A classic name with a modern feel. Refined, poised, and impossible to dislike. It sounds like the name of a fairy-tale prince (though I do love it for girls, too.)
― Anonymous User 10/5/2023
2
Austen Lane is a former American football defensive end and current mixed martial artist. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Murray State. He has also been a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears.
Austen Harrison (1891–1976) was a British-born architect. While British, Harrison spent most of his career overseas, and mainly in the Middle East. His works include the British Representative's Residence, Amman, the High Commissioner's Residence, Jerusalem, the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem, 1935, and Nuffield College, Oxford.
Alister Austen Deans, OBE, known as Austen Deans (1915 – 2011) was a New Zealand painter. He was known for his landscapes and for his work as a war artist in the Second World War.
Austen is not a modern invention- quite the opposite. Austen has been used as a first name for boys for hundreds of years! I had a German relative in the early 1800's whose name was Augusten, and he went exclusively by Austen. My husband and I will be naming our first born son Austen. We prefer the spelling and pronunciation over Austin.
― Anonymous User 5/15/2014
5
This spelling makes me think of the well-known Austen Riggs psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where I once did some temp work. Other than that regional association, I don't like this spelling of an already overly popular name.
This is an ugly name. The E makes me want to pronounce it differently. And it sounds bad enough on a boy, but imagine this on a girl: it's because of so many women's Jane Austen obsessions that would make them want to use it on a girl. After all, Bronte has been used on girls. What's next - Alcott? Dickinson?
In my opinion, this rarer spelling looks nicer than "Austin", but is still a painfully modern-sounding name reminiscent of little boys born sometime after 2000.