"American" names in London - will they go over well?

Agree with others who've said if you want to avoid American names then avoid surnames (boys and girls) and avoid using boys names for girls. You could probably get away with names that are traditionally unisex. Elena is lovely, though does suggest some kind of Spanish, Russian, other European heritage.

Is shelby trailer trash right up to... what was it you siad Math!? i'll take your word for it! i read a book called 'on the road' by paullina simons and there was a character in it named after a Mustang. I thought the name was quite feminine for an American girls name. A lot of girls names in america seem quite hard, kennedy, mackenzie, sydney, harper... all so hard on the ear.

I like elena. I have known a couple of elena's, one with Australian Greek heritage and one Russian.

For boys, I'd avoid maxwell as it reminds me of maxwell house coffee (and maxwell smart - we must be due a revival by now!). Generally fir boys you're safe to go with a Thomas the tank engine character. Within reason, perhaps not bulgy, rocky or bulstrode.

With weston, and an overseas accent, prepare to be asked how to spell it (the answer is "Weston, as in Weston super mare, not the hotel chain. :). )

Elena and Maxwell are lovely, and are the only names on your second list that I would consider non American/trendy. However, I really dislike the surname-as-firstname trend, so I'm probably not the best person to ask . Beatrice and Asher from your first list are lovely too.

Luca is a boys name usually spelt Lucas but often given by French/Spanish parents. My friends son was one of two in his class. Sydney's also a reasonably popular boys name.
I don't know any Elena but I know a lot of Eleanors and Ellens and similar.
Jack and Max are very common, I know one US Jackson here.

Elena - really nice, no negative connotations here at all.
Sydney - awful - will sound "trashy" (awful word, but ykwim)
Mackenzie for a girl here is just like Britney or similar
Luca - boys' name, okay if you have cultural connections - a bit 'try-hard' if you don't, not great for a girl even though it sounds quite girly
Quinn - there have been some threads about this sounding like 'quim': here , and here

Meyer - can be pronounced 'may-er' which sounds like 'mare' or 'my-er'. "'mare" is short for nightmare and frequently used to describe someone/something as "a bit of a 'mare"
Jackson - okay, but Jack is very popular here
Maxwell - good! - by far the best from your list. Max as a nickname is good too
Mason - just no! - sorry.
Sawyer - I don't like it. Not overly common here, but not sure what you'd use if you wanted a nickname

Avoid Mackenzie in all its incarnations.

Sydney is gorgeous for a girl, as is Elena. Luca is a boy's name.

Meyer and Sawyer are too American and surnamey. Jackson is pretty American too and there are millions of Jacks, which Jackson would be shortened to.
Mason is Kardashianesque.
Quinn makes me think of John Edwards' youngest daughter and it is also more of a boy's name in the UK. As a name it has a ring of Oirishness to it.

Maxwell is nice but I would use just plain Max.

Sydney and Luca are primarily boys in UK. Luca especially. Quinn too IMO.

Elena is nice and unusual, I know only one.

Your second boys list is a list of surnames to me, esp Sawyer and Meyer, the only one I would classify as a first name is Max(well) but that's very popular (eg 2 in DS2's 10-strong footie team!)

I like Mathamxiety's list

Harrison and Finn are very popular here so I would avoid those unless you dont mind him being one of several in the same school or even class.

If you want classy and not overly popular then your best bet would be Beatrice for a girl and Asher for a boy.

I would avoid Winifred, Harrison and Finn. Winifred only because of the witch (I think it's a lovely name otherwise) and Harrison and Finn because they are getting to the point of being hackneyed now.

Hadley is nice enough for a girl, but Beatrice is much nicer, imo, with Beatrix lovely too, and Asher is fab for a boy -- great biblical name.

Shelby is trailer trash to the point of strip club. Ashton is Kutcher.

Frances
Harriet
Juliet
Rosamund
Edith
Matilda
Agatha
are all fairly Englishy names for girls.

