the current shortlist - describe these people!

Aaron - naughty, loud, boisterous, often in trouble

Arthur - posh parents, wears very traditional clothes, a bit quiet but a very calm and intelligent child, has a few very good friends

Lucas - clever and outgoing, trendy parents, popular

Malachy - cheeky, naughty, Irish

Cara - a bit loud, a bit shouty, used to getting her own way, has a pencil case with the Playboy bunny on it and wears high heels

Lucy - that's my name so I can't really comment - I like being called it, though

Marian - very smart and industrious, the kind of little girl whose plaits are as neat at the end of the day as at the beginning - she probably really likes underlining things in different coloured inks

Zoe - a good little girl, pretty and popular, wears very classic little girl clothes, shiny hair

Aaron - quite reserved - old fashioned biblical name

Arthur - Old fashioned name - child very outgoing and confident. Well spoken

Lucas - Bit of a monkey - quite naughtly

Malachy - Don't really like this one.

Cara - shy and quiet

Lucy - Outgoing and confident - likes dancing and singing

Marian - Old fashioned parents - bit nondescript

Zoe - Normal little girl, quite a character

Aaron - joins a "boy band" at 16 ... his poster is on every pre-pubescent girls wall .... has issues with drugs at 19 and is last heard of on "Celebrity Air Steward on Ice"
Arthur - Develops a keen interest in warm cardigans with leather elbow patches at an early age ... Joins the Civil Service straight from school and looks forward to his index linked pension
Lucas - Drops the "s" from his name and adopts a dodgy Italian accent to pull the birds
Malachy - Forms his own coven

Girls:

Cara - best friends with Tara and Lara, marries her childhood sweetheart Brett and settles down in domestic bliss until Brett has 1 affair too many ... the kids leave home and she has a new lease of life as a "healer"
Lucy - VERY CAPABLE ... everyone turns to Lucy in a crisis ... forgetting that she too has "problems" ... marries late but well and looks after her mum
Marian - Everyone loves Marian, she meets Arthur at work and they have to arrange a "quick marriage" ... 5 children and 12 grandchildren later the family club together to send them to Lanzarote for their Golden Wedding
Zoe - Changes her name to Zorah and runs the coven with Malachy

Aaron - playful, boisterous, a bit naughty
Arthur - deep, thoughtful, shy
Lucas - imaginative, clever, playful
Malachy - confident, easy-going, likes being centre of attention

Cara - a bit precious, popular, not very bright
Lucy - sensible, friendly, straight-laced
Marian - overweight, bookish, bad hair
Zoe - energetic, light-hearted, always smiling

Aaron - Hard man, gorgeous but fickle
Arthur - Kindly, plodding, good natured
Lucas - Naughty boy
Malachy - parent looking for something out of the ordinary who has read Angela's Ashes

Cara - pretty, spoilt, possibly a bit bitchy
Lucy - lively, sporty, friendly, fun
Marian - feminine, bookish, intelligent, girl guide
Zoe - capable, headstrong, fair minded, head girl

If it was me I'd have Arthur and any of the girls but Cara.

Duffy - You may want to start a new thread as your post may have got lost amongst the others. Your choices conjure up the following for me:

Finn - Adorable blond cheeky toddler prone to mischief. As a teenager he will be into surfing and playing the guitar in a band. Very popular with the ladies and loyal to his family/friends.

Cameron - Freckly solid dependable chap. Kind to his mum and friends, does very well academically and goes on to become a lawyer.

Dylan - He is the product of a one night stand and was conceived when his parents were backpacking around India. His mum is a hippy into crystals and tarot card reading. She managed to track down the father after contacting a psychic. Dylan's father is a very wealthy investment banker and lives in Athens. Dylan spends part of the summer in Greece with his father, he adores his mum but secretly wants to become a banker like his father, he would never admit this to his mother as she shuns the material world and hates capitalism.

Ameila - Very slim and pretty. Into ballet and horses. Studies History of Art at University but is not career minded. Plans on marrying well and becoming a housewife.

Alana - Spends most of the time with her grandparents who dote on her. Doesn't have any contact with her father and her mother is fond of clubbing and can't manage to get Alana to school on time. Alana has a blond pony tail which she wears on the side and often has her hair crimped. Her mum has told her that she can have her belly button pierced for her 8th birthday.

Zara - A bit of a tomboy, always has grubby knees and loves skateboarding and Ben10. She has a mop of unruly blond curls. When she is 18 she is spotted by a glamour modelling scout, has a change of image and becomes the top page 3 girl for The Star. She remains down to earth and enjoys a pint down her local with her old school mates, they all fancy the pants of her but Zara doesn't have time for men, she is saving her money from her page 3 work and then plans on moving to Malawi where she hopes to buy her own safari park.

Aaron - hillbilly (with a banjo?)
Arthur - Tim Nice but Dim's bezzie mate from public school
Lucas - weird guy in a leather coat from a 70's ITV detective series that didn't really take off
Malachy - Drunken tosser who thinks he's God's gift to women (sorry, I only knew one Mal and that was him!)

Cara - a bit slapperish, pretty but knows it
Lucy - Funny, scatty, a bit home countiesish
Marian - middle-aged woman with flat shoes, an Irish Mammy haircut and a paranoid gleam in her eye
Zoe - a self-starter, up for a laugh, intrepid and brave. But needs the umlaut (or diarai-whatsit thingy)

Marianne is romantic, bohemian, slightly Parisien in a left-bank browsing through a second-hand bookshop before stopping for a citron presse in a backstreet cafe kinda way

I have an adorable little Lucas. He has big, brown eyes, and is shy but so lovable! I think of it is a v multicultural name which is used across the classes also. We have always had positive reactions to the name and haven't met any others here so far.
I also like Arthur a lot. Would definitely think that Arthur would be the choice of middle class.
Malachy sounds like a cheeky, red haired Irish boy and don't really like Aaron personally.

