Which do you prefer, and what else do you suggest?

[takethatlady]

14 weeks pregnant with DC2. DD1 is Isobel Edith. We are totally stuck for this DC - we have a list for DDs and DSs - but none of them are jumping out at us yet. What do you think? What are you favourites, and can you think of any others along similar lines?

Possible girl names:

Georgia (DH is a secondary school teacher and says he teaches too many (the Isobels obviously haven't hit yet!)
Gabrielle (nn Gaby; I love it, but DH doesn't)
Daisy (we both like this but are worried it's too cutesy)
Alice (DH's front runner. I like it but just not quite enough)
Charlotte (nn Lottie - but there's a family pet called Lottie so it's out)
Alyssa (DH hates it)
Tess (DH loves it; I like it, but not sure if it's a full name in its own right and don't like Teresa)
Lydia (DH not keen)

Possible boy names:

Arthur (my all-time fave; DH thinks it doesn't reduce easily to a one-syllable nickname and apparently this is important)
Alfred (nn Fred; we both think this is okay, but only okay)
Leo (meh?)
Oscar (next-door-neighbour's child is called this)
Thomas (too boring?)
Edward (Ted - both quite keen but SIL's ex is called Edward and she might be pissed off. Though he wasn't called Ted for short.)

Clearly we are overthinking! I think we might just keep a list and decide when the baby is born. Plus there's a long time to go. But I'm bored working from home today and interested what you think!

[takethatlady]

PS - I am very surprised I am so boring in my name choices. I have an unusual name and always thought I'd go for unusual names. But there it is! Turns out this is what I like ;)

[Umlauf]

Tess and Ted! Love love love Ted! And although a nn, its totally different to Edward, and all names have associations.

Tess could be Tessa or Theresa or just Tess on bc. I know a Theresa who alternates between Tess and Tessa, has never ever ever been called Theresa though.

[takethatlady]

Thanks! I just don't really like Tessa or Theresa - do you think Tess is just an abbreviation or can stand alone as its own name?

[G1nAndT0nic]

Well, not sure if I've channelled your style because I don't like your girls list (with the exception of Lydia)

Maeve, Maggie, Susie, Claudia, Juliet, Rachel or Kirsten would all go with Isobel.

Teresa is a nun's name, Tess as well. Tess is just a younger less mean nun
Daisy is nmsaa although I like Margaret with nn Daisy.
Actually Maggie would go well with Isobel
Georgia is Ok. DOn't like or dislike
Gabriella is nice but a mouthful and Gabby is awful sorry
Alice is ok.
Alyssa, nmsaa


From your boys names I like Leo and Edward. I suggest Patrick and Diarmuid. I much prefer Frederick to Alfred. Alfred sounds like the man in the corner shop. Frederick could be a Prince. No offence to any Alfreds out there, or anybody who runs a corner shop.

[Littlecherublegs]

Love Georgia, it was on our shortlist.
Daisy is nice but as you say, very cutesy.
Not keen on the others.

Leo and Oscar are my favs from your boys list.

Other suggestions include:
Isla, Hannah, Freya, Chloe, Scarlett, Robyn, Sofia, Anya

George, Joel, Albert, Theo, Max, Harry, Issac, Samuel

[CloudyAndSad]

I love Tess, and yes this can stand alone, and like thomas or Edward most out of boys names

[takethatlady]

He he ginandtonic you have made me laugh. I realise my list reveals that I have a certain quite specific taste in names (I didn't even realise it was my taste until I read the list and saw it!).

Not keen on many of the names you suggest except Patrick, but that's DH's name so that's out (NO WAY to the 'Patrick Junior' type thing. Yuck!) I do love George but I have a cousin George and my friend's baby is George and they're both too close for us to go for it. And I quite like Albert but not Al, Alby or Bert/Bertie, and he'd have to become one of them. Thanks for the suggestions, though. What do you like about Lydia? (Trying to persuade DH on this one but it's not working.)

Loving the corner shop/prince analogy, but I just can't stand Frederick (sorry to all the very lovely Fredericks out there, btw). Alfred the Great must have been a prince before he was a king, so I'm cool with that ;)

DH agrees with you entirely about Gaby/Gabby/Gabriella, btw, and I do see that, so it's probably getting struck off the list soon. I'm not in love with it anyway, I just kind of like it.

I love DD's name so much that I just don't think we're going to find something we're as happy with. We knew as soon as we knew she was a girl that she'd be Isobel Edith.

