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I respect both and enjoy the “wolf” association of Rudolph, but I choose Harold. While Harold itself doesn’t give me a specific color impression, I do associate the name with the “Harold and the Purple Crayon” books which = warm fuzzies. Rudolph feels red to me which reinforces the reindeer association which also = warm fuzzies, but specifically tied to Christmas. So it’s essentially a year-round warm purple fuzzies > December warm red fuzzies situation. How’s that for random selectage?

I don't care for either except as character names but if I had to choose I'd go with Harold and I'd only call him Harry.

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I have always disliked that the name Harold contains the word old in it, I think it will never stop being an old man name partially because of that. Harry I like because of Prince Harry, Harry Potter, and Harry Dresden but I dislike that it sounds like the word hairy but it's not the worst thing to associate a name with.

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I kind of like Rudolph it's somewhere between dorky and jazz musician but Rudolph is also a bit too reindeer for my tastes and I don't like the nn's Rudy, Rolf, or Dolf... I mean Rudy isn't so bad but I always think of the character Rudy from Bob's Burgers or Rudy Giuliani. Rolf was the Nazi youth character in The Sound of Music and Dolf reminds me of the name Adolf... so very bad associations.

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This message was edited 10/16/2019, 6:32 PM

I would go with Harold. My former father-in-law was a Harold who went by Hal. I also worked with a Harold who was totally sweet.

Rudolf, but probably only with an 'f' rather than 'ph' - realistically, I know the reindeer associations are much too strong for it to be fair on any actual kid, but for me the main association is actually Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. I don't mind Rudy as a nickname, either. Harold I find to be way too fusty, and I know so many kids called Harry that I just can't stand the name now.

As much as I like Rudolph, I just don’t see it as usable because of the red-nosed reindeer association. Plus I’m not a fan of Rudy as a nickname.

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I quite like Harold, it’s got a strong meaning and an interesting historical usage. I would also love to use the nickname Rollo!

I like the sound of Rudolph, but since it's rarer, negative associations are stronger; the famous red-nosed reindeer would be enough to make me hesitate, and the fact that Guiliani's been in the news so often acting kind of crazy doesn't help it.

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I'm sure there are public figures named Harold that I don't like, but the name's more forgettable, so I don't associate that personal dislike with it. Harold's really grown on me lately; it sounds distinguished, plain, bold, stuffy, and wordy if I think of 'herald'. It's in the same group as Edwin, Walter, Gerald, Howard, Bernard, and those are like cozy cardigan names.

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Hmm, but I really like Rue, so I guess it's a toss up.

Harold. I think it's darling. Rudolph is alright, but he'd never escape the reindeer jokes.

Oh geez, this is bad.
I suppose I’ll go with Rudolph, and call him Ru.
Any variant of Harold is just awful, including Harry.

I'd pick Rudolf (spelled with an F) because Rudy sounds pretty cool and cute IMO. And Harry is blahhhh. Harry Potter is that you?? Prince Harry ... and it sounds exactly the same as "hairy" where I live, so def not any worse than Rudy sounding "rude." I do not care at all about "reindeer associations." I like the name Harold fine, just not enthused about Harry.

This message was edited 10/14/2019, 2:36 PM

They are both pretty dorky. I guess I'd choose Harold; at least Harry doesn't sound like a dimwitted mobster the way Rudy does. And no reindeer jokes.

Surely anyone would rather be Harry than Rude? And that's before you start rehearsing rreindeer jokes.

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By a happy coincidence, I much prefer Harold to flabby Henry.

Harold 100%

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I love the nickname Harry and Harold itself has that sort of nerdy old man feel that I love.

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Rudolph, well, I can't get past the red nosed reindeer association.

Harold - he can go by Harry, and there's no reindeer association.