Names we've discussed for DD.....

I like Elsie and Daisy

#just a though - if you really like Elsie but don't have the courage of your convictions, you could go with:

Ellen
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Elise
Elsa
Elspeth

and just call her Elsie while she's little! If it becomes too common or she hates it when she's older she can revert to her more elegant full name.

Amelia - lovely, maybe too popular (and thats coming from the mum of an Ella!!)
Poppy - no, too babyish
Daisy - ok, not as babyish as poppy
Tallulah - no, too much
Abigail - ok. I like Abi but not sure about the Gail bit.
Annabella - really like
Ella - my DD!!
Elsie - what I wanted to call my DD!! DH refused.

Think you're right with the regional thing Clary, I don't know any olivers at all! And kids often like meeting others with the same name. When I was pregnant with dd we could only agree on one boys name and one girls name, luckily we went on to have ds so used both names!

fwiw I really like Amelia and Annabel, still laughing at Florence Lawrence

Elsie Lawrence sounds like someone from Coronation Street

Love all of your names apart from Elsie and Abigail. I don't really dislike them as such, they're just nowhere near as nice as the others on your list.

3 Olivers in my DS2's yr at school (out of 20 boys). He's 6.

Four Olivers in the year below him.

(sorry. Not that it matters - it's a great name).

I wonder if these things are regional? I am always amazed to read things like "Gladys - oh that's sooo popular now" when I know none, or "James - oh that's a nice name and not many about") when I must know about 20 under 11.

I like Annabel rather than Annabella the best. Some of the others are either too popular or too little girl for me (so therefore not so good for a woman iyswim)

I love Amelia an Abigail!

They aren't overly popular where I'm from but you shouldn't let that bother you.

I think Abigail does go better with your surname but again I wouldn't let that put you off.

I'll throw another in the mix, how aout Alicia Lawrence?

oh daisybooo that's annoying! At ds' pre school and infants there hasn't been a single Daisy...he's in Juniors in Sept. Must be fashions in different areas!

DD is a Daisy (I wanted Maisy but dh didn't like it) and at the time we thought it was quite unusual. We had many, many comments about how beautiful and rare her name was. As it turns out though there is at least one other Daisy at her nursery so at school she will probably be one of 2 or 3 Daisys, and will be referred to as Daisy X which I'm dreading. As a nursery teacher I have seen many children learn to call themselves Anna M, Sarah P etc as this is how teachers differentiate. (sp?)
I have a fairly common first name too and this was my experience too at school.
You might want to go for something a little more unusual...

(But I still love the name Daisy and have no regrets!)

I just love the name Daisy and think it's so pretty. Daisy Lawrence is a really good name.

Olivers are mostly in the 10 to 16 age group.

Tallulah was top of my list, but we had DS2. Amelia is very popular these days. DN is called this.

Like Annabella. Daisy and Poppy are okay, just a little too girly for me.

what aobut Isabella?

how about flora?
although apart from tallulah and daisy and poppy i like all your names

That's how I feel too. It's not that it's not a lovely name - it is. But so you really want your child to be the Sharon or Tracey of the future?

i know several amelias and lots of variations (amelie, amalia). whenever i meet another one i just think "not another!.

dont personally like annabella and elsie.

bit silly

Oooh I really like your list.

Amelia. absolutely beautiful! I think its really classic and pretty. Have a cousin called this and they call her Millie for short which I think is adorable. Lovely. Agree with your smart dh.

Poppy - sorry no. cutsie and all that but a bit sill imo.

Daisy - exactly same sentiments as above.

Tallulah?!? nice. wouldnt pick it personally. dont know really.

Abigail.. lovely but you couldnt pick it over Amelia ifykwim, like abbey though.

Annabella - nice.

Ella - lovely but 10,000,000 around here - has been in the top 5 in central stats for last couple of years but that doesnt really matter on the grand scale of things if you love it.

Elsie - old, old woman who smells like tea.

Noooo! Step away!!! Millie is SO SO common at the moment! It has derived out of Amelia being really common as well!

Unless of course that really doesn't worry you, but for me it would be the wrost thing ever. I'd rather people hated my child's name than there be four of them in the class.

Ella is a really common name around here (as in everyone is either called Ella, Freya or Isabelle/a) Scarlett is also over-used in these parts

I like Amelia - we are thinking of it for our daughter and calling her Milly for short.

I like Elsa, Tallulah and Abigail

Amelia - extremely extremely common (as in over-used, not downmarket!)

Ella and Tallulah don't really go well with Laurence - too many L sounds - a bit clumsy.

I love Elsie, and when I was pregnant all three times my top names for a girl were Elsa or Elspeth with a view to using Elsie as a nickname. (oldest child is 16, youngest 10, so you can see I was ahead of my time!) Had three boys so never used them...

Abigail, pretty, classic and goes well with Laurence, but will get shortened to Abbie which is over-popular.

Poppy and Daisy are both lovely, but neither are especially unusual. Maybe that's not an issue for you though.

Annabelle is classic, timeless and pretty like Abigail. If you like those what about Georgina or Francesca? Georgie is lovely for a little girl. Both classic, elegant and pretty and have never become too common, unlike Amelia and Jessica etc.

Amelia...don't like
Poppy....don't like
Daisy....love it
Tallulah?!? ...like it
Abigail....OK prefer just Abbi
Annabella...dislike but like Annabelle
Ella...like
Elsie...dislike (abit old lady for me)

IMO, the names on your list that go well with Lawrence are

Amelia
Daisy
Abigail.

The ones which are somewhat of a tongue-twister with Lawrence due to similar sounding components are

Tallulah
Annabella
Ella

Especially Ella, IMO its quite a hard name to match because it seems to run into the second name more than most.

You would have to "announce" your name very distinctly as it sounds like one word ie "Ellalawrence", you would have to permanently make the effort to say ELla ~~~~~ LAWrence, which sounds strained. Amelia, Daisy and Abigail don't have this problem.

The ones which come across as bland are Poppy and Elsie.