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?

I am INCREDIBLY picky about names. My rules meant we didn't have a very long list!

• nothing the poor kid would have to spell at people (our surname is a bugger for that)
• nothing that would date stamp them (ie nothing really popular for that year)
• nothing too biblical (I'm atheist)
• nothing too trendy or otherwise out there
• no surnames as first names (Harrison, Jackson etc)
• nothing that ended in an "ee" sound (surname again) - deliberately chose names that could be shortened without breaching that rule
• no diminutives as a given name (eg Tom, Ben, Archie)

We ended up with very traditional, unpopular but unremarkable names ??

Oh yes - it had to also pass the FTSE CEO/High Court judge test.

Any nicknames had to begin with the first letter of the Sunday Best name.

No hyphen-leighs/double barrel
No surnames as a first name
No more than 1 middle name
No names ending in a vowel for boys
No names with 'unique' spellings
None of the faddy names that end in 'den'
No synonyms or adjectives - i.e Hope, Faith etc
I'm another who said no to diminutives
No names after drinks, cars or places
No Names from TV programs

I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now.