I actually think we may never, ever find another baby name which fits our criteria. What are yours?

[Psammead]

I am British. DH is German. We live in Germany but spend a lot of time in the UK.

The name must be pronounced very similarly in both languages, if not the same. This means no 'th' sound, no 'j', no 'e' at the end. R can also be a problem.

The name must also be spelt in a logical way that comes naturally to both languages. C and K can be problem letters here. As can Z and S, and sometimes C and Z.

The name cannot be too modern or too old-fashioned in either country. Fashions in the two countries do not correlate with each other.

It should not be too biblical, too nerdy, should not be the name of people we know, or people we disliked at some point in our lives. It can't be too long, start with an M, or have any negative cultural associations.

It would be nice to have a nice nickname potential, and a not utterly hideous meaning.

Oh and it can't be French. Or too British or too German.

I think the next one will be named Bob. Regardless of sex.

Tell me about your criteria!

I did the same as pixie I gave DH a list of three names to choose from, so he got final veto, but from a pre approved list.

Psammead I know exactly where you are coming from, have the same constellation. But I am interested to know why would you like it to be pronounced the same?

Apart from Victor, which I think is lovely, but DH said sounds far too like Wichser in German - I don't hear it myself.

Daniel or Samuel for a boy - too biblical? Thomas? Nicolas?
Emma? Sarah? Eva?

I did the deal with my DH that if I took his surname, I am naming any kids that may eventually show up.

I have a simple criteria.

They have to sound like jazz musicians.

Easy peasy

@ jazz musicians.

I started a thread once about my ridiculously specific criteria for boys names (see below). Needless to say everybody laughed at me!! Luckily we had a DD so managed to avoid the boy naming process!

.....I'm really struggling to find any boys names that I like. I know what type of name I'd like but so far it's remained elusive so I'm hoping you mumsnetters can help me identify a really great name that I'll be happy to give to a son (or a future male cat if this baby is a girl)!

So my criteria for good names are...

1. Not so long as to necessitate use of a nickname in everyday use, but long enough to have a bit of interest to it - so 4, 5 or 6 letters would be ideal.

1. A good mixture of letter types so it looks interesting written down. Dots are good (i, j), tails (q, y, p, g) (also f and z as I write them with tails), although I'd prefer to avoid umlauts etc as I should imagine they'd be a pain!

1. A name that doesn't shout a particular class - so Eton or asbos wouldn't spring to mind when he told you his name.

1. Unusual but not wacky - something you've heard maybe once or twice in this country, although I don't mind if a name is more common abroad. I don't mind a foreign name - some scandinavian names in particular would possibly fit my criteria quite well, but not a name from a continent I have no link with, so not obviously asian (eg Sanjay), African or American. A non British, European name would be fine.

1. Not a noun, especially obvious 'nature' names - so no River, Bracken, Dandelion, that sort of thing. Also not a 'Kre8iv' spelling of a more common name.

1. Can't start with a B, as we have a double surname and the initials wouldn't be good!

I have some possibilities to start you off, but none of them are quite what I'm looking for...
Benji - Like the letter combination, but starts with a B and possibly a bit 'doggy'?
Nijah - Again, like the letters, but it's a girls name, and a bit too similar to Nigel!
Kajri - Possibly a bit feminine?
Alvir - Not sure
Majni - Too much like Armani

Is anybody up to the challenge?!!!!!

We had the same problem in Austria. God, I'm exhausted just remembering it.

Boys' names we had:
Oscar/Oskar, Noah, Thomas, Lev (Russian! vetoed by dh unfortunately). I was keen on Wolfgang but also vetoed by dh.

Never needed a girl's name, but think these would work:
Stella, Anna, Lily, Nina, Lenia, Bella, Margot, Matilda

Your post made me laugh, OP. I have the same set-up (me = brit, DH = German). We went with Bob :-D

Margot is pronounced Mar-GOTT in German... Shame really - I wanted it for our DD but she got Robin, aka Bob, instead.

Leo or Finn.

Cuppa, my friend has a Tadgh, which might work for you. She pronounces it like Ty.

Psam is there a particular reason you're asking?!?!?! Have you been squeaking the bedsprings, hmmm?

My criteria for boys (for girls we've had a name picked for years, so no worries there) are names that can really work for anything. A name that can sound vaguely formal, but preferably with nn that just sound like the guy down the block. Like DS is Samuel Robert but called Sam. Next time I told DH he can choose between Charles Frederick (we can call him Charlie if he's a sporty guy) or Nathan/Nathaniel Frederick, called Nate. :)

There are more "out there" names I like, but having a noun for a surname puts the damper on it a bit. Sigh...

If not Alexander, Sascha for a boy? Julia for a girl?

Eleanor? Eleanora Josephine is my girl's name. :)

Erika? Claudia? Sophie?

Megan?

Sophia, Hannah, Lara, Harriet, Kristin, Stephanie, Alexis, Helena, Tanya, Nathalie

Sebastian, Tobias, Sascha, Christopher, Erik, Florian, Felix, Mark, Matthias, Adam

Any good? I know some of these have variant spellings though.

The couple I know with a similar set-up went for Miriam and Karl. I know a German Markus - that would work. And how about Liesl?

Oh Nina is fab! That would totally work

PMSL @ your conversation about names :o

Are you looking for names for boys or girls, or both?

Can you give is your DS's name as a hint of what wasn't too butlery? :o (understand if you prefer not).

Our criteria are

Must not begin with F or C/K sound

Not too 'different' or long (we have a difficult surname)

Must not end with an 'ee' sound

Nothing really trendy/unusual (my name was unusual when I was growing up and I didn't like it - it's more usual now)

I suggest Max and Stella for you

Nina
Clara
Alana

Toby
Nicholas
Benjamin

Sorry for the multiple posts (attempts to multi-task are failing miserably!)

The above are some names of friends I had in Germany when I was small (I lived there for a couple of years) that I also like in English. They have lovely associations for me, but I have no idea how they have dated in Germany over the past 30 years or so.

Anyway, hope they help.

me - Scottish
DH - Czech

name must:

1. not be religious
2. not start with a K (rules out Klara, Klaudie, Kathryn)
3. be spelled the same (or near enough) in both languages, or at least easily spelled in both languages... (rules out a lot of names!)
4. be pronouncable by both sides of the family (so no Struan, Rehor, or Viteslav)
5. not be already in our family (no Alexander, John, James, Oscar, William)
6. sound nice to me (not Alice, which is pronounced 'Al-its-eh' in Czech. sounds like a sneeze)
7. not remind either of us of anyone we knew at school (so no Matylda as DH knew a particularly wet one when he was at achool)
8. not be the names of our friends or their children (thus ruling out Martin, Filip, Emma, Oscar, Frederik)

We don't care how popular it is, as both of us have really unusual names, and have problems with them (although my name is getting more common, poor children...)

We have an Oliver :o and an Emilie on the way :o (or Teodor (Teddy) if she/he has just been hiding her/his willy at all the scans so far...)

oh, and other bilingual couples we know have the following:
Isabella, Lucie, Isabella, Lola

Alexander, Jacob, Oskar, Freddie, Peter, Tom, Ales.

Not sure if that provides any insipration though :o

Elsa or Karina? Hmmm, boys are harder. Like Oscar (or Oskar) though.

Liam? I find it fits in with most criteria and that's what we named DS