Is the baby names thread a good reflection of real life name choices??

That's really interesting. I saw someone post the Scottish regional charts the other day and I was surprised that there weren't more traditional Scottish names on there. I'm not in Scotland nor am I Scottish by the way. I live abroad. eve, Sophie and Abigail were all on my shortlist and we're probably going with Eve as a middle name its popularity at the moment isn't really putting me off.

Does she not see loads of James's, Archie's and ruairidhs?

Mrsnec - I'm in central scotland, which is currently awash with Sophie and Eva's! After a wave of Alfie and Finlay's a few years ago, there's no real uber popular boys name at the moment where we are (my sister works in a maternity so knows all the current trends!).

banana DDs middle name is ancient Greek mythology based, starting with a K. It's not the usual anglicised spelling, but the more traditional. It's actually the name of an asteroid/minor planetoid. I can't tell if it would be mumsnet approved.

Babies I've known the last 3 years
Lola
Harriet
Josh
Toby
Kallisto
Älfi
Saga
Finley
Finlay
Henry
Norah
Ioan
Flora
James

Burgatroyd, you're so right about the rules!
Mustn't be a nickname
Or a surname
Can't have a hyphen
Or start with a K
Ancient roman/Greek names are desirable... But a bit try hard unless you have some Italian/Greek heritage or studied classics at a Russell group uni!

Bouncing, 3 of your girls names were on my shortlist. Can I be rude and ask you where you come from I'm interested to see what demographic I fit into. Wouldn't have chosen any of those boys names though.

I never hear mn approved baby names in real life! Babies born in the last year that I know are

Eve
Eva
Freya
Sophie
Abigail

Rowan
Noah
Gary
Isaac

Hi OP
Do you have a child or are expecting?

Anyway, no, it's not. You'd think all the kids were called lionel or leonora or whatever. Actually they're not.

We have an interesting mix around here, awash with the usual Ellies, Islas and Harrys but also a strong component of more unusual names. Recent babies I know of:

Jasper
Ava
Saarika
Joshua
Darcie
Arlo
Kayden
Emilie
Estelle
Joseph
William
Sachin
Harry
Poppy
Amie
Edward
Nathaniel x2
Devon (girl)
Max

I think you're always going to come across people that can't spell names regardless of how popular they are or wher they come from. I have a relatively simple name but it has a few variations and nearly every day I find myself saying yes it's an e on the end not an a and no it doesn't have an h in it but I'm used to it and I wouldn't choose a name just because it's easy to spell.

My parents loved old English names. My sisters and I have never heard our names anywhere else. We are very used to having people say ' pardon', 'is that your real name?' 'how is that spelt' etc.
It can be very tedious. I didn't like my name much growing up but love it now. One of my sisters still hates her name at age 50!

That's a lovely name too! But I doubt the booze was your inspiration for it burgatroyd!

Mrsnec. I did with dd1. Think Hill. Though I wouldn't say it was my favourite tipple...

Ds3 has a nn on his birth certificate corey

And ds2s name is cory

Thisbe is a rather delicious local vino where I am. Couldn't name a child after your favourite booze!

The mention of Jane made me laugh, my dh and his parents all love it and were trying to persuade me. I just felt it would sound like we didn't try hard enough but now I'm thinking it's probably boring enough to be different these days! Can't use it though.

Squoosh, I quite like Ultra-Wackadoodle - should it be hyphenated?

Floggin it sounds booful

It so is!!!!!
Pyramus and Thisbe. The original Romeo and Juliet.
Prn Thizbee. Thisbe Nisson the novelist. Its truly fab.

God almighty! It sounds more like a lisp.

Dd3 has a very un mumsnetty name. She has a nickname as her full birth name

It is Flogging

Thisbe . That is not a name...

Minipie, Milky is very popular around these parts! Where have you been? ??

I love xanthe, and Thisbe for that matter. I lump them in with Phoebe, Chloe and Hermione.

The only time I have truly been taken aback by a name was when I met a thirty something woman called Queenie. I couldn't get over it! In London I've heard all sorts of names, but Queenie (an old relative of mine was called that) really had me stumped. She owned her name though and now I love Queenie too.
Most mnetters hates names like Queenie. Don't know why as its actually quite nice if you let it grow on you. Mn doesn't like cutesy names like Dolly, but Polly's all right. Mn does seem to like modern names like Quinn either. According to mn general consensus you can call your kid Kitty, but not Sheba. You shouldn't use a foreign name unless you're from that country. When using an Irish name like Caiomhe its preferable to use that spelling, than Keeva. Not only is the latter sort of cheating but has the dreaded K. I never knew there were so many rules!
Its name Dogma!
I really want to meet a baby Jane.

My three DCs have very typical 'MN' names (always suggested on baby name threads), and I have met one other of each of the older two and never met another with the same name as DD.

Babies i know, including mine:
Heath
Keith
Lucia
Rosa
Emily
Nathan
Calvin
Kieron
Jakub