What were/are your baby name "rules"

[MuddyWellyNelly]

Currently 14+5 so very early days. I know we will struggle to pick, and don't even know where to start. So, curious to know what guidelines anyone worked to. I'm thinking:

No names of ex-es
No direct family names (OH is the 3rd generation with the same name ). Might be ok for middle name though
No matching letter first and surname (not sure about this one, but OHs surname begins with L and I think LL names might sound a bit porn-star like!)
No names close friends have recently used
No names from our offices/bosses
No names we've had pets with rules out Tinkerbell
No name with current celebrity connotations (unusual ones only such as Idris or Rhianna)

That's already ruling out a lot! We also haven't agreed on which surname we will use. Could be a long 6 months.....

Anyone else have a set of guidelines?

Mine were quite similar to yours, although we are fine with alliteration.

I also ruled out any names that weren't culturally relevant - e.g. I love lots of Irish and Welsh names, but wouldn't use them a we are neither Irish nor Welsh, and only considered "traditional" names. These points are just personal preference, though. Ideally we also wanted names outside the top 100, although didn't stick strictly to that - one of our DCs has a fairly popular name which we had family reasons for using.

Similar to you

No name an immediate family member already has
Everyone to have a different initial
Everyone to have a proper name, not a made up on, and not a name of a car or an alcoholic drink etc
Each name to be recognisable (to English speakers), pronounceable and easy to spell

Having worked with a lot of children, over a lot of years, some names got ruled out as I immediately associated them with particular children too - not sure that was a rule though.

I ruled out pretty much nothing. If I liked it, that was fine.

Do ruled out every nameof a person he's ever met. Except for Jack

By dc2, we went by my rules.

Nothing where it wasn't immedietley obvious how to pronounce/spell it. I really didn't want my DD to have a life of having to spell out her name or correct people's pronunciation.

no family names incl cousins (this ruled out a LOT)
Biblical
Worked for Jewish and Christian heritage
Not a nickname - I'm one who likes the given name to be the full name and worry about nicknames later.

Ours were pretty average.

A name that would be cute for a baby/child, mature for an adult and suited them as and elderly person. Something that they wouldn't be embarrassed of in the future & would carry them through life.

I'd Google the full name to see what comes up.
Nothing in the top 10
Nothing they'd spend their lives spelling out
No granny names
No wag dc name
No food/drink names
Avoid very biblical
Check full initials
Nothing on the extremes of the class divide
Nothing with a 'modern' spelling
A names that goes with other siblings
A name that isn't completly at odds with heritage
Not an 'ugly' name

Hmmmmm:

Cultural relevance but balanced (dh Portuguese but has to be appropriate here i.e., no Alfredo/Domingos but equally no Rosa or Claudia as they're the equivalent of Kelly or Stacey in Portugal!)

Not made up.

Long version not short version, preferably lots of shortenings so that they have options when they're older as well as a sunday name.

Not used by a family member recently

Both like it

Goes well with surname

nothing in the top 100.
not a name of anyone we'd ever known.

Wow loads, thanks. The Google one is a good one that I'm surprised I didn't think of.

The list might be quite short at this rate though

I like your rules OP!

We had most of those I think (certainly the same initials as surname one, as matching initials with our surname sound especially bad for some reason!)

We also had:
Two syllables (we have a two syllable surname so didn't want to overload it but one syllable sounded not enough)
No names ending in -n (our surname does and again it sounded daft, eg Megan Logan)
No made up names (I know all names are made up but YKWIM)
Ideally a trad name from the turn of the century/old English (tho at one point this led me to put Fairfax on my list! I was pg tho!!)
No names of exes!

Yes also no names where initials spelled out a silly word (unlikely in our case) or names from other cultures (very personal preference there but I would find a Polish name (for example) an odd choise as none of us has any Polish link)

It had to be a name we both loved... Think that's it . Luckily the only name we both loved neither of us know a single one.

Ooh that Google one is a good idea.

Ours are basically:

Nothing too "bouncy" (our surname is double-barrelled, so there is a risk there)
Nothing too poncey/posh (again, double-barrelled, not good)
Nothing too popular
No names that start with S (as it would give unfortunate initials)

Umm...that's about it. We're having trouble finding names we even like without imposing too many rules!

Our rules were

• no name ending in an 'ee' sound as DH's surname has that.

• a classic name that everyone would recognise and be able to spell
• but not too popular
• DS has my father's name ( it was going to be middle but we realised it met all the criteria for the first name) and DD has my mother's name as a middle name
• no name already used by close friends or cousins for their DC

Nothing faddy, nothing too popular, but still traditional and a normal/sensible spelling.
Not Ace.

My partner was deeply saddened by this and I just felt pleased for our baby she's a girl for that reason.

My DCs have names from a country DH has never even visited. The same initials as each other ON PURPOSE. Middle names with no meaning other then they went with the first name. I love their names

Yes we ended up ruling lots out for similar reasons. Definitely wanted a name that would suit them as a baby, child, teenager and adult- so 'cute' names were out.
We ended up compiling a list and then took it in turns to cross one name off. Did this a few times and ended up with the same name so went for it and love it:)

No names that could be shortened (Samuel, Thomas, Catherine etc).

Nothing too popular
Nothing that won't work in the US and the UK and Ireland
Nothing from a culture/language we're not from
Nothing beginning with L (L surname)
Nothing ending in -el or -elle e.g. Chantelle, Rachel etc. because we have a surname ending in an -el sound and we didn't want a rhyme
Nothing too obscure
Nothing that isn't the most common spelling of that name (my maiden name is a very uncommon spelling of a common surname and it was a PITA when people endlessly thought they knew better than me how my name was spelt)
No nicknames/shortenings rather than full names e.g. Katherine not Katie
Nothing that an existing close family member already has, especially those who have the same surname as us.
No same initials as me or DH
So not too many rules then!

Oh, and definitely agree with PP about thinking about the fact that you're really naming an adult, not a child, as that's how most of his/her life will be spent. Tinkerbell might be cute on a six year old, not so convincing on a high court judge. (Apologies to parents of Tinkerbells).

Solid name that would not sound ridiculous on a grown person
Nothing from top 20
Remember that a baby is only a baby for a short time, the biggest part of his/her life will be spent as a grown adult and not necessary in a country where he/ she is born. The name therfore has to be clear.
I lived in several countries and worked for a big multinational and met quite some people who had to shorten/change/adjust their names so it would be widely understood. So when choosing a name for my boy i really thought of this so he wont have to do such things.

My rules were that the name wouldn't date, wouldn't cause undue embarrassment as well as not too complicated to spell!!

However I had wrongly assumed dd was going to be a ds throughout the pregnancy and will admit to not putting too much thought into her name I went with a name I love and that has relevance to our family however it is very popular at the moment.

Jimmy . We also chose a middle name just because we liked it.