Boy name variants: Which one looks/sounds better?

[AHP84]

I think my fiancé and I have finally reached an agreement for a boy name...maybe. It wasn't a name I would have chosen myself, but I do like the name, and after a few days of saying it aloud and writing it out, it's growing on me, and I think my fiancé is totally set on this name and there may be no turning back for him, lol.
Anyway, there happen to be two variants of this name, and I like them both, but I want to know which one sounds better from a public perspective. So tell me what you think!
The names are Dorian or Darien (with a long "a," not an "ah" sound). Personally, I think I prefer Darien, because I think the possible teasing that could come from Dorian might be a problem down the road, considering it's a literary name ("The Picture of Dorian Gray") and it seems it also gets a lot of "Dora the Explorer" connotations. However, we still like the name and are considering it, but I like the variant Darien just as much (probably a little more, but I think my fiancé is more fond of the other). We have the middle name picked out, which is Rhys.
We already have a girl name chosen, so at least that's no longer an issue. It's just been the boy name we've had a harder time with choosing, or even agreeing on anything--and we will probably end up having a girl anyway! We find out on September 14, if Baby cooperates. ☺
So, which name varient do you think sounds better?

[Lance06]

I chose Darien...only because when I say Dorian I cant help but think about someone daying like "Dor Dor Dor" like a repetitive thing...not sure why..just me.

However, I am a big fan of the character Dorian on the show Scrubs..so.....I dont see anything wrong with the actual name..

[Torra325]

I like Darien, but I am a little partial.  My husband's name is Darian.  :)

[JoyRenee]

Men can be big boogers sometimes! LOL! Keep throwing suggestions at him and perhaps he'll find one he likes better. If he won't budge, put your foot down and tell him that it's important you both agree on the name because this is what you'll be calling your baby for LIFE.

[AHP84]

Thanks, Joy.
Ugh, he's just being so difficult about choosing a boy name! It's driving me nuts! For some reason, it's important for me to have two definite names chosen for both a boy and a girl by the time we get the u/s on Sep 14, because I want our child to have a name.
I know realistically, it's totally normal to have a name chosen later in the pregnancy in many cases, but I guess I'm just impatient, lol. I have my baby inside me that I feel moving around each day, and I want to be able to call it by a name as soon as possible. It feels weird to me knowing I have another child in my life that doesn't have a name yet (if it's a boy).
At least if she's a girl, I have nothing to worry about. ☺

[JoyRenee]

Awww, you've still got plenty of time and maybe DF will fall in love with a different name. Just keep a list of a few ideas going and choose one once you know the gender.

[AHP84]

Lol, "mobsterish"...that's the first time I've heard it put that way!
I don't think Dorian sounds feminine at all, but it I do have a hard time not shortening it to "Dory," which of course, is the name of the fish in Nemo...who is a girl.
When I brought this up to Brandon (df), his response was, "We're not gonna call him 'Dory!' He'd just be 'D' for short."

Ugh...I don't think it's going to matter anyway. I made the mistake of finding this name analyzer thingy on babyzone.com and showing it to Brandon. Now, every time we come up with a name, we *must* put it into that stupid analyzer, lol. He much more preferred the analysis for Dorian Rhys (with our last name) than the one for Darien, which he said is way too sissy (translate that to "guy terms"...he didn't say it was "sissy," lol). So Darien is most likely a total no-go for him partly because of a dumb name analyzer. Sheesh!
If this kid is a boy, he may just be born without a name at the rate we're going!

[blueeyedtabbycat]

I choose Dorian. I dont think it reminds me of Dora and I dont think its femine. I do think it sounds kinda mobsterish, lol! I have seen the name before on mob movies, although I cant remember the name right now. I know Im the weirdo:)

[chantal21]

I like Darien.

[JoyRenee]

Darien!

Dorian reminds me of the words "dork" and "Doree" (sp?) from Finding Nemo.

[Linzola1]

I like Darian better but at the same time I was thinking after I voted that names these days are getting more different as the days go on and Dorian is cute and different! So I cant say I like one more than another.. My son is Julian and when I names him that it really seemed like there were none out there but it is becomming more frequent as well as people saying oh what a cute little girls name! So honestly both are quite cute!

[AHP84]

Thank you! I think so, too. :-)

[Quinns momma]

Dorian seems too feminie a spelling for my likes. So I voted for Darien.   Cool name by the way. ;)

[AHP84]

I am so glad you said that, because it's little things like that that I keep trying to point out to my fiancé. He doesn't seem to think it's that big of a deal, but I think after awhile, it'll get old not only for us as the parents, but for the poor kid!
I like the name a lot, otherwise I wouldn't consider it, but it is very important to me how the public will think of and react to the name.

[tarrah87]

i say darien as well bc dorian does remind me of dora the explorer when i first glimpse at the name.

[tarajanes]

I say Darien Rhys