My shortlists, opinions welcomed

[BlueKarou]

I'm only 11 weeks, so am far from close to needing a name, and far from decided either way, so I figured now would be a good time to see what people think of my not-so-short shortlists. As it's all very liable to change, I'm not going to be heartbroken if my names are hated by anyone! Some I really like, others I just threw on the list as a whim - it's early days, whims are allowed!

Suggestions are welcomed, especially boy's names as I'm not 100% on any of my shortlist. I guess I like names that are a little 'out there', but otherwise don't think there's much of a theme. I like a name with multiple nickname options, but that's not a compulsory.

Surname is short; 1 syllable beginning with D, and middle name will begin with J; 2 syllables if a girl, 1 syllable if a boy. They're family names and I'm fairly settled on them.

Girls
Cassidy

Cecily

Cressida

Georgiana

Henrietta

Lainey

Laini

Leoni

Marley

Romilly

Tabitha

Tess

Boys
Gideon

Lucas

Nathaniel

Ossin

Seth

Simon

Zachary

Can I recommend not going for a name starting with C? CJD, as a friend with those initials hated having pointed out, is the human version of mad cow disease.

Not a fan of Cassidy, Laini, Marley and Gideon but the others are nice. Where is Ossin from? I initially misread it as a simar Irish name but not heard Ossin before- how would you pronounce it? Is it phonetic?

I like Cecily and Georgiana from your girls' list. The others are not to my taste. Love Cassie/Cassandra though (but hate Cassidy).

Love Gideon, Lucas and Simon. Really dislike Seth.

Romilly - lovely name - classy!

I like Georgiana, Henrietta, Romilly and Tess from the girls' list and Lucas from the boys' list.

I know quite a few Nathaniels and Zacharys born during the last year or so.

I like Cecily, Henrietta and Tabitha. I prefer Laini spelled Leni.

From the boys list I like Lucas, Nathaniel, Simon and Zachary.

Ossin is from a Robin McKinley book I've always loved; Deerskin. He's a not-classically-handsome prince, but is all kinds of lovely. I know Ossian is a real name, but I prefer the book one.

Thanks for pointing out the CJD link, I had thought about it, but was hoping it wouldn't be big enough to be a deal-breaker. With the J middle name I'm already ruling out all B first names.

Nathaniel and Zachary getting popular does put me off a bit, but I didn't want to shrink the boy's list too much whilst I'm still not sure what sex it'll be.

Love Tabitha! Wanted it for DD but was vetoed by DH. Like Henrietta and Tess. Much prefer Eleni to Laini/Lainey. Not a fan of Cassidy/Marley/Romilly.

Love Nathaniel (nn Nate/Nat), was on list for DS. Like Simon. Prefer Luke to Lucas (too similar to mucus).

What are your top choices at the moment? Would Ossin be pronounced as it spelt?

Can't imagine the CJD thing being a problem at all. Even if anyone does notice - what does it matter?

Cassidy - love it. Was on my shortlist a couple of times
Cecily - quite like it
Cressida - not sure about this one. It's nice, I think. Very fancy.
Georgiana - quite nice but a bit over fussy. I love Georgina.
Henrietta - quite like it
Lainey - not sure about this, it sounds a bit strange
Laini - is this different to Lainey?
Leoni - quite like it
Marley - it's ok
Romilly - really like it
Tabitha - not keen. Makes me think of cats.
Tess - not keen but for some reason I like Tessa

Gideon - it's ok
Lucas - quite like it
Nathaniel - love it. Would have been my top pick if I'd had a boy
Ossin - never heard this before. Sounds quite cool
Seth - don't like this. Sounds quite harsh
Simon - quite nice. A bit dated possibly
Zachary - love it

I would choose Cassidy and Nathaniel

I actually really like Cassidy. Don't hear it often.

I love Tess and Tabitha.

I love Lucas and Nathaniel, and drawn to Simon.

Oh and Ossin...strictly for the anecdotal background.

Thanks for the feedback, some good food for thought there.

Sorry - bestguess you asked re: pronunciation of Ossin. Was posting on my phone last night which is never a good idea. It's pretty much as it looks; Oss-in.

