Please come and rate/slate my shortlist!

[ellesabe]

Our surname is 2 syllables beginning with H.

Girls (middle name will be Emma):
Allegra
Coral
Dorothy
Heidi
Meredith
Wendy

Boys (middle name will be James):
Amos
Gideon
Otis
Percy
Phoenix
Silas

Blurrr,really don't like any. Love Emma and James!

Meredith Emma and Percy James

Girls (middle name will be Emma): (Love Emma!)
Allegra - not sure about the -a finish with the E- of Emma but love the name
Coral - this sounds awful and probably says much more about me than you but Coral just makes me think of the bookies
Dorothy - really love this! Goes very well with Emma as well.
Heidi - okay
Meredith - love this too!
Wendy - a bit of a middle-aged name

Boys (middle name will be James):
Amos - doesn't go well with James
Gideon - okay
Otis - like
Percy - love!
Phoenix - seems very different to your other name choices
Silas - like a lot - makes me think of Silas Marner

I think Allegra is your best girl name but doesn't go with Emma - could that be changed?
Couldn't have Meredith because of Kercher murder - same way I rejected Madeleine which I loved because DD was born just after Madeleine McCann went missing. In the long run everyone forgets but at the time seems like a bad omen.

Unheplfully really can't warm to your list for the boys.

Allegra and Heidi are really lovely. I've got nothing positive to say about your boys names sorry.

Dorothy or Gideon.

The other girls names are too girly for an adult woman to be called. The other boys names are too "look at me- I'm quirky, I am".

Well, you did say slate!

Gideon is lovely- but ( not that it matters) people will always assume he's Jewish.

Come back and fight your corner OP!

Coral or amos.

None of them. Although Emma and James are lovely.

Ha ha! I don't think I need to fight my corner!! I asked for honest opinions and thank you everyone who has helped. Apart from the 'poor child' comment which wasn't quite as helpful :)

I have been surprised by the mixed response but it's early days yet and I just thought I'd test the water with some ideas. We quite like names that are a bit unusual (can you tell?!) but sometimes it's hard to get the balance between being original and being too try-hard. Dd is called Jemima which I love and it always gets a lovely response.

The middle names aren't absolutely fixed but if dc has a slightly unusual name we would like to give them an 'ordinary' middle name which they can use if they prefer when they're older.

Are the middle names family names or are you 'free' to chose other 'ordinary' names?

I think with Jemima you need something equally lovely or it looks like the second one got the 'leftover' name I mean, how could you have Jemima & Wendy??

Elouise
Georgia
Amilie
Sophia
Caitlin

Sorry you did say rate or slate - they are all pretty awful really. Heidi is the best of the girls names and Silas best of the boys names imo.

Are you terribly posh OP or just got delusions of, these names are terribly affected - except Wendy which is too 70s to be retro old lady fashionable yet - like Sharon/Tracey!

Girls (middle name will be Emma):
Allegra - no, not with Emma
Coral - not keen with Emma
Dorothy - fine
Heidi - fine
Meredith - fine
Wendy - never much liked this name

Boys (middle name will be James):
Amos - not keen and sounds quite similar to James
Gideon - not keen
Otis - Redding or floppy eared dog
Percy - really?
Phoenix - doesn't go that well with James
Silas - not keen

Oh dear, I haven't done too well with your boy choices! Otis or Phoenix I suppose if you had to.

Percy is great and on my shortlist.

Isn't Percy slang for penis??

My favourites girls are Meredith, Coral and Allegra

Amos, Silas, Gideon and Otis are very nice choices for a boy

I really like Heidi and Amos.

They are all awful.

Sorry.

I tried really hard to like at least one, promise.

Allegra is lovely - it is DD1's middle name, and has a nice meaning :)
My mum is called Dorothy, and though I don't think it is too bad, she has always disliked her name and wished she was called something else. All the nns for Dorothy are just horrible though (Dot / Dotty / Dolly / Dor - eugghhh).

I don't like any of your other girl's names, finding them on the blah / twee spectrum somewhere, sorry!

I really don't like your boys names, apart from Phoenix, which is pretty cool.