Lara -- LOVE; short and sweet and light and with a slightly German feel to it like Clara.
Alanah/Alana or Lana -- Like Alana a lot; has a lovely meaning in Irish.
*LANA is a different name imo, more of a grown up name, makes me think sultry actress and not child or granny.
Meredith -- Dislike; clunky sounding and a bit harsh to my ear.
Juno -- Like; short and sassy, a classical name that sounds modern.
Matilda -- LOVE, and love Tilda as a nn. Nice solid Germanic name that is still feminine but avoids being fluffy.
Tamara -- Like; underused biblical name.
Lois -- Dislike; sounds prim to me.
Marnie -- Really dislike; rhymes with sarnie, sounds like a blowsy waitress in a greasy diner.
Nora/Norah -- LOVE; lovely as nn for Honor/Honora and also on its own. Feminine but not fluffy.
Seren -- LOVE; sweet Welsh name with lovely meaning.
Nola -- LOVE; short and sweet and light, like Lara, but has a Jazz feel to it too. Sounds modern without at all falling into the same category as Maddison and Peyton. Lovely as a nn for the Irish name Finola or on its own.
Cameron -- DISLIKE for a girl. Better for a boy.
Roman -- Like a lot; very solid international name.
Seth -- DISLIKE; to me this is what snakes would say, if snakes could sssspeak.
Rory/Ruari -- LOVE; great Irish and Scottish name. Conveys 'all boy' sort of boy to me.
Aneirin -- ABSOLUTELY ADORE; fabulous Welsh name, Nye is a great nn.
Jasper -- Like but associate it somewhat with Irish setters.
Rafferty -- DISLIKE; reminds me of the term 'riff raff'. Just a random Irish surname unless it's a family name.
*Much prefer Raftery, after the great Irish poet Antoine O Raifteiri (1784-1835).
Louis -- LOVE; another international name, like Roman.
Finn -- MEH; too popular now in all its incarnations.
Flynn -- DISLIKE; reminds me of 'skinflint'. Too surnamey, too close to the uberpopular Finn.
Malachi -- Like a lot whether inspired by the Bible or the Irish name.
Ned -- DISLIKE; is a nickname, is a pejorative term in Scotland.
*Would use Edward but that is a popular name right now.
Ralph -- Dislike; means to barf and there are negative Judy Blume associations too.
Jonas -- LOVE; East European solid name, nicer than plain John imo.
Elizabeth is a nice middle name that goes with a multitude of others. Same goes for Isobel, Olivia, Anneliese, Marianne, Margaret, Frances..
For boys, Patrick, Oliver, Michael, William, James, John, Henry all match a lot of first names.
-- a mixture of classics and modern popular names with a classical feel in other words.
Family names can make good middle name choices (depending on the names of course).