Your views on these names needed!

[Bagabee]

Laurie
Benjamin (NOT Ben)
Gilbert
Bob
Tom

Albertine
Florence
Audrey
Beatrice
Elizabeth
Leonora
Merrilees

Thanking you! x (not yet conceived but still obsessed!)

Albertine is hideous. Merrilees sounds like a horse. The rest are a bit dull. Elizabeth and Beatrice are OK-ish.

Appreciate the candid views! If all so hideous (Mrs S), what names do you favour??

Laurie is lovely
Benjamin is nice.
Tom ok

LOVE Leonora, that's my fave of your girl's names

also really like Florence and Beatrice
Audrey and Elizabeth are ok
don't like Albertine or Merrilees

I you really dislike Ben, I'd caution against Benjamin - it'll get shortened at some point.

Laurie - nice
Benjamin (NOT Ben) - sounds wet to me
Gilbert - no
Bob - NO!
Tom - nice

Albertine - awful
Florence - love!
Audrey - don't like, think of Corrie!
Beatrice - nice
Elizabeth - nice
Leonora - awful, fabric conditioner
Merrilees - possibly the worst name I've ever heard, never heard this before.

OMG, Merrilees is a lovely Scottish famanily name for us.

It's hard to choose original names that are not utterly pretentious!

Gilbert is fabulous - I love it!
Benjamin is ok, but i do not htink it is realistic to say he will never be a Ben (which is a shame) maybe call him Benji as a nn yourself to avoid Ben?
Tom and Bob - no!
Laurie - ok

Albertine - cute
Florence - no, boring we know sooooo many(dd1 has 3 in her year, dd2 has 2 in her class, and there are more younger siblings in the playground too)
Audrey - LOVE it!
Beatrice - boring
Elizabeth - nice, cute nn
Leonora - no
Merrilees - no

Bob but prefer Rob
Audrey or Elizabeth

Laurie - hugh anyone?
Benjamin (NOT Ben)- ok
Gilbert- naf
Bob - even naffer and not a real name
Tom - as above but even more boring

Albertine - old lady
Florence - as above
Audrey - as above with added Little shop of Horrors

Beatrice - cute
Elizabeth - also cute
Leonora - nope
Merrilees - sounds like dodgy sweets/shell-fish

Laurie - lovely
Benjamin (NOT Ben) - quite nice
Gilbert - ooo noo
Bob - ooo nooo
Tom too common

Albertine nah, not really
Florence quite cute
Audrey too middle aged
Beatrice okay
Elizabeth too plain
Leonora okay but prefer Leoni
Merrilees - nope, but like Meredith.

Laurie - ok, not a favourite but not awful
Benjamin (NOT Ben) - I like it but it will be shortened by some people and your child may decide he prefers ben
Gilbert - not a favourite of mine
Bob - Lovely. We have decided to use Bob, not Robert
Tom - like it but know too many so I wouldn't choose it myself.

Albertine - Really not a fan
Florence - is ok but so over used now
Audrey - My favorite on your list
Beatrice - Not a fan, again quite over used
Elizabeth - Classic but boring. I like the NN Betty though
Leonora - No, too flowery and floncy for me
Merrilees - Is it made up? Not a ran at all.

I am LOVING the negative reaction to Bob
makes me even more determined to use it.

Laurie-ok
Benjamin (NOT Ben)-he WILL be called Ben!
Gilbert-urgh
Bob-the builder
Tom-lovely

Albertine-not my cup of tea
Florence-beautiful
Audrey-she'd have to grow up elegant to carry it off
Beatrice- Sarah Ferguson/Heather Mills
Elizabeth-beautiful but will prob be shortened
Leonora-fabric conditioner
Merrilees- never heard it, can't decide!

You'll change your mind hundreds of times even before you've conceived!!

Laurie lovely
Benjamin (NOT Ben) not keen
Gilbert no!
Bob nice
Tom nice, though it reminds me of Tom Cruise and that's not good

Albertine lovely
Florence I like it
Audrey lovely
Beatrice Not keen
Elizabeth nice
Leonora ok
Merrilees no

Laurie - Not keen
Benjamin (NOT Ben) Benjamin is most excellent and it is possible to have one that isn't a Ben (nearly 7 years so far, although he does sometimes get called it.)
Gilbert - makes me think of Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables
Bob - this is what DS is known as by me as a nickname. Am not sure why.
Tom - perfectly nice

Albertine - no
Florence - quite nice
Audrey - not keen
Beatrice - quite like it
Elizabeth - my sister's name. Has a lot of potential for shortened versions although I know some who are always known as Elizabeth
Leonora - not keen
Merrilees - was she a gypsy? Read a book recently where one of the main characters was known as this by another main character

Boys:
Laurie - cute for a little boy, not sure if it will work for a 20somthing, perhaps as others have said, go for Laurence and have Laurie as a nickname.

If you call your DC Benjamin, he will be called Ben.

Bob and Tom - I'm not a fan of calling someone a nickname as a full name, because they will spend their life explaining that it's their full name.

Girls -
I like Audrey, Beatrice and Leonora. I think Leonora is the nicest.

I like Elizbeth, don't like Liz as a nickname, but do like Beth.

Laurie - Like this, would use Laurence as full name, reminds me of Laurie Lee
Benjamin (NOT Ben) - Like but people will call him Ben, which is nice too
Gilbert - HIDEOUS
Bob - No
Tom - Nice but would use Thomas

Albertine - Nope
Florence - nice
Audrey - frumpey
Beatrice - ok
Elizabeth- nice
Leonora - too fussy
Merrilees - Nope

You cannot call a child Benjamin or Benedict without him being called Ben! It is just too long imo, which is a shame as Benjamin is lovely (whereas I find Ben dull and overused).

I like Gilbert and Audrey best.

Laurie - lovely but maybe Laurence as full
Benjamin (NOT Ben) - yes
Gilbert -hideous
Bob - no
Tom - nice but Thomas better woth Tom as nn

Albertine - horrid
Florence =- nice
Audrey - ok
Beatrice -lovely
Elizabeth - brill
Leonora -ok
Merrilees - horrible

DD1 would have been Laurie, had she been ds

Many views, for which, thank you!

Personally, Laurie and Elizabeth.

As a final wild card, Nancy, anyone...?

Laurie -- roo girly
Benjamin (NOT Ben) -- it will be Ben, or else you'll go round calling him Benjaminnotben.
Gilbert -- nothing specifically wrong with it that I can see, but I think Albert has aged better.
Bob -- NO unless Robert
Tom -- NO unless Thomas

Albertine -- worse that Ernestine
Florence -- too housemaidy and now famous too
Audrey -- Gorgeous
Beatrice -- Gorgeous
Elizabeth -- can't go wrong
Leonora -- Gorgeous
Merrilees -- A riding academy

Nancy IMO seems like an 'old' name. Its lovely though. I like Florence out of your other list, not keen on any of the other.

I know a Benjamin and he's 8 - he's not called Ben. :)

Oooh Benedict- Wonder if my DH will go for it?

OP, I don't know why you would go for shortened names for some but not for Benjamin? I'd go Thomas, Robert and Lawrence ( although none really to my taste, if you like them, at least they have a choice ( Rob if they end up working in IT, Robert if they end up Prime Minister)

Don't really like Gilbert. Reminds me of a really old man! As Math said, Albert nicer IMO. Like your girls names. Although theres nothing that will concentrate the mind like a 9 month deadline, so you will change your mind about a million times before you have a baby to name! My favourite girls name was taken at the last minute, and it's waaay too popular now anyway, so the name I wanted for about 10 years I'm not going to have!