can you help us compromise?

[mrsnec]

Dh and I had our first chat about names and I feel we are poles apart on it. He thinks it's still too early to decide but I want to have a bigger list by then. Anyway, we're only having one and don't know the sex yet.

His choices are James and Kirsty.
James is too popular and with Kirsty it's meaning and origin are inappropriate for us and I just don't like it.

My choices are Gregory and Yvonne.
He gets where I got Gregory from. Classic name with greek origin, not too common religious or royal,nice meaning too. He just doesn't love it. He hates Yvonne despite the fact that it was my grandmother's name and I was very close to her. He doesn't want anything too old fashioned.

We have a very common English surname and our first names aren't very common as in I've only met one other of each of us. (although in both cases can think of a few American celebs) I like it when children have names that aren't too out there compared to those of their parents.

On that info can you think of any names we might both like?
European sounding names are good. Our child will probably go to a greek school we are English but also have Welsh, French and austrian heritage between us.

With a common surname I would avoid James - too common.

I really like Gregory or how about Dominic or Quentin?

For girls how about Athena or Arianne?

Hi and congratulations

How about Evette? It has the same meaning as Yvonne but can be shortened to Eve or Evie.

Alexander would be nice for a boy. Still has Greek links and not too common these days

What about Cassandra or Cassia for a girl? Nice strong names that arent too out there and you could give Yvonne as a middle name. Or Lydia is nice. Or what about Ivan for a boy?

If he really hates Yvonne, would he compromise as that as a middle name?

James is very common, in DS's preschool there are 3. If you've got a common surname there's a high chance of them meeting someone else with the same name completely (my maiden name was the most common in the UK, my first name was the top name of the year I was born, when I got to uni, I discovered there was a girl with the exact same first, middle and surname as me who was born on the same date. I found this when they mixed up our medical records at the uni doctors)

Thanks all!

That is a good point Mary. Rachel, I had considered Dominic but there is a famous one with our surname. If we go for a common first name we'd go for a more unusual middle name. Dh and I were both given boring middle names deliberately in case we didn't like our first names! His middle name is Paul and mine is Elizabeth.in my family there was a tradition of giving the parents first name as the middle name but I'm going to sack that even if it offends my dm!

He suggested Jamie when I said no to James which is awful! Also I think J names are out as J is written as Tz here which i don't like.

Not sure about Quentin.
Arianne and Evette are going on the list though.
I'm still hoping I can convince him of Gregory. He didn't really like either middle name I chose for that.( Hugo or Franklin)
Alexander is also an option but I wonder if it sounds odd with an 'er' surname
Will look into cassandra, Lydia and Ivan too.
Thanks for the suggestions!

On another note am I too early when did you all start thinking names?

I'm warming to Quentin but now worrying we're not posh enough to pull it off?

You both like very 70's names. I do like James though. Not keen on others.

What about George, Rory, Gus (Augustus), miles,

Kathleen/Katherine with nick name kitty/Katy.

Thanks for the response viking.

George is out as there's already a baby geore in the family. I like it but it's a bit too royal and not keen on its meaning. Rory, Gus and Miles all worth considering and work. With our surname.

Re the girls suggestions those are the names of mil and sil. Mil hates her name and changed it. I don't get on with sil.

Yes we are both children of the 70's (he was born in 75 me in 77)and have a bit of a passion for the era. That and the 80's. So we can go old fashioned to that extent but not further. If I got my own way with Yvonne she would have margurite as her middle name which made dh cringe!

I put Melissa on my list as I like its greek meaning. Dh likes it but I only like it as a middle name. I'd put it with a floral first name but not Rose but couldn't think of any that go except jasmine but is that 2 stripper names?Also back to girls names my grandmother was also known as Bonnie which I like but wonder if it's too much like an nn.

Don't you also spell Yvette with a y? (as oppose to Evette) Regardless, I like Yvette but really don't like Yvonne for some reason (I think it's just that I can't imagine it on a baby)

I do like Kirsty, James and Gregory but no good if you don't both agree of course.

Ummm, how about:
Alisha, Bryony, Caroline, Claire, Dawn, Denise, Erin, Fiona, Frances, Gloria, Georgia, Hannah, Helen, Hazel, Isobel, Iona, Judith, Judy, Jacqueline, Josie, Julie, Julia, Jasmine, Kate, Karen, Kimberly, Lydia, Linda, Leslie, Lisa, Michelle, Morag, Miriam, Mary, Maria, Nicole, Nancy, Paige, Polly, Ruth, Rita, Rachel, Roisin, Sarah, Samantha, Stephanie, Sadie, Stella, Suzanne, Sylvia, Simone, Tiffany, Tegan, Vanessa, Wendy, Yasmin, Zoe.

Adam, Anthony, Bradley, Cameron, Darren, David, Euan, Fergus, Gareth, Ian, John, Jonathan, Jack, Jim, Kenneth, Luke, Liam, Lester, Matthew, Mark, Martin, Michael, Nathan, Nigel, Owen, Peter, Phillip, Robert, Richard, Robin, Simon, Stephen, Timothy, Vincent, Victor, Wilfred, Walter

Thanks manic, I think you're right about Evette/Yvette.

Some great suggestions! You have good taste, my first name is on your list. I like the other 'N' name on there too. And Stella and Gloria but they're probably too retro!

Not so inspired by the boys but I think that's harder anyway quite like Anthony though the rest are just kids from school or ex-boyfriends!

Evette is a french name. Can also be spelled Yvette but I prefer the E. Seems more modern to me.

I like the suggestions of Gregory, Hugo and Quentin (we have one, and we're not the slightest bit posh btw). I would probably avoid James with a very common surname.
For girls I like the suggestion of Cassia, Stella or how about Sophia?

thanks Rosie. French names are good. I think I'll put both spellings on the list as I don't mind either.

Sonnie still worth considering those then. Had thought about Sophia. I do absolutely love it, always have but it's ridiculously popular here still there'd be 15 in her class with the rest being Christina!

What about retro names like Jeannie or Joanie, Francis aka Frankie.
Johnny, Eric, yves, guy, ivo, ivon,

Thanks again Viking, Jeanie is a bit too retro. Any names derived from John I feel the same way as I do about James. Frankie names will be considered though as fil is one. Eric I couldn't do because of the Simon Cowell connection but Yves and Guy are not bad.

For boys though I still keep coming back to Gregory! I didn't think I'd get a good response to it. I thought most people would think about the connections to the northern pie shops and that idiot off Masterchef. I think of Dr House first though I was a big fan of that character!

Shortlists are building up nicely though.