I think my current faves are Cecily/Cressida (would probably NN Cressida 'Sid', but these things may or may not stick, is just an option I like). I like Tess, but don't like Tessa. Similarly I like Beth but don't like any of its longer forms, and think a 1 syllable first name with a 1 syllable surname might sound a bit sharp.

No idea for a boy. Trying to work out if I'm brave enough to go for Ossin, which I really do love, but is a bit out there, and I'm a long way from Ireland, so the similar name isn't known round here. Would easily shorten to Oz, which is more 'normal'. None of the other boy's names really jump out at me. I think I'll work harder on them if I find out it's a boy, or if they can't/won't tell me what it looks like.

Girls
Cassidy - dreadful
Cecily fine
Cressida - fine if pronounced properly
Georgiana - nice
Henrietta - also nice and classic
Lainey - (see Cassidy)
Laini - as above
Leoni - not keen
Marley - Jacob
Romilly - fine, though prefer Romola
Tabitha - fine
Tess - fine

Boys
Gideon - ok
Lucas - ok, but not my personal taste
Nathaniel - fine name
Ossin - looks like misspelling
Seth - fine name
Simon - also fine
Zachary - popular but nice still

Girls I like
Cecily
Romily
Marley
Laini
Laney but it is the same name with a different spelling
Other names are awful sorry. But that is only my opinion not a fact
Only like Simon from your boys list.
I like Nathan but not Nathanial
And Lucas. I think it's by the most dreadful boys name there is but it is very popular so I am clearly in the minority

I have a girl with a name from your girl list and we have a small DS called Reuben. I also had Dexter, Elliot, and Sebastian on the boy list.

Others I like from yours are Cassidy (would also consider for a boy), Marley and Nathaniel.

LOVE Cassidy, awesome name.

Nathaniel is great too, especially with Nate as a nn.

Cassidy -dislike
Cecily - nice like CeCe as nn
Cressida - ok
Georgiana - really like but frilly we liked it for dd but chose Georgia in the end
Henrietta - like -Hetty fab nn
Lainey - don't like at all 'she's all that'
Laini - dislike
Leoni - dislike
Marley - Marley and me no
Romilly - my friend has one nn Romy very cool
Tabitha - ok
Tess- really like

Boys
Gideon - like its different
Lucas - dislike
Nathaniel - really like
Ossin - dislike
Seth - ok
Simon - ok
Zachary- dislike

Love Cecily and Romilly (nn Romy is lovely) and I like Leonie.
I hate Henrietta but that's just an irrational dislike of mine.
Marley is dreadful IMO. Sorry. All your other names are much nicer than that.

I like all your boys names. I love Nathaniel with nn Nate. I think of Gideon as a name that might be quite hard to pull off somehow? Really like Seth, Simon & Lucas.

Romilly & Nathaniel are my faves.

Cassidy - makes me think of David Cassidy. Don't like
Cecily - not keen
Cressida - really don't like
Georgiana - a bit OTT. Prefer Georgia
Henrietta - ok
Lainey - not keen
Laini - not keen
Leoni - not keen prefer Leona
Marley - makes me think of the dog
Romilly - don't like
Tabitha - really like
Tess - quite like

Boys
Gideon - really don't like
Lucas - ok, quite popular round here
Nathaniel - like and love nn Nate
Ossin - not keen
Seth - ok, becoming more popular (know 3 babies)
Simon - seems a bit 80s- I grew up with lots of Simons!
Zachary - like and love nn Zach

I'd say we have quite different taste apart from the fact that Nate and Zach are two of my top boy's names!

Cassidy - love
Cecily - pretty
Cressida -love but I wouldn't be brave enough to use as first name myself
Georgiana - nice but prefer Georgia
Henrietta - love it and the nickname Henri
Lainey - don't like
Laini - not my taste at all
Leoni - it's a meh name to me
Marley - I think of the dog from Marley and me
Romilly - it's alright
Tabitha - alright
Tess - cute I prefer Tessa

Boys
Gideon - very nice
Lucas - good strong name
Nathaniel - love it and Nate as a nickname
Ossin - the fact it has sentimental meaning to you makes me like it
Seth - cute, a friend used this for her sons middle name
Simon - don't like
Zachary - love it