Why did nobody tell me it would be so hard?!

[MummyNotMommy]

We are trying to decide on top 3 names for our first baby, due in July (so plenty of time) but I just can't seem to whittle the lists down.
It's not even that I LOVE every name on the current list, some I'm still unsure about but I'm really struggling to identify some front runners - can you help?!

GIRLS
Tabitha
Gretchen
Agatha
Nell
Tess
Audrey
Iris
Ada
Thora
Esther
Ingrid
Romilly
Sibyl
Margaret (Maggie)
Francesca (Frankie)
Henrietta (Hetty)
Clementine
Beatrix
Annabel
Violet
Juniper

BOYS
Ludo
Arthur
Aldous
Sullivan
Huxley
Magnus
Rafferty
Barnaby
Otis
Rex
Henry
Franklin
Montgomery (Monty)
Conrad
Hugo

Any thoughts? Thanks!

My three would be-

Juniper, Romilly, (love these), Tess.

Ludo, Barnaby, Otis.

Suggestions - Otto, Rumor, Harriet (Hattie), Cosmo, Orlando

It's hard because you have such a great list! Like lots of these - better to have too many options than too few imo

My shortlist would be:

Tabitha
Juniper (love the idea of June/Junie as a nn)
Clementine
Tess
Beatrix
Esther
Romilly
Nell (but only as nn for Helena/Eleanor)

Magnus
Arthur
Conrad
Henry
Sullivan
Barnaby

Dislike: Agatha, Ada, Annabel, Henrietta, Sibyl
Rafferty, Franklin, Ludo, Hugo

A few more to consider:
Greta, Honor, Astrid, Aster, Clover, Margot, Thea, Daphne, Vita
Orson, Linus, Flynn, Rufus, Jago, Atticus, Auden, Ambrose

Good luck!

Tabitha and Beatrix are both on my list and my little boy is called Franklin - so those get my vote

Love Gretchen, Esther and Ada. All strong names. Iris and Violet are becoming very popular, I think, if that matters to you. I dislike Romilly (always makes me think of Rommel), Annabel, Clementine and Tabitha. The others are all nice enough.
For boys, I like Arthur, Henry, Ludo. Have a strong aversion to Hugo. Monty, Rex, Rafferty, Otis are going to look very 2015 in 20 years time. Don't mind others.

Love Nell & Esther

Magnus was my no.1 name for a boy, but we only have the ingredients for girls!

Thanks all! It's really helpful getting some outside perspective!

I'm keen to avoid things that are massively popular and "of the moment" but don't really move in baby circles so don't get to hear millions of names being called!

Maybe I should start hanging round schools at pick up time!

In that case I'd scratch Iris, Violet, Rex and Arthur (and maybe Francesca) if you don't want 'of the moment', as they're all currently/recently trendy. Henry too, but it's more of a perennial favourite. (I'm a teacher btw, so meet lots of children!)

I like:

GIRLS

Tabitha
Nell (as nn for Eleanor, Ellen or Penelope)
Tess (but feels a bit nickname)
Iris
Esther
Margaret (Maggie)
Francesca (Frankie)
Annabel
Violet

BOYS

Henry
Franklin
Hugo

Arthur
Monty
Hugo

Agatha
Henrietta (you never hear this anymore! So pretty)
Thora

I like your style of names!

I love lots of your girls' names. These are my favourites:
Esther
Romilly
Beatrix
Annabel

My taste in boys' names is a little more boring conventional than yours, but I like the following:
Arthur
Barnaby
Henry

A lot of differing opinions I see!

Thanks everyone - this is really helping me think of things in a different light.

If any names make you think of something, a personality trait etc. I'd be really interested to hear.

Nell
Tess
Romilly (Romy)

Rex
Franklin
Otis

I would add Gretal/ Greta rather than Gretchen

Arthur and Ludo are very popular amongst under 5s atm if you want to avoid

Agatha, Iris, Violet, juniper

Boys-sorry but none

I really like Agatha. Thats my top from your list.
It is an older classic name and you definitelly dont see lots of those. I like names which are real names but not commonly used or forgotten, this one is a gem.

Adore your names, very similar to my style too-

Favourites by far (reason? not too out there, definite actual names, but individual, not overly popular/trendy, all with hints of the whimsical, slightly hippie, but strong, not airy fairy, classy, gorgeous!!)

GIRLS

Agatha
Nell
Tess
Audrey
Iris *
Ada *
Violet *

BOYS

Huxley
Magnus
Rafferty
Rex *
Conrad *

*= absolutely LOVE

Agree with TempsPerdu re. Arthur but not the others re. scraping due to popularity, for me unless they suddenly appeared in say top 40 you just cant rule them out as any name could suddenly jump to top of charts out of blue...

2014 popularity-

Violet- no 68.

Iris- 82.

Rex - not in top 100 (yet)

Top 3 in order:
girls: Tabitha, Audrey, Henrietta
boys: Aldous, Magnus, Rex

What about Albus?

My dog is called Ludo, named after the big orange monster from Labyrinth. A child should never be called Ludo!

I like:
Iris
Ingrid
Violet

Magnus
Barnaby
Quite like Ludo but would suggest Cosmo instead.

DISCLAIMER I don't have kids or move in particularly kid-heavy circles, so can't tell you if any of these are too popular. They're just my personal lieks.

likes

Tabitha (but with Tabby as a nn) for girls, Rex (Rexy would be cute XD) for a boy.

I would be really surprised if Rex hit the top 100 any time soon. It is currently number 322 in the official stats.

We have one (born 2012) and get a lot of, 'Oh, that is.... interesting', everywhere we go. We do get some positive comments (mainly from people under the age of 20) but also a few dog comments!

Having said all of that, I love the name! I also like these from your list:

GIRLS
Tabitha
Agatha
Nell
Tess
Audrey
Iris
Romilly
Margaret (Maggie)
Henrietta (Hetty) - but prefer Etta/Ettie as a nickname

BOYS
Magnus
Rafferty
Barnaby
Henry
Hugo