please adjudicate...

[iheartmycat]

between me and DP! We've got a while to go but don't seem to be on the same page at all name-wise! Which of our lists would you discount and why? (Feel free to be honest - don't want to saddle child with name I think is amazing but everyone else it ever meets thinks is ridiculous)

DP's list:
Emma
Ali
Leah
Amy

Lee (boy)

My list:
Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha)
Seren
Megan (I love this but DP HATES it with a passion!Says she'd be called Smegan?!!)
Natalia
Mercedes
Genevieve (Eve for short)

Joseph

Thanks.

Have you thought of Mercy? It's a shortening of Mercedes but of course is a "virtue" name in its own right.

DP's list:
Emma very plain
Ali i'd think it was a boy, but there is Ally Sheedy...
Leah very biblical
Amy very common, will date

Lee (boy) hate this, awful they are all chavs

My list:
Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) stick to middle name as no one will pr it right
Seren ok but sounds a bit pretentious
Megan (I love this but DP HATES it with a passion!Says she'd be called Smegan?!!) fine, a bit of the moment, and maybe like 'smag' for red dwarf fans
Natalia love this plus talia nn
Mercedes you just really cant do that to a child!
Genevieve (Eve for short) pronounciation problems, cant contril nn- might be ginny, gene, viv, jenny

Joseph a bit Stalin but if you have to use it...
Aidan a bit common but ok
Aaron ah-ron or a (as in ape) ron will be the question asked all his life
Owen very welsh but ok

Callie I'd think it was a nn for Calista
Ruby I like it but it is very of the moment
Maya this is my favourite, great name

Don't like your list, sorry.

Emma is the nicest. It's a classic for a reason.

I also prefer your DP's list. I like all his names though Ali does sound like a nn to me. Of yours, I like Natalie best (not so much Natalia).

Emma (love) and Joseph. Not keen on the others.

thanks -as it definately has car connotations, Mercedes is off the list. I'm put of Mercy, because all it makes me think of is a slightly unhinged woman screeching it a few years ago on x-factor!

It will (would have) been both sets of grandparents ruby wedding in the month baby is due, which made me think that Ruby would be nice as a first or maybe middle name. But friends have recently named their dog this!

I do like Emma, as I would imagine there aren't that many of them around at the moment. I've also loved Kate for a long time, but would be frightened people might think I'd named her after waity katy!!

Any other suggestions? :)

DP's list:
Emma. Good choice my name !
Ali . No
Leah . No
Amy . Maybe

Lee (boy). No . Awful .

My list:
Saoirse No
Seren . No . I like Serena though . Seren just looks like a spelling mistake
Megan Not too bad
Natalia . Maybe , but it's a Christmas name
Mercedes . Lovely
Genevieve Lovely

Joseph . Lovely

Emma is far and away the nicest name on that list and of all names generally

Genevieve is ok.

Others not my cup of tea.

I like Leah and Joseph

Ali is not good for a girl, its more of a boy's name?!

You could go for Natalia with the stated aim of having Ali or Lia (Leah) as a shortening

If he hates Megan then you need to delete it

As for Lee, it's a bit of a 'meh' name so I prefer Joseph

I like Emma, Megan & Genevieve (but not Eve for short)

Maya is beautiful, prob my fave.

Love the name Joseph biased :).

I like Emma, Saoirse, Kate, and Natalia/Natalie of your lists combined. Suggestions:

Saskia
Sasha
Erin
Eloise
Louisa
Susannah
Anna
Thea
Clara
Juliet
Elsa
Josephine

I say go for Ruby!

Your DP's list is very 80's, I went to school with several Emma's, Leah's and Amy's. Ali is horrid I'm afraid.
Lee is another 80's name to me, not that nice.

Joseph is a classic name, it's great. I'd have used it for my ds except my DH pronounces it "Josieve"

I like Natalia best out of your girl's names, or Seren.

Leah is very popular at the moment.

One DC I know was going to be Leah Kate right up until she was born. Then she became Amelia.

I hate the name Lee. Maybe it's just the Lee's I've met, but it's a bit 'Kevin' to me, in the sense of: I can't believe someone would call their child that without a family connection to the name when there are so many nice names out there.

Love Joseph though.

Lee's? Lees.

Genevieve and Joseph are the only ones to my personal taste.

Good luck, OP!

Thanks all! I should have added that the only reason I was even letting him think about Lee is because it's my beloved granny's maiden name. Hearing how it's universally disliked has just made me dig my heels in more about Joseph! Tho I do also like Aidan, Aaron, Caleb and Reuben.

Thanks for the girls suggestions - I'm really liking Erin, Clara and Sasha - i love the 'sh' sound in girls names. I also like Laura and Lara.

It's so much harder than I thought it would be!!

I think Emma is timeless, It was my Grandmother's name (she would have been 95 this year), it is also the name of one of my friends who is 36.

Similarly, Joseph was my Grandfather's name and also the name of DS1, 25.

These two are my favourites for obvious reasons!!

I do like your taste Iheart, I have a Sasha and a Joseph :).

Saoirse is really pretty I think. But your DD will probably have to spend her life telling people how to pronounce and spell it (unless living in Ireland).

Ali as a stand alone name for a girl is just bizarre. Makes you think of Mohammed Ali, Ali G, etc.

Lee works as a middle name - Joseph Lee.

If you needed to offer your DH some kind of crumbs