Hubby really loves the name Algernon for a boy. (Al-jer-non...stress is on the first syllable)
I see nothing wrong with it and it works well with us because it is a literary reference - from 'The Importance of Being Earnest" and a poet we both like called Algernon Swinburne. I am ambivalent about the name...I like it but don't mind if we come up with something else. However hubby is totally enamored with Algernon and it just so happens that we cannot agree on any other boys name.
The girls name we have chosen is a big literary reference as well and never actually existed as a name before the particular author used it. Same with Algernon...it was never a name before being used in literature.
My mum HATES Algernon because nicknames for Algernon include 'Al', 'Ally' and 'Algie'...she says we cannot call the baby Algernon if it is a boy because when my sister was 3 years old she had one of those tank cleaning fish and called it 'Algie'.
However
My mum said I should call my kid Zebedee (sp? a biblical name) if it is a boy. I mentioned that Zebedee was the name of the grumpy, snarly, snappy terrier dog she had before her current one. Yeah mum, that makes sense.

