Can't seem to decide, any help or suggestions please!

[LexiLexi]

Hi

We are expecting our first baby in June and can't seem to decide on names! Would very much appreciate your thoughts on the list below and also any other suggestions.

Girls names
Ella
Emma / Emily (lovely but perhaps too plain?)
Harriet (Hattie)
India
Katherine (prefer Kitty but don't like the idea of a shortened name on a birth certificate)
Lucia (pronounced the Italian way)
Maya
Zara

Boys names
Felix
Finlay (Finn)
Malachi (Kai)
Oliver (Ollie) possibly too popular
Sonny
Theodore (Ted)
Thomas (Tom) possibly too popular
Zachary (Zac)

Assuming you're in England/Wales:

Ella #16
Emma #49
Emily #5
Harriet #71
Hattie #449
India #130
Katherine #169 (Catherine #233, Kathryn #615)
Kitty #199
Lucia #185
Maya #58 (Maia #218, Mya #105)
Zara #73

Boys names
Felix #131
Finlay #66 (Finley #34)
Finn #136
Malachi #225
Kai #56
Oliver #2
Ollie #73
Sonny #108
Theodore #124
Ted #237
Teddy #156
Thomas #6
Tom #197
Tommy #65
Zachary #45
Zac #123 (Zack #146, Zach #168)

If you're ruling out Thomas and Oliver, you might want to scratch Emily off your list too.

On the whole, a nice bunch of names but I think Ella/Emily/Emma/Maya are overdone and that Finlay/Finn/Kai/Sonny/Zachary will date badly.

Harriet is lovely but seems to be on the up. Lucia will cause a lot of pronunciation difficulties - loo-see-ah, loo-chee-ah, loo-thee-ah, etc. It's very pretty though.

I think I'd probably plump for Katherine or Zara off your girls' list and Felix, Theodore or Thomas off your boys' list. They seem like fairly classic names to me.

If you want the nickname Ted, you should also consider Edward, Edwin, Edmund.

If you like Zachary and Zac, you might like Jeremy and Jack.

Like Maya & Zara and Finlay & Zachary best.

Ella is pretty, Emma is sweet and not that common these days, not keen on Emily or Harriet or India, cant go too far wrong with Katherine though would shorten to Kate, and Lucia would probably get mispronounced quite alot so that would put me off.

Felix makes me think cat, Malachi is nice but dont like Kai, Oliver is very popular but ok, dont like Sonny or Thomas, and I like Theo but not Theodore or Ted.

Other suggestions:
Sofia, Farrah, Layla, Freya, Saffron, Robyn, Carla, Mia

Dexter, Heath, Amos, Drew, Louis, Nathaniel (Nate), Dominic, Sebastian

Thanks Gwennan, we hadn't considered the issues of names dating or pronunciation difficulties, so will bear those in mind! I do like Edward shortened to Ted, but a tad concerned there could be a deluge if The Royals have a son as this is a likely choice.

Littlecherublegs thank you for the additional suggestions, I like Sofia and Mia and Louis is likely to prove popular with the family as it was one of my great-grandfather's names. Hadn't thought about the association between Felix and cats...

Any more suggestions/ opinions gratefully received !

For what it's worth, I don't think the royals will have an Edward because of Prince Edward being William's uncle. I think they'll go back a bit further or use something in the direct line (like Charles).

You might also want to consider Lara, Martha, Juliet, Charlotte, Eleanor, Helena, Clara, Jemima, Dinah, Hester, Esther, Louisa, Caroline, Cecilia, Ellen, Eliza, Hannah, Julia, Susanna, and Gaia; Francis (Frank), Frederick (Fred), Benedict (Ben), Josiah, Timothy (Tim), Isaac, Isaiah, Reuben, Rufus, Franklin, Alexander, Samuel (Sam), Edgar, Everett, Philip (Pip), Tobias (Toby), Flynn, Stanley (Stan), Leo, Raymond (Ray), and Peter (Pete).

Gwennan, thank you for the list, there are lots of names we like on it, particularly Juliet, Louisa, Ellen and Gaia and for the boys Reuben, Alexander, Tobias, Flynn and Peter but unfortunately all have been used by close friends of ours!

We have decided to narrow down/ amend our list as follows, any thoughts opinions most welcome, particularly any inspiration for girls names, which we are struggling with more than the boys:

Girls names
Harriet (Hattie)
India
Katherine (prefer Kitty but don't like the idea of a shortened name on a birth certificate)
Lucia (pronounced the Italian way)
Mia
Zara

Boys names
Edward (Ted)
Felix
Malachi (Kai)
Sonny
Theodore (Ted)
Thomas (Tom) possibly too popular

Zara
Katherine (Kitty I LOVE)
Harriet (Hettie?)

went to school with an Italian Lucia - lovely!

Boys

Felix
Theodore (love Ted and Theo)

Tom and Zac too popular and plain I feel

How about

Gabriel (Gabe or Gabey)
Sebastian (Seb)
Elijah (Eli)

Can't go wrong with Katherine and Edward.

Both classic and don't date.

Both offer lots of variations suitable for all ages.

Thank you all for your comments. We are now down to the final 3 for both boys and girls, though are less happy with the girls list, so any further suggestions welcome, as well as any thoughts on our shortlist!

Girls names
Harriet (Hattie)
India
Katherine (prefer Kitty but don't like the idea of a shortened name on a birth certificate)

Boys names
Edward (Ted)
Felix
Theodore (Ted / Theo)

Love Harriet but I prefer Harri as a nickname
India is just beautiful
Katherine is also lovely
What about Meredith? Or Freya?

Out of your boys names I think Felix is my favourite followed by Edward.

You have fab taste in names btw!

OP you've picked lovely names, and now you have been very efficient narrowing down choices, well done .

I think of your boys' names I'd go for Theodore, and umm, for a girl, ooh it's difficult, I have championed India elsewhere on Baby Names but this time I'll say Katherine.

Thank you so much for all your comments & suggestions has been helpful in arriving at our shortlist. Think we mull over during the next couple of weeks. However any further thoughts most welcome.

India and Kitty are both gorgeus names, really lovely. Mia is sweet but very popular. i also really really like Lucia. for Kitty you could have Katya on the birth certificate if you prefered it to Katherine.

Elsa

Saskia

Miranda

Lois

Ines

Soraya
for boys, i like Edward. what about Joel and Fabian?

Oh thank you for the suggestions, I do like Indiana as an alternative to India & Katya for Katherine. Also Saskia is pretty & Fabian will go on our boys names list.

Decisions, decisions.....