Please shred our shortlist!

[clarabellski]

Hi everyone

I was hoping for some brutal internet advice on our name shortlists. We're team yellow so need to pick a boy & girl name. This is our first child. Surname starts with 'M'.

Girls:

Aileen
Ailsa
Audrey
Bethan
Blair
Bryn
Callista
Daphne
Darcy
Eilish
Fearne
Grier
Hazel
Juliet
Lena
Mara
Marion
Natasha
Roisin
Rowan
Vhairi
Winter

Boys:

Augustus
Blair
Conrad
Corran
Ellis
Gil
Hamish
Harris
Seamus

Thanks in advance!

Quite a long shortlist you've got there!

Do you have Celtic heritage, OP? You seem to have gone for a lot of Celtic names...

Anyway, here's my two cents:

Girls:

Aileen nope. First ever female serial killer, as depicted by Charlize Theron in Monster
Ailsa
Audrey
Bethan
Blair
Bryn isn't that a boys name?
Callista
Daphne
Darcy
Eilish - how are we pronouncing this?
Fearne
Grier absolutely not
Hazel
Juliet
Lena
Mara
Marion
Natasha
Roisin
Rowan
Vhairi - would you be pronouncing this VAR-ee? Because if so the traditional spelling would be Mhairi, which I think is lovely and would be my favourite.
Winter no

Not a fan of any of the boys names in afraid

Aileen -I prefer Irene
Ailsa - noooo, Home and Away character of the 90s with awful hair!
Audrey - love
Bethan - dislike. Always sounds kind of heavy and clumpy.
Blair - awful.
Bryn - even more awful.
Callista - a bit frilly.
Daphne - love
Darcy - Where I live, this is one of the names constantly shrieked at kids by fishwife type mums.
Eilish - I don't know how you pronounce it. If it's anything like eyelash, then no.
Fearne - No.
Grier - Horrible!
Hazel - nice
Juliet - lovely
Lena - meh
Mara - meh
Marion - nice
Natasha - not my taste, but perfectly nice.
Roisin - ok
Rowan - prefer it as a boys name
Vhairi - not sure how to pronounce this.
Winter - nooooo.

Boys:

Augustus - please don't.
Blair - no no no.
Conrad - nooooo.
Corran - have never heard of this one. It's ok but sounds made up.
Ellis - meh
Gil - slightly better than meh.
Hamish - I like this one
Harris - OK, but it's a surname to me.
Seamus - love.

For posters who are asking, in Scotland Eilish = Ay-lish (with the 'Ay' as in 'hay'). It's the Gaelic form of Alice or, sometimes, Elisabeth.

Corran is the name of a famous ferry across Loch Linnhe near Fort William. It's a place name that probably means something like 'crescent' or 'curved headland'. There is also at least one Corran Bay.
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/corran/corranferry/

Corin has been used as a name for boys since Shakespeare's time, or even earlier. It comes from a Roman word meaning 'spear-carrier'.

Mara or Hamish

Fearne is dreadful.

Fearne is awful but Fern is a lot nicer.

Also, Marion and Juliet and Ailsa.

Only Augustus and Conrad for the boy's name. But I like the suggestion of Corin above.

Aileen - Nope
Ailsa - Nice
Audrey - 70s waitress
Bethan - Pretty
Blair - No, not for a girl, ever.
Bryn - As Blair
Callista - Meh
Daphne - Good Grief, No!
Darcy - Not bad
Eilish - Nice enough
Fearne - Pretty
Grier - Germaine! No.
Hazel - Pretty
Juliet - classic and nice
Lena - No, 70s singers, Martell and Zavaroni
Mara - meh
Marion - Got a couple of old aunties...
Natasha - No, nice name but rarely suits the child it's given to
Roisin - Pretty
Rowan - Pleasant
Vhairi - It's spelled Mhairi, but pronounced Vari
Winter - Silly

Augustus - Not fair to any 21st century boy
Blair - strong and clean
Conrad - Nope, too strong
Corran - Nice
Ellis - No, sounds more like a girl
Gil - Just no
Hamish - If you give birth to a Scottish Terrier, otherwise no
Harris - Strong
Seamus - Nice

I would vote for Bethan or Blair

Girls:

Aileen - very pretty and underused, would be lovely to meet a little girl named Aileen.

Ailsa - dislike
Audrey - Like, retro chic
Bethan - Lovely welsh name, also nick Beth and Bethie
Blair - I think Tony
Bryn - sounds middle aged angry woman to me
Callista - I like Callie, I like Callista in theory but it seems over the top irl
Daphne - dislike
Darcy - I love on a boy, but think it sounds teenage pregnancy on a girl
Eilish - not a fan
Fearne - I like, but prefer the simplicity of Fern
Grier - Greer is quite retro chic like Audrey
Hazel - pretty enough, a little bland
Juliet - I like in theory, but not in rl
Lena - dislike
Mara - dislike
Marion - dislike
Natasha - great name and you don't come across it every day, I like the nn Tasha
Roisin - I know a Roisin and she is lovely. Gets mispronounced a lot though. I think fine only if you have irish roots
Rowan - on a boy great, please leave it for the boys
Vhairi - dislike
Winter - seems a very precious name, dislike

Boys:

Augustus - can't stand
Blair - again think Tony
Conrad - Nice handsome, rugged rogue type name
Corran - okay
Ellis - nice enough but I find it hard to picture on a baby
Gil - dislike makes me think of fish
Hamish - decent enough
Harris - dislike
Seamus - It comes across as a rough, chavvy name to me

my favourites of your list are Aileen and Natasha for girls and Conrad for a boy

Daphne and Hamish.

Ones I like:

Audrey
Darcy
Hazel
Juliet

Boys:
Ellis
Gil (as a nn)

Aileen - no
Ailsa - meh
Audrey - no
Bethan - ok
Blair - Waldorf, yes
Bryn - definitely no
Callista - no
Daphne - no
Darcy - no
Eilish - yes
Fearne - yes
Grier - no
Hazel - no
Juliet - no
Lena - no
Mara - no
Marion NO NO NO
Natasha - yes
Roisin - no
Rowan yes
Vhairi no
Winter - definitely no

Boys:
All no

Girls:

Aileen - no
Ailsa - haunted a fridge in Home and AWay
Audrey - ok
Bethan - yes
Blair - witch
Bryn - not for a girl
Callista - horrible
Daphne - no
Darcy - ok
Eilish - I know an Eilish, there is not a single person in England who can pronounce this name, even after being told 17,000 times
Fearne - no, Fern is the same name, also no
Grier - too much like Gruyere. Not nice, even if it didn't sound like cheese
Hazel - no
Juliet - ok
Lena - yes
Mara - yes (my favourite from your list)
Marion - no
Natasha - yes
Roisin - looks like raisin
Rowan - ok
Chairs - seriously?
Winter - risky, nice if she can pull it off

Boys:

Augustus - gloop
Blair - witch/tony
Conrad - no
Corran - pronounced like the Koran???
Ellis - no
Gil - urgh, NO
Hamish - no
Harris - ok
Seamus - no