First baby, name decisions

[Joeybee]

It's taken me ages, but finally I think I have picked out my shortlist for both girl and boy names.
These are names that I like the look/sound of, and they fit well with my surname, also my Husband likes these names too.
(We absolutely have a different taste in names, so it's taken a lot of discussion to find some we agree on).

Buuut I'm having difficulty deciding on first name/middle name combos from my list. My surname is double barrelled, both names beginning in R.
If anyone could help me out, it'd be so appreciated.

Girls:
Meredith
Bethany
Olive
Alice
Blythe
Ivy

Boys:
Raphael
Bryan
Noah
Zachary
Frederick
James

Thank you!

[BikeRunSki]

I have an irrational dislike of Raphael, and I'd probably dismiss it with a double barrelled R-R surname.

[fabulousfun]

Love Meredith and Bethany

And I have a Zachary so obviously like that one too.


Other names I likes (as we have similar tastes)

Phoebe
Josephine
Dorothy (Dotty)

Noah
Angus
Maxwell

[Joeybee]

BikeRunSki I LOVE love love Raphael...but yeah, I'm concerned there is too much alliteration for it to work....I just can't bring myself to let it go yet.

fabulousfun Meredith and Bethany are my favourites I think. Zachary is a great name, and one for some reason that I'd completely overlooked till recently.
Phoebe is a name I keep coming back to, and Angus was on my list too (Husband hates it though )
We do have similar tastes I think, thanks for your help.

[CocoLoco87]

Zachary James & Alice Ivy

[Manumission]

Blythe is a beautiful name.

[MarilynWhirlwindRocks]

Bethany Alice and Zachary James have a nice flow.

Raphael is one of my very favourite boys' names. Gorgeous. But, yes, I agree the alliteration might be a bit OTT.

BTW, not sure how you feel about NNs, but both girls (under 4s) I know always use the full name. Interesting, because everyone assumes Bethany automatically becomes Beth or Bethy (Bethie?). I think Beth pretty, but Bethany even more so

[Joeybee]

MarilynWhirlwindRocks Thanks for your reply.
I like longer baby names, that have potential for various nn's.
I'm not overly keen on Beth though, so that is a concern for Bethany. So if people ten not to shorten it, then that is a bonus for me!

Got two people saying 'Zachary James' now

[Joeybee]

Manumission Yeah, I think so too, and I don't hear it very often. My only concern is the lack of obvious nn's for Blythe. I'd probs go for 'Bea' which I think is lovely.

[chipsnmayo]

I love Blythe, gorgeous name - not uncommon, not super popular either. I also quite like Olive.

Bethany seems quite dated to me, my dd is 18 and I know heaps of Bethanys around her age.

I'm not wild on any of your boys names but I don't mind Zachary, thats my favourite out of your list. Bryan also seems dated, and he could have issues with spelling if you spell it with a 'y'.

[rachelrcrossley]

I like Bethany Alice or Bethany Ivy, and really like Frederick James x

[passingthrough1]

I adore Raphael also but yeah R R R too much. I don't think Bryan fits and is quite dated and isn't that nice of a name. Any of the other three boys names with James as middle I think.

I actually really like Meredith as a girls name.

[Jooni]

Love Olive! I like Ivy and Meredith too.

Zachary and Frederick are my favourites from your boys. I like Noah and James too but they feel a bit boring as there are just so many around at the moment. Raphael with a double-barrelled R-R surname I think would be too much.

[Sophronia]

I like Blythe best from your girls list, and James, Raphael or Zachary from the boys

[Sugarpiehoneyeye]

Meredith Ivy and James Noah.

[BlytheOfWindyWillows]

Obviously I like Blythe

[minipie]

Meredith - like
Bethany - love
Olive - hate
Alice - it's ok
Blythe - love - and it doesn't need a nn as it's just one syllable already!
Ivy - it's ok

Raphael - love, but not with R-R surname sorry
Bryan - no!
Noah - it's ok
Zachary - like
Frederick - like
James - like

Meredith Blythe R-R
Blythe Meredith R-R
Bethany Alice R-R

Frederick James R-R
Zachary James R-R
James Raphael R-R
Frederick Raphael R-R
Zachary Noah R-R

[Willialwaysbelookeddownon]

I really like Olive and Ivy. Alice is cute.

Defo Noah or Raphael for boys.

The rest IMO are pretty minging.

[fabulousfun]

Oh and my Zachary is Zachary James too

[WankersHacksandThieves]

Okay, I've sorted your shortlist and ranked them as well. :)

Girls:
Meredith - 2
Blythe - 1

Boys:

Bryan - 2
Frederick - 2
James - 1

[17caterpillars1mouse]

Love Meredith, Olive and Ivy

Meredith Ivy would be beautiful. I've always though Olive Lydia was a nice combo. Ivy Emmeline?

From your boys I like Raphael, Noah (though it's too popular for me), Frederick ( but not Freddie) aand James. James is also a good allrounder middle name. I quite like Frederick Zachary actually

Have you considered Noa for a girl?

[Aquamarine1029]

Zachary James is perfect.

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

Rafferty nn Raff/ Raffy? I know an adorable little boy with this name

I love Meredith the most from the girls list.

[Buntysoven]

Meredith Ivy and Zachary Noah

[Redpramlady]

Frederick James
Zachary James

Alice ivy
Bethany Alice


My fav combos

[Stuffedshirt]

Meredith and James get my vote.