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.

I'd go for Genevieve and call her Genevieve

Apart from Emma, which is a classic, your DP is stuck in 1980!

I think there's good and bad not so good on both lists

Emma - lovely, classic
Ali - no, unless it was spelt Ally or was short for something else
Leah - really like it
Amy - don't like

From your list I like Seren and Natalia, also Erin and Ruby (good middle name)
Kate makes me think of waity Katy too.

YES to Joseph, especially over Lee. I love Aidan as well.

I agree with your DH about Megan. I have a Meg and she gets Smeg, however she also gets a long list of other nicknames too and im not uptight.

I prefer your dhs list, Amy the best but prefer Aimee.

Seren sounds too much like sarin to me so would be a no in my book. Bad word association.

The list:
Emma - nice
Ali - too nicknamey and girl next doorish
Leah - nice but very 80sish; is it Leah he likes or Princess Leia?
Amy - too girl next door-ish

Callie -- too nicknamey and girl next door..

Lee (boy) -- too 70's ish
(or 1980 yes I agree here with pp were these the names of girls he went to school with by any chance?)

My list:
Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) -- nice
Seren -- lovely
Megan (I love this but DP HATES it with a passion!Says she'd be called Smegan?!!) --- I hate this name but not primarily for the same reason your DH does
Natalia -- lovely
Mercedes -- lovely but people will think you named her after the car unfortunately
Genevieve (Eve for short) -- lovely but it is not one teensy little bit Irish afaik, it is French) and Eve is nicer imo.

Joseph -- fab name

I would choose from:
Emma
Leah
Seren
Natalia
Eve - because why shorten a perfectly nice name to another perfectly nice name? If you like Eve then call her Eve. If you never intend to call her Genevieve then don't call her Genevieve.

Would you consider Leo or Alice, or Alicia?
Kate (if short for Katherine), Laura, Lara and Clara are lovely too.

I dislike Maya -- too wispy, neither here nor there as a name. It's a big crossover name from hispanic to anglo culture in the US. Maybe this would be a plus for you?
Jodie is beyond awful -- is your H is a timewarp?
Erin and Ruby I don't really like.

Joseph Lee sounds nice for a boy.

This will be brutal. Apologies.

Emma dull
Ali Not a name
Leah meh
Amy Ok ish, bit meh

Lee (boy) truly awful, please don't do this to a child

Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) pronunciation nightmare, otherwise OK
Seren OK
Megan lovely
Natalia OK
Mercedes Not so good if not living in Spain - will get car jokes forever
Genevieve (Eve for short) Awful

Joseph lovely

absolutely not natalia!!!! I unfortunately know of 3 natalias all of which have very few friends and all are horrible bullies!!! no no no!!!

Amy, Megan, seren, saiorse, Joseph - lovely names!!!

Emma - boring
Ali - not a name, will spend a lot of time correcting people
Leah - nice but very chavvy round these 'ere parts
Amy - boring

Lee (boy) - agree with others; have never met one that wasn't a total bell end.

My list:
Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) - pretty but will spend her life correcting either spelling or pronunciation.
Seren - prefer Serena.
Megan (I love this but DP HATES it with a passion!Says she'd be called Smegan?!!) - sorry not keen, although I haven't heard a Megan being called Smegan since Red Dwarf was popular in about 1995
Natalia - better than Natalie, but sounds a little silly if your surname is very standard e.g Natalia Smith
Mercedes - Benz. It used to be beautiful but now it makes me think of strippers
Genevieve (Eve for short) - gorgeous but would use Ginny as NN - so many Eve-Eva-Evie-Ava's now.

Joseph - nice, classic, popular but you can't really go wrong.

From you other ones Ruby is nice but popular, Callie is short for something else, Maya is getting increasingly popular and IME has the same spelling but several pronunciations (My-ah, Mey-ah). Catherine/Kate is so classic I don't think anyone would think you'd names her after Kate Middleton. Love Leo. and I wanted to call DS2 Reuben but its the name of a sandwich in the US & DH vetoed it on that basis.

Elizabeth (Libby, Beth)/Eliza
Holly
Kirsten
Amber
Caitlin
Olivia

Boys
Oliver
Joshua
Elijah
Harry

I think Saoirse is pretty and I would know how to pronounce it despite being American. :) (Because of the actress from the Lovely Bones)

Seren and Emma are ok. I'm Megan and have never been called Smegan. :o

I like Joseph and Jodie. Would be a nice way to honor your dad, I think.

I'd be upset people thinking my children were polish but Polish doesn't bother me.

Ok, yours are nicer.

Joseph is lovely, Lee is awful and makes me think of 'tough' little kids with grade 1 haircuts who spit in public and will probably end up in prison (that's quite a specific association isn't it but i've only ever met one nice Lee).

However, Mercedes is too much unless you live in Spain.

Ali is a unisex nn and would have people asking what the full name is. I'm not a fan of Alison, though Alice / Alicia are nice.

I love Genevieve because it has so many nns, all nice and is a great grown-up name in full.

Maya is really nice (better than Mia IMO) and Callie is nice but short for Calliope or Callista (any Greek heritage? Nice names anyway).

Amy and Emma are nice but dull, not a fan of Leah.

Hmm. I like Emma, Amy, Seren, and Joseph.

I like Kate too, of the other names you mentioned!

Oh, if you like Sasha, how about Alexander/dra? The Russian diminutive is Sasha - that's where the name comes from. Gives you an opprtunity for Ali too!

Erin is a bit fashionable at the mo, don't think it will last. It's an Irish man's name that somehow became female in the US.

I love your reason for using Ruby as a middle name. I'd do that.

What is upsetting about people thinking your children might be Polish?

Erin was never an Irish man's name that became female in the US .
Erin is a poetic name for Ireland that is used in hymns with the same theme of 'England's green and pleasant land' (for instance 'On Erin's green valleys/look down in thy love'); it's derived from the Irish term for Ireland, Eire, and was first used as a girl's name, by Irish Americans, to proclaim their pride in their heritage.

That's what the male, Irish Erin I know told me!

Wikipedia agrees with you mathanxiety, I shall have to mention this to him!

mumsnet works!! i showed DP the comments and he has finally come to realise that what he considers 'normal' names (ie 1970/80s names of people he went to school with) are no longer the norm! So we have both revised our lists.

Does Amelie Ruby flow as a name, or is it too much with them both ending in a 'ee' sound? She could have Amy as a nn if she wanted, i just think Amy is a bit dull as the proper name.

He still likes Lee as a boys name, but it's 100% not happening. I'll give in for a middle name but no way for a first name! We both love Daniel tho, to the point i may relegate my dads name as a middle name for it, so

Daniel Joseph or
Joseph Lee?

I prefer your list overall OP

DP's list:
Emma- Just sooo boring

• Ali- also boring

Leah- yep, boring again Amy- dull dull dull

Lee (boy)- Really dislike this name

My list:
Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha)- lovely, love the way it's spelt
Seren- lovely
Megan (I love this but DP HATES it with a passion!Says she'd be called Smegan?!!)- i'm with your DP on this one
Natalia- ok
Mercedes- Awful, really awful
Genevieve (Eve for short)- gorgeous name

Joseph- really like it, prefer Joseph to Joe though

Aidan and Owen- Gorgeous names

Aaron- Don't like it

So, i'd say for a girl go for Saoirse, Seren or Genevieve.

For a boy go for Joeseph, Owen or Aidan