Do you have any 'rules' that you use/used to choose a name ?

something that would suit baby/child/teenager/adult

traditional spellings (nothing creative)

We also seem to veer towards 'classic' names and popular names which a lotof people avoid- not a problem for us

DS1 and 2 arenamed after great grandparents. DS3 has a family connection in his middle name - so a family link I guess-although we would not have chosen them had we not liked the name

Long name on birth certificates -ds1 and 3 are generally known by shortened versions. However, ds2's name has been mentioned below as a shortened versionm but I dont think it is

Obviouslydid the checking of silly acronyms and rhyming

Something that we both liked
You can easily change your name (and many do) so I don't think it is worth worrying too much about how posh it is, for example

Something that would work whatever career path she chose.
Something that didn't imply a certain personality.

Different initial from mine and husband's.
Something international enough to work and be pronounceable in both English and husband's language.
Nothing in top 100.
Easy to spell, instantly recognisable and not more than two syllables (long, complicated foreign surname that she will have to repeat slowly and spell ad infinitum).

nothing stupid, especially no mispelens!
def no naming after celebs
name mustn't hold the child back in life e.g. so classless and neither too adult or childish

DH also had this weird obsession that our child might have a speech impediment which was his reason for vetoing Aurora, in case she could only say 'Aworwa'

Nothing in top 50
5 letters
Welsh
All had to have different initials to each other (have 3 girls)

And yes I stuck to them.

This thread was made for me-weird pregnancy hormones meant I had to have names with five letters and three syllables. That was my only criteria but I was not for budging. I was very very firm on this which was OK for girls but when I came to have my son it is very tricky. Found three though and whittled it down to one, however once had given birth I bottled it so he now has it as his middle name.

Preferably Welsh. Liked by us both. Not in the family already.

Didn't leave many names!

Our rule was the name had to sound ok when my dad (a scouser) said it down the pub to his mates. Ie, not too poncy.

DP and I spent aaaaaaaages discussing DC names the other day (we do not have any, nor are planning on having any in the near future) but I think basically the rules were:

• has to work in French, English and Hebrew
• we both have to like it

So, despite discussing for an hour, we possibly came up with two names we both like, so the rules seem to work

Bumperlicious, what about Mungo Kevin Pasquale? I think that has a lovely ring to it!

No names ending in a "y" sound or an "s" sound as paired with our last name which ends in an "s" it becomes a tongue twister / sounds like a joke name.

Having major issues with names as DH and I can't agree. Neither do our rules agree, as his only rule seems to be no family names, which doesn't bother me (though I draw the line at my mother's name ) and my only rule is not too popular, which doesn't bother him.

So as you can see we are already at an impasse!

Obviously the rules for going with our surname, no acronyms and no rhyming are a given, I assumed they would be for everyone

I think also your children's names have to vaguely go together, or at least be of the same ilk, I mean, you can't really have a Mungo and a Kevin can you?

Thank you

I think Owen and Leon are OK -- I see your point, but I think they are distinct enough.

I think Leon and Owen go very nicely together

Fro DC 1 it was fair game and anything that we could agree on. (i wanted something more traditional but setteld for something a bit more chavvy i suppose, buts its nice and suits him so...)

DC2 then had to 'fit' with DC1, so, also something a bit chavvy! second letter a, forth letter e, couldnt end in an N, 2 syllables, something very girly!

We got it

For boys - must sound good with 'Sir' in front. For girls - pretty but not flimsy

Hhm dont have rules as such although obv we both (DH & I) have to like it, and that being nigh on impossible, to introduce another rule would further complicate things.

Although MumNW makea a good point as have 2 boys, am having a third baby (dont know sex) and think that my preferred boys name sounds too similar to DS2. No one has put names on here but I am going to be brave and ask your opinion (hope you dont mind picklemum)

Is Leon too much like Owen??

We want a name that works on a kid as well as an eighty year old. I imagine the child introducing themselves to people at various points in their life; eg school, uni, work and nursing home. If any of them sound odd, I'm not going with it.

For some reason I also think if a solicitor or some legal type introduced themselves to me or wrote to me would I take them seriously if they had that name. If I wouldn't then that name is out as well.

Should not be any name that reminded me of a student I have taught. Have nightmares about Joshs, Chantelles, Perrys, Aarons.

Also not one of the ubiquitous girls' names which can be shortened to Sam, Charlie, Ellie, Katy, Lizzie, Beth etc.

I broke two of my own rules and went for a modern combination of two very old names, and a female version of a male name.... Well, these were the only names dh and I could vaguely agree on. My other 'rules' were

No flowers, precious stones, seasons, countries, cities, virtues, random words, Welsh or celtic names, not in the top 10, top 50, top 100, no initials that would mean anything, and something the IL could pronounce... Oops, quite a long list. Oh and for dd2 it could not start with m because dh already quite confused about dd1 and myself starting with m. Dh also insisted on two middle names which personally I think is really awful but went along with to keep the peace...

Used a selection of the rules mentioned but also the 'shout' test.

Had to shout out "[baby's name], come in for your dinner" in a thick Dublin and/or Wicklow {insert accent of your choice here} accent. If it didn't sound bad it went on the list.

Disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with a thick Dublin or Wicklow accent but some names sound really awful with it.

Firstly that me and DH loved it

That we used a short name if we would only call them that

That is wasn't in the top 5-10 names

That it went well with our surname

That the meaning was OK (some names have weird meanings like 'stinking hair' etc)

That it wasn't too old granny etc and would involve risking teasing

For our daughters, we were keen not to have names that were too obviously feminine versions of male names.
Also: no names entirely divorced from our heritage - so no Italian names, for example, as we really cannot lay any claim to being even remotely Italian.
And the last - and most difficult one - nothing that would give us/the child away too easily. In other words, no glaringly obvious class markers, nothing that highlights those lurking parental aspirations/pretensions too blatantly. Although, of course, that's pretty much inescapable and I suspect we failed there...