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I don't love Owen, but Oliver just sounds gross to me--like a combination of olive and liver, a disgusting color plus a disgusting food. Like a green piece of meat. Owen, while perhaps not the most stimulating name to me, is nice enough, respectable, and doesn't conjure the same kind of repulsive imagery that Oliver does. I wouldn't discourage Owen. :-)

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The only possible appeal of Oliver to me is the nickname Noll, which I love. But the little hitch of detesting Oliver is a big roadblock. :-P I'd use Noll as a nickname for Nicholas, though, if I felt so inclined.

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If you're up for considering other O names, ones that I like to some degree are Oscar / Oskar, Osku, Otto, and Odhran.

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I think Owen Nicholas sounds nice. I tend to prefer the longer style of Nicholas as a middle name when it's in a combo with a shorter, "not a nickname but feels a little nicknamey because of it's length and some other quality I can't put my finger on" type of name like Owen.

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Owen's a pretty versatile name; it has a neutral enough sound that it pairs well with a lot of names without overpowering them or being easily mismatched. Reminds me of William and Thomas in that respect--just seems to fit with everything. Other middle names that I like paired with Owen, some from your PNL, include:

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Owen William (I like the repetition of Ws)
Owen Wallace (Same appeal)
Owen Maddox
Owen Malcolm
Owen Everett
Owen Edward
Owen Christopher
Owen Benjamin (Nicholas, Christopher, and Benjamin all remind me of each other--longer classics with predictable nicknames)
Owen Lawrence (Sort of from your PNL by way of Lawson)
Owen Noel (Said like knoll, not no-EL)
Owen Hugh
Owen Richard (Hugh and Richard via Hudson)
Owen Pierce
Owen Miles
Owen Graham
Owen Gabriel

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This message was edited 9/18/2007, 11:31 AM