Classic/vintage girl's names - help...!

[UsedToBeASize10]

My OH and I are expecting a girl around Jan time and we are at loggerheads over possible names for her. After much discussion, it has become very clear that our styles are poles apart. My style is classic - old fashioned, even (though not extremely so) and he is more...could I say....classic BUT dated? Here are our comparative lists, so you get the idea:

Me: Alice, Eliza, Lucy, Elsa, Emily, Annabel, Esme
Him: Hannah, Rebecca, Andrea, Chloe, Jessica.

I myself grew up with a name I quite disliked (I never actually told my parents though!). As an adult, it's kind of ok, but my name was about ten years or so behind the times. It would be like calling a girl something like Sharon or Barbara now - it's just too dated (and hasn't yet had a revival...but watch this space, I think!). Do you get what I mean?

So, what I need really are some compromise suggestions. I do like Rebecca but dislike the nickname Becky (and it would be inevitable) but I don't like his other suggestions. We both have the same criteria - something that will age well and fit any sort of job! And no flower names. Basically, we are absolutely stumped. He hates my suggestions (which is soul destroying - as his are much less attractive!).

I appreciate your help! x

I see what you mean. And fwiw, I like your choices better than his. There's nothing wrong with the names on his list but they're a bit bland compared to yours. And yes, a bit more dated, I guess.

I'm rubbish at suggesting names (sorry) but will watch with interest to see what ideas others have.

Where do you both stand on Alexandra?
Josephine?
Helen
Eleanor

Your OH's names are basically the people I went to school with! The nanes I've suggested are also people I went to school with, but I think their names are a bit more ageless.

Becky is not necessarily the inevitable nickname for Rebecca. I know two who are known as Becca, which is lovely, and much nicer than Becky.

Surely Lucy would fit into both those lists?

If not Hannah what about Anna?

Anna/Annie, Helen/ Ellen/Eleanor, Catherine (and its many variants), Mary, Lucy, Emma

All pretty timeless

Lucy is DD1's name.... The ONLY one we were able to compromise on at the time! It took months. I used my fave name in the middle spot in case I had no more daughters (silly me) but actually it doesn't fit with our surname anyway. OH's mum is Ann, but I quite like Anna. He thinks it's a bit too much. Stuck is an understatement!

Please use Alice, it's my name and I just love it. I wish I wasn't my name so I could call my child it! It's classic and not too unusual, but also not common either.

BikeRunSki - I said exactly that! In my class at school! Alongside the Karens, Helens and Sarahs!

Some which could fit on either list and may be worth a thought:

Sophie
Charlotte
Olivia
Grace
Victoria
Abigail
Georgia

Any good?

Oooh yes, Mary is lovely. I also like Marianne and Marie.

Or... Juliet, Arabella, Rachel, Beatrice?

Ruth is one of my favourites. I wanted to use that but DH vetoed it :(

When in doubt, go with Elizabeth.

BetweenTwoLungs it's my name too, and those are the reasons I love it too. It's dd's middle name too.

Catherine - in full, although it will inevitably be shortened
Julia
Susannah
Alexandra

Or what about Naomi

FWIW, I think your husband's choices are more timeless than yours. Old lady names like Elsa and Esme are having a moment now, but because of that will sound dated when two syllable names starting with E go out of fashion. On the other hand while I went to school myself with a handful of Hannahs, people I went to school with now have children called Hannah and I know people in my grandparent's generation called Hannah. Same with Chloe. Isn't one of the tests of a timeless, classic name one that you can think of people you went to school with that have the name and you can still imagine a child with that name?

Anna, Catherine, Rose and Elizabeth definitely fit into the I-can-think-of-people-from-different-generations-with-that-name category. Biblical names are also quite safe because even when they go out of fashion for a while they then tend to recycle themselves faster than other names (Hannah, Rebecca or Sarah even).

I like both lists.

Your OHs list isn't dated though! (apart from Andrea)
For 2013:
Jessica ranked 6 with 3507 babies
Chloe ranked 18 with 2401 babies
Hannah ranked 44 with 1243 babies
Rebecca ranked 114 with 478 babies
Andrea ranked 626 with 65 babies

Compared to your list your and his tastes seem fairly similar in popularity:
Emily ranked 3 with 4039 babies
Alice ranked 27 with 1749 babies
Lucy ranked 28 with 1683 babies
Esme ranked 58 with 1032 babies
Eliza ranked 59 with 1007 babies
Annabel ranked 112 with 484 babies
Elsa ranked 183 with 286 babies

Are you sure you don't have more common ground than you thought - top 150ish pretty, feminine, well recognised and quite timeless names?

I'm a Rebecca. I admit that I get Becky more often than I like but I just tell people I prefer to be called Rebecca (or Becca/Bex if they have to shorten). I don't think Becky is inevitable. I have a teenage relative who is also Rebecca and has never been known as anything else.

Based on your lists, how about:
Abigail, Alexis, Alicia, Amelia, Bethany, Beatrice, Charlotte, Claire, Cassandra, Claudia, Cecilia, Emma, Emmeline, Eleanor, Erica, Erin, Esther, Felicity, Francesca, Florence, Georgina, Georgia, Gabriella, Grace, Helena, Isabel, Imogen, Joanna, Josephine, Juliet, Katie, Kathryn, Lydia, Madeleine, Miranda, Melissa, Matilda, Natalie, Natasha, Olivia, Philippa, Phoebe, Rachel, Rhiannon, Sophia, Sophie, Stephanie, Sadie, Stella, Tara, Victoria, Vanessa, Xanthe, Yasmin, Zara.

Nina? Greta?

Polly

My DSIS had a similar problem - she loved Rebecca but OH at the time hated it. They went with Emma in the end, with Rebecca as middle name.

Emily
Amy / Aimee
Freya
Rachael
Georgia

Rebecca is lovely! What about

Louise/Louisa
Sahra
Rachel
Harriet
Jennifer/Jenny
Tirean
Mairead
Charlotte

manic had a good list.
My vote is for Eleanor/Elanor/Leonora.
Nn Nora falls into your category of classic revival names, but as a full name fits with your dh's criteria of (more recently) classic and not hugely popular.

Having a similar issue with my OH (also due a DD in January)

Thankfully we've now agreed on a mane - and a back-up - but its taken fucking ages.

• we have agreed on a name even

Beatrice and back up is Elizabeth.