain anyway!Can't say I'm hugely fond of Inigo as a name, though I love the character.

This message was edited 4/21/2020, 7:11 AM

vote up1
Do you consider them different spellings because you don't say the t in Westley? Because I definitely say the t, it's not strong but Westley definitely has the word "west" in it when I say it, so that you wouldn't mistake it for a spelling of Wesley.
vote up1
Ha, yes, I had The Princess Bride in mind! It’s one of my favourite films, and books.
vote up1
Inigo, without hesitation. Sound architectural antecedents, an attractive alternative to the ghastly Ignatius; the only possible drawback might be people expecting a spectrum name and inserting a redundant -d-.Westley, on the other hand, isn't Wesley. Which is heavy Methodist and therefore not my scene. Puts it in the same category as Calvin and Luther, a kind of tattoo on the forehead. I've been told that Americans pronounce Wesley with a ss sound, like the s in West, in fact; in British English it's a zz sound. And the added -t- would then modify the pronunciation in a British direction, which is mildly amusing; it was originally West Meadow but when the -t- dropped out, the -s- sound became a -z-. In modern English, Westley sounds and looks wrong to me, like a proofreading error or the best effort of a spellchecker. So, then: a mn for little Inigo! Inigo Aled? Inigo Emrys? Inigo Ieuan? What about Inigo Yorick, or Inigo Constantine? Inigo Lawrence?
vote up1
Your responses are always so thought out and articulated! And you’ve highlighted the main stumbling blocks for both names, which are probably why I wouldn’t use either, in actuality. Inigo Emrys is fantastic, though!
vote up1
I'm American, and I don't pronounce Wesley with an SS sound like the S in "west". I pronounce it with a Z sound, as in British English. But most likely there are Americans who pronounce it with an SS sound. American pronunciation can vary so widely. Some Midwesterners actually pronounce Ann and Ian the same, which is weird to me. Some pronounce Aaron and Erin identically, but I sure don't. My best friend in high school pronounced Harry to sound exactly like "hairy", but I don't.

This message was edited 4/21/2020, 7:15 AM

vote up1
How do you say Aaron, Erin, and Harry? (I'm west/midwest American and I say Aaron and Erin both like air-en and Harry like hairy. Maybe I'd say Erin a little shorter than Aaron but not much difference.)I don't say Ann like Ian but the "A" in Ann is definitely a diphthong regardless of the accent. I'm imagining it's really obviously two syllables in southern American too, like AY-unn.
vote up1
I say Erin Air-en as you do, but the A sound in Aaron and in Harry is far flatter, like the A sound in "cat". Therefore in my accent Harry is not identical to "hairy".Southerners do say AY-unn, but that's not identical to Ian, which Southerners would say with an initial EEE sound rather than the "AY" at the beginning of Ann. To be honest, I've never actually heard anyone say Ann so that's it identical to Ian or vice versa. I read that it occurs in "Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States" by Bill Bryson. I am certain he said it occurs in the Midwest, and maybe he specified Michigan? That book was so interesting, I should get another copy and read it again.
vote up1
Midwesterner here: I pronounce Harry like hairy (which is why I've never seen the appeal of the name) - probably because I pronounce merry, marry, and Mary all the same as well - and Aaron and Erin sound alike to me. However, this is the first I've ever heard of Ann and Ian being pronounced the same! Ian is EE-ən, definitely two syllables.
vote up1
Wesley pronunciationI have actually heard both the S and Z pronunciations in the United States, sometimes from the same people actually. Though for Wesleys in the U.S., the nickname Wes (soft-S) is common.
vote up1
That's a surprise! Or maybe a surprize? In British English, which we basically speak in South Africa if we're mother-tongue speakers, Leslie and Lesley both have a z sound, and so does Les, which was mostly a male nn I think. So, if Americans use Les as a nn for Leslie, does that sound like Less or Lez? Does Leslie sound like Lesslie or Lezlie? And is it possible to use, say, Wezley with nn Wess? Lezlie with nn Less? I'm fascinated! Of course, the USA is much too big to generalise about ...
vote up1
I'm American and I say Wess-ley and Less-lie but I've heard Wez-ley and Lez-lie.
vote up1
I can't speak for every American, as has been discussed, but I definitely say Leslie with a Z sound, Lezlie. And although I pronounce Wesley as Wezley, I pronounce the nickname for it, Wes, with an S sound, and Leslie is Lezlie, but the nickname is Les with an S sound.
vote up1
Yikes!
vote up1
Someone has been watching The Princess Bride, I see. ;)I dislike both names, but would choose Westley if forced to choose under pain of death. No thanks to the character by the way, I thought he was so full of himself. It's just a bit more of a "discrete" name than Iñigo: less loud, more sophisticated.As for a middle name: I think Ambrose would fit nicely with Westley.
vote up1
Westley Ambrose is great :)
vote up1