Of the girl's names, Lucy and Marianne are the most classic. I would say they all conjure up quite positive images for me although I don't especially like Cara and Zoe as names.

Boys:

Aaron - blond brat
Arthur - bookworm type
Lucas - fun-loving
Malachy - a little bit weird

Girls:

Cara - popular girl
Lucy - a touch smarty-pants
Marian - old fashioned
Zoe - dark haired, slim, mediocre

Boys:

Aaron - a bit average academically, lots of friends, but possibly a little chavvy...?
Arthur - middle-class, nice boy, bright, good at physics and music
Lucas - footballer, likes polishing his souped-up hatchback and has a shaved head
Malachy - nice chap, big hearted, liable to rebel by becoming a historic stonemason and living in a caravan in the woods

Girls:

Cara - quiet, studious, but maybe a bit bland and liable to being overlooked
Lucy - good at hockey, loads of friends but a bit of a follower of the crowd
Marian - bookish, slightly shy, but probably Oxbridge material
Zoe - great fun, bright, shiny and the life and soul of the party

BalloonSlayer, my "difficult" MIL is Marian in her 70's with greying hair so sorry for me neither spelling works...

BalloonSlayer - imagine being called such a horrible old ladies name all the time, how terrible

Aaron-dependable,swotty
Arthur- reliable
Lucas-cheeky blonds lots of lucas around
Malachy-spends whole time pronouncing his name

Girls:
Cara -name sounds like a chocolate substitute.cara with mint sold in planet organic
Lucy- teased as juicy lucy
Marian-and her hearty men
Zoe - nothing springs to mind

Interesting that people are getting Marian confused with Marion.

The latter is an old lady's name. The former is a beautiful name, I think.

I suggested Marian for DD but was overruled - just as well as obviously no one but me can see the blardy difference and she'd have been called Marion all the time.

What about the following names:

BOYS:
Finn
Dylan
Cameron

Girls:
Amelia
Alana
Zara

Would welcome some opinions please!

Cheese and pickle- you totally have to get back into witing!

Pendulum- great call on Islington names. I used to work as a nanny there ad looked after a girl called Madeleine.

Aaron - never correctly pronounced but that's OK because his footie mates call him Buzz (after the time he turned up to a school event in a Buzz Lightyear costume and got suspended!) He works as a plumber and spends his weekends in the pub watching football or playing it.
Arthur - calm and gentle, he was a promising cyclist until the accident but the months in physio gave him time to write and now he's got a fab book deal.
Lucas - way too good looking for his own good and spoiled by his single mu. Luck follows him around and he made a killing in the stock market and retired at 27 to go into property developing, and replaces Sarah Beeny at the end of the year.
Malachy - not an easy name to live with, but that's what happens when your drunken Irish dad registers the birth. Of course Mal had the last laugh when he became a solicitor and helped his ma get everything in the divorce.

Girls:

Cara - a big ball of trouble, since she was the popular good looking girl in school. Not so bright but that doesn't matter because she's going to be the next Cheryl Cole.
Lucy - quiet, calm and unassuming with a brilliant mind and an amazing body buried under the dreadful clothes. She's the one who gets the guy, gets the part and gets the Oscar, but nobody minds because she's so nice.
Marian - lumbered with her granny's name and resents it, she pronounces it Marry-anne, like the French?! She works in customer service, though is not very good with people, and has a boyfriend named Carl who drives a BMW.
Zoe - gorgeous, with coffee-coloured skin and legs that go on for miles. She's a yoga teacher and eats lunch with her parents every Sunday. She's dating Arthur, who she met whilst volunteering at the rehab centre for the newly disabled and doesn't know it, but he's going to propose tonight!.

Boys:

Arthur -dependable, kind
Lucas - naughty cheeky little boy arrogant man
Malachy -Irish blue eyed scamp with a heart of gold

Girls:

Cara- love this name, lovely friendly girl with a cheeky side

sorry no real feel for the other names

rather amused since my RL name is being assessed here! amazing to see what associations people have for it! I wont do the girls names then cause it will be obvious[

Aaron - large for his size, clumsy, pale
Arthur - grave, calm, quiet, polite
Lucas - precocious, snotty
Malachy - irish scamp with charm

Aaron - bit of a nothing sort of name. sort of person who'd never be noticed.
Arthur - strong, individual
Lucas - girly, pale and a cry-baby
Malachy - pain in the arse

Girls:

Cara - dark, pretty, maybe a prima donna
Lucy - quite plain, but intelligent
Marian - has parents who are trying too hard
Zoe - likeable, maybe a bit alternative

I will describe to you little boys and girls I know with some names you shortlisted:

boys

Aaron : nicely balanced boy, a bit cheeky, great fun according to Ds

Lucas : nice boy, a bit shy
Malachy : little monkey but we love him

Girls

Cara : sorry, next door neibours...cat!
Lucy : verry chatty little girl, very friendly
Marian : my name so absolutely perfect!

I love Marian - think of Maid Marian - brave, beautiful etc
Cara - a bit dated now?
Lucy - a safe name but probably be another Lucy in her class at school.
Zoe - I like this, I think a small person

Aaron - quite popular name now
Arthur - great name but has become a pop middle class choice recently
Malachy - great name if you grow up being the only one around but how did you come up with it? I know one where I live and he is lively and friendly
Lucas - A good name and can always call himself Luke if he hates it when he gets older