For boys:
Amos
Conrad
Fergus
Digby
Frederick
Hugo
Jasper

Hadley doesn't sound like a classy american choice either. sounds like a new madison or a new taylor

Well in my experience in schools the kids who seemed the most "trashy" (hate that word but struggle to find a better one, I don't mean lowest class, I don't mean poorest, I probably mean TOWIE, but I've not really watched that but do come from Essex). Anyway those kids are the most likely to have Unique names.
Most kids have: MC names, or ones from their/their parents culture. So lots of Irish, Welsh or Indian names.
Out of your choices, Harrison is the most likely to have others in his class especially if shortened to Harry, (maybe Beatrice too).
The upper classes tend to use the same names regardless (so King and Queen names, or very unique family names). MC names are class enough for most people, they are quite often the same kind of names their parents Gandparents had or sometimes Great Grandparents.

Boy or girl

Agree with Gwennan. In fact Hadley could be your only name choice as works for a oh or girl, although I think I slightly prefer it for a girl...

OP, this web site is well worth a visit: British Baby Names.

You can download lists of how popular names were in 2011 from here: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-266770

And you may want to look at names.darkgreener.com as well, which reveals trends.

Rowan is a fairly common (#135) boys' name. It was given to 473 baby boys last year. It is, however, well-established as a girls' name as well and was given to 69 baby girls last year. The most common namesakes in the UK are male - Rowans Atkinson and Williams - so you may find that people occasionally incorrectly assuming that she is a boy from reading her name.

Weston is a really unusual name in England and Wales; it was given to just 4 boys in 2011. (Wesley was given to 64 and Westley to 5.) It is easy to pronounce and sounds more familiar than it actually is so I would not be concerned. It does sound very American but he is American and I think a lot of Brits would love to be able to 'get away with' naming their sons names like Weston!

Hadley is also a very unusual name in England and Wales, given to only 10 girls in 2011 and 47 boys.

Harry is the most popular boys' name in England and Wales and Harrison is also well in the top 50 at number 37 (given to 2,122 boys).

Finn ranks at 136 (469 boys) but Finley is at number 34 (2,245) and Finlay at number 66 (967).

Asher was given to 89 boys, ranking as the joint 436th most popular boys' name with Stefan.

Beatrice is quite common, ranking at 126 in 2011 (having been given to 460 girls).

Winifred is unusual, given to only 22 girls (placing it as the joint 1374th most popular name along with choices such as Viola, Yasmeen, Roxanna, Rochelle, Suki, and Seraphina).

As your children are named Rowan and Weston, I would be inclined to pick names similar in style for this baby. I would therefore not use Beatrice or Winifred, as lovely as they are, or Finn, Harrison or Asher as they are either stylistically poles apart or else massively more popular than your current picks. Hadley works the best with your other two choices.

Wes pronounced wez is nice.

AGree about Randy. Your kids will survive any name but not this one. Randy is an old man's name in America though.

Hadley is terrible. That does scream 'American' to me and not in a good way. Eg, I really like Shelby which sounds American to me, and Nancy is a bit American but I like those. Hadley is just ugly and weird.

I like Rowan. Weston does sound very American but you ARE American? so you'll be forgiven I think!

Are you thinking of when you go back to the states? You don't want to touch down with baby Jemima and baby cedric and think omg what did we do!?

I named my children in one country and now they are being brought up in another and I think the country where they were named had a strong influence on me at the time. So I see your concern, if I've understood it correctly.

Beatrice and Winnie are definitely 'English' names and lovely IMO although I think Beatrice is growing in popularity at the moment. Not keen on Hadley at all, sorry.

Finn is also very English but also quite popular, it's a lovely name though. I love Harrison too but I do think of it as 'American', simply because the two Harrison's I know are American. I really don't like Asher, probably because Jane Asher irritates the hell out of me.

Personally, I wouldn't care one jot about choosing an American name, you are American although I understand you wanting your DC to fit in, I just doubt they'd be picked on for it at school.

I do love both Rowan and Wes though, gorgeous names

Anything goes in London, really.

I like Hadley. There's a journalist called Hadley Freeman, she writes for the Guardian IIRC.

I know an English Weston, he must be 18 now? I've known lots of Harrisons.i don't like Winifred, but it sounds very old fashioned and a bit Germanic to me, but I'm sure there are lots around.
The names people choose for their kids can be very very varied in the UK, and lots of people want to be different so names from other cultures and even non-names are quite common.
My weirdest one was a very fair, blonde girl called Ebony.

I would also agree with avoiding Randy.

Someone was called Randy where I was yesterday, not remotely American, either.

Welcome to London, Lily3.

The only US name that must be avoided over here, at all costs, is Randy.