Are there any names you aren't/weren't 'brave enough' to use?

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I would love to use these for a boy;
Torey
Tracey
Remus
Armand

And for a girl;
Albany
Serenity

But it hasn't happened... Yet!

I loved Solomon, Moses or Seth for a boy (DP banned them completely) - little Mo Oursurname would have been such a groover!

When I was pg, I loved the word Holland.
We are not Dutch and have no particular connection to Holland. I just loved the consonant and vowel combo.
We didn't chose it - DP was like when I kept suggesting it - but our chosen name has been mentioned here.
I also wanted Darling as a middle name for all my kids, but even I now see how naff that is kind of

I love Tatiana and Valentina for girls but I'm not brave enough and don't think they'd work with our backgrounds, but will be using an Irish name for one of my babies despite not being Irish . I love Roman and Channing for boys but I'm pg with girls

Btw I realise Holland is not really a boys name but I was very hormonal and listening to a lot of Mumford and Sons

Bah, Bethan. Not Bethany, despite my kindle's constant insistence. Name your own child, autocorrect.

Anton. I would have loved to name DS that.. DH kind of vetoed it, because to him it sounded like "Ant 'an [Dec]".

I love Gertrude for a girl but I'd be afraid the child would never forgive me. Dh has vetoed Sebastian for a boy.

I went to an interview for a big supermarket chain when I was a graduate (long ago, 1985) which was held at a hotel. Some people had to share rooms & they had two interesting/difficult situations with Traceys & Lesleys.

Santiago. It goes beautifully with ds1's name but just feels a bit... Much? Even with mixed heritage.

Where do you all live? I ask because there were considerably more unusual names than these floating about on the NCT coffee scene in my bit of London when I had a newborn (with a name so unusual in this country it didn't feature in the individualised stats for his year of birth...) Is the London/rest of the country divide so complete when it comes to names? Surely Londoners can't be so much 'braver'? Is it simply the fact that it's much more multicultural, so not everyone is going with Henry, Oscar, George and Arlo?

We are a very multicultural family, but very conscious how a distinctly "foreign" name might cause problems with stupid nicknames, misspelling, etc. We live in a somewhat mixed area, but not very diverse. DS now has a name which has the same spelling and pronunciation throughout a lot of the World. We want to keep the world open to him the same way it has been open to us, without puzzled faces, endless spelling out, sniggering, etc.

Socalled I'm in London too. I think it is partly the multicultural thing, but only in certain pockets - I'm a teacher in a very culturally diverse area - most of the children I teach wouldn't bat an eyelid at 'unusual' names, or even particularly notice that a name was unusual, as the range of names is so varied (including plenty of ethnic names that don't 'work', or even sound vaguely offensive to English ears).

Seems to be only certain areas though - many of my own friends live in more culturally homogenous London suburbs, and they are very unadventurous in their naming choices - anything other than the very mainstream names (Sophie, Lucy, Jack, Oliver etc) is perceived as weird, and they think my taste is positively outlandish! Other friends and colleagues, though, live in more 'hipsterish' areas like Hackney and have DC called Odin, Fox, Spike, Astrid, Juniper and so on. Trends seem quite localised.

I think names in general are a lot to do with social circles so yes there do tend to be localised pockets where unusual is more accepted.

I'm glad we live somewhere that is more accepting. We have come across a Phineas, Ophelia, Lennox and Monty so far but suspect we'll come across a few more odd ones.

Nope.

I can't imagine not being 'brave enough' to use a name I love.

I live in varied North London too. It's not so much parents round here that would bat an eyelid, it's more the idea of my dc having to live with the name forever. I wanted one that's fairly neutral in terms of class, political associations etc that my dcs can make their own. Isn't this a light hearted thread though? I never seriously agonised about any of the names on my list. They're just names I like the sound of, if names came with no cultural baggage or expectations. I actually love Kai and Keira too but can't get over Rooney and Knightly.

Girl Nimue,
boys danger (middle name),

I chickened out of Yorick for DS. Still hanker after it.

Posy. Vetoed by OH

Cosmo - boy. Dog got it instead!

Boy: Hephaestion, I would seriously never do this to my child, but I do love the name.

Girl: I'm trying to decide whether Athame is acceptable or not, I like it and so does DH, but would it be okay for a child to be called this, can't decide.

oooh River - that's another one I'd be too wimpy to use!!

I'm in one of the diverse parts of North London so it's a complete mixed bag of names around here. Some of my friends went for very safe choices - often featured in at least top 20 whereas myself and others DC names aren't so much 'out there', but it's hard to come across another. When I was in school there were 4 other girls in my year group with my name which was a nightmare

Jarvis.

Ahh see the possible problem with living in diverse areas, is that you might not always live there? You might be the only Horatio in a sea of Deans and Rileys! Or the only Jack, in an ocean of Corenzas and Sebastiens! :)

I have pretty normal/ordinary/traditional taste in names (well, in rl I do- on here, my dc's names are routinely slated)

But (and I am not having any more) recently I have decided I like

Lark (girl)- No idea where this came from.
and
Orson (boy). -(This is a good alternative for anyone who would like to use 'Bear' , imo. )

Of course, I am of a generation who immediately think ' Nanoo nanoo, Mork calling Orson' when I hear it.

Absolutely nothing like anything I would ever actually have used.