Naming baby - best to stick with what you know?

[Kirstle]

Bit of a random question. I've always been one of those girls who has had her baby names ''picked'' out for at least a few years. In case you're interested, those names were Seth and Phoebe.
Anyway, Phoebe has now been taken by close friend (darn it) and I have a bunch of other names I had incase this happened. Almost like back-up names.
Recently, I have been liking more and more different names (as you do) and I just wondered what did you do? Did you pick the old classic that you had always liked and therefore knew that you were going to still like in however many years, or did you go for the 'new' favourite? Did you regret your decision?
Bizzarely, this is only happening with girls names. If someone else uses Seth, I haven't a clue what I will do!!

(Just so you know, I am not completely selfish - DP has seen these lists and these are the ones we both lean towards lol ) x

My lists:

'Old' favourites (names I have liked for at least a couple of years or more)

Beatrix
Zoe
Lydia
Violet (surname is a colour, so prob wont get away with that one, but love it)

'New' favourites

Polly
Milla (pr Miller)
Elodie
Freya

So what did you do - names you loved from an age, or a name that you liked there and then, or recently?

I think your "old favourites" are much nicer than the "new favourites". The fashion fads will date more quickly.

(afraid I think of Beatrix as more faddy than Beatrice though)

We ended up using the name I had liked since a young teenager. DH hated it from the start then one day after I had been going on about names, he just came out with the name and middle name suggestions and it just stuck we both loved it. The name did have meaning for the both of us though as it was the main characters name in our first date movie. I was beyond happy.

I love Violet as a name but DH thinks it sounds like a Granny name , so what I hope she will be a Granny one day! So my vote goes to Violet. Freya is also nice but becoming very popular.

I prefer your old favourites, save the spelling of Beatrice.

I had always had girl's name picked out years before, luckily both DH and I were always in agreement from day 1 as it was his Grandma's name.

I don't think your old favourites and new favourites differ that much, they are in the same style and I like both lists particularly Violet and Freya. Think on the whole I prefer Viola though to get away from the granny connotations.

As for fashion fads the reason some names are thought of as a certain age group is that they were fads in their day and are making a comeback. I would prefer a name that dates me slightly than a name that is so generic it could be a person of any age (never really understood why this is a good thing).

I wouldn't like to name my child a name that suddenly becomes THE name of 2011 on the other hand, just ends up being boring and not very memorable. But the top names of the last few years have been classic names and the names I come across most often. Just think the faddier names are more noticeable because people aren't as familiar with them. I'm thinking of names like Niamh and Isabel vs Ruby and Ava. But perhaps that is just where I live.

Phoebe is currently my top choice for a girl if that is what we are having. We also have Freya on our list. Can't use Seth for a boy although I love it as we have an S surname.

Sorry rambling...

Basically I think you have to feel the name is right and even if received wisdon tells you that 'classic' names are better, or that unless you give a faddy name they will be one of 20 in their class you should make the decision based on what you think of the name itself and what it means to you.

Thanks for all the answers so far. Beatrix is probably the one I will go for but (like here) no one seems that keen - when I mentioned it to my mum about 4 years ago she turned up her nose and said ''but we're not posh, love...'' lol bless.
I suppose I can't really forget that. Even though I know that if I did end up calling DD that, then she would pretend to like it and hopefully eventually the name association would be her DGD? Grrr, such a hard thing.
Anyone else - old favourites or new fashions?

I was torn between a name I'd loved since childhood, Audrey, and a name that I suddenly liked when I was three months pregnant, Helena. I swung between them but in the end plumped for Audrey, I think because my gut feeling was that Helena was just too long (we have a long complicated foreign surname). But it could have gone either way.

By the way I love Violet. It would have been a strong contender for me but sounded silly with our surname.

I would go with an "old favourite", those names are lovely. I go through phases of liking names and am then relieved that I didn't use them. I prefer to use a name I have liked for a few years because I am more likely to still like it in 20 years.

I like all your choices and none of them seem too faddy to me. How do you pronounce elodie by the way? Is it as it is written el-odd-ee?

I think I will probably plump with the old favourite, it does hurt how much I love Milla though. Perhaps that will be mn?
Beatrix Milla?

Cherrypi - it's a French name and should have the acute accent above the first E - Élodie - in which case it's pronounced (ay-loh-dee). But that can sound a bit ridiculous with a British accent, so I always pronounce it as in Melody without the M, which I think is the most used and accepted way in Britain.

Thanks for all the answers so far, girls :)

I have an amelia and her nm is milla - pronounced mee-la - courtesy of a little cousin who couldn't say it properly.

Ah thanks Kirstle. That's even prettier.

My old favourites were 'Keira' & 'Luca', DP hates them both but we do now have a Lucas so I sort of stuck with the Luca thing! Top contender for when we were expecting DS (& unaware of the sex) for a DD was Ruby though, quite different!

I don't know if we will use Ruby if we have a DD in future though.

Love Beatrix - so many B.Potter books/plates/visits to be enjoyed as she grows up. Beatrix Milla sounds lovely and would suit any age.

I like more unusual names, unlike DP, so ALL of the names that I've liked for ages were out of the window :( we started completely from scratch, made a list each of all the names we liked and then swapped, crossing off the ones we didn't like. It took a looooonnggg time to get to DD's name. I do like it though

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