[takethatlady]

Sorry - have totally muddled up my responses to ginandtonic and cherublegs ...

[G1nAndT0nic]

I agree, Patrick is a lovely name, but one in the family is enough. Patrick Junior or anything Junior is just stupid nmsaa And worse, the child might end up eing called Junior. Just 'Junior'.

[takethatlady]

He he. I just couldn't deal with that. I think DH would be freaked, too ;)

[G1nAndT0nic]

What I like about Lydia. Ok, this one's easy because it was what my son would have been called. I felt it was pretty without being too weak. Names like Lily and Leah are very pretty and I like them but I just like that Lydia is pretty and strong.

Also, at the time, Lydia's popularity had risen steadily but slowly over the last ten years, so I didn't think it was going to be the next Ruby (not that there's anything wrong with that, I just wanted something that wasn't in the top five).

It's a name that hasn't come from nowhere, there have always been a good few around. I like that there are adults called Lydia too. Not just children. Some names like say Freya, or Ruby or Ava, they are very much children's names, but with names like Isobel and Lydia, they could equally be adults and I think that for that reason the names will not suffer from dating. All names 'date' due to cyclical fashions but some names will weather it better and imo Lydia and Isobel are two names that will not sound like Queenie and Minnie, ie, so, so linked to a certain time period or two time periods 95 years apart

It depends what you're after obviously but that is why my son was going to be Lydia

[Startail]

I love Alice, Laura, Lucy, Sarah, Emily, Catherine, Esme, Megan, Hannah
I don't see Isobel's sister as too cutesy and flowery.

Tomas, James, Edward, Matthew not sure about Arthur it and Eric are still old men to me. Even though I know of a 11yo Eric.

I love Noah and Samuel, but like Isobel there are quite a few.

Your DH probably teachers a lot of Williams.

I know my 15yo once had, Will, Bill and Billy in her class.

[amck5700]

Jess instead of Tess? Short for Jessica or Jessamy.

[takethatlady]

Thanks ginandtonic. That's more or less why I like it too. I obviously don't mind too much about popularity or I wouldn't have chosen Isobel, but prefer classic names with enduring appeal, I suppose. That's why DH really likes Alice, too, though it's just never been a name I love. I think that's what we're aiming for - a pretty, elegant but has-stood-the-test-of-time sort of name.

Jessica is a pretty enough name but my step-sister is Jessica. Damn families! I have loads of aunties and uncles and step-aunties and step-uncles, 35 cousins and step-cousins, three SILs, a brother, a sister, two step-sisters and a step-brother. How there are any names left is beyond me!

[takethatlady]

Ha ha - pretty and elegant if it's a girl, obviously.

I'm convinced this DC is a DD (loads of morning sickness, totally wriggliness at the 12-week scan like my other DD, and even looks like her. Obviously none of this actually means anything, but somehow I now just feel certain this baby is a girl. Totally happy if it's a boy too :) )

[amck5700]

Eleanor?

[amck5700]

David
Peter
Elliot

[Joinourclub]

Arthur shortens to Art, which I think s really cute. What about Alicia?

[takethatlady]

I really like Eleanor/Elinor but not keen on Ellie, and it's kind of inevitable that that would be a nn. Would consider it for a middle name though because I think it's very pretty.

I'm trying to persuade DH on the Art thing, or on the fact that you really don't need a one-syllable nickname and Arthur is perfectly pronounceable by itself! He's half convinced ...

[ENormaSnob]

I love Alice from your girls list.

Not keen on any of the boys tbh but how about Theodore nn ted?

[DharmaBumpkin]

Eleanor can be Nell or Nora... Doesn't need to be Ellie.

[amck5700]

I know an Eleanor who is about 10 ish and it is never shortened - it doesn't need to be.

[takethatlady]

Ooh I never thought of Nell. That's pretty.

[takethatlady]

I guess I just think you can't really control your kids' nicknames, can you? We don't shorten Isobel but she might go to school and become Izzy/Belle or even Ibby - which is totally fine - we wouldn't have chosen the name if for some reason we hated one of those. Ellie is such a common shortening for Eleanor you couldn't guarantee you'd avoid it.

It's not that Ellie isn't pretty - I know there are lots out there - just that there was once yet another family pet with that name so it's kind of tainted it for me ...

[amck5700]

You can kind of encourage a particular nn up to a point - i.e. if you call her Nora or Ella in the house when she is little that will generally continue until she decides when she is older if she likes it or not.